One helpful suggestion for picture book authors is to create a storyboard of the book to see how the book would be read. Basically you have sixteen pages, folded. Cut three at the beginning and one at the end for paste outs (editor/publisher stuff). That means you have 28 pages of writing. The editor who…
While learning Bahasa Malaysia, I have discovered that some birds are metaphors in their language. The children’s dictionary says “owl” in English, for example, but the Malaysian translation is two words: XX bird. Owl is “ghost bird” literally. What would it mean to be a ghost bird? What does a ghost bird do that other…
Language Learning I am in the process of learning Bahasa Malaysia. I don’t live in Malaysia. I have only visited once, for two weeks. I don’t know if I will ever be able to return. Despite that, even before my trip, I was determined to learn the language. I visited the state of Penang. The…
Sometimes discouragement comes in the midst of celebration. Re-reading something I wrote I was delighted with how good it was. Then I thought how much I am enjoying this journey into children’s book creation and publishing. After that, however, I hit a bump. I thought “why?” I wondered if it was worth it. It may…
I purchased an “uncorrected partial proof/cover not final” of Emily Arnold McCully’s book She Did It! 21 Women Who Changed the Way We Think. It said Caldecott Medal Winner on the cover. So a book that hadn’t yet come out or even finished proofing won the Caldecott? (See update at the end of this post.) I…
I love hats. My husband is not as fond of them–or he wasn’t. Now he owns five and wears them all the time. At the Austin SCBWI conference one author said that she has different hats for different… I want to say kinds of books, like middle grade or picture books, but it could have…
I am getting a lot of encouragement to 1. send the manuscript NOW and 2. not send the manuscript until I have had a serious critique of it by someone who doesn’t know me. Honestly, I was leaning toward the NOW version, but when I went to look up what the editor specified she preferred…
Many years ago, 13, I wrote a book because I couldn’t not write it. Then I had a few people read it and give me feedback. I wrote it again and it grew longer. Characters showed up and stayed. The world became more real to me. BUT something was wrong. I didn’t know what and…
I call it confluence, but Jung called it synchronicity. It’s when things come together to push you in a certain direction. A friend and a book both told me I needed to start my day with affirmations. The book was The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. She gives many to choose from and, one presumes,…
