Birdy Thursday

I leave you with this image to be used as a writing prompt or a smile and a giggle if you need one. Haven't we all felt like that little fellow on the end before?

Whatever Wednesday

A picture is worth a thousand words or in other words (far less than a thousand) I don't have time to blog today, so groove on the quote. 

Enchanted Rock

There is no real reason for this entry except that I thought the whole blog was pretty bland without pictures. This is a view of the Texas Hill Country from about halfway up Enchanted Rock. Everyone has magical places to which they long to return. This is one of mine.

Be Current

On Tuesdays I bring tips for folks who are just getting their toes wet into the world of writing for kids. Warning: I'm pretty straight forward, and the advice given here is short and to the point. This isn't the Fuzzy Bunny Sunshine School of Kiddy Lit. This is the truth.

This morning I'd like to talk about picture books. It seems like everybody wants to write a picture book, especially since there is a misconception that they are so easy. They aren't. It's more like trying to paint on the head of a pin. Just because the books are short and small and cute, doesn't mean they're easy to do.

Today I want to focus on one problem I often see with beginning picture book writers, and that is the tendency to write the book of yesteryear. And for those of us who remember life before MTV, yesteryear is getting a little moldy and tarnished.

I often run into beginning writers who write very long picture books, over 1000 words. Sometimes these stories don't have a strong plot or storyline; they are quiet books. Often they aren't kid centric; a parent or other adult figure solves the problem. In addition, these stories tend to be description heavy. And when new writers ask for critique  and people point these things out to them, the first response is often, "Well, it's LIKE (insert name of old classic picture book here.)

Okay, I know styles in everything change and tend to be cyclical. But whether you are making stories or bicycles or dinner dishes, if you want to sell the things you make, it is wise to keep up with the fashion of the day.

New writers are bombarded with the advice to read, read, read, and I will add to that: especially concentrate on reading picture books which came out in the last five years. Look for bestsellers, ones with starred reviews, and ones which have received awards. 

The world of children's books is always changing, and over the decades picture books have become more clearly defined. The picture books of yesteryear wouldn't necessarily be picture books by today's standards. 

If you wanted to make dresses and sell them in today's marketplace, you probably wouldn't use fifty year old patterns. Sure, some people would love them and you'd have a niche market. But if you wanted to sell to a broader market, you'd need to keep up with what is selling in current times. The same thing holds true with picture books.

Tune in next Tuesday for more newbie tips. 

Music Monday - Hazmat Modine

Need a Monday morning pick up? Here's some Hazmat Modine. They defy definition ... jazzy ... bluesy .... is the best I can do. Although, I've heard them described as Swamp Gypsy by a reviewer.

Deep Thought Sunday 4

I bring you back to the regularly scheduled programming of this blog.

1. Deep Thought Sunday - I share a quote

2. Music Monday - I share a music video

3. Newbie Tuesday - I offer tips to writers new to the kid lit field

4. Free Day ... Anything or Nothing

5. Same as above

6. Juxtaposition Friday - my warped writing exercises

7. Saturday Progress Report - in which I tell you how much I accomplished for the week or not.

So here is your Deep Thought for today.

What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers.  ~Logan Pearsall Smith, "All Trivia," Afterthoughts, 1931

Saturday Progress Report

My middle grade novel is fun to me again, mostly because I found the previously written ending which I forgot I had. The middle is still in pretty sad shape. The first nine chapters are polished. I put about 1500 words in on it today, some of them old. I'll work on it some more before the night is over. My goal is to have it in "showable" shape by the end of the month.  It helps that I joined this contest to "finish your book" in June, and I have a couple of really lovable but naggy friends.

Most manuscripts end up as boomerangs. They come back. But every once in a while you get one  in the basket.

Oooooh ... how I love mixed metaphors.  :) They're so silly!

On Rejection

First off, please do not respond to this post with condolences, or "I'm sorry's" or "awww, geeze's." If you do, I'll be forced to practice voodoo or something else dire, because I just refuse to weep over rejections and when people weep for me, I get irritated.

Yes, I got a rejection, yesterday. No, I'm not broken up over it. I have other things to worry about right now. Maybe somewhere deep down I do care, but I just don't have time to deal with the emotions of a piece of paper that says no. Maybe it's because the spouse is on the roller coaster of job hunting, and I'm getting so used to ups and downs and no's, that I just consider it all part of the ride. There's no need to pump me up. I am not deflated.

The only thing that remotely bothered me about it is that dh and I have a pattern of receiving some kind of rejection on the same day. But it didn't happen that way yesterday, so whew!  But yes, for a moment I got the feeling of "Oh crap, now dh will get bad news."

So, it was a good rejection as rejections go. And now I know I have a better focus and idea of what I need to do. 

So that's that. No condolences. No weeping. No sadness. There's not any of that here. Now off to clean out the attic, while the morning is still cool.

June

It's June and a brand new beginning for my family. My husband retired from the USAF last Friday, and the best way I can describe a formal military retirement ceremony is a cross between a wedding and a funeral with a lot of saluting thrown in the middle. Of course, we're not "retired" retired. We are still young, and the husband is ready to embark on his second career. The kids are middlish school age, and it's time to stop the moving around. I'm ready for roots. I'm tired of being a potted plant.

So, what am I doing now? Looking for an agent. Finishing up a fun boy mg. Twiddling with more absurd picture book ideas, and trying to get my house ready for market. Oh yeah, and taking care of my two sons and my three cats.

Right now I want to stop and wave at all my Nebraskan friends who have found me. Thanks Nona, for getting the word out. It's so great to reconnect!

And now .. back to work .. because I told the husband I was working on the novel.