Picture Book Month!

November is picture book month!  If you haven't had a chance yet, definitely check out the website www.picturebookmonth.com.  What a great way to remind everyone why the world needs printed picture books.  There's nothing like holding a real book in your hands and sharing it with a child.  In my opinion, the digital version can't compare. 

So, gather a big stack of picture books from your shelves at home or head out to the library.  I think I've reached my library card's limit this month.  (Might have to find another place for the huge stacks before Thanksgiving dinner.)  That's one thing I'm very thankful for...picture books!    Share them with someone you love!  
                                                        
                                    Read * Share * Celebrate!

PiBoIdMo Update!

We're past the half way mark and I'm right on target!  So far 16 solid picture book ideas down.  (Still need to write today's idea down.)  I've had lots of ideas beyond that but am only counting the ones that I feel are the most solid.  I've also tried to make sure to jot down the skeleton of the story as well.  And a few of them have morphed into rough drafts...but not too many.

Although I am keeping up with the writing part, I am not able to keep up with all of the posts and blogs each day.  They are all so fantastic that I try to at least catch up on them every few days or at least once a week.  All of the participants and the guest bloggers are very inspiring. 

Yesterday a big highlight came from Tammi Sauer who shared some big news in our PiBoIdMo Facebook Group.  Tammi's recent sale of "Nugget and Fang" to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's was an idea that she came up with during PiBoIdMo 2009.  Hooray for Tammi!

2011 SCBWI-Illinois' Prairie Writer's Day

Saturday's Prairie Writer's Day: Get Hooked! was a huge success.  This year's speakers and sessions were informative and inspiring.  (And full of lots of fishing metaphors.)  The all-star line up included:  Josh Adams, Co-founder Adams Literary, Stacey Barney, Editor at G.P. Putnams's Sons, Michele Burke, Editor at Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, Karen Kohn, Senior Art Director for Carus Publishing, Kathy Landwehr, Vice President & Associate Publisher for Peachtree Publishers, Daniel Nayeri, Editor for Clarion Books, Molly O'Neill, Editor for Katherine Tegen Books and Mary Rodgers, Editor-in-Chief for Lerner Publishing Groups.  Also, Author Bruce Hale, Author Esther Hershenhorn, Literary Attorney Debra Kass Orenstein, and Chair of the Teacher Education department at DePaul University Roxanne Owens.   

Something new this year was a skype visit by Bruce Hale on humor in your writing.  He did a fabulous job and it was so neat to see a skype visit in action.  Bruce was a pro!  I really enjoyed it.

I have tons of notes to sort through this week and lots of submissions to polish up!  It's also always so great to to be with all of my writer pals for the day.  Thanks so much to the hard working committee.  Now, off to write!

November is PiBoIdMo...

November is Picture Book Idea Month and I've, nervously, decided to take on the challenge.  That's right...one shiny new picture book idea each day for a whole month.  Looking forward to doing this with my writing pals.  A challenge is always much more fun with their support and encouragement.  Here goes! 

And for anyone out there that's considering joining in, I say do it.  Sign up on Tara's website http://taralazar.wordpress.com/  The more the merrier!

Happy Halloween!

This month's "Highlights High Five" includes my poem "Jack-o'-lantern".  It's a hidden picture page and they did such a great job.  Perfect for little trick-or-treaters. 

Thrilled to have two poems out there this month.  Happy Halloween!

Fall Fun!

I just received my copies of the September/October issue of Turtle magazine.  They did a fantastic job with the illustration for my poem "Beasty Feast".  It's also a hidden picture page which is so fun.  Be sure to check it out.  Happy Fall!

Hooray for NaPiBoWriWee!

Last day of NaPiBoWriWee and I am done with seven new picture book manuscripts!  This was a super busy week so I thought it was a little crazy to take on the challenge but...I'm so glad I did.  Something different happens to you when you are writing under a deadline like this.  You don't have time to listen to your inner critic, just need to get it down on paper.  And then, magic happens...

Last night I was so tired and thought I'd just sit down and at least outline my idea.  Then, not sure what happened, but the manuscript took a completely different turn and it's so fun.  I love it when that happens.  Looking forward to spending more time on it.  

My next idea came to me in the middle of the night.  It's a young PB but came to me pretty much fleshed out.  So I forced myself to wake up, pull out a notebook and get it all down.  We'll see if I can read that "middle of the night chicken scratch".  It's a cute idea.
Congrats to everyone who participated!  Thanks so much to Paula Yoo for putting this together, and to our little FB support group.  Wow, that was so terrific to read everyone's posts and words of encouragement each day.  Made it so much more fun.  Hooray!