Just Keep Trying

I got home from work at the library the other day and found my husband outside trying to bend a bumper with his bare hands so he could get the crosspiece back into place. He's restoring a '67 Volkswagen Bus and had taken apart the bumper to paint it. Yes, I'm sure he could have gone and purchased the correct tools, but bother! He wanted to get it done right that moment. Well, right now turned into an hour or so of pulling and tugging and pushing. And who got talked into helping? Me, of course.

After helping him for what seemed like forever (I have a short attention span for things that involve trying to force pieces of metal into places they don't want to go) I said something about how it wasn't going to work. But he was determined. He knew what needed to be done. He knew he could do it. "We just needed to keep trying," he insisted. So we kept pushing and pulling and bending, and all of a sudden we got it, and it fell into place so easily and (seemingly) quickly.

It was a simple yet brilliant reminder for writing life. Write, revise, repeat. Query. Submit. Know what needs to be done. Work hard to gain the knowledge. You can do this. Just keep trying. All of a sudden things will fall into place.

Publisher's Weekly!

I'm so excited! BEDTIME MONSTER got a mention in Publisher's Weekly's Silly Salutations of the Season. The category: Most Monstrous use of "Scared Straight" techniques. I am happy to share the category with MONSTERS EAT WHINY CHILDREN by Bruce Eric Kaplan. Sounds like a fun book(unless you're one of the whiny children maybe?) I am definitely going to have to check it out and I'm adding it to my monster book list.

Here's a link to the article. The monster category is at the end. http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/43868-silly-salutations-of-the-season.html

Yippee!!!

Two Sales and Two Agents

No, they're not my sales or agents, but I couldn't be more excited! Three of the great people that let me interview them for The Unread have news. Big news!




Ame Dyckman was my first Unread interviewee who had an agent. She is also the first one who sold a book! Her debut picture book BOY AND BOT will be released spring 2012 from Alfred A. Knopf & Crown BFYR. I can't wait to see it!

The bold and powerful ruler of #mikesempire, the great Mike Jung has signed with a fabulous agent, (I'm sure his mind control powers had nothing to do with it) Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. I will not be surprised if we hear of his first book sale very soon. He has also started a most excellent blog. Righteous!

Not only did Tara Lazar obtain an agent. (also Ammi-Joan. Wait, that makes it one agent, two people. Just ignore my post title.) Tara's debut picture book, THE MONSTORE is coming Summer 2012 from Aladdin/Simon & Schuster. A monster book! I am so excited!

Hip hip hooray! Three cheers for three fabulous kidlit writers!

I know, I haven't posted any Unread interviews in a while, but take heart, I have a new one lined up and we'll get it done as soon as we can take a break from our summer fun. See, she's hanging out in Paris. Me, well, I've been spending a lot of time at the lake. Glamorous, I know. There haven't been too many dead fish on the shore lately, and the lake weed is pretty much collecting in one corner now, so there's lots free space for swimming while I contemplate who will be the next victim of...The Unread.

It's On!

The wind on the mountain has finally died down enough to set up the badminton net. If you've been reading my blog for a while you know what that means--THE BADMINTON CHALLENGE!

Yes, it's all very fascinating that I, a total non-sports type person who randomly trips over her own feet, played badminton in high school. Not only that, but I managed to smash my way to being the top player on the team often enough. (Yes, smash, that is a badminton term. Get with it people!)

This badminton challenge is between me and my husband. We play however many games we can fit into the summer. And last year *gasp* he won. Horrifying, I know. It's funny, when I play, my super secret competitive nature busts out and I play to win. But apparently that wasn't enough this year. Oh no. You know what he said? You aren't going to beat me ever again now that you're middle-aged.

Middle-aged? MIDDLE-AGED! Can you believe it? The nerve of that guy. Just because he's ever so slightly younger. I am so not even close to middle-aged. It wasn't too long ago that I actually got carded. So there.

Yeah, he knows how to get me going, and you know what? I kicked his patootie. That's right. Power to the old people baby!

WriteOnCon!

Incase you haven't heard, there's a free conference for kidlit writers coming up in August! That's right, FREE. WriteOnCon is getting together a bunch of great writing professionals(check out the agents and editors page!) and hosting a conference... online. No travel or conference expenses, and you don't even have to change out of your jammies. I just registered. How about you?

Launch Party Prep

So I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do for my book launch party. I know it's happening at the library. I know I'm going to read my book and have food and drinks. I want to have monster masks for the kids to make or maybe have a monster art show where kids make their own monsters from random art supplies and they hang them up and get a ribbon that says "monstrously good".

I, of course, have to find a place to get such ribbons. And that's where my trouble begins. I have all these ideas but I scarcely know where to start. I want some really cool monster print pajamas and a big green tail to wear to my launch party, but where do I find such things? I see some monster attire for kids, but I think I'm going to need some specialty stuff. After all, I could be touring some more libraries in these jammies! I wish I was more crafty and could sew myself some pajamas and a tail. The closest shopping mecca is hours from here and I doubt there are the kind of monstery things I need. I know--there's online, obviously. But I don't seem to be finding what I need. Guess I'd better get to work.

At least I know that I'm going to be making a monster cake. I'm certainly looking forward to that! Maybe I should go practice making one now.

Reading Practice

I've decided that since my book is coming out soon, I'd better practice reading to kids. I mean, I know how to read to kids, I do it every day. But reading to large groups is different. There are more eyes that need to see the pictures, more mouths asking questions, more wiggling bodies, more minds to keep entertained.

Every year I help behind the scenes with the Summer Reading Program at the library, but this year I'm stepping it up. This year I'm doing the reading. I've done two readings so far to around 40 kids and 20 adults each time. I was surprised by the volume I was able to raise my reading voice to so that everyone could hear. I did not die when I got up in front of everybody. Actually, I wasn't even nervous. Pretty good for a girl who would rather not get a dipolma than take the required public speaking class. I'm still a little befuddled on what to do when all the kids want to talk at once. And what to do when the parents are louder than the kids, making it hard to hear the story. But, I'll get the hang of it.(Advice is welcome!)

So now, I've been asked to write a proposal for a library tour. I'm going to have to think of lots of fun things to do. It's one thing for people to be coming to the Summer Reading Program for the program. It's a whole other thing for people to be coming to see me. Hopefully I can figure out a library tour that will be a monstrously good time for all and build on the confidence I've attained from my summer's worth of reading practice.