Yesterday, I checked my e-mail and was notified by Megan Frances owner of the blog On Beyond Words and Pictures about her book give-away. I won a Ladder to the Moon by Maya Soetoro-Ng, President Obama's sister. Thank you Megan! :)
Next, I signed into a live chat on Booktrib.com with Author Deanna Fei who was discussing her new book A Thread of Sky. At the end of the chat they picked 10 lucky winners to receive gift bags. They selected me as one of the 10, wahoo.
Last, I checked my e-mail and I heard back from one of the magazines I submitted a children's poem. They informed me they want to publish it in their magazine in the fall. I'm so excited to finally have a piece of my writing published. I'll be able to share more next month once I sign a contract.
Thanks for letting me share with you my "Good" day.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Live Chat with Deanna Fei Author of A Thread of Sky
I just wanted to share my live chat experience from today with Deanna Fei author of A Thread of Sky. I haven't read her book yet but it is now on my reading list. If you want a full summary of the book (from good reads review) click here. I know my blog is for children's literacy mainly, but I liked what she shared with her audience today on the chat. I added a few of her answers below that were related to writing in general. Before the chat on Booktrib.com's homepage today, we watched a short video about Deanna discussing her book A Thread of Sky - the link above.
The title of the live chat:
A THREAD OF SKY E-ventful Book Party
Tuesday, April 26 • 3:00pm - 4:00pm
http://booktrib.com/
Deanna Fei answered many questions about her book and shared general questions pertaining to writing, reading, etc. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to answer all the questions due to the time constraints, but she did a fantastic with the entire interview anyway.
Q- Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Answer from DeannaFei: I know this sounds overly simplistic, but my best advice is this: Read and write. Read great books again and again, with an eye for what you can learn as opposed to what you like. And write every day, whether it's for an hour or 9, whether you produce 1 sentence or 10 pages. Make that time sacred... And try not to worry too much about publication, etc. The truth is, so much of it is a crap shoot!
Q- How did you get started writing books?
Answer from DeannaFei: As for how I got started writing, I really can’t remember a time when literature wasn’t what I loved above all else. When I first started preschool, I was so shy that my teachers thought I had a mental handicap. My mother had to tape me reading “The Cat in the Hat” aloud so that they wouldn’t kick me out of the program! Ever since then, I think I’ve had the idea that books can transform a life.
Q- What are a few of your favorite books?
Answer- DeannaFei: I have the full list on my Facebook page, but here are a few of my "great books": The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood; Emperor of the Air, Ethan Canin; The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler; Edinburgh, Alexander Chee; most stories of John Cheever and Anton Chekhov; Drown, Junot Diaz; Play It As It Lays, Joan Didion; The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides; Bad Behavior, Mary Gaitskill; The Comedians, Graham Greene.
Q- Do you have self doubt while writing?
Answer from DeannaFei: Ah, self-doubt: none of us writers escape it entirely! Maybe for a few days or hours at a time… I had my moments of wanting to throw in the towel like anyone else. It was really the characters who kept me going. I would’ve felt like I was abandoning them.
Q- I didn't catch the question here-
Answer- DeannaFei: Also, I love when readers articulate what the novel is about in a way I hadn't thought of before. Once, a reader in Seattle told me that the book spoke to her so deeply b/c it's about how us women get so used to fighting for everything that we don't know when to stop. And I thought, that's so true!
Q- What writers have influenced you?
Answer from DeannaFei: As for those who asked about writers who’ve influenced me: some of my favorites are Shirley Hazzard, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Edith Wharton, John Cheever, and Maxine Hong Kingston. The truth is, I get very anxious every time I answer this Q, but I’m omitting so many names! Still, that is a start.
Q- I have to share – I opened your book to begin reading while in the emergency room with my mother who had just broken her hip. I couldn’t believe your intro. Reading your book was meant to be.
Answer from DeannaFei: That is one of the most moving things I’ve heard in a long while. I’m so glad to hear it, and so grateful to know that my book was of some comfort. One of my favorite writing quotes is from Annie Dillard, and it goes something like: Write as if you were dying. Write as if for an audience of terminal patients. That is, after all, the case.
Check out the entire chat- Click here.
Deanna's sites
http://www.facebook.com/#!/DeannaFei.Author
http://www.deannafei.com/Author/Welcome.html
A THREAD OF SKY E-ventful Book Party
Tuesday, April 26 • 3:00pm - 4:00pm
http://booktrib.com/
Deanna Fei answered many questions about her book and shared general questions pertaining to writing, reading, etc. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to answer all the questions due to the time constraints, but she did a fantastic with the entire interview anyway.
Answer from DeannaFei: I know this sounds overly simplistic, but my best advice is this: Read and write. Read great books again and again, with an eye for what you can learn as opposed to what you like. And write every day, whether it's for an hour or 9, whether you produce 1 sentence or 10 pages. Make that time sacred... And try not to worry too much about publication, etc. The truth is, so much of it is a crap shoot!
Q- How did you get started writing books?
Answer from DeannaFei: As for how I got started writing, I really can’t remember a time when literature wasn’t what I loved above all else. When I first started preschool, I was so shy that my teachers thought I had a mental handicap. My mother had to tape me reading “The Cat in the Hat” aloud so that they wouldn’t kick me out of the program! Ever since then, I think I’ve had the idea that books can transform a life.
Q- What are a few of your favorite books?
Answer- DeannaFei: I have the full list on my Facebook page, but here are a few of my "great books": The Blind Assassin, Margaret Atwood; Emperor of the Air, Ethan Canin; The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler; Edinburgh, Alexander Chee; most stories of John Cheever and Anton Chekhov; Drown, Junot Diaz; Play It As It Lays, Joan Didion; The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides; Bad Behavior, Mary Gaitskill; The Comedians, Graham Greene.
Q- Do you have self doubt while writing?
Answer from DeannaFei: Ah, self-doubt: none of us writers escape it entirely! Maybe for a few days or hours at a time… I had my moments of wanting to throw in the towel like anyone else. It was really the characters who kept me going. I would’ve felt like I was abandoning them.
Q- I didn't catch the question here-
Answer- DeannaFei: Also, I love when readers articulate what the novel is about in a way I hadn't thought of before. Once, a reader in Seattle told me that the book spoke to her so deeply b/c it's about how us women get so used to fighting for everything that we don't know when to stop. And I thought, that's so true!
Q- What writers have influenced you?
Answer from DeannaFei: As for those who asked about writers who’ve influenced me: some of my favorites are Shirley Hazzard, Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Edith Wharton, John Cheever, and Maxine Hong Kingston. The truth is, I get very anxious every time I answer this Q, but I’m omitting so many names! Still, that is a start.
Q- I have to share – I opened your book to begin reading while in the emergency room with my mother who had just broken her hip. I couldn’t believe your intro. Reading your book was meant to be.
Answer from DeannaFei: That is one of the most moving things I’ve heard in a long while. I’m so glad to hear it, and so grateful to know that my book was of some comfort. One of my favorite writing quotes is from Annie Dillard, and it goes something like: Write as if you were dying. Write as if for an audience of terminal patients. That is, after all, the case.
Check out the entire chat- Click here.
Deanna's sites
http://www.facebook.com/#!/DeannaFei.Author
http://www.deannafei.com/Author/Welcome.html
Terrible Two Tuesdays
My friend Amy Link had her first book My Mommy Wears A Wig published in 2009.
My Mommy Wears A Wig is about a mother who discusses breast cancer with her daughter. It's written from the daughter’s pov. In the story, the daughter helps her mother shop for a wig and they talk about the preparation for the mother’s treatment. The storyline has some humor and an optimistic look on adapting a serious disease into ones life.
More information on Amy here- http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000265800
Monday, April 25, 2011
Mug Shot Mondays
For Mug Shot Monday, I'd like to share the antagonist from Miss Nelson is Missing!
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| Miss Viola Swamp |
By Harry Allard
Published in 1977
One of the very first antagonist I remember reading from my childhood was Miss Viola Swamp from Miss Nelson is Missing! She arrived as a substitute teacher for sweet Miss Nelson, of whom non of her students listen to. She’s truly one unlikable character with all business and no play when it came to getting school work done. I can’t imagine any kid liking Miss Swamp as their substitute teacher with her witch-like persona.
Here is an excerpt from Miss Nelson is Missing:
A woman in an ugly dress stood before them.
“I am your new teacher, Miss Viola Swamp.”
And she rapped the desk with ruler.
“Where is Miss Nelson?” asked the kids.
“Never mind that!” snapped Miss Swamp.
‘Open those arithmetic books!”
Miss Nelson’s kids did as they were told…
…“We’ll have no story hour today,” said Miss Swamp.
“Keep your mouths shut,” said Miss Swamp.
“Sit perfectly still,” said Miss Swamp.
“And if you misbehave, you’ll be sorry,” said Miss Swamp.
When Miss Swamp left, Miss Nelson returned to school again. Her students learned their lesson and listened and behaved for her.
There is a fun twist at the end that I won’t ruin for you.
Side note: I’d like to compare her with Miss Agatha Trunchbull from Matilda by Roald Dahl. A book quote from Matilda, "I cannot for the life of me understand why small children take so long to grow up. I think they do it deliberately, just to annoy me."- Miss Trunchbull. This book was published in 1988.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Favorite Author Fridays
For my very first author review I wanted to talk about one of my favorite picture book authors, Mercer Mayer. I really like the authenticity of his character’s voices he uses like in his book, Just Me and My Dad.
Mercer Mayer is the author and illustrator of over 300 books. He is well known for his “little Critter” and “Little Monster” series from Little Golden Books.
Mayer’s first book, A Boy, a Dog, and a Frog, was published at Dial Press in 1967. It was a completely wordless picture book. Mayer was one of the first illustrators to be credited for using this format.
Mayer also has worked on other projects with other children’s authors such as John Bellairs, Jane Yolen, Jan Wahl, Jay Williams, John D. Fitzgerald, Erica Farber and more.
Here is an incredibly short list of my favorite Mercer Mayor books:
Just Me and My Dad- (If you have an iPhone you can download this App for free!)
Just My Friend and Me
Just Go to Bed
There’s Something in My Attic
There’s an Alligator under My Bed
His links below:
http://www.mercermayer.com/
http://www.littlecritter.com/index.html
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000499540396&sk=info#!/profile.php?id=100000499540396&sk=wall
Thursday, April 21, 2011
123 Thursdays
Sharing three interesting children's picture book related sites or blogs.
Here are my fun websites finds this week:
1. http://www.rhymezone.com/
This one isn't really considered a children's picture book site but it really helps me when I write.Check it out if you need help rhyming or finding the perfect word for your story.
2. http://vozme.com/index.php?lang=en
Here's another helpful site while you write. Check out vozme if you would like your story read back to you. You can choose a female or male computer voice. There are other text to voice sites out there, but so far this one is my favorite. It doesn’t have many bugs and it takes more than 1000+ words, unlike some of the other ones out there.
3. http://christiewrightwild.blogspot.com/
Write Wild is a fun blog I came across. Each month, Christie Wright Wild hosts a Picture Book Writing Contest. The winner receives a free detailed critique from her. She shares many great websites and blogs for writers and illustrators. Christie blogs about helpful tips for writing and getting your picture book published. She has a handful of author interviews that she shares with us and her blog also holds a list of literary agents to research. -Plus more fun stuff.
Here are my fun websites finds this week:
1. http://www.rhymezone.com/
This one isn't really considered a children's picture book site but it really helps me when I write.Check it out if you need help rhyming or finding the perfect word for your story.
2. http://vozme.com/index.php?lang=en
Here's another helpful site while you write. Check out vozme if you would like your story read back to you. You can choose a female or male computer voice. There are other text to voice sites out there, but so far this one is my favorite. It doesn’t have many bugs and it takes more than 1000+ words, unlike some of the other ones out there.
3. http://christiewrightwild.blogspot.com/
Write Wild is a fun blog I came across. Each month, Christie Wright Wild hosts a Picture Book Writing Contest. The winner receives a free detailed critique from her. She shares many great websites and blogs for writers and illustrators. Christie blogs about helpful tips for writing and getting your picture book published. She has a handful of author interviews that she shares with us and her blog also holds a list of literary agents to research. -Plus more fun stuff.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Wacky Doodle Wednesday
I had fun doodling with this storybook layout. My story Sonny & the Honeybee was already finished and I needed to play around to see if I had any missing action spots throughout it. For me it's just another fun way to edit my stories. I also enjoy using Batalugu.com to edit my work.
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| Sonny & the Honeybee |
 |
| Sonny & the Honeybee |
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Terrible Two Tuesdays
Sharing lovable picture books for ages 2-4 ish.
In this week's lovable book, Bird wakes up miserable and wants to do nothing but go for a walk. Friendly animals follow him one by one on his walk. Bird's grumpy remarks to the other animals are sarcastic and humorous. Children will definitely relate to Bird, especially if they aren't chipper in the morning. I won't give away the ending, but I'll share that the illustrations are mixed-media which are colorful and vibrant. I really liked how creative Jeremy was to used some real photos in this artwork, including one from a farm. Jeremy's page turning tale takes the reader on an adorably crabby walk with a happy destination.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Stink'n Bugs
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to share some news so maybe you guys don't make the same mistake I just did. My computer got this bug that wiped out most of my word documents on my hard drive. (A message -Thought it was my own security update- told me to restart my computer and I did, oops, it erased all my work away in a second) Thank goodness I have a critique group because all my stories have vanished.
I would be so upset if I had NOTHING to show for, after all that time spent writing.
I think I'm going to start saving all my work now in other areas and maybe on a disk/jump drive as well.
Happy writing to you all and remember to watch out for those stink'n bugs! UGH
Just wanted to share some news so maybe you guys don't make the same mistake I just did. My computer got this bug that wiped out most of my word documents on my hard drive. (A message -Thought it was my own security update- told me to restart my computer and I did, oops, it erased all my work away in a second) Thank goodness I have a critique group because all my stories have vanished.
I would be so upset if I had NOTHING to show for, after all that time spent writing.
I think I'm going to start saving all my work now in other areas and maybe on a disk/jump drive as well.
Happy writing to you all and remember to watch out for those stink'n bugs! UGH
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Blogger vs Wordpress vs Live Journal
Through a little bit of research, I’ve come up with a pro and con list for three of the blogging websites that are free to open.
Pro- Community oriented
Con- Generic page design unless you pay for upgrade. Cluttered and reminds people of Myspace.com.
Pro- Easy to customize your template and it’s categories are more user friendly for writing. BONUS: feature to import blogs!
Con- There is no search bar on top to search other blogs compared to blogger.com.
Pro- Blogger has a collection of easy-to-customize templates.
Con- Limited categorization for all your blogging.
In conclusion, if I could go back in time I would have opened a Word Press account. I like the idea of more categories to display my blog posts/work. Luckily, Wordpress has option to import any of your old blogs when opening a new account. So, it's a possibility that I may switch over to it.
Live Journal
Pro- Community oriented
Con- Generic page design unless you pay for upgrade. Cluttered and reminds people of Myspace.com.
Wordpress
Pro- Easy to customize your template and it’s categories are more user friendly for writing. BONUS: feature to import blogs!
Con- There is no search bar on top to search other blogs compared to blogger.com.
Blogger
Pro- Blogger has a collection of easy-to-customize templates.
Con- Limited categorization for all your blogging.
In conclusion, if I could go back in time I would have opened a Word Press account. I like the idea of more categories to display my blog posts/work. Luckily, Wordpress has option to import any of your old blogs when opening a new account. So, it's a possibility that I may switch over to it.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Cream of Creature from the School Cafeteria
Cream of Creature from the School Cafeteria by Mike Thaler, happens to be the very first book I ever picked out at the school book fair. It was published in 1985! Yikes, a long time ago. I can only imagine that I had a wide selection of Care Bears, princesses and fairy books to select from, but I chose the blob book. I think I still would today, if I were seven again. Monster stories always seemed to fascinate me. Anyway, this book is all about that gooey creature on the cover and how he grows out of one of the cafeteria lady's cooking pots and starts eating everything; the teachers, the principal, and all in it's way. The army comes to the rescue, it's great! There is a happy ending. Unfortunately, I don't think you can find it in too many places.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Smile by Leigh Hodgkinson
Monday, April 4, 2011
A great Website to find blogs
Today I stumbled upon a website that had tons a blogs catagorized. It's wonderful to have them all in one place. I was sick looking blindly on google search. Check out Blog Catalog below.
http://www.blogcatalog.com/
http://www.blogcatalog.com/
Friday, April 1, 2011
AudreyWood.com | How Sweet Dream Pie Was Illustrated
I ran across how Mark Teague illustrated Sweet Dream Pie by Audrey Wood on her website. He sketches, then draws it, then brushes with gesso & matte medium, then uses burnt sienna, paints the sketch in, mixes ultramarine blue & cadmium red & lay in shadows, addes highlights in white, then he uses color to finish. Thanks for the detailed breakdown Mark. You make it look easy! AudreyWood.com How Sweet Dream Pie Was Illustrated
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