Writing Biographies

Do you like to write biographies? In one of my critique groups, one of our writers writes biographies. The rest of us in the group are amazed at the amount of research she does for each book. Of course she doesn’t use the entire volume of research notes, but what she does use makes for a fascinating story.  

 

Here is a very brief discussion on writing biographies by Dr. Alma Bond, author and guest blogger on the Writer’s Digest blog. On her article, “How to Write a Biography: Writing from the Heart,” she writes: “As you do your research, select details to write about that you find particularly interesting. It is far more important to write in an engaging manner than to dwell upon historical dates and facts. Your readers will remember the former, and not the latter. That is not to say that research is not important.” 

 

And here’s another interesting post on the Concord Monitor blog. The article, “Like Strega Nona, Tomie dePaola’s stories endure,” children’s author and illustrator Tomie dePaola is interviewed in his studio amid the tools of his trade. You'll enjoy the photos.

 

I’m taking a short break from my blog during the upcoming holidays. But here’s wishing you blessings during this holiday season. Happy Holidays!

“Nothing one ever experiences or feels is wasted.” – Lynne Reid Banks 

HI THERE!!

Christmas Cookie Exchange

Today I baked twelve (yes – 12!) dozen cookies for our annual  Christmas Cookie Exchange Party. It’s a time when we gather together as family and enjoy conversation, music, and goodies. It’s a nice time to just relax and enjoy each other’s company. Here are pictures of the “before” and “after” of my cooking-baking day. My cookies are now ready to go in pretty Christmas bags. Yum. Yum. 

 

And here are some treats for you: A list of the “The 13 Best Children’s, Illustrated, and Picture Books of 2013” on the online Publishers Weekly from the source brainpickings.org.

 

Here’ an online guest blog interview with Nikki Grimes on the Teaching Books website.

 

For both writers and illustrators, here’s a video on the School Library Journal blog by Caldecott Honor author and illustrator Peter Brown on his creative process.

Happy Holidays!

Multicultural Books

Latin@s in Kid Lit is a website listing multicultural books and much more. Their Mission/Vision:

·       engage with works about, for, and/or by Latin@s;

·       offer a broad forum on Latin@ children’s, MG, and YA books;

·       promote literacy and the love of books within the Latin@ community;

·       examine the historical and contemporary state of Latin@ characters;

·       encourage interest in Latin@ children’s, MG, and YA literature among non-Latin@ readers;

·       share perspectives and resources that can be of use to writers, authors, illustrators, librarians, parents, teachers, scholars, and other stakeholders in literacy and publishing.

Here’s an interesting interview by NPR on “How Cynthia Rylant Discovered The Poetry Of Storytelling.” The award-winning author talks about her life growing up in a West Virginia coal mining town and then she addresses the topic of writing and the creative process. 

 

SCHMOOZE

Yesterday the Southwest SCBWI chapter held its annual Holiday Schmooze. We all had a fun time, snacking and talking about books, what else? One of our members was kind enough to host the party at her lovely home. If you are a writer or an illustrator and haven’t yet joined the SCBWI in your area, you should. There are so many benefits to being part of this great organization. Find out what SCBWI can do for you.

 

 

Reprint rights: Permission to print an already published work whose first rights have been sold to another magazine or book publisher. -- Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market

Conflict in Your Story

Does your story have enough conflict to keep the tension up and the reader interested?

 

“Try stuff. See what happens. Let the justification come later. Just continue to think trouble, trouble, trouble. Make it worse. Turn up the heat. That’s conflict, your best friend as a writer.” That is what Brian Klems’ post on the Writer’s Digest blog, “5 Tools for Building Conflict in Your Novel,” addresses.

 

He assigns five tools to help the writer who is struggling with conflict in the story. They are: “The

New Mexico

Novel Journal, Questions to be Answered, Dreams, Ongoing Mystery, and Guy with a Gun.” You might want to read this article if your story is lacking conflict.

 

And here’s some awesome stuff. Reading nooks. Do you have a favorite reading nook? I do. A very comfortable armchair by the fireplace. What’s yours? Take a look at these creative reading nooks on the Book Riot blog. Like I said – awesome!

“Good writing is clear thinking made visible.” – Bill Wheeler

Picture Book Month

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day. I just returned from a trip to San Jose, California. Spent the Thanksgiving holiday there. Beautiful weather, lovely place.

 

Before the month of November is over, I’d like to share this post on the Picture Book Month blog. It’s about interviews with famous authors on the subject of why picture books are important. Make sure you read it if you’re into writing picture books or even if you’re not. The discussion is super interesting.

 

One of the interviewees, author April Pulley Sayer, writes: “A picture book is a delicious form. There’s just enough time for a journey, a concept, a bit of push and pull of language. A picture book can refresh you, teach you, comfort you, and help you set sail into real life with inspiration…” Visit the blog above for more.

Never try to chase trends. Write what you love, and write the best book you can, and worry about publication later. – Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner

Make Every Word Count

Words have power. As writers, we know that. So when writing, we need to make sure we use our words wisely. On the Highights Foundation Workshop blog, Writers on the Move, Patti Lee Gauch, former editorial director at Philomel, posted  some rich details such as “ … to write with simplicity we must use concrete words; concrete nouns. Be specific. Use words wisely. Understand what particular means. Objects have great value, such as a woman wearing the same hat.”

 

And on the same post, Newbery award-winning author, Linda Sue Park, writes about “… analyzing each and every word. Every word has to work hard. A noun that appears in the first part of the book is not a force unless it is repeated at the end.” 

 

On the Publishers Weekly blog, this post, "Inside Stories About Memorable Books” is about interviews conducted with twenty prominent editors talking about their memory of a “personally meaningful children's book project” they worked on. It’s an insightful read. 

 

Note: The Bookshelf Muse blog has moved to Writers Helping Writers.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

F&Gs: Folded and gathered sheets. An early, not-yet-bound copy of a picture book.—Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market

Literary Agent Representation

I am very happy to announce that I now have an agent and am being represented by the Hummingbird Literary Agency. It happened at the summer SCBWI conference in Los Angeles. Founder and agent, Mira Reisberg, and I hit it off. We talked, emailed back and forth, she asked to see some of my work, and a few weeks later, we signed a contract. I’m looking forward to a long working relationship with Ms. Reisberg who has worked as an illustrator, writer, editor, art director and designer. A woman of many talents!

 

Here’s an interesting guest post on the Cynsations blog: “Ammi-Joan Paquette on An Abundance of Book Releases: How Much Is Too Much?” How does one handle having too many books released around the same time? (We should all have this problem, right?) Ms. Paquette handles this in a very professional manner. See for yourself.

SCBWI: The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.