HI, My Name Is Sharon & I'm A... (and some thank yous)

Can you define who you are as a writer?

 Are you a picture book writer? A magazine writer? A chapter book writer? A middle grade novel writer? (Tween as HarperColllins calls them.) A young adult writer? An adult writer?

Let's break it down more...

Do you write strictly in one genre?  Do you have one target audience?

I'm just curious...

I'm still trying to define myself...I have written and submitted magazine stories, picture book manuscripts, chapter book manuscripts, and am working on a mid grade and a ya...

I'm not defined...yet...Are you?

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Random.org has been my friend as of late...the postlady has been delivering me lots of goodies and I had some wonderful people to thank...hopefully, I'll entice you into hopping over and checking them out...


It all started with Candace at Candyland sending me a copy of LIAR.  If you don't know Candace...she is the sweetest, funniest person in blogland, but today she needs a hug...so hop over and give her some REAL TLC...

Then a package came from the brilliant Tricia Goyer.  She sent me two of her Generation X Books!  Tricia has authored twenty books and lives in Arkansas.  Her blog is full of great advice.

Then the newly agented and soon to be released author Terry Lynn Johnson sent me a handful of her bookmarks (which I will share in the future), Lemur Troops & Critter Groups, Tilly's Tale, The Giving Meadow and The Emerald Tablet.  If you like the outdoors, adventure and animals you'll adore Terry!

To top it all off Sheri Larsen hosted the I Got U Blogfest...it was all about talking up a blogger you respected. (I did Buffy.)  It was such a great idea that I joined in  and...Sheri sent me a lovely book...A Great and Terrible Beauty.    If you are looking for an awesome interview or book review...hop over, you'll find one at the Writer's Alley!

My TBR pile is HUGE, but I'm not complaining....I'm really grateful for all these wonderful books.  I LOVE BOOKS!

BTW...Please introduce yourself...Hi, my name is...and I ....(if you are published in one genre please tell us and if you are a writer in another genre please tell us that too... If you are unpublished (like me) tell us what you write.) 

Thanks for stopping in today!!!  Happy writing everyone!

Feeling Down???

Do you ever feel like you're never going to get what you want? 

 Sometimes it feels that way.  No matter how cute you are, or how talented you are nobody notices...

(It's enough to bring a peppy puppy down to her knobby knees.)

I know what I want...

 And I'm willing to do anything to get it...

 even beg, if I have too...

Because the payoff...is delicious!

Will you know what to do, if you get what you want?  (I'm talking about marketing strategies here people...)

Happy Writing, Friends!  I hope all of you get a big jar of happiness this week. 

Thanks for stopping in  everyone and a special thanks to Elana for hosting the Compelling Character's Experiment this weekend....

P.S. Amy's having a contest in honor of banned books week...so hop over and join in on the fun!

Creating Compelling Characters From Within...

As I looked at   Elana's (compelling characters) list I thought to myself, what can I contribute to the conversation?  I don't have a book (yet).  I'm not agented (yet).  What do I bring to the table?  I decided I bring experiences to the table...and what do characters need?  They need  experiences.  They must have suffered highs and lows.  They must have loved and lost.  They must have won  and been beat...  All of your character's experiences may not make it into the final manuscript or book, but defining them helps you develop their character.  :)

Just for fun I thought I'd give you a little bit of someone's life:

"Knowing that he had been a loving father to her was hard.  It made me want to leave, but I knew I had to stay and give him a chance to be a father to me, even if it was twenty years too late..."

Watch the world around you, listen to the people around you and take notes...You never know when you might want to use them. 

Do you listen in on conversations?  Do you keep notes?

Learning From Literary Agent Marietta Zacker

I can't say this enough...go to conferences...take risks... network...and if you have the opportunity to do an editor or an agent critique...DO IT!  I was chatting to some of the people around me, in the lecture hall, and was surprised to find out how few signed up for the critiques.  I wonder why that is??? (Anyway, I'm sure you want to know what I learned from Literary Agent Marietta Zacker.)

Marietta Zacker is a Literary Agent at the Nancy Gallt Literary Agency in New Jersey.  If her name sounds familiar to you it's probably because she is our dear friend Hilary Wagner's agent.  (If you haven't bought a copy of NIGHTSHADE CITY, you need to!  It is fantastic!!!! Yes, I used four exclamation marks...)

I read my pitch for A CAKE I WILL BAKE to Marietta and two other writers, then I read my manuscript.  (I was rather nervous and stammered a little bit...)  Then we discussed it.

Positives from Marietta:

*She liked my topic...

*She said I had a nice poem, but stumbled over some parts...

*My pitch went with my poem... 

*She liked my series idea...

*She liked my marketing idea...

Things I learned from Marietta:

*I need a defined main character, not "I"

*Rhyming books are a hard sell...

*If I was to change the main character to an animal rather than a person it would make the book even more fun...

*Sometimes rhyming sounds forced (even if it didn't feel forced when it came out of your mouth...ex: I'll mix in three eggs and white flour too, pour in some sugar and shout, "Yahoo!")

What will I do with this information? I will revise...I already have something in mind. (smile)  Do you like the name Zadie???  Is it fun on the tongue?

If you submit to Marietta, be sure to follow her guidelines and keep your query letter brief.  She is passionate about books and about her authors. She wants to see that you are passionate about your work... (In other words, know what you are writing about...immerse yourself in your writing...live your genre...)

Learning From Your One On One Critique...and HarperCollins

SCBWI-KS was top shelf!  Friday night kicked off with The Hire Wire Act, featuring Bruce Hale (which I will talk about more on another post), followed by some wonderful entertainment, an awesome display of faculty books, a books signing, and a great social event.  During The Hire Wire Act some of us snuck off to have One on One Critique sessions....I was lucky enough to land one with associate editor at HarperCollins Children’s Books, Maria Gomez.

Maria reviewed my historical fiction picture book called EVERYONE DID THEIR PART.

Positives: 
*She said I had a lovely voice!  (My heart about exploded...)
*Very vivid imagery!
*This is a very nice story but feels like the beginning of a novel.  (I let her know that I was also working on a mid grade novel for these characters.)

Things I learned:
*Might be a hard sell to trade publishers...She suggested submitting to scholarly publishers.
*Books set in other countries are harder to sell here.
*Kids don't read author's notes, so make sure if you want them to know something it's in the story.
*Watch that you don't repeat something...wasted words...
*Suggested changing it to third person rather than first person.

Maria is the second person in the industry to suggest  I make this into a mid grade novel.  (Smile)  I started writing it earlier this summer and have about 8 chapters completed.  You guys helped me choose the title for it...NOT A HOLIDAY 

When Maria suggested that I submit to a scholarly publisher I realized that several pieces I've written were geared to that market....So it looks like I need to do some research...

FYI...If you are going to submit to HarperCollins they now call middle grade novels Tweens....
       ...If you have a digital idea for a picture book manuscript include it with your query...
       ...A chapter book is between a picture book and a Tween  book it's for ages 7-10...
      ...All editors and agents looking for...  Manuscripts that are FRESH (have innovative plots with new twists), HIGH CONCEPT (stand out), HAVE DEPTH (multifaceted and well developed), and VOICE (have authenticity).

If you go to conferences, (you should go to conferences) spend a little bit extra and do the critique sessions...you won't regret it. 

I think some people are afraid to take the plunge with an agent or an editor...it is scary, but you will learn something...I promise! 

(When Maria said I should be submitting to scholarly publishing houses, it was like a light bulb went off in my head...I was a teacher for 17 years...I could write a lesson plan to go with most of my stories, so doesn't that make sense?  I just didn't see it...)

So Much To Say...So Little Time...

Thanks for dropping in and weighing in on pitches over the weekend.

 

(On my way to SCBWI-KS I had to stop and get a photo of this...I wonder how many writers live in Story City, IA?) 



(My first ever photo of me by me...LOL..I have a lot of wrinkles up close...)



The Greatest Job On Earth was a fantastic conference!  If you get a chance to go to an event in Kansas, GO!  Those ladies know how to put together a great event...I'll be sharing over the next few weeks some of what I learned, plus how my editor one on one  (smile) and my agent critique group went.  (smile) 

A couple quick notes...One of our favorite blog buddies is not feeling well and if you haven't had a chance to stop by his blog and say "hi," it might help pick up his spirits.

The Awesome Angela Ackerman is celebrating...she has over 1,000 followers.  She has some nice prizes, but she has one AMAZING  prize...A MENTORSHIP!  Your going to want to go and fill out her form...for sure!  If you are not familiar with her blog, you need to be.  She puts up great posts on writing.  You will learn from her...guaranteed!

I'll be back tomorrow with my first installment on SCBWI-KS...I'm telling you guys...It was great!!!

Have you been to a conference or retreat yet this year?  If not, do you have one planned?

GOING IN FOR THE PITCH...

 A CAKE I WILL BAKE

Thanks S.  I love the illustration!

The SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) Kansas Annual Conference begins Friday at 7 PM. There are going to be some amazing people there...I can't wait to meet them!   I even get to hang out with an old friend, Jessica.

I've been studying pitches this week (some of you have gotten frantic emails from me...THANKS for your help) with the hopes of cornering some unsuspecting agent or editor.  :)  I found some great links for you...and wanted to share part of an awesome email from my friend Randi Rivers an editor at Charlesbridge Publishing.

This is what Randi said when I asked her about pitches...

"To me it’s a lot like being a bookseller who’s hand-selling during Christmas season. You want to give the people to whom you’re pitching a sense of what happens in the book while enticing them to want more. Let’s see if I can do one off the cuff for a book I edited (What REALLY Happened to Humpty? by Jeanie Franz Ransom): Hard-boiled detective, Joe Dumpty, has until 5pm to crack the case and discover which character pushed his brother, Humpty, off the Wall.


From that pitch you learn the basic plot, the main character, the tone, and the genre—plus the mention of Humpty being pushed creates enticement."
 
& here are the links...
 
Rachelle Gardner gives you a full plan for what to do in an elevator...

Chris Richman at Upstart Crow Literary Agency gives a great example with CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.

Nathan Bransford did a great post on three different kinds of pitches.

You'll  see a few of our favorite blogging friends pitches at Cape Cod Children's Writers Blog.

So here's my 12 word, one sentence pitch for A CAKE I WILL BAKE... (It has plot, it has character (kind of), it has tone, I think you can tell the genre, and I think it gives a sense of enticement.  It also sounds like me.)

It's yummy, it's sweet, it's a gigantic kid baked and shared treat!

(Thanks for crossing your fingers for me, Lenny and Sebi!  I hope you are feeling better, Lenny!!!!)

Here are my other completed pb pitches:

--"Phyllis and her mum watch the herd of children walk down Buxton Road and decide who'll live with them until The War is over."

--"Rat is a problem solver until he meets Dragon and gets a problem of his own."
--"We-Have-Enough is a village in peril, thanks to years of wasting their resources, eventually everyone pulls together and saves We-Have-Enough."
--"Fun loving Spider Monkey plays a trick on Crocodile and ends up with quite a tail."
--"Sara finds comfort in her memories and in the clouds when her beloved grandma dies."

So here's your chance to practice...I'll be flexible...Pitch me your book in 30 words or less...

I GOT U, BUFFY...

I GOT U  is the brain child of Sheri Larsen.   She asked us to each pick a bloggy friend that we've had a special connection with and write a little something about them...

I chose someone special... I met her a long time ago...Well, time is relevant, isn't it?  I can't give you an exact date, but I think we met when I had about 40 followers...I liked her name...So I clicked on it, went to her profile, went to her blog, found a beautiful "voice" and a friendship was born.  :)

BUFFY ANDREWS

Buffy is an Assistant Managing Editor of Features and Niche Publications,York Daily Record/Sunday News and writes fiction for kids and teens.  She also is an active member of the writing community.  She is one of the founders of The inkwell.   It's a great growing welcoming community for both new and established writers and artists. It's full of resources and support that will help you be successful. (Did I mention it's free?)  On a more personal note, Buffy loves running is learning to play golf and is a very active community member.

Buffy has shown me so much support.  I can't tell you how many emails we have exchanged (and no we've never met).  She's offered me advice, critiqued pieces for me without me asking for anything in return...She's something special...I am so glad that I've always liked the name Buffy and my first cousin in NY has the same last name as Buffy...

BTW...her voice...Let me give you a sample of some of her lovely words...

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Ella's Dance (ya novel)

Logline: A young girl learns to live again when her grandma, who dies, leaves her 365 notes, one for every day of the coming year.

Opening: Ella stared at the alabaster urn the funeral director had given her. It was hard to believe that Grandma had become nothing more than a pile of white ashes. She longed to feel her grandma’s thick arms around her and to smell her sweet perfume that hung in the air like an August fog. How does a cream-puff-of-a-lady become a bag of brittle bones? she wondered.

Cancer. That evil C word. The word she had lived with for almost a year. The evil thing that had devoured Grandma like a vulture devours a dead carcass, gorging itself until its crop bulges and leaving nothing but splintered bones behind.

It was so unfair, Ella thought. Grandma Dorothy was all she had. And now her beloved Dorothy was gone, off to an Emerald City from which she would never return. And Ella was left with nothing but the damn alabaster urn Grandma had picked out before she died. Picked out like everything else.

The hymns that would be sung.

The biblical passages that would be read.

Even the flowers that would sit beside the urn on the pedestal table.

Picked out everything like it was some damn picnic…

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Here's a link to some other samples...

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I'd like to share a few of Buffy's Tweets...I think they tell a lot about her...

*Writing is that thing that gives us peace.
*Writing allows me to be someone I'm not.
*Revising reminds us that our writing can always be better. Strive for the best.
*Writing is like opening an unexpected gift. It surprises us and makes us smile. I love unexpected gifts.

I hope you'll hop over and meet Buffy...You won't regret it...

She's got great voice, Baby!!!

WOULD IT MATTER...

WOULD IT MATTER IF I WAS GONE???  After all I'm just one of many.  There are so many more like me.  So many that can do the same thing as I do.  Am I really any more special than any other cow?  My birth was for one reason and for one reason only.  (This is a dairy cow...I couldn't bring myself to take a photo of a cow that would be harvested for its meat...)

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Sunday we ride...

Sunday I think...

I gave up meat (other than fish and crustaceans four years ago) because my daughter did.  I wanted to make sure she was getting enough nutrients.  So I adopted her chosen lifestyle.  I cook meat for my husband...no big deal.  But when we ride...and I see animals penned up awaiting their doom I get sad.  I know they were put here for us to use, but I can't get over that feeling...

Are there any other vegetarians/ mostatarians out there?

THAT DAY...

NINE ELEVEN

What were you doing that day? 

I was in front of my classroom.  We didn't believe it, it sounded like fiction.  We didn't have cable TV.  We didn't really know what was going on.  Teachers began heading to the hallways with their cellphones calling people who had access to CNN.  It was true.  We were told not to say anything to our students.  I hugged each one of my fourth graders as they left the building that day... They had an early release day scheduled.  By the time they got on the bus we knew something awful had happened, we didn't know if it was over.  We didn't know what was next.  It was the last day before a 6 week fall break (It was a year round school system.).   The administration MADE us stay for the rest of the day for training.  Can you imagine that any of us learned anything?  None of us had still seen the news.  A friend had borrowed my car, so I was relying on her for transportation.  Her husband came and to me when they finally released us and took me to his house.  I remember seeing it on the news in his kitchen.  I remember the air being sucked out of me.

Do you remember that day?

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families that were and are still affected by the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 and to all of the military families and civilian families that have been affected as a result of the tragedy. 

Quirkiness In Your Characters

I'm a good dog.  I only sit on Dad's chair when invited (or no one is home).  I know how to lay down, how to go to sleep, how to beg, how to roll over, how to get my belly rubbed, and how to sit on my pillow.  I even know what toy to get when Mom says, "Where's rope? or "Where's ball?"  I always bring the right toy...even if I have to look for it all over the house.  I don't go upstairs...EVER!  Ginger lives up there and she doesn't really like me.  Sometimes she will let me lick her if Mom's holding her in the family room, but she doesn't like it.

I have a confession...I have a problem and I don't know how to stop doing it.

You probably can't tell by looking at me that I even have this habit, but it drives everyone in my house crazy.  I don't think it's such a bad habit.  I've seen some of the things people do.  Throw litter on the ground, spit in public, not cover their mouth's when they cough and worse...much worse.  Mom's writing about a girl who cuts herself.  Why would anyone do that?

  I'll bet you can't even tell what my quirky habit is?

I don't really care if my right ear is shorter than my left ear...I'm not looking for a husband...

Your characters must have real flaws in them...They must have highs...They must have lows...or they're going to be boring..

I'd like to thank everyone for stopping in and reading my post about my new critique partner.  You put a smile on his face...If you haven't checked out Lenny's blog hop over and I'm sure you'll leave with a smile and a friend...

Surprises Come In All Shapes, Sizes and Ages...

I can’t tell you the exact date that I met Lenny, but I can tell you it was around the time Stripes died. I stayed in bed with my computer and my remote for about two weeks. Sounds silly, but I was sad…really sad.

I think it went something like this: I was on Susan’s blog and I saw Old Kitty’s picture and name, click… saw Brian’s picture, click…saw Lenny’s comment and click I had a new friend.

About a month later I got an email from Lenny…He had gone out of his way to find out what S.M.A.R.T. goals were because of a comment I had left somewhere in blog land. AND then he had taken the time to figure out my email address (which wasn’t so easy because I didn’t have it showing on Blogger) and sent me an email.

Lenny is a writer. Lenny makes me smile. I know when I see his name in my comment section I’m going to have one of those feel good moments. I know when I see his name on your blog you’re going to have one of those moments too.

Lenny is almost ELEVEN and likes cake a lot. I like cake a lot. In fact, I like it so much I wrote a picture book (manuscript) about baking a cake. I DVR three cake baking shows! Back in June, I joined the Next Top Title Blogfest and lots of you guys (including Lenny) liked my title A CAKE I WILL BAKE. Lenny mentioned my title in a comment recently…it made me think. He remembered my title! I was super surprised! I asked him if he would like to critique my picture book and he said yes. I was thrilled!

Lenny did a great job critiquing A CAKE I WILL BAKE! He wrote almost a whole page of comments for me.

He told me things he likes:

-i like the title cause its real catchy

-its real easy to read and that riming makes it fun

-its got cool fun words. i love the word dump. ha ha. and i like the word yummy

-its a happy story and could have lots of happy pictures with it

-being an i poem is cool for when a kid reads it cause it makes him feel like its about him

-its got a good message for sharing with someone and with dad.

And things he thought I could do better:

-i read it out loud and some parts of it got a little slower or got me stopped for a minute cause it lost its beat.

-i didnt like sticking that teddy bear on the top. i could like it better if it was a chocolate teddy bear and not the favorite for real one. yikes it could get all sticky and messy and maybe get ate up.

And then his brother Sebi threw in his ten cents too. I have to say with their help A CAKE I WILL BAKE made some big improvements and I can’t wait to present it at an agent lead critique group at SCBWI –KC in a couple weeks….

If that weren’t enough…I came home from running errands (yesterday) and found a package on my front porch. I was a bit confused because I wasn’t expecting anything. When I opened the package this is what I found.

TWO HUGE VOTES OF CONFIDENCE!!!

Thank you so much, Lenny and Sebi! I’m so glad we're friends…Your encouragement means so much. (You two will be the first people I email when I sell A CAKE I WILL BAKE!)

I truly hope every one of you has someone in your life that surprises you with encouragement…Please feel free to share!

PS...Have a safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend!