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SCBWI Florida- Picture Book Intensive

Jun 21, 2012 | , , , | 9 Comments

The SCBWI Florida workshop in Orlando, FL consists of two days. Friday is a day of intensives that focus on a writer’s craft in a particular genre.

This year I decided to break out of my usual YA mold and stretch myself. I took the picture book intensive with Sylvie Frank, associate editor at Holiday House, and Andrea Davis Pinkney, a New York Times best-selling and award-winning author and Vice President Executive Editor for Scholastic.

I was so impressed with the expertise and professionalism that both of these ladies had. After taking their workshop, I came away with new knowledge of how to use the economy of writing when creating a picture book as well asย using a picture book dummy toย determine if my pacing was on target.ย 

Excellent advice from Andrea: there is no such thing as writer’s block! I also loved how Andrea gave us a duel perspective on publishing. She showed usย a book from theย side of a writer and then turned the tables and showed us how an editor would think about that same project. I found that fascinating and it really gave me a new perspective on publishing.

Sylvie had us create aย picture book from paper so we could better understand how the picture book is laid out. Once we made ours, we then looked at the pacingย of the picture bookย andย how to determineย if our story’s plot wasย strong enough.ย 

If you’d like to try, here’s a great link to get you started.

SCBWI Florida Conference

Jun 20, 2012 | , | 3 Comments

This past weekend I attended the SCBWI conference at Disney World in Orlando, FL. I had an amazing time and got to learn under brilliant editors and talented authors.

Here’s a short video clip of what I’m planning to share with you about the conference:

Asian Literature- THE EMPTY POT

Jun 14, 2012 | , , | 3 Comments

Today’s highlighted book on Asian literature is a picture book,ย THE EMPTY POT, by Demi. This is a beautifully crafted story about a Chinese emperor who must chooseย aย successor toย his throne. Heย gives every child a seedย with the proclamation to plant it. They must return to the Emperor to see who has produced the most beautiful flower. Thisย is a test to see whoย is worthy to succeedย him.

Ping is thrilled toย complete this task because he loves flowers just as muchย as the emperor. But when the time has passed and Pingย has to stand before the emperorย with an empty pot,ย Pingย has to makeย decisionย whether to tell the emperor the truth or a lie.

What I love about this book:ย How the message of honesty is woven into the story without sounding preachy. The illustrations are rich and timeless and match the story perfectly.

What is unique about this book: I thought the ending was unexpected and satisfying.

Why should you read it? This story is set in ancient China. It’s a great way to get exposed to new cultures and new perspectives.

Favorite lines: “Because the Emperor loved flowers so much, he decided to let the flowers choose.”

Congratulations to Susan Laidlaw!

Jun 4, 2012 | | 6 Comments

Big congrats to Susan Laidlaw, one of my writing buddies from the MiG Writers. Her book, INFIDEL IN PARADISE, is to be published by Tundra Books! She even has a release date, which will be on Feb. 12, 2013.

Her YAย is about a Canadian girl whose family moves to Pakistan. As attends the international school there, she deals with family adjustments and her own identity in living in a foreign country. And of course there’s a romance that blooms between the main character and one of the Pakistani boys.

Susan currently teaches at a British school in Jakarta, Indonesia,ย but before that she taught in Pakistan which inspired her to write INFIDEL. Not only do I love Susan’s writing, butย she reallyย capturesย the life of an expat andย the students attending international schools. It’s a true picture of the realities of livingย overseas.ย 

This is a book that I know you’ll love and the ending… oh the ending… is a page turner. You won’t be able to put it down!

Win the ARC of Surrender by Elana Johnson

Jun 1, 2012 | , | 14 Comments

I was very fortunate to receive an ARC of Elana Johnson’s latest book, SURRENDER. This is the non-stop action packed sequel to POSSESSION.

Here’s the blurb from Amazon:

Forbidden love, intoxicating power, and the terror of controlโ€ฆ
Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her fatherโ€™s rules: Heโ€™s the Director. Itโ€™s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talentโ€”a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raineโ€™s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just canโ€™t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Viโ€™s boyfriend, Zenn.

Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raineโ€™s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. Sheโ€™s even starting to suspect Viโ€™s secrets might involve Freedomโ€™s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barqueโ€ฆ.

Before I even opened the book, I couldn’t help fall in love with the cover. It hasย such powerful imagery. The colors and simplicity of it captivated me.

And as I opened the cover and allowed myself to be immersed in Elana’s world, I found the writing to not disappoint.

What I love about this book: Wow. What to choose? I’d have to say the action. There wasn’t a dull moment here and I found the pages flew beneath my fingertips.

What makes this book unique: The technology. Elana’s mind blows mine. Where does she come up with this kind of stuff? E-boards, enhancements, hoverboards, spiders, and caches. She takes superhero qualities and mixes them with modern technology to create a unique world.

Why should you read it? The struggle. I found Raine’s struggle to be free from her father’s control, yet needing to find purpose in her world an excellent pull. Raine is a character a reader can identify with. It’s refreshing how she deals with her struggle instead of just relying onย a cute boy. She’s strong and independent, yet she knows when to seek help from her friends.

Favorite lines:

“Can you brainwash me?” the Director asked.
“I believe I can, sir.”
“I believe you can too, Mr. Jameson.”

Are you intrigued yet? If so, comment below to enter to win the ARC of SURRENDERย by June 9th. Earn an extra point if you tweet about the contest (mention that you tweeted it in the comment section).

Check out Elana’s blog too!

The Hobbit

May 31, 2012 | | 7 Comments

I just can’t handle how excited I am about this:

And yes, when hubby and I went to New Zealand we totally backroaded it to try to find the Lord of the Rings movie set. Of course, we nearly ruined the rental, but it was worth the attempt.

Happy Memorial Day!

May 29, 2012 | | 6 Comments

First of all, I’d like to announce the winner for THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT CHARLIE. The autographed book and swag goes to….

Andrea Mack!!!!!

Today is Memorial Day here in the States. I am so thankful to all those who sacrificed to allow my family and I to live in safety and peace.

To celebrate, we went to the beach in spite of the tropical storm north of us. It was so cloudy and stormy looking that I hardly recognized the beach.

The beach we went to is one of our favorites, Sand Island. It’s located on the gulf side of Florida and it’s small and quaint.ย 

There aren’t many waves, but it’s a great place to catch crabs and Willy’s has some yummy crab cakes.

Caleb evenย built a storm shelter so we felt completely safe from any encroaching danger.

We only stayed a few hours before we got rained out, but even still we had lots of fun.

The Downside of Being Charlie Book Launch

May 19, 2012 | | 12 Comments

Last Thursday I went to the book launch of THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING CHARLIE by Jenny Torres Sanchez. It was held at Barnes and Noble over by University of Central Florida and the place was packed.

Here’s the blurb from Amazon:

Charlie is handed a crappy senior year. Despite losing thirty pounds over the summer, he still gets called โ€œChunksโ€ Grisner. Whatโ€™s worse, he has to share a locker with the biggest Lord of the Rings freak his school has ever seen. He also canโ€™t figure out whether Charlotte VanderKleaton, the beautiful strawberry lip-glossed new girl, likes him the way he likes her. Oh, and then thereโ€™s his mom. Sheโ€™s disappearedโ€”againโ€”and his dad wonโ€™t talk about it.

Somewhere between the madness, Charlie can at least find comfort in his one and only talent that just might get him out of this life-sucking place. But will he be able to hold his head above water in the meantime?

When I arrived, my writing buddies, Jess and Larissa, also drove up and the three of us joined the long line to get our autograph copy of THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING CHARLIE.

Unfortantly we arrived five minutes late so we missed Jenny’s little speech on what inspired her to writeย the book. But we did get our autographed copies (they were going fast!) and we snuck in a picture with her.

We hung out at the store for a while and got to chat with some other writers from the area and talked about… writing. Of course.

I’m so excited about this book that I’m giving away an autographed copy, a bookmark, and pin. Just fill out this rafflecopter form before May 27th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Link Love!

May 15, 2012 | | 7 Comments

Congratulations to the Bookshelf Muse on their release of the Emotion Thesaurus. They are doing a fun launch celebration by allowing others to show Random Act Of Kindness. I love how creative and inspirational they are.

(And a side note, thank you Larissa for those kind words! Right back at you!)

Are you stuck in the endless waiting cycle? Check out my post on Hurry Up and Wait over at the MiGs.

All last week Beth Revis interviewed some talented authors over on her blog. Check it out!

Check out Jennifer Laughran from the Andrea Brown Agency’s post on Everything About Author Events. She has a wealth of knowledge you don’t want to miss out on.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi has made a blog that will share the process involved in creating her two picture books for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Here’s the blurb she wrote about it:

One is from an illustrator’s perspective:
The I’M BORED Scrapbook documents the creation of I’M BORED, a new picture book by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by yours truly, coming out from Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers in Sept/2012. This blog includes photos, sketches, process notes, comics as well as quotes from the author, editor (Justin Chanda) and art director (Laurent Linn).

The other is from a writer/illustrator’s perspective:
I’ll also be posting in Inkygirl about the very first picture book that I’ll be writing AND illustrating (just recently got the contract from Simon & Schuster, yay!). I’ll be posting about the process, what I’m learning, what happens at various steps and what they mean, the people I interact with at S&S and what they do. I’ll be sharing some of the templates I create for myself to help with workflow, plus give you a peek of what goes on inside Simon & Schuster BFYR later on in the process, after I’ve handed in my finals.

And do you have the widget for Jessica Soudersย RENEGADE? If not, Safari Poetย created an awesome one thatย you can get here.

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