TRAVELING WITH MY MUSE

Channeling Sophia Loren

  I've had a three week hiatus from blogging while my family and I had a truly terrific vacation in Italy with my parents, brother and sister. We then flew to Ireland for my brother's wedding at an Irish castle in Waterford, south of Dublin. Needless to say, that means I didn't get much writing done either. But just because I didn't get much down on the computer or on paper, doesn't mean my muse was dormant. My travels around bucolic Tuscany with its vineyards, medieval walled cities set high on hillsides, and the hustle and bustle of busy Florence begs for a travel article to be written. My brother's wedding in an ultra-romantic setting on the grounds of a centuries-old castle could be a piece on romantic weddings or Irish weddings or a focused article on the location—Waterford castle. Inspiration is everywhere!

The streets of San Gimignano, Tuscany

The main piazza in Sienna

A well-made cappuccino

Jason and Sylvia's wedding at
Waterford Castle, Ireland

BOOK REVIEW — AUTUMN STANLEY'S "MARCIE'S DAFFODIL"

      Marcie’s Daffodil, written by Autumn Stanley and illustrated by Ji Young Lee, tells the story of Marcie who brings home a daffodil bulb from the garden store one winter and eagerly follows its growth and awaits its Spring blossoming. There is a theme here somewhere (is it the cycle of life? Patience? That hope springs eternal despite disappointments along the way?), but it gets buried in narrative that’s somewhat unfocused and convoluted, and as a reader, I can visualize the path, but never quite find my way.
   Overall, it’s a sweet and gentle story, and there are moments when the cadence lulls like a lullaby. The language is most definitely kid-friendly and imagery such as the raindrops being the tears of the flower fairy is lovely. Lee’s softly muted sketches complement the story well, and lend it a serene and harmonious feel.
    However, the book seems to be more of a vignette or series of scenes of Marcie going through her daily life waiting for her daffodil to bloom rather than an actual story with a beginning, middle, and end. Characters are introduced such as her siblings and the babysitter, Mrs. McBride, that don’t seem to have much to do with the story. No interactions happen with them. Some segments, “Marcie felt like crying, and she also felt like stepping on one of Parker’s turtles” seem disjointed. It’s not clear how one thing has to do with the other. 
   At times the narrative is slowed by more “telling” than “showing” as in “Mama suggested to Daddy that he might build a small fence around the daffodil...and since the next day was Saturday, he did just that.” Why not just show him actively building the fence? Better yet, have him build it with Marcie?
   But I think my biggest contention with the book is the bombshell that gets dropped at the end. Marcie’s mom who is expecting a baby had to be taken to the hospital. “We’re not going to have baby after all,” Daddy explains, suggesting either a miscarriage or a stillborn child, but there is no resolution to this thread. What did daddy mean? Where did baby go? It’s a heavy theme to lay on kids without further discussion. Even daddy doesn’t explain it to Marcie in the book.
   The story ends sweetly with Marcie wanting her last surviving daffodil to go to her mother when she comes home from the hospital. But here too, there seems to be a disconnect as Marcie doesn’t even question or ponder the fact that the baby she’s been expecting isn’t coming home.
  There’s a certain amicability to Marcie’s tale and Ji Young Lee’s illustrations are tender and alluring. But like most self-published books, it could have benefitted from more extensive editorial oversight.

Reviewed for BookPleasures.com

PROMOTION AND MARKETING—WHAT WORKED FOR ME

    Frances Caballo, social media guru, Redwood Writers Club vice-president, and founder of ACT Communications, a site offering social media services, and some very informative blog plots on all things Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest et al. (you really ought to check out her site), interviewed me for the Redwood Writers Club blog. Check it out here: Spotlight on Natasha Yim, and find out what marketing and publicity venues I found most helpful for promoting my latest book(s)!

HOOKED ON BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT

I've been taking a break from writing and indulging in my other obsession today — watching Britain's Got Talent. Yep, those eccentric Brits know how to entertain, what with dancing dogs, farting song tunes, and attempts to break the world record for—eating Ferrer Rocher chocolates. But there are moments, when a performance shines with such heartfelt emotion and the purity of the singer's voice that it begs to be watched or listened to over and over again. For me, Sam Kelly's rendition of Adele's "Make You Feel My Love" was it.

HORRIBLE HAUNTINGS—AN AUGMENTED REALITY BOOK

   Augmented Reality books—it's the pop-up books of the 21st Century! In October 2012, just in time for Halloween, Goosebottom Books will become the first publisher to offer this innovative technology in book form with its release of Horrible Hauntings, a collection of ten ghost stories. How it works is this: you download a free app for your iPhone or android, iPad and other tablets (available June 1), then point your smart device at one of the pictures in Horrible Hauntings to see the ghost come to "life"  in 3D. It's an absolutely amazing interactive experience, and very life-like! Check out the preview here:



   Augmented Reality has the potential to become the wave of the future in book publishing, but a book like this is really expensive to produce so I'm urging all you literary connoisseurs and book lovers out there to support this project through Kickstarter. Pledges can be anywhere from $1 and up, and you'll get some free gifts.

ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE CELEBRATION

   Goosebottom Books publisher Shirin Bridges and I will be presenting at the Asian Pacific American Heritage celebration at the Foster City Library this coming Saturday, May 26, from 12 pm. - 12:30 pm. The event is from 10:30 am. - 4:00 pm. and will feature Chinese music lessons, a poetry workshop, speakers/presentations throughout the day, and vendor booths. Stop by and check it out!

ALL ABOUT PICTURE BOOK DUMMIES

   Do you need to send illustrations with your picture book text to publishers? What is a picture book dummy? How do you make one? Check out my guest blog post on picture book dummies on Chris Henderson's blog, The Write Chris.

DASTARDLY DAME AUTHORS CELEBRATE CHILDREN'S BOOK WEEK WITH PRESENTATION

   Four of the Dastardly Dame authors—myself (Cixi, The Dragon Empress), Gretchen Maurer (Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary), Janie Havemeyer (Catherine de Medici, The Black Queen), and publisher Shirin Yim Bridges (Agrippina, Atrocious and Ferocious) will be presenting at Book Inc. Laurel Village in San Francisco tonight, May 10, 6 - 7 pm. as part of their Children's Book Week celebration. We'll be signing books as well. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, stop on by and say "Hi"!

SHIRIN BRIDGES, JANIE HAVEMEYER, 

GRETCHEN MAURER, and NATASHA YIM at 

Books Inc. in Laurel Village

• San Francisco Events

Start: 05/10/2012 6:00 pm

Celebrate Children's Books
Week! Come to the Dastardly
Dames panel featuring authors
of The Thinking Girl's Treasury 
of Dastardly Dames series: 

SHIRIN BRIDGES, JANIE 
HAVEMEYER, GRETCHEN 
MAURER, and NATASHA YIM.

Location: 

3515 California St.

San Francisco

, 

California

94118-1707

United States

• Calendar
 
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THE THINKING GIRL'S TREASURY OF DASTARDLY DAMES WINS IPPY AWARD!

   The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Dastardly Dames has just been awarded a prestigious Independent Publishers Book Awards silver medal for Multicultural Non-Fiction/Juvenile Teen YA! And earlier last month, the series made Booklist's Top Ten Non-Fiction Series for Youth. 

STACIE THEIS INTERVIEWS ME ON BEACH BOUND BOOKS

   What inspired me to become an author? What were my favorite books as a child? How did Cixi, The Dragon Empress come to be? All these questions and more answered on Stacie Theis' blog, Beach Bound Books.

I NEED FRIENDS FRIDAY BLOG INTERVIEW BY SARAH M. EDEN

   My lovely hostess, historical romance novelist, Sarah M. Eden, and I chat about our fantasies of being rich and famous authors, our favorite foods, continents...and oh yes, writing...on her I Need Friends Friday blog: 

RAYCHELLE MUHAMMED INTERVIEWS ME ON THE WRITER'S BLOCK

   Wow! Some days I look back on my week and realize, that was one heck of a busy week! My interviews by Raychelle Muhammed of the Writer's Block, and Stacie Theis of BeachBoundBooks were posted. Sarah Eden conducted an interview with me via an IM chat box and posted it on the I Need Friends Friday segment of her blog. I chaperoned my daughter's field trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and attended the terrific SCBWI Spring Spirit Conference in Rocklin, California. I'll note some insights and impressions of the conference once I've had a chance to digest it all a little. 
   In the meantime, read about my journey to becoming an author, how Cixi, The Dragon Empress came to be, and how I've promoted my work on Raychelle Muhammed's The Writer's Block. I'll post the other interviews in upcoming days.

ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE REDWOOD WRITERS' PLAYWRITING CONTEST!

   I've been hard at work on the outline for my middle-grade novel—12 chapters and counting! I think it will be around 15 chapters or so. It's a great accomplishment for me to have gone this far on a longer work as I usually get distracted or stalled around chapter 5 or 6 and move on to other projects, which is partly the reason I've been mostly a picture book writer. However, this story has been aching to be told for about   a year now, so it's time I buckle down and write it. 
   What this has meant is that I'm quite tardy on announcing the winners of the Redwood Writers' play writing contest, of which I was one of the judges. The judges (Lennie Dean, Michael Fontaine, Linda Loveland Reid, and yours truly) met last Tuesday, April 3, to discuss our selections. Interesting process. I think every writer should be on a judging panel for some contest at one point or another. 
   a) You really get a feel for how different reading tastes and opinions can be. Plays that struck a chord with me didn't necessarily strike a chord with my fellow judges and vice versa.
   b) It gives you an insight to what it's like to be on the editor's or agent's side of the desk, combing through the myriad of submissions to find the ones that match your "list". In our case, what would make good theatre.
   c) It's a great exercise in negotiation and compromise. There were plays that we all liked and thought should be produced. There were a few that we didn't really agree on, but we discussed the merits and flaws of each play, and made the final decision based on how well it fit into our general judging criteria (more on that in a bit). And yes, we were all very mature about it, and left with limbs intact.
   So without further ado, the winners of the 2nd annual Redwood Writer's Playwriting contest are...drumroll please...

Malena Eljumaily                           Special Delivery Nancy Lockard Gallop                  There There, Now Gene Griffith                                 Gravediggers Teresa LeYung-Ryan                    Answer Me Now Elaine Maikovska                          The Play Is the Thang Amanda McTigue                          Turn The Other Harry Reid                                    GPS Elizabeth VanPatten                       Dream Girl Jean Wong                                    BFF

CONGRATULATIONS to all the playwrights! You will truly enjoy the thrill of working with a director and seeing your story come to life on stage. Theatre is a collaborative effort, so make sure you attend rehearsals if you can. Dialogue can sound very different spoken out loud than when read on paper, or even hearing it in your head. I've tweaked lines during production because they sounded awkward when spoken on stage or didn't quite ring true for that character.
   Now for the judging criteria: in selecting the winning plays, the judges looked at plot, characters, dialogue, and overall balance of program for the entire evening. This meant we tried to include plays with varying themes, lengths, and styles.   
   For those of you whose plays were not selected this year, please submit again next year, or submit your play elsewhere (read on for resources for play submissions). 

   Helpful tips to remember:

1) Ten-minute plays are NOT skits. They have a beginning, middle, and end, and character arcs.

2) Theatre is a visual medium. Something should be happening on stage. Two people merely having a conversation around the dining table is less interesting than situations where something is happening to your characters. Move them around. Give them something to do.

3) Dialogue should move the plot forward. You have only ten minutes (in this format) to tell your story. Don't focus on small, idle chit-chat leading up to the main event. Begin "in media res"—in the middle of the action.

4) Ten-minute plays are usually produced as part of a festival or evening line-up of short plays. There is no time for set or scene changes within a play. Between plays, you might have an average of one and a half minutes to change sets for the next play. Budgets are low for such productions, so plays with too many props, even if they have spectacular dialogue and an intriguing plot often don't get selected. When you're writing ten-minute plays, keep the sets simple.

5) Character arc. Yes, there's not much time for character development, but good ten-minute plays still have character arcs. Characters learn something different about another character or themselves. They make different decisions at the end of the play than they would have at the beginning. There is a change that happens.

   For other tips on writing the ten minute play, click here to check out the links I had included in an earlier post about writing the ten-minute play. 

   And if you're looking to submit a play elsewhere, here are some venues worth checking out:

The Tapas Short Plays Festival—deadline May 1st, Guerneville. No submission fee.

The Estro Genius Festival—celebrating women's voices in theatre, for women playwrights or plays by men with strong female themes and characters—deadline June 1, New York. Submission fee: $10

FireRose Productions—deadline March 31 every year, Los Angeles. Submission fee: $5

Mendocino College New Plays Festival—deadline Feb. 14 every year, Ukiah. Submissions should be sent to Jody Gehrman, jgehrman@mendocino.edu. No submission fee.

The Burryman Writers Center—a fantastic resource for places to send your writing to, not just for plays. It has a good list of play festivals.
Short+Sweet Festival—this is the largest ten-minute theatre festival in the world with venues in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Australia; India; Singapore; Malaysia; New Zealand. Submission fee: $18 AUS, but your play will be considered for all 10 of their festivals. They accept submissions all year round. Note: they do get about 2000 submissions a year. 2 of my plays didn't make it in earlier years, but the 3rd time was a charm for me: my play "Playing with Knives" was produced at the Newtown Theatre in Sydney, Australia.

MONDAY MUSINGS—GREAT BEGINNINGS

   I just outlined a new middle grade novel I'm about to start which got me a lot to thinking about Beginnings. There are two points in the novel I could be starting—one takes place in school which sets up the main character's problem: being bullied in school, having a lack of self-confidence etc., and the other at home as the protagonist's family prepares the ritual for Ching Ming, an annual Chinese festival of paying respects to ancestors. Both of which will give a glimpse into the protagonist's world, and launch the conflict. 
   Agent Jill Corcoran (Hermann Agency) has a great blog post Activate Your Story about how to craft great beginnings that will hook your reader. 
   That being said, don't worry if you don't get it right the first round, or second—or third. The most important thing is to get your story down on paper, then you can play around with the beginnings. Many writers toss out their first chapter after they complete the book. Sometimes your first chapter is your last chapter. Where to begin your story is often a challenge for writers, but we don't always know if we've begun it in the right place until we finish the story.


   So, Happy First Drafting!

BOOK REVIEW—"I HAVE A RESTAURANT" BY RYAN AFROMSKY

   In his first picture book, I Have a Restaurant, author Ryan Afromsky utilizes his experience as a restaurateur to take kids on a playful inside tour of a restaurant from the arrival of the staff, set up, deliveries, food preparation to clean up at the end of the day. Kids have such a natural curiosity about how everyday things around them work, and Afromsky uses simple, kid-friendly language to provide a behind-the-scenes peek of the day-to-day operations of a restaurant.

   Complemented by Ron Noble’s charming and expressive illustrations, the author does a really good job distilling the complexities of running a restaurant into a light-hearted romp through the restaurant owner’s day. From the name of the book’s restaurant “Ryan’s Place” to the caricature-like illustrations of Ryan to the author bio. in which we find out that the author started his own restaurant, Melt Down Etc., at 26, we can assume that the main character, Ryan, is the author himself. This very personal approach gives the book a chummy, arms-around-the-shoulder feel that is appealing.

   Afromsky’s conversational tone and uncluttered prose keeps this story engaging, and children turning the page. As with most picture books, I tested this one on my kindergartner who was captivated by the story and drawn to the colorful illustrations.

   As with most Kendahl House Press books, a set of questions at the end of the book helps enhance kids’ critical thinking skills and makes this book an interactive experience for the child and the adult reader.

Reviewed for BookPleasures.com

TO BE OR NOT TO BE...PANDA

   My final revised manuscript of Goldy Luck and the Three Chans was approved by the powers to be at Charlesbridge last week, so we're good to go. My editor tells me I should be expecting my first advance check in April. Yay! 
   They're still in the hunt for an illustrator and have decided to look for an Asian artist to better capture the Asian elements of the story. Currently, the suggestion is to depict the three Chans as panda bears which is okay with me—it could be quite cute actually. However, I thought that changing the title to Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas would be over-doing the cuteness and you would lose that element of surprise. Plus, the three Chans has always been inherently funny to me. 
   Anyone want to weigh in on this?

BOOK REVIEW—"LETTER BEASTIES" BY RON NOBLE

   Letter Beasties is a “monstrous” alphabet book by author/illustrator Ron Noble. Each letter of the alphabet is a beast or creature from familiar folklore. There’s Alien Beastie, Kraken Beastie, Werewolf Beastie, Zombie Beastie. For parents who may be concerned about whether you should be telling tales of werewolves and zombies to your kids at bedtime, don’t worry. The vibrant and whimsical illustrations of beasties in the shapes of the letters they represent are charming and humorous. They brought a few chuckles to my six year old kindergartener. Now, there’s high praise indeed.
   The verses are simple and very readable with two lines per page in a large, font-size (excellent for those of us who left our reading glasses in some netherparts of the house and are too lazy to go get them—we are, after all, tucked snugly in bed for storytime!). The rhyming is fun in a roll-off-the tongue way (“U.F.O. Beastie zips across the sky, Vampire Beastie becomes a bat who can fly.”), when the writing does rhyme. However, it doesn’t always and this can be a little disconcerting to the adult reader (“Igor Beastie works in a mad scientist’s lab, Jackyl Beastie plays fetch on the desert sand”). When the rhyming structure abruptly changes, it trips you up.
   Kids though will be so delighted by the colorful and fanciful beasties, they will barely notice the rhyming. My son proved this by eagerly turning the page to see the next beastie while I was pondering the rhyming structure.
   Another clue that a kid likes a book? They’ll ask to read it again...and again...and again...

MY FIRST BLOG AWARD!

   Thank you to Elizabeth Stevens Omlor who nominated this blog for the Sunshine Blog Awards. It's my first blog award, so I'm mighty proud and grateful. 
   The parameters of the Sunshine Blog Award are:

• Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog
• Answer 10 questions about yourself
• Nominate 10-12 other fabulous bloggers
• Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated
• Share the love and link the person who nominated you.

1. Favorite color: Purple, particularly maroon and burgundy

2. Favorite animal: Cheetah

3. Favorite number: I never got this. How can a number be a favorite? Numbers don't really do anything—except give me a tremendous headache. I guess if I had one, it would be 1,000,000—dollars in my bank account, that is. 

4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Coffee. Can't write without it. Well, I can, but then I'd be very crabby.

5. Facebook or Twitter: Facebook

6. My passion: Writing, naturally. And reading (never enough time for this, though). Oh, and yes...laughter. I'm big on laughter in my life. Which is why I have such a wacky sense of humor. I laugh at things nobody else finds funny.

7. Prefer giving or getting presents: Both. If someone gave me a case of dark chocolate Toblerones...well, I wouldn't turn it down. I hate shopping (the teen me would die to hear me say that!), but when I come across something that I think would be perfect for someone, it's very gratifying. 

8. Favorite pattern: I prefer solids, but anything in purple might catch my eye.

9. Favorite day of the week: Friday evening. Ahhh...the whole weekend ahead of you. No rushing around the next morning fixing school lunches and hurrying the kids to school.

10. Favorite flower: I try not to have one. Flowers all die on me, so I try not to get attached to any. I have a very black thumb (namely because I keep forgetting to water anything that grows). I have a collection of withered plants and flowers on my kitchen windowsill. If 'favorite' means what would most likely survive under my care, then it'd have to be the cactus.


   Over the next few weeks, I'll be looking at blogs I can pass the Sunshine Blog Award to. So, if you have a blog about writing or writers (I'm looking for blogs that are most helpful to other writers or ones that'll have me rolling in the aisle), please leave me a comment with a link to your blog. When I've compiled my list of 10 or 12, I'll post it here.
   In the meantime, Happy Blogging!

MONDAY MUSINGS—WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A SUCCESSFUL WRITER?

   I have taken the last week off from writing to organize my receipts and log them into my writing expense spreadsheet so I can send it off to my tax accountant. It's humbling. I spent twice as much in writing-related things (conferences, website update, travel etc.) as I made in writing income. There were items that I won't incur again next year like the ALA convention, the cost for my website update etc., and I'm still waiting for payment for two articles that have already been published. But still I need to assess where to cut back. Writing conferences? (I only allow myself one or two a year). And conferences are important for professional development, networking, and yes, book promotion, if you have one. My beloved Green Gulch writing retreat? It comes around only once every six months, and is my one good chunk of uninterrupted time. I hate to give it up, but maybe I'll go just once a year. The price has increased, after all. 
   Last year was my most successful writing year to date: I got an agent, my picture book biography Cixi, The Dragon Empress was released by Goosebottom Books, four of my ten-minute plays were produced in Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, Guerneville, and Sydney, Australia (one was accepted for production at the Short+Sweet Festival in Singapore if the festival itself hadn't been cancelled at the last minute), I had an article published in Faces magazine, signed a contract to write Sacajawea of the Shoshone for Goosebottom Books, due out in Oct. 2012, and sold a picture book manuscript, Goldy Luck and the Three Chans, to Charlesbridge Publishing (pub. date Jan. 2014).  But I certainly didn't make enough money to support myself as a writer.
   This all leads me to thinking: what does it take to be a successful writer? Okay, we've already ruled out money, obviously. My friend, YA novelist Jody Gehrman, and I recently discussed how the yardstick for writing success keeps moving up. First, you want to be published; then you'll really feel success if you had more than one book published; next, if you make more money than you spend as a writer; then if you make enough money to support yourself as a full-time writer. When you finally get there, the yardstick will probably move again. You'll really feel like you've arrived if a publisher will offer you a multi-book deal. Then what? The Newberry?
   Face it folks, we're not in it for the money, right? We write, and we write for children, because we love the process, the journey. It's a hard, long road. Whether it's on a magazine article, a play program or a book, the thrill of seeing our name in print   and sharing our stories is why we do this. The J.K. Rowlings of the writing world are few and very far between. Success in whatever form requires hard work, perseverance, a willingness to be open to feedback and to spend countless hours revising to polish that manuscript. The writing life isn't for the faint of heart. Laura Backes, publisher of Children's Book Insider, has a great article on The Mindset of the Successful Author.
   So, relish in the journey, and may the Muse be with you!

MONDAY MUSINGS—HOW TO DISECT YOUR NOVEL WITH A SCALPEL

   There are some blog posts that are too good not to share. Ever tried to fix an unwieldy novel, but the more you revise, the further you sink into the quick sand? Chuck Wendig's (author of the novels Blackbirds and Mockingbird ) hilarious post 25 Ways to UnFuck Your Story offer some specific tools for revision and identifying story problems that bog down your tale. 


    *WARNING*  Wendig's post contains adult language, so if that sort of thing makes you blush...


   It's a hilarious read though, and if you're stumbling to your desk half-asleep, it'll snap you awake like a double shot of expresso.

BOOK REVIEW—TOBY, THE PET THERAPY DOG AND HIS HOSPITAL FRIENDS

    Toby, the Pet Therapy Dog and his Hospital Friends is a picture book by Charmaine Hammond, a follow up to On Toby’s Terms, Ms. Hammond’s first book about Toby, the five-year old Chesapeake Bay retriever she and her husband adopted.

   Toby is a pet therapy dog who visits sick children in the hospital. Through his patience, and unconditional love, Toby makes the children’s hospital stay a little brighter.

   This simple chronicle of Toby’s day at the hospital gives children (and parents) an insight into what therapy dogs do, and the emotional and spiritual benefits their presence can have. From playing with the kids, dozing to stories told by the nurse at story time, and keeping an older patient company in the garden, Toby’s happy visits are much anticipated not only by the young and old at the hospital, but by Toby himself.

   Being in the hospital can be a frightening experience for a child, and a lonely one, if the stay is long. Pet therapy animals like Toby can have a significant impact on reducing that stress. Toby and his Hospital Friends demonstrates what an important job Toby has. The language and the pictures are simple and easy to understand, and kids will enjoy following Toby on his rounds visiting with different patients.

   A list of questions at the end of the book help engage children in thinking about the story and can promote meaningful discussions between adult and child.

   Books can assist kids in addressing their fears, be it of dogs, doctors, or hospitals, and give voice to anxiety they may have a difficult time expressing. To this end, the gentle story of Toby and his Hospital Friends will definitely appeal to its target audience.

Reviewed for BookPleasures.com

MONDAY MUSINGS—POWER POINT PRESENTATIONS

   Welcome to Monday Musings, my attempt to organize my posts into a more consistent schedule, so I'm hoping to post every Monday on writing-related stuff from publishing, editing, and writing tips to helpful links for writers, school presentations, and what I'm doing or not doing writing-wise, and how you can learn from my mistakes and successes (hopefully).
   So, I'll begin my first Monday Musings to say that I am in LOVE with power point presentations—ever since I figured out how to put them together with Apple Keynotes which is so much easier to use than Microsoft's Power Point. 
   The thought of doing an assembly school visit used to have me shaking in my boots. What? Speak to 100 kids in an auditorium? I'd much rather make 3 separate visits to individual classrooms. But a month ago, my publisher arranged for an assembly visit at a school in San Mateo, and I was forced to put together a power point presentation because I couldn't see how listening to me talk for an hour was going to be engaging enough or how it would work to hold up my book and have it be visible to the kids in the back of a large hall. Fortunately, I didn't have to do this visit alone. Janie Havemeyer, author of Catherine de Medici, The Black Queen, and I did this presentation together. It was fun, the kids were really engaged and engaging, and I got a huge boost in confidence—yes! I can do school assemblies!
   Last Monday, I did two school visits, Salmon Creek Elementary School in Occidental, and Guerneville School in Guerneville. The first was to about 50 4th and 5th graders, and the second was to about 100 4th - 8th graders. Again, I was partnered up with another Dastardly Dame author, Gretchen Maurer, author of Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary. Having done one large assembly using power point, I felt so much more relaxed. Through visuals of ourselves as kids, families (and pets, in Gretchen's case—that one elicited a few "awwws" from the audience for her dog, Ozzie), snapshots of early writings, images of reams of revision notes from editors, pictures from the books and other sources about our dastardly dames and the times in which they lived, we were able to summarize in a 45 minute nutshell who we were as authors, our writing and revision process (always much appreciated by teachers), and the story of our subjects.
   So, if you intend to use power point for your next school presentation, here's a few pointers I've learned:


1) Kids love to know that authors were kids once themselves, so put some pictures of your early life in there.
2) If some of your early writing was lucky enough to have survived your childhood, kids and teachers love knowing how you became interested in writing and being a writer, and that the seed of writing doesn't always have to begin with stories or poems. It could be taking notes in a scrapbook, writing letters to pen pals (as Gretchen shared), or keeping a journal.
3) Kids LOVE humor, so funny pictures are a big hit: pictures of you as a toddler or pre-schooler, your kids, family pets etc.
4) The revision and writing process–many teachers are focusing on this in classroom assignments so teachers appreciate when writers share how much revision goes into the writing process to make the work publishable. And kids like knowing that they're not the only ones getting their work marked up.
5) Technological whatsits. Okay, so this is not always easy for writers. Generally, we know how to turn on our computers, find the word processing program, cut and paste, and that's about it. If you know a tech savvy teen who can help you, you're way ahead of the game. I had to spend some time learning all the special effects I could add to my power point. Fortunately, with Keynotes as I said before, after familiarizing myself with where certain bells and whistles were located and how to add them to my slide, it was pretty simple. And the kids love the little image of the airplane I had flying across my map of the world from Hong Kong to California that showed them how I came to the United States.


   If you want to learn how to use Keynotes, here's a clear, concise tutorial to get you started. And if you want to learn Power Point, click here to get a free tutorial download.
   School visits used to be an author's bread and butter in terms of book sales, but with budget cuts, and tighter budgets for everyone including parents, it isn't that way anymore, so don't fret if you travel a distance for a school visit and don't sell many books. Here's something I've learned: school visits are not about selling books, it's about connecting with kids. And if you and your story resonates with kids, you've done your job as an author.






    

INSIDE THE LITERARY DELIVERY ROOM

   Ever wondered how books are printed and what a modern printing press looks like? For most of us writers, we've never even been inside our publisher's offices much less where the books are printed. So, here's a quick and fascinating peek at the birth of a children's book, UK author Helen Ward's Snutt the Ift from Little Pickle Press.

SNEAK PREVIEW OF SACAJAWEA BOOK

    My new picture book biography for Goosebottom Books, Sacajawea of the Shoshone, will be released in October 2012. I'm very excited to reveal a sneak preview of the cover.

   Check back here for announcements of my blog tour, book giveaways, discounts and more!

THINKING OF STARTING A BLOG TOUR?

   So, you have a book coming out? First of all, CONGRATULATIONS! That's a huge accomplishment. And you thought the hard work was done! It really is just beginning. Marketing and Promoting is not usually a writer's forte, but it's the reality in today's publishing climate. So, where do you start to get buzz? A blog tour is a good option. If you arrange one on your own, you can do it from your own home, and it's relatively inexpensive. There are, however, a few things to keep in mind:


1) Find blogs that mirror what you do. For example, I write children's books, so I'd look for blogs that blog about or review children's books.
2) Choose a schedule that works for you. Do you want to have a blog post every day for a month? That might entail finding 30 different bloggers to host you. Or maybe you just want to have a blog post twice a week.
3) Follow your targeted blogs for awhile to see if the posts/guest posts are in line with your expectations. Remember, anyone can set up a blog out there, so all blogs are not made equal. Do those blogs share the same philosophy? Goals? Are they well-written?Professional in tone or presentation (having a post on a sloppy, amateurish blog can reflect on your book and image as an author too)?
4) Offer something in exchange. A free signed copy of your book that the hosts can use for a giveaway. Promote their blogs on your social media sites and your website. Offer to guest blog for them or host them for any future book tours.


Here are some helpful sites I've found to get your blog tour started and for finding those bloggers:


The Quickest Blog Tour Guide Ever
The Book Publicity Blog
A Blogger's Books
KidLitoSphere Central
Dear Editor.com


Happy Blog Touring!

HOW EDITORS READ SUBMISSIONS

   As a writer, sometimes what happens on the editor or agent side of things is such a mystery. Why didn't your submission get accepted? Do they really read everything that comes through? What do they look for? Here's one editor's inside view. By the way, my friend Sandie Sing, posted this on Facebook, and it's a gem of a blog with interesting musings and tips from authors and editors. So, I'm happy to pass along for your reading pleasure: The Blue Rose Girls blog.

AHH...THE ELUSIVE CONTRACT FINALLY SIGNED!

   Yay! Finally inked my contract with Charlesbridge Publishing.We had done so much editing prior to acquisitions that there were only a few minor tweaks my editor Alyssa Pusey wanted to make. I'm currently working on some back matter (author's note etc.) and eagerly awaiting to see who the illustrator would be. The book is slated for a Jan. 2014 release.

BANANA PEELIN' MY WAY TO PUBLICATION

    I am a guest blogger on Elizabeth Stevens Omlor's blog Banana Peelin' today. It's about the trials and tribulations of getting Goldy Luck and the Three Chans through acquisitions to a signed contract (or contracts as it turned out to be). Publishing can be a long—very long—arduous road, but good things can come to those who wait. So, believe in your story, believe in yourself, keep working on your craft, and never give up!

REDWOOD WRITERS PLAYWRITING CONTEST

   For all you aspiring playwrights out there, the Redwood Writers Club (the Northern California branch of the California Writer's Club, one of the oldest writers' club in the nation), is having their 2nd Annual Playwriting contest. Submit a ten-minute play for a chance to see it produced and performed. It's short, it's fun, and there's nothing like seeing your words come to live on stage. My play "Offing the Witness" was one of 6 selected last year, and I am honored to say that I was asked to be one of the judges this year. Click here for rules and submission guidelines.
   Never written a ten-minute play before? Here are a few sites to get you started:
How to Write a 10-Minute Play
Ten Minute Play Structure
How to Write a Good Ten Minute Play