THE ROCK MAIDEN LAUNCH DAY!

   I am thrilled to be announcing the launch of my new picture book, The Rock Maiden, a re-envisioned folk tale from Hong Kong. 

When her husband is lost at sea, Ling Yee climbs every morning to the top of a cliff to watch for signs of his return. Tin Hau, the Goddess of the Heavens, takes pity and turns Ling Yee and her child into stone so that they would mourn no more. Only then does the fisherman husband find his way home. Will the family forever be kept apart? Or will devotion and faithfulness ultimately be rewarded?

Check out The Rock Maiden blog tour, and a chance to win a free book:

MARCH 1: Mia Wenjen, Pragmatic Mom - free book or free Skype visit

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MARCH 3: Jeff Barger, NC Teacher Stuff

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MARCH 7: Sheryl Hagan-Booth, Booth Talks Books

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MARCH 10: Susanna Hill, Susanna Leonard Hill's Blog

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MARCH 14: ReaderKidZ, reviewer Nancy Bo Flood

MARCH 20: MaryAnn Scheuer, Great Kid Books

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MARCH 22: Pam Margolis, An Unconventional Librarian

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MARCH 28: Stephanie Kammeraad, Mama-Lady-Books

The Rock Maiden can be purchased at one of these locations:

Wisdom Tales Press
BarnesandNoble.com (and any of their brick and mortar stores)
Amazon.com
Natasha Yim's website

SUBMISSIONS OPEN — REDWOOD WRITERS' FAN FICTION CONTEST

In addition to being a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), I am also a member of the Redwood Writers Club, the largest chapter of the California Writers Club. Since June of last year, I have taken over as the General Contest Chair for the club, overseeing all our contests. In 2017, our contests include Fan Fiction, Screenwriting, and Historical Fiction.

The Fan Fiction contest launched on Jan. 8, and is open for submissions until Feb. 19. Here is contest chair Margie Yee Webb with the details:

Permission to post this video was granted by Coach Teresa LeYung-Ryan who says: "Redwood Writers are truly awesome!"

More details can also be accessed at the Redwood Writers Fan Fiction contest page.

Please check back here or at Redwood Writers for upcoming details on the Screenwriting and Historical Fiction contests. 

Happy writing and submitting. We look forward to reading your work!

NEW YEAR — NEW VISIONS

Happy New Year! Another year, another series of goals—writing or otherwise. Some people like plunging ahead without a specific plan and see where Life takes them. I admire that spontaneity. But for me, I prefer to have a road map. It keeps me organized and it provides a vision of where I want to go and how to get there. Sounds like outlining a novel, right?

For those of you who like road maps and setting your writing goals for the year, try creating a Vision Board. Check out these tips on how to create one: Make a Vision Board, Epreneur, and Pinterest Samples. You can use very simple tools such as a white board or cork board or large poster paper with markers. You can also create them with your normal desktop publishing programs or word processing programs such as Word or Pages then print out and post on your wall.

If you're like me, and love online tools, try creating a Pinterest Vision Board or use Canva. Don't want to create from scratch? Check out Foto Talisman and Betty Vision for vision board templates.
Here's one I created 3 years ago.

However, annual goals, I found out, didn't work that well for me. I have to break them down into daily or even monthly or quarterly tasks. So, I've been using Week Plan to create my goals. What I like about Week Plan is that I can list some longer term goals as well as create daily tasks. I can also assign different roles (which I do with a different color) for writing, personal, Mom tasks etc. so I can keep track of the different goals for different aspects of my life.

The key though, as with writing or anything else, is do what works for you. Most New Year resolutions fail because people create resolutions or try to meet their goals using approaches that simply aren't productive or doable for them.

So, try kicking off your writing with new goals and new visions, but if goal-setting isn't your cup of tea or hampers your writing style or creativity, then by all means, plunge ahead and see where your writing takes you this year!

What goals/visions/plans have worked for you? 

JUMPSTART YOUR WRITING WITH WRITING CONTESTS

   Last month, I talked about the power of conferences to revitalize your writing and boost your muse. Today, the topic will be on how writing contests can do the same thing. Are you feeling stuck on your project? Stumped for story ideas? Hit a creative brick wall? Writing contests can be the jumper cables to your stalled creative engine. And they're fun! Here are a few to get you started:

1. REDWOOD WRITERS PROMPT CONTEST

Write a 1,000 word fictional tale based on this photo prompt:

For Submission guidelines and contest rules, see the flyer below or visit the Redwood Writer's Club website. 

2. THE WRITER MAGAZINE "THE DARKEST HOUR" SHORT STORY CONTEST

Write a 2,000 word fictional short story using any nuance, definition, or understanding of the word "dark." Enter at The Writer.

3. THE STORY SHARES WRITING CONTEST

Registered users must submit a story between 1,000 and 10,000 words ("Qualifying Story") and designate the story under one of the following categories: 1) Diversity, 2) Historical Fiction, 3) Fantasy, 4) Horror/Suspense or 5) Teens by Teens. For contest info. and submission guidelines, visit Story Shares.

Check out these other lists of writing contests:

Funds for Writers

The Write Life 

Poets and Writers

Good luck! And may the Muse be with you.

JUMP START YOUR WRITING WITH CONFERENCES AND WEBINARS

With Robyn Murphy infront of our house
rental on the Mendocino Coast.

   I attended the Mendocino Coast Writer's Conference during the first week of August—and came back inspired and refreshed, ready to tackle my writing. Editor Laura Atkins' Young Adult and Middle Grade workshop was fantastic. We had a lovely group of participants who gave specific, constructive yet gentle feedback on each other's manuscripts; I met another Ukiah writer who is interested in joining the SCBWI Mendocino County Meet and Greet; and, as always, I had fun hanging out with my writing buds, Amanda Conran (author of The Lost Celt) and Robyn Murphy.
   Conferences are such a great way to meet people and network with industry professionals, as well as learn more craft techniques (I learned about the "scaffolding" process for outlining your book, and that my novel should be middle grade, not young adult—a huge vision shift). In spite of receiving a partial scholarship to attend this conference, the total costs, including accommodations, can be quite pricey.

At the Hill House with Robyn Murphy and
Amanda Conran

   If time or money doesn't allow you to attend a writing conference right now, there are some good online options. Currently, I'm taking a Novel Master Class with James Patterson. Yes, that James Patterson. At $90, this 36 session webinar is reasonably-priced. You can watch the videos at your own pace, in the comfort of your own home. Of course, what you get out of the webinar depends on what you put into it. I highly recommend doing the "homework" assignments (don't worry, they're not very time consuming) and watching some additional links such as Mr. Patterson critiquing novel loglines submitted by former students. There are different webinars with a "Master": screenwriting with Aaron Sorkin, singing with Christina Aguilar, acting with Dustin Hoffman. Access these webinars at www.masterclass.com, and learn from a Master of the craft!
   And if you write for children, Mira Reisberg and the Children's Book Academy offers a series of wonderful webinars on all aspects of creating children's books, http://www.childrensbookacademy.com.
   Till next time, happy learning—and writing!

RENEW, REJUVENATE AND REBIRTH YOUR WRITING

   Aaah, Spring! It's the time of rebirth, rejuvenation and renewal. I love this time of year, when the days get longer, the sun smiles down upon us (in California anyway), warm but not blistering hot, birds twitter in the early morning air...and I'm thinking this is as good a time as any for the rebirth and rejuvenation of my blog as well. No, I'm not changing anything drastic, but it's lain dormant for too long. I do want to focus this year on topics that other writers would find more helpful though, so if you have anything you'd like me to explore, research, or post here, let me know. 
   Since Spring can also be a renewal time for our writing, I'd like to start with upcoming writing conferences and workshops. My sister, Shirin Yim Bridges, publisher of Goosebottom Books and Gosling Press wrote this great post about the Power of Conferences on her blog. To add to her list, here are some other workshops, conferences, retreats to jumpstart your writing:

BASIC SCRIVENER FOR WRITERS, Saturday, April 30, 2016, 2 pm. - 4 pm., Walnut Creek, CA. - Join me for this hands-on two hour workshop. I'll walk you through how to get started with this powerful writing tool. Bring your laptops! Register here. You can download a free 30-day trial of Scrivener here. 

BOOK PASSAGE YOUNG ADULT AND MIDDLE GRADE INTENSIVE WRITING WEEKEND, July 16 - 17, Corte Madera, CA. Participants will have a chance to not only learn and network but to workshop! The panels will cover information for both new and established writers like how to make your query letter stand out, marketing and promotion, developing ideas and how to writer a compelling narrative. There will be many opportunities for faculty and participants to talk, laugh, and exchange ideas in workshops, lunches, and dinner.

SCBWI SUMMER CONFERENCE, July 29 - Aug. 1, Los Angeles, CA. - The SCBWI conference is a rare opportunity to meet and network with the most influential group of the key decision makers in children’s publishing. A brilliant array of children’s book authors and illustrators will inspire you with their knowledge and vision, and help you bring your craft to a new level.

MENDOCINO COAST WRITER'S CONFERENCE, August 4 - 7, Mendocino, CA. - Workshops, craft discussions, panels, agent pitch sessions, manuscript consults on the beautiful Mendocino coast. Scholarships are available. Fees and registration here.

PUBLISHING BOOT CAMP, August 7, Mendocino, CA. - Shirin Yim Bridges—who leads this popular program internationally—will work closely with writers who want to visualize and plan a publishing strategy. Whether nonfiction, poetry, fiction, or children´s literature, the publishing world is wide-open these days, with more options than ever before. A box lunch is included. Plan to spend the day on-campus and learn the latest about publishing, whether or not you have an agent.

SCBWI GREEN GULCH WRITING RETREAT, Sept. 9 - 11, Mill Valley, CA. Need some time to write away from the distractions of traffic, family demands, and that never-ending pile of laundry? This is a great writing retreat for children's, YA and middle grade writers.

WRITING WORKSHOP OF SAN FRANCISCO, Saturday, Sept. 10, 9 am. - 5 pm., San Francisco, CA. - a one-day "How to Get Published" workshop. Agent pitch sessions and manuscript critiques available. The early bird registration fee of $149 is fairly inexpensive as far as writing workshops go.

PACIFIC COAST CHILDREN'S WRITERS WORKSHOP, Sept. 23 - 25, Santa Cruz, CA. - This intensive seminar offers editor or agent feedback on selected whole-novel manuscripts, including two in-person consults with a mentor, and editor and agent critiques on your polished, opening chapters. Register and apply here. Manuscript critiques are due April 30!

Next week, we'll explore writing grants and awards!

JOIN ME FOR "CASUAL COFFEE"

Do you live in Mendocino, Lake or Sonoma County? Do you write for kids and teens? Join me at the first ever Mendocino County Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) "Casual Coffee"!

TAKING THE NANOWRIMO PLUNGE

Okay, I'm taking the plunge! Yep, the NaNoWriMo plunge. If you haven't heard of NaNoWriMo, it's National Novel Writing Month, in which writers attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I've long wanted to try this challenge, but never attempted it because:

a) 50,000 words is daunting
b) The rule is: start from scratch and write 50,000 words without looking back. When NaNoWriMo rolls around every year, I'm always in the middle of projects and don't have something I can "start from scratch"
c) Not looking back? For someone who often starts off with reading and revising the last thing I wrote, this is like telling me to grow two heads.
d) I have three kids, and my writing time is often interrupted. I have gone from a consistent daily writing routine to writing in spurts. NaNoWriMo will require me to write about 1,666 words a day. I'm lucky some days if I can get 200 words in!
d) 50,000 words is daunting

The reason I decided to take the plunge this year is because:

a) There is NO NaNoWriMo police. If I don't finish 50,000 words, I'm not going to get hauled off to jail—or get sent to a writing work camp in Siberia (although that does sound kind of nice—except for the cold). So, what do I have to lose?
b) If I only make 20,000 words, not 50,000, that's 20,000 words more than I have now
c) I have a novel I have started on, but want to completely re-write from scratch
d) It'll give me an excuse for sitting my butt in a chair and churning out words.
e) There is actually a whole writing support community on the NaNoWriMo website. Yes! A whole writing tribe! Along with writing tips, writing events, write-ins in your local region (physical locations where you can actually write with other writers participating in NaNoWriMo).

Okay, so who's taking the plunge with me? If you do, don't forget to tap me as a NaNoWriMo Writing Buddy.

READING BEGINS WITH LEARNING TO READ

   In my last post, I talked about the need for diversity in children's literature. Today, I'm going to back up a step — it doesn't matter much if books have diverse content if children cannot read them. Sept. 8 was International Literacy Day and Grammarly.com has a literacy campaign dedicated to supporting literacy around the world and putting books into the hands of children in need. The following infographic from Grammarly.com shows the staggering statistics — 757 million adults around the world can't read or write; 124 million children or adolescents do not attend school. In the U.S. alone, 32 million adults are illiterate.
   Help fight illiteracy: share this infographic on your blog and Grammarly will donate $10 in your name to one of these three literacy-promoting charities of your choice: 

Reading Is Fundamental
First Book
ProLiteracy

To get the embed code, check out Grammarly's blog post. If you share the infographic, please attribute it to Grammarly with a link to https://www.grammarly.com/plagiarism-checker. Once you've published the graphic on your site, drop Grammarly an email to let them know which charity you've chosen and they'll make the donation on your behalf. 



   I've joined First Books as an Author in Action. When I receive my personal url from them, I can use it to help promote their cause to get books into the hands of underprivileged children and to help programs and schools serving disadvantaged kids get free books by linking them to First Books.
   The best part of being an author is when I get to read my books to kids and see their faces light up with delight when they hear a story. Every child deserves to experience that.

A BEAUTIFUL QUILT ... DIVERSITY IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

  This summer, my family and I traveled to Malaysia and Singapore to visit my parents. For those of you who have never been in that part of the world, it's an absolute sensory delight. Wherever we went, the aromatic intermingling of ethnic foods permeated the air and tantalized our tastebuds — mouthwatering curries, chicken and beef satays (meat grilled on a stick), sweet and sour crab, Roti Canai (pronounced Cha-nai, an Indian fried pancake). A multitude of languages — Hindi, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Tagalog — intertwined their different melodies like an orchestra warming up before a performance— scratchy and disorganized, each instrument in different keys, but enticing our ears to the beautiful harmony to come. Our eyes feasted on the reds, oranges and greens of festive saris, the browns and blacks of shapely batik sarongs, the strangely foreign sights and smells of local fruits like the pungent durian, prickly rambutans, and succulent lai-chees. This was diversity in its truest form—raw and fascinating, a small window to a larger world.
   Diversity (or the lack thereof) has been a big topic in children's literature of late. Just about every writing conference features a panel on diversity or at least, a discussion lamenting its under-representation in publishing. So, what is diversity and why is it important? Diversity is defined in the Webster online dictionary as "the state of having people who are different races or who have different cultures in a group or organization." 
   The world is made up of different people with different lifestyles, different cultures, traditions. When you can weave them all into one seamless, harmonious society, it's like creating a beautiful quilt — every panel depicting a different scene, or even a different part of the same scene — but pieced together, they make a fascinating, eye-catching whole. And it's crucial that children see themselves as part of that fabric.
    At Back to School night at my daughter's high school last week, the principal announced that for the first time ever, the high school population has reached 50% people of color (mostly Latinos in our community) and 50% white. So, why is it, according to the Cooperative Children's Book Center's (CCBC) statistics, out of approximately 3,500 books received by the CCBC in 2014 (out of approx. 5,000 children's books published in that year), only 66 books were about Latinos and only 59 books were written by a Latino author; 112 books were about Asians or Asian Americans and only 48 books were written by Asian American authors; 179 books were about African Americans with 69 books written by an African American author? The stats are even lower for Native Americans — 15 Native American authors and 36 books about American Indians. For more on the CCBC's findings on diversity in children's literature and how they collect their statistics, click here. Here are a few more interesting articles on the topic:

Why Diversity in Children's Literature Matters by Jacob Hood.
The World of Children's Books is Still Very White by amy Rothschild.

   Online movements such as WeNeedDiverseBooks and Multicultural Children's Book Day have increased the focus on the need for diversity in children's literature. The Society of Children's Book Writers and illustrators (SCBWI) of which I've been a member since 2000, has now taken up this cry. Executive Director Lin Oliver says, "That we have recognized the need for more diversity is a crucial first step. But it's just a first step. We can't sit back and congratulate ourselves when there is so much to be done to implement our goal." Here are some tips Lin offers to support diverse authors and literature, Diversity: What We Can Do About It. The SCBWI also offers a Multicultural Work-In-Progress grant to support multicultural stories and writers.
   There seems to be an encouraging upward trend for more diverse children's literature as well as for authors of color. However, there is still a lot of ground to be made. Recently, a major publisher rejected my multicultural picture book with the comment that it was "too niche." Okay, so there could be other reasons the book wasn't acquired (didn't meet the publisher's editorial needs, wasn't the editor's cup of tea etc.), but until books about people from different races and cultures aren't classified in separate categories: African-American books, multicultural books, or even — God-forbid — niche books, the diversity disparity will never be overcome. As parents, authors, teachers, librarians, booksellers – and yes, publishers — it's our collective responsibility to ensure that diverse stories are not lost in an archaic cataloging system.
   Children everywhere deserve to recognize themselves in the books they read—and find themselves in the fabric of a beautiful quilt.

"OTTO'S RAINY DAY" AT THE FOX CREEK MUNICIPAL LIBRARY

   Roxanne Grumbach of Fox Creek Municipal Library in Alberta, Canada, reads "Otto's Rainy Day" and makes a "rainy day" craft.

PUBLISHING UPDATES ETC.

Wow! Sometimes my intention to take a short hiatus from blogging stretches a lot longer than anticipated. So, just a brief recap of what's happening in my writing world:

1) My picture book story "Lion Dancer" has still not found a publishing home. Grr...It has, however, been revised again for the umpteenth time. It's had one professional edit and has been submitted for another. In the meantime, my agent has submitted it to Charlesbridge Publishing and Scholastic but we have not heard back from either. Publishing can be such an excruciatingly slow process.

2) Speaking of excruciatingly slow processes, a picture book manuscript I wrote about 12 years ago, "The Rock Maiden", has just received an offer from Wisdom Tales Press. It's a re-envisioning of an old Chinese folk tale from Hong Kong, and over the years, I've been told that folk tales are a hard sell, editors are only interested in them for anthologies etc., etc. Sometimes, one has to wait for the right publisher to appear. I found Wisdom Tales Press through the Multicultural Children's Book Day website which I had participated in for the last two years and Wisdom Tales was a sponsor. Exploring their website, I discovered they focused on world cultures and published mainly multicultural stories. It was a perfect fit! They had an online submission process so on a whim, I submitted "The Rock Maiden" and didn't hear back from anyone for almost a year! Imagine my surprise when the President of the publishing house contacted me. The moral of the story is: Never Leave Any Rock (no pun intended) Unturned.

3) I am teaching a basic Scrivener workshop on June 6 for the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) at the Book Passage in Corte Madera, CA. from 1 - 3 pm. The workshop has sold out! I love this program so am looking forward to introducing other writers to it. Even if you're not registered for the workshop but want to come by for a chat or get a book signed, I'll be hanging out on the patio outside of the cafe from 3 - 4 pm.



4)  I attended the SCBWI Novel Intensive on May 16. Very informative and enjoyed the sessions on dialogue and voice, although I found the dialogue session with author Bill Konigsberg more helpful and better structured with participant involvement. In addition to learning about the craft of writing, these workshops also give me the opportunity to study other writers' presentation styles and consider what works well and what doesn't so I can incorporate new approaches to my own presentations and workshops.

If you're a writer of children's books and haven't joined the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, do so now! You will get support, resources, craft-based workshops, retreats, not to mention camaraderie with your fellow writers. Check out some of their upcoming events in your area here.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION ON DIVERSITY!

   Not sure if I can go to this yet, but it looks like a great event!

 

Register for the Event

 

STORY TIME WITH ERIN

   Thank you Erin, for sharing Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas!

CANADIAN STORY TIME AND A FIRECRACKER CRAFT

   It's always such a lovely surprise to stumble upon someone else reading my book. Here is Roxanne Grumbach, the librarian at Fox Creek Municipal Library in Alberta, Canada, reading Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas. She follows the story with a easy-to-make firecracker craft.

5 REASONS WHY EVERY WRITER SHOULD GO ON A WRITING RETREAT

    Two writing retreats in a row! That's what I call bliss. Much as I love my family, it can be a real challenge finding writing time with a day job and three kids (4 if you count my husband). So, it's important to feed your muse once in awhile. 

    Last week, I was at a SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) writing retreat at Green Gulch Farm in Muir Beach, California. It's a lovely Zen Buddhist meditation and conference center surrounded by groves of Eucalyptus trees. The rooms are basic (bed, chair, desk, lamp) but very clean and comfortable with floor to ceiling glass sliders that open out onto the lush grounds. Once in awhile, a deer might wander by. The Green Gulch Farm retreats occur about twice a year and ever since I discovered it 5 or 6 years ago, I've been coming  to every one. It's a magical environment for writing and delicious vegetarian food, much of it grown on site, is prepared and served in a community dining room. It's a great place to write and commiserate with fellow writers. In the evenings, we can share our writing in informal critique groups if we wish.

The octagonal-shaped guest house
at Green Gulch Farm

The atrium/living room with wood
fireplace where writers gather
for social exchanges (and a break
from writing)

The writing desk

Writing area in bedroom with glass sliders
that provide ample light and open out
onto the lush grounds

Simple but comfortable

   This week, a few writing friends and I have rented a small cabin in Gualala on the beautiful Mendocino County coast, right on the bluff of the Pacific Ocean. If this view doesn't inspire one to write, I don't know what will!

The deck of Serenisea, Cabin 5, our little writing cabin

   At Green Gulch, I was able to dive into revisions on a picture book project and plug away at my middle grade novel. This weekend, I hope to make more progress on the same.

   Here are five reasons why every writer should go on the occasional writing retreat:

1) It's amazing how a chunk of uninterrupted time can spur your productiveness
2) Only other writers truly understand what you're going through (Truly. The angst, the self-doubts, the disheartening rejections, the feeling of beating your head against a metaphorical brick wall), so it's nice to have like-minded souls to commiserate with.
3) Most writing retreats offer informal critique groups or, at the very least, an opportunity to get feedback on your work from fellow writers, whether in a group setting or merely exchanging comments and notes with another writer with whom you've connected.
4) Writers, in general, tend to be a very supportive, encouraging group. Unless you're very lucky, we've all started at zero, submitting, facing rejections, re-submitting and hoping that our little manuscript will claw its way out of the rubble and find the light of publication. I was almost ready to give up on my middle-grade novel, or at least abandon it temporarily, but with the encouragement of my fellow writers at Green Gulch, I got re-inspired and have broken through the writer's block and begun to work on this novel again (at least for the time being.)
5) Sometimes, there's nothing like being in a different surrounding to inspire your muse, especially if that surrounding is as serene as Green Gulch or as bucolic as the Pacific Ocean.

  Here are a few good places to look for writing retreats:
1) Retreats for Writers
2) The Writer's Retreat
3) The Elizabeth Ayers' Center for Creative Writing
4) The 12 Best Writing Fellowships and Retreats in the US
5) Green Gulch retreat for children's writers - check back here in July for registration for the September Green Gulch retreat.

   Happy Writing, everyone!

CHINESE NEW YEAR BOOK GIVEAWAY ANNOUNCED!

Congratulations to Karen Mikusak of Detroit, Michigan for winning the Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas Chinese New Year Goodreads giveaway! Your book will be on its way to you soon.

A TASTE OF CHINESE NEW YEAR

   For Chinese New Year, I made pot stickers, turnip cakes, fried noodles with Chinese sausages and rice. Yum!

Turnip cake batter ready for steaming

After steaming, the turnip cakes are sliced into squares and fried up nice and crunchy

Fried noodles with chinese sausages

These homemade turnip cakes are so much more flavorful than the ones in restaurants or the store-bought variety. If you'd like to try making these yourselves and have a copy of Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas on hand, there is a recipe at the back of the book. If you don't, I originally got his recipe from Kirk at this website, who graciously gave me permission to modify it and use it in my book.

Chinese New Year is a 15-day celebration, so it's not too late to try making these at home and welcoming in the new year. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

KUNG HEI FAT CHOI! GOLDY LUCK IS ON READING RAINBOW!

  Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy Chinese New Year! It's the Year of the Goat (or you may hear it referred to as the Year of the Ram or the Year of the Sheep). If you were born in this year, you are "creative, intelligent, dependable, and calm. You're comfortable being alone. Goats enjoy being part of a group, but prefer the sidelines rather than the center. Their nurturing personalities make Goats excellent care-givers. They're quiet and reserved because they spend much time absorbed in their thoughts. For more information on a Goat's personalty, click here.  
   I was thrilled to discover that Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas is featured on Reading Rainbow and read by LaVar Burton. Check it out!




   I am also participating in Skype in the Classroom's literacy campaign and World Read Aloud Day. So, If you are a teacher and are interested in a free Skype visit, please visit Skype in the Classroom for more information on requesting guest speakers for your classroom.

5 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD WRITE FOR CHILDREN'S MAGAZINES

 

   My copies of Faces magazine came in this week with my article, "The Boat Dwellers of Aberdeen Harbor". It's about the boat-dwelling Tanka people in Hong Kong, whose once thriving community of close to 200,000 people on Aberdeen Harbor have dwindled. 

   Apart from the thrill of seeing your byline attached to an article in a print magazine, here are 5 reasons why you should consider writing for children's magazines:

1) They're published more frequently so there's a...
2) Need for more content
3) Nonfiction exercises a different part of your brain than fiction, and it's a great mental  workout, kind of like stretching or weight-training before a big race, plus...
4) You learn A LOT of interesting stuff. Nonfiction research takes you down paths you might not have meandered down if you weren't looking specifically for information related to your topic.
5) You get to see your work in print a lot faster than with books (generally. My article for Highlights for Children took 5 years to appear in the magazine—but that's another story).


   In addition to Highlights, my articles have appeared in Appleseeds ("Horses Helping Others", May 2011); and Faces ("The Elephant Queen", January 2012,  a Letter of Merit recipient in the 2013 SCBWI Magazine Merit awards; "The Boat Dwellers of Aberdeen Harbor", February 2015). These magazines are part of the Cobblestone Publishing group which also publishes the magazines Cricket, LadyBug, Cobblestone, Spider, Dig, among others. There are many other children's magazines looking for content, and you can find them in a great resource called Magazine Markets for Children's Writers. The Cobblestone group of magazines publish fiction too, but I enjoy the nonfiction ones because they're themed, and I can always find themes that arouse my curiosity and interest. 
 

 Even though the recent Faces issue about Hong Kong inspired me because I lived in Hong Kong as a teen and have some personal connection to the country, you don't need to have experience and knowledge to query a topic. And you never know where your research will lead. For Faces' Thailand issue, I thought I might write an article about the mahout (elephant trainers) training camps where one can learn to be a mahout. They even have brief camps for tourists to learn how to handle an elephant! But during the course of that research, I stumbled upon the story of Lek Chailert who, along with her husband, established Elephant Nature Park an elephant sanctuary to rescue injured and abused Asian elephants and return them to the wild. That article became "The Elephant Queen". I had no prior knowledge of this topic but loved learning about Lek's background and how she came to fall in love with elephants, her tireless conservation efforts, and the horrors behind what elephants have gone through to be "trained" as beasts of burden.
   If you're interested in querying for these magazines, here are some tips I've learned along the way:

1) Specific angles will probably be more successful than general ones. For example, a magazine had an issue on Explorers of the West including Lewis and Clark. I queried about writing an article of Sacajawea's life and her presence on Lewis' and Clark's journey. I did not get the assignment even though I wrote Sacajawea of the Shoshone, a children's biography of Sacajawea. Looking back, I thought my query might have been too broad. I might have had better luck if I had queried on the two versions of Sacajawea's death.
2) If you get an assignment, the turnaround time can be pretty tight (most often a month). That means you have to get your research, any needed subject interviews, and the writing and revising done by then. Sometimes, problems can arise in the research or the writing that might impact your ability to get your article in by the deadline. This happened to me while writing "The Elephant Queen". I could not reach my subject Lek Chailert for an interview because she was out in the jungle saving elephants! The important thing here is keep in touch with your editor. I wrote to let my editor know that I was having a hard time connecting with Lek and asked if I could have an extension of my deadline and if I could not get a personal interview, if I could use quotes from other interviews she had given. The editor was very willing to work with me. I got the okay on both, but in the end, was able to interview Lek via email (due to the time difference) and get my article in by the original deadline. Editors are very flexible people and since you are supplying content for their magazine, they're invested in making sure that happens, but they don't like nasty surprises, and they have a deadline to meet too, so communicate any snafus you run into.
3) If you don't get an assignment, don't take it personally. Just try again. Magazines may publish more content because they have several issues a year, but they only publish a limited number of articles in each issue, and they probably get hundreds, if not thousands, of submissions. And somebody else may have submitted a query that is more appropriate for the theme, or more interesting, or unique.I had several queries that were not successful between the Faces 2012 and the Faces 2015 articles. 
3) Be professional. Publishing can be a surprisingly small world. Editors move to different houses or magazines so if your query or article isn't free of grammatical and spelling errors, or you miss your deadline or misspell the editor's name (yes, I've been told this matters) or write rude letters when you don't get your assignment, you'll earn a black mark against your name. And getting published is hard enough even with an impeccable record.

If you've written for other children's magazines, I'd love to know what these are and what your experience is, and any tips and advice you have for submitting to that market.

Happy Writing! I hope the next article I read in a children's magazine is yours!