Mar
20
2020

It’s Time for a Comeback

So … this blog has been a little quiet lately. Well, actually A LOT quiet. My last post was June of 2018. Yikes. To say it’s been a rough few years is an understatement.

Flashback to 2016 when things were going really well for me as an aspiring children’s book author. In February, I received VERY encouraging feedback from a trusted friend in the children’s literature business who critiqued five of my picture book manuscripts. In March, I applied for and won an SCBWI six month mentorship with picture book author Ellen Jackson. From March to August, with Ellen’s guidance and feedback, I revised and polished six manuscripts. In October, I had an AMAZING critique by a picture book author at an SCBWI conference, who said my newest picture book manuscript was ready to submit. WOW! My writing journey was speeding along and it felt like I was really, really close.

(Cue the dark, foreboding music)

At the end of 2016, life was literally and figuratively turned upside down when I rolled over in the middle of the night and developed severe vertigo. Even moving my head a fraction of an inch would send me spinning. It was awful and scary. As time went on, my symptoms lessened but never went away and it had a daily impact on my quality of life. My neurologist put me on medication in 2017, which eased the dizziness and made life more manageable. I was able to get back to writing and was more determined than ever to complete some new manuscripts for feedback and possible submission.

Unfortunately, those wonderful pills I was taking for my vertigo caused some serious medical issues that continually got worse and worse over the two years I was taking them. Many things in my life had to be put on the back burner, including my writing … which was devastating. This past summer, I finally said enough was enough. With help from a team of specialists, I slowly weaned myself off the vertigo medication and have found other ways to control my symptoms.

One of the positives of the past couple years was the realization that it was time for a career change. Last year, I started taking classes to become a school librarian (I’d been a special education teacher for a total of 14 years) and when the librarian assistant job opened up at my school, I jumped at the chance to apply. I got the job and it has been wonderfully healing and inspiring for me. I spend my days in a library surrounded by children’s books, learning from a librarian who is top-notch and an absolute blast to work with. My author brain has been switched back on and I’m loving all the book ideas that are coming out of me again.

So now … it is time to put the past in the past and fully embrace my passion again: writing and reading children’s books and sharing tidbits here with you as I pursue my goal of becoming a published children’s book author!

It’s time for a comeback! Let’s do this!

(Source: https://thechiclife.com)

 

 

 

Jul
1
2018

What I’ve Been Reading (June 2018)

At the end of June, I always look forward to my week at The Children’s Literature Conference at Shenandoah University. As a teacher and children’s book writer, I am completely in my element and end up buying way more books than I think I will! Here are some of my favorite books by the authors and illustrators that presented at the conference.

Preschool (ages 3-5 years):Early Elementary (5-8 years):


Mar
1
2018

What I’ve Been Reading (Feb. 2018)

I’m gearing up for Reading for Research Month (ReFoReMo) in March and have started reading some great books. Here are some of my favorites so far:

Preschool (ages 3-5 years) & Early Elementary (5-8 years):Early Elementary (5-8 years):
Middle Grades (8-12 years):

Feb
19
2018

Reading for Research … it’s ReFoReMo!

If you are considering writing books for children, the first piece of advice I would give is to read LOTS and LOTS of books for children. Simple, right? For the past ten years, I have been reading children’s books like a part-time job. Seriously. I almost always have a bag full of library books in our house and will throw a few in my purse when I’m heading out and might have some downtime to read. I also usually have a young adult or middle grade novel playing on CD in my car. Being an elementary school teacher is a bonus because I get to read even more books to my students.

Reading children’s books is the best research you can do if you want to hone your craft as a writer and find your unique voice. You can see all the books I’ve read and recommended each month here.

A perfect way to start reading for research is to join The ReFoReMo Challenge! ReFoReMo is Reading for Research Month. Here’s the description from the website:

“The ReFoReMo Challenge, or Reading for Research Month Challenge, was founded in 2015 to help picture book writers reform writing by reading and researching mentor texts in the month of March.  The challenge is supported by educators, authors, illustrators, editors, and literary agents in addition to a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction picture book recommendations. We welcome classrooms, educators, writers, illustrators, and publishing professionals to learn with us.”

Doesn’t this sound exciting? I haven’t participated before, but I signed up today and you should too. The suggested picture books for each day of March are listed here. I’ve already reserved a bunch from my library and can’t wait to dive in! Click on the picture below for more information and to sign-up. Happy reading!

Feb
14
2018

Valentiny Contest 2018

Children’s author and blogger, Susanna Leonard Hill, is in the third year of her Valentine’s Day contest, affectionately known as “Valentiny.” The tiny part is for the tiny humans your story should be written for and because of the tiny word count…only 214 words or less! This year’s entries must include a character who is hopeful. Here is my entry:

Hoping for Love 
By Susanne Whitehouse
(59 words)

“I have something to tell you.”
“Okay … ”
“I think I’m in love with you.”
“Oh, wow. Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
“But you’re a gorilla and I’m … ”
“Beautiful? Yellow? Appealing?”
“Well, yes. But … I’m not sure you can be in love with a piece of fruit.”
“Oh. Then maybe what I’m feeling is … ”
“Don’t say it.”
“Hunger.”
“No!”
Gulp!

www.mascotdesigngallery.com
(designed and created by Legacy Art)

Check out Susanna’s blog and the rest of the entries here. 

And for fun, here‘s my entry into the Valentiny contest from two years ago.

Feb
14
2018

Matt de la Pena’s LOVE

Happy Valentine’s Day! What better way to celebrate this day of love with Matt de la Pena’s newest book, LOVE. The New York Times Book Review says this of LOVE:

“Everything that can be called love — from shared joy to comfort in the darkness — is gathered in the pages of this reassuring, refreshingly honest picture book.” 

This is a fresh and beautiful take on a timeless subject. If you enjoyed the voice of his Newbery award winner, THE LAST STOP OF MARKET STREET, you will love LOVE. Enjoy!

Feb
12
2018

2018 Newbery and Caldecott Winners

The John Newbery Medal and Randolph Caldecott Medal winners, along with the Honor books, have been announced! I already placed them on reserve at my local library. Of course, now that these books are famous, it will be much harder to find them!

John Newbery Medal
Awarded for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature.
This one’s for the authors!
Winner: Hello, Universe by Erin Estrada Kelly

Honor: Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes

Honor: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Honor: Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

 

Randolph Caldecott Medal
Awarded for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
This one’s for the illustrators!

Winner: Wold in the Snow illustrated and written by Matthew Cordell

Honor: Big Cat, little cat illustrated and written by Elisha Cooper

Honor: Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut illustrated by Gordon C. James

Honor: A Different Pond illustrated by Thi Bui

Honor: Grand Canyon illustrated and written by Jason Chin

Congratulations to all the winners!

Feb
4
2018

Storystorm 2018

Storystorm, formally know as PiBoIdMo, or Picture Book Idea Month, has come to a close. I am proud to say that I completed the challenge on time this year! Storystorm is an annual on-line event run by author Tara Lazar. She has written some awesome picture books, such as The Monstore, Little Red Gliding Hood and Normal Norman. Storystorm runs during the month of January on Tara’s blog: “Writing for Kids While Raising Them” with daily posts by guest authors and illustrators full of inspiration. Over the month of January, our job is to try to come up with at least 30 new picture book ideas.  Storystorm sparked 35 new picture book ideas for me this year! I certainly wouldn’t say they are 35 good ideas, but I’m pretty excited about a handful of them. Time to flesh out those ideas and get writing. Thank you Tara and all the Storystorm contributors!

Feb
1
2018

What I’ve Been Reading (Jan 2018)

Life at my house has been a little crazy lately. School is overwhelmingly busy, basketball season is in full swing AND we got a Great Dane puppy in November! As you can imagine, my writing and reading time has been pretty much nonexistent this month. However, I did manage to revisit an old Steven Kellogg book that is particularly meaningful to my family right now. So, in honor of our rapidly growing puppy and all of her mischievous puppy ways, this month I’m recommending Pinkerton, Behave!

Preschool (3-5 years) & Early Elementary (5-8 years):

Here’s my sweet, but sassy, Luna Blu. She sometimes needs reminders to behave, just like Pinkerton, but we still love her. Soon she’ll be almost as big as him. There were only 4 weeks in between the first and second pictures! Growing fast!

If you like looking at cute dog pictures, you can follow Luna on Instagram at lunablu4u.