Friday Fun: Children's Book Writing Genuis At Work

Is it just me or did this week seem to last for a month? The whole back-to-school transition always takes some adjustments (Hello, Mom Chauffeur?). But yesterday I decided to have a little fun while I was writing my blog post for MiG Writers about Debbie Ridpath Ohi's book celebration.  And this is what I ended up with:


A potato party! [There's a potato joke too -- if you dying to see it,  check out Day 4: I'm Bored Celebration at MiG Writers]

I can only imagine what my daughter thought when she came home from school and saw the countertop scattered with potatoes, tiny party hats and speech bubbles, because of course I had my brilliant idea for the MiG blogpost right before I had to leave for work.

But then again, since I write children's books, my kids are used to some of my crazy ideas and the sometimes weird things I end up doing to test them out.

I don't think you'll be seeing any spud stories from me in the near future. But it was fun to play around with them.

It reminded me how a tiny spark can grow into a bigger idea.

I'm Bored Contest!

Yesterday was the release day for illustrator (and my critique buddy) Debbie Ridpath Ohi's picture book I'm Bored, written by Michael Ian Black.

To celebrate the release of I'm Bored, the MiG writers are posting all week on something related to being bored or potatoes! Commenting on one (or all) of our posts gives you chances to win your very own copy! Tweeting also gets you extra entries.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Healing Spell

Today’s pick: The Healing Spell

by Kimberley Griffiths Little

Scholastic, 2010

Publisher’s Description:

Twelve-year-old Livie is living with a secret and it's crushing her. She knows she is responsible for her mother's coma, but she can't tell anyone. It's up to her to find a way to wake her momma up.

Stuck in the middle of three sisters, hiding a forbidden pet alligator, and afraid to disappoint her daddy, whom she loves more than anyone else, Livie struggles to find her place within her own family as she learns about the powers of faith and redemption. Livie's powerful, emotional, and sometimes humorous story will stay with readers long after the last line is read.

Set in the lush bayou of Louisiana, Kimberley Griffiths Little brings Livie's story to life with power and grace.

 

My take:

This is a lovely story about a girl and how she fits into her family when a life-changing tragedy strikes. I got hooked right from the first page. Livie was a living, breathing person in my mind and I felt all her sadnesses and worries right along with her until the end of the story. I could relate to Livie as a tomboy and her struggle to be who she wanted when it seemed like other people wanted her to be someone else. The details about the bayou setting, complete with gators and bullfrogs, made the story lively and interesting.

I often hear writing advice about making sure every word counts, and in this story they all truly did. Each phrase or sentence includes details that capture Livie’s thoughts and voice. I’d read this again to study how Kimberley Griffith’s Little fit all the pieces together to make the story come together so perfectly and to learn more about showing story events from the main character’s perspective.

 Favourite quotes:

“My chest got so tight it felt like a gator squeezing my heart between his jaws.”

“I summoned up all the faith I could from deep down in my gut.”

“…I felt the hugeness of that knowledge bursting up from my toes, rising straight to my heart, and filling everything in between.”

 

Other info:

Kimberley Griffiths Little knew she wanted to be a writer in elementary school, when she used to write stories every day and read lots of books. She lives with her husband and children in a solar adobe house in New Mexico.

Her next middle grade book, When The Butterflies Came, will be published in April 2013.

The Healing Spell won the Whitney Award for Best Youth Novel of 2010 and was chosen as a Bank Street College Best Book for 2011.

 

Other books by this author include:

Circle of Secrets,  2011
Enchanted Runner, 2009
The Last Snake Runner, 2004

For more, visit Kimberley Griffiths Little’s website.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday was dreamed up by the incredible Shannon Messenger. Visit her blog for an up-to-date list of all the bloggers who are participating and posting about middle grade books today!

 

Books for Babies = Fun to Write

Guess what I got in the mail this week? My author copies of the books for babies I wrote last year for Woonjin Think Big Company in Korea. It's so exciting to see the final versions with the illustrations!

 

It was a lot of fun to remember back to the experiences I had with my children when they were little and try to put a twist on them. Or to use my memories to create something entirely different and new.

One of the challenges in writing books for children learning English is to include simple phrases and words but also to create an entertaining story.

Have you ever written any stories for very young children?

Cool Blog Quote: Sometimes It's Not You

Today's quote is from a post one of my writing buddies made at MiG Writers on disappointment:
 

"But there are politics, bad timing and subjective judges and sometimes things simply don’t go in our favor. It’s not a reflection of us..."

 Carmella Van Vleet, Grace in the Face of Disappointment, MiGWriters, Monday August 13, 2012.

It's so important to remember that in the writing business, there are a lot of things beyond your control. If you haven't yet gotten where you want to be, it's not necessarily because you've written a bad story or a bad query letter or because you're a terrible writer. It might just be bad timing. So what I can I do to not get dragged down by disappointment?

I can't just have faith that someone will "discover" my talent. I'm going to do everything in my power to reach my goals.

• I'm going to keep writing new stories and sending them out on submission.
• I'm going to keep reading good books and learning from other writers.
• And I'm going to keep learning about how to be a better writer and how to promote myself and my writing in this crazy changing business.

The Importance of Story

If you're looking for a good writing-related podcast, I recommend checking out Joanna Penn's interview with Lisa Cron, author of Wired for Story, over at the The Creative Penn.

Lisa is so enthusiastic and passionate about her views, it's inspiring! I love thinking about how our brains interpret the world in terms of story.

It puts a picture in my mind of how my kindergarten students calm down and are instantly attentive when I pull out a good book and start reading. I've ordered Lisa's book and I'm going to be thinking about how to apply some of her ideas to my writing and to my teaching.

I especially liked her thoughts on "show don't tell" and how showing isn't effective if the reader hasn't been shown WHY the character is reacting. For me, that means showing the right events to explain a character's frame of mind and reasons for acting a certain way, not just using actions to show an emotion.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Midnight Tunnel

Today’s pick: The Midnight Tunnel by Angie Frazier

Scholastic, 2011

Publisher’s Description:

It is 1905 and young Suzanna works at her family’s inn in Loch Harbor, New Brunswick, where she is trained to be a well-mannered hostess and a charming lady. Suzanna has other ideas for her future, however—she wants to be a detective like her famous uncle, Bruce Snow from Boston, who regularly makes headlines in the newspapers for solving hard-to-crack cases. This summer seems typical enough for Suzanna until a young guest goes missing on a stormy summer night. When no clues turn up, Bruce Snow arrives to solve the case. But Suzanna learns that not everything is as it seems. With a little help from her friends, can she solve the mystery of the missing girl before her uncle gives up?

Fast-paced, absorbing, and wonderfully rich, The Midnight Tunnel: A Suzanna Snow Mystery is sure to keep readers following the clues until the case has been solved.

My take:

It can be hard to find a good middle grade mystery so I was happy to find this one. Even though it takes place in the early 1900’s, I could relate to the main character and girl detective Suzanna Snow. Her determination to solve the mystery kept me reading. The novel moves along at a good pace, and I liked the tension between Suzanna and her friends Lucy and Isaac, and her cousin detective-in-training Will. There are a few quirky hotel guests and lobster fishermen too, and a big change in Suzanna’s thinking about her idol and uncle, a famous detective.

I loved the way the setting was so integral to the plot and I could picture myself visiting the dewy field of wildflowers, the secret tunnel to the servant’s house, the musty attic storage room or the land bridge to the island that is only exposed during low tide. As a writer, I’d look to this novel to remind me how to bring the setting alive for my readers.  

 Favourite quote:

“I wanted to write down everything that had unraveled so that I would never forget each detail…”

Other info:

Angie Frazier lives in New Hampshire. The Midnight Mystery was inspired by a visit to the historic Fairmount Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, New Brunswick, Canada.

According to the author’s blog, Suzanna is “the me I wanted to be when I was 11 or 12. Writing her character and stories is such a treat.”

Angie Frazier gives a honest perspective on self-promotion in The Importance of Making Hope Happen over at Adventures in YA & Children’s Publishing, December 14, 2011.

Other books by this author include:

The Mastermind Plot (A Suzanna Snow Mystery), 2012
The Eternal Sea, 2011  (YA)

Everlasting, 2010 (YA)

For more, visit Angie Frazier’s website.

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday was dreamed up by the amazing Shannon Messenger. Visit her blog for an up-to-date list of all the bloggers who are participating and posting about middle grade books today!