Love Lift Us Up...

I'm not going to get mushy on you, talking about love thy neighbor (though we need it), or love yourself (have you, lately?).

I'm sharing my 'love' of the children's book writing community. I'm an author, so I try to support writers- published and waiting to be. But today, I want to focus on the other half- the illustrators.

You all know I LOVE my illustrator, Cathy Daniels.

You've seen the Evolution Revolution series covers (I hope)- book 1, Simple Machines, book 2, Simple Plans,  and book 3, Simple Lessons. Here's a sneak peek at an interior illustration for Simple Lessons:

The picture tells a piece of the story (but read the whole book to see the other great pictures and get the whole story). Many people have been attracted to the book (kids and adults) because of the illustrations. When they're done this well, you know the illustrator put the best effort (and then some) into their work. If you're going Indie, don't be cheap and have your child scribble something. Hire a professional artist. You get what you pay for, and if your book is that important, doesn't it deserve wonderful illustrations? Check out Cathy's other works here.

My next gush is Mike Ciccotello. He's sort of newcomer to the New Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). I 'discovered' him last year, walking through the juried art show at our annual conference. This was his piece:

When I told him how much it 'spoke' to me, he gave me the print! It hangs in my office so I can always remember the joy and spark of imagination of being a child. This year, Mike won the People's Choice Award! Here's the pic:

And it's sitting in my office! I'm having huge fangirl moments here! After his family, I think I'm his biggest groupie! So I have the Mike wall. Check out Mike's work here. (I think he should make his own coffee cups- these are fab, but make sure to stroll around his site and see all his work.) And notice that he'd make a good book illustrator too....

But there is so much love to go around. My friend, Colleen Rowan Kosinski, gave me her signed print! Check it out:

 Notice the character in the background to the left... Her picture book, Lila's Sunflowers, debuted a few months ago, and is a wonderful story about- well, I won't ruin the surprise. It's touching and moving (tissue alert for sentimental slobs like me.) Check out her book and her work here.  More books are forthcoming, so I don't have to tell you what a talented illustrator she is.

There are soooo many wonderful artists at the conference, and I wish I could showcase them all. My friend, Kathy Temean, is working on displaying as many of the artwork as she can, so check out her blog over the next week or so and see the other outstanding, incredible, I'm-so-damn-jealous-of-their-talent artists. Visit their websites/blogs, praise them for their work. Spread the love. In a frightening world, art soothes the soul, calms the nerves, and lightens the heart.

Now I'm going to doodle some stick figures....

Char

Let's talk about it over coffee...

You want to write/illustrate for children. Maybe picture book, maybe middle grade, maybe young adult (who technically aren't children, but we authors have no say in this classification so don't yell at the messenger).

You've drafted/typed some things down or maybe even completed a manuscript. But you're unsure what to do next, possibly even afraid to send it out, and to whom?

Chill. This is not that big a deal in the grand scheme of writing and publishing. Let's talk about it over coffee and see what we can help you with.

On May 21, Saturday, get your kisters out of bed and come to the Somerville Barnes and Noble (319 US Rt 202/206, off the circle near TGIF's). From 9-11 I'll be hosting an informal get together of SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) members and wannabes. We can talk about the journey, offer suggestions, give you a clue about the conference that hopefully you signed up for (but it's too late now), and nudge you to completing a dream. What better way to spend two hours on a Saturday? And surrounded by books! (You can imagine your book there...)

So no excuses. Be there. Bring questions. Think positive.

Char

When Does "NO" NOT Mean No?

This weekend was the New Jersey Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators annual conference. It's a great place to meet top editors, agents, authors, illustrators and people. It's a fabulous venue to network, get inspired, re-energize, rethink, revise.

And reconsider...

My middle grade novel had made the rounds to all the major houses and their smaller imprints and never found a publishing home.

(The main character of my novel.)

My agent said it had to go in the drawer, and I had move on.

Much as I didn't want to, I reluctantly agreed because there was no one left to send it to.

I began work on other projects and tried to forget that novel that owned my heart.

This weekend, I listened to so many people, including myself, encouraging writers to persevere. Keep writing. Keep submitting. Keep revising.

And then... I noticed one of the editors from a smaller house.Her house was ranked so high on the list of houses because of the number of young adult and middle grade novels they'd published. They were practically bullying some of the older, more well-known publishers.

Hmmm.

You all must know the story of Stephen King; unable to find an editor for his novel, he threw it in the trash, giving up. His wife, Tabitha, picked it out and sent it to one last publisher...

That was his breakout novel, Carrie.

"Be consistent, and persistent."  I tell that to all inspiring authors when they ask what's the best piece of advice I can give them. It's time to follow the second part of that command.

One more try...

Char