February -- A Valentine Haiku

Bright bits of paper

Deliver friendship and fun:

Be My Valentine!

 

 

Writing Prompt January 2016 - The Sound of the Sea

 

A free verse poem inspired by the photograph found here:  The Sound of the Sea

THE SOUND OF THE SEA

 

There is something about the sound of the sea.

It calls me,

It pulls me,

Until my dreams are riding the waves,

Floating through a coral jungle,

Or diving down into the deep.

There is something about the sound of the sea.

Come, listen . . .

And follow.

 

 

 

If this same photograph inspires you, please post your short piece or a link to it in the comment section below.

A Month of Picture Book Ideas

This past November, I participated in PiBoIdMo or Picture Book Idea Month. The goal of this 30 day writing exercise was to come up with at least one idea per day that might turn out to be the starting point for a new picture book manuscript. A snap, right? Think again. If there were ideas cruising around in my brain, directing them to Creativity Central was a whole other problem. Thank goodness for the tips and tools offered by over 30 fellow authors and illustrators. Their blog posts, hosted by Tara Lazar—master organizer of this event, were a golden GPS system. Brain throwing up at roadblock or riddled with distracting potholes? Create a list of characters, settings, problems, etc.; build word pairs; eavesdrop on your own children or those at the playground or mall; use picture prompts; write down words or phrases that you love the sound of; interview a character. These creative detours, and several more, were invaluable in helping me find the 30 ideas (and more) needed to complete the PiBoIdMo challenge. No, they aren’t all great ideas, but even if I manage to work only 2-3 of them into strong manuscripts, that’s 2-3 stories on my roadmap to publication that I didn’t have before.

 For more information on PiBoIdMo visit: http://taralazar.com/piboidmo/

 

 

December Writing Prompt -- Goose In Hiding

Goose In Hiding    Follow the link to the pin on my "Wrote This" board that inspired the following:

[Goose’s side of a conversation that started just before the prompt picture was snapped.]

 

Poor Turkey. I shall miss him.

A strutting fool who deserved it? What a horrible thing to say.

My turn’s coming?

The next holiday is Christmas.

They eat Christmas what??!!

What am I doing? Not taking chances, that’s what.

Squeal on me? That’s pretty brave for someone named Pork Chops.

 

 

SCBWI Insight Write This -- November

A few words before I post my November entry. (Which didn't make the top twelve, but after last month, I shouldn't be greedy, should I?)

Going forward, my plan each month is to continue posting a short piece, 50 words or less in length, that a writing prompt has inspired. What's changing is that I've decided to branch out from the Insight's "Write This" feature. I've been pinning writing prompts, inspiring illustrations, and character galleries at Pinterest for a couple of months now and think it's time to start utilizing this resource.

Want to join in? When I post my piece, I will include a link to the pin that inspired it. If the same prompt inspires you, I'd love to have you share it by posting a link or the piece itself in my piece's comment field. I think it will be quite interesting to see how one prompt can send multiple minds off in totally different directions.


The November prompt was: a stranger enters . . .

Miss Kittycat smelled trouble when the flea-bitten mongrel pushed through the swinging doors.  

Then Marshal Mutt Dillon walked in.  His big body leaned against the bar.

“Buy you a sodie pop, mister?”

A growl twisted the stranger’s lips.

“Drop the pleasantries, Marshal. I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”

 

Turning a New Leaf -- SCBWI Oregon's Annual Fall Retreat

Eighty acres of garden. Yummy food. Cushy beds. And four days spent learning, writing, and sharing with fellow writers. This was the SCBWI Oregon Fall Retreat held October 15-18^th at the Oregon Garden Resort in Silverton, Oregon.

My retreat began with an unexpected meeting. By some quirk of fate, Sue Ford, former Co-RA of the Oregon region, and two of the Retreat faculty chose the same restaurant in Silverton for lunch as I did. Sue invited me to join them and, shoving my nervousness aside, I did. I even managed to chat and eat with some semblance of decorum (i.e.: I didn’t spill anything or let loose any embarrassing noises.). But then, Heather Alexander of Pippin Properties and Marie Lamba of the Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency made it easy. They were so relaxed and friendly, reminding me that the faculty at such events are just as interested in meeting and talking with writers and illustrators as we are with them.

But on with the Retreat. Thursday evening, Susan Blackaby, an Oregon writer with a fetish for narrow-ruled yellow tablets, and Carolyn Conahan, an illustrator with an affinity for hippy vans, opened the retreat with a look back at how this event had played a key role in the success of their collaboration “The Twelve Days of Christmas in Oregon.” On Friday morning, Andrea Welch, senior editor at Beach Lane Books, spoke to the ten essential elements she looks for in picture books. Heart and read aloud ability topped her list. Later that day, Marie cautioned us that nothing kills a reader’s experience faster than overwriting, a problem she sees as a failure to reel in our imagination enough to leave room for the reader’s. Saturday, Tiffany Liao, associate editor at Penguin Random House’s Razorbill imprint, shared some personal experiences that shaped her insights into bringing diverse characters to our work. She gave those of us belonging to the “unmarked state” a lot to think about. For our final workshop, we dissected sample letters as Heather offered liberation from query madness. Her rallying cry? K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Sunday morning was reserved for faculty-led roundtables arranged by genre. As always, I found this to be not only a great opportunity for feedback, but a chance to learn how a particular agent or editor approaches a manuscript.

Overall, though, I think what really stood out for me at this retreat was the relaxed schedule. Bravo to the organizers who allowed plenty of time to write, get feedback in a critique group, chat with other participants, or, my favorite, take a stroll or tram ride through the Oregon Garden. We even had time to sneak back to our rooms for a nap if so inclined. All in all, not a bad way to spend four days.

 

For more information on the beautiful Oregon Garden: http://www.oregongarden.org/

Working Out the Bugs

My apologies if you have tried to leave a comment and ran into problems. That should be fixed.