Join Me in the 2015 Anti-Resolution Revolution for Writers!

Happy New Year's Eve 2015. 2016 is literally around the corner and this is the second year I've joined Julie Hedlund, children's author, in this challenge to start my new year of writing right! Julie believes that our usual resolutions come form a place of negativity - what we didn't do. Instead, we are going to set goals for 2016 that build on our achievements of 2015. So, thanks to Julie, here's my list of my successes.

I have goals not dreams that 2016 will add even more successes to  my writing life. Action to goals and my word for 2016 is:
FOLLOW-THROUGH!

MY 2015 SUCCESSES

1. Took 2 craft classes: Making Picture Book Magic w/Susanna Leonard Hill and Pacing to WOW w/ agent Jodell Sadler. (Gift from Jodell, my agent.)
2. Organized a picture books schmooze for 15 local writers while still in Phoenix AZ at The Newton, indie bookstore.
3. Began the study of Nancy I. Sanders YES YOU CAN LEARN HOW TO WRITE BEGINNING READERS & CHAPTER BOOKS. Led a chapter discussion on FB group Word by Word.
4. Posted a pitch for a PB on Susanna Hill's blog series WOULD YOU READ IT WEDNESDAY. I have over 77 responses that said they would read my ms based on the pitch.
5. After we made a cross-country move, I met Ohio writers at the Ohioana Spring Book Festival. I connected with the director of children's programming for the Thurber House & had an interview to teach at Thurber for summer 2016.
6. Attended the Northern Ohio SCBWI conference and roomed w/my agent. Became friends with 2 Cincy writers & met an editor who has an interest in early chapter books.
7. A successful PB author stayed AT MY HOUSE and I arranged a school visit for her at the district from which I retired. She generously read tow of my WIPs and gave feedback.
8. I blogged consistently throughout the year on the GROG. Our page views have topped over 112,000! 
9. I interviewed Lynne Avril, Amelia Bedelia's illustrator, and Salina Yoon, author/illustrator for the blog. Salina's PR person asked me to help procure school visits.
10. Two well-established NF writers asked me to review their newest books on the GROG.
11. I finished my picture book biography on MC and polished it to the point that it is on submission to 5 publishers. Only 1 response so far, but it's a start.
12. I revised 4 mss for ReviMo. (Revision month w/Meg Miller.)
13. Wrote a new ms based on 2 students from an elementary in PHX that I worked w/ for several months. I dedicated it to them and they were so proud. It is now one of my fav mss!
14. From May-July, I participated in an online goggle chat critique group twice a week,
15. I revised 3 mss in preparation for WOW NF Retreat in July. Two of my WIPS had professional writers and another agent engaged enough to laugh.
16. I began to volunteer at my intermediate school from which I retired in the library weekly and took out scores of PBs.
17. I reconnected with the Gahanna Library branch children's director and will help teach a writing class w/intermediate-middle grade students in Feb. 2016. 
18. I began a writing project w/gifted 5th graders and their E/LA teacher called Write 4 Real. We are creating PB bios and as co-teachers we plan to turn the project into an educational book.
19. I refocused on plot and completed Suditpa Bardhan-Quallen's & Kami Kinard's Kid Lit Summer School: The Plot Thickens.
20. I completed my 3rd PIBoIdMo and have 32 ideas for picture books. I wrote several rough crafts of these ideas. 
21. I attended AASL's annual conference and met 2 editors from an educational publisher who may be interested in my Write 4 Real project.
22. I helped many kid lit writers w/feedback and revisions. One writer told me I could charge for my critiques because they were insightful and detailed.
23. I created a PB writing class for adults and pitched it to the Parks & Rec director who liked the idea. Not enough people signed up for it, but I have several modules done on it.
24. I submitted my information for a PB mentorship w/ Stacy McAnulty in 2016 for 6 months and I am a finalist!
25. Forgot one more...just finished the study of WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT for Word by Word and led a chapter discussion.
26. How could I forget that I started a chapter book and am co-writing it w/Pam C.??? 
27. Submitted a proposal for a pullout session at the Virginia Hamilton Conference 2016 and was accepted.
28. Submitted a proposal for the Mazza Summer Institute 2016 and was accepted.

So, that's my 2015 wrapped up in a bow. I do feel I lost momentum when I moved, but I feel good about what I achieved.

Do You Speak PiBoIdMo? I Do and You Should, Too! by Kathy Halsey

PiBoIdMo? No, it's not some strange foreign language, but if you write picture books or if you need new ideas, PiBoIdMo is for YOU!

Put away that pumpkin pie, crack open a notebook, rustle up some new ideas for the month of November. Voila, you have PiBoIdMo!
This will be my third year to participate, and I have new friends, new ideas, and daily inspiration during a month when shopping and eating take center stage. Speaking of eating, here's my recipe for PIBoIdMo.

Recipe for PiBoIdMo

1. Check out our "Martha Stewart," chef/creator of this challenge for daily picture book idea a day here. Tara has concocted some wonderful PBs herself with a plethora of ideas, including monsters (THE MONSTORE) and fairy tale mashups (LITTLE RED GLIDING HOOD.) See her books here.

2. Next, add yourself to the mix and join PiBoIdMo for 2015. Remember to click on Tara's blog beginning Oct. 25 to join in on the fun. 

3. Ingredients you will need to bake a month's worth of ideas include:

• Create a set time, anywhere from 10-30 minutes daily to get your ideas down in writing. 
• Add a format to capture those ideas. Here's a snapshot of a form I use. 
  
  Some days I complete the entire form; other days I draw pictures or jot down ideas. 
• Add one open mind-don't edit ideas, just get them down on paper. Somehow titles get my juices flowing.
• Spice it up by adding a journal. I began a process journal that helped me look back at what I was doing. I did not force myself to journal everyday, but being aware of my process helped me.

4. Share the recipe! Invite writer friends, teachers, and students to join in! Having folks to hold you accountable helps ensure a sweet success.

Middle school student in a Writers' Club reads some of my PiBoIdMo ideas from 2014

14:14 PB Word Play & 10 Essential Elements in Picture Books

Nana Kathy and Grandson Tobin at play finding eggs at Easter.

Hopping about w/Christie Wild's craft study of 10 Essential Elements, today I choose WORD PLAY. Picture books are meant to be read aloud, They are aural, auditory. They appeal to our ear. The sounds must be pleasing and fun to say. Add the kid element and there's the play. Play is what Mr. Rogers called kids' "work." Kids learn so much through play. 
I choose this picture of my grandson Tobin and I playing last Easter when he was old enough to understand the whole bunny business. Running, spying, gathering eggs, opening plastic eggs, counting eggs, and eating chocolate eggs. All play, all fun. Finding the best word "eggs" is what we do as writers. We want kids to savor them, to explore them, to mimic them and to try them on in order to learn to read, to enjoy and play with language for a lifetime. That's important business for children's writers and kids!
Enter my favorite word play book....FROODLE.

 This imaginative language romp will get you creating words.
Title: Froodle
Author: Antoinette Portis
Illustrator: Antoinette Portis
Publisher:Roaring Book Press
Year:2014
Word Count:262
Top 10 Essential PB Element: Word Play
Go ahead, say it. I know you want to say it. Froodle, froodle froodle. That was fun, right? This ALSC Notable Book is oodles of fun and exhibits as ALSC states in their critia, "notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity." Yup, there is "venturesome" creativity in a book that dares, in its plot, to turn the animal world's speaking patterns upside-down. Why should cats meow, dogs bark and birds chirp? Little Brown Bird knows it's much more fun to make up language, just as little reader do. 
Now read these lines aloud from FROODLE: "Tiffle biffle/just a little /miffle,"and "ickle sickle," and finally, "oobly snobby." My grandson Tobin was splurting all sorts of nonsense babble after we read this book!
 As writers we need to give ourselves permission to make up nonsense words like Little Brown Bird does, too. Our rhyme, onomatopoeia, and lush language makes readers happy and playful. 

Add to your writer's toolbox w/Angie Karcher's RhyPiBoMo, a free "master class" on poetry this April. Right now grab that rhyming dictionary, read a PB with playful language and WRITE. If you have recommendations for great PB word play, add to the comments section, please.

Firebird Bursts with Theme:PB 14:14 in 2015

I am a newbie at this blog challenge that writer Christy Wild put together, but examining picture books from Christie's list of 10 essential elements is a great exercise to sharpen our craft! Be sure to check out the other blogs to learn even more. There are some excellent writers on this blog hop.
My choice for today is THEME. My process of creation usually involves either a pithy title or a theme. I write with the bigger, overarching idea in mind first. Theme informs plot and gives a story heart. Heart is quite appropriate for our kickoff today, Valentine's Day! Universal themes tug at our hearts and add emotional heft to our stories. 

View image |

Title: Firebird
Author: Misty Copeland
Illustrator: Christopher Myers
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons (An Imprint of Penguin Group)
Year: 2014
Word Count: 393 EST
Top 10 Element: Theme
FIREBIRD, 2014 winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, exudes theme. The illustrations blaze and jump off the pages, echoing the theme of a firebird and the energy and determination needed by young people of color to make it in the world of dance, just as Misty Copleand did. This story resonates with the theme of seeing others like us so we can dream and achieve, too. 

Author/principal dancer for ABT, Misty Copleand, extends the theme in her letter to the reader in the back matter. She speaks of her struggle, of how there were no mentors in the rarified world of ballet then for her. From the PB, Misty says so eloquently,"We'll make the night sky our starry curtain/the moon our silver spotlight/as we spin 
across the planets/pirouetting tightly as the curls on our heads."

Now the young girls who read FIREBIRD WILL see ballerinas who look like them as evidenced by this stricking photo of Misty as the firebird herself. The photo of a black ballerina speaks to the accomplishment of what Misty wished for when she was a young dreamer. Also, the dust jacket illustrates the theme- on the front cover we have Misty as the Firebird, and the back shows the young dancer on her own stage.
The symbol of the firebird is comparable to the phoenix, the mythical bird who regenerates after overcoming injury, even death. What better main character for the theme of overcoming obstacles in the world of dance?
From a web site on Russian folklore I found the following which really informs the theme of this picture book: "The Firebird is known to many as the Phoenix. It is a mythical bird that lives in five hundred year cycles, which is able to regenerate from injury and is therefore, immortal. With plumage of red and gold that illuminates its flight, the Phoenix is as much a symbol of divinity as it is of fire and many legendary tales have evolved around its existence. Its most spoken about quality, that has inspired stories of encouragement or been compared to adversities that have been overcome, is that the Phoenix, nearing the end of its life cycle, builds a nest where he sets himself and the nest on fire. From the ashes left behind, a young Phoenix rises, to take the place of the older."

Word choice is another element that carries the through line of theme here: "you are air," "hope to leap the space between," "your beginning's just begun," "fireworks of costumes," and "even birds must learn to fly like me." Theme breathes in these poetic lines.

Our young dancer has plenty of support to make her dreams a reality and to burst forth with success. Christopher Myers color pallet is fiery and full of the warmth of ambition and determination, too. The illustrations and words dance together to make this book a true performance in theme.

Punxsutawney Phyllis's and Kathy Halsey's Birthday Bonanza!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PHYLLIS!

GROUNDHOG'S DAY 2015 IS TODAY.  Let's celebrate Susanna Leonard Hill's famous picture book character Phyllis! Bring on the chocolate cake cuz Phyllis is 10!  Bring on even more chocolate goodness because I am many decades older today than furry Phyllis. You can read all about Phyllis and her famous exploits here. And there are other great poems and even videos on Susanna's site, too. While you are eating chocolate, let me tell you my short story.

My parents started a Groundhog Party tradition which lasted from 1970-1980. Holy hogs, a decade of parties! (This was the adult party, not my actual kid event.) We had homemade banners (see pic to left) and even matchbook covers that spanned the years. 

Antique matchbook covers from back in "the day"

My dad, an elementary school principal, even created hand-made invites. The walls were festooned w/ shadows and a banner that stated,"It's February! May the Groundhog of Happiness Leave a Valentine in Your Cherry Tree!" People brought us groundhog books, groundhog beanie babies, even a cookbook entitled THE NEW GOURMETS & GROUNDHOGS & THE SECOND HELPING by Elaine Light. ( No worries, Phyllis. There's only 1 groundhog recipe, honest.) 

Home-made groundhog made by Richard Hackman, my dad.

My father died at 68 of early-onset Alzheimers, but my family carries on our Hackman hog tradition even today. My stepdaughter Megan created a plaque of a woodchuck one year for me, and my oldest niece Lauren has started the party tradition in Chicago! Now, let us carry on and continue the celebration with a poem for Phyllis created by the children's writer and human groundhog, ME.

Meg's present

Ode: Recollection Upon Groundhogs, Famous and Infamous

by Kathy Halsey

We celebrate, oh noble prognosticator.

For seasons mild. We’re done with wild.

Will spring come sooner? Or maybe later?

Oh, please, remove dark winter. It’s vile.

From Puxatawney Phil to Buckeye Chuck,

To lovely Phyllis 10 years today,

Block thy bright sun. Oh, send us luck.

Make February 2 overcast and gray.

To Phyllis bright, smart, eager; gay,

The weather cannot fool our furry girl.

You did wrest Uncle Phil’s mantle away.

‘Tis for you now, our banner we unfurl.

Grace us with melting snow, running brook.

Crawl from thy burrow, we’ll write your book!

We’ll celebrate with chocolates galore.

Oh, marmot Phyllis, it’s YOU we adore. 

View image | gettyimages.com

Successes for 2014

Children's author Julie Hedlund, challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. She believes the way New Year's resolutions are traditionally made come from a place of negativity.  Instead, she suggested we set goals for the New Year that BUILD on our achievements from the previous one. I am participate in this Anti-Resolution Revolution! Here is my list for 2014.
1. I wrote more this year than last year.
2. I joined a craft book study group, Word by Word. We read Linda Ashman's Nuts and Bolts, Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul and are finishing Bird by Bird, Ann Lamott.
3. I have a face-to-face critique group which includes a published picture book author. These folks give me awesome advise.
4. My 2 trusted writer friends, Pam and Pam, will critique and talk to me anytime about our writing. We cheer each other onward. We are real friends.
5. My favorite indie bookstore peeps know me well. I book talk with Vicki Miles at Changing Hands on a bi-monthly basis. I get to read all the newest picture book and chapter books right away!
6. I invested in 3 conferences this year and they all have served me well: SCBWI LA, SCBWI AZ, WOW Writing Retreat. 
7. I met my agent and signed w/Jodell Sadler in fall 2014. Those peeps I met in GA at WOW became like my writing family.
8. Two editors I met at AZ SCBWI keep up w/me on FB!
9. This was my second year for PiBoIdMo and I had better ideas and fleshed them out more than last year - 34 ideas.
10. First year of 12x12, and I revised and wrote 11 new drafts.
11. I am starting a kidlit writers' schmooze at The Newton since there is nothing else available.
12. I trained volunteers at Paradise Valley School District 3 times this year.
13. I know more about the process of learning to read by volunteering for a reading interventionist weekly at North Ranch.
14. I do something daily related to my writing career.
15. I finished research for a nf picture book.
16. I connected lots of writers in PHX to each other.
17. I did 2 of Susanna Leonard Hill's challenges and was in the top 25 for the Holiday Contest.
18. I have won 2 prizes from PiBoIdMo and Susanna.
19. My buddies who signed w/Sadler Children's literary and I have a crit group where we submit a story weekly - so every 5 weeks I get another story critiqued.
20. I have a social media presence via the GROG, a pretty mighty kidlit blog.
21. I tried my hand at a middle grade novel.
22. I critiqued a friend's middle grade novel.
23. I call myself a 'writer," and I mean it.
24. I did a "school visit" and taught middle grade writers more about writing. They gave me roses and  are practicing their elevator pitches thanks to me.
25. I delved into the "whys" and the motivation of my manuscripts.
26. I enjoy writing and being with writers.
27. I introduced myself to a well-known illustrator so I could write about her process of creation on the GROG. (It was kinda gutsy for me!)

Whether Or Not To Ho-Ho-Ho by Kathy Halsey

Holiday cheer to one and all, whether that be Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza! A new tradition I've started is writing a holiday story, thanks to children's writer Susanna Leonard Hill! I wrote a sweet story last year,  but this year's tale features the wild weather of Arizona and Santa's big dilemma...more R&R poolside or back to snow and ho-ho-ho. Santa, we're counting on you.

View image | gettyimages.com

Susanna's rules were to write a holiday story not to exceed 350 words where weather impacts the holidays. Good luck to all my writer friends and please read the other stories which are linked from Susanna's blog.  

Whether or Not to Ho-Ho-Ho

(word count: 335)

      Santa stretched in his lounger and sipped a smoothie. He soaked up sunshine and daydreamed about a longer vacation. But, it was December 22.

     “Ho-ho-ho. Should I stay, or should I go? I know what Mrs. Claus would say.” Instead, he flipped over and snoozed all day.

   “OUCH!” Santa stretched and looked down at his feet… blisters like scalded cranberries. 

    He hobbled to the bathroom to see what was the matter. In the mirror Santa gasped at the sight… skin redder than Rudolph’s nose…a beard crispier than burnt gingerbread. This was NOT a jolly old elf.

    Ho-ho, no. I promised Rudolph some practice runs back North. Stockings need stuffing, my red suit’s a tad wrinkled, and I’m a mess.

     Mrs. Claus called Santa the next day. “Nick, honey, only one day left. The reindeer are restless. The elves grumble and mope. Please, come back to the North Pole.”

    Santa sighed and gulped his lemonade. He jumped into his red convertible and sped to the airport while Christmas tunes cheered him on.

    Ho-ho, no snow for my flight home. Maybe I’ll make it just in the nick of time.

  “This just in,” the announcer said. “Haboob alert. Dust may delay flights out of Phoenix. Stay tuned.”

   At the gate, Santa checked in with the Icicle Express. His feet throbbed.  His skin peeled, but Christmas awaited.

    “Humbug to dust storms. To the North Pole, ASAP.”

     Santa stared as a wall of dirt rushed in. Lights flickered. Windows shattered. Darkness covered the runway.

     Santa stamped his boots. “Ho-ho, no.”

     Like Christmas magic, the sun reappeared.

     WHOOSH! Monsoon winds kicked the small plane around as it rose higher.

     Santa boomed, “Oh, the weather outside is frightful…snow would be delightful.”

     To Santa’s joy, the air turned frosty. Snow flurried. Reindeer pranced across the sky, and Rudolph joined the escort. The Icicle Express touched down and then glided to Santa’s workshop.

     “Ho-ho-ho. Let it snow. Mrs. Claus, eggnog, please. Rudolph, let’s check the flight pattern. I’m back. Let Christmas Eve begin!”

View image | gettyimages.com