A Favor & Weekend Recommendation #11

Have you been to Storybird.com?  It is this great site where you can create your own story book with the art that is already provided there.  It is a lot of fun and great writing practice.  But more importantly right now, I am a semi-finalist in this week's competition and I need your vote!  My story "Like A Barrel of Monkeys" (under my pen-name "rosencrantz") can be found under the November "Curiosity" challenge.  You can sign up for free and vote for my story.  Voting is only open this weekend!  Please go cast your vote for my book (or someone else's if you are so inclined).  : )

For the weekend recommendation, I'm going to go with a great "just be yourself" book.  Fair Cow written and illustrated by Leslie Helakoski.  I'm a sucker for a story that involves a state fair in any way.  I really enjoyed this one and so did my kiddos.  Enjoy!

My ABCs of Inspiration: Q is for Quotes

I have never been a collector of quotes.  I dutifully read them at the beginning of novels or in the signature lines of folks on their e-mails.  I occasionally read one that I like, but I never remember it later.  I've just never been a quote person. 

But a few weeks ago my library had a book sale (is there anything better than a library book sale?!) and I picked up a book of quotes published in the 1940s.  And since it was bag sale day (fill a paper grocery bag for $4!!) it came home with me.

Flipping through it in a totally random fashion, I came across two interesting and inspirational quotes.  Now these haven't inspired a picture book idea for me, but they do inspire me to keep working at it, so I thought I'd share them.  First, is a quote I've actually heard for years.  But I only ever heard the END of the quote.  For some reason no one ever mentions the first part.  It is from Emerson:

"If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon or build a better mouse trap than his neighbor, though he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

And the second one is from Bernard Shaw:

"You have no more right to consume happiness without producing it than to consume wealth without producing it."

What quotes inspire you?

My ABCs of Inspiration: P is for Poetry

Poetry is tricky.  I've never had a poet's heart.  I love to put together a good rhyme, but meter and accents and all of that elude me.  But that doesn't stop me from loving a good poem.  I may not always pick the most academically correct poem.  I may not pick sophisticated poetry.  But that doesn't matter.  Poetry is in the ear of the beholder.  Or something like that.

Don't be afraid of poetry.  Do your homework if you want to write it to be published someday.  But if you aren't worried about it being published, play around!  You'll be surprised how much fun it is to play with words and where that word play can lead you.  I suggest you hop over and read Kat Apel's guest post on Tara Lazar's blog for PiBoIdMo for a little reminder.  I know poetry can seem intimidating, but use it as a tool.  Don't worry about someone else seeing it today, just play!  See what happens!

My ABCs of Inspiration: O is for Oops!

I have heard the expression that "In art, there is no such thing as a mistake."  Well, I think this is true for the art of writing too.  And you can get all kinds of inspiration from your mistakes!

When I'm writing sometimes I go off on a fabulous tangent.  And that tangent is way better than my original plot line.  Or I put too many characters in a picture book and one of those characters needs their own book.  Or I come up with some cheeky little plot device that has no business in what I'm currently writing, but could be the basis for its own book.  The breadth and depth of my mistakes are endless!  And so, the possibilities are endless as well.

CONTEST NOTE:  I know you are all having super fun entering my contest, but I want to alert you to another with (dare-I-say-it) a much more awesome prize than my super cool prize pack!  Go visit my dear critique partner Julie Hedlund on her blog for her one year anniversary.  You could win ALL six Harry Potter movies!  And join her blog while you are there, she is super fantastic!

My ABCs of Inspiration: N is for Never Give Up!

I apologize for yesterday's lack of post.  I hadn't written ahead and this cold came up and knocked me out.  I guess I need to write ahead a little more!

But, to stay on track with my alphabet (to ensure I finish on Nov. 30th), I'm going to go ahead with letter N.

So, N is for Never Give Up!  I have discovered that my creativity goes in cycles.  It ebbs and flows.  And during those "ebb" times, it is easy to think, "I can't do this.  Who am I kidding?"  But I must remind myself that my muse will come knocking again sometime.  Maybe an hour from now, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week.  But it will come.  Don't give up on your muse.

The other part of this is to not give up on a dream.  It has become my dream to get a picture book published.  Admittedly, this is a recent dream.  I would have not have thought this would be my pursuit even a year ago.  However, it has taken hold of me now.  I'm trying hard to learn as much as I can about writing, publishing, the book market and so on.  I'm sending out magazine pieces and starting a lovely collection of rejection letters.  But if it takes five years to finally write a publish-worthy picture book, so be it.  If it takes ten years, I'm in.  If it takes fifteen years, well my kids will out of the house by then, so I'll have more time to devote to it!  The point is to keep learning, keep growing, keep writing.  Never give up.

My ABCs of Inspiration: M is for Megan is sick

I'm not feeling well at all today, so I'm taking the day off.  M was going to be for movies, so talk amongst yourselves.  : )

I'm sure I'll be feeling better soon, so please come back tomorrow!

My ABCs of Inspiration: L is for Lady Gaga

Or Lady Antebellum.  Or Louis Armstrong.  Or Lionel Ritchie.  Or whoever you listen to when you need to relax or just dance it out.  My point is, music allows us a release.  And sometimes to get the creative juices flowing, you just need to belt out an off-key tune in your kitchen or get down with your bad self in your car.

This is kind of like the journal thing I mentioned on Thursday.  You have to unclog your brain to be able to hear your muse and music is an easy way to unclog.  Personally, I like to throw on all my kick-butt songs and sing as loudly and terribly as I possibly can.  It lets out any frustration, stress, or even joy and exuberance.  And then I'm ready to brainstorm.  The blood is pumping, the synapses are firing, and my children have been struck deaf by my terrible rendition of "Just Dance." (truth-in-reporting-note: I never listen to Lady Gaga with my kids in the car.  So I shake it to Tom Chapin and Harry Connick Jr.'s children's album)