Winners?

Filed in Deep Thoughts / Comment

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Do you need a little writing-oriented chuckle? Check this out:

Since 1982 the English Department at San Jose State University has sponsored the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.

The winners are posted here: http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2012win.html  and are quite funny — and well written for opening lines to bad novels!

Thank you,  Shutta Crum, who always enjoys a good laugh (http://blog.shutta.com/), for bringing this to our attention.

SCBWI International Conference 2012. Wow.

Filed in Events and Opportunities / Comment

Sometimes this is how the business of writing and publishing feels. But the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) tries very hard to make it feel more like this:
…doable–with practice and focus.

After an amazing international conference in LA this past weekend where 1200 people gathered to commune about making children’s books, I’m inspired and a little bit awed by the greatness there.

My take aways:
1. Writing and illustrating books is really hard work, even for the ones who make it look easy. It’s ok to feel overwhelmed much of the time.
2. Passion is the first requirement to success. Without it, even perserverence and talent won’t get the job done. 
3. There is always someone who can provide insight into whatever issue we have in the industry. We just need to be open enough to ask.

Here are some links to posts and articles about the conference. Read them and start hoarding quarters to pay for next year’s conference. If you can possibly attend, you won’t regret it.

Dorine White
Jay Asher
Publishers Weekly

Excuse me. I have to go practice my tree pose.

Blog Post Housekeeping

Filed in Deep Thoughts / Comment

I’ve heard recently that some readers of this blog were having trouble receiving posts. I’ve swept away the old service and am now using Feedburner. If you want fresh content delivered straight to your inbox (and I hope you do!), sign up by clicking the “Carrie A. Pearson’s Blog Post” line in the right hand column. Let me know if you have any trouble!

New Library Summer Reading Club Themes Announced

Filed in Events and Opportunities / Comment

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My friend, Joseph Miller, who is a youth services librarian at the Ferndale Public Library in Michigan, shared the new summer reading club themes for 2014 and 2015.

The general theme for 2014 is Science. The slogans are:
FIZZ, BOOM, READ (Children) and Spark a Reaction (Teen). The general theme for summer 2015 is Heroes.

Anyone out there have a manuscript with these themes? Most libraries will participate in the program, so get ’em written and get em’ published! 

A Banner Day for A Warm Winter Tail!

Filed in About the Books / Comment

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I’ve nervously awaited the reviews for A Warm Winter Tail and the first one is in!

Kirkus Reviews:
 “A cozy “tail” compares the adaptations animals and humans have for surviving winter’s chill. Baby animals ask grown-ups how humans keep warm in the winter. A fox kit asks, “How do humans keep warm in the winter, Mama? / Do they wrap their tails tight / ’round their bodies just right / as heaters to chase out the chill?” Mama answers, “No fur tail for draping, / for covering and caping; / their blankets are cotton and wool.” Each baby in turn asks if humans adapt as they do. The wide variety of animals portrayed ensures that most winter adaptations are covered, though camouflage is lacking. The “For Creative Minds” section includes a spread of extensive further information and two pages of activities—matching animal to adaptation (the only place where the animals are identified by captioned thumbnails) and then sorting the animals into their four classes. More activities and learning materials are on the publisher’s website. Wald’s lifelike illustrations incorporate speech bubbles for the babies’ questions and include humorous imaginings of how humans would look with animals’ adaptations, e.g., a child with butterfly wings.”

Now I can quit biting my fingernails and use those nubbins to write a companion story!

Crits for Water

Filed in Resources / Comment

I learned about this awesome project through the SCBWI-MI listserv community and am reposting the information so you can see the awesomeness for yourself. Basically, Kat  Brauer, author, has organized critiques from pubbed authors, agents, and editors in exchange for donations to a charity that provides clean drinking water to people all over the world. It is a total win-win. Check it out.
http://critsforwater.katbrauer.com/2012/06/18/pledge-critique-package-with-ka-barson-and-elle-cosimano/

Research Nerd

Filed in Research / Comment

Am I weird because I love researching? 

I do enjoy the hunt, following the twisted trail of information, and snatching an unsuspecting tidbit perfect for slapping on unsuspecting victims (usually my children who are held-captive audiences). For instance, “Did you know that some mammals without sweat glands urinate on themselves for the evaporative cooling effect?” 

Despite the reaction — “That’s just gross, Mom” — I think they enjoyed the information and will (silently) thank me during a Trivial Pursuit game some day.

Here is an amazing video about life inside a bee hive I found in my research travels this weekend.  It shows the beginning of life for a bee colony in a top bar hive in Sweden. The Youtube description says it is “a compilation of three summer months from inside the beehive. From colonisation of the empty hive to the days following the swarm (that probably reduced the colony to less than half the number).” The person who posted the video (andersHQ) has posted several others showing the bee hive in regular speed. Now there’s a bit of research that has me buzzing! Sorry.
Are you a research nerd, too? Tell me why…

Save The Bookstores Day – June 16, 2012

Filed in Events and Opportunities / Comment

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I’m reposting Tara Lazar’s post on Save the Bookstores Day because I couldn’t have come up with a better way to tell this story. Check it out here http://taralazar.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/support-save-the-bookstores-day-on-june-16th/

And please, if you can, clear some time on your calendar to visit your local bookstore on June 16th. I’ll be at BookWorld http://www.bookworldstores.com/showLoc.php?id=44 
and Snowbound Books http://www.snowboundbooks.com/ in Marquette, MI!  

Underhoured

Filed in A Writing Life / Comment

Have you ever heard someone joke that they’ve been “overserved?” I feel lately like I’ve been “underhoured” as in “not enough hours in the day to accomplish what I want.” Maybe it is because it is full on spring in upper Michigan and everything is new and fresh. This makes me want to join the party and create some new myself (new flower beds, new green grass vs. dandelions, new novels, new picture books, new school visit materials, etc.).  Do you feel this burst of create-enthusiasm in the spring? If so, how do you manage your time?