Blogiversary; Goodbye, Poetry Month; and Angry Birds Playground: Rain Forest Book Giveaway

Happy Spring!

Since I didn’t get to post about our 5 year blogiversary, I’ll jump in here to say a quick THANK YOU to friends who have been with the blog since the beginning or found us somewhere along the way. I love knowing that 5-book bundles are even now winging (wheeling?) their way to 5 of you who entered our contest. Woot!

Another of my National Geographic books was released a couple of weeks ago, so it’s time for a book giveaway. If you have any kiddos in your life who like the Angry Birds or might enjoy a lively book about the Amazon rain forest and its animals, please enter. I’d love to send you a copy of Angry Birds Playground:  Rain Forest.

This fourth book in the series (the third written by me) was my favorite to research. I quickly compiled a lonnng list of the amazing creatures that live in the Amazon. Narrowing it down was actually the toughest part of writing this book. Reading about some of them made my jaw drop.

-Like Hoatzin chicks. Those are born with temporary claws on the front edges of their wings. When a hawk or other predatory bird attacks a nest (which are built hanging over the water), the chicks can ploop to the water below, then swim underwater to the bank until the threat is over. Then they use those wee claws to climb back up the tree to their nest. (I couldn’t get photo permission in time for this post, but check out this quirky, chicken-sized bird!)

-Like the wide-mouthed Amazon Horned Frog. This bugger will attack and try to swallow anything that crosses its path – including human ankles. They're so aggressive that they're often found dead with some poor, too-big-to-swallow beastie halfway in.

                                                                                    Photo by George Grall

-Like the Golden Lion Tamarin, a photo of which you can see here. This fiery, red-orange (and endangered) species always looks so big in photos. Did you know they’re really only the size of a 5-year-old child’s foot?

Readers will learn about the four layers of the Amazon, the river itself, and the basin in general. Add cool lizards and turtles and insects and snakes, a few animals that consume their own … um, droppings, 5 primate species, and a frightening assortment of animals trying their darnedest to eat each other, and you’ve got one fascinating, four-layered place to discover.

Want to win a copy? Just enter via Rafflecopter below. I’ll send one winner their very own book. Contest runs through May 16th.

Jill Esbaum

Side note #1:  Farewell, Poetry Month. But if you're into rhyming picture books, I’m the guest blogger today over at Angie Karcher’s RhyPiBoMo.

Side note #2:  If you’re a picture book writer and are looking for a summer writing workshop, consider joining my author friend Linda Skeers and me at our Whispering Woods Picture Book Workshop. Follow link for more details.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summertime...and the Writing is Intense

    Although it's been in the 80's here for months (winter? spring? didn't happen here), summer officially began a couple of days ago. Right on Hotlanta schedule, the temperature went from 80 something to 90 something immediately.

     I begin my Young Writer's Workshops for the parks department today. No matter what week I begin (and I've been doing this for years), it will always be the hottest week of the summer at that point.  This is a good thing, for me at least.

    I turn into a slug in hot weather, and spending six hours a day with young, enthusiastic writers gets me up and inspired.  Inspiration is what I need in the summer, when my schedule is even crazier than usual.  Writing time is sandwiched between workshops and increased practice sessions and competitions for my daughter, the figure skater. Even though everything is air-conditioned, all that running around in hot, sticky, snail-paced Atlanta traffic sucks the energy out of you. Makes you cranky. Makes you want to go sit in the neighborhood pool with a margarita (if the neighborhood pool let you bring in alcohol, which it doesn't.)

  When I was a full-time teacher, my writing time was confined to the summer months. With a work day that started at 7am and frequently went on past midnight (including the sixty mile round trip commute) I just didn't have the time. I also hadn't learned that if inspired, you can write in ten and fifteen minute mini-blocks of time. Back then, I thought if you couldn't spend four or five solid hours at your desk (before the invention of laptops) then you just couldn't write at all.

    Writing has been my "day job" for fifteen years. (Holy cow, I hadn't done the math until just now!) I also haven't done a lot (OK, any) contemplation of how the change of season affects my writing. But since you asked...

    I am a night writer by nature. I usually fight this inclination because if I write before sleep, I go on writing in my dreams. Which is not particularly restful. I can make this up in summer catnapping.

    Extra daylight hours do not inspire me to stay parked in front of a laptop inside. They do inspire me to walk (even if it's just around the asphalt parking lot of the skating rink). Maybe pace would be a better word. Whatever you call it, mindless activity gets my mojo going. I can pace outside at home, but I live in a friendly neighborhood. Passing a dog-walking neighbor without at least saying "Hi" blows my stream of thought. I never have that problem in the rink parking lot.

   More than anything, however, my young authors (ages 10-14) bring out my best creative game. They help me as much (if not more) than I help them.  Each group is different and memorable. This year I have a new venue...a converted carriage house on the grounds of an antebellum mansion. Who knows what kind of writing energy we will find there?

   Now if you will excuse me, I need to load up the car with all the teaching necessities...books, white boards, markers, dictionaries, and a pencil sharpener (wherever I am giving the workshop, there never seems to be a pencil sharpener!) I am off to meet a new group of fresh, excited and eager-to-learn writers.

    I can't wait.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

P.S from Carmela: Don't forget to enter our current giveaway contest for a chance to win an autographed copy of David Harrison's picture book Cowboys (Wordsong). Read April's terrific interview with him for details.

On Critiques and Root Canals

I began my Friday in the endodontist's chair, effectively muted by a curtain-like drape, pervasive numbness, and numerous dental implements.  As the dentist violently excavated the roots of my molar, she made small talk about her brother-in-law, who had written a science fiction novel "for fun."  She said she'd read the first few pages at his request and that the writing was "childish," in a style that might be appropriate for a 10-year-old, but with subject matter that would never interest a 10-year-old.  A very valid criticism, I'm sure.  Unfortunately I was unable to ask whether she'd shared this opinion with her brother-in-law and, if so, whether family harmony had prevailed.

Critiquing is, frankly, a bizarre business.  As writers, we desperately seek feedback from others, secretly longing only to hear, "It's wonderful, it's perfect, don't change a thing!"   

Of course, when one gets feedback that's so resonant, so right-on  -- even if it involves a total rewrite, it inspires its own kind of writers' high.

Then there's the rest.

As a teacher, I find that one of my most frequent sources of frustration is students who totally ignore feedback.  Sometimes, I'm sure this is a factor of sheer laziness; sometimes, it's sheer stubbornness.  There are certain notes that are objectively indisputable.  "This sentence is a comma splice."  There are certain notes that are a factor of my own personal biases.  "You cannot use a photo of the Virginia Tech shooting victims to convince me that gun control is a bad idea." 

My day job involves constant editing, rewriting, feedback, discussion -- for the good and for the not-so-good.  Not a day goes by that I don't think of my high school teacher, Mrs. Weingarten, who taught me the critiquing method that I wish everyone on the planet followed:

PQP -- Praise, Question, Polish

Start with praise.  Always.  There's something good you can find.  Somewhere.  Always. 

Usually you can find a way to end on an encouraging note, as well.

In between, be constructive, be specific, and offer suggestions.

I try to run a workshop-based version of English 101 -- "try" being the operative word. I vary my methodology every semester, but I have yet to hit upon a procedure that truly works well. I've asked for voluntary online critiques via Blackboard (even dangling offers of extra credit), but usually only the same few students post.  They are typically reluctant to give specific feedback, and the most commonly read comment is, "I really liked your paper!"  In-class critiques are also difficult because there are always the students who have written something of a highly personal nature that they are loath to have classmates read.   (And of course I encourage them to write about personal topics and would never want to inhibit their honesty by forcing the issue.)  There are also the (many) students who don't finish their rough drafts in time for the critiquing session.  Then -- the very worst thing -- there is the specific feedback that makes the writer feel as though his work has just been gutted and spat upon.

Last semester, I had a student who was writing  a paper in which she argued that war should be ended.  I told her this was not a controversial premise, as she wasn't going to find anyone who would argue that war is a good thing.  I advised that she come up with some sort of specific plan or proposition to advance her cause.  She did and wrote an excellent paper.  Her peer reviewer hated it and was unstinting in her criticism of the"bias" of the paper.  I asked the peer reviewer what she would have found a more palatable thesis, and she replied that she felt that preemptive bombing of everyone in the Middle East was the solution to achieving world peace.  Let's just say I'm glad she did not write her paper on the topic of war.  I advised student #1 to ignore her peer review, but I know the damage to her psyche had already been done.    

Even more subject to personal bias is fiction.  If I were an editor, I would reject Faulkner (too obtuse).  I would ask for heavy edits on some of the most-loved children's books.  Who am I to say what's good and what needs work?  I'm just me.  I always remind students that writing is a highly subjective endeavor.  If they don't like my notes, they can feel free to ignore them.  If they feel strongly about something, I want them to feel confident and remain true to their ideas.  Just be prepared to explain themselves. 

Critiquing is a necessary part of the writing process for most of us.  We are too close to our own work to see what is often obvious to others.  Finding a nuturturing group whose members will offer honest, helpful, intelligent feedback is the ticket to making sure the process works.  

As you sit, mute, listening to others' commentary on your beloved manuscript, remember -- a critique shouldn't feel like a root canal.  And if it does, follow your gut.  It might be a sign that it's time to find a new group.  --Jeanne Marie

Write, Revise, Repeat

Congrats to our own JoAnn Early Macken on the fabulous review of Waiting Out The Storm in The Washington Post this weekend.  (She might be too modest to mention it, but I am not!  She also happens to be in excellent company.)  If you'd like to win a copy of this terrific read-aloud for young kids, post a comment here by 11 pm Thursday, CST.

Thanks to Mary Roy for the following question:

"I am writing a children's story for the first time. I've published articles in local magazines and special sections, but not yet a book. I am starting at ground zero with this story. I feel that I probably need a class. For certain I need direction, and that's really what I'm asking for. Where should I start? How do I develop the basic story into a charming book for children?"

Mary, this is a question that bears repeating and is something I still ask myself all the time.

One good place to start is this post by Esther Hershenhorn.

I will echo her sentiment that one of the most important things to do is read, read, read.  Study what's out there.  Has a topic similar to yours already been covered in a published work?  How did other skilled writers solve the same problems you face in your own writing? 

I like to visit the bookstore (support indie bookstores!) and see what's new -- what books are being marketed heavily, which ones are facing outward, etc.  It is always fun to find a friend's book on the shelf and give it a little marketing boost by making its place more prominent. :)

Bear in mind that what is trendy today (hello, vampires) will almost certainly be well on its way out by the time anything you write now could be published in, say, two to three to four years. 

I also go to the library.  They might not have the best selection of what's new, but they almost always have the classics.  Check out the works of Esme Raji Codell and Anita Silvey for books every children's author should know.

Google is also my friend, and I often search on http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.indiebound.com/ for card catalog-type information so that I can get a general sense as to what books are "out there." 

Do you know whether you are writing a picture book, a middle grade novel, or a YA?  Do you have characters in mind?  Plot?  Beginning, middle, end?  I find it hard to begin writing until I have a somewhat solid sense as to all of the above, even though these elements may change significantly in the writing process.  There are so many ways to go about fleshing out a story -- of course you have to find what works for you.  You already have good writing habits, or you would not be a published author.  You will likely find that many of these habits apply to writing fiction as well.

When I write mystery novels and soap operas, I outline.  In fact, all TV writers and screenwriters outline (or write treatments, as they're called).  Many novelists, on the other hand, like to be surprised by the twists and turns that ensue along the way.  There is, of course, no right or wrong way to do it -- just do what works for you!

GET A DRAFT.  That is the most important thing you can do.  Then, finally, the real work begins -- revising.

You mentioned that you think you might need to take a class.  Many of us have our MFA degrees in writing for children.  Assuming you don't want to do something quite so hardcore, you can try to find a class at a local college, where non-credit courses in writing for children are often offered.  Online courses are another great idea. There are a number of excellent courses taught through UCLA Extension and http://www.mediabistro.com/, for example.

Workshopping your manuscript is important.  That said, "clicking" with your teacher/mentor is crucial to a productive experience.  Writing is, obviously, highly subjective.  If you get feedback that doesn't speak to your heart, you don't have to take it; but if you find yourself getting the same feedback from multiple sources, then of course it's time for another look.

You may be able to find a local critique group through SCBWI.  If you find one that you like, you're golden. :)  If you find one that you hate, a break-up may ultimately be in order.

Revise, revise, revise.  How will you know when your pride and joy is ready to submit?  You might not.  You are too close to your own work.  Seek input from other seasoned writers.  Attend conferences.  Hook up with editors.  Network.

Good luck, and please keep us posted. 

And if anyone wants to start an online group, let me know -- I am desperate to find one! -- Jeanne Marie