A personal massage therapist to work out all those keyboarding kinks? Ahhhh, of course.
So I’m taking my new-found empty-nest-hood rather seriously and refurbishing my kids’ computer room to be my home office (the kitchen table just isn’t cutting it). Other than lots and lots of shelves, some workhorse filing cabinets and a wide surface desk, I’m trying to imagine what else I should squeeze in.
Those metal magnet boards and wire clothes lines are so nifty. But are they useful?
What’s your advice? What are the tools you can’t live without? What are the organization features that make your life easier? What are the furnishings that make you most productive AND comfortable? What are the aesthetics that inspire you?
Oh, and feel free to go into detail – I’m talking links, specs, whatever.
This is my first giveaway for LIGHT UP THE NIGHT. And all you have to do is “click” to enter. What could be easier? Here’s the Goodreads Giveaway link.
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT “A boy celebrates his place in the world in Reidy’s (Too Pickley!) soothing bedtime story. Removing the red-and-white quilt from his bed, the narrator fashions it into an open-cockpit jet and blasts into outer space: “These are my galaxy stars so bright—/ they light up the heavens late at night/ in my own little piece of the universe.” The cumulative verse follows the boy’s journey as he eventually zeroes in on Earth, where, after he pays tribute to his continent, country, town, and street, he returns to his house, bedroom, and cozy bed. Caldecott Honor artist Chodos-Irvine’s (Ella Sarah Gets Dressed) brightly colored matte prints portray the universe as a welcoming place, abuzz with activity, with swirling, starlit skies and friendly constellations, astronauts, and aliens. Acting as a confident tour guide, the boy remains literally in the driver’s seat, as his quilt-patterned vehicle transforms into a spaceship, prop plane, train, truck, and skateboard before reverting to its original form. The collaborators are entirely in sync as they remind readers that the universe and its wonders are theirs to revel in. “
As some of you know, my third picture book LIGHT UP THE NIGHT, comes out October 11, 2011. What you probably don’t know is that the story – while visibly very American – was inspired by the children of Uganda, many of whom are orphaned by AIDS while others have been displaced due to past civil war. My family has developed strong connections to that country and its children over the past 6 years.
To celebrate the release of the book and those beautiful children, I’m holding an online auction November 7-18 to benefit literacy in Africa and a library at Musana Children’s Home in Iganga, Uganda where I worked last summer. The auction will be called LIGHT UP THE LIBRARY.
I’m coordinating this with the volunteers for an amazing Peace Corps project called Libraries for Life – which is providing books for libraries in designated Ugandan schools. The project is being administered by, not only the Peace Corps, but also the Books for Africa organization. And Musana has been designated as one of the recipient libraries.
Please know that each and every day I continue to support public libraries, school libraries and literacy programs here in the U.S. But this auction will reach across the ocean to benefit efforts abroad.
I know all of you, as caring and generous as you are, have your own special passions and causes. So I don’t want you to feel any pressure here, especially during such difficult economic times. But if, by chance, this project of mine touches you in any way, and if you have something you might like to donate to the auction, you can do so via my Auction Donor Form.
I’m open to any and all possibilities. Some of the items on my wish list include:
Manuscript critiques Writing mentorships Autographed books Author Twitter Chats School visits Author Skype Visits Marketing Consultations Social Networking Consultations Book trailers Blog designs Blog header designs Web designs Personalized Sketches, Caricatures or Watercolors for Blogs or Websites Business Card Designs Real Estate Sales Consultations Home Staging or Design Consultations Night Time Baby Items or Crib Items Baby Afghans Baby Quilts Telescopes Original artwork Handy Man Services
Hand-crafted Jewelry and Bags Sports Memorabilia Tutoring or Standardized Test Prep College Essay Critiques College Care Packages
Other Services such as Massages, Manicures, Etc.
Thanks so much for considering my request. Please feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested. Have a wonderful September.
Jean P.S. If you’re so excited and you simply can’t wait for the auction, you can make your cash donation today RIGHT HERE.
Library People—Friends of Colorado Libraries, is having a fundraiser with Barnes & Noble. This is being held on International Literacy Day, September 8, at two main stores:
The Loveland Centerra Barnes & Noble, 5835 Sky Pond Drive
And the South Colorado Barnes & Noble, 960 S Colorado Blvd, Denver, noon to 8 p.m. Special appearance by author Dick Kreck (The Smaldones)at this store at 5 p.m.
The offer also will be honored at ANY Barnes & Noble store in the state from September 8 through the 13th.
For every eligible item that is purchased at Barnes & Noble and identified as part of the Library People—Friends of Colorado Libraries bookfair, Barnes & Noble contributes up to 12% of the purchase price to my organization. More details are included on the website, www.barnesandnoble.com/bookfairs
Please consider visiting a Barnes & Noble store OR the website and making a purchase on behalf of libraries. Barnes & Noble offers books, music, DVDs, educational toys and games, gift products and so much more.
In addition, online purchases are eligible for the offer. Visit www.bn.com/bookfairs
to start shopping. Please ensure you enter our organization’s bookfair ID (Bookfair ID: 10508869) on the payment page to ensure we receive credit.
To learn more about Library People, a statewide nonprofit that works toward quality library service for Colorado residents by providing advocacy, support, and coordination of service projects, visit www.librarypeople.org
Certainly if you have other people who might be interested in this offer, feel free to forward this message. Thanks for your help!
It’s probably the most asked question – second only to “Where can I buy it?” – of writers. But how often do your take your answer seriously? Can you sum up your story before the elevator door slams in your face? We hear a lot about pitches and one-sentence summaries in novel writing workshops. But what about pitches for picture books?
Well, I’m here to tell you that a one-sentence summary is just as important for picture books. Why?
1. It helps you assess your premise for market strength and saleability – I often run my pitches past my critique group and my agent before I begin writing and revising. This practice saves me from wasting time on a story that’s overdone, unfocused, unsaleable or simply unappealing. On the other hand, when my agent likes an idea, she may use my summary to get early feedback from editors. I know, then, which projects are worthy of my efforts.
1. It helps you focus your writing – As you revise and revise and revise and brainstorm and revise some more, story lines can muddy and lose focus. Suddenly, several drafts in, you have to really wonder what your story is about. Keeping your one-sentence summary in front of you through your drafts helps you steer clear of plot detours.
2. It helps to streamline the selling process – From the moment you finish revising your manuscript the selling begins. First, you pitch your story to your agent. If she likes it, she pitches it to editors. If they like it, they pitch it to their editorial team and then to their acquisitions team, then to their marketing and sales team and then … ultimately your book is pitched to booksellers and librarians and readers everywhere. A dynamite one-sentence summary sees to it that your books travels quickly and happily through all these publishing layers.
So if you find yourself saying something like, “Well my book is sort of about a little girl and her grandmother and they’re on a beach and the grandmother can’t remember the girl’s name and they take a walk and …” you may want to focus your story by taking the time to draft your one-sentence summary. Your picture book writing life will be whole lot easier – guaranteed.
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT[KIRKUS STARRED REVIEW!] By Jean Reidy; illus. by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
The coziest of quilts becomes a rocket ship in this gorgeous, mesmerizingly rhythmic read-aloud that explores a boy’s small place in a vast world. Sporting star-spangled pajamas, the not-too-sleepy astronaut wraps his red-and-white quilt around his shoulders and zooms off into outer space. The slow-building rhyme echoes the cumulative structure of “The House That Jack Built”: “These are the planets that circle the sun, / which hides its face when the day is done, / while stars glow bright / and light up the night, / in my own little piece of the universe.” The soothing rhythms and comforting refrain are just right for very young ears, and the geographical terms will stretch young minds. During the boy’s fanciful flight, his aerial view of Earth includes hemispheres, continents and countries—eventually zeroing in on his own town, house, street and bed. Caldecott Honor–winner Chodos-Irvine’s colorful illustrations are fun and friendly, from the retro linocut spot art of the boy in his bedroom (“This is me”)—to dramatic full-bleed spreads that capture the expansive galaxies, complete with a smiling moon, animal constellations, planets and four-eyed aliens. The richly textured mixed-media artwork—incorporating various printmaking techniques and what looks like cut-paper collage—offers many clever self-referential moments and something new to discover with each reading. A dreamy-yet-instructive ode to the universe. (Picture book. 2-6)
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT [HORN BOOK REVIEW]
by Jean Reidy; illus. by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
Before bedtime, a young boy plays with his toys—vehicles of all kinds, from a truck to a spaceship. He quietly identifies himself by saying, “This is me,” captioning a small spot art illustration surrounded by white space. Why so small? Because, as listeners soon discover, he’s part of something big. His mother tucks him in, but he doesn’t go straight to sleep. Instead, he takes his blanket, transforms it into a rocket ship, and soars off into the vastness of the heavens. Thus begins a cumulative tale that takes him out of this world (“These are my galaxy stars so bright— / they light up the heavens late at night”) and back again to his “own little piece of the universe”: “This is my room, with my name on the door, and my dinosaur lamp, and my rug on the floor.” Soft assonant sounds soothe the cumulative rhyme that parallels nighttime routines through its repetition and structure. Visually, the most important object in the book is the boy’s best bedtime companion: his blanket. Reproduced on the endpapers, the blanket first swaddles the book and then the boy as pieces of it morph into the vehicles that transport him. Double-page spreads of bright but not overpowering collages depict his journey, while the opening and closing actions (of going to bed and going to sleep) are shown in smaller wordless panels, bringing the story full circle. Betty Carter
This past month, when I had three other writing projects going, a new story idea sprang to life. Not only that, it roared and flailed and gnashed until it forced me to jot down ideas – which I did, in submission, in a notebook.
These scenes, bits of dialog, and possible themes continue to flow and I face the common writer’s temptation – do I ditch my old, “stale” projects and follow this new muse? And if I don’t go with it now, when will I ever have that momentum back?
In my view, you can either approach the month of November with a blank slate and a dose of dread, then squeak out a daily word count in misery. OR you can let a current idea simmer until then. Simmer while characters reveal themselves, subplots present themselves and true stories rise to the surface of a pot of bubbling ideas that you season and stir (please pardon the mixed metaphor – imagine the flailing gnashing beast in the boiling pot, if you will) without the 30-day pressure AND without the pain of having ditched a current project for a new love.
Without that pressure, my mind and story are free to take twists and turns and detours I might feel less compelled to explore with a daily word count looming. But here’s the real kicker, without engaging in the actual writing of the novel, I’m keeping that energy, that honeymoon with my idea, fresh long enough to LOVE fleshing it out. Creativity can’t always blossom in a pressure cooker. But it can when I’m in my “I can’t wait ’til November” state of mind.
So if you have an idea that just can’t wait – you might just want to make it wait, until November. And in the meantime, let it roar and snarl and gnash itself out of captivity right into a notebook. Make your idea work for November. When then, it will get the attention it deserves.
