Michele Jakubowski's Blog, page 7

One More Little Nugget of Fun

As promised I have one more little nugget of fun in regards to book one in the Sidney & Sydney series.

It all started when I was asked by my daughter’s school to speak at their annual literacy night in February. I happily said yes but was immediately concerned about what I was going to talk about. I had spoken at the same event two years ago about my middle grade reader Sometimes You Can Go Home. Since my daughter is in grade school, the book was only relevant to the older kids and I didn’t feel like my presentation had been all that fabulous. I hadn’t heard from my editor about a release date for Third Grade Mix Up yet but I thought it would still be my best option.

I emailed my editor asking if she had any illustrations I could share and she responded right away with some cool stuff:

Oh, and at the end of the email she added this:

I attached a few sketches and a pdf of the S&S book for you. Will this be enough for your talk? You should definitely have the real book by then as well (FINALLY!).

Also, have you seen this review from PW? They don’t just hand out good reviews, so you should be very proud.

 Third Grade Mix-Up

The Sidney & Sydney series debuts with a straightforward story alternately narrated by two classmates with homophonic names and a few shared interests. Sidney has traveled extensively with his family, and Sydney aspires to be a world traveler; they both love art museums; and—the clincher—they are mutual fans of the video game Galaxy Conquest. Both Jakubowski and Montalto flatter their audience’s sense of independence and autonomy: “I’m only eight years old, but it’s never too early to be fashionable,” image-conscious Sydney tells readers, while jokester Sidney, sitting alone at lunch, knows “that it’s really dorky to get a note from your mom when you are eight years old. But it did make me feel a little better.” (The stylish students in Montalto’s full-color illustrations, meanwhile, look much older than eight, but what kids think of themselves and their peers as young?) After some early stumbles, the two third-graders become fast friends, a relationship that’s cemented as they try to make Halloween a success. Sidney’s narrative can be repetitive and Sydney’s melodramatic, but readers should appreciate the book’s contemporary tone and humor. Ages 6–8. (Feb.) Reviewed on 12/14/2012

I stared at my screen flabbergasted! Not only did I have a release date for the first book (and before literacy night no less!) but my first honest-to-goodness review! And it was a pretty good one to boot!

And We’re Back…

Let’s see, it’s been over 7 months since my last post. In that time I started a full-time job working in the HR department of a local school district, began making some really cool candles, and, oh yeah, was asked to write another series by my editor. How cool is that?!

Between the candles and the full-time gig I hadn’t been doing much writing and the only contact I was looking for from my editor was regarding the Sidney & Sydney series (more on that in a minute). I was at work when I received an email from her with the intriguing subject line: “New Series.” Immediately my heart began to race.

In the email my editor said that she had enjoyed working with me on the S&S series and was hoping I’d be interested in writing a new series for the same age range (6 – 8 year olds). She explained the premise of the series and the details of the contract but my mind couldn’t get past the fact that I was being asked to write a new series. It was beyond a dream come true.

I’m sad that Olive Jooce is going to have to take a rest on the shelf but I’m already in love with the main character of the new series and have sketched out the storylines for all four books. I plan on putting pen to paper (OK, maybe hands to keyboard is more accurate…) after the holidays. I will do my best to blog along the way with all the details.

Oh, and before I forget, big news on the Sidney & Sydney front: Book One is set to be released on February 1, 2013! I’ve got one more little nugget of fun in regards to S&S but I’ll save that for later.

In the meantime, Happy Holidays!

Model Behavior

While I don’t like to have my picture taken, I do like to help a friend so when a good friend’s daughter needed a model for a college project, I obliged. (And don’t tell anyone, but I enjoyed it…)

Photos courtesy of Marissa Lantz

New Year – New Project

I started working on a new project yesterday and decided to do some celebrating. It looked a little something like this:

A Writer's Confession

I've got a confession to make. I am a huge fan of libraries and while I could spend hour upon hour perusing a book store, I'm not a big book buyer.

I know this sounds a bit hypocritical as a person trying to eek out a career as a writer and seller of books, but hear me out. First of all, I never read a book jacket before starting a book. I read books I pick out based solely on feel and vague recommendations or whatever my husband brings home for me. With that said, I have no issues with abandoning a book 20 pages in and moving on to the next. On a recent visit to the library I brought home 6 books and didn't finish one. Even at a second hand book store this odd way of doing things could get very expensive.

Secondly, I am not a re-reader. As my earlier point proves, I like to be surprised by a book and even though my memory isn't what it used to be, I get frustrated knowing what is coming next. There have been several books I've read where being surprised by the major plot twist that is highlighted on the book jacket was my favorite part. Plus I believe there are so many great books out there and so little time.

(On a slightly defensive side note: when I do buy books I like to pass them on with no strings attached. I love the idea of a good book making its way around to multiple readers.)

In an effort to balance my karma as a writer I buy books for my children. My daughter especially is a book lover and received no less than 6 books this Christmas.  As a kid typical of her generation she is into technology and in a post-holiday spending spree exhausted her savings on a Kindle Fire. I haven't been able to get my hands on it much yet because as you can see from the picture, she sleeps with it next to her bed. Brings me back to the days when I slept with my prized Judy Blume box set nearby – only that didn't need charging each night.

A Writer’s Confession

I’ve got a confession to make. I am a huge fan of libraries and while I could spend hour upon hour perusing a book store, I’m not a big book buyer.

I know this sounds a bit hypocritical as a person trying to eek out a career as a writer and seller of books, but hear me out. First of all, I never read a book jacket before starting a book. I read books I pick out based solely on feel and vague recommendations or whatever my husband brings home for me. With that said, I have no issues with abandoning a book 20 pages in and moving on to the next. On a recent visit to the library I brought home 6 books and didn’t finish one. Even at a second hand book store this odd way of doing things could get very expensive.

Secondly, I am not a re-reader. As my earlier point proves, I like to be surprised by a book and even though my memory isn’t what it used to be, I get frustrated knowing what is coming next. There have been several books I’ve read where being surprised by the major plot twist that is highlighted on the book jacket was my favorite part. Plus I believe there are so many great books out there and so little time.

(On a slightly defensive side note: when I do buy books I like to pass them on with no strings attached. I love the idea of a good book making its way around to multiple readers.)

In an effort to balance my karma as a writer I buy books for my children. My daughter especially is a book lover and received no less than 6 books this Christmas.  As a kid typical of her generation she is into technology and in a post-holiday spending spree exhausted her savings on a Kindle Fire. I haven’t been able to get my hands on it much yet because as you can see from the picture, she sleeps with it next to her bed. Brings me back to the days when I slept with my prized Judy Blume box set nearby – only that didn’t need charging each night.

Compliments DO Soften the Blow

Hopefully one day soon I'll be writing a post about an agent or publisher who wants to take a shot on the Olive Jooce series.  In the meantime, I'd like to share another nice rejection I received:

Hey there Michele,

Thanks so much for giving me a shot at your chapter book (and for your patience over these last several weeks while I struggled to keep up with my submissions). I'm sorry to say that I wasn't connecting wholeheartedly with your writing, despite its poise and polish, so I ought to step aside, but I truly appreciate the look, I apologize for the delay in my response, and I wish you the best of luck!

Not great news, but at least it didn't say "Dear Author."  Goes to show a little nice goes a long way.

 

Football and Book Club

I usually like to reserve my blog for book-related posts but I couldn't help but publicly celebrate my Huskies winning the MAC Championship title last night!

For all you blog purists, if it makes you feel better I did watch the game at my book club's holiday party – with several OU fans no less! When NIU was down 20 – 0 at the half, I was happy for the distraction of the awful white elephant gifts and plethora of food.

For those of you who don't belong to a book club, join or form one – NOW. You won't regret it. Over the past two years these women have become like a second family to me. They have supported me through tough times, celebrated my victories and brought me hours upon hours of side-splitting laughter and inside jokes (is it time for me to put a cap on it??) I am so grateful for their friendship.

Oh, and did I mention they are great group to discuss books with, too? I have read (and mostly enjoyed) books I would have never picked up on my own.

A successful football season and a great group of friends? What more could I ask for? Oh yeah, a home for the Olive Jooce series…

I'm Thankful for Yoga

Remember when I said that one of the agents who had my full manuscript was working 8 weeks out and that this was THE week…

Cut to the day before Thanksgiving. I was frantically cleaning my house, thawing the torfurkey and trying to get some work done. I knew as soon as I saw the notification that the email was not going to be good news. I try to be a positive thinker, but sometimes you just know.

The nice part of the rejection:  I like the idea of a little girl being afraid of the tooth fairy, and thought she was a very sweet character. The other part:  However, I didn't see how her imaginary friend fit into the tale.  I also felt that, especially in chapter books, there has to be some kind of lesson learned, and I didn't quite see the lesson in this book.

Ouch.

I'm not going to lie, I was crushed.  I'm hitting the phase of querying that I was most concerned with blogging about: the woe-is-me/I'm-never-going-to-find-a-home-for-this-project phase. I moped around, shed some tears until – thankfully – I went to yoga class.

If you've never tried yoga before, I highly recommend it. After the hour I was still bummed about the rejection, but my mood had definitely softened. I'm still feeling a bit lost about the whole thing, but I'm hoping a couple more yoga classes will point me in the right direction.

I’m Thankful for Yoga

Remember when I said that one of the agents who had my full manuscript was working 8 weeks out and that this was THE week…

Cut to the day before Thanksgiving. I was frantically cleaning my house, thawing the torfurkey and trying to get some work done. I knew as soon as I saw the notification that the email was not going to be good news. I try to be a positive thinker, but sometimes you just know.

The nice part of the rejection:  I like the idea of a little girl being afraid of the tooth fairy, and thought she was a very sweet character. The other part:  However, I didn’t see how her imaginary friend fit into the tale.  I also felt that, especially in chapter books, there has to be some kind of lesson learned, and I didn’t quite see the lesson in this book.

Ouch.

I’m not going to lie, I was crushed.  I’m hitting the phase of querying that I was most concerned with blogging about: the woe-is-me/I’m-never-going-to-find-a-home-for-this-project phase. I moped around, shed some tears until – thankfully – I went to yoga class.

If you’ve never tried yoga before, I highly recommend it. After the hour I was still bummed about the rejection, but my mood had definitely softened. I’m still feeling a bit lost about the whole thing, but I’m hoping a couple more yoga classes will point me in the right direction.