Kelly Hashway's Blog, page 125

Monday Mishmash 9/19

Happy Monday, everyone! Here's what's on my mind today.

Fall weather I love the crisp fall air. It's beautiful. I've always loved the changing leaves and the coolness in the air. Not too cold, just cool.The Purrfect Puppy On Wednesday, I'll be revealing the cover of my new picture book The Purrfect Puppy. I'm excited to share it.Book Signing I had a lot of fun at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort this past weekend. We did crafts, colored, ate cookies, drank milk, and of course I read May the Best Dog Win.New schedule I'm still adjusting to my new schedule. Now that my daughter is in pre-K three mornings a week, I have extra writing time. The mornings fly by, which is nice since I miss my daughter.Dog bowl I brought a dog bowl filled with goodies to my signing. It was a big hit. Kids liked getting to choose their prize, and a dog bowl with the paw prints around it just seemed like an appropriate container.

That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

Size Matters

When I began writing, I jumped right into novels. I can look back now and see that was a mistake. Because a few years later, I got into writing short stories. I never intended to sell my short stories. I thought it was just going to be part of learning to write for children and improving my skills. Today I can happily say I've published over 80 short stories. And I'll continue to write short stories. Why? They taught me very important lessons.

 

Writing short stories forces you to get to the heart of the idea. You must have a solid plot. A short story can't stand on its feet without one. So I learned how to plan a story with all the key elements from start to finish.Word choice is very important. You need to choose your words carefully. In short stories, space (and word count) is... well, short. You have to use specific verbs and cut back on all the "It was" and "There were" that really don't need to be in a story in the first place. (They are also considered signs of weak writing.)Short stories don't take nearly as long to write as novels, and that gives you a sense of accomplishment. And feeling good about your progress makes you a better writer.Putting all your hopes in one story is not a good idea. Since short stories can be written fairly quickly, you can work on a bunch of them in a small period of time. That means more out on submission and less stressing over any one piece in particular.You can't get published if you don't put yourself out there. Submit and submit often. Yes, rejection is painful sometimes, but one acceptance can make that pain go away pretty quickly.
I think everyone should at least try writing short stories. There is so much you can learn about yourself as a writer just by writing a short piece. Plus the extra chances at publication can't hurt.

What about you? Do you write short stories? Have you learned any valuable lessons from it? And if you haven't tried writing short stories, is there a reason?

Tag... I'm It!

*First, I have an interview up on Tribute Books Reviews. You can check it out here.*

I've been tagged by Stacy Green.

Rules: You must be tagged by someone; list 10 random facts about yourself; tag four more people. Ready or not, here I go!

I don't mind embarrassing myself. In fact I do it on purpose.I'm obsessed with plungers. (Unused ones in the stores.) I have to suction them to the floor. I just have to.I often beg my 4-year-old to color with me.When I was younger, I made up songs about everything. You would've thought I lived in a Broadway musical. My best song was "My Mom Clips Coupons".I randomly crack up when I'm in the bathroom. There's just something about that room that I find really amusing.I loathe power outages. I need lights, running water, and internet access.I'm addicted to being online. I have to feel connected to the writing community.I hate keeping people waiting because I'm not the most patient person in the world.I'm addicted to SCRABBLE on Kindle.I have freakishly muscular arms. My husband says I have pipes. :) (I still pick up my daughter all the time, and I never get tired of carrying her. It's a great workout.)

Now, for the four people I'm tagging:

Brenda   Jesse Harrell   Michelle D Evens   Miranda Paul   

You guys are it!

But the rest of you don't get off that easily. In the spirit of getting to know each other better, I want to know one random fact about you. What's something most people don't know about you?

Monday Mishmash 9/12

Happy Monday! Here's what's on my mind today:

May the Best Dog Win Coloring Book Edition In case you missed Friday's post, my picture book is going to be available in a special coloring book edition that will include both the story and a coloring book for children to enjoy. I'm very excited about this.The Purrfect Puppy I have another picture book in the works. This one is illustrated by my sister, so I'm very excited about it.More Secret News! I may have more good news, but I can't spill the beans just yet. Hopefully soon though!Book Signing I'll be at the Shawnee Inn this Saturday (September 17) from 10am to 12 noon. If you are in the area, stop by. I'll be reading May the Best Dog Win and doing a book related craft with the kids in attendance. Plus, the Buckwood Cafe is hosting milk and cookies!Pre-K My daughter started pre-K last week and she loves it! Yay! I was so worried she wouldn't want to be there, but she thinks she is such a big kid now because she goes to school. She's even made some friends already. :)

Well, that's it for me. What's on your mind today?

*My first newsletter will go out later today, so if you want to get one, please sign up in the sidebar or click here.*

May the Best Dog Win Will Be a Coloring Book!

 May the Best Dog Win will soon be available as a coloring book! Yay! There will be two versions of my book. The original version and an enhanced version that contains the normal book with a bonus coloring book in the back.

And the best part is that my publisher included me in the entire process. We went back and forth with ideas for how to do the coloring book. Would it be a straight coloring book with just pictures? Would we keep the text and remove the color from the illustrations? Ultimately we decided to keep the book intact and offer the coloring book at the end of the story. This way kids can either follow the colors of Valerie's (my illustrator's) illustrations, or make them completely different and their own.

My publisher walked me through the process of how to make a book. That was such a great learning experience. So without further ado, here is the cover of my new coloring book!

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Front Back

I'm really excited because I still love to color. And, yes, I will have my very own copy with my very own colorings. :) I'll let you know when the coloring book edition is available for sale, and I'll be hosting a giveaway.

 

What do you think about enhanced books that offer a little something extra? Are you more likely to buy a book with extras? And most importantly, do you still color?

Liebster Award and Writing Community

I recently received the Liebster Blog Award from Mary Ann over at Haunting the Broken Tree.  Thank you, Mary Ann! The only problem is that the award is for blogs with fewer than 200 followers, and I'm happy to say that between GFC and my VIP members, I have over 500 followers. So, I'm not really eligible for this award.

But, that doesn't mean I can't pass on the Liebster Award to others who are eligible. So here are my five picks for the Liebster Award.

C.M. Villani Miranda Paul   Ruth Schiffman   Katrina DeLallo   Karen Wojcik Berner 

These are all great blogs and honestly, I think they should have a lot more followers. Go check them out. And let me say thank you to all my great followers. I really appreciate interacting with you all three times a week. I absolutely love the writing/blogging community. It's helped me immensely in my writing career.

How has the writing/blogging community helped you?

 

Monday Mishmash 9/5

Happy Monday! I've got a lot on my mind today.

Pre-K My daughter's orientation is Tuesday night, and then she starts pre-K on Wednesday. Yes, that was a quiver you detected in my voice. Oh wait you can't hear me.More writing time Now that my daughter will be in school three mornings a week, I have more than double my usual writing time. Oh the possibilities!PRIDE My amazing agent has a new book releasing tomorrow. It's called PRIDE. I'm really excited to read it.THE IMAGINARY FRIEND My two-part short story is now available on Kindle as well as Nook.Newsletter I've decided to start doing newsletter. If you'd like to sign up to receive them (once a month) check the form in the sidebar or click here.

That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

I Don't Fit Inside This Box Anymore

*If you missed it yesterday, I have an interview up on C.M. Villani's blog. You can check it out here.*

When I was little, I loved playing with cardboard boxes. I'd crawl inside and pretend it was a spaceship, a house, a castle, or even a horse. Yes, I had a cardboard box I pulled around and named Charisma. It was my pony. Is it any wonder I grew up to be a writer? My mind works in mysterious ways. What does this have to do with today's post? Well, as I reluctantly got older, I started to dislike boxes. No, I'm not talking about cardboard boxes anymore. I'm talking about the box people tend to put themselves in. You know, you get settled into one way of thinking, one way of writing. Not me.

Most of you probably know I write for children of all ages. When I started writing, I was sure I loved middle grade the most. I was a middle grade writer. Then I had my daughter, and I started writing picture books. I was fortunate enough to get a picture book published. I thought, "Great, I'm a picture book writer!" Not so fast. Then I wrote two young adult novels and now I love that age group.

But I don't just vary in my age levels. I vary in genre. I started out writing contemporary fiction. Then I moved to fantasy. Then I threw in some nonfiction. And back in late October of last year, I tried horror for the very first time. And I loved it. I recently wrote a creepy YA manuscript, and my amazing agent told me creepy is my forte.

What does all this mean? I don't fit inside this box anymore. I won't squish my creativity to fit into a box or even a brand. I can't. I write the stories that demand to be written. I don't know what the next idea will be, but I'll welcome it because you never know what you can do until you try. Maybe I will gravitate toward creepy now. I'll be okay with that. But if I stray again, I'll be okay with that, too.

What about you? Do you fit nicely inside a box (genre or age level)? It's perfectly fine if you do. There's nothing wrong with knowing what you're good at and sticking to it. Or are you breaking out of boxes like me and letting your creativity take you where it will?

Dialogue Tags, Love Them or Hate Them?

I have to admit I love books that are written so well they don't need a lot of dialogue tags. What do I mean? Well, if you are good at creating a mental image in the mind of your reader, you don't need all the "he said" or "she said" tags on your dialogue. The speaker becomes apparent. Take this example from Lauren Hammond's FAMISHED:

She raised an eyebrow. "Thinking? About what?"

I let out a long winded sigh. "I don't know, Frankie, just things." I didn't feel like elaborating.

There really is no need for dialogue tags. We know who is talking. Now take a look at what happens if we add the dialogue tags in:

"Thinking? About what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, Frankie, just things," I said, letting out a long winded sigh. I didn't feel like elaborating.

If you're like me, you'll think the way Lauren wrote the lines without the dialogue tags reads much better. I feel more a part of the story the way Lauren wrote it. In life we don't have dialogue tags. And quite honestly, I find them a little annoying sometimes. I think if you can convey dialogue without the tags, then do it.

Funny sidebar, when my daughter (4) plays with her dolls, she adds dialogue tags to their conversations. (It's possible that we read a lot in my house.) Maybe this is what made me realize how silly tags can be. But consider a child, playing with her dolls, saying, "Let's go to the store, Aurora said." It's kind of absurd. But she's used to hearing dialogue tags in the books we read. I actually had to explain to her that we don't need to identify the speaker when we talk in real life.

Now, don't get me wrong. Every book has dialogue tags. And there are definite times when they are needed. But when they can be omitted, I think they should be.

What do you think about dialogue tags? Do you want them every time someone speaks, or can you do without them when the narration clearly identifies the speaker?

Monday Mishmash 8/29

Today's mishmash was delayed thanks to Hurricane Irene taking out our power and water. But we are up and running again, so here's what's on my mind.

Hurricane Irene Okay, you all knew that was coming. I was supposed to go to a wedding Saturday, but it was at the NJ Shore, so it didn't happen. :( We also lost power and water for over 24 hours.WIP complete! I finished revising my YA manuscript and sent it to my amazing agent. I can't wait to hear what she thinks of it. Funfetti cookies Anyone else obsessed with these things? My daughter and I made a batch this weekend.Short stories Now the my YA manuscript is finished, I need to revise a horror short story I've been sitting on. I also need to write a few more short stories--I like to have a surplus ready for submission.Interview I was interviewed by C.M. Villani and the interview will be up on her blog this Thursday. Yay!

That's it for me. What's on your mind today?