Sarah Frances Hardy's Blog, page 2
August 28, 2012
Interview with Ellen Ruffin
Hi all! Several of us Southern Breezers are interviewing speakers who will be presenting at our upcoming WIK Conference in Birmingham in October. I'm thrilled to be the lucky duck who gets to interview the always charming Ellen Ruffin.
Ellen is the curator of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi where the papers and original artwork of H.A. and Margaret Rey, Ezra Jack Keats, Kate Greenway, and many, many other children's writers and illustrators are archived. For more information about the collection click here.
And to find out the story of how such an incredible collection ended up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, click here (scroll down to page 4) and here for a story of how Dr. Lena De Grummond contacted the Reys.
Suffice it to say, that we Southern Breezers are within hours (some of us minutes) of one of the most incredible children's literature archives in the world, and I'd like to personally recommend that each and every one of you attends the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival which takes place every year in the spring. You will hear presentations given by world class children's writers and illustrators--and you can tour the de Grummond Collection. So watch for registration for the spring of 2013 festival.
But back to WIK and my guest today . . .
Hi Ellen! Why don't you tell me what you're planning to talk about at the Southern Breeze conference in Birmingham . . .
I'm going to talk about two things. First, I'm going to discuss the many awards that are available for works of children's literature. Everyone has heard of the Newbery, the Caldecott and the Printz, but there are so many awards out there that offer different types of recognition for different types of books. And that is so exciting! For example, there is an award called the Phoenix Award and it's given to a book that's at least ten years old, but for whatever reason, this book is having a resurgence in popularity and appeal. Additionally, the Ezra Jack Keats Award which is given to a new author and a new illustrator is now awarded at the Children's Book Festival here in Hattiesburg.
Next, I'm going to talk about our children's literature archive and it's significance, especially for scholars who are interested in examining the process of children's authors and illustrators. We have an enormous historical collection of very early fairy tales as well as archives from more recent authors and illustrators. We also have a book collection of over 155,000 books which compliments our archived collection which represents over 1300 authors and illustrators.
How has the way that you archive things changed with the digital age?
With the digital age, so many authors and artists don't have physical papers that they can hand me--sometimes we're given representations of early drafts and illustrations on a jump drive--but we archive everything. These records are kept safe and secure. We actually print everything out as well as keeping digital files. Since technology is constantly changing, we feel like that's the safest way to keep things--don't we all remember floppy discs and the Wordstar word processing program?
But we are losing some of the footprints of the entire process--especially with illustrators who work digitally--because often they hit the delete button to erase older sketches or earlier drafts. That's another reason why an archive like ours is so important. You can go through our papers and go on a journey through the artistic process, and with rise of the digital age, this ability could be lost without a historical archive like the one we have here at Southern.
And then, Ellen and I talked for another hour about our favorite children's books! She's a treasure in the world of children's literature, and I can't wait to hear her presentation in Birmingham. Counting down the days . . .
See you there,
sf
Meet more of the wik12 faculty by following their blog tour!
Aug. 15 Sharon Pegram at Writers and WannabesAug. 16 Sarah Campbell at Alison Hertz’s blog, On My MindAug. 17 F.T. Bradley at Laura Golden’s blogAug. 20 Chuck Galey at Elizabeth Dulemba’s blogAug. 21 Jo Kittinger at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 22 Irene Latham at Robyn Hood Black’s blog, Read, Write, HowlAug. 23 Vicky Alvear Shecter at S.R. Johannes’ blogAug. 24 Doraine Bennett at Cathy Hall’s blogAug. 27 Virginia Butler at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 28 Jodi Wheeler-Toppen at Diane Sherrouse’s blog, The Reading RoadAug. 29 Ellen Ruffin at Sarah Frances Hardy’s blog, Picture ThisAug. 30 Donna Jo Napoli at Writers and Wannabes
Ellen is the curator of the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi where the papers and original artwork of H.A. and Margaret Rey, Ezra Jack Keats, Kate Greenway, and many, many other children's writers and illustrators are archived. For more information about the collection click here.
And to find out the story of how such an incredible collection ended up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, click here (scroll down to page 4) and here for a story of how Dr. Lena De Grummond contacted the Reys.
Suffice it to say, that we Southern Breezers are within hours (some of us minutes) of one of the most incredible children's literature archives in the world, and I'd like to personally recommend that each and every one of you attends the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival which takes place every year in the spring. You will hear presentations given by world class children's writers and illustrators--and you can tour the de Grummond Collection. So watch for registration for the spring of 2013 festival.
But back to WIK and my guest today . . .
Hi Ellen! Why don't you tell me what you're planning to talk about at the Southern Breeze conference in Birmingham . . .
I'm going to talk about two things. First, I'm going to discuss the many awards that are available for works of children's literature. Everyone has heard of the Newbery, the Caldecott and the Printz, but there are so many awards out there that offer different types of recognition for different types of books. And that is so exciting! For example, there is an award called the Phoenix Award and it's given to a book that's at least ten years old, but for whatever reason, this book is having a resurgence in popularity and appeal. Additionally, the Ezra Jack Keats Award which is given to a new author and a new illustrator is now awarded at the Children's Book Festival here in Hattiesburg.
Next, I'm going to talk about our children's literature archive and it's significance, especially for scholars who are interested in examining the process of children's authors and illustrators. We have an enormous historical collection of very early fairy tales as well as archives from more recent authors and illustrators. We also have a book collection of over 155,000 books which compliments our archived collection which represents over 1300 authors and illustrators.
How has the way that you archive things changed with the digital age?
With the digital age, so many authors and artists don't have physical papers that they can hand me--sometimes we're given representations of early drafts and illustrations on a jump drive--but we archive everything. These records are kept safe and secure. We actually print everything out as well as keeping digital files. Since technology is constantly changing, we feel like that's the safest way to keep things--don't we all remember floppy discs and the Wordstar word processing program?
But we are losing some of the footprints of the entire process--especially with illustrators who work digitally--because often they hit the delete button to erase older sketches or earlier drafts. That's another reason why an archive like ours is so important. You can go through our papers and go on a journey through the artistic process, and with rise of the digital age, this ability could be lost without a historical archive like the one we have here at Southern.
And then, Ellen and I talked for another hour about our favorite children's books! She's a treasure in the world of children's literature, and I can't wait to hear her presentation in Birmingham. Counting down the days . . .
See you there,
sf
Meet more of the wik12 faculty by following their blog tour!
Aug. 15 Sharon Pegram at Writers and WannabesAug. 16 Sarah Campbell at Alison Hertz’s blog, On My MindAug. 17 F.T. Bradley at Laura Golden’s blogAug. 20 Chuck Galey at Elizabeth Dulemba’s blogAug. 21 Jo Kittinger at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 22 Irene Latham at Robyn Hood Black’s blog, Read, Write, HowlAug. 23 Vicky Alvear Shecter at S.R. Johannes’ blogAug. 24 Doraine Bennett at Cathy Hall’s blogAug. 27 Virginia Butler at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 28 Jodi Wheeler-Toppen at Diane Sherrouse’s blog, The Reading RoadAug. 29 Ellen Ruffin at Sarah Frances Hardy’s blog, Picture ThisAug. 30 Donna Jo Napoli at Writers and Wannabes
August 27, 2012
Illustrator Studio Tours
Hi all! It's now fall (or at least school has started) and I'm back in the studio, hard at work . . . and back to a more regular blogging schedule.
First up, for the voyeurs (or just curious folks!) check out a new feature we're starting on the Southern Breeze Illustrators' Corner blog. We're doing virtual studio tours of our illustrators' workspaces. First up, we have Elizabeth Dulemba's super-organized studio. Check it out here.
Next, as a buildup to the upcoming WIK SCBWI Conference on October 19-20 in Birmingham, several members are hosting interviews of many of our presenters on their own blogs. Here's a schedule of what's happened so far and what's coming up:
Aug. 15 Sharon Pegram at Writers and WannabesAug. 16 Sarah Campbell at Alison Hertz’s blog, On My MindAug. 17 F.T. Bradley at Laura Golden’s blogAug. 20 Chuck Galey at Elizabeth Dulemba’s blogAug. 21 Jo Kittinger at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 22 Irene Latham at Robyn Hood Black’s blog, Read, Write, HowlAug. 23 Vicky Alvear Shecter at S.R. Johannes’ blogAug. 24 Doraine Bennett at Cathy Hall’s blogAug. 27 Virginia Butler at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 28 Jodi Wheeler-Toppen at Diane Sherrouse’s blog, The Reading RoadAug. 29 Ellen Ruffin at Sarah Frances Hardy’s blog, Picture ThisAug. 30 Donna Jo Napoli at Writers and Wannabes
As you can see, I'm interviewing the fabulous Ellen Ruffin on my blog this week, so check back in on Wednesday.
Lastly, since I haven't posted sketchbook Friday in . . . well, forever. Here's a sketch of my daughter Sallie that we used on her luau birthday party invitations.
Cheers!
sf
First up, for the voyeurs (or just curious folks!) check out a new feature we're starting on the Southern Breeze Illustrators' Corner blog. We're doing virtual studio tours of our illustrators' workspaces. First up, we have Elizabeth Dulemba's super-organized studio. Check it out here.
Next, as a buildup to the upcoming WIK SCBWI Conference on October 19-20 in Birmingham, several members are hosting interviews of many of our presenters on their own blogs. Here's a schedule of what's happened so far and what's coming up:
Aug. 15 Sharon Pegram at Writers and WannabesAug. 16 Sarah Campbell at Alison Hertz’s blog, On My MindAug. 17 F.T. Bradley at Laura Golden’s blogAug. 20 Chuck Galey at Elizabeth Dulemba’s blogAug. 21 Jo Kittinger at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 22 Irene Latham at Robyn Hood Black’s blog, Read, Write, HowlAug. 23 Vicky Alvear Shecter at S.R. Johannes’ blogAug. 24 Doraine Bennett at Cathy Hall’s blogAug. 27 Virginia Butler at Bonnie Herold’s blog, Tenacious Teller of TalesAug. 28 Jodi Wheeler-Toppen at Diane Sherrouse’s blog, The Reading RoadAug. 29 Ellen Ruffin at Sarah Frances Hardy’s blog, Picture ThisAug. 30 Donna Jo Napoli at Writers and Wannabes
As you can see, I'm interviewing the fabulous Ellen Ruffin on my blog this week, so check back in on Wednesday.
Lastly, since I haven't posted sketchbook Friday in . . . well, forever. Here's a sketch of my daughter Sallie that we used on her luau birthday party invitations.
Cheers!
sf
June 19, 2012
A Better Critique Story
After posting about the nightmare impromptu critique of my first attempt at writing and illustrating picture books (you can read it here), I thought I'd share another critique story ... one that was more positive.
A few years ago, I attended my first national SCBWI conference in L.A. If you are interested in writing or illustrating for children, I cannot stress enough that it would be well worth it to save your pennies and go to a national conference. They are incredible, and for me, life changing.
Anyway, I'd signed up to have my manuscript critiqued. It was the story that eventually became Puzzled by Pink, but in the beginning stages of the book, the story was only about this little girl:
Her name was Zelda (she's now called Izzy). She was a Wednesday Addams kind of girl who loved all things creepy and goth, and she lived with her grandmother. The whole story centered around this creepy tea party that she was creating for her best friend (who turned out to be invisible).
For my critique, I landed the writing teacher Anastasia Suen. She's brilliant, teaches creative writing, and has written about a bazillion children's books as well as a book on writing for children called Picture Writing .
She looked at my manuscript and we talked through it. She suggested that it could be a cumulative story like The Napping House or Chicka Chicka Boom Boom where everything builds up and then falls apart. "You could have Zelda gather up everything for this party and then it could all come crashing down or something," she said. Then she looked from the manuscript to the sketch of my main character, leaned forward, and said, "But you really don't have a conflict here. It's just not interesting enough ... I like your main character, though ... Tell me, what's the worst thing that could happen to this little girl?"
I sat up and immediately responded, "Something PINK!"
Her eyes lit up. "That's it," she said. "There's your story. Let's talk it through ..."
And we did.
It still took many, many revisions to get my book in the kind of shape that it needed to be, and I still had some learning to do about illustrating a children's book. But that critique? It set me on FIRE!!!
sf
P.S. I'm traveling this weekend, and I'd love to see some of you if I'm hitting your town!
Friday morning: Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
Friday afternoon at 3:30: Black Forest Books and Toys in Charlotte, North Carolina
Saturday afternoon at 1:00: Fox Tales in Woodstock, Georgia
Sunday afternoon at 2:00: City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, North Carolina
Monday morning at 10:30: Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, North Carolina
A few years ago, I attended my first national SCBWI conference in L.A. If you are interested in writing or illustrating for children, I cannot stress enough that it would be well worth it to save your pennies and go to a national conference. They are incredible, and for me, life changing.
Anyway, I'd signed up to have my manuscript critiqued. It was the story that eventually became Puzzled by Pink, but in the beginning stages of the book, the story was only about this little girl:
Her name was Zelda (she's now called Izzy). She was a Wednesday Addams kind of girl who loved all things creepy and goth, and she lived with her grandmother. The whole story centered around this creepy tea party that she was creating for her best friend (who turned out to be invisible).
For my critique, I landed the writing teacher Anastasia Suen. She's brilliant, teaches creative writing, and has written about a bazillion children's books as well as a book on writing for children called Picture Writing .
She looked at my manuscript and we talked through it. She suggested that it could be a cumulative story like The Napping House or Chicka Chicka Boom Boom where everything builds up and then falls apart. "You could have Zelda gather up everything for this party and then it could all come crashing down or something," she said. Then she looked from the manuscript to the sketch of my main character, leaned forward, and said, "But you really don't have a conflict here. It's just not interesting enough ... I like your main character, though ... Tell me, what's the worst thing that could happen to this little girl?"
I sat up and immediately responded, "Something PINK!"
Her eyes lit up. "That's it," she said. "There's your story. Let's talk it through ..."
And we did.
It still took many, many revisions to get my book in the kind of shape that it needed to be, and I still had some learning to do about illustrating a children's book. But that critique? It set me on FIRE!!!
sf
P.S. I'm traveling this weekend, and I'd love to see some of you if I'm hitting your town!
Friday morning: Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
Friday afternoon at 3:30: Black Forest Books and Toys in Charlotte, North Carolina
Saturday afternoon at 1:00: Fox Tales in Woodstock, Georgia
Sunday afternoon at 2:00: City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, North Carolina
Monday morning at 10:30: Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, North Carolina
June 14, 2012
Sketchbook Friday--Camp Pix
Hi all!
My older two girls are at camp, leaving me with just one little girl. We've been having a great time bike riding, swimming, and hanging out at the pet store (staring at the lizards mostly). While I've been camp director here, my older girls have been hiking throughout the North Carolina mountains--where the Hunger Games movie was filmed.
I usually draw my letters to them, so today I'm posting the ones I put in the mail this morning.
I think in the next ones I need to arm each of them with a bow and arrow . . . in case Cato shows up!
Stay tuned next week for a kindler, gentler critique story.
sf
My older two girls are at camp, leaving me with just one little girl. We've been having a great time bike riding, swimming, and hanging out at the pet store (staring at the lizards mostly). While I've been camp director here, my older girls have been hiking throughout the North Carolina mountains--where the Hunger Games movie was filmed.
I usually draw my letters to them, so today I'm posting the ones I put in the mail this morning.
I think in the next ones I need to arm each of them with a bow and arrow . . . in case Cato shows up!
Stay tuned next week for a kindler, gentler critique story.
sf
May 23, 2012
This is TERRIBLE!
About eight years ago, I "came out" ... as an aspiring children's book author/illustrator.
I publicly declared to my friends and family that this thing that I'd been doing on the sly for years, was my biggest dream. And I vowed to them and to myself that I would see one of my books on bookstore shelves ... or die trying. I declared that I'd be sitting in my wooden rocker at the Peaceful Gardens Rest Home still sending out queries if that's what it took.
At that point in my life, I started writing with a sense of purpose and a feeling of accountability. I actually forced myself to finish stories (I had a bad habit of beginning to write children's books and then moving on to the next thing when it got too hard). I painted scenes from these stories.
When I felt like I had a fabulous story and a full-blown painted book dummy (a mistake to finish it to that degree, I now know ... sketches are better to send out!), I started to show my work to people. I showed my book to my family, and they loved it (of course). I showed my book to some friends, and they all loved it, too.
Then I got bolder. I had a friend with a PhD in children's lit. I took her to dinner and showed her my book ... and she loved it! I showed it to bookseller friends, and what do you know? They loved it too!!
Enter Sheldon Fogelman ...
Sheldon Fogelman was Maurice Sendak's agent and attorney. He's kind of a big deal in the world of children's books, to put it mildly. And since Maurice Sendak's death, this encounter has been on my mind:
I was helping with our annual Conference for the Book here in Oxford, and Richard Peck was our featured children's author. Sheldon Fogelman is his agent and came along with him for his visit.
I was standing in our wonderful indie children's bookstore, and the then manager of the store opened her desk drawer and pulled out my book dummy (I had left one up at the store with her because, well, you never know, right?). "I'm going to show this to Sheldon," she whispered. I nodded and followed behind her as she pitched my manuscript and handed it to him. He flipped through it quickly and then a little more slowly.
And then he looked up at me with a look that I can only describe as "bless your heart". You know the one--the closed mouth smile and head shaking back and forth. My pounding heart lodged somewhere in my throat as I tried to keep my hands from shaking. I reached toward my manuscript. I wanted to snatch it away from him and then run like a maniac from the store.
But before I could grab it, he started talking.
"This is terrible," he said.
The room started closing in around me.
"I mean, what IS this? It's rhyming, first of all. How are you going to have that translated into other languages. And this art? It's too fine art and painterly. Kids don't want to look at this--they can't tell what's going on ... and why are some of the paintings in black and white and then they're in color? Are you just trying to PROVE to people that you can paint in black and white."
"Well," I choked out. "The story is about this little curmudgeon who refuses to see all the colors in the world around him. But gradually he begins to see. That's kind of the point of the story."
"And, my GOD! There's not even a child in the story."
(Can I just say that all of these words are being said in a thick New York accent with lots of exasperated sighs and grunts--he's clearly offended all around, as if it's insulting to him to have to be looking at this piece of drivel.)
"I mean, this is just AWFUL."
"Um, okay. Thank you so much for looking at it. I really appreciate it ..." I stammered along, still reaching for my book and trying to get it back from him as he continued to flip through it and loudly sigh. Finally, I just grabbed it and got out of there.
And, yes. I ran home and cried. I licked my wounds for days. I went through the stages of grief (yes, including anger, denial), ending up with hope. Yes. Hope.
After a few weeks of processing what he'd said and really thinking through it. I realized something.
He was absolutely right.
This book would never, ever be published. And who was I kidding--this was Maurice Sendak's agent and he took the time to look at my manuscript. I should be grateful.
And now I am.
I learned many, many things from this encounter--things besides the fact that my manuscript was horrible:
1. I realized that I still had a lot to learn about children's books, and with a little nudge from my friend Katie Anderson (whose YA book Kiss and Makeup will be released by Amazon Publishing in October), I joined SCBWI and started going to conferences.
2. It is best to listen to advice from people who are currently IN THE BUSINESS (agents, editors, other published writers). Also, you need to get advice from people who aren't friends or family. I actually picked a pretty good group to look at my manuscript, but I needed to expand my circle a bit more.
3. Be nice when critiquing other people's work. Mr. Fogelman could have been a little more sensitive and saved me some anguish. There actually were some good things about the book that I showed him--things I was able to extrapolate and use later--but he didn't mention any of those things, and to be fair, he might not have seen anything good about my book at all.
Besides, I don't think it's his style to be and hand-holding, butter-you-up kind of guy--and really, once you've reached his level, you've earned the right to be as blunt as you want to be. It wasn't personal, and again, his remarks were dead-on.
But I like to start every manuscript critique with something positive to say. What can I say? I'm a Southern girl!
4. Most importantly, it set me up for years of rejection letters and critique groups. Nothing I went through later was quite as humbling as this face-to-face encounter with one of the moguls of children's literature. Nothing. And Mr. Fogelman taught me an invaluable lesson in taking criticism and developing thick skin. But mostly, he taught me that when I felt beaten down and hopeless, I had the ability to pick myself up and put myself right back out there.
And it was because of that ability to keep trying new things and to keep sending books out no matter what the response, that I've finally reached my dream of having that book on the shelves.
sf
And, I do want to reiterate that this post isn't meant to be a slam of Sheldon Fogelman. The man's a genius (I mean, he discovered Mo Willems as well!), and I truly am grateful to him.
I publicly declared to my friends and family that this thing that I'd been doing on the sly for years, was my biggest dream. And I vowed to them and to myself that I would see one of my books on bookstore shelves ... or die trying. I declared that I'd be sitting in my wooden rocker at the Peaceful Gardens Rest Home still sending out queries if that's what it took.
At that point in my life, I started writing with a sense of purpose and a feeling of accountability. I actually forced myself to finish stories (I had a bad habit of beginning to write children's books and then moving on to the next thing when it got too hard). I painted scenes from these stories.
When I felt like I had a fabulous story and a full-blown painted book dummy (a mistake to finish it to that degree, I now know ... sketches are better to send out!), I started to show my work to people. I showed my book to my family, and they loved it (of course). I showed my book to some friends, and they all loved it, too.
Then I got bolder. I had a friend with a PhD in children's lit. I took her to dinner and showed her my book ... and she loved it! I showed it to bookseller friends, and what do you know? They loved it too!!
Enter Sheldon Fogelman ...
Sheldon Fogelman was Maurice Sendak's agent and attorney. He's kind of a big deal in the world of children's books, to put it mildly. And since Maurice Sendak's death, this encounter has been on my mind:
I was helping with our annual Conference for the Book here in Oxford, and Richard Peck was our featured children's author. Sheldon Fogelman is his agent and came along with him for his visit.
I was standing in our wonderful indie children's bookstore, and the then manager of the store opened her desk drawer and pulled out my book dummy (I had left one up at the store with her because, well, you never know, right?). "I'm going to show this to Sheldon," she whispered. I nodded and followed behind her as she pitched my manuscript and handed it to him. He flipped through it quickly and then a little more slowly.
And then he looked up at me with a look that I can only describe as "bless your heart". You know the one--the closed mouth smile and head shaking back and forth. My pounding heart lodged somewhere in my throat as I tried to keep my hands from shaking. I reached toward my manuscript. I wanted to snatch it away from him and then run like a maniac from the store.
But before I could grab it, he started talking.
"This is terrible," he said.
The room started closing in around me.
"I mean, what IS this? It's rhyming, first of all. How are you going to have that translated into other languages. And this art? It's too fine art and painterly. Kids don't want to look at this--they can't tell what's going on ... and why are some of the paintings in black and white and then they're in color? Are you just trying to PROVE to people that you can paint in black and white."
"Well," I choked out. "The story is about this little curmudgeon who refuses to see all the colors in the world around him. But gradually he begins to see. That's kind of the point of the story."
"And, my GOD! There's not even a child in the story."
(Can I just say that all of these words are being said in a thick New York accent with lots of exasperated sighs and grunts--he's clearly offended all around, as if it's insulting to him to have to be looking at this piece of drivel.)
"I mean, this is just AWFUL."
"Um, okay. Thank you so much for looking at it. I really appreciate it ..." I stammered along, still reaching for my book and trying to get it back from him as he continued to flip through it and loudly sigh. Finally, I just grabbed it and got out of there.
And, yes. I ran home and cried. I licked my wounds for days. I went through the stages of grief (yes, including anger, denial), ending up with hope. Yes. Hope.
After a few weeks of processing what he'd said and really thinking through it. I realized something.
He was absolutely right.
This book would never, ever be published. And who was I kidding--this was Maurice Sendak's agent and he took the time to look at my manuscript. I should be grateful.
And now I am.
I learned many, many things from this encounter--things besides the fact that my manuscript was horrible:
1. I realized that I still had a lot to learn about children's books, and with a little nudge from my friend Katie Anderson (whose YA book Kiss and Makeup will be released by Amazon Publishing in October), I joined SCBWI and started going to conferences.
2. It is best to listen to advice from people who are currently IN THE BUSINESS (agents, editors, other published writers). Also, you need to get advice from people who aren't friends or family. I actually picked a pretty good group to look at my manuscript, but I needed to expand my circle a bit more.
3. Be nice when critiquing other people's work. Mr. Fogelman could have been a little more sensitive and saved me some anguish. There actually were some good things about the book that I showed him--things I was able to extrapolate and use later--but he didn't mention any of those things, and to be fair, he might not have seen anything good about my book at all.
Besides, I don't think it's his style to be and hand-holding, butter-you-up kind of guy--and really, once you've reached his level, you've earned the right to be as blunt as you want to be. It wasn't personal, and again, his remarks were dead-on.
But I like to start every manuscript critique with something positive to say. What can I say? I'm a Southern girl!
4. Most importantly, it set me up for years of rejection letters and critique groups. Nothing I went through later was quite as humbling as this face-to-face encounter with one of the moguls of children's literature. Nothing. And Mr. Fogelman taught me an invaluable lesson in taking criticism and developing thick skin. But mostly, he taught me that when I felt beaten down and hopeless, I had the ability to pick myself up and put myself right back out there.
And it was because of that ability to keep trying new things and to keep sending books out no matter what the response, that I've finally reached my dream of having that book on the shelves.
sf
And, I do want to reiterate that this post isn't meant to be a slam of Sheldon Fogelman. The man's a genius (I mean, he discovered Mo Willems as well!), and I truly am grateful to him.
May 16, 2012
Booking it!
Hi all! Sorry for my absence, but lately I've been on the road visiting many fabulous indies for Puzzled by Pink events.
My three girls with me for my hometown launch at Square Books, Jr. here in Oxford.
Aren't they great in their black and pink??!!
Let me just say that independent bookstores are fabulous.
A huge thanks to the lovely people at Square Books Junior, Reed's Gumtree Bookstore, Turn Row Books, Yellow Bike Books, Turning Pages Bookstore, and Lemuria Bookstore. ALL of these fabulous independent bookstores are in Mississippi, and I know our state gets bad press (and some of it is deserved) ... but we've got it in spades with our bookstores. Plus, where there are bookstores, there are readers.
I'm venturing out to Alabama and Georgia this weekend to visit The Little Professor Bookstore in Homewood (outside of Birmingham) and Avid Bookstore in Athens. Such fun!
In the meantime, I've discovered a couple of things for all of these long car trips:
1. The New Yorker Fiction Podcasts: These are free on iTunes, and a writer who has been published in the New Yorker chooses any short story (not one of their own) from the New Yorker archives and reads it. Then the author and the fiction editor of the magazine discuss the short story. These podcasts are from 20 to 45 minutes long, and they are fantastic.
2. The Truth: These are mini audio movies. They remind me of the radio shows of old--when people acted out plays on the air with sound effects, voices, and great "what if" story lines. These are all pretty short 10 to 20 minutes, and they are so much fun.
Hope you all have a great week!
sf
My three girls with me for my hometown launch at Square Books, Jr. here in Oxford. Aren't they great in their black and pink??!!
Let me just say that independent bookstores are fabulous.
A huge thanks to the lovely people at Square Books Junior, Reed's Gumtree Bookstore, Turn Row Books, Yellow Bike Books, Turning Pages Bookstore, and Lemuria Bookstore. ALL of these fabulous independent bookstores are in Mississippi, and I know our state gets bad press (and some of it is deserved) ... but we've got it in spades with our bookstores. Plus, where there are bookstores, there are readers.
I'm venturing out to Alabama and Georgia this weekend to visit The Little Professor Bookstore in Homewood (outside of Birmingham) and Avid Bookstore in Athens. Such fun!
In the meantime, I've discovered a couple of things for all of these long car trips:
1. The New Yorker Fiction Podcasts: These are free on iTunes, and a writer who has been published in the New Yorker chooses any short story (not one of their own) from the New Yorker archives and reads it. Then the author and the fiction editor of the magazine discuss the short story. These podcasts are from 20 to 45 minutes long, and they are fantastic.
2. The Truth: These are mini audio movies. They remind me of the radio shows of old--when people acted out plays on the air with sound effects, voices, and great "what if" story lines. These are all pretty short 10 to 20 minutes, and they are so much fun.
Hope you all have a great week!
sf
April 15, 2012
Blog interviews and a giveaway!
Hi all!!! I'm in recovery mode from this crazy fun week and tackling my mail pile and laundry mountain. Stay tuned for launch party pix . . . but in the meantime run over to Lisa and Laura's blog for an interview with me AND my two favorite picture book characters Izzy and Rose.
Then check out my interview with the fabulous Cynthia Leitech Smith at Cynsations and leave a comment to be entered in a signed book giveaway.
sf
Then check out my interview with the fabulous Cynthia Leitech Smith at Cynsations and leave a comment to be entered in a signed book giveaway.
sf
April 12, 2012
Today's the Day!
Today my book Puzzled by Pink hits the shelves of bookstores, although I actually had my first official signing yesterday at the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
What an amazing feeling!
Check out interview and giveaway today on Tara Lazar's blog.
You can also sign up for a giveaway on Goodreads. Scroll down and enter to the right!
Thanks y'all!
sf
What an amazing feeling!
Check out interview and giveaway today on Tara Lazar's blog.
You can also sign up for a giveaway on Goodreads. Scroll down and enter to the right!
Thanks y'all!
sf
April 9, 2012
Book Launch Week!!!
Yikes! My book is going out into the big world on Thursday, and I'm so excited I can't sleep.
Our fabulous independent bookstore Square Books Jr. put up these window displays last week. Check it out!! A pink window for Rose and a spooky, dark one for Izzy. Genius!!!
Tomorrow, I'm heading down to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival. It's a fabulous annual conference geared toward children's librarians. I can't think of a better place to be on the day my book is released. I'll be speaking during a breakout session on Wednesday.
After the Hattiesburg Conference, I'll head back up to Oxford for a launch party at Square Books on Saturday at 10:00. Whew and WOW!!!!
sf
Our fabulous independent bookstore Square Books Jr. put up these window displays last week. Check it out!! A pink window for Rose and a spooky, dark one for Izzy. Genius!!!
Tomorrow, I'm heading down to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to the Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival. It's a fabulous annual conference geared toward children's librarians. I can't think of a better place to be on the day my book is released. I'll be speaking during a breakout session on Wednesday.
After the Hattiesburg Conference, I'll head back up to Oxford for a launch party at Square Books on Saturday at 10:00. Whew and WOW!!!!
sf
March 30, 2012
Sketchbook Friday
You may (or may not) know that I'm working on an illustrated middle grade novel about a twelve-year-old girl and her art teacher. In one of the scenes, my main character sees some crazy-cool shoes on TV, and here's what she draws in her sketchbook.
Can I just say how much fun I'm having with this book? I'm actually becoming my main character, kicking around with my sketchbook and drawing not only the things she would draw but I'm also trying to capture her style (and show it progressing throughout the book).
Happy weekend!
sf
Can I just say how much fun I'm having with this book? I'm actually becoming my main character, kicking around with my sketchbook and drawing not only the things she would draw but I'm also trying to capture her style (and show it progressing throughout the book).
Happy weekend!
sf
