Teresa Robeson's Blog

Perpetual celery?

Not quite, but celery are biennial. So, if you in a cooler clime, but can over-winter a plant indoors by a sunny window, it’ll produce for two years for you! (And of course if you live somewhere temperate where there’s not cold to kill off less hardy plants, then you’re golden.)

The Spousal Unit tried the over-wintering thing one year. Aside from a minor infestation of aphids, it worked. We got two years’ worth of good eats out of a single plant.

While these stalks are not from over-wintered specimens, the plants this year have produced well. We only harvest what we need for a meal. In addition to regular celery dishes, we use celery in every recipe that calls for parsley. It makes for a terrific substitute. It’s more substantial, has crunch and more flavor.

And if you like that very cute kitchen-themed tea towel, you can find it in my Spoonflower shop!

What about you? Do you make odd but brilliant substitutions in your cooking?

The power of connections!

Welcome to New Subscribers Plus Resources for All

Watch your language

While I was still Co-Regional Advisor for my chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, we ran an event about writing early reader books. In one book example the editor showed, the text had a line that included “dancing like crazy.”

An attendee noted with distress in the chat that the publisher should have caught this ableist language. I tried to reassure her that the book was published 9 years ago and that I imagine people are more aware of this issue these days and are trying to do better.

However, I’m not so sure I’m right about that.

Anyone who grew up in the 60s and 70s (heck, even 80s and 90s) know what a politically incorrect landscape was, filled with homophobic and ableist “jokes.” While I would never use homophobic slurs or jokes, I still find myself sometimes slipping into language that many people still deem innocent but are actually hurtful…words like “insane” or “deaf.”

I want to be a part of a better, kinder word, and I hope that my blog readers do, too. If so, this article might be a good one to read and keep in mind. I know it was a helpful reminder to me.

Win this lovely picture book biography!

Especially for Educators: “Who Helps You Shine? Embracing a Growth Mindset to Reach Your Dreams” by Lisa Rogers

Technology in perspective

Hello, my name is Teresa and I’m a newsletter addict.

Seriously, I subscribe to waaaay too many newsletters. Between my 4 email accounts, I must get about 500 emails a day (if not more) and probably 90% of those are newsletters. I end up deleting many of them that aren’t from people I know. And of the rest, I save a lot that I rarely get around to reading.

Of the ones I randomly open, I will occasionally get some great nuggets of info. Like this one from Peter Sandeen‘s newsletter:

“I was working on an older laptop and noticed it was a bit slow. I wondered
if it just didn’t have enough RAM. That’s when I remembered that
the Apollo spacecraft needed 2KB of RAM to land on the Moon.
This emoji uses more RAM than that.”

Makes me think about how far we have come…and yet, from reading the news and how the world is politically, how far back we have slipped.

ROMO, baby

I had been so busy busting my *ss for a book deadline this week that I completely forgot to do a post on Wednesday…not that anyone noticed or cares–including myself apparently–but I vowed to maintain this habit and so I shall remedy my neglect by posting today.

Don’t expect anything deep, though this is pretty meaningful for me. I want to share a terrific post I saw on Insta recently that made me yell, “YES!”, in solidarity. It’s not like I’m a fan of Cillian Murphy’s (I have zero feelings one way or another about him), but I am a fan of this attitude.

I had applied to a book festival this year because my good friend (and critique partner) will be going and wanted me to go with her. I really didn’t want to attend, but because I adore her and because I had 3 books published this year, I went ahead and applied.

Guess what? They rejected my application! I was there last year and I guess they thought that was enough of me for now? Hah.

I was soooooo happy to not be accepted. And the above quote expressed my feelings perfectly.

Happy Friday!

Bruce Lee lives!

Well, not literally…only in the minds and memories of many people. And I happen to be one of them since writing the graphical biography WHO SMASHED HOLLYWOOD BARRIERS WITH GUNG FU? BRUCE LEE (illustrated by Ryan Inzana; published by Penguin Workshop).

He also lives in the mind of my Kids Comics Unite pal, Patrick Lugo (owner of The Most Beautiful Dog in the World), because Patrick happens to create beautiful martial arts graphic novels and run the very cool Kung Fu Forest site.

Because of Patrick’s deep connection to this world of martial arts, he kindly interviewed me to talk about the book. I’m a little rambly, but I think you’ll enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at how the book came to be. Here’s part 1 and part 2.

Write your heart out

I stopped in my tracks when I saw this Ray Bradbury quote in writing coach Kim Lozano’s newsletter. It adds a nice twist to the oft told advice for writers, which is to write what you love.

I feel that he is spot on about writing what you hate, too. It’s the whole yin-yang way of the world, really. Pretty much everything needs an opposite to be contrasted against.

For me, I think the two needs to be together in order to make a book (or short story). The hate fuels me but the love sustains me.

What’s your take on this?

History for kids with Beth Anderson

Coming soon! #AmericanRevolution250

Important notes for authors

I’m a fan of Kathleen Schmidt, a marketing and PR pro, and her blog. She always has great insights and advice for writers, both traditionally and self published.

She has a post today that I feel adds to the talk I gave yesterday at Inked Voices on DIY Book Promotion,

so I’m going to share a few points. (I don’t know if that particular post is free or for subscribers only but here’s the link if you want to check out the original.)

Reviews don’t impact sales as much as you’d think. Let go of the idea that it is the only way a book can sell or legitimize an author.Most advertising is a waste of money. There are rare instances, depending on the book, when social media ads or boosted posts lead to sales. No one knows how those ads will perform, so testing them is not a bad idea. Other ads—especially digital ads on media sites/in media newsletter verticals—lead to clicks but not sales.You can do everything to create awareness for a book, but you can’t force a consumer to buy it.The time frame to promote a book must last longer than the months leading up to publication and the month following publication. Promotion could easily continue for 6-9 months or more, depending on the book.Big media is super competitive. Focus on what’s realistic for a book, not pie-in-the-sky media hits. A publicist knows who will pass. Their time should be spent on what will work instead of contacting the NYT books desk for the 5th time about the same title.Your next book is only as good as your previous book’s sales. You can get a review in the NYT, but you also may only sell 500 copies. Focus on outcomes, not wish lists.Bookstore events aren’t always a good idea. It’s expensive to go on a book tour, and if you go to cities where you don’t have a built-in audience, it can be bleak.Celebrity endorsements don’t do much for sales.

I hope this adds more clarity for those who attended my talk (and those who didn’t ).