Illustrations! Submissions! Readings! Oh, my!

I got to see some sample illustrations for Angeline Jellybean last night and--wow! I am so thrilled with them I could dance in the streets.

I've been working on a number of projects. My thesis (still not titled with only 10 pages left to go), a couple of picture books (Mr. Beta and You Oughta Like the Otters which desperately needs reworked and a different title), and random other things. I think my next round of submissions might be a picture book called Jason and Jamal. I wrote it around the time I wrote Angeline, so maybe that was when I wrote all of my brilliant work. haha.

I sent some poems out awhile ago. I'm not really expecting any acceptances. Of course it would be awesome, but I rather enjoy collecting rejection letters too. ;-)

Here's good news not about me: My boyfriend, Mark C. Bradley, will be a featured local writer at Ukazoo Books in Towson, MD on September 14th! Yay, Mark!

Online support for children's writers

So, I was talking to an online friend of mine today about the lack of support for children's writing, especially online. Think about it for a sec-- there are online support and critique groups for poets, fiction writers, and every genre from Erotica to fantasy. . . so why aren't there any for children's writers? Neither one of us could name a single one. We children's writers are perhaps the most secluded, misunderstood, and least supported of all writers.

I took a quick look at the work listed as "children's writing" on Writing.com, and I was disappointed at what I saw. Most people have no idea what's popular in children's literature, don't realize that kids shouldn't be talked down to OR treated like adults, and are totally clueless about things like the importance of rhythm and rhyme. While I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about writing for children, I don't allow myself to work inside a bubble that prevents me from learning, either.

I guess I'm really lucky that I have great teachers who have published everything from picture books to YA novels and are willing to share their secrets and support their students. I'm also lucky that I have such close interaction with children that I know their language, what they like, and how to engage them. Those two things, I truly believe, put me ahead of a lot of others.

Rectangle

Today in the mail I received my two copies of the Rectangle as payment for publication! For those of you who don't know, the Rectangle is the literary journal of Sigma Tau Delta, the English Major Honor Society. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was among a great group of poets, including Cameron Conaway, former PSU-A classmate, Chatham MFA grad Nimi Finnegan, and current Chatham MFA student Meghan Tutolo. Congratulations to all of you! I'm honored to be listed among your talent. :-)

Check out a fellow writer's website!

Friend and fellow AmeriCorps member Laura Peters has written a book and started a website all about it and her life! You can check it out at http://www.renaissance-seamstress.com/index.html .