Random semi-Updates

My computer is broken. :-( Something is wrong with the power cord. I'm going to see if it's possible to buy a new cord somewhere online. It's a writer's nightmare, for sure. I'm in the library attempting to work right now but it's not the same.

I couldn't mail my Ferris wheel piece and Angeline Jellybean today, either. Darn lack of big yellow envelopes in my apartment. I must add that to the list of things I need at the store.

In better news, my least favorite place to go on the storymobile wasn't horrible today. We signed up five new kids, and met an amazing young father with a two and a three year old, and he actually reads to his kids and was genuinely interested in books! Woo-hoo! People like that make my position so much less frustrating.

My goal: have something decent written to workshop on Monday!

Baseball Books and New Submissions

I was told by a preschool teacher today that there's also a lack of good baseball books for that age group.

I have Mickey's Baseball Dreams open and I'm pondering a way to spice it up.

Also, I've actually totally completed all of the submission materials for my Ferris wheel piece! Plus, while I was doing that I found the submission stuff for my picture book Angeline Jellybean, which I had totally forgotten about. So, now I have two pieces to ship off ASAP. Wish me luck!

Poetry Finale

So, I got a B in my poetry workshop. . .

I guess that was to be expected. Oh well, at least it was the very last poetry workshop I ever have to take. I can't say as I'll miss them, really. . .

My Niche

As per the lack of quality bug books out there. . . I've decided that bugs should be my niche. I'll be the bug picture book lady. Or at the very least, I should make bugs the next project on my list.

Bug Books

Why are 95% of the bug-related picture books out there crappy??

The exceptions are:

Diary of a Worm
Hey, Little Ant
The Bugliest Bug
Inch By Inch
Clara Caterpillar

I hope there are more that I don't know of. . . I just can't find them. Also, most of the books I listed are way too wordy to be read-aloud books. *sigh*

Going buggy over bugs,

Crystalee

The Good Side of Things

The good thing about being thrown for a loop in the middle of an otherwise normal week-- you have something to write about.

I'm off to attempt to make this situation into a children's story that I can hopefully workshop on Monday. . .

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.