If you give a writer an idea . . .

If you give a writer an idea,

she’s going to want a pen and paper.

When you give her the pen and paper,

she’ll probably ask for a critique group.

When she’s done a lot of critiques, she’ll ask for a workshop or conference.

Then she’ll want to go to even more workshops, just to make sure she has a great manuscript.

When she has a perfect manuscript, she might notice she doesn’t have an agent, so she’ll ask to meet 

with lots of agents.

When she’s got an agent, she’ll want an editor and publisher.

Before she lands a publishing house, she’ll start to take antacids and worry about ever getting published.

She might get carried away and think about self-publishing, but only if she was a NYT Bestselling author to begin with.

Eventually, she will get her manuscript accepted, possibly by one of the Big Six!

When her book is in revisions, she’ll probably want an office.

You’ll have to fix up a little room for her, include a blanket and a pillow.

She’ll crawl in, 

make herself busy,

maybe even a little crazy.

So you’ll ask what you can do,

you might suggest she get some help,

you might even ask if she should avoid Facebook and Twitter.

When you are allowed back in her office,

you’ll be so excited, you‘ll ask about the release date.

She’ll ask you to leave again.

She’ll worry about ever getting done. But she does. 

After the book has finally been released,

she’ll want good reviews. As in really, really good reviews.

If she gets those good reviews,

she’ll want an award.

If she gets a prestigious award,

she’ll want to go to a bookstore to do an autographing,

which means she’ll need a pen.

She’ll hold the pen, sit back and look at it,

looking at the pen will remind her that she doesn’t have a piece of paper.

So . . .

she’ll ask for some paper.

And chances are, if she has a pen and asks for paper, 

she’ll want another id—ah, who are we kidding, she’s got so many ideas now you’ll never get her back.

   

 

**all due credit to Numeroff's, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie for the inspiration :)

FYI: Yes, I tend to have way too much fun when I start writing just to write.

Blog Tour!

Welcome to my blog!

Thanks to Debbie Nance, http://2weavers.wordpress.com/, my Writing and Illustration for Young Readers friend, for asking me to join. Love ya tons Debbie!


The Questions: 


1. What am I working on right now?

Right now I am working on the final stages of Dressing the Naked Hand: The World's Greatest Guide to Puppets, Puppetry, and Puppeteering. A book for immature audiences--mostly.

As a longtime puppet collector (read as obsessive), and avid watcher of my co-worker and co-author, Mark Pulham's puppet shows, I soon found myself pulled into the world of making and performing with puppets.

It's over 200 full-color pages filled with all the how-to, tips, patterns, and instructions that I looked for (and had a hard time finding) when I was trying to learn puppet-making. There will be instructional video included that entertains as much as it teaches. Sample (rough draft) video can be found here -- this is a private youtube link -- enjoy :)



2. How does it differ from what I’ve written before?

Becoming a non-fiction writer is what first tempted me to consider joining the ranks of the wannabe writers. All those lectures I attended! Seymour Simon, Jim Arnosky. I'd not found Nic Bishop yet, but he inspires me too. Still, I didn't consider myself enough of an expert to write anything.

I did write and design for a scrapbook company for a few years, but soon the lure of writing Picture Books pulled me away from those endeavors. You can't be a librarian in one, if not the largest Children's Library, for 18+ years and not fall in love with picture books. Anyway, a few years later that passion spread into the fever-inducing excitement of writing Speculative YA. I had no idea that writing was more addicting than reading.

A few more years down the road, a local puppet creator, Joe Flores came to me with the idea for writing a book on how to not only make puppets, but performance instruction as well. I brushed off the idea. But he was insistent, firm in the belief I could do it.

I sketched up the ideas, put it all in a binder and took to my brilliant mentor and co-storytelling-fanatic/co-picturebook-conspirator, Rick Walton for his opinion. It just happened that the exuberant, energetic, and visionary Christopher Robbins, from Familius Publishing, happened to be the day's lecturer. Not too long after, we were signed, sealed, and manuscript delivered. (the illustration and photos--well, that's taking a bit longer.)

.3. Why do you write what you do?

Because I seriously think I'm crazy. As in where did all these people come from that inhabit my head?

From trouble-making JJ, the puppet who won't  leave well enough alone; the unfortunate floating Oliver, the in-her-own-world bookworm Philippa, to the darkly dangerous nanite altered Hana, and Denton who happens to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time . . . yikes, and those characters are just the ones I've let out recently. There's still the world-hopping traveler Gabe, the adventures of the Pets and Petersons, and also Cooper Cordova who is forced to deal with the devastating loss of his sister, Rhea, to the war in Afghanistan in the MG novel Letters Home.

oh- oh- Don't forget the future-world mind-twister tragedy that starts with dead bodies falling from the sky. My character is there, and his dog, but alas, he is nameless as yet. He is calling for a name, I just can't give him the power of naming him quite yet.

Yikes. I get lost in the stories--can you tell? On with the answering: For me, each book begins when the characters start talking to me. They are pests. They are relentless. They honestly don't know how to shut up. And if I try to ignore them, refuse to write their words, they tend to circle, 'round and 'round they go. Harpies--the lot of them!

I do eventually give in. But, when I manage to transcribe their conversations, in the hope they will give me some peace--well, it never works. For some reason it only gives them permission to move the conversation forward.

Where do these conversations come from? Where is the control? The brakes? The muzzle! Anyone? Bueller. Bueller?


4. How does your writing process work?

In the beginning . . . --ha ha, couldn't resist (*peek at the excerpt from Dressing the Naked Hand I've included below for the inside joke)

In reality it starts in the middle of the night. Literally. Sometime between 2 and 4 in the a.m. They start talking. I eventually cave and jot down some notes in the dark. But they keep speaking. I write some more. In the dark. It makes for some interesting deciphering come morning ;)

The next day I try to write out the conversation I transcribed during the night. It's always a conversation. Sometimes it's the character talking directly to me. Other times it's a private conversation/argument/discussion between two or more of them.

When I get time to sit and actually write, all I do is connect the dialogue. It's kind of a 'zone out', sit in the scene, feel, smell, listen, taste and let the character/s take over thing.

Eventually I allow my edit brain out of its box to hack and cut, twist and shape the words. I love this part of writing. It doesn't scare me as much as when I allow the characters out to do the discovery writing.


5. Now I have a question for you:

As a librarian for children, I'm sensitive to the disappointment that inevitably follows when a child starts reading an author, falls in love with the characters, and then the silly author pulls a total switch and not only changes up the characters, but changes genre! I do this! It worries me. (I know, why worry if you aren't even published yet--silly writer. It's impossible not to think of it though--again, silly writer. Cart before the horse much?)

Should there not be some kind of warning? Some clue to inform the reader that one of these books is just not the same (woah, channeled Sesame Street there for a moment). What do you think of the authors that add in a middle name for their picture books vs. first and last only for a MG. Or, like famous bestseller Ally Condie vs. her first novels under Allyson Braithwaite Condie. Or, like **Barbara Mertz, no I mean Michaels, no, really I mean her historical mystery dynamo writing of a pseudonym Elizabeth Peters.

I do not have enough middle names. And how do you shorten Amy?

Do weigh in. I'd love to hear a discussion. And, I'd really like to have a bit of a plan in place before Dressing the Naked Hand comes out.

Hmmm, I have a good friend who insists on calling me Indy. I can handle that. Indy . . .  Indie . . . Indi? Like Avi, and it puts me in the middle of the fiction bookshelves, not at the bottom, not at the very end like White does.

Thank you all for joining me in my ramblings. I can't wait to meet even more of you through the course of this blog tour!

Amy White


Look for these authors to post next week:

Julie Olsen, picture book author/illustrator, mom, and crossfit junkie! http://jujubeeillustrations.blogspot.com

Stephanie Kelley, YA writer, insane reader, and former blogger who just couldn't stay away. http://stephik.blogspot.com




Bruce Luck, a retired teacher now writing children's stories. http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com/

**BONUS**

Check out what I love doing in my free time--Script and Text Analysis, 

A scientific way to plotting for success. An empirically based system of Text Analysis.

Know what effects quality, audience appeal and acceptance by different maturity levels. Know your character's roles and the functions they carry. Know power dynamics and how they affect different audiences. Know what kind (genre) of work your manuscript is and how it's signature dynamics affect outcomes, character actions, the 'coloring' of your story, and what the reader will be feeling by the end. Benefit from over 30 years of study, proof, and statistics. Know why. Know how.

The last . . .


 ** I'm devastated by Barbara's recent passing. The world has lost another great. Barbara's spunky, bright and oh-so-wonderful Amelia Peabody will ever be one of my favorite characters.


* Excerpt from Dressing the Naked Hand 

In the beginning there was shadow and there was light. And it came to pass that the shadow was separated from the light . . . the light of the evening fire. And early man discovered he could tell stories against illuminated cavern walls. And in that light, were the first puppets created, and they were called good, and man named them Hand Shadows. 

In the following years were the great Shadow Puppets of Indonesia created. Where we find another harmonious partnership of human, Dalang, and puppet, Wayang also known as . . .

DtNH Disclaimer: 

The views held in this work are not necessarily the views held by our editor, production staff or anyone involved in the publication thereof. We are not responsible for damages sustained as a result of misuse of patterns, misunderstanding of ideology and, or malfunctioning equipment. If your puppet does for some reason succeed in what is heretofore called the Pinocchio Paradigm, and succeeds in overtaking not only your workshop, your home, your family and friends--to the point of supplanting and altering your very persona--we will consider you forewarned and sufficiently alerted by way of this notice.


Allow me to explain myself:

I have an issue with putting boring history stuff in a how-to book. But how do you write a book on puppetry if you don't give a nod to all the history that has brought us to this point in time?

In the end, I decided that if my readers were going to actually take the time to read the introduction or history, I was going to reward them. Plus, I like characters. And what is a puppetry book if not a book chock full of character?

The Curse of the Blank Planner

So, not the best poster, am I?

It's the curse of the blank planner pages.

You may ask, what is she talking about?

Some history:

I have kept a planner for as long as I can remember, even in high school, I was the kid that had a planner. Of course, I was also the kid that started working at age 14. I had to keep a planner even if just to keep track of my work schedule.

Fast forward a few years. Okay, already--a LOT of years--and I still have my ever present planner with me at all times.

If you were to scan through the weeks, you will notice that there are times where the weeks are stuffed so full, the writing so small and cramped, that its hard to see a single white space. This would represent a nice normal week for me.

Now, open it up to a blank, very white and unspoiled week. Does that mean I actually had a break? A vacation, maybe? No. These are the weeks that went off the wall, out of the ballpark, or in other words 100% wonky.

To explain further--I was too busy to even record my schedule. My note system during these weeks denigrates to sticky notes and various mini floating squares of the cut-up paper you see at libraries to jot down call #'s.

I've had a lot of empty weeks lately.

This is not to say they are bad. I am one of those people (okay, I admit it, one of those highly caffeinated people), that absolutely THRIVES on chaos and excitement and energy and batting at curve balls and at responding to the next thing that has come around the corner and and  . . .

Like I said, there's kind of been a few of these weeks lately. Lately?! Who am I kidding! Let's be honest, let's talk months.

So what IS the purpose of this post?

I don't really know. Other than to say I've had a lot of posting ideas backing up in my brain and this one was the fastest one to get out of the starting blocks. There is only so long I can hold back the gates. In the near future I hope to release at least of few of the juicier posts soon.
_______

Examples of some of the items, maybe:

I had a BLAST at LTUE in mid-Feb. I met some incredible people. I want desperately to post some workshop/lecture reviews and comments. But who am I kidding. I have a book deadline!

 
Yes, I have a super real, super crazy few months ahead of me as we put the final touches on the forthcoming, Dressing the Naked Hand: The World's Greatest Guide to Puppets, Puppetry and Puppeteering. Yes, I know it's already available for pre-order on various book sites, but don't go busting your buns to get it--yet. For the sake of making it truly the WORLD'S BEST . . . we are probably not going to release this fall.


This is just a place holder cover-- probably not going to be the final choice)

Oliver is finally coming back out, out of my dusty old files. Yes, I do refer to my books by the main character's first name. In any case, I've been letting Oliver sit for a year. alright, maybe a bit longer than a year. Anyway, Oliver is finding some friends and I am starting to have faith in him once again. I hope that there will be some movement and news with him in the near future.

Philippa is still sitting.

Ditto for Decoration Day and the Afghanistan novel based on the same storyline.

Hana and Denton are struggling--I'm struggling. As much as I obsess over Script and Text analysis, I'm just not sure that I am as much a novelist as I am a picture book writer. I know what needs to happen. Pulling it off is a different story. It calls to me. They keep me up nights with their incessant conversations. And as much as Hana and Denton refuse to shut up and let me sleep nights, I don't know if I can truly write well enough to tell their story. But who said I'm doing it for any other reason than to keep my sanity. It being the writing stuff. I have to write. I can't not write. And, I tell you, these characters aren't about to let me off the hook.

Oh heavens, you let one out and the resulting hole allows so much more to get through!!

Anywho, now there is a NEW one begging for it's story to be told. First line:

I thought the day it rained bodies was the worst day of my life. Now I know better.

Picture Book Proclamation

Thank you
http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/2011/10/proclamation.html

...a few weeks into the drafting process

Now the ideas start to gel a little more in my head. It's been a  week or two and I have been thinking of Philippa almost non-stop at this point. I dream her, I drive around with her and she is incessantly popping into every conversation I have. I feel sorry for anyone who has to be near me at this point. Philippa is like an invasive weed, Kudzo vine (for you Easterners), Morning Glory (for us Westerners), blanketing everything in it's wake.

It's probably a good time to mention that I hope you have chosen a good name for your character. It's going to be popping out of your mouth a lot. And. . . you are only starting. Oliver took me 5-6 months of obsession to get to where I felt comfortable enough to start letting him go, submitting (sending my grown baby out into the world) and letting another character move in.

Okay - on with the show -
I've consulted with Rodale's, I've been 'pitching' the idea around among my forebearing (wow, that's a new / old one, not sure I got the spelling on it) co-workers and book-ish friends. For some reason I find that the more I play with an idea, the more I banter around and test it out, the better it gets.

It's like being in the stacks with a kid, you know you're doing a good job 'selling' a book if the kid is practically jumping up and down to get the book. On the other hand, if their eyes glaze over, they shrug their shoulders, all while looking at their feet, you know you are either not doing a good job on the build-up, or you are pitching the wrong book to the wrong kid.

Anyway - back on topic, again -

I also went Googling for paraprosdokian phrases, where I found Garden Path Sentences and Linguistic Examples to go along with the Paraprosdokian Phrases I already had.

I find that if I can get that first line down, that ironic, twisted first taste of the story; and if I've hooked my audience with it, then I've got it. It doesn't hurt that I have some amazing co-workers who start to toss out additional lines, phrases and ideas! Not to mention my awesome kid patrons that I see almost more than my own kids.








Read on for a view of the next drafts . . .

From First Draft to a Finished Work...

I recently submitted a post (Princess Philippa Potts) for another blog, a story, a less-than-500-word story.

As I debated on what story to submit, I was tortured by the decision to either submit a tried and true (workshopped and polished) work, or to go with a new piece that is just emerging as a story. I chose the newer work - mainly because it forced me to put some effort into it.

Now I regret that decision.

Oh, the agony!!! Crap, I even have typos in there!!! (sorry if I offend, but dang it, I'm pissed!)

Every night after working on a piece, I am filled with hope and great expectations. But by morning, when I do a re-read, I am mortified! To think that I thought there was any merit whatsoever in that piece of junk. I re-work through out the day. And then it's a repeat. Until, after months and months--50 plus beta readers and over 100 revisions--I almost have something I dare call a manuscript.

All of this for a mere picture book.

Bear with me, I'm leading up to something.

My main problem with putting out (posting) a rough work is that a lot of people don't realize that every writer is entitled to a crappy first draft. A work that is still in it's jammies, hasn't even gotten dressed yet, let alone put on make-up. A work that is riddled with bumps and fits and starts, certainly not seamless and polished. Aaaarrgghh!

If we could only see the first drafts of what ended up to be some great works, we might feel a bit better about our own first drafts.

It comes down to this, a librarian is almost like being a teacher. It's all about bringing people and information together. So this is the deal: I'm going to document a "draft to finished" process on that newer work that I recently submitted. Yes, the same one that I am mortified that I put out there for just anyone and everyone to see.

At this point I do not feel that this newer work will ever be publish-ready. It's just not good enough. I don't even know if the time I spend on this particular work in progress is just throwing good money (time) after bad. I am going to rip it apart, trash it and shred it to pieces - and if you really want to, you can join me on the journey.

I do happen to get a lot of new authors who ask me, as a children's librarian, how to get their picture book published. They want to know where to go from here.

First things first, how good is your manuscript? Who else besides your family has read it? How much reading have you done? How well do you know what's being printed?

Now let's dig a little deeper, let's get inside of an actual work in progress, let's see what really goes into the making of a picture book.

Get ready for . . .

The inside workings of a picture book manuscript during revision.

dated and documented

Oh, I get asked if I'm worried about someone stealing my picture book idea. Am I worried about posting it all online. Am I worried about copy write?

As I hope you already know - as you write it, anything you write is immediately under an assumed copy write. I personally worry more about not being able to get this particular manuscript published because--technically--it will already have been published, albeit only online. Not that I have faith enough in this script, at this point, to think it is worthy of bring printed.

That said, there is no new idea under the sun. Just new twists on old themes. I actually started the Philippa Potts idea after performing a cut and tell story The Royal Paper Puzzle from Handmade Tales by Dianne de Las Casas. Inspired by that first line, I gave it a hard yank to the left and started twisting. 


Tip of the day - Picture Books 101:

Most common question I get asked:

Are you illustrating your picture book? Or, Who are you having illustrate your picture book?

Answer: Traditionally you, as the author, will not find your own illustrator. The publishers have their stable of illustrators. In all liklihood you will not only never meet your illustrator, but never even talk with them.

It's a good thing. Think of it as two heads are better than one. Your illustrator will bring another dimension to your work, will bring things to the table that you, as the author, never imagined. Be grateful. Kids almost never write an author telling them how they LOVED the language and the wording. They WILL on the other hand be all over you asking,  "Where is that hidden character on page 3?" Let the illustrator do their job. It is, after all is said and done, a picture book.

Okay, I can't just leave this one there...

I have control issues. I admit it. I want to direct my illustrator! I want to make sure they know there is a secondary story going on that is not conveyed by my text. I LIKE picture books that not only tell the story they tell with words, but also tell by illustration. I know my book and I know that secondary story. I am almost more wordy in my illustration notes than I am in my text. Oh, you poor future illustrators to any of my books! I apologize in advance. I do promise that I will always be open to having more to the story, as provided by you. And, I will forever be jealous your talent. I'm an illustrator at heart, but lacking your talent, I can only paint with words.

Picture Book Map

Just quick...

In my writing I have found that a little chart, that I believe I originally got from the author Debra Frasier, has been tremendously helpful.

For anyone plotting out the pacing of their picture book, for anyone who just wants to visualize their story, for anyone who likes writing picture books... this might be useful to you.

Have fun!

Ordinary Oliver

There is just too much going on for me right now to even begin to cover it all, but I had to hop in here and mention some news . . .

I received a reply on my picture book submission from one of the publishing houses!

First, let me preface by saying that I submitted this manuscript at the editor's request - I had a chance to do a pitch . . .

~this pitch

(Keep in mind that it was pretty off-the-cuff and not as polished as I would have liked. I was trying to remember my cover letter stuff. I would re-word it if I were to use it later in my cover letter or whatever.)

______

Oliver used to be ordinary--yesterday.
Oliver, to his surprise, has begun to float.
Oliver has lost his gravitational grip.
     (wish I'd phrased these better here)

Unfortunately schools aren't equipped to deal with kids who develop an unusual aptitude like altitude.

Ordinary Oliver, a picture book tale for anyone who has found themselves on their own, and overlooked, by their grown-ups.

     (he then asked for a 'comparison', an "it's this book meets that book" kind of thing)

Ordinary Oliver: It's Tuesday meets The Shrinking of Treehorn with a twist of Bad Case of Stripes.

     (I could not remember Imogene's Antlers - I would have liked to throw that one in there too.)

Otto Grows Down, a review

Otto Grows Down by Michael Sussman, illustrated by Scott Magoon

New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2009, 30 p.

Suggested Interest Level: Ages 4-8

Otto gets a new sister, and she’s just in time to ruin Otto’s sixth birthday. Otto is not happy about the new addition, which is made abundantly clear when he uses his one birthday wish to, “wish that Anna was never born!”

True to the secret power of birthday wishes made under the correct conditions, Otto gets his heart's desire. Unfortunately, when Otto rewraps and returns all of his presents, he starts to get an idea that something may have gone horribly wrong. From leaving the barber with longer hair than he started out with, to getting out of the bathtub dirty instead of clean, Otto's un-growth is producing more than a few undesirable consequences.

As Otto arrives at his fifth birthday he attempts to fix his fateful wish. No luck. Fourth birthday? No. Third? No. Otto is stuck and the situation isn't looking good as Otto’s second birthday also comes and goes.

Now, its Otto’s last chance; his first birthday, but what can he do, he can’t even talk anymore!

Find out more by checking out this delightful, sometimes disgusting book on being careful of what you wish for and learning that maybe that new baby isn’t so bad after all.

Like it? Want to read more picture books like this?

Picture Book Marathon 2011

I have not been posting a lot lately. Call me crazy, but I've been re-directing all my extra time into manuscript writing. I currently have two picture book manuscripts out for submission. I was planning on attending to my much neglected novel writing for the next few months when guess what cropped up - - -

The 2011 Picture Book Marathon!



Artist: Nathan Hale /  follow this link to Nate's blog

For anyone who writes or illustrates for the picture book market - it's not too late. You can still sign up and join in the fun. Just follow this link to the PBM's website. Scroll to the bottom and sign-up instructions are posted.

 The craziness begins Feb 1st

p.s. Check out Nate's posts from the 2010 Picture Book Marathon - here is the start. You'll have to scroll up through February to get the rest - it's worth effort!