It All Starts With Writing

When I was a kid, I had to cross a busy downtown street to walk the two blocks to the public library. Mom would take me across that first street then let me walk the rest of the way to my favorite spot on earth; well, except for the high school gym on Friday night basketball game night.

I guess you’d call me a tomboy. I loved sports; playing and watching. Although, I still had fun cutting out paper dolls with my friend, Cynthia, and playing with her Easy Bake Oven (I was so jealous she had one and I didn’t!)

But, back to the library. I’ll never forget the summer I discovered the sports biographies. A whole set of them! Probably due to my yet-to-be-discovered OCD, I commenced reading them in order – A-Z.

I’ll never forget the thrill of learning all about Hank Aaron. I was a huge fan back then of the Milwaukee Braves outfielder. In 1957, as a 10-year-old, I would sit in front of the TV keeping stats during the Braves games. In a record-breaking year, he hit an 11th inning home run that propelled the Braves to the World Series, where he led underdog Milwaukee to an upset win over the New York Yankees in seven games. Yep, “Hammerin’ Hank” was my idol.

I tore through that series in record time. Patty Berg, Jim Brown, Althea Gibson, Pancho Gonzales, Byron Nelson, Warren Spahn. Then, the unbelievable happened. I finished Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Finished. Caput. A through Z. There were no more.

I was crushed.

Back to my reading boredom. Between my eight grade and freshman year, my beloved Aunt Gertrude, began setting books aside she thought I’d enjoy reading. To Kill a Mockingbird, of course, and anything by Steinbeck. I graduated to slightly steamier novels like Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor, and later, in high school, Lady Chatterley’s Lover. She made me swear not to tell my mother she let me check that one out. I believe I hid the book under my mattress until I finished reading and returned it, safely, to the library.

I muddled along reading Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and then got interested in historical fiction. Then I got bored with the writing and storylines that were beneath my  reading level.
As luck would have it, my aunt replaced the ancient librarian who had been in her position for, oh, around 108 years. Or, at least it seemed like it. What a refreshing change! Nothing against Miss Georgia, but she single-handedly destroyed my older brother’s love of reading. It was the summer after the fourth-grade school year. He took “The Bears of Blue River” to the desk to check it out. Miss Georgia wouldn’t let him read it. “This is a Fifth Grade book. You’ll have to wait ‘til then.” Barely a month away. My brother, who had a bit of a stubborn streak, left the library and never
returned.

I’m sure, by now, you’re wondering, “What’s the point of this post?” I’m getting to that.
I now consider myself to be a pretty fair writer. My children’s book series, Cynthia’s Attic, has been well-received by readers of all ages. My new series, Andi Anna Jones Mysteries, is about to make its debut and am I ever excited! Writing these mysteries has given me a new perspective. While I love writing for middle-grade, it does keep the creative juices flowing when you change things up every now-and-then.

I wouldn’t be writing, however, if not for one important fact.
It all starts with reading!
Margaritas, Mayhem & Murder - Andi Anna Jones Mystery # 1 - Preorder, soon!

MEME! 6 Book Things About Me!

My childhood best friend, Cynthia and me, cruising down the Ohio River

Chris, at Candid Canine, tagged me with Today's Meme:

Name 6 Book Things About Yourself:

So, here goes:

1. My series, Cynthia's Attic was inspired by a recurring dream I'd had for over 20 years about a mysterious attic! Once determined that the attic was in the home of my childhood best friend, Cynthia, the dreams stopped! Fortunately, the writing began!

2. I was also inspired by wanting to write stories about my ancestors. I so regret not talking more to my grandparents and finding out about their early years; What they did for fun; who was their best friend; stories about their parents and grandparents. So, I decided to write time-travel books that would let me go back in time and have adventures with my relatives.

3. My hometown library was within walking distance, just a couple of block from my house. My all-time favorite "reads" as a kid were sports biographies. A devoured the complete set from Hank Aaron to Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

4. Speaking of my hometown library...I have the honor of doing my first booksigning there on Nov. 22! Should be a lot of fun. I hope I get to see friends that I haven't seen for 20 + Years!

5. I'm busily writing Book Four in my series: Cynthia's Attic: The Magician's Castle. I think this is going to be the best one, but I thought that about the last one, Curse of the Bayou, too. :-)

6. I'm also working on two adult mystery books. Some writers don't like to go back and forth between genres, but I find it a refreshing (and much-needed!) change.

** Your Turn: Share some book-related things about you. Be sure to comment here so we know to go visit your blog and see what you wrote.

Tag! You're It! Leave a comment that you've posted your 6 book things so we'll know to check them out!

Shannon Greenland
Janet Muirhead Hill
Anne Carter

Searching For A Starry Night

My guest this week in Cynthia's Attic is author, Christine Verstraete

Christine grew up in Chicago, the third-generation to live in the two-story house bought by her Belgian-born grandfather in the mid-1900s. She now lives just over the border in Wisconsin.

She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Chicago's Columbia College, and has received various awards from llinois and national press associations for nonfiction articles.

Her favorite pastime, building dollhouses and miniature rooms, has served as inspiration for nonfiction stories, a nonfiction ebook, In Miniature Style, and plays a role in her just released ya mystery, SEARCHING FOR A STARRY NIGHT!


*Your "Miniature Art Mystery," Searching For A Starry Night, was just published by Quake in May of this year. Tell us...What, exactly, is a miniature art mystery?

Being a long-time collector of dollhouse miniatures, I had to somehow work that into my book. The title and subtitle refer to the search for a miniature replica of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting, (The) Starry Night. You can see an actual miniature oil painting of Starry Night at my blog, The Candid Canine or at MySpace,

*How did you approach writing this book? Did the idea come from a personal experience?

I’ve always liked Van Gogh’s art. I started writing a set of short stories that also featured my character, Sam, from SEARCHING FOR A STARRY NIGHT. One was set in an art gallery, which got me thinking about expanding the theme of art, which led to miniatures, which led to miniature art…. It was a six-degrees kind of thing, I guess. LOL!

*Your miniatures are fascinating, Christine! The little girl in me is envious of your dollhouse miniatures. Did a particular dollhouse inspire your passion for making miniatures?

Growing up in Chicago, I was lucky enough to be able to see Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle at the Museum of Science and Industry more than once. Created by a Twenties film star, the castle is filled with fantasy, books by real authors, jewels, and everything enchanted. You have to fall in love with miniatures after you see that!

*You are also involved in the anthology, "Heat of the Moment," that benefits survivors and heroes of the San Diego wildfires of 2007. Can you tell us a little about your contributing story? A little about the book in general and the writers?

My story, “Fire and Magic,” involves Sam and her mother, who face a menace from the past. The story is a little more “grown-up” themed since the book included stories that were fire-related. I was thrilled to be asked to contribute a story along with 20 other exceptional authors to help a good cause.

*How did the idea for this book come together?

Echelon Press publisher, Karen Syed, wanted to do something to help those who lost, and went through so much, in the wildfires. It also recognizes those who give so much to keep all of us safe, the firefighters

*How did the idea for this book come together?

In miniature or in writing? ha! I write fiction and nonfiction, so it keeps me busy. And when I’m not writing, I’m planning a new miniature scene. I tend to have quite a few projects going in both miniatures and writing.


*What are your upcoming plans for the release of Searching For A Starry Night?


This is among several blog appearances I’m doing to promote Searching For A Starry Night. I also am setting up in-person appearances and will be giving away a miniature scene and some fantastic prizes to visitors to my website, and to book purchasers in the coming weeks. So please be sure to stop at my website or check in at my Candid Canine blog, to see what’s new!

Mary, thank you for hosting me!

Go! How To Start Your Career As A Children's Writer (Part Three)

Suzanne Lieurance is a former classroom teacher, now a fulltime children’s author, freelance writer, and The Working Writer’s Coach. She teaches children’s writing for the Institute of Children’s Literature based in West Redding, Connecticut, and is the founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

Today is the final part in the series, READY, SET, GO! HOW TO CREATE A CAREER WRITING FOR CHILDREN

by
Suzanne Lieurance
The Working Writer's Coach
Working Writers Coach
Suzanne Lieurance website

GO - How to Start Your Career as a Children's Writer (Part Three)

Okay, so you’re ready to begin your career as a children's writer - you know the basics of writing for this market. You’re all set to get started - you have taken the time to create a professional resume and some writing samples to submit to publishers. Now, all that’s left is to GO and do it. Here’s how:

1. Submit your professional resume and writing samples to a few appropriate publishers (those who look for authors to assign them books to write). Be willing to write both nonfiction and fiction for children on both a royalty and a work-for-hire basis. Use a market guide to find these kinds of children’s publishers. Also, once you start networking with other children’s writers you’ll find more of these publishers.

2. Keep writing your own original fiction and nonfiction manuscripts be that for picture books, middle grade novels, YA novels, or anything in between. Also, study the markets and obtain submission guidelines for the publications you wish to write for. Today many publications have submission guidelines (and even current needs) available on their website, so search these websites first to save yourself time and postage.

3. Join a critique group, or start one, and subscribe to at least one publication for children’s writers.

4. In addition to your critique group, network with people who already do what you want to do - one way to do this is to join your local chapter of the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), or sign up for an online listserv of children’s writers. Go to www.yahoogroups.com and search for groups for children’s writers. You’ll find several.

5. Learn to write a great query letter and how to correctly format a manuscript. There are many good books available that explain (in detail) how to write an effective query and how to format a manuscript
for submission to a publisher. You can also google “writing a query letter” or “formatting a manuscript” to find various articles that should help you.

6. Once you’re comfortable with your skills as a children’s writer, spend at least one day a week on marketing – looking for new opportunities and writing assignments. You’ll find job ads for children’s
writers in those newsletters you start subscribing to and also at online job boards for writers.

7. You MUST learn to use the Internet effectively. Also, learn how to transfer your work electronically. And, if you don’t have one already, get an email account, start a blog and/or website for your writing and post to it on a regular basis to develop an online presence.

8. At least once a year, attend a children’s writer’s conference or workshop. This is will give you more networking opportunities, plus you’ll learn, firsthand, the current needs of many children’s magazine
and book publishers.

9. Be dependable and professional. Freelancing is a business. Learn the business. For example, don’t expect to submit a handwritten manuscript and have an editor read it. Also, don’t expect to ignore
submission guidelines and have an editor read your manuscript.

10. Give yourself time to succeed. This is one of the most important steps. As you learn more about the business of writing for children, and continue to improve your craft, more opportunities will become available to you. You should also realize that it will take more than writing magazine stories and articles to make a living as a freelance children’s writer, so you must actively seek work ALL the time.

Follow the steps outlined above, and your freelance writing career will be off to a good start.

Suzanne Lieurance.

Suzanne will have an interesting marketing seminar today with a surprise guest on Blog Talk Radio 3:00PM Eastern Time.

Thanks, Suzanne for being such an informative guest. Please come back, soon!