Happy 300 to Me!!

**UPDATED** Yep! My 300th post! Wow, I am chatty! LOL! I chose this alter-ego of mine (Mimi has my original) as my illustration as this is how I skipped through my SCBWI conference yesterday! "I'm a writer! Look at me! I'm a writer!" I am secure in calling myself a writer but sharing breathing space with some of the most creative and talented people on the planet just brings it all home! -----------o0o------------ Well, thanks to those of you who commented prior to even knowing what the contest was. So, here's the scoop. As always, I am writing, writing, writing...I have numerous kids books written, all of which have passed with flying colors if you ask my writing instructors, my critique groups and other writer friends. FLYING COLORS I TELL YOU! Just haven't matched with the right agent. I have spent hours writing books for kids, I have polished them, re-written them, scrapped some and started series for others. I have characters such as Macy-Sue LaRue, Morton the Moose, Henrietta Hamsterface, Lola Littleton and even a Doogie Howser-esque kid named Jake. But I am patient, my day will come. I dream of that day when I can sit at Barnes & Noble and look out across a sea of little faces as they giggle at my words. I think about the fun activities I will do with them after the book. Cute tie-ins for holidays and the changing seasons. The teacher in me thinks a lot about the last part. I am friends with children's authors and we chat quite often about cool ideas and trends. Peter H. Reynolds, Linda Oatman-High and Elizabeth Kann are only some of my sounding boards on any given day! I vent to them when I am frustrated with my thousandth rejection (I don't really have that many) and I throw out ideas to them and ask them about their agents and publishers. I don't spend all this time writing and researching for any other reason than...children are my passion. They always have been. Children are like little sponges. They soak it all in. There is so much out there in today's world that I hope mine don't soak up. So much hate and evil. If one child can get lost in any one of my books and feel like they have a place to go when their day is less than something to smile about...then I have succeeded. So, on that note...this CONTEST is going to be fun! It is going to take a little work on your part but you will enjoy the fruits of your labors. I want to CELEBRATE all the amazing children's authors that help kids escape when they need to. I would like for each of you to choose your favorite children's book (from your childhood or something out now) and write a post on YOUR blog about WHY it's your favorite. Please, include a cover photo and link to it on Amazon. Don't forget to link back to me and invite your readers to join in the fun. Comment on this post so I know we can ALL come peek when you have your choice up. It will be like a virtual tour of the best of the best of the children's section of the library. The person who chooses one of my top 3 favorites (which you will only know if you live in MY head and although there are lots of voices up there...I don't think any of them are yours) will win an original illustration from Moi...cuz I'm all artsy, too. I apologize to those of you who don't have a blog. Maybe you need to start one of your own!!! :) Get busy! Go find your favorites and inspire us! You have until Friday....get movin' people!

SCBWI here I come....

SCWBI (Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators) Fall Philly Conference is this weekend. I am headed there this afternoon!

I have a group critique tonight and tomorrow is a FULL day of speakers to listen to, authors to meet, books to buy, autographs to get, editors to rub shoulders with...WHEW! It's a children's writer's dream! I paid the extra fee for a one-on-one with a big time editor who currently has my manuscript in her hands! We will chat about it and she will give me her opinions, make suggestions and hopefully impart enough constructive criticism to put all these

behind me!

(my pages upon pages of rejections)

I got some 'splainin' to do...

Well, I had someone email me to comment on how much she enjoys what I write on my blog (thanks Rebecca) and she was wondering (because my title of my blog is yada-yada-yada-writes 4 kids) if I had ever published anything that she could read. So, I figured if she was wondering, maybe all my great commenters were up at night, tossing and turning, wondering the same thing. I DO write and have been published many times...but mostly for adults. I write a lot for regional parenting magazines like About Families (PA), MetroKids (DE), Parent Magazine (TN), KidsVT, Pittsburg Parent, Family (NJ), Indy's Child, Charlotte Parent (SC), Parenting New Hampshire, San Diego Parent, and a couple big time magazines like Fostering Families Today and Relate Magazine for girls. I have also written crafts for ParentZone.com. Most of what I write is out of my passion for children. I write articles that keep kids healthy, keep families connected and creative in the way they deal with life. I have a pile of rejection slips that I have been collecting for almost two years now from a vast array of children's book manuscripts. Some people say to throw them away b/c they will ultimately bring you down and you will give up the ship. Not me. I actually have a file right in my file cabinet labelled "rejections" so that when I am published and children across the country are giggling at my words, I can encourage other aspiring authors by saying, "I collected 4,937 rejections before getting published!" I truly don't have that many although my ego may argue that depending on how many I pull from the mailbox that day. I recently attended the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Fall Philly Conference and made some great connections! I now am awaiting a response from an editor at HarperCollins in regards to the first in a series of really quirky, fun picture books. Send up some prayers for me if you are the praying type (I am). I dream of touching the lives of as many children as I can before my time on this planet expires. So, there ya go! That's my mission in a nut shell! I am off to get a shower in the remaining minutes of the baby's nap so that I can take the big kids to a book signing with Elizabeth Kann, author of Pinkalicious and Purplicious. Throw those names in at Amazon.com and you will fall in love with her!! Have a creative day!