Welcome Carolyn Crimi, our NaPiBoWriWee Day Six Guest Author blog! Because tomorrow is Day 7, we have TWO guest author blogs to encourage you to keep going and make it to the finish tomorrow! 🙂 Carolyn graciously offered to donate an autographed copy of her latest picture book, Dear Tabby (illustrated by David Roberts, HarperCollins 2011) for our NaPiBoWriWee drawing! Carolyn Crimi received her MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College in 2000. Her publishing credits include Outside, Inside (Simon & Schuster, 1995), Don’t Need Friends (Random House, 1999),Tessa’s… Read more NaPiBoWriWee Day Six: Guest Author Blog – Carolyn Crimi →
Shortest. Blog. EVER. It’s almost midnight PST and I just got home after having dinner with our NaPiBoWriWee Guest Author/Artist Erin Eitter Kono (her blog here: https://paulayoo.com/napi/?p=55). My main thought is – during NaPiBoWriWee or any time you are busy in your writing batcave, it helps to have a writing buddy! Someone you can pitch ideas to or ask to read/critique your work, and vice versa. A writing buddy is a great safety net and lifeline, especially when you are feeling frustrated with your writing and/or suffering from writer’s block or… Read more NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Day Five – Bedtime Blog! →
Good morning NaPiBoWriWee peeps! What? We’re already at Day 5? We’re more than halfway through National Picture Book Writing Week? Pinch me! Time is going by so quickly! Is everyone surviving? Are people indulging in too much caffeine and sugar? Are you snapping at your loved ones because you’re cranky and tired from all this writing? LOL! 🙂 Hang in there! Imagine how PROUD and HAPPY you will feel once you write Picture Book No. 5 today! (Or play catch-up on Books 1-4 if you’ve fallen behind due to work… Read more NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Day Five – Good Morning! →
Good evening, my lovely NaPiBoWriWee writers! Yes. Day Four is almost OVER. Relax. You are halfway there. Day Four is really tough because some people just give up. Others start to question their sanity. Some folks wonder if National Picture Book Writing Week where we attempt to write 7 books in 7 days is really such a good idea. And the rest of you now HATE me. You have printed out my picture and are throwing rotten tomatoes at it, crying out, “Why did you encourage me to write 7… Read more NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Day Four – Bedtime Blog! →
Welcome TARA LAZAR, our guest author for 2011 NaPiBoWriWee Day Four! Tara Lazar is a children’s book author, mother, foodie and boogeyman assassin (currently booked at 3am nightly). Her first picture book, The Monstore, will be published by Aladdin/Simon & Schuster in 2013. Tara hosts PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) in November–an alternative to NaNoWriMo for picture book writers. (See http://taralazar.wordpress.com/.) Tara is represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. For more info on Tara, check out her website here: http://taralazar.wordpress.com/ Because Tara’s first published picture book will not be out until… Read more NaPiBoWriWee Day Four: Guest Author Blog – Tara Lazar →
Welcome to Day Four of the 2011 National Picture Book Writing Week! OMG! We are HALFWAY THROUGH NaPiBoWriWee! Can you BELIEVE it?! 🙂 So as I’ve mentioned before, when I’m not writing or playing with my cats, I teach the craft of writing fiction! So now that we’ve explored first drafts, plot structure, and theme, let’s take a look at something called THE HERO’S JOURNEY. In other words… character. WHO are we writing about? What does our main character want? What’s getting in his/her way of reaching their goal? You… Read more NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Day Four – Good Morning! →
We survived Day Three of the 2011 NaPiBoWriWee! Hooray for us! 🙂 Did you finish 3 picture books in 3 days? If so, CONGRATULATIONS! If you are still treading water and struggling to stay in the game… YAY! HANG IN THERE!!! Remember, often it’s not about the goal. It’s about the JOURNEY to that goal. NaPiBoWriWee makes you a stronger writer. So keep the faith and keep writing. Don’t feel bad! Feel PROUD that you are crazy enough to join me on this nutty adventure. For those of you keeping track… Read more NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Day Three – Bedtime Blog! →
Welcome KATIE DAVIS, our guest author/illustrator for 2011 NaPiBoWriWee Day Three! Children’s author/illustrator Katie Davis has published nine books and appears monthly on the ABC affiliate show, Good Morning Connecticut, recommending great books for kids. She produces Brain Burps About Books, a podcast about kidlit, a blog and monthly newsletter. Katie has volunteered in a maximum security prison teaching Writing for Children and over the last dozen years has presented at schools and writing conferences internationally. She’s a 2010 Cybils judge and has also judged the Golden Kite, smartwriters.com, and… Read more NaPiBoWriWee Day Three: Guest Author Blog – Katie Davis →
Good morning, my wonderful NaPiBoWriWee writers! I’m trying to think of a nickname for us. I remember calling us “PiBo’s” last year. I was thinking of “NaPiBoWriWee-ers” but that’s a mouthful! Can anyone think of a fun nickname? “NaPi’s?” LOL! 🙂 Anyway, nickname or not, welcome to Day Three of the 2011 National Picture Book Writing Week! By now, you should feel like a PRO at this! 🙂 I often teach a class called WRITING FOR CHILDREN at UCLA EXTENSION’s WRITERS PROGRAM. I have loved every single class in this… Read more NaPiBoWriWee 2011 Day Three – Good Morning! →
“I’ve learned that you can’t have everything and do everything at the same time.” (Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine, April 2003) Good evening, my NaPiBoWriWee soldiers! I know everyone battled Sophomore Slump today. You all celebrated too soon with the first victory of Day One. And then on Day 2, you faced insurmountable obstacles, such as… (Keep reading after the jump to find out what those insurmountable obstacles were…)