My Brain After 12 x 12 in 2012
This is my brain AFTER 12 x 12 in 2012!
My Brain AFTER 12 x 12 in 2012…
This is my brain AFTER 12 x 12 in 2012…an Idea Tree.
Not only did I get 12 picture book drafts out of this fabulous year of inspiration, encouragement, learning, and fun, I got friends and notions and widened horizons and real possibilities all attached to my writer’s passion and my writing dream.
My brain actually feels like this tree, and the slightest breeze rouses rustles of imagination and the swish of story ideas. If you’d like to picture your own experience, go to Tagxedo.com to develop a free image like this to use on your blog or website. Katie Davis shared this with me. It is neat.
If you want to have a year like I’ve had in writing, I suggest also joining 12 x 12 in 2013! There are three levels of membership, and if you look at a previous post of mine, you’ll see more of why your brain, next January, could look like this tree.
The PARTY is Here and There…and EVERYWHERE!
I LOVE virtual parties…I can attend barefoot, in my pajamas, scratch when and wherever I need too, not have to shave or smell nice, and celebrate in my own crazy way. But STILL enjoy everyone’s joy, and share my own.
My joy??? TWELVE PICTURE BOOK DRAFTS in 2012!
Inspired by this wonderful community of writers (…I wonder how many posters this year posted in their pajamas?) and Julie Hedlund’s crazy determined encouraging leadership, I got up and got busy (at least once a month) to grab an idea circling about my head and turn it into a picture book draft (but without run-on sentences like this one).
WOO-HOO, that is reason to party!
And this celebration is everywhere! There are authors and writers from way Down Under to up in the U.K., from South Korea to South Crossett, Arkansas, USA (that’s here.)
I wonder…does anyone at our party know of an app or site or anyway we could put little push-pins on all the participants’ geographic locations?
A kind of “Pin-The-Idea-On-the-Author” game…just what our party needs!
I can’t wait to revisit, revise, revamp and rejuvenate these ideas. Some are good, some are lame, but they are all ideas worth working on. And if any of them ever get published, I’m gonna insist on credit somewhere in the end pages declaring…
“This was a 12 x 12 in 2012 PB Draft book!”
If you want to have this much fun, spread out over the whole year…if you want to get ideas and expertise from published authors, pre-published authors, beginning writers and all kinds of illustrators–many who might become life-long virtual friends–then look into the 12×12 in 2013 challenge. I plan to join, at some level.
Having enjoyed the 2012 year for free, but realizing what an awesome effort is involved, I understand the need to commit more than just comments to this awesome experience. At any level it’s worth every penny, and the eventual returns are worth twelve times and more than my upfront commitment will be.
Best advice ever? Do whatever it takes to keep writing.
You can’t be a writer unless you write. Now…where’s that punchbowl?
A Musical Video Genius!!!
I just have to say…Tim McCanna is a genius.
This video from Julie Hedlund’s blog is the best expression of the emotions, the satisfaction, the accomplishment that her 12 x 12 in 2012 challenge has meant to me.
Watch this…then go over to Julie Hedlund’s blog on 12 x 12 for 2013, and consider signing up!
Get the Scoop on “Troop!”
Just to let you know…
My virtual friend Julie Hedlund and Little Bahalia Publishing have released a trailer for an upcoming i-Pad interactive storybook app titled A Troop is a Group of Monkeys, coming out in January 2013.
Julie is an author with many friends in the craft who value her as the ‘trooper’ behind a picture book draft challenge 12 x 12 in 2012, which I participated in this year. It has been invaluable to me, and I’m posting this link to let you know about this new event in her writing life.
From all accounts, it seems that this app will preserve the traditional wonder that I think is such a critical element in children’s literature even as it arrives in the digital format on the cutting edge frontier of kid-lit.
I can’t wait to get my copy. Click the links to get yours!
Gonna be a P-A-R-T-Y !!!
Get ready! There’s gonna be a party – December 12th, at Julie Hedlund’s blog site! Time to celebrate 12 months of picture book drafts in 2012!
This link will get you to the announcement blog!
FINISHED the PiBoIdMo Challenge!
Challenge Completed!
Well…thirty days, thirty ideas. I have officially finished the PiBoIdMo 2012 challenge, with thirty fresh ideas for thirty picture books. The themes range from outright silly to serious, from fiction to non-fiction, from animals to people to things as main characters.
I have learned so much from authors and illustrators who were guest posts in this wonderful month.
Thanks, Tara Lazar, for this grand experience, this great experiment you’ve led me on in my creative writing endeavors.
Visit the site to read what others are saying about this wonderful experience, the value of connecting with the writing community, and the inspiration that we all received from this interaction with some of the best kid-lit people in the world.
Support KidLit Cares! Relief for Superstorm Sandy Victims
This is a call to support a fund-raising auction, KidLit Cares, among a gathering of Kid-Lit writers and illustrators, set up by Kate Messner. Round One is done, but Round Two is on-going, managed by Joanne Levy.
This is a great way to support efforts to help victims of the disaster in the northeast. Check it out! Most auctions in Round Two end between November 26th and November 28th.
Click Here to Check It Out
Plunging into PiBoIdMo!
A dive into a whole month of Picture Book Ideas….30 ideas for 30 days.
Can’t beat that kind of inspiration for ideas and encouragement.
I’m learning a lot about self-challenges this year, and this is one I’ve looked forward to experiencing.
Thanks to Tara Lazar for the whole idea, and to Ward Jenkins for this great logo for the event.
Find Your PB Ideas Daily!
Baths Beyond…
Darcy Pattison, an author I met at the Arkansas SCBWI conference
last spring in Little Rock, is the author of some 
wonderful non-fiction books.
I find myself more and more endeared to the craft of non-fiction as I write the exercises in my ICL classes–there’s a different satisfaction that comes after completing a non-fiction work. I am guessing–just guessing mind you–that it is the ‘teacher response’ in me. There’s something about delivering facts with the element of fascination that excites both learners, and I suppose, writers.
Every kid has an opinion of bathtime. So, they might be fascinated that some baths go beyond the ordinary.
SO, Darcy has written this wonderful book, Desert Baths, that I wanted to feature in a post.
I’ll be referring the book to my school librarians, my community librarians, and my friends.
Facts with fascination. Get this book.
GUIDES – Tour the Craft
One of the most valuable resources in my writing journey have been guides…the paper and ink kind. My ICL course has provided priceless guides, and this one is bound (no publishing pun intended) to be great too! So, I’m entering to win it, and if I don’t–I’ll just buy it. It’s produced by Writer’s Digest and is comprehensive and complete.
BUT it’s being offered by Mary Kole, agent and author, through her KidLit.com website. Go there to get the chance to win. She will draw for two winners from random site posters. I subscribe to her RSS feed and get valuable hints, info, and inspiration for writing.
SevenAcreSky 