On Time Management

You know how you thought you were busy when you were a teenager, and then you got an actual job, and you thought, "Man, I thought I was busy before - now I'm SWAMPED!" And then you got a boy/girlfriend or got engaged or bought a house and had STUFF to plan and A PERSON who wanted to spend time with you all the time, and you were like, "OH MANS, it can't possibly get any busier than THIS," but then you had a kid, and you realized you didn't even know the MEANING of busy before?

And then you had ANOTHER kid? And maybe also a pet?

And then you decided that on top of the housework and job and child-rearing and spouse-seeing and friendship-building and home-reno, you were going to write a BOOK?

YEAH. Totally nutso. Me, too.

So, my secret is not doing nothing. If I have five minutes, I run down to the wood windows we had installed and putty in a couple of holes, or I sand something, or I sort out a load of laundry. Or I might grab my notebook and jot down the outline of that scene I thought of in the shower. If I'm watching TV, I fold laundry at the same time. If I'm on public transit, I'm also reading, or making a To-Do List. (I live for To-Do Lists. They keep me sane.)

It sounds exhausting, but the thing is... It isn't. I actually have more energy now than I did before I cut out the "dead time." It's like exercise: if you do the right amount, you'll feel less tired than when you didn't do any.

It's not the only answer, but it is one answer.

How about you guys? Do you have any time management tips?

Friday Favorites: Beauty and the Beast

I took my kids to see the 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast a couple of weeks ago, and they loved it. The highlight of the movie was the talking furniture - they giggled their way through all the scenes of Cogsworth and Lumiere bickering.

BUT, I don't know how much the "3-D" aspect added - and in fact, for my four-year-old, it detracted. The Beast was SCARY in 3-D! I think an old-fashioned plain re-release would have been a better choice for this movie, since the 3-D didn't really enhance the story. It's great on a big screen, and I'm glad my kids got the chance to experience it in a movie theater, but I think the 3-D was an unnecessary alteration.

How about you guys? Did you see it? Did you like it? Was the 3-D-ing of a Disney classic a plus, or a minus? What do you think?

Wednesday Writing: Introducing the Weekly Query Workshop!

So, I've been thinking about the direction I want to go in with this blog, and I think I'd like to offer more than just my musings. I want to offer something that will actually help people.

So, I've decided that Wednesday is going to be a Query Critique day. But not just any queries: Picture Book queries!

Color me weird and call me crazy, but I kind of like queries. And I know a lot of people find them hard, but I don't find them difficult at all. It must be all that time I sent on book reports when I was little. Boiling a picture book down to one sentence is like stirring cream into my coffee: smooth, easy, quick, and with tasty results. And oddly enough, I enjoy that kind of thing. So I figure, why not put that to use for the greater good?

So here's the deal. You send me your picture book queries and cover letters via email (the address is up there under my photo), and every Wednesday, I'll critique one on the blog. Others are free to comment as well with their feedback, so you get a whole workshop. I'll let you know ahead of time what week your query will be up, so you can check in and see what everyone has to say.

If I have a week with no query, I'll post something sage and wise about writing in general. And to give us time for the news to spread and get some queries going, I'll post next Wednesday with some tips and a template that I like to use for my Picture Book queries and cover letters.

In the meantime, let's do a quick and informal poll: how many of you write Picture Books? How many of you think you might want to, but haven't tried?

SCBWI NYC 2012 Wrap-Up

Last weekend, I went to New York City to rub elbows with writers, editors, and agents from all over the kidlit world.

It was amazing. I got to hang out with my wonderful friends Helaine Becker, Mahtab Narsimhan, Maureen McGowan, Robin Walton, and Kari-Lynn Winters. I got to meet my amazing, gorgeous, ridiculously talented critique partner and friend, Antje. And I got to meet incredible people like Cassandra Clare, Sophie Blackall, and Dan Yaccarino.

I got to hear Chris Crutcher say that if you listen to enough stories, the truth starts to float, and it is that truth that you write. He was an amazing speaker, but when I ran into him at the gala on Saturday evening, I learned that he is also an amazing person.

I met and had a great chat with Lin Oliver, who is a really neat person, on top of being incredibly talented and funny and wonderful. And she read my joke out in front of EVERYBODY, which was totally awesome.

I came away inspired and bursting with ideas. I have so many great ideas, I'm having trouble deciding what to work on next. Thank goodness I'm in the middle of something - by the time I finish, something will have settled out of the mix and I'll know where to go next.

But most of all, I met this guy:

Henry Winkler ZOMG!

And he loved my hair. I have it in writing.

And that pretty much sums up my weekend.

What's going on with you guys?

SCBWI Winter Conference 2012 According to Ishta

It's two short days until the start of the SCBWI Winter Conference in New York City, and if you're in the same boat as me, you've already gotten down that suitcase and started planning your gala outfit. (Mine? Black slacks, black fitted top, and silver and black jacket. Oh, yeah.) You've read the how-to's and the Do's-and-Don'ts, and you're pretty much ready to go.

But what about the finer points, like potty breaks, where to eat, and how to get your tongue unstuck from the roof of your mouth come citique session time? Have a gander at my little list, where I'll walk you through some of the things I learned last time around.

Number One: For the restroom, look no further than your hotel room. The bathroom lines on the main conference levels are ca-RAY-zee in between sessions, so if you're staying at the venue, your own room is a much faster bet. Plus, the people who have no other option (because they're staying somewhere else) will thank you. And let's not forget the advantage of a guaranteed supply of toilet paper.

Number Two: Holy dog-doodles, if there are slower elevators than the ones at the Hyatt at conference time, then I don't know about them. Like, seriously, I think they must have a guy standing on each one hoisting them up by hand. They're great for getting up and down to your room (even at potty break time), but for the love of print, to get from Breakout Session A to Breakout Session B, use the stairs or escalators. MUCH faster. (Unless you HAVE to use the elevators, of course. Wheelchairs on the stairs are obviously not a good idea.)

Number Three: The person who told you you could switch breakout sessions with your roommate is a liar, liar, pants on fire. They've got a list at the door and they're keeping track, so don't even try. You'll just embarrass the gatekeeper, and piss off the people behind you who did their homework and signed up months ago to see that speaker and are now missing the first ten minutes while you argue with whomever is at the door. BUT...


Number Four: Sharing notes from breakout sessions with friends is totally, 100% kosher. Encouraged, even. Do it with everyone's blessing, and everybody wins.

Number Five: The surrounding streets are packed with amazing places to eat; you can literally follow your nose. But if you don't feel like braving the cold, the food court at Grand Central Station is an awesome place to chow down! The Spanish food place is super good. Just...

Number Six: Avoid the washrooms at Grand Central Station. Anyplace that has signs limiting teeth brushing to five minutes* isn't the place to be doing Mother Nature's business. See Tip Number One.

Number Seven: Another must-do at Grand Central is the whispering gallery in one of the hallways: you stand at one corner of the intersection, your writer-buddy stands at the other, and the domed ceiling carries your whispers to one another's ears. Pretty neat-o.

Number Eight: The critique sessions aren't just about you getting feedback. They're also about you offering your best, well-intentioned feedback to others. Those editors and agents aren't just interested in your pages: they're interested in you. So be generous, and give as you would like to receive.

Number Nine: Plan meeting places WAAAAY ahead of time. Like, now if you haven't done it already. And be specific. "The entrance to the Ballroom" won't cut it, because there are several of them; "The corner of the fountain in the lobby closest to the elevators" probably will.** Think 2,000 people, guys. It's busy in that there hotel.

Number Ten: Have business cards and a warm handshake at the ready, and be prepared to make friends. The people you will meet are all kinds of awesome - people who make books for kids are some of the nicest, most generous people in the world. Say hi to everybody, introduce yourself, and have a great time.

See you there!

*I have real photographic evidence of this.
**But you can't have that corner - that one's mine.

Is it Really the End of January Already?

My first post of 2012, and we're already in the last full week of January. Where did it go?

Well, I'll tell you. It went into reinsulating my attic (myself), and lots and lots of revision, and some querying, and many many discussions that began with, "You know, we live pretty far from the kids' school, and our old house is  a lot of work - maybe we should move," and ended with, "I love our house."

We had a lot of plans for this house when we bought it. Plans that involved an addition and at least one more washroom and drywall in the attic. Needless to say, we hadn't really costed out those things, and then life happened and five years later, here we are in the same house with all this potential - exactly the same potential it had when we bought it.

We could call it a day, but we still love the house. It has a solid foundation, a nice layout, and the rooms are in proportion to one another. It flows nicely, and feels balanced. But some of the rooms aren't used as well as they could be, and there's still only one washroom. So we did some rethinking, and some re-enivsioning. We revised our idea of what this house can be. And a year or two from now, it's going to be AMAZING. I can't wait.

If you have a manuscript lying around that hasn't really gone anywhere - maybe the plot is solid but there's a character missing who really needs to be part of the story, or maybe the setting needs more personality, or maybe there's something else that needs to be changed - try re-envisioning it. Try looking at it from a different angle, and maybe you'll see how to make it work.

Happy revising.

Happy Holidays!

May your bookcases runneth over, and may your mailboxes be full (of publishing contracts!).

See you all in 2012!