How to use this Page

New book. #kidlitart #childrensbooks #picturebook— with Anne Marie Pace.

by Anne Marie Pace

Bad news for me: Tara asked me to write about inspiration. I’m not sure if it’s the dreary November weather or my travel-fried brain, but I feel neither inspired nor inspiring.

Good news for you: You don’t need me, not when you’ve got the collective human experience at your fingertips. When I type the word “inspiration” into Google, I get over 130,000,000 hits. Everything you could possibly want is there: dictionary definitions, memorable quotations from Eleanor Roosevelt and the Dalai Lama, Scripture verses, YouTube videos of TED talks, and, last but certainly not least, Kid President.

Lest you think I’m making excuses to avoid writing about inspiration, I’m not. I am going to write. It’s just that I’ve decided to tell you that it’s okay not to feel inspired.

I’ve learned that for me, writing has little to do with inspiration and everything to do with hard work. Don’t get me wrong–there IS inspiration, if you define inspiration as the source of those ideas that seem to come out of nowhere, and I’m happy when those moments come. But that kind of inspiration comes in fits and snatches, and flits away as quickly as it comes.

That word Inspiration is a tricky one. Define it too narrowly, in the sense that Inspiration conjures up Muses and magic and sparkly things, and you might be setting yourself up to wait far too long between productive writing times.

Of course, there’s another way to see inspiration other than as the occasional blessing from a capricious Muse. Let’s define “inspiration” as “something that makes you put your butt in the chair.” (Butt In Chair, or BIC, as you probably know, is from Jane Yolen.)

Here are some things that make me sit my writerly butt down:

Hope
When I started writing, almost all submissions and responses were handled via the U.S. Postal Service. More days than not, nothing came in the mail. Nevertheless, that moment of reaching for the mailbox door every day and pulling it open always felt happy and hopeful. And sometimes there was something lovely in there! I like that hopeful feeling (even though these days I get it when I check CallerID to see if it’s my agent) and I don’t get to have it if I don’t do the work first.

Deadlines
My 18-year-old daughter, faced with a looming deadline the other night for one of her college applications, whipped out an essay in about forty-five minutes, and it was actually quite good. Deadlines mean you don’t have the luxury of feeling inspired; you just have to do the work.

The Ticking Clock
I’m not old-old; I’m not even sure I’m quite in the middle-aged category. But I probably have fewer days ahead of me than I have behind me. As Rabbi Hillel said, “If not now, when?” I’m pretty sure he wasn’t referring to me finishing my hippo manuscript, but it works for me.

My Kids
My four teenagers may think they’re too old for picture books (though they respectfully read mine when I ask them) but they definitely are not too old to see me setting and reaching new goals. When I feel like quitting (generally because I’m depending on a visit from a Muse who has taken off on a one-way trip to Tahiti) I remember I don’t want my kids to see me quit. They can see me struggle, and they can see me change my direction, but I don’t want them to see me quit.

Kid Readers
This. Yes. More addictive—and more important—than chocolate to my writerly soul.

This list is incomplete, of course. I didn’t list the embarrassing ones or the ones I should probably save for a therapist. (I own those; I just don’t think you need or want to read about them.) I’m curious—what’s on your list? What inspires you to sit down and write when your Muse is on Mars?

Despite the oft-quoted adage to write what you know, Anne Marie Pace has never been a bear, a vampire, or a ballerina. She is the author of NEVER EVER TALK TO STRANGERS and A TEACHER FOR BEAR, both published by Scholastic Book Clubs; and the VAMPIRINA BALLERINA series, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, published by Disney-Hyperion. Someday, she hopes to write books about what she does know: whistling, baking blue-ribbon-winning chocolate chip cookies, and schlepping teenagers around in a minivan, if she can find a way to make any of that interesting. She lives with her family in Virginia. Visit Anne Marie online at AnneMariePace.com or the Vampirina Ballerina Facebook page at Facebook.com/VampirinaBallerina.

Did you see the New Jersey SCBWI Chapter Logo? It was created by illustrator Susan Brand. Congratulations to Susan Brand for her winning entry. The image (see above) incorporates the SCBWI kite symbol but also the New Jersey state bird: the goldfinch—a beautiful icon to symbolize our members taking flight and moving onward and upward in their journey to publication. Congratulations, Susan! You can view Susan’s illustration work here.

The Final Round of voting for the 2013 Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards continues until March 15, 2013. Winners of the 2013 Crystal Kite Award will be notified the following week, and announcement of the winners made on April 30, 2013.  Here are the finalists. Make sure you vote. Go to www.scbwi.org, log in, go to your regional chapter page, then click on the Crystal Kite Award Tab.

Here are the finalist for Pennsylvania/Delaware/New Jersey/Wash DC/Virginia/West Virginia/Maryland Regions.

Ame Dyckman, Boy+ Bot (Alfred A. Knopf (Random House Children’s Books)

Cynthia Grady, I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers)

Lana Krumwiede, Freakling (Candlewick Press)

Anne Marie Pace, Vampirina Ballerina (Disney-Hyperion (Disney Children’s)

Lois Szymanski, Wild Colt (Schiffer Books/Cornell Marime Press)

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy

I know, I know, I’ve been AWOL! When’s the last time I went a week without posting here? (I know when: summer of 2005, when Wonderboy had surgery. Yeesh.) Well, my absence here is because I’m plugging away elsewhere…sometimes the supply of words is limited, you know?

But a few bits of news:

• A new strip at Into the Thicklebit

• A lovely Kirkus review of my friend Anne Marie Pace’s about-to-launch picture book, Vampirina Ballerina, illustrated by the talented LeUyen Pham.

• Vampirina shares a pub date (August 7) with my early reader, Fox and Crow Are Not Friends. It got a nice review at Kirkus, too (yippee!), which is now viewable by everyone, not just subscribers.

• This month, my upcoming Inch and Roly series gets the spotlight at the Ready-to-Read website, including a letter from me to readers. Whee!

       

Oh boy! Today we get to do one of my very favorite things -- celebrate the publication of a first book! Woo-Hoo!

I'm happy to be able to congratulate fellow Virginia author, Anne Marie Pace, on the official release of Never Ever Talk to Strangers (Scholastic, 2010)! You can see by the cover why the ursine kitchen helpers are especially tickled by this charming picture book. Yes, they love that the main character is a bear, but they also like what Jamie's story teaches them about stranger danger.



Jamie is all excited about the Super Safety Expert badge he receives after hearing Officer Crane's talk at the school assembly. Over a tasty snack of grapes and milk, he tells his mom, "Strangers are people you don't know. If a stranger talks to you, you should yell and run away."

Later, while practicing soccer kicks, Jamie's ball accidentally lands in the neighbor's yard. When he goes to retrieve it, he is surprised to find a stranger offering to return his ball. Will he remember to do what Officer Crane taught him?



Geared for the preschool crowd, Never Ever Talk to Strangers! is a great way of illustrating this important lesson by presenting a realistic situation children can vicariously experience from a safe distance. It's quite tricky teaching them about strangers without frightening them, and this story is a great introduction, the perfect springboard for further discussion and questions.

In an interview in the August 4:00 Book Hook Newsletter, Anne Marie says, "One of the hardest things for young children to understand is the difference between who is and isn't a stranger. The truth is, we all talk to strangers every day. Grownups speak with people passing on the street, the cashier at the supermarket, someone we're waiting in a movie line with -- all people we don't know are technically strangers. So knowing who is and who isn't the kind of stranger you can talk to is a very confusing concept for children."



The book contains full color illustrations by Guy Francis, who gets a thumbs up for pictures that will pull little munchkins right into the story and hold their interest. Spot-on facial expressions effectively convey Jamie's happiness, pride, concern, fear, and relief at the reassuring outcome. Extra points for the cherry wallpaper and Mom's polka dot dress! 

So, if your child is entering school for the first time, and you're wondering how to broach this serious subject, be sure to share Never Ever Talk to Strangers! with him/her. It is available through Scholastic Book Clubs only, and is included on the "Welcome to School" page of the September Firefly Club flyer. At only $3 each, you'll want to order extra copies for friends, neighbors, and relatives.

Now, please join me in congratulating Anne Marie. The resident bears have prepared a back-to-school lunchbox soup especially for this momentous occasion. You'll want to wipe your paws before slurping. This soup is guaranteed to help you kick the ball farther and score -- whether your goal is a first draft, a published book, or to be teacher's pet. Let's hear it for first books! Hooray for Anne Marie!