Eileen Spinelli

• Be sure to have at least one friend who is a cheerleader . . . who loves your work . . . who loves you. Call that friend.

• Read the biography of any writer. See that you are not alone when it comes to rejection, bad reviews and general disappointment.

• Move on to another writing project . . . one you are enthusiastic about.

• Write a caring and supportive letter to yourself.

• Ask for a hug.

• Treat yourself to something special . . .a massage . . . a hot fudge sundae. . . an overnight trip.

• Make something with your hands . . . a card . . . a knitted scarf . . . a pie . . . a bookshelf . . . and then give it away. Bask in the light of the recipient's smile.

• If you are so inclined, say a prayer. Ask for patience, hope, a sense of humor.

• Write something short and silly just for fun.

• Listen to your favorite music. Sing along.

• Do something physical. Tennis. Hiking. Dance.

• Vent: scream . . . punch a sofa pillow . . . kick a bank.

• Make a list of ten people you know of who have had a worse thing happen to them than getting a rejection slip.

• Next morning, look out the window. Note that, contrary to all expectations, the sun has done it
  again. . . it has risen.

• Take writing classes taught by such award-winning children's writers and editors as Joy Cowley, Patricia Lee Gauch, Eileen and Jerry Spinelli, Kathi Appelt, and Kathryn Erskine. You also get to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner with them for a week. 
• Choose from more than forty-five hour-long workshops.
• Meet and chat with the Highlights editors and other staff.
• Get to know people interested in writing for children from across the U.S. and around the world. 
• Go on such fun outings as a picnic at a farm and a barbecue at a lakefront house .
• Listen to inspirational speeches on writing and literature by such prize-winning writers  as Sharon Creech.
• Receive two intensive critiques on your writing from a talented, experienced writer.
• Feast at gala banquet dinners at the historic Athenaeum Hotel. 
• Enjoy the ambience of Chautauqua, home of the famed Chautauqua Institution, where you'll step back in time as you stroll past the Victorian gingerbread homes and a lovely lake, take in a concert at the Amphitheatre or head down a cobbled path to a lecture.
• Connect with mentors - both faculty and attendees - who can help you with your writing.

Students leaving a lecture hall at Chautauqua

The Athenaeum Hotel

Sherri Rinker is the first-time author of the New York Times bestseller Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site (Chronicle Books, 2011).

Down in the big construction site, tough trucks work with all their might. But, now it's time to say goodnight! Even the roughest, toughest readers will want to turn off their engines, rest their wheels and drift off to sleep with this sweet and soothing story. Goodnight, construction site!

Welcome, Sherri. Would you begin by telling how you learned to write picture books?
Thank you for inviting me to do this, Kathy! I'm honored you would ask. This first question is a complex one because I don't have a concise answer. First, I'm a very religious person, and I do think that the inspiration for this book was really a gift. It came to me so clearly and developed so quickly that I don't know how else to describe that process.

That being said, I've always had a powerful draw to writing ― in fact, I started college as a journalism major before the art/design bug tugged at me again, and I switched to visual communications. And, because I have such a strong pull to both words and visual, I've always been fanatical about picture books. My boys' shelves are packed with them. (My husband jokes that my advance on Construction Site has almost paid for my picture book habit.) So, I think that having had such extensive exposure to that medium, having seen and read so much, certainly helped me.

The last component might be that I both love and understand my audience. I wrote this book for my youngest son, so it was written out of love, for a child that I love. I think (and hope!) that the heart of that is part of what has made the book so successful.

Your book seems like it would be fantastic at getting even the most rambunctious kids to go to sleep. Where did you get the idea for your book?
Zak, my youngest son, loves trucks. I almost can't state that strongly enough! Books, videos, games, puzzles, toys ― you name it, if the subject is trucks, we probably own it. And, of those, construction trucks were/are a particular fascination because they DO so much cool stuff!

So, when Zak was quite small  ―  maybe two years old - our evening routine would begin with reading time, then evening prayers, and then sleep. I soon discovered that reading any of his favorite truck books before bed tended to NOT settle him down... in fact, they revved him up! And then he would begin his "thank you" prayers, including every kind of construction truck he could name. By the end, he was WIRED ― and much more suited to playing than going to sleep! So, we began to conclude our routine by imagining a construction site, talking about how very hard those mighty trucks had worked all day, and how, just like us, they were ready for some much-needed rest. Very soon, the idea for the book evolved.  

Sherri Rinker is the first-time author of the New York Times bestseller Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site (Chronicle Books, 2011).

Down in the big construction site, tough trucks work with all their might. But, now it's time to say goodnight! Even the roughest, toughest readers will want to turn off their engines, rest their wheels and drift off to sleep with this sweet and soothing story. Goodnight, construction site!

Welcome, Sherri. Would you begin by telling how you learned to write picture books?
Thank you for inviting me to do this, Kathy! I'm honored you would ask. This first question is a complex one because I don't have a concise answer. First, I'm a very religious person, and I do think that the inspiration for this book was really a gift. It came to me so clearly and developed so quickly that I don't know how else to describe that process.

That being said, I've always had a powerful draw to writing ― in fact, I started college as a journalism major before the art/design bug tugged at me again, and I switched to visual communications. And, because I have such a strong pull to both words and visual, I've always been fanatical about picture books. My boys' shelves are packed with them. (My husband jokes that my advance on Construction Site has almost paid for my picture book habit.) So, I think that having had such extensive exposure to that medium, having seen and read so much, certainly helped me.

The last component might be that I both love and understand my audience. I wrote this book for my youngest son, so it was written out of love, for a child that I love. I think (and hope!) that the heart of that is part of what has made the book so successful.

Your book seems like it would be fantastic at getting even the most rambunctious kids to go to sleep. Where did you get the idea for your book?
Zak, my youngest son, loves trucks. I almost can't state that strongly enough! Books, videos, games, puzzles, toys ― you name it, if the subject is trucks, we probably own it. And, of those, construction trucks were/are a particular fascination because they DO so much cool stuff!

So, when Zak was quite small  ―  maybe two years old - our evening routine would begin with reading time, then evening prayers, and then sleep. I soon discovered that reading any of his favorite truck books before bed tended to NOT settle him down... in fact, they revved him up! And then he would begin his "thank you" prayers, including every kind of construction truck he could name. By the end, he was WIRED ― and much more suited to playing than going to sleep! So, we began to conclude our routine by imagining a construction site, talking about how very hard those mighty trucks had worked all day, and how, just like us, they were ready for some much-needed rest. Very soon, the idea for the book evolved.