Children’s Writers’ Bootcamp

By admin

Apr

30

Last weekend I attended a Children’s Authors’ Bootcamp, led by Laura Backes, of the Children’s Book Insider, and award-winning author Linda Arms White (Too Many Pumpkins, Comes a Wind, and I Could Do That). The Bootcamp was geared for new and intermediate level writers.

Since becoming a member of the Children’s Book Insider, I have wanted to attend one of Laura and Linda’s Bootcamps, but they were usually held out west. I was thrilled that this Bootcamp was scheduled in Charlotte NC, where my daughter lives. I had a great excuse to go.

There were about 24 of us in attendance. Topics covered were:

  • Generating story ideas
  • Creating characters
  • Plot development
  • Dialogue
  • Point of view
  • Show, don’t tell,
  • Description and setting
  • Rhythm and rhyme
  • Plot outline
  • First sentence/first paragraph
  • Re-vision
  • To market: formatting, cover and query letters, synopsis

 

We received an excellent packet of handouts that included a list of recommended children’s books and professional “how to” books. On both days, there was group work that involved putting what we learned into practice.

Linda read two of her own books, Too Many Pumpkins and I Could Do That, stopping to point out the elements of her “Three Act Structure,” which she developed as a way to outline her stories and stay on point during writing. I found this particularly helpful. Linda also told us the reason she wrote those stories. I love hearing the “story” behind the story, don’t you?

On the second day, Laura and Linda listened to the opening sentence/paragraph of one of our own manuscripts and gave helpful feedback.

There are three more Bootcamps scheduled: May 1-2 in Chicago, June 26-27 near Denver, CO, and sometime in October in Seattle, WA. If you are able to attend one, go!

FYI: Laura Backes and her husband, Jon Bard, started the Children’s Book Insider twenty years ago. You will be amazed at the amount and quality of information provided on their web site (www.CBIClubhouse.com). It’s loaded with articles, podcasts, videos, links and message boards all centered on writing for children. What are you waiting for? Sign up now, and…

Believe!

Karen Centofanti

 

 

 

 

Dreams

By admin

Apr

27

What kind of dreams do you have for your life?  The dreams I’m talking about are the dreams  that stay in your head and in your heart. You can’t stop thinking about it. Then, when you finally  push them aside and chalk it up for “only a dream, ” there it is, back in your thoughts, back in your desires and you can’t let it go. You wonder if it ever could really happen; is it possible that this dream could come true? 

I have had two dreams in my lifetime that have continued to drive me to pursuit.  My fifth grade teacher, Mr. Carderelli, taught our class creative writing. He challenged and inspired me; the English language came alive and the dance with words began.  It is not “the lake”, oh no, it is “the lake of shiny waters” as Anne with an “e” from Anne of Green Gables would say. It isn’t “a long time ago” but rather, it is “eons ago.”  Painting a picture in someone’s head with words that encourage or inspire someone to greater joys, deeper insight, motivation to do something about it, learn a new or better way, all with words, is exhilarating and one filled with purpose and fulfillment.

Hence, my heart stirred with my first dream while in fifth grade.  I decided that, one day, I would write books and become an author and hopefully make a difference in people’s lives.   What I did not know is that books filled with any inspiration are often born out of a life experience of some kind of hardship, failure or pain, because this is often what bears wisdom, empathy and humility.  Likewise, a life filled with genuine joy, not just happiness, must be learned and experienced in order to share it with others.

One day, at the age of fifty-one, my first dream became realized! I became published in a book July 2009 titled Walking With The Living God.  Real people. A real God.  True stories of ordinary people and an extraordinary God.  Compiled by Suzanne Mazaheri Proulx.  Over forty-two stories are shared in this book and my story “From Darkness to Dawn” by Jeannie “Purpaleanie” is a story of my devastation when going through a divorce from 25 years of marriage and how God provided and sustained me. I had first spoken this message at a Retreat in New Hampshire when someone said to me, “I think your message should be in my friend’s book.” Suzanne called me and asked me to submit my story.  Consequently, with time and editing, three years later, it became published!  Suzanne’s and my heart’s desire were similar; to encourage and exhort people that they CAN and WILL get to the other side when it all seems impossible.

Ironically, my second dream happened simultaneously, in the summer of 2009.  However, that my friend, is for another day!

Blessings to you from Jeannie Purpaleanie

Been there, done that for something new.

By admin

Apr

26

Pie-rate by J. Stewart

Of all the mountains one has to cross in children’s fiction, to get to the promised land of “being published”, the Himalaya has to be originality.

 I once had an art teacher who told us that everything we will ever make has already been done before. It was devastating and also oddly comforting. I took it as her way of saying, stop posing; be who you really are.

 That was art and this is writing, but the principle stays the same. No matter how hard we try, chances are a similar character was once used, a plot line may be a mirror of something you once read when you were 10, or a setting inspired by a view  may have inspired Ludwig Bemelmans to set his Madeline series in Paris.

So do you give up or stop posing; be who you really are?

In my case, being who I really am would flummox the best label maker. I was born and raised in Africa, spent a lot of time in Europe from a young age, emigrated to the US, lived in alternative housing such as sailboats and campers, dealt with a learning disability like ADD but teaching special needs…so many variables. So does an unusual life like this make me unique enough that I can pop out an interesting story for a child? Gosh, I really hope so.

Yet out of all these contributing factors, the one I probably most rely on to help me generate a new plot/ character/ setting, I got from my dad Jopie.

 His funny sense of humor and way of interpreting and dissecting words invariably sows the seed for a new story. Pirate becomes pie-rate, a measuring system used by scurvy sea dogs. After all, even swashbuckling, one legged fiends love pie.

So does one need a world-traipsing life to be unique enough to climb your Himalaya of originality? Or maybe by being who you are, unique in the way you have blended all your life’s influences, makes it possible to come up with that exceptional book the publishers want.

 Jeanne Stewart

SCENE

By admin

Apr

25

The opening scene of a story promises conflict and tension, and shows the reader, rather than tells the reader, what is happening moment by moment. The action words you choose should advance the plot or reveal something new about a character.
I will share an opening paragraph from my YA novel entitled:

FLYAWAY KATE

I snuck into room 201 at 12:20 PM and stole the top copy of the French II, mid-year exam off my teacher’s desk. Like an arrow moving towards its target, I speed-walked to my metal locker, yanked it open, and hid the test in my history book. I glanced over each shoulder and wiped my sweaty palms on my skirt. I took a deep breath, turned, and sauntered down the hall.

JOAN

Writing for kids, does this mean being a kid or being around kids?

By admin

Apr

24

For some people the art of writing comes from within.  They can describe the inner workings of their inner child and then create a story around those feelings flawlessly. 

For others they tap the real lives of children around them.  Whether a teacher, caretaker, or parent their characters lives mirror their special little ones.  These experiences include those of their childhood friends or acquaintances.

For even fewer people, I think, they imagine the world of a child they personally did not experience.  They create a world they wished they had or didn’t have or one that resonated in book.  Lives like Huck Fin, Max and Holden Caulfield fill their imagination then their keyboard. 

For me, this journey is a combination of my real life, the life I wished I had and the poetry that exists on the existing page. 

Author Lewis Carroll, who wrote the famous Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, his actual name was Charles Dodgson.  He also was a family friend to the Liddell family.  One of the children was a girl named Alice. Dodgson often made up stories for Alice and her sisters.  She convinced him to write down his first version of Wonderland. Much of the fictional Alice is made up, but she and Liddell do share the same birthday (and half-birthday.)

Author Ellen Jackson wrote this great entry about main characters.  I really can’t say it any better than her so, here is her link;

http://ellenjackson.net/main_characters_61469.htm

Beauty is in the day,

Mary

A PRIZE WINNER!!!

By admin

Apr

22

I am excited! I’ve won a poetry prize! It’s not the first one I’ve received, but it is important because it comes from talented women in the National League of American Pen Women. NLAPW is a national organization of professional women artists, writers and musicians. I have served on its national board since 2003 as chaplain and have held other offices as well. I was president of the Cape Cod Branch for three years.
I won the biennial prize for one of the poetry contests with my poem “Winter Night” (see below). I began an exercise collecting all the phrases I could create about winter and rolled them into a poem. It’s a great exercise – try it. Pick a subject and then brain storm. Keep the list with you. Some of the best ideas came when driving my car!!!

            Winter Night

Cold as the nose of a snowplow
dark as Gran’ma’s attic corner
night crept over the village.
The platter of a moon
brighter than 100 years
slipped from behind a cloud.

The crisp wind,
working overtime
to clean up the whole village,
stretched its long, icy fingers
to polish the Advent star
atop the Commons Christmas tree.

Beyond the hill
a thin curl of smoke
wound out of the snow-covered chimney.
Outlined in firelight
three noses pressed
to the steamy window.
They peered at the cars                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           resting under their meringues
as swirls of lace whipped
across the misshapen yard.

A fence rail
staggered down the steep hill,
knee high in drifts,
and every branch of every tree
wore its glistening sleeve of frozen snow.

May your days glisten like snow on the top bough of the pine tree as it catches the brilliant sunlight!!

Christina

My Catalyst: What’s Yours?

By admin

Apr

22

Writers write about what they know, either through life experiences, or in the case of non-fiction or historical fiction, through study and research.

When I decided to write books for children in 2007, it was largely due to the daily disobedient behavior of our French bulldog, Holly-Bee. There were so many mischievous, near-fatal incidences, that I had started listing them to keep track. Surely, no one had such a stubborn, naughty dog! Keeping track of the things she did made for entertaining conversation, giving my husband and me stories to tell friends and relatives.

Somehow, we have managed to keep Holly-Bee alive considering the dangerous items she has eaten. It’s a good thing my husband is a veterinarian—he has had to take her to his animal hospital seven times to make her vomit up what she has eaten! Yes, seven (7) times! This doesn’t count her two separate overnight stays at a 24-hour emergency hospital.

I just read over my saved, “Holly-Bee, the Naughty Frenchie” list, and can’t believe how much I had forgotten. Like the time she vomited every ten minutes after eating bark mulch, and then tanking up on water. After I scrubbed the fifth stain out of my light beige Berber carpet, (why do dogs ALWAYS choose to throw up on the carpet instead of the floor?). I carried her retching little body outside and stayed with her on the deck. Over the next two hours, I cleaned up her messes before she could eat them and throw up again.

As frustrated as I get with Holly-Bee, I love her to death. She makes me laugh every day at the ridiculous things she does.

Moreover, it’s because of her I am writing for children. I’ve completed two picture books, NAUGHTY HOLLY-BEE and HOLLY-BEE’S HOSPITAL ADVENTURES; and a chapter book, PICK ME!

I’ve met wonderful people and many authors. I read children’s books done in every genre; I attend several conferences every year; I study “how to” books and follow several literary websites. I’m a member of this critique group, with a website and a blog. How rich my life has become!

I owe it all to Holly-Bee.

What’s your catalyst? Enjoy the ride, and…

Believe!

Karen Centofanti

Urban Scribble

By admin

Apr

19

 

 Urban scribble

I was looking out of the oval window at the end of a never ending 16 hour flight. I watched New York wake up beneath me.

First there had been the wall-to-wall carpet of the Atlantic Ocean. Now the door pane of the coastline loomed. If Africa lying behind me was the garage, then this had to be the lounge. To the east, Europe is my kitchen. I realize that as a splintered person who dealt with her multi-locational life by squeezing them into one imaginary house, my stories, and how I write them, live in imaginary buildings too.

 The beginning spaces have characters, settings and ideas living in a muddle in a small, downtown apartment. Characters waiting for a story, split a crammed bathroom with quirky occurrences. One bedroom has 8 endings sharing, dormitory style; all vying for the top bunks. Too many names and places cram on the sofa. When the landlord comes calling, all vie for her attention. It’s loud and jumbled, slightly smelly and totally over crowded.

 This mishmash of disordered creativity is across town from the suburban single family home. The dynamics need tweaking, the processes in need of prayers, and the peace just a façade. But only the allotted characters live here, with ample space for occurrences, story arcs and themes. The back yard requires attention, the house could do with paint and family dynamics will have to be edited; nevertheless everyone can see there is order and development in a healthy way. The goal is clearly in sight. The story is growing and the process is well on its way.

If you were to take a ride, a veritable road trip with multiple stops, detours, flat tires, and a trunk load of luck, you will come to the last space. This is where all wanna-be-stories hopes to reside…once upon a time.

If this is the universal dream, then this is a glorious and enticing house, maybe with turrets and balconies and a fantastic garden.  Characters and plots live with a sense of entitlement. They have arrived, intact and noticed, admired by some, loved by all. The effort and work has paid off; one could sit back and enjoy the fruits of their creation. Who knows, their legacy might persist for generations to come, like the Roald Dahls next door or the Dr. Seuss’s down the street.

Jeanne Stewart

STORY by Joan

By admin

Apr

18

“Tell me a story and show me the pictures.” Words I repeated many times as a child.

I was born partly deaf, and I was seven before I started learning how to lip-read. Speech was, at best, confusing noise. Picture book illustrations filled in the blank spaces between what I thought I heard and what was real.

Picture books; works of art shared equally between a writer and an illustrator ignited my passion for both reading and writing.

As a teacher, I looked forward to story time. My goal was to introduce children to writers who could make ordinary characters extraordinary.

My favorite childhood characters are Pamela Travers’s Mary Poppins, J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan, and Ludwig Bemelman’s Madeline. Why, because in each of these stories I found a part of me, a character I could relate to.

As a writer, I aim to create unforgettable characters that live within me, emotionally.

My picture story books include a young girl, Meggie, whose best friend since forever is her Grammy Ellen; a puppy, Beana, that wants nothing more than to be adopted by Grampy George; a boy, Lenny, who struggles through his first day of kindergarten with an unusual nickname; a hippopotamus, Harley, that finds a new mother in a creature unlike himself; and a parrot, Chrissy, that longs for life outside a cage.

I am currently working on a short story about a set of identical twins dealing with adult issues of separation, and a novel about Kate, a survivor in a hearing world.

Story is about originality and imagination. What’s your story?

Calvin, Hobbes and Me

By admin

Apr

17

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It has been published in the Washington Post on December the 31st 1995. It’s sad to say it, but Watterson retired… But the last strip is full of optimism and left a possibility to restart the cartoon… http://calvinethobbes.free.fr/english/c_der.html

For some reason, throughout my adulthood, when I am on the cusp of something new or different or life is changing, Calvin has followed me. 

When my sister left to live in Europe for years, when my first child was born, when I hit roadblocks so big that I had a hard time figuring out that it was actually an intersection.   I am always reminded of the last Calvin and Hobbes comic.  It was published a few years ago now but it still inspires me to see the opportunities. 

So I think it’s fitting that Calvin and Hobbes welcomes our group to the world of blogging and inspire all of us to see the endless possibilities. 

If the script is too small for you, it reads;

C: Wow It really snowed last night! Isn’t it wonderful?

H: Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new!

C: A new year, A fresh clean start!

H: It’s like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on!

C: A day full of possibilities!

C: It’s a magical world, Hobbes o’l buddy…

C: …Let’s go exploring!

Happy Spring,

Mary

Hello, Visitors!

By admin

Apr

17

Welcome to the Cape Cod Children’s Writers (CCCW) website. We hope you’ll stop by to keep up on our scheduled one-day Critique Retreats, our publishing progress, and on our blog topics. We will each take a turn blogging, so there will be a wide variety of topics covered.

Here is our blogging schedule:

            Sunday: Joan Walsh

            Monday: Jeanne Stewart

            Tuesday: Jeannie Benton and Susan Lee Traft will alternate.

            Wednesday: Linda Williams

            Thursday: Christina Laurie

            Friday: Karen Centofanti

            Saturday: Mary Grabowski

We may have an occasional “Guest Blogger,” as we always try to have two alternate members in CCCW. The two alternates come to our meetings whenever one or two of our regular members are unable to attend. If you are interested in becoming a member of the CCCW critique group, contact Joan Walsh and let her know. She keeps a wait list, and openings do occur.

Believe!

Karen

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