PB Crit Group Opening

The on-line picture book critique group I belong to is looking for a new member. Our group consists of both new and experienced writers, as well as one published writer. Our members write in prose and rhyme, live across the US and internationally, and are all members of the SCBWI.

Group members submit one manuscript every eight weeks in a rotation. For the other seven weeks, they critique one mss per week. The manuscripts are circulated amongst the members via email and the critiques are done using the ‘track changes’ tool in Word. Manuscripts must be under 1000 words.

If you are interested, feel free to email me a short bio and two writing samples. I'll pass along your information to the rest of the group. We have a post up at Verla's with the above information.

Thanks,

Kristin

How Querying is Like Sending Your Kids Off to Camp

1. You worry, stress, obsess over details. (Does he/she need a beach towel and a bath towel, or only bath? Does this sentence need a comma? You take it out, put in back in, take it out . . . Not that I did this while packing.)

2. The cool kids. If your camper is going alone, you might find yourself tossing and turning at 2:00 a.m. Will he/she fit in, find the right friend or home? The same with your manuscript. You want it to succeed, to grow, or you wouldn't be sending it out. Also, TUMS.

3. Generally there is a no contact policy. (You want to call the next day to check on your offspring/ manuscript, but you can't. Or shouldn't. So you consider patenting a invertebrate-sized surveillance camera . . .)

4. Mail call. Camp staffers and those at publishing houses have oodles upon oodles of mail to sort. Be patient. And while care packages containing homemade cookies and treats and confetti are usually acceptable at camp, not so much in publishing. A professional looking, clean manuscript is, free of loopy hearts, smiley faces, lipstick kisses.

5. Dirty Laundry. Campers come home at the end of the week toting a bagful of dirty laundry. (Unless they are like my son, who judging by the camp photos posted online each night . . . Let's just say, fingers crossed he's changing underwear.) Lucky are the ones whose manuscripts are returned safely with ink and suggestions and coffee stains - instead of grass ones. You have been given a roadmap, the gift of revision. Kiss your kid, go out for ice-cream, and get to work.

Story Endings (Or, Johnny Depp & Alan Rickman in the same post.)

I'm having a time brainstorming a couple of picture book endings. I usually start strong with a single idea that somehow chases a rascally rabbit down a deep dark hole. Which leads me to Johnny Depp when I'd started with an outdoor garden party. Some of you may be wondering what's the problem.

Cohesiveness. And one thing logically leading to another, instead of a smattering of events.

I stayed up way too late last night thinking about endings I like and why. I like endings that . . .

1. Satisfy the reader, bring resolution. Tie up nagging loose ends and show that everything (whether events, items, people) have purpose. Thinking A Sick Day for Amos McGee.

2. Echo the beginning.

3. Reveal the character's growth.

4. Add an element of surprise, an unexpected twist. Leave me gobsmacked. I loved O. Henry shorts as a kid.

5. Provide a promise of good things to come. (I keep thinking of the blue butterfly (Alan Rickman) in the Alice in Wonderland remake.)

6. Don't feel too abrupt, or leave me feeling like I was dropped.

7. Make me laugh, or cry, or stare in awe. Or laugh louder. (These are usually the result of any of the above.)

8. Keep their promise, the unwritten secret code between the writer and the reader. The story stays true to itself. No genre hopping.

9. I am having so much fun, I don't realize I'm learning something. I come away feeling smarter. (In The Kitchen Daughter, the protagonist doesn't twist the biscuit cutter because that would seal the edges and prevent a rise.)

10. Leave me wanting more. More time with the characters, in their world. (Hello, LOST. As maddening as some episodes were.)

I'm curious. What is your favorite ending and why?

Blockbuster Plots

Thanks to Mandy, Kate, and Anastasia for the forward.

Miracles

“Always leave room in your life for miracles.” - Thomas Wolfe

“For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37