There are a lot of milestones you might dream about in life — getting your first job, getting engaged, having a child, etc. For a writer, one of the biggest milestones of all is getting your first book contract.
After submitting manuscripts to agents and editors for over ten years (part-time…I do have a full time day job as a teacher and a parent to two kids after all!), I’m thrilled to announce that my debut picture book, THE GREAT HOLIDAY COOKIE FIGHT, will be published by Pelican Publishing Company. I don’t have a release date yet, but since it’s a book for the winter, a friend recently asked if it would be out in time for her Christmas shopping this year! If you know anything about the publishing industry, you’ll join me in a big laugh about THAT one! Long story short…I’ll let you know!
We’re back to school, folks! That means my book review posts may be slightly less frequent as I focus time on my teaching and steal away a bit for writing and submitting. However, I carved out a bit of time this weekend to read some fabulous new books– most out within the past few months! There’s a thread of similarity running through them as they all have to do with relationships, emotions and fitting in– highly appropriate themes for back to school! Enjoy!
As a teacher, I head back to school Wednesday for faculty meetings and training. It’s been a great summer with lots of reading, writing and adventures with the kids from our annual “Summer Fun List.” I even spent time cleaning out the basement! While I adore teaching, it’s always hard to fit everything in once things kick off, so here’s another set of PB reviews before it’s truly crazy. In today’s batch I focused on books by authors who do NOT illustrate their own works. As it happens, these books also serve as some great mentor texts and inspiration. Seeing all those talented author-illustrator combos can sometimes be intimidating, but it’s not the only way to succeed. We’ve got this! Enjoy!
In my last batch of PB reviews, I focused on authors or illustrators I recognized and titles I had been meaning to read. Today, I chose books I was unfamiliar with by authors and illustrators I didn’t remember reading before. There were definitely some fun finds in the bunch and some authors you’ll probably be hearing more from in the future!
This weekend we held the memorial services for my Dad, Frank Manzer, who died last week after many years of ill health. I know this blog is usually about the craft of writing and language, but writing is also about memories and emotion. So I thought I would share the words I delivered at his service yesterday, because my Dad taught me a lot about the craft of writing, both explicitly, and by giving me a childhood filled with the kinds of experiences which have provided a lifetime of writing material:
‘If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.’ – Albert Einstein
Life has been busy at the Schreibenfreude house: I’m a coach for my school’s Speech & Debate team which has recently wrapped up a very successful season, winning awards at States and qualifying two students for Nationals, my kids (and the ones I teach) have been busy with school projects, and if that weren’t enough, we’re currently looking to get a dog– which has taken up a good bit of research time that’s normally spent researching my writing! On the bright side, this is school vacation week here in Maine, and that means more time for writing and reading picture books! Let’s go!
My husband is from Canada, so every other year we spend the holidays with his family in Ontario and usually take some of that time to sight-see with the children in Toronto. This year I asked Twitter for some good Independent bookstore recommendations and of those, we were able to visit “Mabel’s Fables” on Mt. Pleasant, a true gem of a bookstore specializing in children’s books. To give you a brief review, I’ll adapt my normal “picture book review” categories:
Schreibenfreude 