Taking time to take time.

I have finally carved some time out of my busy work and home life to take a weekend away to write, edit and pitch. This time is crucial to my possible success.

In real life I work a demanding corporate job, and am a mother to two young children under 5 years old. My day is packed from 5:45am to 9pm every weekday and on the weekends its the normal chaos and mental chatter of "life with family and house".

So this weekend, I am here, in a house, alone, for approximately 40 hours. So far I have tightened up 3 picture book manuscripts and have done research on agents who may be interested in each one. On the to do list is working on the query letters and the ever frightening task of pressing send.

I once read something about how instead of answering the question "what do you do?" with your job, that you should answer it with what passion you embody. For me, my corrected answer would go from "I'm a Facilities Manager for 3 offices" to "I'm a writer and creator."

Cheers to taking the time.

The creative cycle

I feel a creative burst coming. If I learned anything from the last one, I need to harness it. Ride it. Believe in it.

I hope this one lasts as long and is as productive as the last one! Let's do this!

Finding My Voice

Over the past two years I have felt a current start to swell within. Maybe it's my mid-30's, but I have started to feel much more comfortable in my own skin, speaking my truth, looking MY part, etc. I guess you can call it a shedding of fear.

For so long I kept my hair tamed, my clothes monochrome, and my voice behind my lips. That is not to say I didn't let my freak flag fly every now and then. And its not to say I didn't stand up for myself. Anyone who knows me in real life can attest to that.

No, it's more of a last layer of shell that needed to be peeled off. I feared being fired if I really wore my hair the way I wanted. Would lose Facebook friends if I really came forward as the feminist I am. Would be thought of as "too much", "too risky", "too outspoken" if I wrote the books I really wanted to write.

So here I am, faux-hawk at work, pitching a book for kids about Feminism. Another about a Flower Girl in an LGBT wedding. I have another in the works about how kids do not have to be polite when it comes to their own bodies and other people invading their space in any way.

This is my voice. I hope there are some listeners out there.

Getting nibbles at a "Twitter Party"

I recently participated in a "Twitter Party" for children's literature.

For anyone that does not know what Twitter Party is, it's basically the planned use of a specific hashtag during an allotted time. During that time frame, people who are looking for something watch the live stream of people who are offering something and using that hashtag.

For example, I have written a few children's books that I would like representation for, therefore, I tweet about my books using the hashtag and hope to gain the attention of agents and publishers. If they "like" my tweet, I have an in and am able to send my manuscript to them!

I've participated a few times but this is the first time I have ever gotten any "likes". I got likes on two different books, which is FANTASTIC!

I immediately started working on my cover letters and sent off my queries. It's all very exciting.

I'll keep you updated if I hear back from the agents!

Zoo of Emotions is now Narrated!

Thank you to Bradford for inviting me to be part of his Story Book Project!

Check out The Story Book channel here!

Dabbling in YA

In all my years I have never dreamed of writing a full length book. OK, maybe dreamed, but I never thought I would be in a place where I would have a full length idea!

Recently an idea came to me. A bit of a hybrid of personal history, already a good story, but fictionalized to lengthen the drama. A YA story.

I currently sit at zero experience writing anything longer than a few pages worth of creativity so it will be a challenge.

I am currently at 3,900 words.

Here's to coming up with 10x that!

A Very Yeti Book Review

If you have followed along you know that I have a special place in my heart for puppets, muppets, fluffy creatures and monsters. My dreams came true when a Yeti muppet gave Zoo of Emotions a book review.