Finally... A Vacation!!!

Finally a vacation is near!! Since being laid off from my job in January, my husband and I haven’t gone anywhere, just been stuck here in our little cocoon. So we are really looking forward to getting away. Unfortunately, ours will not be a restful, blissful, romantic vacation.

First off we’ll be visiting my husband’s family back in Ohio and attending his oldest nephew’s wedding. We are so excited for him but it’s a bit “unbelieveable” in our eyes. We still remember the little goofy boy who was always laughing, telling stupid jokes, and was always wanting to play cards. We don’t remember him ever having a girlfriend. But finally he has found a wonderful girl and boy has he grown up. It’s wonderful to see.

I’ll also be hooking up with a few high school buddies while I’m there and seeing lots of old friends at the wedding so it should be lots of fun.

After we leave Ohio we’ll be heading towards the Knoxville, TN area to look for retirement opportunities. We live in Baton Rouge, LA now but it’s not home to us. My husband’s job has transferred him many times around the south but no place has really felt like home. I suppose for me it’s the heat!! The summers here are unbearable to me. If you know me at all, you know how I hate to sweat! And especially when I hop out of bed first thing in the morning drenched in sweat which happens for about 6 months out of the year down here. It does nothing but make me grumble and I’m twice the grumpy morning person as usual. Plus down south, we don’t see the four seasons which I miss terribly. We see about 1 orange leaf in the fall and maybe two snowflakes every 5 years.

Tennessee is about halfway between our families so we’ve pretty much picked it as a great place to retire. The weather is great there, they have awesome lakes and mountain views, plus there is no state tax!! My husband loves that part.

Gorgeous!!



I want this view while I'm drinking my coffee on my deck!

Anyway, we are going to tour a few areas, house hunt and hopefully narrow down the exact area we want to focus on. My husband and I have house hunted what seems like a gazillion times in our life so it’s a good thing I love it. And I really do. It’s one of my favorite things to do! However, my husband and I have differences in opinions so pray for us that we don’t end the trip in some kind of fight!!

We are the kind of house hunters who want to start as early as possible and don’t want to quit until there is not one more house available to see that day. So it won’t be relaxing but I’ll still have fun!

So this post is to let everyone know that I won’t be updating my blog for a few weeks. I probably won’t get one bit of writing done because the days are going to be filled with other things. Hopefully I won’t go into “non-writing” convulsions !! Anyway, have a great few weeks everyone and I’ll be back up to full speed again after labor day.

Author Interview with Harri Romney

Today I’d like to introduce to you a fellow children’s picture book author, Harri Romney whom I had the pleasure of interviewing. She has just released two new picture books titled CLUNKEY MONKEY and A DOG CALLED DOG. Harri not only writes the stories she is also the illustrator.

                                                                                         ABOUT HARRI

I’m an English author / illustrator of children’s picture books only. Although having had a varied career, I’ve worked with children for quite a few years, spending most this time employed within Early Years and Primary education. Her stories are children’s fantasies, mostly written in narrative verse. She considers rhyming verse to be one of those cherished characteristics, that modern children should be given the opportunity to enjoy.

First off, could you give us a little teaser about what Clunky Monkey is about?

Clunky Monkey is on her way back home when she discovers a picture of a beautiful dancing couple.  She goes to visit the wise gazelle, in order to find out exactly who these strange dancers are.  Fascinated by what she learns, she wants to learn this ‘ballet way’ too, but Clunky Monkey’s family are a funky disco dancing troop, therefore it will not be easy for her to break from tradition to becoming a ballerina instead.  The accident prone monkey tries to follow her dreams, even though most of the jungle creatures ridicule her.

What made you write a story about a monkey?

I honestly can’t remember...   I remember the inspiration came to me one morning. I can even recollect where I was standing too, but cannot recall exactly what trigger inspired that picture book.

How did you come up with your cute title?

I do remember that a book about a funky monkey seemed too cliché; this is how I deviated from writing about this.  I recollect changing the original storyline from a monkey that should have been funky, into an accident prone monkey instead (while she was trying to learn ballet).

What process do you use to do your illustrations?

Examples of my illustration work can be found on the link http://www.harriromney.com/gallery-4/ .  I’m what you’d call a technophobe, so I just prefer to use pencils and paint pens rather than Wacom technology.  My husband enhances colours and removes smudging using a computer, before publishing the pictures. 

Which is more of your passion, illustration or writing? How long have you been doing each?

In reality, I haven’t been doing either of them for very long.  Sadly, it was the death of my brother in law a few years ago, which inspired me to fulfil my ambitions (one was to write a children’s book).  I really don’t mind whether I write or illustrate… they’re both necessary in order to get my work done.  Sometimes I need a break from one; but at other times I prefer to do the other.  After sending off quite a few manuscripts to agents (and receiving just as many rejections back), I decided to publish my work on Kindle instead – but I needed to get the illustrations done first (I’d not drawn anything for 20 years).  After joining some networking sites, I had an unpleasant experience with one illustrator who tried to hard sell me his work (after I’d complimented him on it).  Anyway following this incident I decided that if I was ever going to get my work published, I’d need to have a go at illustrating myself… so I did.  I never intended to illustrate; in fact I was scared stiff at the mere thought of doing so. 

Do you have a goal with your writing that you want to achieve? If so, how long do you think it will te you to achieve it?

I don’t really have a goal … I achieved the initial goal to get one children’s book published.  I’d always had an ambition to write a book since I was around seven years old, which never seemed to fade.  However, after completing my first story, I was emotional; I felt a real sense of achievement because of the little manuscript I’d created.  Afterwards my head was buzzing with so many more ideas or quirky titles, and I had to start keeping a notepad nearby at all times. 

That very first story became part of the series ‘Winston and Fairy’s Adventures’, which has been dedicated especially to my brother in law.  For this reason, when the first paperback from this series ‘Winston and Fairy: A New Sleigh for Santa’ is published in 2012, some of the proceeds will go towards supporting the ‘National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society’, which researches the condition that my brother-in-law tragically died from. 

Presently, I’m in the process of illustrating any remaining books that I’ve written right now (as there are about twenty books), but I’ll see what happens afterwards… Whatever life does next is what’s meant to happen.   Away from the writing and illustrating life, I really want to concentrate on my academic studies.

Clunky Monkey is written in Rhyme. Are all your stories written this way?

Most of them are written in verse.  Out of twenty stories, there are only three that aren’t, but they’re lovely stories too.

What inspired you to become a children’s book writer?

I’m told that I’m like Peter Pan, refusing to grow up.   It’s the experiences that children and I share a love of such as celebrations, fairy tales, mythical characters, snowy scenery and nature and so on, which inspire me.   Additionally studying childcare, working with children or being a mother, has partly helped me to understand children’s likes, dislikes, or their thought processes and capabilities.  Plus  I’ve read countless picture books to my own children every day, since they were both only weeks old, so perhaps picture books are the genre that I’ve been the most exposed to (apart from academic literature).

What are you working on next?

I am finishing off the illustrations to my remaining stories right now, which will take me at least another year or two.  Although I have actually written (and edited) the first two books from my next series, but that really is a long term plan.

What is the single most important thing you have learned from your writing to publication journey?

Writing and illustrating is not my main job; it’s more like an interest.  I’ve learned that within this journey, you need to have a great deal of stamina to accept plenty of rejection, and always have an alternative plan to help you move forward, if you really want to be published.  Don’t take things too much to heart or you could walk about feeling quite despondent; writing/illustrating is so competitive.  The flip-side is that, it can be extremely rewarding too – just through finding out what you can achieve on a personal level. 

My personal experience (as a published author), began on Kindle.  I found that picture books which are only available on Kindle or iPad, don’t seem that popular among parents yet (I’ll be the first to admit that I’d not let my children free with these gadgets either).  I believe that for this reason and other reasons, paperback or hardback books remain the preferred presentation for picture books, hence why I made the decision to get my work published in paperback earlier this year.

I am not with a main publisher.  I’m actually using a micro-publisher who prints on demand, and being rather shy, I’m far more comfortable with this strategy anyway right now.  However, marketing the work yourself is extremely difficult; that’s the downside ( I firmly believe that confidence is essential for marketing).

What is your definition of success as an author?

Being a successful author is achieving what you set out to achieve on your own personal level.  That answer would vary according to who you asked.  I wrote one children’s book and then got it published (the fact that I illustrated it myself, and then went on to write many more stories has been a real bonus – and a confidence boost).  Hence even though I’m not famous, I’d consider myself to be successful … Others would disagree with that.   How would you define success Allyn – I’ll bet your answer will be vastly different to mine?

Where is Clunky Monkey available for purchase?

My books are available to purchase from the main online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and more…

What else have you written and where can readers find your work?

‘Clunky Monkey’, ‘A Dog called Dog’ and more recently ‘Lord Tarquinius Snout and the Vacuum of Doom’ are now available to purchase online in paperback, through most main retailers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Waterstones.  Details regarding my publications can also be found on www.harriromney.com.

                                                    Review of Clunky Monkey by Allyn M. Stotz

Who doesn’t love a Clunky Monkey! Well this Clunky Monkey wanted to change from her families’ way of funky disco dancing. She wanted to dance like a ballerina. So she finds her graceful giraffe friends and asks them to teach her. But, it wasn’t so easy for this Clunky Monkey. She had to practice day and night!

This story is told in rhyme with a good message about going after what you really want. The repetitive line “your ballet dancing nonsense is spoiling the day!” really added a charming touch to this little story. The ending has a very satisfying conclusion and will leave readers with a chuckle.

The illustrations are cute and will have the little ones laughing!

Thanks to Harri for giving me the opportunity to interview her, it's been a pleasure! I wish her much success with everything she does. 

Psychic Ability: Is It Real?

I was watching a show the other day where they were debating whether or not some people really do have some psychic ability or are they just fooling us? I decided it might be a fun subject to talk about today.

When I think about that question, most times I would have to answer that Psychic’s are just good guessers and are just trying to skam us into believing. However, I think that question sometimes deserves a definite yes.

Me, I’d rather have medium powers then to be able to tell peoples futures. I’d much rather be able to see ghosts and talk to them. Sure it would make your life a lot more complicated but, if I saw a ghost it would definitely reassure me that there really is life after death.

Although I think it would be much more fascinating to have Medium powers, I think I may have a teensy tiny bit of ESP myself. Here’s why:

1. One time while I was working at a factory, I was daydreaming that this certain guy friend of mine would be in the parking lot waiting for me to get off work. I hadn’t talked to this friend in a long time and as far as I knew he was still living 4 hours away. But, I was just feeling a strong need to see him. I daydreamed that I would clock out, and while I was walking to my car, I would hear someone whisper my name, “Allyn.” I would not see anyone because it was dark out, so I would continue to my car. Then I’d hear it again, “Allyn.” And then I would see him in his car, we would go somewhere and talk. And do you know that after my shift that night, that very exact thing happened EXACTLY as I had daydreamed. EXACTLY. Pretty freaky huh?

2. Another time I was driving around town (that’s all we had to do in my small town) and my mind was on a classmate that we had just lost in a car accident. I was driving around wondering who would be next to die. (a bit morbid I know). Anyway, I drove by a friend’s house and I said outloud to myself that he would be next. And you won’t believe this, but one month later, he died in a car accident. Now that is REALLY FREAKY!!

I’ve had a few things like that happen to me over the years and I don’t like it one bit. 99.9% of my thoughts never happen, however when they do… it feels terribly weird.

I wonder if I had real psychic powers if it would help my writing? Would I be able to tell which stories would be published and which wouldn’t? Would I be able to tell what my character was going to do before I’d even written the ending?

I do believe that some people have real psychic powers because of the few things that have happened to me but what about you? Do you believe there are people out there that really can tell the future? And if you had that special power, would you want it?

BLABBING ABOUT YOURSELF

As a published author, I can’t help feeling pretty darn proud of myself. I had a goal, I worked really hard non-stop, I never gave up, and I accomplished my goal of getting a children’s picture book published. However, getting the word out has been a difficult task.

I am probably one of the worst sales person you’ve ever seen. I’ve always said that if someone wants to buy your product, they will. But, if they don’t even know about it, how can they buy it?

The bottom line is, it might be difficult and make us want to puke our guts out with nervousness sometimes, but if we want to get the word out and sell our books, we have to blab about ourselves.

Everywhere we go we should be passing out business cards, bookmarks, whatever we can give to let people know we’ve written a book. And we can’t just do this for a couple of months or so. It has to be ongoing.

I’ve had months where I blabbed about myself and sold some books but then the months that I don’t blab to someone… I sell nothing.

In the words of Susan Sundwall from Writers Weekly:

“Anyone can do this. Whether you live in a huge city, a suburb, or small town all of the activities I've mentioned here are available to you in one form or another. Of course it's important to map out your plan in a computer file all nice and proper. And it's kind of silly to think you can include in that plan spontaneous blabbing, but do keep it in the back of your mind. Understand that wherever you go someone will be pleased to know you've written a book. It's well known that word of mouth sells more books than anything else. Why shouldn't that first mouth be yours?”

How about you? Have you blabbed about yourself today?

Hello fellow bloggers! I had a simply wonderful week last week. First, I received word that I’m getting my 4^th picture book published… Woo hoo!! That’s all I can tell you about that at present as I won’t be signing their contract until September. I’m so excited though!. Secondly, I also heard from the ezine Knowonder and they are going to publish a story of mine called Hippytoe Gets A Frog In Her Throat. No word on when yet but don’t worry, I’ll let you know. And even more exciting than all of that, I received the final proof for the cover of my next picture book titled Bree Discovers The Color of Love. This book is going to be one in which you can personalize it with your own child’s name. Take a looksy. I’m very pleased with it.

And after all of that good news I was then tagged for the Be Inspired Meme’ Post by Nickie Anderson. Thanks for tagging me, Nickie! Here’s how it works: I have to answer the following questions, and then tag five more wonderful bloggers. This time instead of talking about my current book The Pea in Peanut Butter, I'm going to talk about my upcoming picture book Bree Discovers The Color Of Love. Okay, here we go!

1. What is the name of your book?

Bree Discovers The Color Of Love

2. Where did the idea for your book come from?

Well actually I wrote this story for Writers Retreat. This is an online critique group and the subject for the month was to write a story with color in it. So this was what I came up with.

3. In what genre would you classify your book?
Children’s Fiction with a touch of fantasy.

4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?

I would choose Disney Pixar animation characters, of course! Nothing better then a Pixar 3D movie!

5. Give us a one-sentence synopsis of your book.
A little girl sets out on a magical adventure to find out what color love is.

6. Is your book already published / represented?

It is not published yet but the illustrator is working on it. As soon as she finishes it will be produced by Frecklebox.

7. How long did it take you to write your book?
The actual story only took a week or two. However, I did several edits after that, sent it to two of my critique groups and then more edits.

8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?
All readers of picture books, including adults. I think it will be an enjoyable read for parents to read to their child as well.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?
No author in particular so I guess I’d have to say the authors in the WR group. If the author who chose the subject for the month (sorry I can’t remember whose month that was!!) hadn’t chosen that criteria for us to write about, I probably wouldn’t have written this story.

10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book.
Have you ever dreamt about having your own magic carpet? Well now you can jump aboard Bree’s and enjoy!

Now for the bloggers to tag:

1. Claudine
2. Mikki Sadil
3. Ruth Schiffmann
4. Katie Clark
5. Elisabeth Hirsch

Please leave a note if you decide to participate. Thanks!

Is Blogging Worth the Effort?

I recently had someone ask me if I found the blogging community beneficial in my writing process. Has it helped me sell any books? My answer to that is it has helped me get the word out and that is how you sell books. Most of my followers are fellow writers and let’s face it, we can’t buy every book from every writer. But what we can do is help each other by making our audiences aware.

Having my blog has given me a platform to announce what’s going with me writing wise. It has also been essential in hooking me up with other writers as well as some great friends. I’ve learned patience and discipline by having a blog. I’ve also received a lot of great tips from other writers along the way by some of my own posts as well as when I visit other peoples blogs. There is nothing more enjoyable to me then to discuss literature with fellow writers who are just as passionate as myself.

I admit, I was very leery about starting a blog in the beginning. I wasn’t sure I’d ever have anything to say and I still struggle with that. It’s hard for me to believe I have anything interesting to say that other writers would be interested in. However, it is getting easier and easier as the weeks/months pass and receiving comments back on my posts is like receiving a nice Christmas present! Yay… someone read my post and felt compelled to take time from their busy day to comment! That feels great to me.

My fellow bloggers have become a great source of information for me as well as a great support system. So to all those writers who are contemplating starting a blog or wondering if it’s all worth it, I believe it is. After all, it does give me another reason to write every week! And that alone is worth the effort.

A shout out of thanks to all my followers for their support! But what about you? Has having a blog been worth it to you?

ONE SUBMISSION AT A TIME

I hear about and meet a lot of people that want to write a book. They seem amazed that I could and actually did get a book published (I am too!). I can tell in their eyes that when they ask me how I did it, they want me to say, “well I just wrote a story and sent it in!”

Truthfully, that is what happened, however not until I did at least 1 year worth of research on writing children’s picture books, enrolled in a children’s writing course, and sent in manuscript after manuscript. Getting published in children’s magazines is not very profitable, if at all, however I believe it helped me get a book published much quicker. Many writers I know won't submit to magazines or small presses because they feel they are a waste of time. However, I think I’m living proof that having a few things you can put on your writing resume makes a publisher see that you are serious about your craft. Plus, just seeing your name in print, whether it’s a magazine, an article in the newspaper or newsletter, is a great boost to anyone’s writing ego. And let’s face it, we need to keep our ego’s going or we are doomed for failure.

The bottom line is if you are a writer who is afraid to submit, then you will quite possibly never see yourself published. I admit, it really is hard to get the confidence in yourself and your writing to actually start submitting it. But, if you go in to it with a positive attitude and believe in your story, then even if you get a rejection at least you can sit back and say you tried. And it will give you the courage to try again and again until your dream finally comes true. Persistence is the name of the game when it comes to anything you really want, and especially in getting your work published.

So if you are one of those writers who are afraid to submit, I challenge you to get out that favorite story you’ve written, edit it the best you can and send it out. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing so! Just take it one submission at a time. Goodluck!