Authors, Authors, Authors

This weekend, I will be attending the Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA) Trade Show in St. Paul. This annual event is geared for independent bookstores in 9 1/2 Midwest states. (I say 1/2 because MBA includes stores from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but apparently not the Lower Peninsula.) The Trade Show/Conference has workshops for independent booksellers, publisher booths with their forthcoming books, award events, and opportunities to meet many adult and children's authors.

As a children's author, I feel it's imperative to meet other children's authors, especially those who you admire, if at all possible. Going to writer's conventions and attending book signings are two ways to do this. Another way is to work at a bookstore and go to MBA.

I will be attending MBA as a bookseller, but I will be wearing two "hats." As a bookseller, I will meet sales reps and look at upcoming books. As an author, I will be meeting other authors, listening to their stories, and snapping up copies of their books.

Some of the children's authors I hope to meet at MBA include: Neil Gaiman (photo above), M.T. Anderson, Patricia C. Wrede, Maggie Stiefvater, Loren Long, Catherine Gilbert Murdock and Cynthia Rylant.

I also hope to see children's authors I have met before including: Marion Dane Bauer, Kate DiCamillo, and Kathy-jo Wargin.

Attending an event like MBA is a big perk of working at a bookstore. (Of course, it's only one of many perks:) But, it's a good one - not only as a bookseller, but also as an author.

MN SCBWI Conference with Donna Jo Napoli

I love attending children's writing conferences. I always leave feeling rejuvenated and ready to run home and write. That is, after a long nap first. (Conferences can also be exhausting.)

Last Saturday, I attended the Minnesota SCBWI Annual Conference. I was there with two "hats" on. First, I was a manuscript reviewer for 7 children's writers. I had already read and commented on their manuscripts. At the conference we met and talked about their stories. I put a lot of time into critiquing the manuscripts, and I hope it will help. I know from my own experience as a writer, manuscript reviews can be difficult to hear sometimes. But in the end, I always find they help me strengthen my writing.

My second "hat" for the day was as a participant, soaking up all the good writing vibes. I was only able to attend some of the sessions, but the highlight for me was hearing Donna Jo Napoli speak. She is the award-winning author of many, many books for children including the recently released ALLIGATOR BAYOU from Random House.

Donna Jo does extensive research before she begins writing her novels. If her novel will be set in the 1880's in Italy (for example), she will immerse herself in reading history of that time and place, look at pictures from then, and even listen to music from 1880's Italy. Only then does she begin to write.

At first glance, Donna Jo seems very quiet and petite, perhaps a little shy. But, then she starts to talk and you realize she is a little Italian firecracker who is very energetic and funny. I'm still cracking up about a story she told the audience. She described herself as "dramatic." She told of a time she received a rejection letter in the mail. Upon opening the letter, she fell to the floor, right there in the hall, sobbing. Her four young children gathered around her to comfort her. Then, one son about age 4 says, "Those *&%#!! jerks." (I paraphrase slightly.) Some parents might threaten the bar of soap in the mouth at this point, but not Donna Jo. She felt comforted by her son's heart-felt expression. I love this! It makes me want to be part of her family.

At the end of the day, I walked home with ideas running around in my head. And the next day, I wrote. I wrote an entire chapter of a middle-grade novel I'm working on. It wasn't very good. But as Donna Jo says, the first draft should be "#&%@!" Then you get down to the business of making it good. Like Donna Jo.

To Rhyme or Not Rhyme

Here's a big question: Should you use rhyme in your picture book?

There are some excellent picture books that rhyme. These books tend to be either books for very young children or poetry for children. Some of my personal rhyming favorites include BARNYARD DANCE by Sandra Boynton, GOODNIGHT MOON by Margaret Wise Brown, and my recent poetry favorite, STAMPEDE: POEMS THAT CELEBRATE THE WILD SIDE OF SCHOOL by Laura Purdie Salas.

There are also excellent poetry books and books for young children that do not rhyme. Two of my favorites are OWL BABIES by Martin Waddell and LITTLE DOG POEMS by Kristine O'Connell George.

While there are books published every year that rhyme, the VAST majority of books published for children do not rhyme.

Why is that?

- Rhyme is very difficult to do well.

• I have read many manuscripts (including my own) that use near-rhyme that doesn't work, sentence construction that is mangled to fit in a rhyming word, goofy made-up words that don't make sense, and cliched word combos (think "bed" and "head".)

- Rhyme doesn't usually work well for older picture books.

• In my opinion, any time you are telling a story vs. writing a concept-type book, the story is best told in good old prose. Stories in rhyme tend to fall flat.

- Rhyme is limiting.

• Authors, especially beginning ones, become constricted by the rhyme instead of telling the full story they have to tell.

So should I dump my rhyming picture book manuscript? Not necessarily. I recommend doing the following things first:

- Ask yourself what age child you are writing for? If it's for babies or preschoolers, maybe rhyme will work.

- Are you a poet? There is distinction between people who write in rhyme and poets who use rhyme. I, for one, find that writing good poetry (especially in rhyme) very difficult.

- Try writing your story in prose. Compare the two versions. Which works best? Which tells the complete story?

- Read your rhyming story out loud. Or, better yet, have someone else read it out loud to you. Notice where the reader stumbles. Notice awkward sentences or rhymes that sound off.

- Have trusted writer friends read your story. Ask for a critique. What works? What doesn't?

Then, you can decide if your story works best in rhyme or in prose!

P.S. There is a difference between rhyme and rhythm. Picture books that have rhythm can be wonderful. They often bounce along with a musical-type cadence. A book does not have to rhyme to have rhythm. But, this is definitely a new blog topic.