Tag: Creativity

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Today’s book recommendation:🔥THE FIRE OF STARS: The Life and Brilliance of the Woman Who Discovered What Stars Are Made Of by Kirsten W. Larson

Illustrated by Katherine Roy

Published by Chronicle Books

📚 Nonfiction Picture Book Biography

The Fire of Stars by Kirsten W. Larson

This STEM biography is a major award winner! It is exceptionally crafted and beautifully illustrated! I absolutely love how author Kirsten W. Larson manages to tell two stories at once with her lovely, poetic text.

Here’s the official BOOK PROMO:

*****
Astronomer and astrophysicist Cecilia Payne was the first person to discover what burns at the heart of stars. But she didn’t start out as the groundbreaking scientist she would eventually become. She started out as a girl full of curiosity, hoping one day to unlock the mysteries of the universe.

With lyrical, evocative text by Kirsten W. Larson and extraordinary illustrations by award-winning illustrator Katherine Roy, this moving biography powerfully parallels the kindling of Cecilia Payne’s own curiosity and her scientific career with the process of a star’s birth, from mere possibility in an expanse of space to an eventual, breathtaking explosion of light.
*****

This book encourages curiosity and a love of science on every page, along with gorgeous swirls of stardust, sparks of color, and heartfelt moments in Cecilia’s journey through life.

⭐ Perfect for kids who love space, science, and stories of trailblazing women.
⭐ A beautiful blend of STEM and storytelling.
⭐ Inspiring for classroom use or bedtime brilliance.

Have you read this starry gem yet? 💫 Drop a 🌟 in the comments if you love space books!

Happy reading!

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A Meadow of Wild & Beautiful Ideas

It’s that time of year again–Storystorm time! I love brainstorming new writing ideas, and Tara Lazar’s event makes it easy with its daily inspiration. There’s something so refreshing about a good brain dump, plus there’s prizes! Jump over to this post to read about when I first discovered Storystorm.

Today, my 9-year-old son snuggled up to me, wanting to know what I was working on. I read him my Storystorm ideas, and he promptly shared his own ideas to add to the list. My 12-year-old overheard us and wanted to add an idea as well, only it was too complicated to tell me, so he took my laptop and typed up a couple of paragraphs, outlining a super cool underwater fantasy world.

And that’s what I love most about creativity–it’s contagious! As soon as we open our minds to new ideas, they’re everywhere. Many people are eager to share “bestselling” book ideas with authors, but what they don’t realize is that that’s the easy part. Most creatives are absolutely inundated with their own ideas. It’s the careful selection, cultivation, and follow-through that’s the tricky part.

But January is the perfect time to set aside the hard finishing parts of writing for a few minutes each day and frolic among my own wild and beautiful ideas. I’ve got the whole year ahead of me, and brand-new, shiny resolutions to get me there. Here’s to 2023!

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Digging Back In!

Writers, and all creatives really, are subject to tremendous self-doubt. One minute you’re high as a kite, feeling like your words will delight and inspire the world, and the next minute like they need to be ground to a fine dust and flushed down the toilet.

So it was both validating and humbling to be awarded 5 Beginning of Book Awards at ANWA 2022. ANWA stands for American Night Writer’s Association. It was the first time I’ve attended this organization’s conference, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Turns out, they welcomed me with open arms, and teased me mercilessly for winning so many awards.

This last year has been one of transition for me personally, involving a big move across the country, and lots of changes in our family. ANWA was like a reset for me on my writing journey, giving me the kick in the butt I needed to dig back in.

While I was at the conference, I pitched my sci-fi novel to an editor of a big publishing house, and she wants to take a look! So, I’m hurrying to polish it up a bit before I send it off. I also received really insightful feedback from the contest judges on my B.O.B. entries. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there are no limits on improvement. One’s creative work can always get better.

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Taking the Leap!

Stick figure standing on What We Are cliff wondering if he should take the Leap of Faith to get to What We Want To Be cliff.

I’ve been so busy this spring doing a major overhaul on my middle grade sci-fi novel. I changed the point of view from 1st to 3rd, fleshed out the characters, fixed overall plot structure, and made the ending so much better. I’ve been getting feedback as well, and doing lots of revision based on that. And I’m SO excited about how this manuscript is shaping up!

My kids have been going nuts wanting to finish reading it. I read the first part to them when I was drafting it during NaNoWriMo, and then stopped because I wanted to wait until it was done. But I’m not sure “done” is a thing in the writing world. It can always be better! Then, a couple days ago my youngest confessed he’d snuck one of the pages out of my office garbage bin and read it on the sly! So, I guess he’s getting desperate! LOL

Anyway, I just sent off queries for it to a few agents. As scary as it is, it’s finally time to see if I can drum up any interest in the publishing world for this project. I know this can take years and 100s of queries, and may never happen, but it for sure won’t if I don’t try! All I can do is keep moving forward, challenging myself, and taking those leaps of faith.

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Picture Book Party

I LOVE trying new things, especially when it comes to writing. But with all the middle grade projects I’ve been working on, the last thing I needed was a whole new audience to write for. At least that’s what I kept telling myself every time the thought of writing picture books peeked around the corner.

But then I discovered, Storystorm 2021. It’s an annual event where for each day of January, Author Tara Lazar has picture book authors post about generating new story ideas. Their words were so inspiring, it was exhilarating! Lauren Kerstein’s post especially spoke to me. Now picture book writing wasn’t just peeking around the corner, it was sticking its tongue out at me–daring me to give chase!

I couldn’t resist. I immediately put Kerstein’s method to work and came up with a great idea! I couldn’t stop there, so I continued on to draft my first picture book. Picture books are short–500 words or less for fictional stories, so many people think they’re easy to write. But the truth is, this is the very reason they are so challenging. Every word counts, and you have to accomplish a whole lot within that time. Now that picture books had my full attention, I dove headfirst into learning the ropes–taking some online courses, and studying Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books.

Another fantastic resource I found is Julie Hedlund’s 12X12 challenge, where the goal is to draft at least one new picture book each month during the year. It has been just the motivation I needed. Not every draft I write works out, but each time I sit down to brainstorm a new one, the anticipation is just like I feel before going to a party. My own little picture book party!

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A Little Detour

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels the word “pandemic” is almost unreal, the stuff of the distant past or post-apocalyptic novels. And although real pandemics are sprinkled throughout history with a macabre regularity, even the more recent outbreak of H1N1 with over 12,000 U.S. deaths in the first year did nothing to prepare us for COVID-19.

The fact that one little microscopic organism can shut down so many parts of the world in such a short amount of time is astonishing. None of us could have imagined that this common fictional disaster would become our reality.

We utter new phrases like ‘social distancing’ and ‘flatten the curve” on a daily basis without batting an eye. And even though our life has radically changed with fear and illness and unemployment, technology is softening the edges. A large percentage of people can continue to work from home, and although our children’s schools are closed, they are developing new distance learning skills and continuing their educations. The best part is we don’t have to wallow in isolation. We can connect with friends and family through social media, FaceTime and video conferencing.

The writer’s community is thriving online as well with online critique groups, webinars and virtual conferences. Just before the outbreak arrived in Michigan, I attended a one day Children’s Non-fiction Writing Conference in person. Hand sanitizer and elbow bumping was prevalent, but in a way it seemed excessive. I obviously didn’t realize at the time how dire COVID-19 was, and how our lives would be changing.

The conference was fantastic and opened up a whole new avenue of writing for me. Who knew that children’s non-fiction wasn’t boring anymore! 🙂 My mind was opened to all the super creative ways information can be presented.

Life right now in lockdown mode is simpler and fuller. I love having everyone home*, and while I have continued editing my MG** sci-fi novel, this week I have taken a slight detour to try my hand at drafting a MG non-fiction book. And I’m having a blast!

I feel a bit guilty enjoying social distancing as much as I am. But you have to understand. I have six kids at home right now, and so the logistics are always tricky. Our new daily life means no shuttling kids around, never a lack of workout partners, many hands for food prep and household chores, and we have plenty of people to play board games or basketball or stage an epic laser gun battle. Stocking up on food and toilet paper is common practice around here, so that hasn’t been a stress either. With my creativity having a good romp on my newest detour, my routine couldn’t be better. I really think it will be hard to go back to “regular” life.

Now I know this may come across ignorant, like I have blinders on. I get that COVID-19 is real and scary, and that brave people all over the world are out fighting it. I’m incredibly grateful for their dedication and sacrifice. My youngest child has T1D, and it would be a nightmare if he were to contract this virus. But there’s no reason to focus on what might happen, when there is so much to be grateful for now.

*Except my college daughter, whom we miss! She’s hunkered down with Grandma right now.

**Just a reminder: MG stands for Middle Grade, which is the target audience of ages 8-13.

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The Best Birthday Present

Today may be my birthday, but this weekend I gave myself the best present ever. I finished my first novel! It came to a grand tally of 71,194 words, and an additional 10k words of research, pre-writing and character development. That’s about 325 pages!

Actually when I say I gave myself this marathon of words as a present, that isn’t totally true. I could never have done it without the support and encouragement of my selfless husband and fantastic kiddos. They pulled extra weight around here and cheered me on every step of the way.

The other misconception is that this actually means I’m done with my book. Au contraire! Most books are rewritten 6 to 10 times before being published, and so I know this is just a beginning.

But, as one of my favorite authors likes to say, I’ve shoveled all the sand into the sandbox with the first draft, and now I get to sculpt and mold it into something awesome.

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Out of Hibernation

After the intense focus on writing for November, it was a beautiful thing to switch it up for December and focus only on family, Christmas, and lots of good food. But, now it’s January, the decorations have been put away, my guests have gone home, and this week the kids are back to school. Time to come out of writing hibernation!

I have to admit, my first steps out of my bear cave have been filled with trepidation. I knew I was at a tricky part in the story. What if I couldn’t figure out what to write? How was I going to tie up all the loose ends? I have found that I can be an excellent procrastinator.

Monday I intentionally took it easy and let some antibiotics battle a sinus infection. Tuesday I finally got around to reading the last few chapters of my story, and then instead of continuing on, I made writing goals for the year. The good thing was that in them, I decided to re-invoke NaNo with a 2,000 word daily goal until I finish my first draft. Starting, tomorrow, of course. 🙂

Yesterday was the day, and it took me half the day to get around to sitting down and writing, but I did it! I got my words in, and now I’m rolling.

This morning I was dead asleep when something in my dream was so humorous that I laughed out loud and woke myself up! Have you ever done that? I’m not sure I have. The bonus was that I could remember it all, and it gave me a great idea for some character development in my story.

I guess even my subconscious is back in the game! 2020 is going to be the best year yet. Happy New Year!

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First Time NaNoWriMo Winner!

I just won NaNo! What’s that you say? Why yes, it is the very last day of the month, but that’s not what counts. What matters is that I set this goal to write 50,000 words in one month, and I did it!

My local writing group knows I love to start new stories. I’m really good at first chapters, and even seconds and thirds. Short stories, poems, essays? Totally! But I’ve never attempted a whole novel. I’m easily distracted with shiny new story ideas.

The more I learned about fiction writing and novel structure, the more I wanted to give it a try. Then the doubts set in. Could I write an entire novel? Did I have the stamina? The perseverance?

I owe my success today in large part to a local writing conference I attended where a presenter taught how to set goals and make them happen. Namely it came down to making an actual contract with yourself, setting up rewards and consequences, and recruiting people to check on you throughout the process. The stick, and the carrot, for all us little bunnies.

This worked beautifully for me, and since I won, I don’t have to go scrub out my husband’s work car. Yes, the stakes were high! 🙂

My husband and my kiddos were also a huge part of making this happen. If I succeeded, there was a reward for the kids too–a fun night out, so that helped, but I think they would have done it anyway. Carving so much time for writing out of my days wasn’t easy, and they really picked up the slack.

The best part is that this last week my kids, ages 6-15, have literally begged me to read them a chapter or two from my manuscript each night before bed. It is an upper Middle Grade book, designed for ages 10-14, so it has been perfect to share with them. Their enthusiasm reminds me why I’m doing this.

My word count goal for this novel is more like 60,000 words, as it is science fiction, so I still have about 10,000 to go. And lots of editing! But, I never would have been motivated to push myself this far without the NaNo challenge.

Now that I’ve established a daily writing habit, I plan to keep it up. Perhaps not for as much time, but every little bit gets you one step closer, right? December is going to be a recovery month, filled with family, white sparkly Christmas lights and hot cocoa!

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All the Feels

Something that has surprised me during this NaNo experience is how emotional writing a novel can be. Sure, I’ve poured my heart into my writing before. I know the power of words. But never before have I been with the same characters for 47,000 words. All in the last four weeks I’ve laughed with them, cried with them, and felt the adrenaline rushes, right alongside them, on their adventures.

When I first started exploring fiction, I didn’t realize what a story was about—that it really boiled down to conflict. In a nutshell, there’s a person with a goal, and something keeping them from that goal.

The problem comes when you grow so attached to your characters that your natural instinct is to protect them. Authors have to fight that instinct. Authors have to be mean. 🙂 Authors have to tear their characters to shreds, so they can give them the chance to pick up the pieces and become better people. The story is in the journey, not the HEA (happily ever after).

While everyone is out shopping Black Friday deals today, I’ll be here at my desk helping my characters conquer their inner demons and overcome the destruction their choices have brought about. Two days left of NaNo and only 3,000 words to go!