Tick. Tock.

So some time has passed.  A lot of time, in fact.  I put down my children's books to write research papers and do statistics homework.

Now, I'm putting down the homework to write a book.  Or a few. 

And research begins....

So I'm up to my armpits...yes...armpits...in research.  I've gotten 4 books on just WRITING for children and young adults... and publishing what you've written.  On top of that I'm absorbing all I can about the subject at hand...and slowly...like I said in my very first post,.turning this into a middle grade book project instead of a picture book.

Its a subject that Disney is currently saturating with all it's might...but I just love the concept...so I'm going with it. 

Anyone else love Amy Brown?  I love Amy Brown.  I have for a long time.

http://www.amybrownart.com

She's sensational.  I love her art.  I love her imagination.  And Yes.  Faeries or fairies or fay.  Or fae. 

...or sprites or goblins or leprechauns or demons even...or pixies...

Mischievous little squirts.

Why????????

Why didn't I write Sunny D and Rum?  I would be famous.  Right. Now.

Evolution.

This blog is becoming more about my process than my actual work, which I believe will change.

However strange, my methodology with any kind of work usually involves me completely immersing myself into whatever world I want to create or learn about.  Right now I want to learn about writing for children.  So, I listen to my daughter's reading assignments and library books more carefully.  I question family, friends, and students of my own to see if they might have some favorite books that I might otherwise have forgotten or never knew existed.

I haven't been able to read much. I have a newborn after all.  But every time I pick up a new book, I fall in love with reading all over again.  I have three books going right this very moment, which is ludicrous for a woman with my schedule.  I seem to keep them all straight because they are so completely different, and my brain differentiates perfectly.

Who knows if this children's book of mine will ever leave my computer hard drive, but at least I can say I wrote one, and I enjoyed doing it and it will perhaps help me on any other creative journey I choose to take.

---I heard a new song my brother recorded on YouTube last night, and of course I got the music bug again.  But I refuse to be schizo/bi-polar about this project like I usually am.  I will pick up writing music again when I've fully experienced the book adventure.  I want to experience writing a children's book.  And if it isn't traumatizing I want to possibly write a Young Adult or Adult fiction novel. 

Oh, and I haven't mentioned what the book is about because I haven't fully developed the concept.  I'll divulge the details when I'm comfortable that I won't embarrass myself.  That is all.

Writer's First Aid.

I <3 this site.  

http://institutechildrenslit.net/Writers-First-Aid-blog/

Kristi Holl, I think, has some good ideas.  Things I don't always think about.  And even if you don't write for children or you don't necessarily write book, I like the Seven Essential Habits of a Working Writer she mentions by Jim Denney.  You can apply it to anything you want to do on your own.

• Write Daily (Or paint or sew or brainstorm)
• Cultivate the Art of Solitude Amid Distractions (Figure out how to work with children pulling on your shirt or spilling Koolaid on the carpet.)
• Write Quickly and With Intensity (Self explanatory)
• Set Ambitious But Achievable Goals (Again, self explanatory)
• Focus!
• Finish What You Start and Submit What You Finish (Even if you think it's not your best job, finish it anyway.)
• Believe You Can  (Always excellent advice.)

This is a test.

I'm Angela.  And I write. 

I've always written something.  I remember as a child I would write songs, poems and short stories.  I was the kind of kid who made songs up in my head and sang them as I played in my room.

Now I'm not a child and I find myself doing the same thing.  However, I'm not what one would consider an author or writer in any way.  I do it.  But I have never actively pursued publishing or recording of any of the things I do.

I not only write, but I draw as well.  Which seems to be a shock to a lot of people who didn't realize that I have always sketched as much as I have picked up guitar or banged away on the piano.

This is my attempt to track how I write, what I write, and what I do with it all.  I hope beyond hope that I can actually do something with some fraction of it.  It all just sit in waste.  Not a soul reads or hears it except my husband.

So!  Here we go.

My first project at the moment is a PB (picture book).  The idea came from my daughter's imagination, not mine, but she is still letting me take the credit.  Which is just like her by the way.

I have NEVER been so excited about doing something.  I'm SO excited about it that I'm just doing it.  I haven't consulted or conferred.  I just looked at Rich (my husband) and said, "I'm writing this children's book." 

I have no title, but I have started character development and have written some rhyme. 

IF I decide to stick with rhyme.

I still have this thought that maybe this story should be a middle grade book that I could make into a series.  It's nagging at me.  Persistently poking at the back of my brain....  Maybe it should be a middle grade...maybe...

I guess we shall see!!

-Angela