Angie Karcher and the Rhyme Revolution

 By Janie Reinart
  
Pass the hot chocolate and celebrate the merry Angie Karcher. Her gifts to us keep on giving:
*Founder of Rhyme Revolution, formerly RhyPiBoMo (Rhyming Picture Book Month) in April
*The Best in Rhyme Award in February
*The RPB(Rhyming Picture Book) Revolution Conference in New Harmony, IN-October 12-14, 2018

Santa's checked and Angie is definitely on the nice list. Angie's goal is to guide those aspiring to write rhyming picture books through the process of learning the craft by offering resources, lessons, and writing prompts. She strives to improve the reputation and quality of rhyming picture books for children.

Archival photo of the Santa statue built for a Christmas bazaar in the 1970’s

Hang your stockings. There's going to be a giveaway as we find out about Angie's newest book, Santa's Gift. 

         Rafflecopter giveaway.
 

1. Who is your agent?

I‘m actually between agents right now. You know, author purgatory, where you seek an agent who is the perfect fit??? 

That’s where I am, although I am “dating” a few agents right now. I’m in no hurry to sign with someone, as I realize that this relationship is vital to my career and it’s SO important to find just the right person! Someone who gets me and my writing…That’s not easy to find. I think I have found this person but can’t share it yet.

 

2. How did you get the idea for your story?

I was traveling quite a bit in early 2016 and when I got home in June I heard that someone had found the Santa Claus statue! I knew immediately that this needed to be my next picture book. This statue was a huge part of my childhood and the story needed to be shared.

3. What is your favorite part of the story?

My favorite part was when the kids looked up at Santa and he was a giant! That’s how I remember him as a child and he is actually 35 feet tall so to a child…that’s ginourmous!

4. How long did it take to write? Get to a publisher?

I wrote the story in a few weeks after I faltered with a meter that resembled the song, OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS… 

After a few weeks, I threw away everything I’d written and started over and finally came up with this story that had the exact rhythm to…OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS.  What a crazy business this is! I can sing it to this song word for word…

Brains are a complex organ!!

My publisher was the original publisher of my two other historical non-fiction books, M.T. Publishing.

Mark Thompson, my publisher was ready to take this ride with me and he supported this manuscript. He’s my hero! Along the way, he received a new liver, so that makes him a hero and a miracle man!!

 

Angie's office.

 

5. What is your writing routine? 

I typically start at 8:00 PM and typically write until the sun comes up. I sleep until my youngest son gets home from school at 3:00 pm and then do it again the next day. 

Why does my brain work best at night? Part of it is because I had 4 children under the age of 6 and it was out of necessity. The rest is because I hate mornings! I only get up early for book talks, book signings and conferences!

6. What is your favorite writing craft book?   

How to Write Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul. This book is being updated and I can’t wait to get my copy of the new version!

7. What inspires you to write? 

The ideas are bouncing around in my head daily. The inspiration comes from the time spent as a Kindergarten teacher and a parent of four. The world needs more books that encourage positive thinking and living.

8. What are you working on now? 

I have two new rhyming picture books coming out next year with my illustrator Dana Karcher. One is about a world war two ship called the LST (Landing Ship Tank) which was built in Evansville, Indiana, the cornfield shipyard and credited for saving World War II. 

And the second picture book is about Bosse Field, the baseball field that was used in the filming of A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, about the women’s baseball league during WW two. We are thrilled to be sharing these historic stories. I also have three non-fiction books coming out as well.


9. Words of advice for writers. 

Don’t quit! I have been at this writing gig for over 23 years and I’m just now beginning to break through the ice. 

It’s a tough job but only those writers who have a passion for the career will make it. Build a thick skin and keep writing and submitting!! One day… it will happen for you too!

Order Santa's Gift here. Also available at Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.

Angie is a children’s author with over 20 years of teaching and writing experience. She is a former kindergarten teacher, developmental therapist and blogger.

 Find Angie on Facebook.

What Good Writers Do ~By Suzy Leopold

Showing up where you are with what you have is what good writers do.

Are you showing up where you are with what you have? 

In January, many writers set goals and resolutions when the 2016 calendar began. Perhaps it is time to revisit your set of writer’s goals.

Think about and check your list of short-term goals and your long-term SMART goals. Has your plan provided you with the results that you set out to achieve?

First Step: Set Goals

Second Step: Get to Work

Third Step: Stick to It

Fourth Step: Make a Plan

Fifth Step: Achieve

If your established plan is working, celebrate your accomplishments both big and small. Perhaps there are some areas where you can improve. Adjust as need be. For more information see a previous post Ready or Not. It's Time to Show Up.

As I look back on the first three months of 2016, I note there are some days when I stumble with the Third Step: Stick to It. Sometimes just sticking to my plan and sitting down to begin writing is all it takes. 

It’s easier to make unacceptable excuses for not writing today:

It must be writer’s block.

I’m waiting for inspiration to strike.

I don’t want to stare at this blank page.

No excuses allowed. Stop the stagnation. Dismiss negative thoughts that zap your productivity. Surround yourself with positive thoughts and find determination. Sure, there will be some days when you skip and stumble a step or two when  writing does not happen. It's okay. Take small steps and move forward without being critical of yourself. Think about what works best for you and your writing career.

There are many days when I feel I can justify my unacceptable excuses for not sticking to it. Yet, I know I need to believe in my voice and learn to ward off the urge to procrastinate. 

Making time to write is both a matter of desire as it is discipline. It takes determination. 

Writing can be compared to exercise. You feel better once you’ve done it.  

Created by my
Cousin Sheri McCulley Seibold

If inspiration is eluding you consider crafting a new story. Select an idea you wrote down during Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo Writing Challenge. Feel accomplished after revising a manuscript. Refer to a stack of books as mentor texts from the research that you did during ReFoReMo, with Carrie Charley Brown. Participate in Angie Karcher's RhyPiBoMo that she hosts this month. Writers will grow and learn from the many resources, lessons and writing prompts. 

Write a blog post about a recently read book about the craft of writing that you found inspiring. Set a timer and chase after your daily word count. Consider establishing some agreed upon rules, expectations and most importantly accountability with a critique partner or group. By checking in with a writerly friend, I feel I can do a better job of holding myself accountable to my promises and aspirations than just checking in with myself. Perhaps heading to your local indie book store or the public library you will find some ideas and inspiration, along with time to read and write.

Time to revise & edit.

A stack of mentor texts.

One more thought. Take your writing serious. Make sure you go to work because this is your job. Your boss does not accept excuses for lack of inspiration, for feeling tired, for not showing up nor other lame excuses that you can think of. And don't forget the importance of having a set of business cards. This is your career.

Business cards

So grab your writer’s tools: a computer, a journal, a pen or a pencil, a highlighter, a dictionary, a thesaurus, a stack of mentor texts, a cup of hot tea and turn on some music to find your muse. You can do it! Yes, you can!

Would you like some sugar or
a slice of lemon with your tea?

One thousand crumby words on paper are better than one hundred thousand fabulous words that are in your head.

Make writing a habit and you’ll see improvement in you writing.

A writer writes. Write, always.

Tune in Tomorrow!

Tonight's the night, folks.

After months of nominees for the best rhyming picture book...

After weeks of analysis by a committee of rhymers...

After the tallying of many votes...

The "Best in Rhyme" picture books will be chosen!

The studios of Kid Lit TV will be streaming the awards ceremony tonight at 6:00 pm EST. Come join in the fun. The link should go live then.

Tune into the GROG later this weekend to hear more about the winning picture books.

RPB Revolution ~By Suzy Leopold

A revolution you ask. Yes, it is the RPB Revolution -- the Rhyming Picture Book Revolution. This event will take place for three days in December. Join Angie Karcher and many other authors and writers of rhyme during a weekend long celebration. The conference will include a red carpet ceremony and a book signing. The four R's of top notch rhyming picture books will be discussed. Do you know what the four R's are? Sure you do. They are all part of the RPB Revolution: reject, revolt, rules and rewards.

I want to recognize the individuals who worked together to plan for this amazing first annual event.

RPB Revolution Conference Committee Members: 

Angie Karcher

Aimee Haburjak

Randi Sonenshine

Kristi Wright

Zainab Khan

Patty Toht 

Lori Degman 

The Best in Rhyme Committee members, under the direction of Angie Karcher, nominated several titles of books in rhyme earlier this year. Then each committee member completed a rubric for each of the books. The rubric determined the top ten titles. The following elements were used to complete the rubric, determining the ten best rhyming books:

• Story/Plot/Structure
• Character
• Rhyme
• Rhyming pattern
• Meter
• Appeal
• Verbs
• Concept/Theme; Message/Take Away
• Language
• Sentence fluency

Best in Rhyme Committee Members:

Angie Karcher

Gayle Krause                         

Annie Bailey                           

Mandy Yates                          

Lucky Williams                                  

Dawn Young              

Kenda Henthorn

Darlene Ivy                            

Deirdre Englehardt

Suzy Leopold

Patty Toht

Lori Degman

Angie Karcher

For more information about the Best in Rhyme Award Top 10 check out the book reviews here.

WHO?: Writers, Authors, Agents and Publishers

WHAT?: The Rhyming Picture Book Revolution [RPB] Weekend 

WHEN?: December 4th - December 6th, 2015* 

WHERE?: New York City, NY

WHY?: To announce the 2015 BEST IN RHYME 

Angie Karcher

HOW?: Angie Karcher, Rhyming Picture Book Month [RhyPiBoMo] founder, will announce the title and winner of the 2015 Best in Rhyme. Additionally, several honor titles will be shared for the 2015 best RPBs. KidLitTV and Julie Gribble will host this sensational event in a red carpet, live ceremony.

*Friday, December 4th

2015 Best in Rhyme Award Ceremony

*Saturday, December 5th

RPB Revolution Conference

*Sunday, December 6th

RPB Revolution Book Signing

Find information on how to register for this exciting event at RPB Revolution Registration.

If you are unable to attend the event in New York City, click here for information on how to register for a Conference Recording.

Designed by
Tanja Bauerle

Consider attending and supporting the RPB Revolution.

Best in Rhyme Award: Selecting a Winner of a Picture Book ~ by Patricia Toht

I've been a lucky girl this autumn. 

Two years ago, I joined a community of rhymers called RhyPiBoMo. RhyPiBoMo was founded by Angie Karcher and challenges its members to write a rhyming picture book manuscript in the month of April. I blogged about it here.


Rhyme is not always looked upon favorably in picture book submissions. "We don't accept rhyming texts," is a phrase frequently expressed by editors and agents. There's a good reason for that -- rhyme is difficult to do well, and many don't take the time to learn the craft and brutally hone their manuscripts.

Artwork by the talented
Tanja Bauerle.

One step in learning the craft is to study terrific examples of rhyming picture books. Unfortunately, beyond Dr. Seuss, it's difficult to know who the great rhyming authors are. And so Angie had a second idea. Why not establish an award that recognizes the rhyming picture book? The "Best in Rhyme" award was born.


So, why am I lucky? Because I'm on the committee to select the award winner! 

From April to October this year, members of RhyPiBoMo submitted titles to be considered. Poetry collections and concept books were eliminated, as this year's focus is on books that tell a story. Tallying the popular titles led to the Top 20. (Here's the list!). From that list, the committee sat down to read and analyze.

75% of the reading pile

Here are a few of the elements we considered:
• Does the book tell a story, with an arc and clear plot?
• Are characters developed?
• How is the meter and rhyme in the book?
• What poetic devices are used? 
• Do word choices enhance the book?

I had a little help with my reading.

Committee members finished their reviews by November 1, and Angie Karcher announced the Final 10 (in rhyme, of course):

Would you like to know the winner?

So would I!

The winner will be announced in a live, red carpet ceremony at the KidLitTV Studio on December 4th. The gala kicks off the RPB (Rhyming Picture Book) Revolution Weekend. I'll be heading to New York for the weekend, and you can join me -- spaces are still available for the RPB Revolution Conference. For more information, visit rpbrevolution, here.  Fellow GROGger Suzy Leopold will be telling you a bit more about the RPB Revolution in a post next week (November 18).

Hooray for rhyming picture books! Who will be the winner?????

Let's Get Ready to Rhyme! ~ by Patricia Toht

Grab a notebook and a pen,

April’s time to rhyme again.

Learn about a challenge here –

RhyPiBoMo’s second year!

RhyPiBoMo stands for Rhyming Picture Book Month, and is pronounced "rye-pie-bow-mow". It is the brainchild of Angie Karcher.

Tell our readers a little about yourself, Angie.

I’m a Hoosier, married to my supportive husband Stan for nearly 24 years and mother of four teens and two doggy assistants. I’m a former kindergarten teacher and developmental therapist. I’ve been writing for over 20 years, and am represented by agent Kendra Marcus of BookStop Literary. I enjoy writing poetry, rhyming picture books, historical fiction and non-fiction.

Angie's first book, Where the River Grins, M.T. Publishing, 2012.
A regional history resource book used in local schools. Buy it here.

Angie's second book, The Legendary R.A. "Cowboy" Jones, M.T. Publishing, 2014.
A biography of a 71-year-old jockey who still races horses in Kentucky. Buy it here.

Angie's special message:

I want to thank everyone for kind words of encouragement after my accident at the L.A. SCBWI Conference last summer. For those who don’t know, I fell and had emergency surgery to repair a severed nerve in my right hand. I am doing great and appreciate all the loyal RhyPiBoMoers who stuck around while I recovered. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to host the event this year, but your kindness and encouragement was quite motivating!

Angie, how did you come up with the idea for RhyPiBoMo?

In 2013 I participated in Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo and loved the experience of community and focusing on a specific part of writing. There were no writing challenges in April (poetry month) that focused on poetry and rhyming picture books, so I began planning. Tara was so supportive and helped me get organized, and writer friends helped me find fabulous guest bloggers. Once Jane Yolen and Lee Bennett Hopkins joined, everyone else jumped aboard.

I’ve found there’s a stigma attached to being a writer of rhyme -- being a rhymer is alarmingly frowned upon. So, I started RhyPiBoMo to give rhymers a place for support and to encourage writers of rhyme to do it in a professional manner, following the rules of picture book writing and using rhyme as one piece of the puzzle, not as the focus of the story.

As authors, we’re told to polish our elevator pitch. Doors closing…GO!

RhyPiBoMo (Rhyming Picture Book Month) is an annual writing challenge in April for children’s writers who enjoy writing in rhyme. It features 25 fabulous writing professionals who share their knowledge about the Dos and Don’ts of using rhyme in picture books. There are daily prizes, rhyming parties, a poetry contest and more! Find it on my blog, Angiekarcher.wordpress.com.

Whew…how was that?

Well done! Any changes this year?

We do have a few changes this year. First of all the blog posts will be shared only on week days. This will allow us the weekends to spend with family and get caught up on other important things.

Last year, I taught daily lessons along with the guest blog posts. This year I asked the guest bloggers to choose a topic from a suggested list and to use their blog post as a lesson itself.

Each year, your banner honors a wonderful poet. Last year, it was William Shakespeare, designed by Gayle Wing O’Donnell. Who are this year’s honored poet and illustrator?

I’m thrilled that we are celebrating a personal favorite, Maya Angelou, on our banner. Her passing saddened me, and she was the clear choice for this year’s honored poet.

I love the banner and badges, designed by author/illustrator Tanja Bauerle! 

We met in an online writing class several years ago. Since then, we’ve hugged in person, ridden in an ambulance together, and shared laughs on this bumpy road in children’s literature land. Visit Tanja here to see her amazing work! 

When collaborating with Tanja, we decided to share one of Maya’s quotes on the banner. A few days of research later, we discovered that we both had selected the same quote --

This quote speaks to us as writers. We don’t write to put words on the page, we write to share the joy and our passion for the subjects with children. The poetic rhythm and song of rhyming picture books are magic and should be read aloud to children to experience the full gift.

Tell us about your guest bloggers. I heard you are hosting ALL NEW poets this year!

Yes, this year we have 25 all new guest bloggers! I’m very excited that Kwame Alexander will be in the house! He’s been floating around the country since receiving his esteemed Newbery Award and graciously accepted the final spot on my calendar in the midst of his confetti and fireworks. Buckets of gratitude to all of the busy, talented folks who will celebrate writing poetry and rhyming picture books with us!

You are such a fun-loving poet, Angie. What’s planned for the launch of RhyPiBoMo?

I suppose I have been known to have a good time at whatever I do! I like to laugh and share this passion I have of writing with others. That being said…there may be something coming up in April that will be BIG! It will be memorable and I believe it will remain in the hearts and minds of all…

Oh wait. I’m saying too much. I guess you will need to participate in RhyPiBoMo to find out more! Did I mention that I like to tease too?

Rest assured. We have something BIG up our sleeves for the kick-off. It’s a Rhyming Surprise!

So, mum’s the word? Well, a little blue bird did tell me that RhyPiBoMo will have a flurry of celebration on April 4^th…

April 4^th is Maya Angelou’s birthday, so we’ll celebrate with a webinar hosted by author Jackie Wellington and myself. We will read Maya’s work, discuss her impact on children’s books, and more.

In addition, I’ve been asked by my local Barnes and Noble to give a talk on April 11^th about Maya Angelou. I’m thrilled that we’re setting up a book fair to donate proceeds from purchases on the 11^th to WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS, bringing diversity and poetry together to support an important effort. More details to come!

In 2014, members of RhyPiBoMo formed critique groups. Will this happen again in 2015?

Absolutely! Another dear friend, Dawn Young, is the Admin for RhyPiBoMo and Critique Coordinator who will set up rhyming critique groups through our Facebook page. Our Facebook group has grown to over 300 members! This is where we chat and have rhyming parties and lots of silly fun while learning from each other. Request to join the RhyPiBoMo Facebook group and I will admit you.

Dawn, an amazing writer and friend, is instrumental in helping to make RhyPiBoMo a success. She also rode in an ambulance with some very handsome actor/EMTs and me -- it’s amazing how you bond over things like that! You can find more about Dawn here.

What’s a Rhyming Party?

A Rhyming Party is an impromptu or planned party on our Facebook page. I pose questions pertaining to the previous week’s blog posts, and all who participate must answer in rhyming phrases.

For example:

Me: “Who is the lovely poet on our banner?”

Answer: “A lady named Maya who writes about the sky-a.”

It’s fast-paced silliness and a fun way for us to share our love of rhyme and get to know each other. Prizes vary and all who participate leave with a smile.

Will The Golden Quill Poetry Contest return this year?

Yes, we will again host the Golden Quill Poetry Contest. Poems will be judged on clever theme, rhyme scheme, poetic techniques, rhythm, and overall read-it-out-loud-ability. There are wonderful prizes, too! Last year, we had over 40 entries! More information will be on the blog soon. To participate, you must be a registered participant of RhyPiBoMo by April 8^th.

That little blue bird was chirping again, telling me about RhyPiBoMo Awards for 2015. Tell me more!

That little bird has been busy! Yes, we’ve formed a new committee of RhyPiBoMo folks who will be reading lots of rhyming picture books soon, and will name a favorite rhyming picture book of 2015 and several honor books this November.  I’m very excited to bring well-deserved attention to brilliantly written and illustrated rhyming picture books.

So, how do we register for RhyPiBoMo?

Registration opens on March 18th and runs through April 8th. Go to Angiekarcher.wordpress.com to register. You must be registered to win prizes and compete in the poetry contest.

Thanks, Angie!

Thank you so much, Patty, for helping me spread the word about RhyPiBoMo. I hope many more writers will join us in this celebration of poetry and rhyming picture books. This is a labor of love for me and many who write and illustrate picture books.

Angie also offers a class, Writing in Rhyme to WOW, as well as critique services. You can find more information here and here.