Put a Little Love In Your Heart

By Kathy Halsey and Janie Reinart

Kathy and I are going to share the love and put a little love in your heart.  Kathy you go first.

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Thanks, Janie. In this season of hearts and flowers, we’re going to share and lift up two deserving authors - Brenda Reeve Sturgis and Susanna Hill. 

Brenda’s book, STILL A FAMILY, Part I was featured last Thursday. Today we’ll conclude with Part II of Brenda's interview and also share Susanna Hill’s Valentiny contest. 

In STILL A FAMILY, Brenda takes us into the life of a homeless family through the point of view of a young girl. The book’s theme illuminates Brenda’s heartfelt words that, “It's not all about me, and it's not all about you, it's about US. We can make this world a better place, one loving heart at a time.” And Brenda did just that at her book launch this past weekend that featured a drive for homeless shelters. Big hearts abound, so gather ‘round for more from Brenda.

K: What do you want GROG readers to know about the heart of STILL A FAMILY?  

B: Homeless are people just like you, and just like me, that probably had a home and a family at one time and something happened that changed the trajectory of their lives and I'm hoping STILL A FAMILY will help to change that trajectory back by raising awareness.

K: Please share more about your writing path..

B: Nobody ever told me how difficult it would be. If I had known all of the obstacles that I would have to overcome, I might have quit. But, I wanted THIS. I attended my very first conference in January, 2005 in New York. I joined critique groups, wrote, went to conferences, and I learned. In 2007, I won a contest. TOUCHDOWN won grand prize, and 10 TURKEYS IN A ROAD received an honorable mention. THIS win in Roxyanne Young's Smart Writer's contest opened doors and got me the attention of my first agent. We parted ways amicably after 2.5 years.

After many months of querying, I signed with another agent, but that only lasted 6 weeks before we realized we weren't a good fit, either. I wanted to quit, but I pressed on. FINALLY, I heard about Emma Dryden, and her consulting company, and we arranged a phone meeting. When you have turned over every stone and you are getting nowhere you have to keep searching, keep looking for inroads. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Emma Dryden was my teacher, and Emma has become my friend. She read over my work, told me what needed to be revised and said that agent Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary would be a great fit for me.

I queried Karen (with Emma's name in the subject line) and heard back within a few days. She wanted to work with me. YAY! Karen is my perfect fit. We compliment each other nicely. Our styles of communication are similar. We get each other. 

K: How else did you get Karen’s attention in your query?

B: I am weak in writing a query because it's in prose. But your query is as important as your story. It shows your voice and draws an agent or an editor in. I sought help in this area as well. My writing friend, Christine Tricarico, (Cock-a-Doodle Dance, MacMillan) is a wizard at writing a query. For a nominal fee, she helps writers  craft the most amazing queries ever.

K: Any more advice for pre-pub writers?

B: Preparation, time, meeting people, making connections, continuing on will guide you and lead you to where you need to be at just the right time, like it did for me and STILL A FAMILY. Everything in publishing and everything in life is cumulative. We are all on individual journeys to become the best writers we can be, to leave our stamp on the world, and to make a difference.

Susanna Hill is all about sharing the love with her 2nd
Annual Valentiny Contest. She has a lovely blog that you can subscribe to by email. Susanna teaches writing, does school
visits and has over ten books published. Way to go Susanna.  💗
                                         
And guess what? I have an idea for the contest. Woohoo! First time to have an idea for a story that matches the criteria and first time to enter. On Friday, February 10, 2017 my story will be posted here for the contest. The rules are in this link. And there are prizes! 💗

Join me and enter your own 💗 story.

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"Post your story on your (personal) blog between 12:00 AM EDT Friday February 10th and Tuesday February 14th by 11:59 PM EDT and add your post-specific link to the list that will accompany my (Susana's) February 10th post."



So how do we share the love? Let me count the ways:

💘 Write stories.

💘 Sponsor contests to give voice to new writers.

💘 Nurture critique partners.

💘 Support kid lit community.

💘 Read books.

💘 Lend a helping hand.

 The world is a better place when we put a little love in our hearts.

Lola Schaefer Discovers a Book in an Acorn

by Sue Heavenrich

 

Lola Schaefer at Amicalola Falls, GA

Lola Schaefer has written more than 270 books, from picture books to easy readers and informational texts – and she’s still got more to come. One that particularly caught my attention is Because of an Acorn which she wrote with her son Adam, also a children’s author. I love the simplicity of the language in Because of an Acorn, and the ecological layers that are revealed page by page.

Ideas for books come from many places, says Lola. This one grew out of a conversation with her editor at Chronicle. It turns out that the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) partnered with Chronicle Books in an effort to inspire young people to safeguard the earth’s natural resources. The editor asked whether Lola might be interested in writing a book that highlighted some aspect of their conservation work.

After checking out projects NRDC was involved with, Lola decided she wanted to visit and write about the Cumberland Plateau – a diverse hardwood forest ecosystem stretching across a broad swath of the southeast United States. She made a few calls and found a ranger at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee who would share his knowledge of the forest.

Fall Creek Falls State Park, TN

For three days, Lola headed out with state naturalist Randy Hedgepath into the woods. As they walked, Randy stopped every now and then to elaborate on individual plants and their relationship to each other and the forest.  That’s when Lola found her story. “Everything comes down to the acorn,” she said.

In writing a book, as with teaching, you have to know so much more about your topic than you’ll ever put in the book. “You have to immerse yourself in the topic,” Lola said, noting that only a small part of that information actually makes it to the book. During her forest walks she took lots of notes and drew sketches. Once home she added these to her inch-and-a-half-thick file of research notes. Now all she needed was a structure for the story.

Because of an acorn, a tree.
Because of a tree, a bird.

Not one who readily gives advice, Lola shared a couple things she’s learned on her writing journey.

• Know the craft, she said. Read at least 100 books that would appeal to your audience so you get familiar with pacing and sentence structure.
• Even though your idea may have been done before, pick your own approach.
• Do your research. Lola gets her information from the people actively doing research or otherwise engaged in the topic she’s interested in. “Scientists are always learning new things, she said, “and people are so ready to share what they know.”

As for agents, they may be more important now than a decade ago. For the first 10 years of her writing career, Lola didn’t have an agent. Now she does, and believes that they do play an important role in the submission process. “A single editor can receive 8,000 manuscripts a year, and of those only 80 might be well written,” she said. When a manuscript comes from an agent, it lets an editor know that someone other than the author has had eyes on it.

Lola has a new book coming out in July called Hidden Dangers. Learn more at her website.

Finding Fault With A Manuscript

Finding Fault With A Manuscript

Today I have three words about

those who find fault with

our manuscripts.

Bring them on.

NAYSAYERS

Can a non-fiction writer have too many

pre-readers? These are qualified, careful

guides who can catch fact errors we

have missed in our own checking.

Equally important,

they can flag issues of nuance,

balance or incompleteness.

PICKY POSSSE

You may want to begin assembling your

picky posse panel as you research the topic,

even before completing the story.

                                          credit: NASA, all rights reserved

My favorite resources include -

1

Public research universities - part A

Look for the website media/press page.

There may be a list of scientists, other

professors in many fields who volunteer

to be interviewed

about their specialty.

If you can't contact them directly, your

your first inquiry to the gatekeeper

who forwards the request might be

something like -

Hello. I would like to talk for 15 minutes

 with,or send 5 e-mail questions to,

Prof. Very Esteemed, about her

ground-breaking research on giant

marshmallow-eating moths.

This is to help me prepare a

non-fiction book of  32 pages,

for young readers,

ages 6 to 8 (grades two to three)

about the strange color patterns of

marshmallow-eating moths,

from Zanadu to Atlantis.

I am a children's literature specialist. 

I have listened to Canadian professor

Highly Prolific's podcast on this topic.

I have also visited the small

marshmallow-eating moth

museum in Candyland. I have read 11

articles about this unusual insect.  I have

taken many photographs of it for 3 years,

which is what initiated my interest in this topic.

Public research universities - part B

Public land grant universities with

agricultural departments

usually supervise field offices. I have found

that the mission of these agricultural

extension programs is to educate the public.

The specialists in our regional office

help with questions on topics related to

farming (today that can include farm-raised

clams!) gardening, forests, fields, bee-keeping,

some coastal environmental issues, such as the role

of sea oats in preventing dune erosion, and wetlands

issues for both fresh and saltwater areas.

2

Public teaching hospitals/museums/historic sites/

Start here with public education departments.

If there is none look for the press, media or

information office.

I can not say enough good about museum staff.

For example, the staff of the

Smithsonian-affiliated Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum

vetted a manuscript I wrote and also the

illustrations to accompany it, about a Seminole

Tribe of Florida leader. One of many ideas

they provided, was to change the look on an image

of an implement - a gigging stick to grab fish that

depicted a Tribe member carrying it.

To be more authentic. Done.

3

Public parks, refuges/ wilderness areas

Look online for the headquarters office of

your targeted natural resource. Although it's

helpful to ask questions of individuals on site

as you visit, there may also be federal, state,

or regional experts who cover wider

geographic areas within the program and

are likely not on site when/where you visit.

For example here in Florida, I know a biologist

who was the point person on all living

animal species for all the state parks. So he

was able to put into context, for example,

patterns about black bear, not only in North Florida,

but throughout the state.

Another worked as the statewide expert on all

trees and plants. While a random

ranger/staffer encountered

impromptu will be friendly, they can't be

expected to function as a specialist.

 4

Non-profit, private, research sites or 

public education centers

Sites that aren't government-run, but are

non-profit & open to the public can be an

ideal resource. They are often looking for

publicity. And then you may want to return

to them, as a location to stage a book event

or market it in their shop.

                                               Family Annino/ Gulf Specimen Lab, Florida

5

Organizations, faith communities, professional

groups, societies, clubs

Resources here include Audubon Society, Sierra Club,

astronomy societies, historical societies, major religion

and faith groups, professional societies,

collectors' clubs, artists' organizations,

groups of hobbyists working at a high level of expertise,

and retiree groups in special areas of knowledge

such as math educators, railroad engineers & a

non-ending list of similar groups.

Look for your local chapter/unit and

if there are no appropriate helpers there,

find a regional, state or national contact.

5

Published authors/speakers on your topic

Look at the bibliography you are assembling

of your research. You may want to contact

authors of the books you are citing.

They may be willing to vet your manuscript

or at least, to answer questions. And their own

bibliography can be mined for sources to contact.

Research podcasts in your subject area.

There may be many online to consider in your

subject area. One of those speakers may suit

your needs.

Thank them, very much!

You may collect more experts for your Picky Posse

than you expect.

Keep current with all the ways to stay in contact

during the long haul, especially with 

the updated surface address of where they would like 

to receive a copy of your book

that is published in part, thanks to them.

. . . 

What is missing from this short-list?

Which resources are you using or have used?