Just the Way You Are

Happy Valentines Day, dear reader. I appreciate the time you share with me. I appreciate your comments and your support. I hope you have a wonderful day and that you share it with someone you love. Today, remember that you are loved, and that I like you, just the way you are.

Just the Way You Are

I like your eyes. I like your nose.
I like your elbows and your toes.

I like the way you laugh and shout.
I like your insides and your out.

I like the happy way you walk.
I like to listen when you talk.

I like the way you think and feel.
I like the part of you that’s real.

I like you when you’re on the go,
And even when you’re movin’ slow.

I like to see you jump and run.
I like you ‘cause you’re so much fun.

I like to watch you sing and dance.
I join you when I get the chance.

I like the spunky clothes you wear.
I like the way you wear your hair.

I like the sparkle in your smile.
I like your attitude, your style.

I like you when you’re happy,
and even when you’re sad.

I like you when you’re snappy,
and even when you’re mad.

You’re gentle, brave, and helpful, too.
You’re funny, cheerful, honest, true.

You’re talented and very smart.
You have a kind and loving heart.

And even on the worst of days
When nothing goes quite right,

I like you in the best of ways.
I like you day or night.

And though you’re always changing,
You don’t have to change for me.

I like you just the way you are.
Be who you want to be.

Warmly,
Linda Garner

p.s.

Hey this would make a great picture book, wouldn't it.

Thoughts on Writing

You have to write the book that wants to be written.

And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups,

then you write it for children.

- Madeleine L'Engle

I love this quote. I keep it in a place where I can see if often.  This week has been somewhat harried for me. I’m trying to do the marketing I need to for my book (social and otherwise). It’s taking a lot of time. Time I’d rather spend writing. After I’d contacted book stores, tweeted, connected with lots of bloggers, posted on facebook, etc. etc. etc., I could feel myself becoming irritable and frustrated.

I love doing these things, but it was too much.

I decided to take a few days and just write. My goodness, I had a wonderful time inventing a story. I LOVE being creative. My characters got themselves into a lot of trouble. They worked to get themselves out, but then ran into more problems that seem unsolvable right now. What fun!!!

So I’m happy again, and the lesson I have learned? . . . Is that I need to take time for the things I love. Yes, there will always be my “to-do” list, but I must do the things that fulfill me.

You would think I would have learned that by now, wouldn’t you. I guess we all need reminders, and I got a wake-up call this week.

Happy writing! Take care! Keep in touch. Christy

http://christymonson.blogspot.com/

http://prophetsinperson.blogspot.com/

http://www.christymonson.com/

Wow. It's Free.

I have good news. A Valentine Disaster is free today. Just click on the button the sidebar for easy ordering.

I joined Kindle Select and it gives me the opportunity to promote my book by giving away free downloads once in a while. Since I want to test the process, I'm giving away my book today.

If you don't own a kindle, don't worry. You can get a free kindle app to use on your phone or your computer. I just got mine and it was easy. Click here to download your kindle app today, and then click on the button to get your first e-book, all for free.

Free. It's my favorite price.

Linda Garner

Let the Conferences Begin!

This is it....the week all conferences begin!  Yes, LTUE is this week and I will be there stalking my writer friends and their agents. I can't wait. Since I'm in a bit of a crunch on packing time (okay, and laundry time...there is so much to do before I leave), I am re-posting my annual conference post:

Yes, it's the kickoff of many fine conferences. So I'm unplugging this week (only half the week) to prepare and mingle with other writes. I'm way excited. 

Here are a few things I've packed in the past, and highly recommend to anyone attending a conference this year: 

MnMs (because I have a noisy stomach and really, no one wants to be startled by that thing!) 

Pencils (even a pen, because I have broken a pencil a time or two and writing with plain wood just doesn’t work well. I did try to chew off the wood, but I had wood shavings stuck in my teeth for a week!)

Paper (To write on… and make spit wads to launch at people who are making me jealous). (j/k I would never do that, and that incident in New York last year - Not me.)

Crackers (Please see MnM’s above).

Notebook (At the conference last year I brought home piles and piles of notes! I expect the same today). I'm actually thinking of using my Alphasmart this year...Hmmm. 

Deodorant (this one is pretty self explanatory).

Couple of chocolate bars (because chocolate is the magical food made by tiny magical creatures from a magical land *sigh * and it’s so, so good!) 

A little extra coinage (for silly things like, food, bottled water, gas for car – stuff like that).

Antacid (There is a funny story behind this, I promise, but just not enough time to disclose. So sorry, and if you’ve heard the story * head hung low * you have my deepest sympathies). Next year I'll tell you about it...next year (say really raspy with lots of air...)

So there you have it! My list of stuff that I will be dragging through the halls with other devoted writers, breathing in the fumes of excitement and hope. If you see me, feel free to ask for a handful of MnM’s, hopefully I haven’t eaten them all yet, but it is very possible that I still have a few good sheets of paper left for spit wads.

Are you planning for any conferences this year?
See you all next week! 

That's the Way the Publishing Cookie Crumbles

I've had a lot of disappointments in publishing this year. Picture books are a hard sale at the moment. They are expensive and time consuming to produce. Editors are hesitant to take on picture book projects and agents are wary. I get the nicest rejection letters from agents.

Earlier this year, two different publishers changed their minds on picture books they had promised to publish. I was surprised and sad, but I moved on quickly. No sense in wallowing in it. I sent a new manuscript right away. Back to the waiting game.

The biggest loss when publishers change their mind is the loss of time. It takes a long time to get that manuscript through the acceptance process, and another long time to get the book illustrated. If the process gets short-circuited along the way, the time loss is huge.

It was this level of disappointment and frustration that led me to take a serious look at publishing an e-picture book. E-publishing for picture books is in its infancy. There are some commercially produced e-picture books available, but only a handful of indivually produced e-picture books. There is not a lot of accessable info about the process, and the tools that commercial publishers use to produce an e-picture book aren't available to Joe Author.

Still with a little bit of help (okay, a lot of help), I was able to get A Valentine Disaster up on kindle. It was a rush job, because we wanted it out before Valentine's Day. It went live on Kindle some time last Friday. We've had a few sales already.

It will make a great Valentine Surprise for someone you love. Ordering is one click away on the sidebar of this blog. If you don't have a kindle, you can get a free kindle app for your computer or phone. Click here to download.

We will also have the pdf version available on our website soon. We're still under construction. Check back in a couple of days. http://www.picturebooksrock.com/

I love picture books. I love the kind you can hold and touch. If you're like me, you can almost smell the flowers and taste the cookies. E-books have a different feel, but they have some advantages. They take up less room. They are less expensive. They are not limited by publisher's imagination.

I have more e-picture books on the way. Hang on for the ride.

Linda Garner

Foreshadowing in your First Lines

I’m reading a book called Hooked by Les Edgerton. It is a great read about hooking your reader in the first few lines of your book. I’m just learning about foreshadowing trouble in the first part of your book.

He quotes Jeffrey Deaver’s The Coffin Dancer

“When Edward Carney said good-bye to his wife, Percey, He never

thought it would be the last time he’d see her.”

Trouble ahead? I think so—especially with a title like Coffin Dancer.

Think of the first lines of some of the things you have written. Do they foreshadow trouble?

I’ve just rewritten the beginning of a middle-grade novel I’m trying to finish. At LDS Storymaker’s Boot Camp I got enough feedback to let me know I was doing a lot of telling and not much showing, so I’ve been editing. I’ve changed the first scene completely.

How does this sound?

Dre curled under the wool blanket woven by his father. Worry

darted back and forth in Dre’s belly like a scared rabbit.

He waited for sleep to come, but angry voices from the next

room chased it away. Thundering words bounced back and

forth across the adobe walls of his family dwelling.

I don’t know if this is better or not. I know I tell you all the time that I’m baby-stepping, and I really feel like it. I’d love you to share some of your first lines with me that foreshadow trouble ahead. Maybe you have good advice for me. I’m always up to learn something.

Happy foreshadowing! Christy

http://christymonson.blogspot.com/

http://prophetsinperson.blogspot.com/

http://www.christymonson.com/

Huh? Really? I don't Believe it.

Is your story believable? I mean really believable.

Take for instance this:

(Okay, this movie was fun to watch, but HISHE makes a good point.)

(That's so awesome) When someone reads your work and they say, "Why didn't (insert name here) just do (insert action here)?"

That's when a writer usually says, "You just don't get it," while shaking head... "I'm a writer, this story can be anyway I want." (No...*uneasy look* I don't know that from experience. *nervous laughing*)

Okay, this is a big mistake (see video above for reference). When someone says a part of your plot won't work, believe them, revise, and move on. Because you want your book to be better.

Have a great week writing everyone! I have to go change that one scene on my book...you know...the one that I thought was cool, but ...my character can't conveniently fly...but it would be cool! Have you ever had to change your plot because something just wasn't working?