Confusion

The other day I had a long conversation with a children’s librarian about the American Library Association (ALA) awards. I was surprised when she said most Newbery winners have been young adult novels. She gathered the 2008 award winning books I needed to read for an upcoming writing meeting, and the conversation ventured into age levels for children’s books. 

For the past six years, I’ve been under the impression that there was a set of universal standards for breaking books target age ranges. The definitions got fuzzy when the librarian started talking about midway, middle grade, and young adult novels. She told me that middle grade is considered to be for middle school children, and midway or transition novels were for kids in the latter part of elementary school. I thought that the writing world and the reading world followed the same set of rules. I guess I was wrong, unless my town’s library follows their own set of rules not shared with other librarians in the country. 

So, packed full of doubts, I pulled out several writing books for some affirmation that I wasn’t delusional about my previous beliefs. I found the same information across the board. 

• Easy readers / early chapter books (48-64 pgs) – 4-8 yr olds
• Younger Middle Grade / Chapter books: usually between early chapter books and novels in length – 7-9 yr olds
• Middle Grade: are usually 128-200 pgs and are traditionally for 8-12 yr olds
• Tween / Upper Middle Grade / Transitional: 128-200 or more pages – 10-14 yr olds
• Young Adult / YA: up to 250 pages – 12 and up or 14 and up depending on the content and situations

Makes you want to go hmm.... I couldn't find the age level guidelines the librarian quoted me, and I guess I'm not going to worry about it unless someone else tells me otherwise.

Save an Editor: Buy a Book

In the past two months, we’ve seen a drastic blow to the children’s publishing business. Big publishing houses are consolidating and laying off editors in order to cope with the economic crisis. Others have declared a moratorium on submissions.

Last November, RACWI sponsored (along with Liftbridge Books) the Rochester Area Children’s Book Festival. We had record numbers of attendees and some of the authors were left with no books on their tables by the end of the festival. People were still buying books in November. Has America’s purchasing habits changed that much since the festival, or were we just seeing an isolated event?

My family has not stopped buying books. Since the beginning of 2009, I have bought more than seventeen children’s books. I can’t remember all the titles because my children ferreted some of them away.

1. The Secret Cheese Syndicate by Donna St. Cyr (bought 4 copies- some for gifts) – Middle Grade
2. The Grave Yard Book by Neil Gaiman –YA (IMHO)
3. The Boys Book: How to the Best at Everything by Dominique Enright and Guy Macdonald (elementary and up)
4. Penguins and Antartica by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce (chapter book)
5. The Magical Dress by Charles Nolan (chapter book)
6. The Daring Rescue by Charles Nolan (chapter book)
7. The Missing Medal by Charles Nolan (chapter book)
8. Saving Christmas by Charles Nolan (chapter book)
9. The Owl and the Pussy Cat by Edward Lear, Illustrated by Jan Brett (picture book)
10. The Faery Taile Project: Book One by Jim C. Hines and Christopher Kastensmidt (YA)
11. The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith
12. A guide to current card games like Pokemon (for my son, but it’s still on order) – Middle Grade
13. Crogan’s Vengeance by Chris Schweizer (graphic novel, YA)


What about you?

Nothin' Much

Does it Rub Off?

Some people may remember the aunt who would rub babies on the arms and backs of newlywed couples in hopes of inducing fertility in said couple. Or maybe that was just my aunt. She’s a little silly with her superstitions at times, but we all still love her.

So, if you bump elbows with a published author does some of that publishing success rub off? I wish it was that easy.


Writing and Illustrating Frenzy

One of my online writing groups (yes, I have more than one) has made a writing goal that I haven’t exactly stuck to. I’m writing, but not as much as I’d like. Most of my time over the past month has been spent revising. Note to self: Don’t forget those YA novels waiting to be completed.

A local writer/illustrator has given me the kick in the butt I needed. We meet once a month, and she has been checking up on me to make sure I’ve been drawing. I started working on dummy for one of my picture books and hope to have something to show her at next week’s meeting.

FROG

We rarely see this little guy now that he has gone into hibernation. I had to dig him out of his aquarium to get this shot. Yes, Dash (the name the kids gave him), has a new habitat. No more froggy escapes for this guy.

Back in the Saddle Again…

Writing and such
Writing while on vacation, especially when you aren’t at home and there is nowhere to escape to write without hurting the relatives’ feelings, is a surmountable task. I did accomplish something while the kids were on school break. I worked on my super secret, unmentionable short story project, and I revised and polished some existing stories. So, all was not lost.

Now, I’m looking at the three month mark following the Rutger’s One-on-One Plus Conference and thinking “Egads! Where did the time go?” I have a handful of editors I’d like to send either a picture book or one of my novels to, and I’d like to send something to them before the three months is over.


Job Hunt
I did it. I applied for a couple of scientist positions. So far, I’ve only looked at two local companies, but I will expand my search as the year progresses (still planning to stay in Rochester). It has been great staying home with the kids, but they are both in school and money is tight.

I miss having my hands in the science, but I love writing too. At several conferences, I’ve met scientists who write for children while working. And my kids are in bed by 8:30pm, so I do have free time in the evening. It’s all about priorities… do I want to watch an episode of CSI or Everybody Loves Raymond, or do I want to write? The only show I follow regularly is Heroes.

Bring on 2009

On the Road
I love to travel. Growing up, I moved 18 times and lived in seven states before starting college. In a way, I miss seeing all the new and interesting places, but stability is good.

This year we decided to visit my brother in Tennessee during the kids’ school winter break. Even though flying would be much quicker and less tortuous traveling (think little kids in the car fighting) we decided to drive. Fifteen hours is a long time to be in the car with two young boys, but they did pretty well on the way down. Instead of asking “Are we there yet?,” they looked over our shoulders and told us, frequently I might add, how many miles were left according to the GPS device. And occasionally, we were told what the speed limit was and what speed we should be going.

Leaving Rochester, we passed through Ohio and then Kentucky before arriving in Tennessee the next day. I would have loved to stop and sightsee in Kentucky. We passed some interesting places such as Mammoth National Park and a few other places I can’t remember at the moment. We had a nice visit with my brother and his family – the kids had many Nerf battles.


My parents came up from Florida to see everyone too. And the weather was beautiful. I didn’t miss the cold, gray Rochester winter at all.

Next, we headed toward the Catskills to visit my husband’s family. The kids didn't do very well on the way through Tennessee and Virginia, or on the next day through West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, or New Jersey. But as we passed NYC and approached the Catskills, the squabbling died down.

We had a nice visit with the relatives, but I'm ready to go home. My youngest has a touch of the stomach bug. The ride home should be interesting.

After we arrive home, the total travel time for our trip will be around 40 to 42 hours.


New Year’s Resolutions

Writing
In 2008, I made writing goals and accomplished most of them. Most, but not all. Sometimes, I wonder if I set myself up for failure by aspiring to do more than I could handle. My goals were certainly more realistic than previous years.

Over the past months, I’ve polished seven picture books and one of my middle grade novels, rewrote one of my YA novels in the first person, and received a personal invitation to submit to an anthology edited by a Canadian author. Sadly, my anthology submission didn’t make the cut, but the anthology’s editor plans to invite me to submit to the next one.

This year, I was accepted to the Rutgers One-on-One Plus Conference, and my mentor was Lisa Cheng from McElderry (she has since moved to Atheneum). She gave some great comments on three picture books before my 45minutes were over. The conference was over quickly, and I wish I had mingled more during lunch.

I also secured another writing gig with the unnamable educational company. Hopefully, they’ll send more work.


What are my writing goals for 2009?
Submit, submit, submit… Next week, I hope to prepare a bunch of submission packets to send out to the various editors I’ve met at conferences. I have seven picture books and one novel ready to go out. Over the next month, I hope to polish my other middle grade adventure/fantasy and send it out too. My YA novels will take a little longer to fine-tune.



Organization and Such
Anybody who really knows me would say that I’m the Queen of Clutter. I save everything. In 2009, I hope to change that (or at least make some progress in cleaning up clutter). In the basement, there are boxes that have remained unopened for close to twenty years. I’m going to let go of some things and better store others.


Happy New Year to all! Bring on 2009. I’m ready.

Books, books, books

I volunteered at the Rochester Children's Book Festival. Before my shift, I grabbed way too many books and then sent my family on an author scavenger hunt to get the books signed. Next year, I think I'll just give them a map and tell them what books to pick up. My husband told me it was difficult trying to see the paper name plates for each author through all the throngs of people, and I forgot that my husband and kids wouldn't recognized them from sight. Maybe I should just send them on their scavenger hunt with a bunch of photos.

My kids enjoyed making crafts in the Busy Bookworm place, met the characters dressed up in Star Wars costumes (I went to college with the woman dressed as Princess Leia), and wandered around the festival for four hours before heading home.

I don't think we have ever had that many people attend the festival. The masses did not die down until around 3pm. Then, the festival closed at 4pm.

Before all the books were cleared away, I had a brief opportunity to chat with Cynthia DeFelice, Bruce Coville, and Tamora Pierce.

Cynthia DeFelice, Bruce Coville, Me, Tamora Pierce

All in all, a great day, and I can't wait until the next RCBF in November 2009.