Some Inspiration for an April Afternoon

I am thrilled to be participating in Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 Challenge again this year. Julie has created an amazing resource and community for writers in all stages of our writing careers. It’s encouraging and uplifting to be a part of this supportive writing community.

Today, on a day that I really needed to hear this, I read the March Featured Author post. I already had great admiration for Baptiste Paul and the books he writes, but this post took his work to a new level for me.

I think all writers hope, dream, long for their work to impact others. Baptiste has seen this happen with his books.

The link to Baptiste’s call to “Never give up” is below:

12 x 12 Featured Author March 2019 – Baptiste Paul

Also, everyone needs to pick up a copy of Baptiste’s new book, I Am Farmer, from your local indie bookseller!

A New Year!

My goodness. What a whirlwind of a year! And now we’re already one month into 2019!

I most often like to talk about children’s books here, but every once in a while I share a glimpse into my world. This is one of those posts. It’s also a book review (of a sort).

In early 2018, I joined a group of folks who decided to do a virtual book group. We started off the year working together through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I lasted only a few weeks. Not because I wasn’t enjoying the book (in fact, I’ve recently started over again). But because it was creating too much havoc.

For those who haven’t heard of this book, it is a twelve-week course aimed at guiding participants to greater creativity. It’s not easy. The exercises push hard each week, forcing some deep analysis and exploration of subconscious doubts and beliefs.

It’s also revitalizing.

And it’s not just for authors. Or artists. Or musicians, dancers, or filmmakers. Ms. Cameron describes lawyers and CEOs and investors who have been through her course and excelled at their non-creative careers by letting their creative sides grow. We can all benefit.

So, here I am a year later, after Julia Cameron shook up my entire life, my career, my family. I barely recognize this new Liz when compared with the Liz of January 2018!

I can’t wait to see what the creative recovery journey will bring this time around. (My goal is to make it through to the end!) I highly encourage this book.

The Artist’s Way is just one of many books Julia Cameron has written. She also has a course available at Julia Cameron Live, she has live events, and she has appeared on many podcasts.

Have you read any great books lately?

Don’t Give Up On Your Writing Dream: 5 Tips When Self-Publishing Your Book | WritersDigest.com

Once there was a stubborn girl who never gave up on her dreams. So she wrote a great book about a stubborn girl who never gave up on her dreams!

Aptly named The Wait, Lisa Kaye Presley’s novel is now available on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks.

Lisa is featured as a guest on WritersDigest.com sharing her tips for self-publishing. An amazing story and some great tips!

Source: Don’t Give Up On Your Writing Dream: 5 Tips When Self-Publishing Your Book | WritersDigest.com

How to Get Published in Kid’s Imagination Train

Guest post by Randi Lynn Mrvos, editor of Kid’s Imagination Train.

Liz kindly invited me to blog about the types of stories Kid’s Imagination Train publishes. Before we explore submissions, allow me to introduce you to our little magazine. KIT is a free online magazine for kids five to twelve. It was created to encourage children to read and to learn.  We also wanted to give children the opportunity to illustrate our features and have their work published online.  By drawing pictures kids have the chance to be creative while reflecting on what they’ve read.

The second reason KIT was developed was to help writers get their stories and articles published.  Since the children’s magazine market had been shrinking for years, writers had fewer choices to place their work.  With KIT, writers can earn credits to build their bios.

KIT accepts nonfiction, poetry, and fiction, but let’s focus on fiction. If you are thinking about submitting a story we would like to see the six structural elements of a story: Character, quest, complications, climax, conclusion, change. In addition, we are looking for light-hearted tone and voice. We like to see whimsical stories with illustration potential.

Here are some tips to help you write a story for KIT:

Introduce the main character in the first paragraph.
Make the protagonist likable even though she may have faults. Readers should care about this character.
Establish place or setting in the first or second paragraph.
Create conflict in the first third of the story.
Have the protagonist solve the dilemma by herself and without any help from an adult.
Use “said” for dialogue tags. Avoid using fancy tags like she promised, she cried, she shouted.
Try to incorporate the senses into the story.
Drive the story with action. Balance action with dialogue.
Keep the story under 500 words.
Have the protagonist grow or change by the end of the story.

We encourage you to read back copies. This will help you get a feel for the kinds of stories we publish. It may even spark your imagination.   Kid’s Imagination Train loves publishing stories for children. So now that you know what we’re looking for, do you have a story that you can share with KIT?

You can find Kid’s Imagination Train at www.kidsimaginationtrain.com. Read more by Randi at www.childrenswritersworld.blogspot.com. Thanks for joining us today, Randi!