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It’s NOVEMBER ALREADY?

Well, almost. October will whip by in a sugar-induced haze. Especially because a) I’ll buy candy way too early and eat it all; and b) my kids will change their minds about their Halloween costumes umpteen times. “I wanna be Frankie Stein! No, Draculaura! No, a zombie mermaid! Ooh, I know, a picture book author! I can trick-or-treat in my jammies with a story stuck to my forehead! You’re sorta like a zombie, right, Mommy?”

Um, YEAH.

October is NOT the month of jack-o-lanterns, candy corn (BLECH!) and costumes. It’s the month of PiBoIdMo-eve!

Don’t know what PiBoIdMo is? Check it.

Our 5th anniversary logo, banners and badges have been designed by the kawaii-cutie, author-illustrator Joyce Wan.

Joyce knows my penchant for hot-air balloons. (My husband almost proposed on one. But I think he was afraid I’d drop the ring.)

So this year’s theme is IDEAS TAKING FLIGHT!

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WAIT A MINUTE! DID THE BANNER UP TOP SAY 5TH ANNIVERSARY?!

Yep, it sure did. Which means I’ll have to come up with something super-snazzy for this year. So how ’bout JANE YOLEN?

Besides the legendary Ms. Yolen, here are some of the authors and illustrators who’ll be blogging all November long, helping you to fill your idea notebook with 30 picture book concepts:

  • Drew Daywalt
  • Michael Garland
  • Melissa Guion
  • Leeza Hernandez
  • Lenore & Daniel Jennewein
  • Renee Kurilla
  • Mike Allegra
  • Elizabeth Rose Stanton
  • Bitsy Kemper
  • Julie Falatko
  • Adam Lehrhaupt
  • Wendy Martin
  • The McQueen Brothers
  • Pat Miller
  • Pat Zietlow Miller
  • Anne Marie Pace
  • Betsy Devany
  • Paul Schmid
  • Annette Simon
  • Tammi Sauer
  • Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
  • Kami Kinard
  • Dianne de las Casas
  • Dorina Lazo Gilmore
  • James Proimos
  • Marcie Colleen
  • Karen Henry Clark
  • Maria Gianferrari
  • Laurie Keller
  • Katie Davis
  • Ryan Sias
  • Zachariah Ohora
  • Kelly Light
  • Steve Barr
  • Greg Pizzoli

And even more to be announced…

Official registration will begin on this blog on OCTOBER 24th and run through NOVEMBER 4th. Watch for it! (It’s easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy if you just follow this blog. See left column.) Only officially registered participants will be eligible for PRIZES, like a consultation with a picture book agent!

But you can grab the “Official Participant” Badge NOW and proudly slap it on your blog or social network site. Kindly link it back to taralazar.com/piboidmo so folks know where to join the challenge. You can also grab the “Ideas Taking Flight!” slogan above.

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Do you Tweet? Add a PiBoIdMo Twibbon to your Twitter avatar. Just visit the PiBoIdMo 2013 Campaign to upload it.

And here’s some adorbs lightbulb balloons! Use them when you’re blogging about PiBoIdMo to express yourself!

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The only thing that’s missing is the PiBoIdMo 2013 merchandise to benefit RIF—like your official idea notebook—so I’ll be announcing that soon.

In the meantime, let us know how YOU’RE gearing up for PiBoIdMo. Blog about it or leave a comment below. What are you looking forward to this November?

Me? Tonight I’m hosting one of NJ-SCBWI’s PiBoIdMo kick-off parties at the Manville Public Library. Maybe I’ll see some of you there? I promise I won’t be a zombie.