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by Jena Benton
Now that you’re done with Storystorm and have fistfuls of ideas, I bet you’re wondering what to do with all of them. I like to sift through those jewels once a month until something sparkles at me. That is usually the story that becomes my rough first draft of the month (I try to write at least one new picture book manuscript every month). But let me caution you on one thing (which might seem obvious): don’t let your ideas become set in stone. They don’t need to be perfect little baubles you never adjust. Let me explain.
It was through a Storystorm idea and my writing process that I actually stumbled into my very first published picture book. And when I say stumbled, I do mean it was definitely NOT a straight line to success.
I have been faithfully participating in StoryStorm annually for so many years now that I’ve lost count. Let’s just say it was back in the “good old days” when it had a much different name and happened in November. In January of 2019, there was a brilliant graphic reshared from 2013. (See it here (it’s huge)!
One of the idea prompts (i.e., #4) was to think of your most embarrassing moment. This was the first idea gem of my book. I instantly remembered when I was in Elementary school, and I performed on stage (possibly for the school’s talent show—details are fuzzy). My dad had helped me to memorize a poem by my favorite poet for this event and I was excited to share it. I think I may have even started to recite the poem on stage, BUT when I saw all those faces staring back at me, I froze in sheer terror. I never finished the poem and I’m pretty sure someone had to come and get me off the stage too. Thinking back on that event, I wrote a draft about a Talent Show contest, but … today there are no prizes for school talent show contestants. And when everyone wins there isn’t any conflict.
Was the idea broken? It had certainly lost its luster. How in the world did I fix that? Then I examined the idea in a new light and it sparkled once more. I wondered if I could change the setting. What animal character would need to be “on stage” to perform in front of others? The answer hit me as clear as a ray of sunshine: a rooster crowing! They perform daily! But what if it was a young rooster trying to crow like his dad. And what if he also suffered from stage fright the first time he had to perform in front of all the farm yard animals?
I wrote another draft of this very concept, full of chicken-y facts I had researched. I revised it a few times until it flowed smoothly, then showed it to an illustrator friend of mine. She read it and was brave enough to tell me it would never sell. There were too many barn yard stories already out there with a similar plot. My idea once again lost its shine as if I had dropped it in the mud. I realized she was right. Maybe that idea was a dud. But I stubbornly didn’t want to give up on my little rooster.
So once again, I picked up my idea, dusted it off, and really examined it under a microscope. This time I asked myself why? Why did I write a story about chickens in the first place? I don’t own any chickens. I never grew up on a farm. I wasn’t a huge collector of chicken paraphernalia. Why had I researched and written a story about them? Then I remembered two things at the same time.
First, I remembered the amazing number of roosters and chickens I had seen on my honeymoon in Hawaii on the island of Kauai. There, more than on any other Hawaiian island, were SO many wild chickens they were called “jungle fowl.” While visiting there, my husband and I had stopped at an overlook to get out and admire the ocean view. We were astonished to see our car immediately surrounded by so many hens with their chicks in tow that we weren’t sure we could leave (they were even under the car!). When I thought about that event and how all those chickens had come running, I realized it was because a rooster had crowed.
The sparkle was now a stunning blaze of light! Then I thought about what else I needed: to raise my stakes. What if my rooster wasn’t on a farm, but was living free in the wild? What if instead of being called to feed when the farmer came, a wild flock was being called by the rooster when a car stopped just in case there was food? Bingo! Now the gleam was practically a spot light.
Second, I remembered this excellent Storyatorm post on marketability from 2018 by Tara Luebbe.
One of the things Tara Luebbe asked in her post was “are there any [specialty stores] you can envision your book fitting into?” Thanks to many previous trips to Hawaii where I had collected picture books published by a small local press, I knew that there was. Now the idea was sparkling so brightly it was practically a light house beam!
I revised my story from a barnyard to the outdoors in Hawaii, changed my rooster’s name to Kauai (my inspiration), raised the stakes, and voila! I had the perfect story for a small publisher in Hawaii, Island Heritage Press. My book KAUAI’S CALL was published May 2024.
What did I learn?
- Don’t be afraid to do a massive revision by asking yourself what could change. Examine those ideas in a new light.
- Keep going with your idea generation; sometimes ideas need to change to shine better.
If you take one of your sparkly ideas and write it, but your story doesn’t quite work, ask yourself what can I change? If I try it with a different character, does it work better? If I try it with a different setting, does it finally click? Etcetera.
I’ve written quite a few crazy ideas in my StoryStorm notebook that have been like the magical gemstone Alexandrite. By day they can look a beautiful green, and if I only looked for that surface level story, I might miss its other beauty. Because at night, it might shine a purplish red if I looked at it in another light. Don’t be afraid of letting your ideas change. Sometimes that’s where their real beauty can hide.
Jena Benton is a writer and illustration, plus she’s the SCBWI Illustrator Coordinator for the region of Alaska. She lives in Anchorage, Alaska now with her husband and two kitties. Visit her at JenaBenton.com.
Jena Benton is giving away a picture book critique to celebrate her Storystorm success! Just comment once below to enter. Good luck!
by Matt Forrest Esenwine
The great thing about Storystorm is that it spurs so many ideas! It also encourages one to simply brainstorm, without worrying about whether those ideas are any good or not. And it’s a very low-pressure sort of thing, as the honor system is pretty much the only rule we need to follow. It’s also free!
(OK, so apparently there are LOTS of great things about Storystorm.)
Ironically, even though Tara shares daily inspirational posts on her blog during Storystorm, it’s still sometimes difficult to nail down just where an idea came from. Take, for example, this particular success story:
My first poetry anthology!
During the last few days of Storystorm 2019, I was kicking around some possible concepts for a poetry collection. As someone who writes a lot of children’s poetry and whose picture books like “Flashlight Night” and “Once Upon Another Time” are very lyrical and poetic, I’m always on the lookout for new themes and angles around which I can develop a collection.
I have no idea if it was Lindsay Bonilla’s post about wild animals or my friend Diana Murray’s post about actively creating your own inspiration rather than waiting for it (something I wholeheartedly endorse), but the concept of rainbows and all the myriad forms they take suddenly came to me.
When I say “forms,” I don’t just mean normal rainbows, refraction, etc. I began thinking about creatures like the rainbowfish and rainbow lorikeet as well as natural wonders like Yellowstone’s Grand Prismatic Spring and the Rainbow Nebula in Orion. So I immediately jotted down “rainbow poetry collection” onto my Storystorm list as #30 out of an eventual 32 ideas.
A couple of weeks later, I was researching rainbows and discovered things I never knew existed like the Rainbow Mountain of Vinicunca, Peru and the amazingly-colored and bad-tempered peacock mantis shrimp.
It occurred to me that since rainbows are symbols of inclusion, hope, and pride…I should try to be as “inclusive” with these poems as possible! So rather than a collection of my own poems, I began my quest to develop my very first poetry anthology. Over the years, I’ve had nearly 40 poems published in numerous anthologies but never created one of my own! Who did I need to talk to first?
Lee Bennett Hopkins.
The late award-winning, Guinness record-holding anthologist had compiled more than 126 poetry anthologies over the course of his career, and having had the honor of working with him on several of them, I wanted to seek out some professional guidance.
So I called him up and we chatted on the phone at length about the rainbow poetry anthology, other projects we were working on, and life in general…and when we hung up, he had provided me with a great deal of advice and support, and had agreed to even contribute a poem.
Little did I realize it would be our last phone conversation.
Six months later, Lee’s friends received the news he had passed away. He never knew that a mere eight months later, in April 2020, I would receive an offer from Eerdmans Books for Young Readers to publish my proposed anthology. But I had done the legwork, research, and organization he had suggested and had a long list of poets and subjects ready to put this book together!
I couldn’t be more grateful to Lee for his guidance or to Tara for the environment she’s fostered that allows for the birth of ideas like this in the first place. I firmly believe that every idea opens the door for every idea that follows – so even if you think one of your Storystorm ideas isn’t worth writing down, WRITE IT DOWN, ANYWAY. That winning concept you’ve been struggling to find could be just another idea or two away!
It’s taken more than six years of contemplation, inspiration, and perspiration, but “A Universe of Rainbows: Multicolored Poems for a Multicolored World” finally arrives April 1! And because creativity begets creativity, I have a second anthology with Eerdmans, as well – and several others that are out on submissions.
Who knows where this new chapter of my career will lead?
Dunno.
But I do know it started with Storystorm!
A voiceover talent and commercial copy writer, Matt can be heard on commercials, animation, and corporate videos from Maine to Florida, from California to New Jersey, from the U.K. to Dubai. Over the years, Matt has had several adult poems published in independent collections, including the Tall Grass Writers Guild’s “Seasons of Change,” “The Licking River Review,” and the Donald Hall tribute anthology, “Except for Love” (Encircle, 2019), among others. In 2012, his poem, “Apple-Stealing,” was nominated by the Young Adult Review Network (YARN) for a Pushcart Prize.
His debut picture book, “Flashlight Night” (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), received a starred review from Kirkus and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Picture Books for Kids of 2017. You can find his children’s poetry in numerous anthologies including Lee Bennett Hopkins’ “School People” (Wordsong, 2018) and J. Patrick Lewis’ “The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry” (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2015), as well as “Highlights for Children” magazine. Matt lives in New Hampshire with his wife and children. Visit him at MattForrest.com.
Matt Forrest Esenwine is giving away a signed copy of “A Universe of Rainbows” to one lucky winner.
You’re eligible to win if you’re a registered Storystorm 2025 participant and you have commented only once below.
Prizes will be distributed at the conclusion of Storystorm.
by Leigh Anne Carter
Hello Storystormers! Today we’re going to dig deep and ask ourselves: What am I not ready for?
Get really honest! It could be something inevitable that you’re dreading. It could be something you keep putting off. Whatever it is, sit with it and write or sketch your thoughts. Whenever I’ve taken time to think about a truth that comes from inside myself, I can usually find a story I want to tell.
Maybe it’s small: a toothpaste spot on the bathroom mirror that needs to be cleaned. Is it serious? A work presentation or a close friend is moving away. You could be feeling annoyed, overwhelmed, nervous, or unprepared. Use that emotion to fuel your brainstorming.
Now how could that be worked into a story that a kid can relate to? Housework turns into chores or homework. Presentations turn into show and tell. Friends can move during all stages of life. You decide on tone. It can be punny, serious, inspirational—whatever works!
YETI IS NOT READY FOR SCHOOL is my debut picture book and it began from a Storystorm idea. But it boiled down to what my kidself struggled with. A memory from my first day of kindergarten began with me nervous to go in the classroom. But once I saw a friend, I was ready to go inside and enjoy what felt impossible. How could I turn that into a story that would inspire and be marketable? I have always loved stories about ghosts and monsters, so it felt right that I should write about a yeti who was not ready for her first day of school. After lots of revision and hard work, Yeti is now coming to a bookstore near you this summer!
Because I love seeing examples, here are even more picture books to give you different ideas on how you can work “readiness” into a story.
A perfect example: DON’T WASH WINSTON (Ashley Belote) shows a boy who goes to great lengths to prevent his teddy bear from a trip inside the scary washing machine. It’s not until a certain turn of events that he realizes Winston might feel better after a bath. A self-realized journey to being ready!
Try flipping it around: A character is ready. In THE LONGEST LETSGOBOY (Derick Wilder and Cátia Chien), a family pet knows his time is near. Told from the dog’s perspective on his last walk with his Little, he makes sure she will be okay after he is gone. He knows he is ready for the next part of his journey and the reader is gifted with a beautiful, bittersweet conclusion.
Maybe it’s a small part of your story: ALL THE GREATNESS IN YOU (Tameka Fryer Brown and Alleanna Harris) celebrates a child from their family’s voice. They share things that make him great, but one spread advises sometimes he might feel like he’s not ready to face certain obstacles. It ends on encouragement: “Tomorrow, should life make you doubt or forget who you are, or fear something new…Remember your can-do! Depend on that bounce-back! Believe all the greatness in you.”
Whether your character seeks out help from others or discovers answers on their own, part of being ready is acknowledging what is challenging. Through their story they can determine what they need to triumph. Honesty can help us use our own experiences and emotions to inspire a story.
Are you ready to listen, dig deep, and plant your next story seed? I think I know the answer.
Leigh Anne Carter is a writer and illustrator of stories for young readers. Her debut picture book YETI IS NOT READY FOR SCHOOL will be published July 2025 (Random House Children’s Books) with a second Yeti story coming in 2026. If she’s not at her desk working, you can find her lost in a book or the forest. She lives and works in North Carolina.
Find Leigh Anne online at LACarter.com and follow her on social @lacarterbooks.
Leigh Anne Carter is giving away either a signed copy of her debut picture book or a picture book critique, one winner’s choice.
You’re eligible to win if you’re a registered Storystorm 2025 participant and you have commented only once below.
Prizes will be distributed at the conclusion of Storystorm.
by Marzieh Abbas
I have been kicking off every new year (since the past three years) with awesome Storystorm blog posts! I’m happy to report, at least three of my upcoming picture books began as idea that were sparked from January blog posts! I’m super excited to be a guest blogger today. Let’s get right to it!
You’ve probably heard: “Write what you know” several times, as have I. But when I sit to write what I know, I usually draw a blank. That’s when I dip into my memories, especially photographs from my childhood and my phone’s gallery. Childhood memories are great for recalling important milestones, but everyday clicks of things which seem interesting to me and for pictures of my kids doing fun and silly stuff also bring many story possibilities.
Let’s start with childhood memories: thankfully, I wasn’t the last of four siblings, so my parents took loads of pictures of me as a child (my youngest sister has all of five pictures of her toddler years…lollll). Sometimes I open up those albums and think about all the fun we had and all the lovely memories we made. Sometimes a picture will remind me of a mood or what a specific location made me feel. It’s a springboard for more memories; even those not captured in those albums. There’s fun moments and not-so-fun moments, all great for story ideas!
A picture I came across a few years ago when my mom was cleaning out her storeroom. It had one of us sisters wrapped in a dupatta, an oversized South-Asian scarf, that had been tied like a sari. It was from the time we were visiting Karachi to see my Dadi, my grandma. She always wore saris and loved to dress us girls up in pseudo-saris, using fancy dupattas. She was a quirky grandparent who was married off at 16 and widowed at 28. She, herself, was a treasure trove of stories. A few years ago she passed away. My father, the youngest of three sons, had moved back to Pakistan to be with her in her last years. A few weeks after she passed, we noticed my dad had been sleeping with her dupatta tucked beside his pillow. He had asked my mother never to wash it, as it held her scent and helped hold her memory close.
Not only did this stay with me for a long time, it was the spark of an idea for my debut picture book, A DUPATTA IS… which releases on April 11th this year (published by Feiwel & Friends and illustrated by the super-talented Anu Chouhan).
It also made me think of all the memories that I can tap into by using a particular scent as a clue. Sometimes a waft of cinnamon will remind me of the home remedies my mother made for us when we had a flu. And then I’ll think about other connected memories– comforting vibes, or the panic I’d experience about a test I’d miss if I had to stay home due to a flu. Once Anu started sharing the illustrations, her settings, inspired by her own childhood with her grandma, resembled my own Dadi’s home, right down to the bangle stand and wooden cupboard, and subsequently brought in a flood of memories.
I encourage you to flip through your childhood memories. Does a particular picture remind you of a place or setting that evoked a feeling? Could that mood, or feeling possibly take center stage for a story. Maybe a picture in an old house would remind you of a nosy neighbor or a neighborhood friend you’ve long forgotten. Think about the sounds that you heard in that neighborhood, or the secret stash of your candies you hoped your sibling would never find. These may not be ideas in themselves, but it’s always great to jot these down for later; they may inspire a character quirk for a side character, or a specific detail for your current WIP.
Now coming to my phone gallery photos. I usually take pictures of unusual things I spot as I drive through my city, Karachi, or roam the bazaars. I also click a load of food and produce pictures. Sometimes I transfer photos and videos to an album that I’ve labeled “Story Prompts.”
When I had initially gotten married, my mother-in-law taught me lots of her secret recipes. I loved to cook and getting introduced to so many new recipes, while learning of new customs, was great. One of those recipes was a samosa stuffed with coconut shavings, sugar, cardamom, and lots of crushed nuts.
I had only ever eaten savory samosas. I recreated the sweet samosas many times. Many years down the line it was the story spark for my upcoming AWE-SAMOSAS! book that releases in 2024 (published by HarperCollins and illustrated in the most beautiful, warm hues by Bhagya Madanasinghe.)
My memories are a constant source of inspiration, and I’m sure yours are, or will be, too!
Raised between the bustling cities of Dubai, U.A.E and Karachi, Pakistan, Marzieh Abbas loves traveling, reading and samosas. She is a member of SCBWI, 12×12, and a graduate of the Lyrical Language Lab, Children’s Book Academy, and Storyteller Academy. She is active on Twitter where she continues to form connections with the Writing Community, runs a kidlit review group on Facebook and blogs about her author journey and life in Pakistan on Instagram. You can find out more about her at MarziehAbbas.com and follow her on Twitter @MarziehAbbas and Instagram @marziehabbas_author.
Marzieh is giving away a picture book critique (under 650-word fiction and non-rhyming manuscript).
You’re eligible to win if you’re a registered Storystorm 2023 participant and you have commented only once on today’s blog post. ↓
Prizes will be distributed at the conclusion of Storystorm.
Happy Earth Day! Let’s talk mushrooms!
My good friends forage for mushrooms. I went to their house around Halloween one year and saw a huge skull on their dining room table…what a perfectly spooky decoration…except…it wasn’t a skull at all! It was a giant puffball mushroom, and it was good eats! They sliced it up, seasoned and pan-fried it, and we fork-and-knifed it like a steak. It tasted divine. Since then, we’ve had all kinds of foraged dishes, including pasta in a creamy chanterelle sauce. What about morels, you ask? They’ve found them, too. (And I’ve eaten them!)
Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I received this beauty, MUSHROOM RAIN by Laura K. Zimmermann, illustrated by Jamie Green.
I had to ask Laura about it!
Laura, my blog is all about brainstorming ideas for writing books—so where did the idea for MUSHROOM RAIN originate?
Storystorm (technically, when it was PiBoldMo)!
Ooh, a Storystorm Success story!
I was looking for information on female scientists to add to my ideas for the month and came across a story about Beatrix Potter’s research with mushrooms. Sadly, that manuscript didn’t sell but it did help me see mushrooms in a new way. So when I came across a story about mushroom spores helping to create rain, I had to read it. And when I did, two words popped into my mind. Well, technically 6. “That is so cool…Mushroom Rain!”
That is cool! Speaking of cool, have you ever gone mushroom foraging?
So far I have only foraged for pictures. My nieces and I found a ton of different varieties in South Carolina and I have come across quite a few at the Arboretum near where I live. I joined the Mycological Association of Washington DC but haven’t had time in my schedule to drive out to the locations they have been foraging. I’m hoping to later in the summer or fall. Given that I thought a white mushroom I saw was a cute innocent thing—I later learned it was a destroying angel—I think it is best that my first true forage be with people who know more than me.
When I’m with my mushroom friends, they do all sorts of things to ID the mushrooms, like put them on a sheet of paper to check spore prints. Spores do so much (wink, wink)!
The illustrations by Jamie Green are gorgeous, and I love the unique choice of the black background, which really makes the mushrooms pop.
It’s an interesting and brilliant choice. One might expect greenery or blue sky considering the subject matter. How did you feel when you first saw the illustrations?
I was both surprised and thrilled when I saw Jamie’s art for the book. It’s not an approach I ever imagined, but now I can’t picture it any other way. The wonderland feel captures the kingdom of mushrooms perfectly!
Yes, it feels rather regal and majestic!
You have two spreads of fascinating back matter in this book. What is your approach to back matter?
As a scientist and nonfiction picture book writer, research rabbit holes are one of my virtual homes. I deep dive into any topic of interest and collect my favorite bits. Anything that doesn’t make it into the book, tries to find a home there.
What tips do you have for other non-fiction picture book writers?
Follow topics that won’t let go wherever they may lead. Straight or winding the path will take you where you want to go—even if you don’t know where that is at the start. Then double and triple check your facts. Find everything you can and reach out to those who know more than you. Many wonderful and patient experts helped make Mushroom Rain what it is today. And I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but it bears repeating. Join SCBWI. Use Storystorm and other challenges to push your writing forward. I am the writer I am today because of them and my amazing critique partners that I met, you guessed it, through SCBWI.
Laura, thank you for stopping by on Earth Day and sharing this enchanting story of mushrooms.
Blog readers, Laura is giving away a non-fiction picture book critique (plus a signed bookplate and SWAG) to one lucky winner.
Comment once below with your favorite mushroom.
A random winner will be selected next month.
Good luck!
College professor by day and children’s writer by night, Laura K. Zimmermann has published numerous academic articles on human development as well as nonfiction stories in AppleSeeds, Ask, Muse, Odyssey, and Root & Star magazines. Her debut picture book, MUSHROOM RAIN, is here now from Sleeping Bear Press.
When she’s not writing, you’ll find her teaching classes and conducting research at Shenandoah University or wandering through nature with Junior Explorer Tivy.
Online you can find her at LauraKZimmermann.com, @LauraK_PBwriter on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
by Patti Richards
I’m so excited to be here today to talk about my new picture book, MRS. NOAH (Little Lamb Books)! The book sets sail on October 19th but will be available for pre-sale on October 5. It’s about the unsung hero of the Ark story, Mrs. Noah, and all she does to get the ark ready AFTER Noah decides the job is done.
It seems like every idea I add to my Storystorm list each year has its own story, and MRS. NOAH’s is one of my favorites. So, here’s how it all happened:
I was packing my family for a big trip to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. It was our very first cruise and I was running around like a crazy woman trying to prep for the two-day drive to Florida (we thought that would be fun…yep). So along with planning for the actual cruise, I had to book hotel rooms and make sure everyone had enough clean clothes and toiletries for the two days before and the two days after. Not to mention buying up enough pet supplies and snacks for our house sitter, stopping the mail, making sure everyone had a swimsuit and shoes that fit, plus paying all the bills and getting the house cleaned before we could leave. My husband, who always helps, had to work extra hours so we could have this week away. This meant he was at the office until late every night, so I was on my own. And just six weeks earlier, my son had undergone a big surgery to remove a benign tumor from his skull base, so there were follow up appointments to get the “all clear” just a few days before we left. Needless to say, I was a shipwreck waiting to happen.
Somewhere in all of the craziness, I had this thought… “If I’m this stressed trying to get everything done before we leave for our cruise, how in the world did Mrs. Noah get everything ready for an ark full of animals and the rest of her family?” This made me laugh out loud. The idea of Mrs. Noah settled in and stayed (I call ideas like this “God whispers”) and by the time the trip was over, I had the first lines of the story in my head.
When I got home, I immediately put MRS. NOAH on my Storystorm list, and that’s where it stayed for six years (yes, you read that right)! Each year I’d sign up for Storystorm, and each year I’d add MRS. NOAH to my list at some point during the month. I wanted so much to write this story, but other projects kept bumping it out of the way. Then, in 2018, I was able to quit my full-time freelance writing job, and for the first time in more than 25 years as a writer, focus completely on my work for children. That’s when the idea finally became a first draft. After a year of sharing it with my critique group, revising, sharing and revising again (I had a total of 13 versions at this point), I saw that a Twitter event called #FaithPitch was coming up and I thought, “Why not?” and I pitched the title throughout the day but didn’t get any love.
Fast forward to February of 2019—I had completed another manuscript (also a Storystorm idea) that I thought might be a good fit for a faith-based publisher. I found three small houses that were taking unsolicited submissions and I sent in that manuscript. Months went by. It was now October and I was enjoying a writing retreat day with my critique group. We’d taken a break and I was checking email and there it was…a message from Little Lamb Books about the manuscript I had submitted called MILLIE’S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. In that email Rachel Pellegrino said they were interested in acquiring this story, but was MRS. NOAH still available? She’d seen it on #Faithpitch and if I hadn’t sold it, they’d like to have both and publish MRS. NOAH first. WHAT?!
I couldn’t believe it. After so many years in the submission trenches, I was finally getting a “Yes,” and not just for the book I’d submitted, but for MRS. NOAH too! And how sweet to get it when I was with my critique group who knew MRS. NOAH well and loved her as much as I did.
That’s the story behind the story! The real Mrs. Noah’s ark journey was 40 days and 40 nights and then some. My MRS. NOAH’s journey was 9 years. One started on an ark and the other on a cruise ship, but both have an ending full of promise and good things to come. I want to thank Tara for giving us the inspiration each year through Storystorm to always be on the lookout for new ideas. You never know what can happen when you look at an old, well-known story and see something new!
Wonderful, Patti! Congratulations on your dual picture book success!
Blog readers, Patti is giving away a PB critique to celebrate.
Leave one comment below to enter.
A random winner will be chosen in October.
Good luck!
Patti Richards lives with her family in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Her first children’s story, “Fishing on the Black Volta,” was published in Boy’s Quest Magazine. She has three nonfiction books, an ebook, and is part of the award-winning poetry collection, THANKU: POEMS OF GRATITUDE. Patti’s work has also been featured in Highlights Magazine and she’s been a Katherine Paterson Prize at Hunger Mountain honoree twice. She enjoys reading, gardening, singing, playing the piano, painting and tending to her flock, which includes Gracie the dog, Barnabas, the big black puppy, and Willow the cat. Visit her online at pattigail1.com and follow her on Twitter @pattigrichards.
by Jennifer Buchet and Little Medusa
A few Novembers ago, I was inspired to write a picture book story about snakes. Snakes are—
Little Medusa: Beautiful! Amazing! And very cuddly.
Actually, I was about to say that snakes rattle lots of people. They’re squeamish because…well…
The hissing. The slithering. The fork-tongues.
LM: Awww, how cute!
Not to everyone! But that’s the thing, Li’l Medusa. After attending a reptile show with my daughter at our local library, I…
LM: Best. Show. Ever!
…I wanted people to know that snakes are really fascinating. Did you know that snakes smell with their tongues?
LM: Of course! Snake are sssssuper sssmellers!
I drafted a story about pet snakes, but it needed more sparkle and less fang. Around the same time, I discovered PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) was reformatting to Storystorm, and that come January, there’d be a whole new set of inspirational writing tips and tricks. Definitely something to look forward to because the holidays were knocking impatiently at the door. Instead of drafting stories, I was juggling magazine deadlines and planning the annual holiday party menu.
LM: Yummy! Did you serve buggy burritos?
Not quite (this party is rather swanky). I desperately wanted to vamp up the menu. Yes, tempura shrimp is delish, but having it at every special occasion “because it’s a tradition!” was constricting my appetite. With editors to please and taste buds to appease, I turned to mundane housework to alleviate the stress. Whilst sorting socks and sweaters, a real live mini-Medusa skipped into the laundry room.
LM: She didn’t turn you to stone, did she?
No, but she did scare me! This mini-Medusa was actually my daughter with a headful of tangled, knotted, serpentine-looking hair.
LM: Mama said I’d get used to traditional Gorgon hair but I don’t like Addie on my head.
Well in that moment, several events converged at once and I knew I had a tale about a Gorgon girl challenged by eons of family tradition.
LM: Oh, that’s me!! Just like you didn’t want shrimp, I didn’t want snakes in my hair!
Exactly. But I wasn’t sure how to morph this meatball of an idea into a grand bolognaise sauce. How would I make one of the most villainous figures in Greek mythology kid-friendly? I turned to Storystorm for tips on humorous writing and how to find the funny.
LM: My great-times-eight Granny Medusa is not funny. She was scary and mean. I don’t want to turn things to stone with a stare.
Nor do you like having Addie slither through your hair.
LM: Nope! Stony stares and slithering hair are not my kind of tradition. They’re more like pythonic problems!
Every day, I read the guest post and partook in the Storystorm exercise; you never know what new idea might happen, from a jazzy sentence or title, to a brand new story idea! By the end of January, not only did I have a bunch of new ideas, I also knew exactly where I was taking Little Medusa’s tale. I’m not sure where I’d be without Storystorm!
LM: Not having Storystorm? Now that’s a pythonic problem for you!
Absolutely! And the rest they say is hissss-story! Thanks to this wonderful, supportive and wise kidlit community, LITTLE MEDUSA’S HAIR DO-LEMMA is now on shelves, and in the hands and hearts of littles.
LM: Can we play Snakes ‘n Ladders now?
Sure!
LM: Hissy kissies, everyone!
P.S. The menu did include Tempura Shrimp—with Blood Orange Sauce!
Some days Jennifer Buchet rocks her own tangled Gorgon ‘do, but hopefully you won’t find a snake sliding through her hair! She’s an award-winning author, pre-kindergarten educator and self-proclaimed foodie. Her kidlit career officially started in 2011, writing for Cricket Media. Today, she’s a feature contributor for Faces magazine while also creating new picture books, chapter books and yummy recipes.
Her debut picture book, LITTLE MEDUSA’S HAIR DO-LEMMA (Clear Fork Publishing, May 2021) illustrated by Cassie Chancy, is on shelves now.
You can swap tales & recipes with Jennifer at buchetbooks.wixsite.com/mysite or on Twitter @Yangmommy.
You can easily support authors by leaving book reviews, asking libraries to carry their books and of course, purchasing their stories.
by Annie Bailey
This is me on June 24, 2019, in the Tetons, mountain biking with my husband. Afterwards, we had lunch at a charming café situated next to the runway of the town’s small airport where we could watch the propeller planes land and take off.
It was a perfect day, and our ride on the mountain trails had given me a lot of time to think. On the drive home, I turned to my husband and said something I never thought I’d say.
“It’s okay if I never get published.”
I’d been pouring my heart into my writing for years—starting just after my first son was born in 2003. In 2016, I signed with my agent. Since then, we’d worked together for THREE YEARS and hadn’t sold a thing. Two weeks before that day in the mountains, my agent and I had a very honest conversation about how things were going. We were both frustrated. But at the end of the discussion, I told her, “If you’re still all in, I am too.” And we both were.
But as I told my husband on the car ride home, it was time to let go of things I couldn’t control. Getting published was one of those things. I could write a story to the best of my ability, but I couldn’t control if an editor would want to publish it. I couldn’t control the state of the economy and how it influenced acquisitions, or the political climate, or if an editor had too much of this or that on her list. I would still write, of course. But I was no longer going to put pressure on myself to achieve results that I had no say in. I felt a lot of relief and peace when I came to that conclusion.
We had only been home a short while when my phone rang.
“You have an offer,” my agent said. For not just one book, but two. A series.
I’m so pleased to share the cover of my very first book in that series, an idea from my 2013 PiBoIdMo (now Storystorm) list.
10 LITTLE TRACTORS releases November 2nd, 2021 from Doubleday Books for Young Readers and is now available for pre-order.
The second title, 10 LITTLE EXCAVATORS, releases February 2nd, 2022.
Boy has it been a crazy year. But I’m still all in, doing my best to focus on what I can control in my writing journey. I hope you are still all in, too.
Thanks for sharing your success story, Annie! What incredible timing!
Blog readers, you can win a copy of 10 LITTLE TRACTORS, which you’ll receive after publication in November.
Comment once to enter. A random winner will be selected soon!
Good luck!
Annie Bailey is a children’s author, songwriter, and mom to four boys. She loves laughing, reading, playing the piano, soccer, biking and baking. Doubleday Books for Young Readers will release Annie’s first board books, 10 LITTLE TRACTORS and 10 LITTLE EXCAVATORS, in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. Abrams Appleseed will release her first picture book, MUD!, in Spring 2022. She has also released a children’s album titled THERE IS JOY. Annie served on the 2015 and 2016 Best in Rhyme Award committee and currently enjoys serving as the Regional Advisor for the SCBWI Utah/Southern Idaho region. Annie lives in rural Idaho in a renovated farmhouse complete with her very own train car. (Which, of course, has time traveling capabilities.) Visit Annie at anniebailey.com or on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram @byanniebailey.
by Susan Macartney
Tara, thank you! I’m so happy to share my success story. Spoiler alert: It’s never too late to embark on this journey!
“Winding” doesn’t quite do justice to my meandering, zigg-zagging road to publication as an author-illustrator. I’ve always been drawn to both the arts and the sciences. So maybe I could have saved some time if I’d made a beeline for narrative nonfiction! Didn’t happen… First I studied zoology and anthropology and then ended up working in graphic design for 20 years. No question—a convoluted, interesting path, and along the way I continued to tinker with writing and illustrating children’s stories.
I joined SCBWI in 2012, was full of enthusiam about joining a writing “community”… and then my partner and I moved overseas. Temporary hold on my writing while all of “life’s dust” settled… Fast-forward to 2015, my desire to write and illustrate was still strong and I reached out again to the wide world of kidlit.
To give you an idea of how far I had to reach: I’m Canadian. I was living in Sweden. And Tara’s picture book webinar was being hosted by SCBWI… out of France! The host gave us the link to Tara’s blog and told us we should really try the November PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) challenge—and the rest is Storystorm history.
Well, not quite… I moved again! But now the Storystorm challenge with all its amazing writing and illustrating advice was waiting for me wherever I landed. On January 5, 2018, I looked at my blank Storystorm entry page, armed only with the goal of gently exploring the theme of self-awareness. And oh yes, I knew I wanted an animal main character and for envirornmental issues to figure in the subplot. I first learned about the Galapagos Islands when I was seven. And it wasn’t long before the engaging Blue-footed booby waddled into my mind as a potential candidate—what’s not to love?
Two years later after many drafts, CP reviews and edits my debut picture book, BENJAMIN’S BLUE FEET: Pajama Press, was published.
Yay Storystorm! The discipline of a defined daily challenge enhanced by professional advice for ONE creative month, worked for me on so many levels. I’m goal-oriented and an early riser and embraced the habit of piggybacking my Storystorm entry with my morning coffee. Take note! Having that pen and dedicated notebook within easy reach also helped to minimize all the usual self-inflicted roadblocks to being creative.
Now my story ideas weren’t loose bits of inspiration scrawled on scraps of paper anymore, or worse, those “best” ideas that never even got recorded. They’re all there in black and white – no excuses, no delusions (about how great that idea actually was) – just lots of ideas to return to, mull over and mine!
It is never too late to set forth on this journey. Remember that there is a WIDE world of like-minded people out there – learn to reach out, relish the small joys along the way and PERSEVERE!
Blog readers, Sue is giving away a signed copy of BENJAMIN’S BLUE FEET!
Leave one comment below to enter.
A random winner will be selected soon!
Good luck!
Sue has taught art to children around the world and currently works as a nature sketch artist at The Bateman Foundation in Victoria, BC. You can find Sue online at suemacartney.com and on Twitter @suesumac and Instagram @suemacartney.
by Laura K. Zimmermann
First I want to thank Tara for inviting me to share my story, which begins with a new writer staring at her computer trying to decide whether or not to sign up for Storystorm (PiBoldMo at the time). I very nearly didn’t. I remember thinking that there was no way I could come up with 30 ideas in thirty days—that was more picture books ideas than I’d had all year. But there was nothing to lose, so I decided to try.
I began my hunt for ideas. I’m a nonfiction writer so I created a private list on Twitter where I collected organizations and people who tweeted about topics that interest me. Each day I poured over my list. I would also look through science report emails, conduct google searches, and started to look, really look, at the things around me. One day I came across a tweet about a graveyard. On the list of people buried there was someone called “The Blind Traveler” who was in no way associated with mushrooms, but did pull me into the world of picture book biographies.
Jump forward to the next Storystorm. With my new focus on picture book biographies I was searching for female scientists. I had uncovered several for my idea list, when I stumbled across a story about Beatrix Potter’s research with mushrooms. I had to learn more so I researched everything I could find. I read her journal and looked at pictures of her paintings, some of which I had seen in a museum many years earlier. The idea could work. So, I wrote the biography, and revised and revised and revised. But no one at the time seemed to be interested.
I should probably mention at this point, that prior to the Beatrix Potter biography I had never seen mushrooms as anything other than things you buy in a grocery store to put in soups, spaghetti sauce, and on pizza. But to Beatrix they were beautiful and challenging—from their curving caps and bladelike gills, to their varied textures and colors that ranged from the reddest reds to the softest creams and everything in between. She spent years scrutinizing and painting them again and again, training her brush strokes to capture every detail. Over time she developed questions for which she could find no answers and so began her own research. And as I worked to understand her mycological studies and read about masses of crisp yellow cups nestled in moss and troops with foxy-brown caps surrounded by black firs, I began to see mushrooms in a new way.
Then one day, I came across an article about mushrooms creating rain—a mushroom rain. There was a book there I just knew it. So I did more research, wrote and revised, and revised, and revised. But again, no one seemed interested. Enter my agent, Kaitlyn Sanchez. I sent her Mushroom Rain hoping she might see what my critique partners and I saw. I didn’t have to wait long. Later that day I had a list of suggested revision in my inbox. She loved it too and with a bit more revision she started to shop it. There were still a lot of no’s, of course, but you only need one yes, which we got from Barb McNally at Sleeping Bear, who loved it exactly as it was. It is now in the hands of an amazing, mushroom-loving artist, Jamie Green, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Beatrix Potter once said, “There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they’ll take you.” For me they led to a weird and wonderful world that, like an idea, springs up without warning and must be gathered before it disappears.
Although Laura has seen and eaten many mushrooms, she knew very little about them until she discovered them in Beatrix Potter’s paintings and journal. A mushroom hunter, artist, and researcher, it was Beatrix’s passion that led Laura to learn more about their weird and wonderful world. Laura K. Zimmermann is a college professor by day and children’s writer by night. She has published numerous academic articles as well as nonfiction stories in children’s magazines. Mushroom Rain is her first picture book. When she’s not writing, Laura can be found teaching and conducting research at Shenandoah University or wandering through nature with her Goldendoodle, Tivy. You can find Laura online at laurakzimmermann.com and on Twitter @LauraK_PBwriter and Instagram @LauraK_PBwriter.
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 