Jamie A. Swenson | The Studious Cat

writing for kids

Canceled Plans

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Yesterday I was all about “Let’s CANCEL that and WRITE!” Today I’m all about, “WHY must things get CANCELED!?” Which got me thinking about good and bad disruptions. When my kids were small and a Snow Day meant an unexpected day to stay home and cuddle — I was all for it. But this weekend the predicted Snow Event is threatening something FUN. This is, of course, unacceptable. 

Today’s Prompt: Think of a time when an event (or anything) that you were excited about was canceled — or worse yet — you were not allowed to go (by parent or otherwise). What was so important about the event? How did you feel? What good, bad, or otherwise was the result of your not attending said event?  Then flip it on its side – Think of a time you were FORCED to attend an event … follow the prompts.

Kids/Teens have so little control of their lives – so controlling social events is a big deal. For me, being forced to attend something I didn’t want to do was much, much worse than not being allowed to drive about at all hours of the night with my dearest teen friends. My parents had a thing against that — teens driving about without plans or direction. ESPECIALLY if the weather was bad – and I lived in Wisconsin. The weather was bad from October to June.  

Hello Again

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I’m back. I took what I expected to be a brief break … and in the scheme of life, I guess six or so years could be considered brief. In the writing world, it’s the blink of an eye.

So WHY am I back? Because I’ve missed you and this form of writing. I’ve spent nearly a decade chasing after contracts – and catching a few. And I’m proud of the books that have ended up in the world — and the books to come. I have a book due out in 2021 and 2022 one from Sleeping Bear Press and one from Paula Wiseman Books.

Of course, I’ve stopped holding my breath. Books simply take their time. That’s a hard lesson to learn in this world of immediate gratification and instant self-publishing. Oh, believe me – I’ve been tempted at times to upload a file and TA-DA a book. I’ve edited quite a few of these types of books over the years — and have decided that, for your good, my good, the good of the world and the reading public — it is best that I wait for the traditionally vetted product. The whole simmering (for years at times), rejections (for years at times), interest/contract stage (for years at times), editorial & illustration process (you know what goes here), and then finally – this amazing book that represents the creative talents of a small community of people — that is pretty darn cool. Plus – I REALLY, REALLY need a good copy editor. You likely agree with me if you’ve read many of my blog posts. Blogs are a different beast – errors and all – and the closest to immediate publishing gradification I will allow myself. 

This little lovely arrived in 2018. It’s finding its way into the world – I love hearing from teachers and librarians who have added it to their fall storytimes.

What to expect in future posts: a bit of this, a bit of that – thoughts on storytelling, writing, reading, raising adult children, finding writing space for yourself (and not feeling guilty about it), prompts, encouragement, and a little conversation in this sometimes dark, but always spectacular world. 

Character Driven Stories

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image 4If you’re a writer – you know the drill. Write a character-driven book.

I’ve been writing for some time now. I’ve been around. I went to Hamline University and completed my M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I contemplated character, wrote essays on character, read a zillion and one character-driven books and asked myself endlessly – what makes a good character? Is it all in the name? The voice? In some dark secret that he/she is carrying from page one to the bitter end? Is the extreme characteristic – the BEST, the WORST, the MOST POWERFUL, the WEAKEST… Maybe it’s a talent that only he/she possesses. Maybe he/she is an outsider – thinks differently than everyone else in the book. Is he/she the hero? The only hope? The last of a line? The first?

Characters are important. No doubt about that. Especially if you want to sell a book.

Believe me – I write a ton of books that do not have character driven plots (much to my agent’s chagrin – Sorry, Sean) — BUT I have been thinking about writing a book with a real, honest-to-goodness character-driven plot. The NAME of said character will be prominently displayed in the TITLE. It will happen.

So, with character in mind – it’s not surprising that when I heard Jill Davis of HarperCollins speak at a recent event – and she said that a strong character will be able to be printed on pajamas – or bed sheets – I took note. That makes sense – right?

When I think about my books to date – I would say Frankie 2468 Frankiethe truck from my book BIG RIG could be awesome pajamas. Also, I would vote for Fred (the bear from my book BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!) as a charming sheet set.

So if I have done this – why is it so hard to do this when I sit down to write? The main thing I am going to focus on is giving a character in the book an actual NAME. You roll the eyes (I see you) – but seriously – I write a lot of sense of place poetry. There might be dogs, cats, fish, children – but they do not always have NAMES. Plus, when I read to the young folks, I tend to pick books that give kids an overall feeling – such as I LOVE SPIDERS by John Parker or ALL THE WORLD by Liz Garton. These are fantastic, poetic, lovely books for twos and threes — and they do not have named CHARACTERS. Still, they would make nice pajamas – or maybe wallpaper.

What have we learned here? That editors would very much like a character to sell, and we, the authors would also like a character to sell. We also know that kids like characters (because they like pajamas with Curious George or Spiderman on them). So, with you as my witness – I am going to TRY to write some seriously character driven books – but I will very likely keep writing those other books too. Because they are important and all fun to read too. Even if they don’t translate EXACTLY to a twin comforter set. hee hee hee …

 

 

 

 

Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

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image 2They say that Lewis Carroll’s “The Jabberwocky” is a ‘nonsense’ poem. I don’t think it’s nonsense at all. There are days you just have to shout,
“Oh, frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” and everyone knows exactly what you mean. It’s not nonsense if people understand you – right?

Today’s my day to shout it out. My day to make some noise. My day to welcome my very first book, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! into the world. So, you ask, how did I spend this, this frabjous day? I woke to rain pounding on the windows and thunder rolling overhead (a good start, I would say!). Then, I went to work, just like any other day. I created a backdrop that little kids will stick their incentive ant stickers to this summer when they come in with a completed reading card. Oh, image 4and I went to my local bookstore and SIGNED COPIES OF MY BOOK!!!!! And I bought some yummy bakery items to help celebrate the day.

I also saw that some of my wonderful writer friends posted interviews and quick “Congrats!” on Twitter and Facebook and on various blogs (Tamera Will Wissinger’s Blog). Cool. What is the etiquette for thanking folks on Twitter? I re-tweeted, but that seemed so self-promotional … hmmm… if you know the correct response, please, please let me know. I would like to Tweet correctly.

After work, I ran my daughter out to a magic shop to buy fairy/elf ears. This is really just a daily occurrence in my household.

Tonight I will go to bed happiliy thinking that maybe, just maybe, on this stormy WI night a little child somewhere is reading BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! with his/her grown-up and smiling and is maybe a bit less frightened of the storm as it “bellows and bams” outside her window. And that is why I must shout, “Oh, frabjous day!”

To get your very own copy of BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! visit your local bookseller, or various online merchants.

 

THREE (or FOUR) Days to Publication …

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It’s hard to believe that as of today there are only three (or four if you count today, which I guess I should because it’s only 8:10 a.m.) days until Boom! Boom! Boom! is officially out there in the world.

bkcover_bbbIt’s been a strange-wonderful-painful-joyous-underwhelming-overwhelming journey so far. And the book isn’t out for four (or three) more days.

Yesterday, I sat down with one of my favorite local newspaper reporters (Anna Marie Lux of the Janesville Gazette) to talk about what it’s like to finally have a book about to launch. We talked about so much – but mainly – it turns out – about my rabid love of books and reading. She asked me about my mom – the person who read to me every single day – and about growing up – and how I read to my brothers – and how I was so lucky to live in a community with an amazing library (and even luckier to have a mom who took me there every week). me and mom

We talked about the people who helped set me on the path – Cathy Norris, Children’s Librarian Extraordinaire, Beth Murray, one of the best storytellers I’ve ever met, Kathy Kennedy-Tapp, writer, mentor, friend — too many people to even list. I was overwhelmed with the memories.

We talked about what’s next: BIG RIG (Feb. 4, 2014) and If You Were a Dog (fall 2014). Which, when I said it aloud, was also a bit overwhelming to think about … (look – there’s the cover for BIG RIG – doesn’t Frankie look excited to start the journey with me?)

Big-Rig-cover_color1 (2)first versionMORE RANDOM THOUGHTS: As we live our lives so many people direct us in small and big ways. Sometimes we notice – like being invited to become a storyteller at the library – and sometimes we don’t notice – like being read to every single day, seeing my family read, and visiting the library weekly – but it all adds up, doesn’t it? Makes us who we are – the good and the bad.

Having a book published – a real live book – has been a goal of mine for so many years. And now look. In four (three?) days I will see that dream become a reality. Does this mean I need a new dream? Do I dare start to think of what’s next? Or will I be/should I be satisfied with this accomplishment? I am making myself STOP and recognize this moment. For me, it’s a big one. I don’t want to miss it.

What’s next? I haven’t a clue. I can tell you that I can’t stop writing picture books in my head. I have no idea if these words will eventually make it into real, live books. But, I hope that they do.  I can tell you that I’m filled with pride when I open Boom! Boom! Boom! – I see who I was when I wrote it, I feel the same emotions I felt when I had the words just the way I wanted them and thought, “this one gets to go in search of an audience.” I will tell you it’s crazy-weird to see those words in book form. And even crazier that Anna Maria wondered, “Will you be a rich woman now?” Ha. Clearly, she hasn’t talked to too many picture book writers! Grin. I am not in this for the riches – and I don’t know any writer who is … it’s just who we are – right?

And now Boom! Boom! Boom! is ready to find homes with kids and parents who I hope will read it, enjoy it, and not ‘accidentally’ drop it behind the bookcase (not that I ever did that with any book that my kids loved…).

So, while I obsess with what this means in my life – you go and work on your own dreams. It’s a beautiful day here in Wisconsin and I have storytime in a little while at the library. Storytime day is my favorite day.

I’ll check back in with you next week and let you know how it’s going. I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and into something different in three (or maybe four) days.

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