I always advise aspiring writers to pen the stories of their hearts. And while I try to follow this advice for every story I write, I think this one might be the most heartfelt of all.
Heart Stories
Category: Uncategorized
The Next Big Thing
Writer Danette Vigilante, thinks I’m the Next Big Thing!
(Woo-hoo! Happy Dancing! Woo-hoo! Happy Dancing!)
The Next Big Thing Hop: the traveling blog that asks authors whom they consider the NEXT BIG THING, and then has them pass along the questions for those authors to answer in their blogs.
These are the rules: Answer ten questions about your current [book or] Work in Progress on your blog. Tag five writers/bloggers and add links to their pages so we can hop along to them next. Here are my answers…
What is the title of your book?
My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood
Where did the idea come from for the book?
From me thinking to myself one day, “Boy, am I in a mood.”
What genre does your book fall under?
Picture Book
Which actors would you choose to play your character in a movie rendition?
Hmmm…I have no clue. They’re all younguns, so I’m sure they’d be up-and-comers. The dad looks like the book’s illustrator, Shane Evans to me. Maybe he’d be up for the gig.
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
It’s a journey through the multi-colored moods of Jamie, and his attempt to get back to the happy-colored mood his brothers are trying to keep him from. (If the grammar police are reading, yes I did end this sentence with a preposition. Creative license.)
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It will published (very soon) by Viking Children’s, a Penguin imprint.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The very first draft only took a couple of days.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I’ve heard Dr. Seuss’s My Many Colored Moods mentioned.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
This one just came from a random thought that sounded like it would make a good title or first line. However, I hope it inspires readers to embrace the full emotional range that lies within each of us–the good feelings and the not-so-good ones, too.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It is illustrated by 2012’s Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award winner, Shane Evans; the artwork is absolutely amazing!
Below are my tags of other authors:
28 Days Later 2013 Honorees are Announced!
The Brown Bookshelf has announced this year’s list of 28 Days Later honorees! 28 Days Later is an annual campaign that seeks to increase public awareness of African-American authors and illustrators who create literature for children.
This year’s schedule of features is as follows (Vanguard authors in bold; Illustrators in italics):
Feb. 1 – Malaika Rose Stanley (MG)
Feb. 2 – Christian Robinson– (Illustrator)
Feb. 3 – Alaya Dawn Johnson – (YA)
Feb. 4 – Glenda Armand – (PB)
Feb. 5 – Glennette Tilley Turner – (MG)
Feb. 6 – Traci L. Jones – (YA)
Feb. 7 – Brynne Barnes – (PB)
Feb. 8 – Brian F. Walker – (YA)
Feb. 9 – Veronica Chambers – (MG)
Feb. 10 – B.A. Binns (YA)
Feb. 11 – Donna Washington – (PB)
Feb. 12 – Alice Randall and Caroline Randall Williams – (MG)
Feb. 13 – Octavia Butler – (YA )
Feb. 14 – Ann Tanksley – (Illustrator)
Feb. 15 – Lyah Beth LeFlore – (YA)
Feb. 16 – Tololwa M. Mollel – (PB)
Feb. 17 – Arna Bontemps – (MG)
Feb. 18 – Jasmine Richards – (MG)
Feb. 19 – James Ransome – (PB)
Feb. 20 – Ashley Bryan – (Illustrator)
Feb. 21 – Nalo Hopkinson – (YA)
Feb. 22- Daniel Minter – (Illustrator)
Feb. 23 – Angela Shelf Medearis – (PB)
Feb. 24 – Linda Tarrant-Reid – (MG)
Feb. 25 – Willie Perdomo – (PB)
Feb. 26 – Chudney Ross – (MG)
Feb. 27 – Becky Birtha – (PB)
Feb. 28 – Jaime Reed – (YA)
Illustrator-Love
I love picture books…which I’m pretty sure comes as no surprise, seeing that I write them.
But since I’m only a wannabe visual artist, it’s the illustrations that I find myself in awe of most often. Soaking up page after page of the most gorgeous, colorful, imaginative artwork fills me with a certain soda pop-bubbly feeling I just don’t get from anything else.
These are a few of the artists whose work never fails to touch me:
A Vanessa Brantley-Newton Illustration
Frank Morrison's THE QUEEN ON THE SCENE
Kadir Nelson from HENRY'S FREEDOM BOX
I really do love picture books.
Who are some of your favorite illustrators? Treat yourself to some of their work today!
Agape. 🙂