Oh, I am amazed! Inspired. Ready to go. We just need to put on our “see the amazing” glasses and start writing down what really piques our interest, our passion. Ideas are hanging there, right in front of our eyes, ripe and ready for plucking.
Thank you, Jess, for the invigorating post. Ready to go, yes I am. Thank you, Tara, for STORYSTORM!
Corey speaks like a true recycler, digging out past files, lists, notebooks, and manuscripts…and then hunts out the perfect idea for a new picture book project from old materials. Corey also suggests that we writers keep our eyes and ears open when we read other books, sing songs, watch TV, and repeat those nursery rhymes. One never knows when inspiration will strike!
Thanks, Corey, for the great tips! Thanks, Tara, for putting together Storystorm 2018!
via STORYSTORM 2018 Day 5: Corey Rosen Schwartz Begs, Borrows & Steals
I love this post! Family traditions and culture are so interesting – and unique to each family. What a perfect place to mine ideas for stories!
Thank you, Debbi! Thank you, Tara! (Get well soon!).
via STORYSTORM 2018 Day 4: Debbi Michiko Florence Explores Culture and Family Tradition
What do sketches, photos, magazine images, newspaper pictures, and art supplies have in common? ALL of them can be used to create story ideas!
This is a great idea for dreaming up picture book characters, settings, props, and storylines. Way to go, Mike! Thank you!
Grabbing my scissors, pencils, and paper to get my imagination pumped up…
via STORYSTORM 2018 Day 3: Let’s Get Visual with Mike Ciccotello
Thanks, Tara! Storystorm is going great!
Day 2 of Storystorm features Tammi Sauer, who shares how she uses songs and chants to come up with new ideas for picture books. You might recognize the title from her new book, BUT THE BEAR CAME BACK (book birthday in April), which originated from “But the Cat Came Back,” a song she heard on the radio. I can’t wait to read this picture book.
Any song or chant can spark an idea. So let’s get to it. Dig out those old songs you used to sing as a child (or to your child or with your students). I can’t wait!
via STORYSTORM 2018 Day 2: Tammi Sauer Chants and Sings
Congratulations, Tammi!
Thanks, Tara, for Storystorm!
Today begins the first day of Storystorm! January is a month for new beginnings. That includes brainstorming ideas and making lists for future writing projects: picture books, chapter books, poems, early readers, blog posts…
Let’s do this, my friends. Follow the link below to read the post of the day. Be sure to sign up and comment to be entered to win writerly prizes. 🙂
Ready, set, go! First idea. Check.
Children’s author Julie Hedlund, challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. She believes the way New Year’s resolutions are traditionally made come from a place of negativity – what DIDN’T get done or achieved in the previous year. Instead, she suggests we set goals for the New Year that BUILD on our achievements from the previous one. I decided to participate in this Anti-Resolution Revolution! Here is my list for 2017.
My 2017 writing successes:
You can learn more about the 12 Days of Christmas for Writers here.
What is STORYSTORM?
31 days of inspiring posts to help writers brainstorm story ideas. Picture book ideas will be my main focus, but I bet many others end up with ideas for poems, chapter books, articles, stories, blog posts, and all sorts of other writing projects. STORYSTORM is worth every second!
Let the STORYSTORM rage on!
A great big thanks to Tara Lazar for all of the hard work, planning, and organizing for us! You can find her at here..
By Angie Quantrell
WITH YOU ALWAYS, ORPHAN TRAIN BOOK 1
By Jody Hedlund
Bethany House, 2017
I was gifted a copy of WITH YOU ALWAYS, ORPHAN TRAIN BOOK 1 from Jody Hedlund.
Set in New York City, 1857, Elise found herself an orphan with younger siblings. Befriended and helped out by Miss Pendleton, Elise and her remaining family took a room in a renovation-in-progress future home (instead of living on the streets). As circumstances changed and the need arose, Elise took a seat on an orphan train and headed out to work far from the city.
Danger, disaster, determination, foreboding, friendship, and romance fill the pages of WITH YOU ALWAYS. Before reading this book, I had not heard of orphan trains, but was fascinated to learn how they were used to gather orphans from the city and send them out into surrounding areas to work and become a part of new families. Some orphans had good experiences, but not all.
I loved the writing and setting. Hedlund did a fantastic job of building up characters and tensions between those characters. The events felt very realistic, both in the feeling of New York during that time period and the new situation and location Elise lived and worked. Hard work and a growing spark between Elise and Thornton fill the pages of this book.
WITH YOU ALWAYS is a very good read. Well done, Jody Hedlund. Thank you!
by Angie Quantrell
dead stuff
every. single. day.
dead stuff is delivered.
fur. teeth. tails. tiny feet.
feathers. skulls. wings asunder.
the odd beak.
legless bugs. drips of blood.
eerie green body parts.
dead stuff. in life. in dreams.
felines hard at work.
freeze. winter. come soon.
put to ground the endless corpses
delivered as gifts.
pause the need for caution
when opening the door or
placing feet along the body strewn gravel,
blending in, creating traps for thoughtless tread.
drop. temperature. ice-over.
to sleep. to fly south. to hibernate.
what happened to lumps of fur nested
in front of roaring fires?
rest, kitties, rest.
Love, Laughter, and Life 