March 12 x 12 Update

Time for another 12 x 12 update. Not as much good news as usual on this front, but considering illness, work commitments, and unexpected happenings, I’m okay with what I got done. My muse was a bit finicky in March. She couldn’t decide if Crabby Cathy would be better as a rhyming book, so it started out that way, and then morphed into its current form which is halfway done. I have my three characters: Cathy, Amy, and Chloe. Cathy shoves her way into the lunch line and then later steals the ball they are playing with at recess. Chloe decides she has to find a way to improve Cathy’s mood. She’s going to use the killing them with kindness type of approach, which is mentioned in the Bible more than once. This isn’t a Christian story, but the values are definitely rooted in Biblical wisdom.

For April, my hope is to complete this picture book and one other: an untitled WIP where one of Cinderella’s step-sisters gets to tell her side of the story. There’s actually a book titled, The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back, which is geared toward women. I hadn’t heard of this book when I came up with the idea for my picture book. The inspiration came from a book I once read to my son that told the wolf’s side of the story from The Three Little Pigs. I, did, however, download The Ugly Stepsister Strikes Back to see what this author did with the idea.

Hope you all had a nice Easter.

February 12 x 12 Update

 

Time for a 12 x 12 update. This is an event where writers commit to writing one picture book a month (12 books in 12 months). So far, I’ve been very successful in meeting my goals. I wrote a book in January and edited two. During the month of February, I concentrated on another book, Everybody’s Home for Christmas. Here was the potential plot I mentioned in December:

A young boy missing his father who is stationed overseas. The little boy prays for his father’s safe return, which happens to come with a surprise return on Christmas Eve.

The  young boy ended up becoming a girl named Rachel. I also ended up writing two versions of this story: one faith-based and the other secular. I’m not sure which version I like best, so I’ll wait to get feedback from my critique group before deciding which one I’ll edit and submit.

March’s goal is to complete Crabby Cathy: Cathy is a grumpy girl. She’s grumpy all the time. But one of her classmates plots to change her attitude. I wanted to start it today, but discovered I had one other project that needed attention first. I hope to begin this story tomorrow if all goes well.

 

January 12 x 12 Update

As I mentioned in December, I am participating in 12 x 12 where children’s writers commit to writing one picture book each month (12 books over 12 months). This is a great motivator. Here is what I accomplished in January.

My goal was to complete David Shows the Way. This is the second book in my faith-filled journeys for kids brand. It is the story of Reuben, who is bullied by the older, bigger boys in town. But when he hears David, the youngest son of Jesse, plans to fight the Philistine giant, Goliath, he hopes he can gain some courage from him.

I completed this story, but I changed the main character’s name to Amos. As the story flowed, the name Reuben didn’t work for me. The plot also ended up a bit differently, since I forgot that David doesn’t return home after he defeats Goliath.

In addition, after I completed this story, I waited a week and then revised it so it would be ready for my critique group. I also edited a picture book I had written last year during National Picture Book Writing Week.

February’s goal is to complete Everybody’s Home for Christmas: The story of a young boy missing his father who is stationed overseas. The little boy prays for his father’s safe return, which happens to come with a surprise return on Christmas Eve.

What do you think? Can I do it?

Gearing Up for 12 x 12

 

Julie Hedlund is facilitating 12 x 12 again this year. Writers are tasked with writing one new picture book each month for 12 months. I figure I’m up to the challenge, so I signed up. I have 30 new picture book ideas thanks to Picture Book Idea Month in November.

Here is my plan for 12 x 12 in 2013:

January – David Shows the Way: The second book in my faith-filled journeys for kids brand is the story of Reuben, who is bullied by the older, bigger boys in town. But when he hears David, the youngest son of Jesse, plans to fight the Philistine giant, Goliath, he hopes he can gain some courage from him.

February – Everybody’s Home for Christmas: The story of a young boy missing his father who is stationed overseas. The little boy prays for his father’s safe return, which happens to come with a surprise return on Christmas Eve.

March – Crabby Cathy: Cathy is a grumpy girl. She’s grumpy all the time. But one of her classmates plots to change her attitude.

April – Untitled: One of Cinderella’s step-sisters gets to tell her side of the story.

May – Untitled: The story of an ingenious turkey who comes up with unique and funny ways to avoid being part of Thanksgiving dinner.

June – The Candy Store: A young boy dreams of what it would be like to own a candy store.

July – Happy Valentine’s Day, Not!: A girl tries to avoid the boy who gave her a Valentine’s Day card. But when he rescues her from the class bully, she discovers he’s not so yucky after all.

August – Easter Bunny Socks: Tired of people wanting him to deliver healthy snacks instead of chocolate eggs, the Easter Bunny decides to take up knitting.

September – Flag Day Fiasco: Students discover the school’s flag is missing and must try to find it before their annual Flag Day celebration kicks off.

October – Mixed-up Holidays: What would happen if suddenly all the holidays were mixed up? Easter in November? Valentine’s Day in July? Christmas in March?

November – Adventures of an Evil Babysitter: The ridiculous adventures of a mean babysitter.

December – You Think It’s Easy Being Santa Claus?: A humorous rundown of what it’s like to be the jolly old elf.

12 x 12 in 2013

You know I like challenges, right? Well, this challenge coming on the heels of Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) is a real winner. Starting in January, I’ll be participating in 12 x 12. The goal is to write one picture book a month for 12 months. After participating in PiBoIdMo in 2010, I used those ideas and wrote six picture books, one of which is under contract with Guardian Angel Publishing. I’m not sure I can double that output or that I have enough “good” ideas to create 12 picture books, but I’ll give it a shot.