Spring 2016 Update

Spring is a whirlwind season for me!  I feel like my blog is always extra-quiet this time each year, but that's just because I'm always extra-busy.  This year was no exception, and now that busy spring is winding down to wonderful, slow-paced summer, I figured I ought to let you all know what I've been up to!

 

The biggest--and craziest--thing about spring for me is my day job at the Ohioana Library.  While most of the year the library is quiet and calm, each spring the place gets turned upside as we plan and prep for the annual Ohioana Book Festival.  It's a fantastic one-day event celebrating Ohio authors and illustrators with fun for the whole family.  This year was the milestone 10th anniversary festival, and it was definitely the best one yet!   

 

The 2016 festival poster designed by illustrator David Catrow.

 

After the festival, I jumped into preparing for my very first workshop presentation called "Photoshop 101" for my local SCBWI group.  We went over the basics of Photoshop, as well as some of my favorite digital art tips and tricks.  Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I made my first digital illustration almost five years ago.  (That seems like FOREVER ago, and boy was it a struggle!)  Although I'm still learning more about digital art everyday, I've come a long way since 2011 and really enjoyed sharing what I know.  I was pretty nervous to get up and teach a whole group, but all the familiar faces in the room made me feel right at home.  (And I don't think I said anything too stupid!)  

 

A screenshot I used to show what my Photoshop files look like.  Lots of layers!

 

The festival and workshop have been the meatiest things on my plate, leaving little time for my personal art and writing.  (My bum shoulder has also flared up from time to time, but hopefully that problem is being nipped in the bud.)  It's been a bit difficult, but I've tried my best to stay creative and dabble in some projects here and there.  One of my dear writing buddies asked me to do some illustrations for her "whimsical life" book proposal (it's such a fun concept!), so I created a few pieces to accompany her manuscript.

 

Accompaniment for "The Dawn of Whimsy" chapter.

 

Personification of the voice in your head that says you stink at picking colors.

 

I'm also still working on the special project for my nephew's Disney-themed room (which has proven itself to be a bit more elaborate than I originally anticipated.)  But I am making progress on the series, so I'll share the work-in-process piece my sister has already seen.

 

"It's a small, small world!"

 

One of my other close writing buddies decided to challenge herself to a "NaNoWriMo"-style goal for May.  (For those not in the know, the official "NaNoWriMo" is a project where you write a whole novel during the month of November.  How anyone can accomplish such a task in the midst of the holidays is always beyond me!)  She asked if I wanted to join, and while I don't have a new novel I want to draft, I'm participating in my own way by creating a quick sketch at lunch everyday.  (It feels good to get that pencil moving!)  I'm also working on editing Pirate Ferret, which has been collecting dust during the past few months.  In addition to the sketches, my goal is to revise at least two chapters by the end of May.  These may seem like itty-bitty tasks, but baby steps are still better than no steps!  And what is our reward if we accomplish our goals?  Food, of course!  We're both getting oh-so close to a victory Chinese buffet.  :) 

A teeny tiny mouse sketch.

Last but not least, I've been dragging my tushie to the gym to get in shape for my upcoming trip to Disney World!  While I don't love all the time that exercising gobbles up, I do like the benefits of walking without limping.  Plus, it gives me a good opportunity to watch Disney movies on the treadmill!  (The Fox and the Hound II is a surprisingly decent movie.  ;) )  

Gotta get in shape so I can eat all that delicious Disney food!

 

And that's what's been keeping me busy!  Now that it's almost summer, I hope to spend more time on my writing and illustrating, and relax a bit.  I hope everyone has had a great spring and is looking forward to lazy days ahead!

COSCBWI Meeting April 2016

The COSCBWI meeting for April featured middle grade author Jennifer Maschari.  Jen's debut novel, The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price, just released in February 2016.  We were excited to have her speak to the group about her writing journey and hear her advice for aspiring authors.

Although The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price is Jen's first published book, she explained that it wasn't the first book she wrote.  Jen loved both reading and writing from an early age, and had encouragement from her teachers that she would become a writer someday.  Jen first chose a career in teaching, but decided in 2010 that she wanted to give writing a serious try.  She enrolled in an online writing class, which helped her stay focused with deadlines and assignments.  The class also introduced her to fellow writers who would go on to become her writing buddies and support group. 

While she loved the book that she wrote during the class and queried it to many agents, it didn't snag her a book deal.  She sorted through the encouragement and discouragement, and ultimately wrote a new book.  Happily, the second book was The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price, which won the attention of an agent and sold to a publisher more quickly than she expected.  Jen said it was a serendipitous situation, and that she feels her second manuscript was successful because she both worked hard and was very lucky in how everything lined up.  She has two more forthcoming books to be released in 2017 and 2018, and is so pleased that she gets to share her stories with middle grade readers everywhere.

Jen knows how hard the journey to publication can be and had a lot of great advice for the COSCBWI members.  She encouraged everyone to write for the age group they love.  For her, she feels that the middle grade years are such a powerful, memorable, and tender time in a young person's life.  She also encouraged each COSCBWI member to not shy away from the story inside them--even if it isn't the easiest story to tell.  Jen writes about serious topics, but aims to create a safe space between the pages for kids to experience big emotions.  Your story may be just what a child needs to help them deal with their own difficult situation.  Lastly, Jen encouraged everyone to never, ever give up.  While it may be a long and winding journey, you just have to believe that whatever you're working on will one day be great.  

A big thank you to Jen for sharing her road-to-publication story with our group!  You can find out more about Jen and her writing at jenmaschari.com.

And if you want to learn more about COSCBWI, be sure to visit the group website at http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org.  I hope to see you at the next meeting!

Note: Cover image is from Jen's website at http://jenmaschari.com/books/.      

COSCBWI Meeting March 2016

The COSCBWI meeting for March featured children's writer Carmella Van Vleet. Carmella is the author of many books including Eliza Bing is (Not) a Big, Fat Quitter; To the Stars!  The First American Woman to Walk in Space; and Amazing Ben Franklin Inventions You Can Build Yourself.  With nonfiction, middle grade fiction, and picture book titles under her belt, Carmella offered our members a unique look at publishing in multiple genres.

Although writing in multiple genres can be tricky at times, Carmella loves the challenge and excitement it brings.  She began her publishing career with articles and moved into writing teachers' guides.  Her publisher unexpectedly turned to publishing nonfiction books, but instead of going elsewhere, Carmella decided she wanted to give that genre of writing a try.  She stayed with them and published several nonfiction books, establishing her role as an author.  But after a while, she decided that she was interested in trying fiction, too, so she braved the world of middle grade novel-writing, ultimately finding an agent and publishing Eliza Bing is (Not) a Big, Fat Quitter.  Her first picture book followed shortly thereafter--a special project she'd work on for years with astronaut Cathy Sullivan.  Carmella laughed as she explained that her next book will return her to nonfiction, and that she's working on more middle grade and picture books, too!


Writing and publishing in multiple genres can be quite a balancing act, so she warned that writers may want to think twice before diving in.  But for those brave souls eager to cross genres, Carmella had several tips on how to find happiness and success including:


Finding the Right Agent
Carmella explained that some agents aren't interested in representing writers who want to publish in multiple genres.  It's important to find one who represents everything you want to write, or is willing to learn how to rep the genres they are unfamiliar with.  Another option is to have different agents for different types of writing, so you may end up with one agent who represents your picture books, and another who represents your YA novels.  This is perfectly acceptable--as long as both agents are agreeable to the situation--but can be tricky for the writer.  Carmella cautioned multiple genre-writers to do their research and choose their agent (or agents) with care.

Marketing and Website
If you write in multiple genres, another challenge you will face is tackling marketing and promotion.  It can be hard to brand your writing when your books span diverse genres and age groups.  While some writers choose to have different websites and social media platforms for their separate genres, this can be expensive and time-consuming.  Instead of focusing on your book titles and genres, you can also brand yourself.  This is what Carmella does on her website.  She keeps the tone and images fun for multiple audiences and keeps her website well-organized so people can easily find what they're looking for.

Navigating the Creative Flow
Lastly, Carmella discussed how writing in multiple genres can affect creativity.  On the negative side, this type of writing can cause you to have so many ideas at once that you don't know what to focus on.  It can be tough deciding which projects to pursue--both for your personal enjoyment and to further your publishing career.  It can also make you grow tired of working on Book X's deadlines when you'd rather be working on Book Y.  But on the plus side, writing in multiple genres can be a boon to your creativity!  It keeps you from getting bored or stuck in a creative rut.  More markets also equals more opportunity, so if a certain genre you write isn't selling well at the moment, you can switch to a different one you know and love.  It can be a lot for one brain to handle, but the possibilities--and opportunities--are endless!

A big thank-you to Carmella for sharing her knowledge and experience with COSCBWI!  You can find out more about Carmella and her awesome, wide-variety of books at www.carmellavanvleet.com.

And if you want to learn more about COSCBWI, be sure to visit the group website at http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org.  I hope to see you at the next meeting!
         
Note: Cover images are from Carmella's website at www.carmellavanvleet.com.

Upon Nine Years of Writing

The end of February marks my nine-year writing anniversary.

To put that in perspective, that roughly equates to: one degree in creative writing; twelve conferences under my belt; at least three dozen workshops; 244 blog posts; a library's worth of books read; 567 pages written (not counting revisions); more rejections than I care to compile; four full cheesecakes eaten solo; and 0 books published.  That's "0" as in none; zippo; zilch; and a big fat goose egg.

Part of me says, "%#&$!"  The other part says, "WOO-HOOO!" 

If you're a writer or illustrator, you'll understand that such a milestone comes with a tidal wave of conflicting feelings: amazement; disappointment; determination; embarrassment; humility; horror; and a strange sense of pride.

If you're not a writer or illustrator, you probably think I should be committed to a mental institution. 

All joking aside, I'm actually feeling pretty good at this point in my writing/illustrating career.  Sometimes I can't believe that I'm still following this path after nine years of hard work with no end in sight.  Then the other part of me remembers everything I've learned, all the awesome places I've been, the progress I've made, and the best friends I've met along the way.

And those thoughts keep me moving forward.

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea if I'll be published someday, but I'm not ready to give up yet.  I write this post not for pity or reassurance or kudos.  Rather, consider this my personal "State of the Union" address.  Here's where I am.  That's that. 

And if you're a fellow "pre-published" writer or illustrator, consider this my encouragement for you to keep moving forward, too.

So let me go back to that first equation: one degree in creative writing; twelve conferences under my belt; at least three dozen workshops; 244 blog posts; a library's worth of books read; 567 pages written (not counting revisions); more rejections than I care to compile; four full cheesecakes eaten solo; and 0 books published YET.

If I'm still doing this in nine more years, then you can commit me to a mental institution.

Now come on Ellis, Tentacles, and all the other characters living in my head: Let's keep moving forward!

      

COSCBWI Meeting (Sort of) February 2016

Excuse the wacky title of this blog post.  COSCBWI did not originally have a meeting scheduled for February due to our workshop with young adult author Emery Lord.  (Which was quite an awesome event!)  However, while the January meet-and-greet was loads of fun, we didn't have many illustrators in attendance.  And thus yours truly--the current COSCBWI Illustrator Coordinator--decided we ought to hold a second meet-and-greet in February geared towards our artists-in-hiding.  It was a bit impromptu but a GREAT time, and it was so wonderful to see our illustrators flock together!  :)

Similar to the January meeting, the first item on the agenda for the illustrator meet-and-greet was an overview of the organization.  Because it can't hurt to have the COSCBWI contact info in multiple places, I'll repeat it again:

Email: ohiocensouth@scbwi.org
Website: http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/
Twitter: @CSOhioSCBWI
Facebook: Central Southern Ohio SCBWI
Listserv: coscbwi@yahoogroups.com

In addition, we talked about some parts of the National SCBWI website that are of specific use to illustrators, including how to submit art to the SCBWI Bulletin publication (http://www.scbwi.org/art-spot/) and how to submit art to the monthly "Draw This" challenge (http://www.scbwi.org/calling-all-illustrators-2/).  If you're an illustrator, be sure to poke around the National SCBWI website a bit; SCBWI offers plenty of content and opportunities for their artist members.

After the nuts and bolts, we talked about some upcoming events including...

Saturday, March 5th:
Half-day workshop with associate agent Victoria Selvaggio called "Agent 101: An Inside View of Acquiring Clients."  (There's still time to sign up at https://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/events/agent-101-an-inside-view-of-acquiring-clients/!)

May TBD:
"Photoshop 101" workshop with me, Kathryn Powers.  I'll be going over the basics of Photoshop, including tips on how to make your traditional art shine for a digital submission.  The final date will depend on the Upper Arlington Library's availability, but we will post the info online as soon as it's available.  

After discussing events, we talked about some projects we have planned for our illustrator members this year including...

Ohioana Book Festival Bookmark Project:
This is the second year COSCBWI is sponsoring a bookmark craft for the children's room at the festival.  Our illustrators had a lot of fun making the designs last year, and the kids LOVED coloring them, so we're excited to help with this event again!  Please visit https://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/2016-ohioana-book-festival-bookmark-project/ to download the full instructions and bookmark template.  The due date is April 1, so don't delay!

Facebook Banner:
COSCBWI decided our Facebook page could use a bit of sprucing up.  As an ongoing project, our member artists are invited to create seasonal banner illustrations.  The first spots were snatched up by members at the meeting, but don't worry--each season will come around again!  If you're interested in creating a banner for a future season, just email me (Kathryn Powers) at ohiocensouth@scbwi.org.

Notecard Contest:
Our 2015 Notecard Contest was such a success that we've decided to host it again in 2016!  Be on the lookout for this year's theme and instructions sometime in late spring/early summer.

And then after ALL THAT, we talked shop and did some informal critiquing.  Boy, was it a busy night!

A big thank you to everyone who attended the illustrator meet-and-greet!  And if you couldn't come, I hope to see you at meeting or workshop soon!          

COSCBWI Meeting January 2016

It's a brand new year, which means it's time to jump back into COSCBWI meetings!

As you may have read in my "About Me" section of this blog, I'm the Illustrator Coordinator for the Central and Southern Ohio Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers Illustrators.  (Try to say that 10 times fast!)  I help plan events and love contributing to the organization.  A few years ago, I started posting summaries of the monthly meetings on my blog for any local folk who missed attending, as well as for my readers spread far and wide who are interested in children's literature topics.  I plan to do so again in 2016, so I hope you will enjoy these COSCBWI posts!

The first meeting of 2016 was a meet-and-greet and overview of the organization.  2016 has ushered in some changes for the chapter, including a new Regional Advisor.  Former Regional Advisor Linda Miller decided it was time to retire from the position after several years of service.  We know she'll remain active in the group, though, and wish her the best of luck as she focuses on her own writing!  YA author and active member Jody Casella will be stepping into the RA role, and we know she'll bring a lot to the group with her personal experience in the publishing industry.

It's always a good idea to make sure everyone has the most up-to-date info at the start of each year, so here is where you can find COSCBWI online:

Email: ohiocensouth@scbwi.org
Website: http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/
Twitter: @CSOhioSCBWI
Facebook: Central Southern Ohio SCBWI
Listserv: coscbwi@yahoogroups.com

We also talked about some awesome events already on the calendar for 2016 including...

Saturday, February 13th:
Half-day workshop with YA author Emery Lord called "Taking Your Manuscript to the Next Level"

Saturday, March 5th:
Half-day workshop with associate agent Victoria Selvaggio called "Agent 101: An Inside View of Acquiring Clients"

You can find out more information and sign up for both workshops here:  http://ohiocensouth.scbwi.org/
(Each event is on the purple menu on the right-hand side of the website.)

We also talked about some other big upcoming events around the literary community including the SCBWI Multi-Chapter Spring "Wild Wild Midwest" Conference on April 29-May 1 in Chicago (website) and the 10th Annual Ohioana Book Festival on April 23 in Columbus (www.ohioana.org).

The meeting ended with member manuscript critiques.  Group critiques are a wonderful way to get feedback on your work, as well as share your writing and illustrating expertise with other members.  COSCBWI keeps the atmosphere informal and encouraging for group critiques, so don't be afraid to to share your work when opportunities come up throughout the year!

This is shaping up to be a very exciting year for COSCBWI (and it's only January 31!)  I hope to see you at a meeting or event soon! 

The Happy 2016 Blog Post

Happy New Year!

 

It's that time again--time to take stock of the last twelve months and look ahead to what the next year may bring.

 

2015 was nuts.  I feel like I say that every year, but this past year was a doozy.  First off, I've never traveled so much in my entire life.  The year took me to St. Maarten, Cleveland (x2), Hocking Hills, Pittsburgh (x2), Hilton Head, Michigan, New York, Niagara Falls, Akron, Chicago, and Cincinnati.  Some of the travel was for conferences; some for work; some for family togetherness; and some for play.  I'm not kidding when I say I still have a half-unpacked suitcase sitting on my bedroom floor as I type this.  (Note to self: catch up on unwashed laundry in 2016.)

 

When I was home during the year (and neither packing nor unpacking suitcases), I spent the bulk of my time going to appointments and tending my bum shoulder as I talked about in this rather grumpy blog post.  This made 2015 not as productive as I would have liked art-wise, but I didn't just sit around like a beached whale, either.  I still forced myself to do at least one artistic thing per month and was quite active in my local SCBWI chapter.  I even managed to fill up this annual art chart, so huzzah!

 

 

You may notice two weird things on this summary.

 

1) What the heck is November?  

 

Long story short, 10 years ago, my hubby wished he'd purchased a geeky tee shirt based off of the "Halo" video game franchise.  Since then, he's wistfully looked for it every year, but has never been able to buy it online.  I found a pic of someone wearing the shirt, re-vectored the design and cleaned it up, and printed it for him as a Christmas surprise.  Original art it is not, but it did take me lots of time and love, so I'm counting it as my artistic creation for November.  :)

 

2) What's up with December?   

 

I spent December writing, that's what's up with December!  (And working on WIP illustrations for my nephew that I don't want to spoil.)  Yes, it took over two years, but I'm happy to say that I've finally reconnected with Pirate Ferret.  I've been working my way through a round of revisions, chipping away at my novel during my lunch breaks at work.  

 

Although I'm EXTREMELY bad at turning my creativity on and off like a light switch (I prefer to "binge write" for hours on end), I've come to the realization that I need to take better advantage of the tiny chunks of writing time I can scrounge up during the day.  It's been a bit of an adjustment, but I'm learning to celebrate mini-progress and not expect the same level of productivity from myself as when I used to work part-time.  Editing a sentence or two during lunch is always better than editing nothing at all.  :)

 

So what will 2016 bring?

 

The new year has already started with another shoulder injection, so I'm quite sure I'll be dealing with my body being stupid again this year.  But my shoulder does feel a little better, and I'm still working with someone for my migraines, so maybe 2016 will find me the healthiest Kathryn yet!  (Or bionic.  Can I just swap out my innards for a steel frame?)      

 

Overall, I plan to keep moving forward in 2016.  Pirate Ferret is going well; I have lots of art I want to do; and writing and illustrating events are quickly filling my calendar.  Plus, I already have one trip planned...

 

 

That's right!  2016 is a Disney World year!  So how could it not be great year?

 

I wish you a bright, healthy, and inspired new year!  Let's all keep moving forward in 2016! 

Note:  Blank art summary meme edited from DustBunnyThumper on deviantArt.  link   All art and stick doodles are mine.