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With just a few weeks left in 2021, my mind goes to reflection and exploration. The launch of my book pushed me to explore who I am, who I want to be, and how I want to spend my days. Maybe something in your life is challenging you in the same way. As a writer, it is easy to get in a rut. But this idea of getting stuck happens in everyday life as well; stuck in a 9-5 job that might not be your passion or bound by routines that seem to leave no time for the ideas that ping pong in your head. We put up imaginary blocks that we sometimes call limitations and prevent us from walking the walk of our dreams. I spent the last month on break from my writing and illustrating classes to explore new places in my life. Some might call this a waste of time, but I consider exploration a worthwhile pursuit:
 TAKE A CLASS After thirty years of teaching, I have now become a perpetual student. I can't seem to get enough classes, the latest in abstract art. The thing I love about abstract art is that it looks like child’s play but, in reality, is incredibly challenging. And this is good for my brain. While it seems like random strokes and splatters and puddles of paint, the techniques involve composition, attention to color, marking, intention, and a lot of exploration! Here are a few examples of work I did in the classes. I share them not because they are anything to brag about but because they help document the moments I took to delve into new skills, new interests, and new thoughts. The first class I took was by Laura Horn, who has a very clean, refined, and more of a controlled technique. The second class was by Tracy Verdugo, who has a wilder, more uninhibited approach to teaching abstract art. I enjoyed them both. It was a nice shift to put my intention on a new blank page. There are other classes I'd love to take. Biomimicry intrigues me and is on my bucket list. EXAMINE UP CLOSE Sometimes, I need a change of scenery, a break from the walls of my office/studio. When traveling is not an option, I like to break out my iPhone macro lens. When I get that itch to leave my work behind or clear my mind, the backyard offers a whole new world, a closer look, an examination of the bits of nature that I normally miss. Here's what's going on in my backyard. DISCOVER SECRETS Asking new questions to family members can open up a whole new can of beans! For years, it was very well known that my mother had a deep aversion to beans. Cooking can be a challenge in a home where many of us do not eat meat. So, recently I asked my mom, why? She seemed to be OK with miso, which comes from soybeans, but she won't eat the beans from the pod. She seems OK with the bean paste in daifuku mochi but shivers at the mere mention of any other bean-related dish. "Mochitsuki : a japanese tradition" by Frédéric Poirot is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0   EXPLORE YOUR CITY Like most people, I often feel that I need to travel to explore new places, and I did have the pleasure of visiting Kauai recently, but here in Los Angeles, there are so many places I have never been. As businesses reopen from the pandemic, I find myself craving the experience of new worlds, even having become such a homebody. One place I recently visited was the LA Printers Museum and fair. I surrounded myself with letterpress and printing machines for a couple of hours and even discovered a vendor, Hiromi Paper, with the most beautiful handmade papers from Japan. This business is on my list for another exploration day.  USE NEW MATERIALS Whatever your profession, sometimes a change in materials inspires new energy. If you usually use a pen, use a pencil. Do you color with a crayon, use a marker. Do you draw in ink, use paint. If you typically write on a computer, try paper, fabric, sidewalks, or sand! WRITE POETRY The blank page can be scary. Try stringing words together that don't usually go together. Take two random words from the dictionary and put them together. Start with words already on a page. Create blackout poetry. This is really fun and sort of works the puzzle part of my mind. This guy, Austin Kleon, wrote a whole book on the concept. Here are a couple of mine.   SAVE OLD ART AND OLD BOOKS Go thrifting for deals or a blast from the past. Ancient things hold vibrations. It makes me sad to see old paintings in thrift stores. When I find old books or art, I imagine who created them, who held them, who read them, and why they were important to them. Here is a piece of wood art I found some time ago, and old building plans for a passenger station in Missouri. So random!   BREAK THINGS APART AND PUT THEM BACK TOGETHER Radios, toys, appliances. I feel that if something isn't working and I'm going to throw it away anyway, I might as well take it apart, study it, and put it back together. I'm currently doing this with a story as well! READ SOMETHING NEW Expand knowledge. Currently, I'm loving The New York Times - Science. ASK YOURSELF IMPORTANT QUESTIONS What is one thing that you can change today to steer yourself toward your goals? Start with one thing, something small. No need to completely turn your life upside down. What is the one thing you can give up to make room for where you want? Consider that option, and happy exploring! It's a jungle out there! 
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 Fifteen years after I began writing and five years after actively searching for an agent, I landed at Red Fox Literary and am thrilled to announce that I am now represented by Sara Stephens! This is a dream come true for me. While there is no cookie-cutter method to this process, this list represents the strategies that worked for me. First, take a look at my path to acquiring an agent breakdown. 84 agent submissions 15 years writing 5 years subbing to agents 10 different manuscripts/12 if you count the major rewrites 6 nice rejections with helpful feedback 5 requests for more work 4 subs to agents at my current agency 3 oopsies (name snafus and misread guidelines - it does happen!) 2 calls 1 referral 1 OFFER! I hope this is encouraging! Hang in there and keep moving forward! 1. RESEARCH AGENTS Stay on top of which agents are open to submissions the genre you write by checking out sites such as Query Tracker, MSWL, agency websites, and agent interviews. Sometimes there are nuggets of information in interviews that are not readily available anywhere else. I also subscribed to professional magazines such as Publishers Weekly and Publishers Marketplace to track which agents were making deals regularly. 2. STUDY AND PRACTICE HOW TO WRITE A PITCH There are many samples online! Seek out the ones you like, study how the author crafted their sentences and emulate them using your own words. I recently began using a new formula based on advice from another agent (the name escapes me). It goes like this: Character is X until Y which leads to Z. I like this model because if I can fit my pitch into one or two sentences, it helps me leave out unnecessary words and zero in on the theme of my story. Here is an example of my pitch that caught the attention of my agency. As Susumu begrudgingly learns the secrets of koji-making, the magic ingredient in miso, mounds of rice capture his imagination and take him to play in the snowy mountains. But the demanding process works its magic in other ways, creating a delicious transformation between Papa and Susumu—full of umami! Don't forget to show the voice of your manuscript when writing your pitch! 3. STUDY AND PRACTICE HOW TO WRITE A QUERY Yes, they matter to some agents. Unfortunately, we don't know which agents skip the first page and go right to the manuscript. Again, use a mentor text. Find one online that you think sounds good. Study. What did the author write about in the first, second, and third paragraph? I follow a format similar to this: Paragraph 1: Include one or two sentences about how you became aware of the agent, essential details such as title, genre, word count, and intrigue the agent with comps. Paragraph 2: The pitch. Paragraph 3: Bio. Look at how the author of your mentor query letter crafted their sentences. Vary sentence structure. Trim any words that don't matter - just like you do with your picture book manuscripts! When writing comps, include why you chose them and what inspired your manuscript. State why your story matters. Here is how I wrote out my comps and inspiration. And don't forget to keep it as concise as you can. Children ages 4-8 who enjoy the relationship in Drawn Together (Le), the imagination in The Paper Kingdom (Ku), and the world-building in A Different Pond (Phi), might like this story. STEM backmatter (170 words) is included for kids interested in science. Research into my mother’s youth working for her father in Japan opened up a conversation about the process of miso-making and inspired this manuscript. Some time has passed since I wrote this paragraph, and I still see ways to improve it. Always revising; a writer's work is never done! ;) 3. JUMP RIGHT IN This suggestion may be controversial. But I believe that you can't wait forever to test the waters. It's like having a baby - you never feel quite ready. I think it's okay to start submitting after you've polished your manuscript. Chances are- and we've all been there - we hit that send button, and a few days later, we realize the manuscript wasn't as polished as it could be, and the query letter could use improvement. That's okay. It is part of the process. Next time you will have knowledge you didn't have the first time. And so it goes ... 4. SUBMIT AND FORGET I am not a fan of nudging, but some writers do. Some agents say it's okay to nudge, but I didn't do this unless I had a reason. (a publishing deal) I found the best method for me was to keep looking at what I should be doing next. 5 CREATE A SPREADSHEET OF AGENT CONTACTS This is a very important step. You want to be organized and keep a list of who you submitted to, complete with dates, agency info, and notes if you do or do not want to sub to particular agents in the future. Sometimes an agent may not respond to the manuscript you submitted, but they will invite you to submit to them in the future. You will want to document this information! 6. ACCEPT OPPORTUNITIES Attend conferences! Now that many are happening on Zoom, targeting the ones that will benefit you is easy. Research the agents that will be attending. Do they seem like a good fit for your manuscript? Are they usually closed to submissions but will allow conference attendees to submit for a period of time? Are they offering critiques? Take the opportunities to get your work seen! Participate in pitch events! You never know which agents might be lurking on Twitter and will want your story. Some of the popular events are #pbpitch, #pitmad, and #dvpitch. 8 JOIN MULTIPLE CRITIQUE GROUPS AND POLISH THREE MANUSCRIPTS Life gets busy as you get close to representation. You should have three; ideally, four manuscripts polished in the event an agent asks to see more work - and they will! At this point, you will need more than one critique group. Having four stories in rotation with constant revisions will require more eyes on them. You also want fresh eyes to read your stories and may need a quick turnaround for the agent. Seek out other groups. If you can't find one, consider private groups such as 12x12 or Sub It Club Critique Partner Matchup to get quick feedback. 9 BE PROFESSIONAL, AND DON'T LET MISTAKES SLOW YOU DOWN You will hear that the agenting/publishing industry is a subjective business. This is absolutely true. Rejection brings up insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. Do your best to scream your disappointments in the pillow, not online or to the agent. Maintain public composure and professionalism! Online tantrums will land you in a long timeout! When making a submission mistake, send a quick apology and/or ignore it. There usually is nothing you can do about it. Given a few months, while you're still fretting about it, they will have forgotten. So, learn from it and move forward. 10 DON'T GIVE UP! If you need encouragement, refer back to my path to acquiring an agent breakdown at the beginning of this post. You will get rejections, lots of them. But you won't get an agent if you don't try. So if you want it, don't give up! I wish you success on your path to acquiring an agent! Would you please comment below if this post was helpful or if you have a question? 
Every writer's path to publication is different, but that doesn't stop the questions from being asked. "How long did it take from your first draft to publication?" "How long did it take for the editor to get back to you?" "How long did it take the publisher to find an illustrator."
If you've been following this blog, you have read about my path. Now I have organized the important dates into a timeline. I consider my acquisition and the production of THE STAR FESTIVAL to be fast comparatively speaking in the publishing world. I've heard of books that had faster turnarounds and books that took years to make. This timeline serves as a reference for the curious. It is not meant to be the standard. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments section! 
The piece of writing below is a set of rules by Corita Kent, also known as Sister Corita. I was turned on to her work by a distant cousin, unknown to me until recently, who is the daughter of Henry and Mona Lovins of the now historic Hollywood Art Center School. I became fascinated with Sister Corita because of the dichotomy that she represents, a nun and a creative. I'm not religious, and what little I do know about nuns doesn't usually include the word "artist." Corita is known for her 1985 USPS "Love" stamp. In addition, she created pop art, silk-screening advertisements juxtaposed with verse to bring awareness to social issues. Equally important, she worked with students at the Immaculate Heart College Art Center in the 50's and 60's, encouraging them to play, see the world from a different perspective, and create. Corita's rules remind me that everything is an experiment. I hope you get some value from her list too. Be sure to read to the very end! 
In 2018, I traveled with my daughter and husband, whose musical journey took us to wine country and then to England. As I celebrated his successes that year, I think about the experiences along the way that made this trip memorable, the awe-inspiring walk around Stonehenge, the local pizzeria in Notting Hill (Yes, we did eat pizza in England!), and the resonating performance of my husband and his band in the halls of the Barbican.
While I was there, I received a bit of good news from the SCBWI (Society of Children's Books, Writers, and Illustrators). They honored my manuscript as runner-up for the Sue Alexander Grant, a prestigious award given by the organization. But there were other achievements and failures that year - all worthwhile. These included: A mentorship that I did not get, but I gained practice in writing cover letters. A course with the Lyrical Language Lab, a rhyming class that helped me with rhythm in my prose writing. Reaching out to people I didn't even know for extra critiques and made new friends in the writing community. And writing a new chapter book turned graphic novel, which has gone nowhere except to hone my character-building skills. I can't discern which of these stepping stones that year made the biggest impact on my overall goal of getting traditionally published, but I do know, collectively, they all mattered. In the moments I felt low, I asked myself this question and tried to put my thoughts into this perspective. If I were published, what would I be doing right now? The answer. "The same thing I am doing right now-- writing! TAKE AWAY: Failure: def. Disguised success. Set goals, big and small. Enjoy the journey. What goals have you set for yourself this week? Did you have any disguised successes? (Personal goals accepted! ❤) Please share a comment, and celebrate! Click here to read past posts.  This might be the shortest post ever, but 2017 was packed full of life experiences, marrying my now husband and moving my mom more than a thousand miles across states, into my home, right after my honeymoon! Yes, I do have a husband with a big heart! There was some writing sprinkled in there too, but I had my priorities in order! Fun fact: My mom later inspired my book, The Star Festival! "I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better." -Georg C. Lichtenberg
Photo Credit: "Love" by Steve Charman is licensed under CC BY 2.0  Tomodachi (friends) Joining my first online critique group gave me the boost that I needed to start writing again. It felt great to be critiquing and to be critiqued! My only regret is that I wish I had created new stories at that time. Because I was in a new group, I chose to get fresh eyes on older manuscripts. Looking back, I see the importance of challenging myself to keep writing new material.
Speaking of critique groups, I will share a bit about listening to critique partners. If this sounds preachy, please know that I AM speaking to myself! But I'd like to share my experience and advice, TAKE OUT THE DOGS! In a manuscript that I am currently working on, I wrote in a pack of wild dogs to create tension in the story. About 50% of the critiques said to take out the dogs. They were too scary for young kids. I resisted. Instead, I tried replacing the word "wild" with hungry, mangy, and dirty. I even added a puppy! I felt the manuscript was in pretty good shape. But there was still that nagging, it-can-be-better feeling. I was not able to revise at that time. It needed space. So I put it away for a while. Later, after several more critiques, I experimented with adding a sibling, changing the POV, and adding metaphors. Through this process, the dogs miraculously disappeared! They really weren't necessary! My story went under a significant transformation. Now, I feel it. My manuscript is submission-ready! TAKE AWAY Listen, even if it's advice you don't think you will need. Try a new approach. Take out the dogs! Or, as they say, kill your darlings!  Every writer needs that someone. That someone that inspires you and encourages you to keep writing when you feel you can't, or when you've lost steam. In 2014, I was well into a new relationship with my now-husband. The absence from writing, a couple of years prior, had created space for romance. ❤ Although my stories never left my mind, dating took time, and there were only so many hours in a day! Words were not flowing. Well, maybe spinning circles in my head, but definitely not finding their way out. Lucky for me, my friend, Marlene, my writerly someone, began sending me her picture book manuscripts to critique again. This invitation reignited my interest. In 2015, she formed an online critique group and asked me to join. Although commonplace now, they weren't back then. I was thrilled! It was my first online group. Ideas were put into words. Words became sentences that did find their way to my fingertips, and new stories were written. I was BACK! TAKE AWAY Take a break if you need it. Say YES to opportunities. Treasure your friends. In honor of my long-time critique partner, please check out Marlene Susan's picture book!
"This is a beautiful, sweet, smart book about breastfeeding and weaning. There is no reason in the world not to buy this book for yourself and your breastfeeding friends. I loved it."
Dr. Jay Gordon  In the years 2009-2013, my life had taken on new form. I liken it to Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with powdered gold. A separation from my ex threw me into a trajectory I had not anticipated. I continued to write for a couple of years while relearning what it was like to be single. But in the next few years, my attention focused on friendships and even dating again. There seemed little time to write. I sometimes wonder - If I had continued writing through those years, would I have been published sooner? There's no guessing. Let bygones ...
The truth is, life breaks us sometimes, and when we are broken, we do what we need to do to get through the days. We are fragile and feel that our scars are visible for the world to see. We acclimate and begin to glue our shattered selves back together. The wounds heal and reshape us. They make us stronger, more confident, and definitive. Some observe and whisper damaged, but others recognize resilience and understand that beauty is not in perfection. I realize, Every bit of air I grasped out of frustration, Every argument I suppressed, Every smile I wore to disguise worry from my daughter, Every goal I put on hold, lead me to this exact moment in time, the time that counts down four months to be a published author. I'm not broken. I'm golden. TAKE AWAY Life will always intervene. Take the time to take care of yourself. Face the world in whatever state you are in ...Keep moving forward! NEXT ISSUE: 2014 - Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in! PHOTO: "The cleaned seams (inside)" by Pomax is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0  I recently read an article by Scientific American about how the brain becomes more creative as it relaxes. It explains why inspiration comes to me in moments such as these. I have more time to explore these moments now, but back in 2008, I wrote during small time-outs of being a mom, teacher, and wife. It was more difficult back then, and my writing started to slow. I required a half an hour to shift from thinking about laundry, lesson plans, and major life changes to writing stories about an elephant with big problems, poetry inspired by A.A. Milne and preparing my short silent film for an LA film festival. That doesn't leave many minutes of the day for creative time. I spent a large part of my time traveling in my car, traveling from one student's home to the next. Piles of notes with scribbled ideas accumulated, which eventually made their way into a lengthy google document. And while 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there wasn't ideal. It was what I could do at the time. Inspiration kept me moving forward. It helped me handle a full-time job, my four-year-old daughter, the want of a second child, and pressing pause on my marriage. (This last part is not a recommendation, but it is what happened!) TAKE AWAY Recognize the ebb and flow. Keep scratch paper everywhere! Find small moments to press pause and let inspiration happen! NEXT ISSUE: 2009 - The Year of Break-ups. How are you inspired? Please leave a comment. |
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