All of the content of Write Up My life, and all new posts, are now available at http://www.juliehedlund.com/julies-blog. Please be sure to follow me there and update your RSS feeds.
See you over there!
All of the content of Write Up My life, and all new posts, are now available at http://www.juliehedlund.com/julies-blog. Please be sure to follow me there and update your RSS feeds.
See you over there!
Posted in Writing |
I’ve finally gotten my brand new website up and running! Please come visit me at http://www.juliehedlund.com.
I’m a little sad to leave Write Up My Life behind, but it was time for a new look and a new URL. Not to worry about all the blog content though. It has ALL been transfered over to my new blog — http://www.juliehedlund.com/julies-blog/. I am installing a redirect that should, post by post, redirect users to the exact same content on the new blog. I will, however, need some time for testing so there may be some broken links for a day or so. If I have any problems correcting them, I will re-post here so you’ll know.
IF YOU HAVE ME IN YOUR BLOGROLL or you know you have a link to the 12 x 12 challenge via your participant badge, it would be best for you to update the links to the new site. For the blogroll, use http://www.juliehedlund.com/julies-blog/. For the 12 x 12 challenge, use http://www.juliehedlund.com/12-x-12/.
FOLLOWERS: I don’t want to lose any of you! Please read below to see how you can keep following me at my new site.
PLEASE COME BY AND FOLLOW ME AT MY NEW WEB HOME! 🙂
Posted in Writing | 2 Comments »
Today’s PPBF selection is from one of our April Author-Palooza authors and Perfect Picture Book Friday’s very own host – Susanna Hill!
Written by Susanna Leonard Hill, Illustrated by Nicole Rutton
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, September, 2009
Suitable for: Ages 3+
Themes/Topics: New Baby, Siblings, Family, Big Sister, Love
Opening/Synopsis: From School Library Journal: Every morning, a young hamster races into her parents’ bedroom and asks, “Is the baby here yet?” and each time they answer, “Not yet.” Rose can’t decide whether she wants a sister or a brother, and at one point she decides that she doesn’t want a baby at all, but her mother brings her around to the idea that she’ll probably like being a big sister. Dad describes the nurturing that babies require and reminds his daughter that she was once an infant who needed and received loving care, too… Hill presents adults who encourage their daughter to process her feelings and come to her own conclusions. The narrative’s pacing and structure are ideal, with the story and life lessons beginning on Monday and ending on Friday.
Activities: Susanna Hill has wonderful resources for Not Yet, Rose and all of her books on her website, including a teacher’s guide, coloring pages, a word search and a maze. This book is obviously also a great jumping-off point for preparing young children for a new sibling and opening discussion of their feelings. Another great way to further the discussion is showing children their own baby pictures and talking about what they were like as infants and asking questions about what kind of big sister or brother they want to be.
Why I Like This Book: I so love the ending of this book, but I don’t want to rob you of the joy of discovering it for yourself. I also love the fact that when my daughter read this book she sighed and said, “I love this book.” Then we shared lots of memories of what it was like when we brought her baby brother home. Of all the “new sibling” books I’ve read, this one is my very favorite.
For more fantastic picture books and resources please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog and find the tab for Perfect Picture Books.
Posted in Perfect Picture Book Friday, Picture Books | Tagged Julie Hedlund, Perfect Picture Book Friday, Picture Books, Susanna Leonard Hill, Writer | 21 Comments »
The other day, when I was procrastinating taking a much-deserved break from working so hard, I realized I hadn’t done anything to celebrate Poetry Month. I’ve of course seen the many book spine poems that have circulated over the past couple of years and decided to try my hand. But I made it more challenging by limiting my choices to only those on my desk – my writing books. I got two that way. Then I realized I hadn’t seen anyone build a book spine poem with picture books, so I tried a couple of those. Here are the results.
Beware lest you try this at home. Once you start, it becomes impossible to walk by your bookshelves without seeing potential spine poems. It’s quite addictive! 🙂
The creative dreamer,
Writing from the heart, faces
Mortification?
Funny you should ask.
Writers dreaming have
Second sight,
Writing magic.
Take Joy!
Escaping into the open, to
Incognito Street.
Save the Cat!
The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot,
The Mixed-Up Chameleon,
And Me … Jane
Journey to the Haunted Planet
Swirl by Swirl.
Can you hear it?
Chasing Degas,
Belinda begins ballet
One winter’s day.
Posted in Picture Books, Poetry, Writing | Tagged Book Spine Poetry, Julie Hedlund, National Poetry Month, Poetry, Writer, Writing | 50 Comments »
Today’s Tuesday 12 x 12 author, Julie Rowan-Zoch is practically a neighbor – a fellow Coloradan! I was glad to read this post because I realized (the horror!) that I wasn’t following her blog. I’ve certainly rectified that and encourage you all to follow it too. She’s only been blogging since March and is practically a poster-child for launching a blog well. Please welcome Julie!
My Classroom: the 12x12in’12 Challenge
“Are you really serious about writing that picture book?”
“Yes!”
A friend was learning to be a creativity coach and needed a guinea pig. She helped me to create an overview of what it would take and a plan of execution – and kicked my butt! But uncontrollable tragic events shook things up in 2011, and slowed me down. My friend helped me give myself permission to let go of the creative process and put things away for a while. I continued developing skills, mostly through reading, which pulled me up and kept me going.
When she saw I was in need of more to focus on she packed up art supplies, drove me to a local garden and said, “Paint.” I have since been enamored with watercolors and continue to learn on my own.
My ‘coach’ talked me into joining SCBWI and I found an illustration contest to participate in. Viewing other entries through Diandra Mae’s Unofficial Gallery of the Tomie dePaola Award (http://scbwicontest.blogspot.com/), led me to fellow participant websites where I kept seeing sidebar badges over and over, and the cute illustration on the 12x12in’12 badge intrigued me most. As soon as I read through the guidelines I signed up. I thought it was crazy, but hey, just a rough draft? I can DO that!
Participating really got the juices flowing! And daily contact on the facebook page has had an enormous effect on my self-discipline. I am now reminded of how much more I can learn in a classroom than alone from a book. The 12x12in’12 Challenge has become the classroom I needed. The solidarity, the sharing of ups and downs, tips and warnings, and above all joy – all these things have become a lifeline.
Back in (pre-computer dark ages) art school (FIT in New York and Hochschule fuer bildende Kuenste in Braunschweig, Germany) one of the strongest
influences on the betterment of my own work was learning to critique my classmate’s artwork and learning to accept and work with the criticism I received. This is no different and equally necessary in my writing.
Despite great effort within my local SCBWI Schmooze group I couldn’t get a PB critique group going (though I am now on the verge!), so I literally had no one to bounce my thoughts off of. Through 12×12 I also have 4 ‘VIPs’ – Hi Kirsten, Jen, Jodi and Rena! – to do that with! I also love the stories shared from all over: Andi’s tornado warnings, Joanna’s aperitifs, Miranda’s African trek, Erik (the kid himself is amazing!), walking with Diane in Aotearoa…and all the new baby pics!
In March I completed my first PB dummy and entered it for the SCBWI Don Freeman WIP Grant, and thanks to Susanna Hill and Punxsutawney Phyllis’
World Tour, I started a blog, which I am unexpectedly getting a big kick out of!
So why stop there? I recently decided to raise the ante of my illustration efforts by posting weekly on http://www.illustrationfriday.com, much like Rena Traxel’s A-Z: 26 Poems in April, using a given word for inspiration.
I still feel as energized now as I did starting 12x12in’12 four months ago! When I go to the local Schmooze meetings I feel informed and up-to-date, and able to contribute – which is huge considering I only started attending a few months before starting the challenge!
The images I have included are digital (AI): the profile pic really does look like me, and the squirrel is part of a series I am trying to launch in Café Press – stay tuned!
At this point, and forever more, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Julie Hedlund and all my fellow Challenge-mates!
Julie Rowan-Zoch is a graphic designer morphed by motherhood into super-volunteer, spun into a pre-pubbie cocoon, soon to spread wings as a writer and Illustrator of children’s books. Designer is only one of many jobs she has held: caterer, bartender, art teacher, pre-school teacher, cheese wrapper, gardener, house cleaner, and co-creator a local-biz coupon book! Raised on Long Island, NY, matured in Germany, unfolding in Colorado. Find her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Artist-Julie-Rowan-Zoch and her blog: http://julierowanzoch.wordpress.com.
Posted in 12 x 12 in 2012, Picture Books, SCBWI, Works in Progress, Writing | Tagged 12 x 12 in 2012, Julie Hedlund, Julie Rowan-Zoch, SCBWI, Tuesday 12 x 12, Works in Progress, Writer, Writing | 62 Comments »
By any measure — physical, mental, emotional — this was not a “good” week. However, I’ve said before that it is even more important to practice gratitude when life doesn’t seem so great on the surface. So in the spirit of practicing what I preach, here is this week’s Gratitude Sunday post.
Quotes on Gratitude
“To get up each morning with the resolve to be happy is to set our own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If you allow yourself to breathe into the depth, wonder, beauty, craziness, and strife — everything that represents the fullness of your life — you can live fearlessly. Because you come to realize that if you just keep breathing, you cannot be conquered.” — Oprah Winfrey
“There’s always going to be bad stuff out there. But here’s the thing, light trumps darkness every time. You can stick a candle into the dark, but you can’t stick the dark into the light.” — Jodi Picoult
Gratitude list for the week ending April 21
What are you grateful for this week?
Posted in Gratitude Sunday | Tagged Gratitude, Gratitude Sunday | 30 Comments »