Rhymer Throw-down Entry

As posted previously, we are having a friendly rhymer throw-down amongst some Storyteller Academy folks to push ourselves to try a rhyming picture book. I must admit, it has been difficult to even get to the lousy draft phase. Hats off to people who write in rhyme. I have enjoyed this exercise (and already have a prose version inspired by this one), and am adding my entry:

Ninja Cat Attack

Midnight prowling, grumbly tummy.

Time to feast on something yummy.

Empty food dish?! Woe is me. 

Life is through! Catastrophe!

No surrender! Time for action.

My poor tum needs satisfaction

Come on human, I need cat chow. 

No more sleeping. Get up. "ME-NOW.” 

Kitten scorned?! Enough of that. [Cat gets dumped outside bedroom door.]

Time to bring out … Ninja Cat. 

Ninja Cat spies tasty kibble.

Going in for one sweet nibble. 

Flatten ears and arch the back.  

Here comes Ninja Cat’s A-

Thwack!

Foiled! Defeated. And unseated.

Ninja Cat feels quite depleted.

Hark! What’s that? A feathered snack? [Sees a bird outside the window.]

Come on Ninja! Cat A-

Whack!

Curse that window, freshly cleaned.

Ninja Cat got submarined. 

Submarine? That sounds like fish.

Mac would make a tasty dish. [Fish’s name is Mac, maybe another fish is there named Cheese, but Cheese is hiding.]

Sneaky swimmer. Hold still, Mac!

Got to Ninja Cat A—

SMACK.

Sushi's gone. All hope is dashed! 

Ninja Cat is fading fast. 

Drastic measures. Spot is sleeping.

Ninja Cat is kitty creeping. [Dog has snack near bed.]

One more pounce to get that snack,

Here comes Ninja’s sneak A-

MYAACK

Fur is flying. Spot is growling.

Ninja Cat is hissing, yowling. 

Could it be? Inside that sack.

Ninja Cat needs this A-

TTACK!

Yummy kibble. No more growling. [Dog is eating kibble and Ninja Cat’s tummy isn’t growling.]

Ninja Cat is back to prowling. 

Pillow’s waiting. Sun is dawning.

Ninja Cat can't stop the yawning. 

Purring into dreams so deep.

Ninja Cat is fast A-

Sleep

Interview with Agent Wendi Gu

It’s a new year so let’s start it off with an interview from new-ish agent Wendi Gu of Greenburger Associates. She represents one of my critique partners, so I already know she has great taste (if I could insert the grinning emoticon here, I would). Wendi is looking for authors, author-illustrators and illustrators only. And, as you’ll see by her answers, she will be a champ of an advocate for any client she takes on. Wendi reps kidlit and some adult lit–read on for details. Thank you, Wendi, for your time!

You’re a new agent at Greenburger Associates and have been working with Brenda Bowen—wow. What led you to agenting and to Greenburger? 

Brenda Bowen indeed! She’s been a fabulous, encouraging mentor, and I’m very lucky to work with her. I came into agenting by accident–I knew I wanted to be in New York, and that I wanted to work in books. When I was still studying creative writing at Northwestern, I sent an internship application to every single publishing house and agency I could find. I wasn’t very picky then. At that point, I didn’t even know that there was a difference between agenting and editing! Or what an imprint was. Or what “delivery advance” meant. I never heard back from most places. But lo and behold, I received an internship offer from Greenburger, and worked there the summer before my final year of college. A few months before I was slated to graduate, I got a call that Greenburger was looking to fill an assistant position. I snapped up the position. Then, about a year ago, I was given the green light to agent my own titles. 

If you'd like to read the rest, please visit my site at: https://johnelldewitt.com/2017/01/19/interview-with-agent-wendi-gu/

Interview With VFX Artist and Author Jami Gigot

I met Jami through our critique group and enjoy reading her manuscripts. She creates warm and comforting characters that have a timeless feel, and she also illustrates them. Jami started her artistic career in digital animation before moving to 3D and VFX work, as you will see, and entered the kidlit world with her debut picture book Mae and Moon published through Ripple Grove Press. Her follow up book Seb and the Sun, also through Ripple Grove, is due in 2018. 

Thank you, Jami for sharing your story.

Jami, you have a cool day job as a visual effects artist and you’ve worked on some pretty big movies: Batman v. Superman, Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Pan, and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Can you be more specific on what you do?

When a film is shot these days, a lot, sometimes even the majority, of shots are done in a studio in front of a giant green screen. I work with a team that fills in that space with digital environments, creatures, vehicles, and props, all of which are created solely in the computer. I do a lot of different tasks, but my main focus recently has been on texture painting and lighting scenes. 

Which movie has been your favorite to work on? Do you have a favorite sequence or asset? 

It’s hard to pick one film as my favorite as they all bring their own unique challenges. My favorite projects have been ones where I am given the most creative liberty. Sweeney Toddwas a wonderful experience because I got to work at the film studio doing concept art and I was able to meet and learn from some of my heroes, Tim Burton and Dante Ferretti. I also loved working on the giant shoes and lily pad sequence for Terry Gilliam’s film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and painting the Jolly Roger ship in the film Pan. 

For the rest, please see my site: https://wordpress.com/post/johnelldewitt.com/129

Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups, and A School Visit

Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups (Balzer and Bray, 2015)

Some miraculous moments remind me that connections matter, no matter how fleeting they might seem. Over the last Christmas holiday, my family and I were back in the States. I was scanning the book section in Target and gasped. A familiar cover beamed back at me. 

I hadn't seen Tadgh Bentley's penguin story since we'd exchanged critiques almost four years ago. Little Penguin Gets the Hiccups, was the second story I saw of his, and I loved it. 

I remember when he heard from an agent who was interested in it and sent us back a menagerie of penguins to choose from. Apparently, his soon-to-be-agent didn't like the original style and asked Tadgh to redraw the original. We casted our votes on the penguin we liked best and then lost touch for a while. 

Fast forward three years or so when I'm walking in Target and see a little penguin who looked familiar. I felt oddly proud, as if I'd written it, to see the book on the shelf. I knew a bit of the struggle behind its creation and couldn't have been happier to see it triumph. I snatched it up and took it to the checkout, excited to show my family.

I sent him a congratulatory email and heard back from him. Then the wheels started turning. I'm friends with the principal of the local British school. 

Tadgh, being from London before transplanting to the U.S., seemed a natural fit for a school visit. I introduced them via email and left them alone to talk to each other. The result: The school invited Tadgh out to do a visit. 

I was lucky enough to attend two of his presentations, and his visits were as engaging as his book. He's a teacher, and it showed in the way he expertly reigned the kids in when needed. 

He also tailored his presentation to each grade we visited. For the fourth grade, he did a brief presentation on shapes and what they mean in a drawing. 

Then he had each child drew his/her own monster. My son chose the triangular shape, the shape of action, danger and adventure. 

For the first grade, Tadgh (pronounced 'Teeg' if you were wondering like I was) did a read-aloud, which works really well with the interactive nature of his book. 

The kids were really into it and convinced him to draw Little Penguin eating a hot dog, which he did, on the spot, on the whiteboard, in a room with fifty first graders tuning in. Impressive to say the least.

Oh what a treat to be there and to meet Tadgh in person. I could never have known that a couple of critique exchanges would lead to a school visit that I would also be able to enjoy. Make those connections and keep them open. Little things lead to big things. 

And, by the way, if you want a great resource for school visit information, join Michelle Cusolito's Facebook page: Creating Engaging School Visits

Have a great weekend. 

Peanut Butter and Brains: A Video Experiment

Barnes&Noble

I've had the pleasure of working with author Joe McGee on some of my stories. He's helped me fix the problem spots and learn how to craft a more solid picture book. He teaches writing classes at two college/universities, so he knows his stuff, as evident is his super fun picture book, Peanut Butter and Brains. 

My kids and I decided to bite off an ambitious project and make a trailer of his book. We enlisted the help of some friends to flesh out the zombie herd a bit more. My son wrote and played the song. My youngest daughter did the narration, and my oldest girl did the makeup and helped me with the storyboard. First the video, then what I learned from making it:

Lessons: 

• Video isn't hard to make, but it takes time to do it right: Thanks to Katie Davis' Video Idiot Bootcamp class, I learned to de-mystify the art of video making. 
• Storyboard first: Yes! Write out a detailed storyboard of what will be said and what footage you'll need. It saved us so much time.
• Our video is not an effective trailer: We put too much detail into this video to make it effective as a trailer. We left out a lot of the middle, so the hopefully it will do it's job in interesting the viewer in the book, but next time, I'm capping it at 50 seconds or less and leaving out more details, especially the ending. 
• Working with kids is hard: Yet another reason to keep the videos short!
• Making videos helped me be a better writer: The storyboarding process forced me to write out an arc, just like I would in a picture book. The editing process also helped me see what needed to be cut and why. 

I did get permission from Joe to release this video to the public, so I hope you all enjoy it and learn something from it as well. 

And thanks to Joe for being an awesome writer, mentor and friend. 

Have a great week!

A Chocolatey Valentine Field Trip

My son's chocolate factory diagram

I nearly forgot that Valentine's Day is peeking around the corner. I started home schooling my kids three weeks ago and the days have all blended into one. Teaching my own children is challenging and refreshing. I get to learn along with them.

I actually got to sit down, well stand because no chairs were left, and do a water color with my kids during their art class. We also toured a chocolate factory yesterday--the perfect field trip for a Valentine weekend. 

My son really enjoyed it, as you can tell by his diagram above. I don't know if my cravings for dark chocolate during my pregnancy with him influenced his rapacious desire for the fruits of the cacao bean, but he Valentine-triple-hearts his chocolate. 

My friend owns the factory and the story about how she ended up with a chocolate factory is a book in the making. In fact, I've already talked to her about turning her story into a picture book, so yesterday's tour was a writing journey me as well. And wow, did I learn some cool things.

Cacao pod. I apologize for the lousy photos!

Did you know the cacao pod, the one with the tasty chocolate beans inside it, has a fruity, white coating over each bean that is scrumptious in its own right?

The beans are covered in a white, fleshy pulp that tastes a bit like a banana and melon mixed.

I didn't know it until we visited the ruins of a volcanically preserved Mayan village and encountered cacao trees. The guide was kind enough to knock a pod down for us, split it open and let us taste the fruity pulp surrounding the beans.

The locals in Central America use the fruity pulp to make their chocolate extra yummy. They ferment the cacao beans inside the fruity pulp before drying it for processing. The sweetness from the fleshy pulp imbues the beans with a richer, sweeter flavor. It must do something extraordinary, because my friend's chocolate is some of the best I've tasted.

I wish I could hand you piece of chocolate through the wire, but I at least hope you can enjoy your own sweet treat this Valentine's Day.

Have a great week and Happy Valentine's Day.

Memorial Day and Mo Willems

Mo Willems' name fits well with Memorial Day for some reason. The video above is a short segment he did for the Today Show and it's packed with great advice for children's book writers.

And to all our military families, Blessed Memorial Day and thank you for all your sacrifices.

Circus Train: New Release from Jennifer Cole Judd

http://jennifercolejudd.com/?page_id=15

I couldn't resist doing an interview with my friend and author, Jennifer Cole Judd. Her newest release, Circus Train, hit the shelves last week. Jen is a brilliant poet and an incredible person all around as you will see from the brief interview below: 

Your latest book, Circus Train, is a rhymer, which you do very well. How hard was it to sell and where did the idea come from? How long did it take from its creation to is ultimate publication? 

Thanks, Johnell!  The idea for Circus Train was born when (surprise, surprise) I took my young kids to the circus one day.  It was watching my then five-year-old daughter's eyes light up with wonder that brought a wave of nostalgia and excitement for me. It was like a sensory explosion, and watching her take it all in was pretty special. I really wanted to capture that magic and wonder, so I sat down that evening to write a poem about it. The poem expanded and became picture book length. This was back in 2006. I had been taking Anastasia Suen's Intensive Picture Book Workshop online at the time, so the manuscript went through some great critiquing. I was really new to children's writing back then, and was focused primarily on poetry writing, so when I subbed the story out and got a couple of rejections, I put it away for a while. Well, quite a while, actually! I pulled the manuscript out in 2012, after having spent some years working on rhythm, rhyme, and learning the craft (and after my first publication, Eyeball in My Garden had been out!). It was then that I added the train to the story. I revised it, shared it with my critique partners, and subbed it to Two Lions. I was surprised (and thrilled) when they acquired it a few months later. I know that doesn't happen a lot in the industry, so I feel extremely blessed (and lucky!) that this story was acquired that quickly...but, I think the span of six years helped! (I wish I could say all of my other stories and poems came together that magically!)

You've been doing author events already. What's been the best one you've done and what feedback are you getting? Which events seem to work best for you and what advice would you give an author preparing for a book tour?

The Birth of Beekle

Most people probably know that Dan Santat won the Caldecott for his picture book Beekle.  Below is a brief video about its genesis which is a shorter excerpt of a much longer podcast also worth listening to:

I know I haven't been around much, but great things are in the works. More about that at a later date. Have a great week.

Djiboutian Christmas

It's here! Susanna Leonard Hill's holiday writing contest. The rules are: Write a children's story in which wild weather impacts the holidays in 350 words or less. (Scroll down to skip the info and get straight to the story.)

Although my story is fictional, it is based on plausible events inspired by two of the places we've lived--a city near the Sahara and Djibouti. And no I'm not trying to offend anyone, Djibouti is an actual city in the country of the same name. 

Map of Djibouti

The French occupied Djibouti at one time and still maintain a foreign legion base there, and the U.S. military has its only military base in Africa there as well.

I googled Djibouti and was rather disturbed to find several sites that listed Djibouti's average temperature at 85°F. I suppose that number is possible if the reading was taken from the air-conditioned office of the Minister of Propaganda, but I don't remember a day that felt below 90 °F. 

In fact, it was not uncommon to have temps in the 120s. A temperature reading at the U.S. military base even placed one summer day at 130°F with the humidity factored in. 

Djibouti is hot, barren, and stinky. It's full of sand, feral dogs and goats that climb on cars or into the trees to reach the scruffy foliage that somehow survives in a place that smells and feels like a dryer full of towels washed in low tide. But it does have crystal-clear water (outside the city) and white-sand beaches. 

I frequently heard of wild sandstorms in the Sahara. I never personally experienced any while living near there nor in Djibouti, but as the video at the beginning shows, it can happen. And in my 338-word story, it does:

A Djiboutian Christmas
by Johnell DeWitt

On Christmas Eve the desert wind howled and growled. Beth growled back.

“I want to go to our old home and build a snowman with Nana.”

“Sweetheart,” said Mom. “We can have Christmas in Djibouti too.”

“I hate Djibouti! It’s too hot for snow and too hot for Santa.”

“Santa will find us,” said Mom.

“But what if Santa’s reindeers get hot and can't fly? The only animals here are scruffy goats who climb trees and stinky dogs who live by the ocean. Santa can’t use climbing goats or soggy dogs to fly his sleigh.”

“Santa won’t come at all if you’re not asleep.”

“I don’t care if Santa comes,” huffed Beth. “Even Santa can’t make it snow in the desert!”

Mom sighed and pulled one of two dangling strings. The light went out, but the fan stayed on. 

“Maybe Santa will surprise you.”

Beth grumbled as Mom closed the door, but the whir of the fan and the chick-chick-tap of sand caroled a desert lullaby.

All night the wind howled. All night the sand blew and in the morning…  

Beth’s mom shook her awake.

“I’m waking you up on Christmas Day,” she laughed. “I think Santa heard you. Look out the window.”

Beth pushed aside her curtains. She could barely see her scraggly yard. Drifts of creamy sand frosted the walls like gingerbread icing.

“It’s a desert snow!” Beth squealed. 

Dad held up a box dotted with prancing reindeer. “I think you should open this present first.”

Beth tore the wrapping off a new pail and shovel. She hugged her dad, slipped on her sandals and pushed her way out the door. 

All morning Beth packed pail-loads of sand. All morning she molded and adorned until finally...

“I’m done,” she shouted. “Santa didn’t bring me snow for a snowman, but he did bring me sand for a sandman.”

A baseball-cap-wearing, carrot-nosed sandman grinned at Beth, and the desert wind blew in to say, “Merry Christmas.”

The End

Weekend Links: The Beauty of Human Collaboration

I saw the above clip today with Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury and thought it was perfect to illustrate what happens when a writer and an author add their distinct interpretations to a story. Bear Hunt is a classic I've read to my children, not quite 2500 times, but pretty close. Okay, not that close. Anyway, it's fun and educational to learn the story behind the story.

The video below shows one of my favorite illustrators (who has also authored his own stories), Chris Riddell. He and Paul Stewart have collaborated on a number of fantasy books for children. It's a great overview of what happens when art and words, and the people who craft them, work together.




And the final video, well it's a life insurance ad from Thailand. I'm not sure how effective it is as an ad--I guess if it were a Kleenex tissues ad--but it's quite a glorious message so don't let the advertising deter you. The video has nothing to do with writing, per se, but it is about the human experience which is what we, as writers, seek to unfold.

Have a great weekend.

Weekend Links: Eric Carle, Aussie Vintage Stories, and a Children's Lit Panel

As a writer, I find the life stories of other writers extremely helpful in understanding how to use my own experiences to create my own stories. The following video interview of Eric Carle is a prime example of how his writing and art was influenced by the world around him. Full of juicy tidbits of writerly wisdom, it's well worth the 8 minutes:

One of my favorite courses in college was my legends, myths and folktales class. As I've traveled, I've tried to gather folktales from each place I've visited or lived in. All of these stories unfold in my mind at some point in generating ideas. Like Tolkein who used the myths he studied to formulate his own world, a study of literature from all parts of the globe enhances our ability to tell a timeless story. The following 4-minute video discusses a collection of vintage Australian children's literature that is available online. Can I just give a cheesy Aussie Awesome! And here's the link to the online collection: http://www.austlit.edu.au/CLDR

And finally, coming it at 42 minutes but worth each one (skip to minute 1:10 to get to the introductions) is a panel on children's literature hosted by Southampton's MFA in Writing and Literature. The authors on the panel are Emma Walton Hamilton, Peggy Kern and Tricia Rayburn. They discuss different genre's from picture books to young adult. 

Part two (36 minutes) is here and goes into more depth about the construct of the books in their genre of choice: