Kid Lit Dish

Okay, by the title it may seem like I’m about to launch some kind of “regular” Thursday column… and maybe I WILL. I actually just like the alliteration of that title, and since I do have (at least!) THree things to be THankful for this week, I figured I’d THrow it all into on THursday post.

I’m not sure what the biggest news is, but here goes:

1) I just won a 20-minute phone critique with picture book author Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen!  Her name may be complicated, but her picture books are NOT.  She’s had countless PBs published over the last few years– titles like Hampire, Tyrannosaurus Wrecks, Duck Duck Moose… to name a few. I am honored to have won this via the good folks at KidLit411, my go-to spot for everything kid lit! Thanks to Elaine and Sylvia and the rest of the team there. GREAT first birthday prizes… made my week!

2) I just landed a new editing client, and it’s a big one. It’s none other than renowned picture book illustrators Will Terry and Jake Parker, who launched the School for Visual Storytelling not too long ago (within the last two years, I think). Anyway, I get to edit the manual that goes along with their Illustrating Children’s Books course. I have taken some of their other courses and they are fantastic. I’m so excited to be working with these guys!

3) This is not kid lit-related, but my 11-year-old just got accepted into a wonderful school for accelerated math and science students. He starts there next year, when he enters middle school.

There’s a ton more going on, but just wanted to share the top three for the week. I’m also grateful for all of my friends and family for “keeping it real” for me and for making me feel grateful every day that I have my health and a lot of love.

Hope you’re having a great week, too!

Happy New Year!

Recently I was lucky enough to participate in what we called a “coloring book collaboration”– essentially a downloadable coloring book for kids where several illustrators contributed one hand-drawn ink illustration for kids to color. The project was started by Jennyann Carthern of PaintIsThickerThanWater, who I tagged recently in a blog tour. You can download the coloring book (which features UN-scary monsters making a mess of their chores) here. Many thanks to Jennyann and my fellow creatives in making this a really cool, fun project.

In case you haven’t heard, the good folks at KidLit411 are celebrating their ONE-YEAR anniversary this week! And to help celebrate, they’re actually giving US, their followers, the opportunity to win great prizes.

Check out today’s prizes here:

http://www.kidlit411.com/2015/01/Kidlit411-Giveaway-Days-Craft-Courses.html