PiBoIdMo and all that jazz

I’ve done Nanowrimo (that novel is stil waiting for a reboot as a young adult fantasy piece).  What an experience that was.

Those characters still call me and say,  ‘when are you going to do something about me?’

‘Sorry guys I will listen to you soon, promise, on my to do list, ‘  I reply with my fingers crossed behind my back and a pair of runners begging to be put on my feet.  Well seriously I did have a few friends reading it and they did want to know what was going to happen so one day I will get my act together.

This year I am going to participate in PiBoIdmo for the first time.  The idea of this challenge is to generate 30 ideas for picture books in 30 days.  Considering I have presently completed  only one(and it has been sent off to a publisher for consideration, cross my fingers and keep writing) and have four in process, the idea of generating 30 ideas appealed to me.

I love Tara Lazar’s list of guest bloggers and they have already started blogging.  We have opportunities to win prizes if we comment when visiting the inspiring blogs that are going up to keep us going with our generation of ideas quest.

I am looking forward to the comradarie of the facebook group, the blog, and the opportunity to develop the ways I generate ideas for picture books.

But most of all I love the creative energy that comes from knowing lots of my fellow children’s book authors are at the same time generating their 30 ideas in 30 days.

You can register here if you want to do it to, there’s still time to hop on board PiBoIdMo.

Other news 

Thank you to everyone who has recently joined this blog, 300 of you.  A special thank you to the people who leave comments, likes, and keep on coming back.

My poetry series on Miranda and Jackson might take a bit of a back burner for November.  My plotting is going to be focused on picture books!  This will be challenge for me as I love having several things going at once, and some mornings I realise just what needs to happen to Miranda and Jackson, maybe even having dreamt of them.  At the moment I am trying to think of a name for their lost child and something they can do that will help them with grief.  I need to give these characters moments of joy after putting them through the ringer.  However, focus November is my mantra.

Some great news re the plotting quest I did manage to do an almost complete outline for a chapter book for 7-10 year olds.  I only have to come up with my ending and then make sure the turning points match.

I have my ebook of After Yasi almost ready to launch for cyclone season.  I am excited about this because it will make the book accessible to people in a way the coffee table book couldn’t manage as a print on demand boutique community heritage book.  It is full of links to lots of online stories, resources, photographs, and projects to do with natural disaster and recovery through the arts.  I decided to make it a different experience from the coffee table book through the hyperlinks.  I am interested in continuing to explore these kind of journey beyond the text books.

Another good piece of news which I will detail in the future is that I sent some of my poetry for children and families off to a poetry collection and some have been accepted for publication! Woo hoo!  It is lovely to have other people appreciate what you do and give you some kind of confirmation you might have some talent for it.  Creatives on a quest do need that to know we are heading in the right direction.  Otherwise we wonder where the light at the end of that publishing tunnel for wider recognition is.

Those of you who know me well know how much I love poetry, but also know how much I acknowledge it isn’t a big earner, yet poetry at it’s best can touch the heart and inspire the soul.  I will certainly reflect more in future blogs on why poetry will always remain something I love and why and how it can be fostered in the family and educational environments.  I am developing the music to some of my songs and singing a lot, especially when I’ve been having a tough week.

A friend who was one of my early poetry mentors and writing heros, and even organised for me to do a poetry performance gig in Tasmania, sent me a collection of poetry which I am busy reading.I will review  this sometime soon, it might be after November though!  For now I am savouring and thinking about the poems, and finding my love of poetry renewed.  It’s a habit I find hard to break, but I am challenging myself and taking poetic techniques into the other genres I am now writing in.

All the best for your writing adventures, and for anyone doing nanowrimo PiBoldMo, write it, rock it and I so hope we all make our writing and publishing goals.

June aka gumbootpearlz.