I have made it my mission this summer to visit the public library at least once a week. My goal is to read and study picture books to better understand their construction, find out what kids like, and improve my writing. This week I read:Press Here by Hervé TulletRhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan ThomasEpossumondas plays…
Author: Christine Alemshah
My 5 Year Old Reading Self
This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend a Free Writing Workshop, The Seven Deadly Sins of Writing led by Author Amy Goldman Koss and hosted by SCBWI (have I mentioned how much I love them?) Ms. Koss was very candid, funny, and realistic in her discussion with us. I will be adding her…
Summer Writing Workshops
Hello everyone!So I have every intention to keep blogging throughout the summer, but at the moment I can’t make any promises. And why is that you ask? Well, I have signed up to take two online writing workshops simultaneously. I have my summer off from work so it should be no biggie right? Seeing as…
Fairies on the brain: A book review and book trailer
It’s no secret that I’m a little obsessed with fantasy books. One of my favorite types of fantasy characters to read about are fairies. Give me evil fairies, quirky fairies, invisible fairies, or MC’s that are part fairy (like Sookie Stackhouse) and I am instantly intrigued. My latest read was Justine Larbelstier’s How to Ditch…
RemembeRed: A Real Meal, Finally!
I gazed up at the menu with excitement. This was it, the first real food I would have in two weeks. This was the third restaurant in the food court I’d been to already, staring up at the menu deciding whether or not I could eat here. My husband didn’t say so but I could…
5 Things to do while playing The Waiting Game
I have to confess, I have become a little preoccupied with checking my e-mail and mailbox for the past few weeks…wishing and hoping to receive news about recent manuscript submissions. Of course, it can take many months to hear anything however, I’ve been told one of my stories is currently under consideration. (Squeal!) It is…
Adventures in Rhyme
If you’re an aspiring children’s writer like me, I’m sure you have heard the following plenty of times: Stay away from rhyme. It no longer sells and new writers rarely get it right. Truth be told I never have had a gift for rhyme or poetry. But, I have a silly story idea, which I…
Picture Book word counts in Current Children’s Book Market
It was June 2010 when I finally had an idea for a picture book and I had to get it down on paper. Before that time I stared at my computer screen for years trying to come up with stories and characters that just didn’t work. I was so eager to get my idea in…
The Sunflower Scribe
I hope everyone is having a bright, sunshiney week! I have been trying to think of the perfect blog title for my children’s writing blog for quite some time now. So far nothing had stuck. It’s like having a nickname. I couldn’t just use any old name — it had to stick. And more importantly,…
Book Review: The Hunger Games
I have recently finished The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I’ve seen these books on bestseller lists for quite some time, but whenever I read the synopsis for the first book I couldn’t envision myself getting into it. In my younger days I loved horror and had no problem with watching or reading about…