Travel Travails

Three weeks ago my dear friend Kirsten Cappy came to Michigan to interview Badge Velasquez and a few other guys from Bikers For Books, a charity promoting literacy for the youth in my area.

Charlie and I saw her at the Bikers For Books Rally on Sept. 10, and then again the next day at the Kerrytown BookFest in Ann Arbor.

Thank you to Bookbound for selling my books at the Kerrytown BookFest!

Charlie and I had dinner that second day with Kirsten Cappy, Matt Faulkner, Kris Remenar, Nancy Shaw, Pamela Patterson, Denise Fleming and husband David Powers and daughter Indigo Powers,

Also at the BookFest: Kelly DiPucchio, Shanda Trent, Heidi Woodward Sheffield, Nick and Ashley Adkins, Isabel O'Hagin, and wonderful SCBWI-Michigan webmaster and brilliant Austin-to-Ann Arbor transplant Debbie Gonzales,
I'm probably forgetting a few writers and illustrators. If that sounds like a lot of name-dropping, it is because they're smart creatives and I feel lucky to know them all.

At the end of the BookFest we walked Kirsten back to her car. 

She was on time to get to the airport, but she reported that her photographer friend Fred had not telescoped the camera tripod for air travel before he left, and she couldn't get that last leg to fold down on her own. 

She went through TSA with that very suspicious-looking tripod, but first endured extra searches and pat-downs and scrutiny. 

Now late for her flight, she ran through the airport with her unfolded tripod, to the obvious shock and dismay of many of the travelers.

As she related the story to me the next day I couldn't help but laugh... and draw it up for her.

Spring Break 2014

Picture this:
a 15-passenger van
filled with
Charlie and me (the drivers),
Lisa (our daughter and person in charge of the food),
her four kids (ages 11, 5, 3, and 1),
Emmy (our high school daughter and person in charge of the menu),
and Dan (her boyfriend),
on a 21+ hour road trip from Michigan to Austin, Texas.
We stayed at my sister's house
(some of us in tents),
flew another daughter in from Seattle,
traveled around Texas,
kept a group journal about it all,
and came back home safely,
no injuries,
no fighting,
no regrets.
In fact, we want to do it again.
I'm thinking Florida (Disney!) after I sell a few books, and upper Michigan too.

While in Texas Charlie and I presented writer workshops at four schools in Round Rock, and we attended the Texas Library Association conference in San Antonio where we handed out these Texas READ posters:

It was a great working vacation -- but also intense fun.

It's PiBoIdMo time!

Go to Tara Lazar's blog to read more.

PiBoIdMo is Picture Book Idea Month -- join the group and commit to thinking up an idea per day for a picture book. Read the official blog for inspiration each day. At the end of the month, choose the ideas you like best from your collection of 30, and maybe finish one. Sell it, repeat.

Click here to go to PiBoIdMo

The picture book has taken a bit of a beating lately in the press.
Some e-book supporters are quick to say the paper book is a relic.
An October, 2010 New York Times article claimed parents are pushing their kids to read more complex books, younger, and suggested parents don't find value in books that have to be read aloud to their kids, as picture books are meant to be shared. This set off a torrent of responses, including this charming one from an elementary school and this one in the Horn Book, more recently.

The truth is, the publishing world is changing (as is every other part of our world). To be alive is to change. I don't know where it's all going. Nobody does. Until we find out, I say we quit wringing our hands. Embrace your creativity, keep reading, keep writing, and keep encouraging kids.

I'm joining PiBoWriMo for several reasons:
- I wanted to join last year but didn't because I was trying NaNoWriMo for the first time and didn't want to split my effort. That's National Novel Writing Month, also held during the 30 days of November, and it's the long version of PiBo: Write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Stephen King writes that fast (though I hope his editors don't). Last year I ultimately met my goal for NaNoWriMo -- I wrote an Ellie McDoodle book in a month. The hard part was achieving a 50,000 word count for a 17,000-word book. I counted edits and rewrites, of course. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, I should have been able to add 170,000 to my final word count. Since the work I do is often half art, half text, and I am often on deadline, it can't always be shoehorned to fit the NaNoWriMo parameters. But it fits PiBoWriMo.
(Shutta Crum is doing both PiBoWriMo and NaNoWriMo this year. Cheer her on -- she'll need it.)

Why else I am joining PiBoIdMo:

- Before I started writing and illustrating Ellie McDoodle books, I tried creating picture books. I really thought that'd be my big mark on the world. Maybe it still will be. This is one way to find out.

- I have a neat idea for a picture book going right now. It'll take a while to write, edit and illustrate, but I'm excited about the idea and I figure, what better time to fire up the brain to think of more good ideas than when I'm already bogged down with something else? No, I meant, already stoked and paying attention to the sweet whispers of of the muse.

Are you thinking maybe you've got some picture book ideas that need corralling? Got a novel idea you'd like to explore? Push yourself to join PiBoIdMo or NaNoWriMo -- you won't know what you're capable of until you try.

(Hey, I just found out my writer husband Charlie has joined PiBoWriMo too -- awesome!)

March is Reading Month

In Michigan and other states in the Midwest (and elsewhere?), March is Reading Month. That means most authors I know are hitting the road, taking their presentation to schools and conferences far and wide.

So far this season (Feb-March) Charlie and I have presented at:

Averill Elementary in Lansing

Chelsea Library for a cartooning workshop (through Jerzy Drozd - went fantastic)

See the highlights video here!

Winn Elementary in Winn near Shepherd

Elmhurst Elementary in Lansing

Attwood Elementary in Lansing -- my kids' old school, and how very cool to revisit

Shepherd Elementary

Borland Elementary in Imlay City

Kurtz Elementary in Milford

Smith Road Elementary in Temperance

Country Oaks Elementary in Commerce Township

Sodt Elementary in Monroe

Michigan Reading Association Conference

Grand Rapids, One Book, One City:

Ken-O-Sha School

Harrison Park School

Pooh's Corner bookstore

Grand Rapids Public Library

North Park School

Buchanan Elementary.

Coming up soon:

Kingsley Elementary in Traverse City

Gardens Elementary in Marysville

Garfield Elementary in Port Huron

Crull Elementary in Port Huron

Fair Haven Elementary in Fair Haven

Blue Water Reading Association Conference

Millside Elementary in Algonac

Algonac Elementary in Algonac

Blue Water Young Readers Conference

Our Lady of Victory in Northville

Dibble Elementary in Jackson

Frost Elementary in Jackson

Wainwright Elementary in Lansing

Clare Primary School in Clare

Cromaine Library in Hartland

and

Houston SCBWI Conference.

That sounds like a lot, to me!

I have a new presentation with a story-creation workshop that is getting rave reviews from kids and teachers. It all started in Sparta, last November. Standing in front of a group of three year olds I suddenly realized they could barely hold pencils and thus would not benefit from the normal Pre-K program I did (using letterforms to make doodles).

So we improvised, on the spot.

The program was such a big success with the littlest kids that we tried it with the older kids. Again, great fun. We used it for all of the sessions that day, and again at the next Sparta school (we visited Appleview and Ridgeview), and at the Holt schools (Wilcox and Midway) and in three Indianapolis schools (New Augusta South Elementary, Eagle Creek and Fishback Creek Elementary).

By December we knew exactly what would make a great program for the spring author visit season.

Thank you to the schools, libraries and bookstores who hosted us (and who are bringing us in still).

Mr. Barshaw (the timekeeper and presenter of votes) and I have had a really great time getting to know students, librarians, teachers, media specialists, principals, support staff, families and bookstore people.

And thank you to our fellow writers, to teachers and librarians and booksellers and PTA/O members who have referred us to other schools for events.

More to come -- and pictures! But right now I have an art deadline to meet.

PS -- Want to schedule me for a school visit? There's still time! Not in March, but in spring. :) Visit my website: http://ruthexpress.com

Opinionated me: Why I'm attending the conference

I just got back from a writer retreat with my critique group. Four days away from family in a city far away. Four days of potentially uninterrupted writing time.

It was a hassle getting ready and coordinating schedules for my family, and of course it doesn't cost the same to live in a Bed & Breakfast as to live at home.
And there's the issue of sharing a room -- Do I snore? Do I snore loudly? Do I snore so loudly as to make me an unpleasant roommate?
And would you tell me if the answer was yes?
I'm always nervous that I'll forget something important at home (last year it was suddenly cold outside. I forgot a sweatshirt).
Plus, with my head in my books, and all my angsty issues that seem to rear their ugly heads in the days before any big event, how much good company can I possibly be?

And -- I was waiting to hear back at any minute from my agent about a novel and an Ellie McDoodle proposal I'd sent her.
The editor was 2 weeks late with novel feedback -- never a good sign.

Two days before the retreat I wasn't even sure what I was going to write about at the retreat. With two projects up in the air, not knowing which was a priority (if either), and a third very vague idea of three sisters and some dark stuff, I didn't know how I was going to make my time at the retreat worth the cost of attending.

Weird thing, it worked out, as things usually do. My husband called the first night with agent news: They're using the Ellie 4 proposal to fulfill a contract's second half-- no more sleepless nights.
I wrote a good first chapter to the novel. (This is I think the 7th try).
I have a future.

So why go to the fall SCBWI-Michigan conference in October? I can't sell Ellie McDoodles to the editors there. I don't need a new agent. What's the point, then?

It's this: The mix of inspiration and information you get from being immersed in the craft with other writers stays with you for months afterward and it often regenerates into motivation.
For me, it *always* does.
I have never left a conference thinking I knew all there was to be known.
Never left without seeing and hearing something new.
Sometimes when I leave the conference I'm in disrepair, broken down, dismayed that I wasn't "discovered."
And then I realize, it's up to me to make the discovery.
I can follow up on tips heard at the conference. I can check out the URLs and the books and software and concepts mentioned.

The conference doesn't exist to pair me up with an editor and marry me off to an agent.
The conference exists to expand my brain -- and it does that every single time. Even if I already knew the speakers, memorized their presentations and had read every book they edited, I still could get something out of the questions my fellow writers and illustrators asked.

There's a dynamic component in the conference that you won't get from reading articles online.

As long as I am able, I will attend writer conferences and retreats -- even if it's expensive, even if it's inconvenient, even if I feel dark and scared and uncreative.
For inspiring and moving me off center, writer events are batting a thousand. I have no reason to think this upcoming Michigan SCBWI Fall Conference won't do the same.
And -- bonus!!! -- I get to see dear friends at the same time.
How much better can life get?

Kids Read Comics! A free comic event - Dearborn MI

Read all about it! Kids Read Comics, you should too!

I'll be appearing at this event all weekend. Bring kids of all ages. Everything's free.
Register at the website for certain events, others don't require advance registration.

Guests who will be attending the Kids Read Comics Convention include:

• Arvell Jones, artist of Iron Fist and All-Star Squadron
• Dwayne McDuffie, Story editor on Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, writer/creator of Static Shock, writer/producer for the Justice League Unlimited animated series
• Jef Mallett, writer/artist of the syndicated comic strip Frazz – SUNDAY ONLY: SEE PROGRAMMING PAGE
• Roger Langridge, writer/artist of The Muppet Show Comic Book
• Marc Sumerak, writer of Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man
• Raina Telgemeier, artist of The Baby-sitters Club and creator of Smile
• Dave Roman, creator of Astronaut Elementary and Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden
• John Green, artist of Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden
• David Petersen, creator of Mouseguard – SATURDAY ONLY
• Wolfman Mac, host of Wolfman Mac’s Chiller Drive-In
• Chris Houghton, creator of Reed Gunther
• Jim Ottaviani, writer of GT Labs’ T-Minus
  
• Katie Cook, artist of Star Wars comics and sketch cards
• Ryan Estrada, creator of Aki Alliance and Chillin’ Like Villains
• Dan Mishkin, writer/co-creator of Blue Devil and Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld
• William Messner-Loebs, writer of The Flash, Thor, and Wonder Woman
• Thom Zahler, creator of Love and Capes
• Paul Storrie, writer of Gotham Girls comic for DC Comics
• Rob M. Worley, creator of Scratch9 and author of Heir to Fire
• Corey Barba, creator of Yam
• Matt Feazell, creator of The Amazing Cynicalman
  
• Joe Foo, creator of Desmond’s Comic
• Mark Mariano, writer/artist of Flabbergast
• Tara Tallan, writer/artist of the Galaxion webcomic
• Jwan Jordan, writer/artist of The Circular World
• Sara Turner, writer/artist of File 49 and The Boys of the Den
  
• Krishna Sadasivam, writer/artist of PC Weenies and Uncubed
• Kevin Cross, writer/artist of Monkey Mod and co-host of the Big Illustration Party Time podcast
• Mark Rudolph, creator of CV Comics and co-host of the Art & Story comics podcast.
• Brandon Dayton, creator of Green Monk
• Diana Nock, creator of The Intrepid Girlbot and Imaginary Friends Forever
• Michelangelo Cicerone, creator of Ozone Jones
• Marion Vitus, writer/artist of No In-Between and How I Learned to Say No
• Mike Bocianowski, writer/artist of Yets! - SATURDAY ONLY
• The Ann Arbor Comic Artists’ Forum
• Brian Germain, creator of Dark Elf Designs
• Mike Roll, illustrator of The Trains of Christmas
• Matt Dye, creator of Nathan and the Land of Robots
• Erik Hodson, creator of Melby Comics
• Michael Schwartz, creator of Oceanverse
• Shawn Amberger, illustrator and cartoonist
• Jim Mackey, creator of Jackpot Bear
• Brett R. Pinson, creator of Boomtown Press
• Randy Zimmerman, creator of Flint Comix
• Stephanie Mannheim, creator of Nate the Non-Conformist
• Lauren Houser, creator of The Innocent
• Jerzy Drozd, writer/artist of The Front , and co-host of the Art & Story comics podcast
• and me -
• Ruth Barshaw, writer/artist of the Ellie McDoodle books

It's a surprisingly wide reach in programming.
Librarians, comic artists and writers, animators, authors, people who collect, people who create, people who make costumes, people who teach... There's really something for everyone happening.

Join us!!

A Rally of Writers

I see the date's been set for the Skaaldic Society of Lansing's A Rally of Writers:
April 10, 2010.
This is a day-long writer conference held at the beautiful and spacious Lansing Community College West Campus.

My writer-husband Charlie and I attended the Rally of Writers ages ago, long before we joined SCBWI. It was great every year, but one year Charlie said we shouldn't return to the Rally until we were published so we'd have something happy to report at it -- you know, that old "I'm not *really* a writer yet, so I shouldn't attend writer events" sort of thinking that those of us with low self confidence wallow in. Plus we had little kids at home; daily life was a challenge.

Getting published took years. We delved into comic strips, satire, self-published mini books. . . and then eventually I joined SCBWI in 2003. A Rally writer kept urging me to join SCBWI earlier but I was bullheaded, impoverished and easily-distracted.

It's disappointing to realize I could have been living my dream much earlier, but I guess every path has value, even the meandering one.

Last year the Rally of Writers folks asked me to present a session on kids' books.

I was happy to do it but didn't expect to find much of use for me, since I have a genre that works for me, and a career, and no desire to branch out.

Boy, was I surprised.

Several of the sessions were of immediate, applicable use. Lev Raphael's memoir talks were particularly fascinating and deeply moving, and I learned a lot about poetry from keynote speaker Gerry LaFemina. If my sketchbook were handy, if I weren't on[line, avoiding a] deadline right now, I'd upload sketches.
Charlie enjoyed it too, and I think it jumpstarted his new writing career.

I'd definitely go back, either to present or to sit in the audience: Two thumbs up for Lansing's Rally of Writers!