Have you entered Lisa Yee's new Bodacious Book Title Contest?? I did!

I always love reading the entries to her contests- they're witty and punny, creative and funny, and I never, ever can think of something to enter- especially when I read all those smart entries by other people! How could I ever compete on that level? Those writers are some f-u-n-n-y people...

But this time, possibly fueled by left-over Halloween candy (which I'm not eating any more of, by the way, even if it starts calling my name... and who bought all this candy anyway??) my brain kicked into gear and I actually thought up an entry. And it was kinda fun!

So, if you haven't entered yet, join me! Or at least go read the entries and have a good laugh. But first, put down that piece of candy- you don't really need it. (I do!! Ha!)

:)

I have now gone through the whole process of seeing my manuscript turn into a real picture book which I can hold in my hands. It bears zero resemblance to what I saw in my head when I wrote it. Completely different. But at the same time, it is also everything I wanted it to be. I wanted the illustrations to reflect the humor in the text. I wanted cute, mischievous dragons that we could root for. And I wanted to love the illustrations, so I could be 100% behind my book. And I do and I am and it's amazing how all that turns out sometimes! I know it doesn't always, so I'm one of the lucky ones and I'm grateful for that.

But even though I've been through it all once, each time is something new, I think. I find myself anticipating new sketches for the next book apprehensively, wondering if they will convey the story I wanted to tell (I already KNOW, at least, that they'll be beautiful!!) And I'm also waiting to find out who will illustrate a different book- and trying not to go crazy until I know!

It was really cool, therefore, to see a blog on the subject of how art comes to be paired with text. Alvina Ling over at the Blue Rose Girls blog posted part of a talk she gave at the Mid-Atlantic SCBWI conference. I so wish I could have been there and heard the whole thing- inside info like this doesn't come along every day! You should check it out. Fascinating stuff!

:)

I read a theory somewhere once that writers write for the age at which they are permanently arrested. I think this is so true.

For example, if you loved high school and feel most in tune with the teen-age angst and mentality, you will end up writing YA- even if that's not where you start. Or you may write across genres, as a lot of authors do, but you will be most successful in YA.

But the teen-age years? Um, I lived them once- that was more than enough. And that is so not me.

I'm a second-grader!

Second graders (which I would loosely translate as 7-8-year-olds) get my humor. Kindergarteners and first graders think I'm a very nice, friendly lady, but a little strange. My own youngest kids, who happen to be second-graders now, were used to me, so they started "getting" me earlier than other kids do- we really started connecting humor-wise in kindergarten.

But it never seemed the same with their classmates, which I now understand. When I read my book to different classes on my tour, second-graders were the first to laugh, really laugh, and genuinely "get" what is happening in the story. The younger kids think it's a nice bedtime story with dragons and that works too. But it's nice to finally know where I fit in- second grade!

Which is why I'm taking up a challenge put out by Jay Asher of The Disco Mermaids and ingeniously modified by Jacqui Robbins. You don't want to see me as a high school senior- you want to see the real me, right? Since second grade is apparently the age at which I'm permanently arrested, here ya go- Boni Winter, second-grader:



And as further evidence that this theory is eerily dead-on, this was always hands-down my favorite school picture....

:)

I'm so glad I did all this fall promotion for Hush. I had a blast, and learned A LOT about myself, and what I can and can't do, and what I like to do and what I don't-so-much like to do.

As a card-carrying member of the Shrinking Violets School Of Promotion (but of course, we don't carry cards- that would be a little too forward of us, don't you think? And really, if I'm going to be completely honest, they don't even know I'm a member, since I just inconspicuously lurk on their site...), I had no idea I would actually LOVE school visits. I really do! I still need to work on a program and make it, you know, perfect, but getting past the I-Can't-Do-School-Visits-Because-I'm-Terrified-Of-
Speaking-In-Public thing was a huge step. Well, I'm not entirely out of "nervous" territory yet, but I'm way over "terrified"!



At Bates Elementary in Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the wonderful bookstore, Nicola's Books, I had a great time doing joint presentations with Debbie Diesen, author of The Pout-Pout Fish. Look what their ULTRA fabulous librarian, Ms. Paula Smeltekop, sent me:



I inspired some students there to write books! Thanks, Ashley (and Alina too! :)

Yes, that is cool beyond cool. I can't even inspire my own kids to put away their laundry...

I also discovered that unless I am actually posed for a picture (like when random candid photos are snapped of me doing a presentation), I look like a six-year-old trying fish for the first time. Apparently, in every picture. Look:



Just kidding. That's Sue!! Definitely worth a trip to see her at The Field Museum in Chicago. Dinosaur Heaven, that was. I could spend DAYS in that museum... But anyway, me? NOT candidly-photogenic. I make LOTS of really weird contorted expressions when I'm talking. Lots. No, trust me, more than that. Here's one from so far away, I won't be embarrassed:



So, from now on, when I notice someone with a camera, I'm going to pose for a split-second so they get at least one good shot. Otherwise, I'm the Author Bride of Frankenstein!! You'd have to pay me to post all the other pics! Ha!

Posed, I can do. Here's a lovely one with Amy and Kim from Crocodile Pie in Libertyville, Illinois. Don't children's bookstores rock???!!



And if you don't know the story of Crocodile Pie, here it is in a nutshell: Fantastic local children's bookstore, on the verge of going out of business, is rescued by a local dentist who just can't bear to see it close. WOW is right!! Kim Zizic and her manager Amy Moran deserve every kind, positive thought you can send their way. Also, every dollar, but we all know that already, don't we...?

Shop your local independent bookstore. Shop more your local independent children's bookstore. The world is a better place with them in it!!!



Here's another posed picture, sort-of, at The BookStall At Chestnut Court. When I read a Pigeon book during my story-time there, I was gently reminded by a young listener that I, Boni Ashburn, am no Mo Willems. (Young listener: "Yeah, I've seen that book before. Yeah, I saw Mo Willems here. There were millions of people here! And HE was funny....") Hey, I can't argue with that- Ha! At least the kid has great taste in authors :) But The BookStall was so very kind and gracious to this newbie writer that I can't hope but to be invited back. I will never draw a Mo Willems-sized crowd, but a small-yet-enthusiastic audience will never go unappreciated by me :)

One more picture- this one is from Lincoln Elementary in Petoskey, Michigan.



The students were great, they liked my presentation, the teachers even asked great questions, but their librarian made this stop one of the best. Schools everywhere, take note: if you want students to be motivated, excited readers, start with a terrific school librarian. Beth Miller at Lincoln (like Paula Smeltekop at the above-mentioned Bates Elementary) was enthusiastic, kind and knowledgeable- everything a great librarian should be! It reflected in her students and made for a memorable and fun visit. I hope they thought so too :)

That's my wrap-up, which actually doesn't seem like much now, but was a terrific, overwhelming and ultimately very satisfying foray into the world of book promotion. My kids got to see me work as The Author on some of it (my family accompanied me on the Chicago leg), which was probably the best part. Now they're starting to see what I really want to do for a living! Was it successful promotion-wise? I'd like to think it was, but do we ever know? If, however, I measure its success by how much it boosted my confidence level, it was a home run for me :)

A big thank you to all the bookstores and schools who hosted me this past month! I hope to see you next time around :)

Hush, Little Dragon was nominated for a 2008 Cybil!!!!

Go check out the line-up here.

And no, my mother didn't nominate it- ha!

BIG, BIG thanks to my fairy godmother, however ;)

I don't have time to blog.

I don't have time to post pictures here, update my website there, etc, etc.

I've been taking feeble stabs, really, I have! I sent a message on Facebook. Good girl, Boni. And I changed four "currently reading" books on Goodreads! See? I'm trying, albeit randomly... (Oh, and don't you just LOVE the word "albeit"??? Good word, that.)

Apparently, I don't have time to parent my children (7-year-olds having temper tantrums?? What's that all about....?!)

And I'm sorry, Deanna, I don't have time to reply to e-mails! Bear with me, hon... that inbox is just too scary right now to open....

Next week. I promise.

BUT, MEANWHILE,

I do have time to alert everyone on the planet (or at least everyone who reads this blog, which is, oh, about 100% fewer people than that) to this: BOO HOO BIRD!!!!!!

Bird is back. BACK!! Be still, my beating heart....

:)

I'm neglecting my blog, aren't I?

I promised it photos. I promised it tales from the road. I promised it thank you's to all the wonderful people who made my last promotional tour possible and such a wonderful experience. And I will! I totally will. I even FOUND my camera...

But it's the Book Fair! And it's my kids' school. And it promotes reading! And it's all about BOOKS!!!

So, Book Stuff is getting in the way of Book Stuff. Really, that's just about the only thing that could cause this derelictness. And now you know that Book Stuff truly does take up 100% of my time. It's not something I admit lightly or without trepidation- but I'm a book freak.

So forgive me, please, my tardiness, blog. I'm getting to it. Really, I am. As soon as I finish these posters...

:)

Jon Scieszka is coming so close to the UP, I can almost see him from here!! But not quite.

Yeah, a four-hour drive to see him would kind-of conflict with that recent vow I made to stay home for a while. Sigh.

BUT, if you live in the Greater Green Bay-DePere area, please go to Butterfly Books and see him for me.

Please??????!!!

And make sure to be REALLY nervous while standing in that HUGE line he'll have, and then when you get to the front, and get a split-second to say something charming and intelligent, which you've already practiced in your head over and over a thousand times, stammer something really stupid and incoherent. That's what I'd do. If I ever got the chance to see him!

Well, a girl can dream....

:)

I love having friends who are more "on top of things" than I am!!

I'm still finding my camera, but Debbie has a photo up already.

And, I think it's just what I needed. Nothing like stirring up my competitive nature...

Pictures to come!!

:)

p.s. Not that it's an excuse exactly, but Dog + Skunk really threw a wrench in my Get Back On Track plans this week...

Chicago...is awesome.

Sue...is awesome.

Crocodile Pie...is awesome.

Copeland Manor School...is awesome!

The BookStall At Chestnut Court...is awesome.

Maggie Moo's ice cream...is too awesome.

Laundry...is not awesome.

:)

I love attending children's writing conferences. You learn about the business AND you get to meet people in it- editors, agents, publishers, illustrators and writers. I met some terrific people at last weekend's Michigan SCBWI Fall Conference. Some were people I previously didn't know at all (Hi Ann and Kay and Lori and Shutta and Wendy and Jennifer and Leslie and everyone whose faces I remember, but names I don't (I'm so bad at names!)) and some were people I knew (Hi Carrie!) or knew from online but had never met in person.

It was great fun to finally meet up with Debbie Diesen, The Pout-Pout Fish lady as my kids call her. We did a joint school visit that was tons of fun, signed stacks of books together, and she let me hang out with her "people." Very cool!

And I met another person I really admire- Ruth McNally Barshaw, author AND illustrator of the Ellie McDoodle series. As an author who can't even draw stick people (seriously), I think author/illustrators are amazing- the top of our heap, so to speak. Unfortunately, when I am in the presence of one whom I admire immensely, his or her overabundance of talent makes me babble incoherently and say things like, "I agree!" when he or she says something nice like, "It's very nice to meet you!" Then, when I realize that I just agreed that it was nice to meet myself, I start trying to clarify, which just sounds idiotic and devolves into a tangled mess of confused pronouns strung together which don't make any sense, or I try to change the subject, by saying something, like, oh I don't know...."I really liked your new book- it was better than the first one."

Um, yeah, I did. I mean, I did say that, not that I'm making that disparaging comment AGAIN! Oh, the hole just keeps getting deeper and deeper...

Anyway, Ruth was completely nice and charming and interesting and knowledgeable and she even THANKED me for my compliment disguised as an insult and hopefully she forgave me my idiocy. And just take a look at what she drew in my copy of Ellie McDoodle: New Kid In School when she signed it!!!!



I'm totally framing that.

And even though I linked to her website a few lines ago, I suggest you don't go there. Unless you have several hours to kill!!! It is so fabulous, you won't want to leave. Just like a great conference :)