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by Bryan Patrick Avery As a magician, I’ve been taught the value (and necessity) of practice. I had one mentor who told me he would practice a new trick at 1000 times before performing it publicly. That much practice not only helped him perfect his technique, but it made the work second nature. This allows him to focus on his interaction with the audience and his presentation of the trick. The same thing is true when it comes to writing, practice won’t necessarily make your work perfect, but it can make it much better. Here are three practice exercises you can start today that can help make you a more confident writer.  Exercise #1 – Tell a Story When it comes down to it, whether we write picture books, middle grade, or graphic novels, we are storytellers. Be honest, how much time to spend working on telling stories when you’re not working on your work-in-progress. If you’re anything like the writers I’ve talked to, the answer is probably “not much”. Practice telling a short, fictional, story everyday for the next 30 days. It can be any genre (mystery, fantasy, sci-fi, etc.). Don’t write it down, just sit and tell the story the from beginning to end as if it actually happened. You can tell your partner, your kids, or your cat. The key thing is to get used to making up complete stories. If you want to jot down your ideas after the fact, that’s okay. Just make sure you tell the story without writing it down at first. This may seem odd or uncomfortable at first (especially if you’re talking to your dog) but stick with it. It really helps. Exercise #2 – Write a Poem Whether you’re a poet or not, writing a poem a day for 30 can help you become a better storyteller. Here are the rules:
Exercise #3 – Pick up a Book Good readers make good writers. For this exercise, read the opening page of 30 books you’ve read and enjoyed. After reading the first page, note the following things:
 I’d love to hear your feedback on these exercises. I hope you try them and get some value from them. That’s all for this month. Happy writing and have a magical month.
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By Melissa Stoller There are many saying that include the month of May. If you are searching for writing ideas this month, try exploring the following adages and brainstorm possible story plots, characters, titles, and opening or closing lines. Throw out some word associations and let your mind wander. You never know what might bloom in May! 1) APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS - Jot down ideas centering on rain showers, puddles, thunder, storms, flowers, gardening, parks, and more. Or write about a situation that started off one way and turned into something new entirely.
2) HELLO, MAY! OPEN OUR EYES TO THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD - Walk outside and notice the wonders of nature. Write about your neighborhood as a setting. Or use your imagination to create a new fantasy world filled with beauty. Create a word bank with synonyms for the word beautiful, and for words describing our world.  3. ALL THINGS SEEM POSSIBLE IN MAY - Brainstorm possibilities. Ask questions - what if X happened? What would Y do in that situation? Is that really possible? Could that occur . . . or could a character make it happen? See where your questioning takes you as you consider all possible situations and outcomes for a particular character.  Enjoy exploring during the month of May, and cheers to all the flowery, beautiful, possible ideas you will conjure up. And for those fans of Stars Wars, "May the (creativity) force be with you!"  BIO: Melissa Stoller is the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush; Ready, Set, GOrilla!; and Sadie’s Shabbat Stories. Planting Friendship: Peace, Salaam, Shalom (co-written with Callie Metler and Shirin Rahman, illustrated by Kate Talbot), released from Clear Fork Publishing in October, 2021. Melissa is a Blogger and Course Assistant for the Children’s Book Academy, a Rate Your Story judge, a Regional Ambassador for The Chapter Book Challenge, a volunteer with SCBWI/MetroNY, and a founding member of The Book Meshuggenahs. She also interviews authors on her blog, This Writing Life, and offers book tips and resources. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer and editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and Wordle! www.MelissaStoller.com CONNECT: https://www.MelissaStoller.com https://www.MelissaStoller.com/blog http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller http://www.twitter.com/melissastoller www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller www.pinterest.com/melissa_Stoller https://www.TheBookMeshuggenahs.com  by Mira Reisberg As creatives, whenever we look at that blank page, whenever we’re making decisions on where to take a character, whenever we submit our work or attend a conference, we’re facing fear. Most of us are sensitive types, many come from some kind of trauma, so facing fear is an important topic for us just as it is for many of the characters in our plot-driven stories. We talk a lot about character in our upcoming Mastering Graphic Novels course, but suffice to say - character leads plot, meaning your character's personality, traits, attribute, hopes, fears, and quirks will determine what actually happens in your story. You can read more about that here Here are the main elements of writing fiction, and a lot of nonfiction too, although structure might replace plot in some books: 1. Character 2. Plot 3. Pacing 4. Voice and Language How well you know your characters makes a big difference in how well you write them. Physical descriptions (kept to a minimum in picture books) and shown through actions e.g., instead of “Because she was short, hugging was awkward” – “Angie stood on her tip toes to hug” are only part of the picture. It’s your main character(s) hopes, fears, greatest desires that really drive the story or plot. Whatever your main character’s greatest fear is–that’s what they must face and overcome. Whoever their greatest enemy is–that’s who they must vanquish or friend. Whatever their greatest desire–that’s what they must strive towards and attain either in that book or one of the following books if it’s a series, or attain, if it’s a stand-alone picture book. Challenges often become assets. Whoever their friends are, these are either allies on the journey, or characters that they have conflict with, or characters that they must save or help in one way or another. The more you know your characters, the better that you can write them. Even if you never use most of the stuff that you know about them, your character will still come across stronger for that knowledge. Being a visual person, I like doing mind maps. So here’s one that I did for one of my stories from way back that I’m sharing with you as well as a downloadable blank version that you can use with your own work. Let me know if you find it helpful. If you want to learn more about creating wonderful characters and stories check out our brand new course with all its bonuses - Mastering Graphic Novels: https://bit.ly/GraphicNovelsLive Saying it's just a graphic novel course is selling it short. It's a fabulous 7 in 1 class (not including the bonuses) that will teach you how to write and Illustrate PB through YA and how to adapt those stories to hybrid or graphic novel formats or create an original one from scratch! I'll be joining you in the course adapting and re-imagining an exiting picture book story and dummy and creating an original chapter book, which will hopefully become a series. Here are some pictures from my graphic-novel style picture book. These are still very primitive but they give you a sense of just how much fun I'm having and how much more I can now do in this new form to create something richer, more meaningful, and more marketable to publish in this fabulous hungry for talent $1 billion industry. These images are still super rough and early stages but they show how you can add complexity in really fun and easy ways. They're done in Procreate but I'm also learning Clip Studio Paint (both of these are course bonuses) which is super exciting. Can you tell that I'm a lifelong learner who loves the thrill of the new?  The bottom image will probably be converted into more relational images with the interior animals talking with each other using text bubbles and little expository text areas at the top and bottom. Talk about making endorphins playing in this new form.  Yours in children’s book love, Mira xoxoxoxo  Dr. Mira has helped MANY authors and illustrators get published. Her students have published or contracted over 800 books and won every major US children's book award that we know of. Mira has worn just about every hat in the industry including illustrator, author, editor, art director, and literary agent. She holds a PhD in Education and Cultural Studies with a focus on children's literature. Mira has taught children's literature survey and kidlit making courses at Washington State University, Northern Illinois University, San Francisco City College Extension, and UC Berkeley Extension. She is also an award-winning children's book illustrator and writer, ready to romp into the wonderful wild world of making and teaching Graphic Novels and Hybrids.
By Sharon Giltrow We have all heard about ‘Dad Jokes’ but did you know there are ‘Mum Jokes’ too. Dads are often given credit for being the funny one in the family, but mums can be just as funny, if not funnier. What makes ‘Mum Jokes’ especially funny is that they are often about… well about being a mum. Here are a few ‘Mum Jokes’ that I love. What do you call a small mum? Minimum. (Being 5 foot 2 I find this one particularly funny) Daughter: “Mum, what’s it like to have the greatest daughter in the world?” Mum: “I don’t know dear, ask your grandmother.” What makes more noise than a child jumping on mummy’s bed? Two children jumping on mummy’s bed! And one that relates particular well to my new book GET READY, MAMA! and Mother’s Day… Knock, knock. Who’s there? Omelet. Omelet who? Omelet Mummy sleep in today.
Here are some more hilarious books about mums, for mums, written by Aussie authors – some of whom are also mums.
And finally a gift for all the mums out there...my favourite ‘Mum Joke’ Knock, knock. Who’s there? Howard. Howard who? Howard you like breakfast in bed mummy? Happy Mother's Day!! See you in May, with another great Aussie book. GIVEAWAY This month the winner of the giveaway will have a chance to choose whichever book they would like.
BIO: Sharon Giltrow grew up in South Australia, the youngest of eight children, surrounded by pet sheep and fields of barley. She now lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband, two children and a tiny dog. Sharon has taught for all of her career. Previously a teacher of children who are hearing impaired and Deaf-Blind, she now teaches young children with Developmental Language Disorder. Her humorous debut PB, BEDTIME DADDY! released May 2020 through EK books. Sharon’s humorous follow up PB, GET READY, MAMA! Is due to be released through EK books in April, 2022. Her third and fourth PB, LET’S GO SHOPPING, GRANDMA! And LET’S GO TO THE BEACH, GRANDPA! are due to be released through Dixi Books in 2022 and 2023. SAMARA RUBIN AND THE UTILITY BELT, book one in Sharon’s early MG series – THE UTILITY BELT, will be released in 2022 through Clear Fork Publishing. With book two TOBY KING AND THE UTILITY BELT to follow. CONNECT: https://www.instagram.com/sharongiltrow1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/sharongiltrowwriter/ https://twitter.com/sharon_giltrow https://www.sharongiltrowauthor.com/
By Melissa Stoller April 22 is Earth Day, a perfect time to reflect on how we can help care for our planet. And during this entire month, we can explore and find inspiration in every aspect of our world. Here are some tips to help celebrate Earth Day and find some story ideas along the way: 
This month, enjoy our beautiful planet and gain inspiration from the wonder that surrounds us. Happy Earth Day!  BIO: Melissa Stoller is the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Return to Coney Island and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush; Ready, Set, GOrilla!; and Sadie’s Shabbat Stories. Planting Friendship: Peace, Salaam, Shalom (co-written with Callie Metler and Shirin Rahman, illustrated by Kate Talbot), released from Clear Fork Publishing in October, 2021. Melissa is a Blogger and Course Assistant for the Children’s Book Academy, a Rate Your Story judge, a Regional Ambassador for The Chapter Book Challenge, a volunteer with SCBWI/MetroNY, and a founding member of The Book Meshuggenahs. She also interviews authors on her blog, This Writing Life, and offers book tips and resources. In other chapters of her life, Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer and editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her family, and enjoys theatre, museums, and Wordle! www.MelissaStoller.com CONNECT: https://www.MelissaStoller.com https://www.MelissaStoller.com/blog http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller http://www.twitter.com/melissastoller www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller www.pinterest.com/melissa_Stoller https://www.TheBookMeshuggenahs.com   |
We are so excited to be mixing things up at CBA, beginning with some delicious additions to the Blogfish. Meet our awesome new bloggers!!
Here's our lineup: 1st Mondays begin with editor/art director, & CBA Director Mira Reisberg PhD who is handing her Mondays over to awesome former now tradtionally pubbed students to widen their audience. 2nd Mondays will feature super smart Melissa Stoller whose career is taking off with several new books. 3rd Mondays will feature Bryan Patrick Avery, published writer, man of mystery, and professional magician among other things. 4th Mondays feature funny Aussie author Sharon Giltrow sharing awesome Aussie books. And 5th Mondays will feature Libyan American author Koloud Tarapolsi sharing wonderful diverse books. Archives
May 2022
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