Kids’ Week – Tweens Author Darlene Foster

Writing for ‘Tweens’

Article by Darlene Foster

“Too many people grow up. That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be 12 years old.”
– Walt Disney

What inspired me to write children’s books?  In some ways I don’t believe I have ever gone much past 12 years old myself. I relate well to children. Perhaps you have heard the saying – “You are only young once, but you can be immature forever!”

I travelled to the United Arab Emirates a few years ago to visit a friend who lived there at the time. I had an amazing time and felt as excited as a child visiting the circus for the first time. Everything was so unique, exotic and ancient. My friend even commented that I behaved like a twelve year old. When I returned home eager to share my experiences, I started to write them down through the eyes of a twelve year old, who I named Amanda.

I love the 8 – 12 age group, currently called the ‘tweens’ or middle readers. They aren’t yet teenagers but they are no longer little kids either, so they are in between. They still have that eagerness for knowledge but are starting to question things. It is really the end of innocence, I guess. Writing stories from the point of view of a ‘tween’ has been a lot of fun.

However, the journey to publication has not been easy. Fraught with many obstacles and self doubt, I often thought I should just forget the idea of having a book published. I work full time as an employment counsellor and also tutor ESL students evenings and weekends, so my writing time is limited. It took me three years to complete the first book, Amanda in Arabia – the Perfume Flask. Then it took five more years to find a publisher. I had no idea that would be the hardest part. I was often discouraged but I persevered.

In those five years, in between sending the story out to many, many publishers, I wrote the second book, Amanda in Spain – The Girl in The Painting. When I eventually found my wonderful publisher, Central Avenue Publishing, I had one book completed and another almost finished. Amanda in Arabia was published in 2010 and Amanda in Spain in 2011. Now I just can’t seem to stop. Amanda in England – The Missing Novel will be published this fall and I have started on Amanda in Alberta. Amanda may have many more adventures around the world before I am finished.

Was it worth it? You bet! When I held that first printed book in my hands, it was like holding my first born. Sheer joy! When someone tells me how much they enjoyed one of my books, I have to pinch myself to make sure it isn’t just a dream. Although my books are written for the ‘tweens,’ many adults enjoy them also. Perhaps they are the adults who remember what it is like to be 12 years old.

Some people think writing for children would be easier than writing for adults or young adults. I don’t think so. You have to remove yourself from the adult world and think like a child would. I like to hang around kids, listen to the words they use currently, the gestures, the looks, the trends. I read a lot of kid’s books too. In my latest book I feature a couple of teenagers from London that Amanda befriends. I had to use words and terms young people from England would use. With the help of my English husband, his niece and a number of British friends, I feel I got it right. I also watch a lot of British TV. My husband thought it was amusing when I watched TV with a pen and paper in hand and wrote down a word or phrase that I might use.

My hope is that my books will encourage children to travel and see the world one day, and in doing so, accept other cultures. I believe if you have the heart and spirit of a child, you can write for them. It may take a while to become published, but never ever give up if you believe in your story!  A kid wouldn’t.

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Darlene Foster

Darlene Foster is a writer, employment counsellor, ESL teacher, wife, mother and grandmother. Brought up on a ranch in Southern Alberta, she dreamt of traveling the world and meeting interesting people. She lives with her husband on the west coast of BC with their black cat Monkey. She has written three children’s travel/adventure books, Amanda in Arabia – The Perfume Flask, Amanda in Spain – The Girl in The Painting, and Amanda in England-The Missing Novel. She believes everyone is capable of making their dreams come true.

See Darlene and many other authors at Central Avenue Publishing.

Connect with Darlene at her website, blog, Twitter, and on Facebook.

Kids’ Week – Author Jessica Messinger

Article by Jessica Messinger, author of Stinky Feet

Thank you, Karen, for asking me to guest blog about children’s books during Kids’ Week. I’m glad to be here.

I think every children’s book author has to deal with the question, “What makes you think you can be a writer of children’s books?”

I hear voices.

My writing began with my love for stories. My mother used to tell me stories about the mice that lived in my hair to get me to sit still while she combed the snarls out of my long, fine, blonde hair. My grandfather and my childhood babysitter read stories to me, and I can still hear their voices when I read those same stories. Stories are a huge part of our lives, and I suppose writing stories grew out of my love for hearing them, and then thinking, “Hey, I could write something like that.”

What did I do to research writing children’s books?

Though I have a BA in English, the research that helped me the most was reading to children. I learned what kinds of books they like, and I learned what I liked and didn’t like about children’s books.

I paid attention to how children looked at the world. Kids will spend hours looking at ants, bugs, worms and spiders. I got down on the ground and the floor with them and listened to what they had to say about the world.

I think it is imperative to spend time with children in the age group for your book, and it helps if you ask them questions or find out what they think about your book topic. With my book, I began to write it when my daughter was in second or third grade and she wouldn’t wear socks with her shoes. When she took off her shoes in the car it smelled like something had died. I knew this problem of stinky feet inside and out by the time I wrote the book.

What books, if any, did I use to help me?

I read Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing, parts of Ann Whitford Paul’s book Writing Picture Books, and many children’s books. I also like to read grammar, usage, and punctuation books.

What audience do I hope to attract with my book?

I hope children will enjoy my book, but I hope that the readers of my book will enjoy it as well. If my book becomes a favorite that is asked for over and over again that would be nice too. Some people have told me that my book is definitely a “read-to” book. I do not believe that just because my book is a children’s book, all the words should be simple! Though I like simply-written books to help early readers, when people read my book, I want the child to ask, “What does this word mean,” so their vocabulary expands.

As so many authors do now, I added some thought questions at the end of the story, to encourage discussion about the book between the reader and the listener. I believe this is an important aspect of reading together.

Since you’re self-published, what did you do for your beta-reading and editing?

I sent pdf files to a few friends and asked for their feedback. I tweaked it a little and then I printed five copies and handed them out at my book group for people to see. They looked at the books for a few minutes and loved it. It is a nice book to look at, the illustrations “read” very well, and the colors are fabulous! I learned that beta-reading even a simple children’s book should take time. Next time I’ll print out a few more copies, give them to people to read, and ask specific questions.

I paid to have my book edited (Thank you, Karen, you do fantastic work!) and I would encourage any writer to have their book professionally edited!

What is your writing schedule?

I don’t have one. Maybe that’s why it took me seven years to publish this book. With a toddler and two busy teenagers (our third teenager is currently on a two-year mission for our church) it’s hard to find time to write. Most books about writing say that writing isn’t so much working on your story as it is honing your writing skills, so I have a blog for my book, and a blog for my son, which give me specific writing deadlines.

I love to write letters too! I think we’re losing the art of letter-writing to the convenience of instant messages. Because our family can’t call our son while he’s on his mission, we take time to write letters and lengthy emails to him. Sometimes I get creative and email him a letter written from the perspective of the three-year old, the cat, or the dog. It’s fun to watch my daughter and the animals and to think about how their perspectives might sound. My son loves to get those letters!

What is it like working with your husband?

I’m not sure if most children’s books are written and illustrated the way we did it, but it worked for us. Todd is one of those rare, gifted, fine artists who can also illustrate. When I wrote the story I had ideas in my mind of what the illustrations would look like, so I described them and put them in the manuscript where I wanted them. Todd took those descriptions and worked his magic into the illustrations we have now – which are fabulous! For the last 20 years, I have seen his work on other projects and he still surprised me with these illustrations.

Do you have another project in the works?

Yes! StoryCub has done a video reading of my book, which will be available for free on iTunes and their web site soon. I have a notebook full of ideas and I can’t wait to see which project will jump out at me next.

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Jessica Messinger

Jessica Messinger has a BA in English with a minor in French from Brigham Young University. She lives with her husband Todd and their four children in upstate New York. They live in a teeny house with a yellow lab, Bailey, and a black cat, Midnight. Stinky Feet is Jessica’s first children’s book. She has a lot of ideas for more children’s books and hopes to have enough time to write them all.

Check out Jessica’s children’s book Stinky Feet via CreateSpace, on Facebook, or on her blog.

You can buy Stinky Feet on Amazon here.

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Interesting information about StoryCub –

StoryCub produces videos of children’s books being read while the camera pans through a few illustrations from the book. If you click on the YouTube icon on StoryCub’s home page, you’ll go to their videos on YouTube. Jessica’s book will be there soon!

Kids’ Week – Author and Illustrator, Harri Romney

Article by Harri Romney, author of Clunky Monkey

From a young age

I’d always had an ambition to write a book since I was around seven years old, which never seemed to fade. Even when I went through university years later, the ambition was in the forefront of my mind. I was told that I was like Peter Pan, refusing to grow up while remaining excited about the same things that children are enthusiastic about (and I still do). Sadly a few years ago my brother-in-law suddenly passed away (he was fairly young), so it was at that point that I decided I was going to achieve personal goals, which included writing that book.

Emotional achievement

After finishing my first story, I remember feeling emotional – a real sense of achievement (eureka moment), purely because of the little manuscript I’d created. Afterwards my head was buzzing with so many more ideas or quirky titles, that it was interfering with my sleeping, driving, studying and life generally; I had to start keeping a notepad nearby at all times.

First story and a series

That first story became part of the series Winston and Fairy’s Adventures, which has been dedicated especially to my brother-in-law. For this reason, when the first paperback from this series Winston and Fairy: A New Sleigh for Santa is published in 2012, some of the proceeds will go towards supporting the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society which researches the condition that he tragically died from.

Working with kids and being a mom

I don’t research stories before I write them; studying childcare, working with children (and being a mother) has partly helped me to understanding children’s likes, dislikes, or their thought processes and capabilities. However it’s the experiences that children and I share a love of in life such as celebrations, fairy tales, mythical characters, snowy scenery and nature and so on, that inspire me to write.

Countless picture books

It just happens too, that I adore narrative verse, so I choose to write most of my stories in this format.  Additionally, I’ve read countless picture books to my own children every day, since they were both only weeks old (because I read articles which informed parents and educators that it was beneficial to do so), so perhaps picture books are the genre that I’ve been the most exposed to, besides academic literature.

Rejection leads to self-publication

After sending off quite a few manuscripts to agents (and receiving just as many rejections back), I decided to publish my stories on Kindle instead – I would start with Lord Tarquinius Snout’s Adventures, then Winston and Fairy’s Never Ending Winter, and Fireworks and Aliens next, but I needed to get the illustrations done first. And I’d not drawn anything since my college days, 20 years prior.

Why not illustrate it myself?

After joining Goodreads, Amazon Author Central, Twitter and then some networking sites on Facebook, I had an unpleasant experience with one illustrator who tried to hard sell me his work after I’d complimented him on it. Anyway, following this incident, I decided that if I was ever going to get my work published, I’d need to have a go at illustrating myself … I’m glad I did. Examples of my work can be found on this gallery link.

Being a technophobe, I prefer to use good old pencils and paint pens rather than Wacom technology. My husband then enhances colours and removes smudging using a computer, before publishing the pictures.

Paperback and hardback

However, in conclusion, my personal experience (as a published author), has been that picture books which are only available on Kindle or iPad, don’t seem that popular among parents yet (I’ll be the first to admit that I’d not let my children free with these gadgets either). I believe that for this reason and other reasons, paperback or hardback books remain the preferred presentation for picture books; which is why earlier this year, I decided to publish my stories in paperback instead, using a micropublisher and the print on demand facility.

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Harri Romney

Clunky Monkey, A Dog Called Dog, and more recently Lord Tarquinius Snout and the Vacuum of Doom are now available to purchase online in paperback through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Waterstones.

Details regarding publications can also be found on Harri’s website. Be sure to check out Harri’s gallery of illustrations here. Connect with Harri on Twitter.

Click on the link for more information on the U.K.’s National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society.