Hello, lovely readers!

It's great to have you back at the Oasis! Remember, this is the place to refresh your spirits, recharge your creativity, and get a literary mood boost!

Now, stretch your smiles wide and get comfy and cozy for a delightful chitchat because today we have another awesome creative on the KidLit Oasis series... Children's author and illustrator Jaimie Whitbread is here to share some wisdom, insight, and inspiration with us!
 
Welcome, Jaimie! Thank you for joining us on the blog. Please briefly describe your journey to publication. 

I was pretty sure about wanting to be a picture book illustrator about half-way through college, and started plowing towards that goal single-mindedly as soon as I graduated.
I was just going to be an illustrator. I would tell people I was going to illustrate books and, oh yeah, maybe I’d write one someday, too. How short-sighted that turned out to be! In my head I had all these stories and characters that I’d been drawing for years, with a secret wish to see them out in the world someday with their stories fully fledged and ready to fly, but somehow it just didn’t occur to me that what I really wanted to be was a writer.

After about four years of single-mindedly trying to become an illustrator - skill-building, sending out postcards to art directors, looking at art reps, all that - I realized my mistake. I was aiming for a career in illustration, no writing in sight, but I kept telling people I wanted to write someday. I knew how disciplines worked - if I wanted to write “someday” I’d better start writing right then and get those awkward growing years out of the way as soon as possible.

So at that point I circled back and really started focusing on my writing. I put off my attempts to get my foot in the door with my illustration, since if I was going to debut, I wanted to do it as a writer and an illustrator. It was such an exciting time! Writing out the stories I’d always had in my head was completely new and felt momentous. And yet it felt strange and scary. To give so much of my time up to writing that had previously been focused entirely on art. I had felt like I was “almost there” with illustration and now I was starting this whole new thing that would need its own time to grow. But boy I really liked writing, so there was no turning back.

In 2017, about 8 years after setting publication as my goal, I won the Don Freeman work-in-progress award from SCBWI for a dummy book I’d written and illustrated about a tiger searching for her stripes. The same dummy helped me find my agent, Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Agency, and eventually sold to The Innovation Press. It will be my debut book, and, I hope, the first of many!

Everything took a long time, but I think that’s because art takes a long time. Every discipline takes time to develop. Until my writing and my illustration had gotten to a certain level, I didn’t see much traction - which I think was a good thing. I’ve only just now gotten to the point where I’m absolutely proud of the work I am able to produce.
 
What do you find most challenging in this business, either on the creative or publishing side of things? What do you find most rewarding? What helps you stay motivated?

I think the uncertainty of whether a project will ever find its feet out there in the world is the most difficult thing I struggle with. Each project takes such an enormous amount of effort and thought, and my hopes are always so high for each one - and yet it’s such a highly saturated market, and an uncertain industry. It can be hard to keep tangling with a difficult manuscript, knowing how many potential pitfalls stand between it and being published even if I do get it written. It’s always tempting to self-reject.

I just try and remember that bringing each story to life is its own reward. That each untangled manuscript will make me a better writer, whether it sees the light of day or not. But also that no amount of potential future rejection can un-write it – a finished story with all the characters in place and doing and saying all the things I imagined them doing and saying is a gift to myself. That’s become my litmus test for whether a project deserves my time or not. If I would want to see it written whether anyone else ever reads it or not, then it’s worth my time. I am the only guaranteed reader of any story, so I better be in love with it, proud of it, glad to have written it. Whatever happens after that is out of my hands.
 
Could you share any craft tools or techniques that you find most helpful to you when working on a project? What does your revision process look like?

Because I’m an illustrator and a writer, I go back and forth a lot between the two, using one to inspire the other. I love to draw characters and scenes from manuscripts I’m working on, and to brainstorm stories based on my one-shot illustrations. The back and forth between the two keeps everything fresh and exciting through the long drudgery of getting something written and revised.

I do a lot of work in revision. I think one of my gifts is in seeing what a story should be – the dramatic, comedic, poetic potential – and being bothered when it’s not up to snuff. I get so frustrated when a manuscript feels under-cooked, I end up with pages and pages of notes on character and plot and theme and how I can make it all better. Then it’s just a matter of keeping at it until it really, deeply satisfies my inner lover of great stories.
 
What's coming up for you next? Please tell us about any new releases, exciting news, upcoming events or anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

My debut book, A Tiger Without Stripes, is out March 3rd! It’s a thoughtful, modern fable about a tiger searching for her stripes, which touches on self-identity and self-acceptance.

I’ve been doing a weekly over-view of the creation process for A Tiger Without Stripes on my social media, called Tiger Tuesdays, so check it out!

Thank you, Jaimie, this was an amazing chat! I love your attitude in regards to the many uncertainties in this business and what you said here is a good reminder for all of us: "I just try and remember that bringing each story to life is its own reward."
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Readers, please support our featured authors/illustrators by following them on Twitter, requesting their book through your local library, posting reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and of course, purchasing their books.

I hope you enjoyed this post — comments and shares are appreciated. Thank you!
 
Connect with Jaimie:
Website: jaimiewhitbread.com
Twitter: @jaimiesomething

Hello, ravishing readers!

Hooray, you found your way to the Oasis ― it's great to have you visit! This is the place to refresh your spirits, recharge your creativity, and get a literary mood boost!

Now, get those smiles ready and get comfy and cozy for a fantastic chitchat because today we have another spectacular creative on the KidLit Oasis series... Children's author Christy Mihaly is here to share some wisdom, insight, and inspiration with us! 

Welcome, Christy! Thank you for joining us on the blog. Please briefly describe your journey to publication.

A: Thank you for inviting me, Rosie. I love your blog's name—I can just picture all these lovely kidlit people chatting around the watering hole—and I'm happy to share my path to publication. But I have to warn you, there's no blockbuster drama here, just many small steps.
 
Although I always loved to write, when I was in college I didn’t think of writing as a career. I went to law school. Then I got busy being a lawyer for a couple decades. After I had kids, I started dreaming of becoming a children's writer, but I didn't have time.
 
       Getting Started
 
Fast forward to 2011. My husband, 12-year-old daughter, and I moved to Spain for a year (he had a teaching gig there). I decided to use that year to write. I'd taken a course with the Institute for Children's Literature, so I pulled out old stories I'd drafted for the course, revised them, and started sending them out to kids' magazines. Rejections rolled in. I kept subbing, and one day, I sold a story. For $5! I was SO EXCITED.
 
But wait. A month before my story was to be published, the magazine went out of business. I never got paid, and that story remains unpublished. And so it goes…
 
I made more submissions, received more rejections. Needing new material, I found story inspirations all around me—we were living in an unfamiliar country, after all! I wrote a story based on my daughter's experiences at school in Spain. I sent it out, and at last, someone accepted it. My story, "Hola, Amiga,"was published in a kids' online magazine.They didn't pay, but I had a writing credit. Woo!
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What else could I write? I really like nonfiction, so I investigated the children's nonfiction magazines that announce themes for future issues. I began pitching ideas. Again, many were Spanish-themed. After some rejections, "AppleSeeds" liked one of my pitches and sent me my first assignment. I researched and wrote, and in 2012 the article was published. A few months later, I received an actual check. Yay!

            Upping My Game

At the end of our year abroad, I was committed to writing. I wanted to be a working writer—making enough money that I could quit my day job. That meant I had to up my game. I signed up for SCBWI and other writing organizations, joined a critique group, attended workshops and conferences and took online courses, made kidlit friends,and read hundreds of kids' books and magazines. I drafted and polished manuscripts: picture books, middle grade, proposals for longer nonfiction. I helped start a group blog (GROG) to blog about kidlit.

            Work for Hire

I also learned about work-for-hire writing. I sent out my resume and writing samples to educational publishers and book packagers, which hire people to write on assignment. That's how I wrote my first published book—under contract with a book packager in 2015. Though that book doesn't have my name on the cover, my name was on the checks!
I kept working to improve my writing, created more stories, and collected rejections—too many to count. I also kept doing work-for-hire. This gave me the opportunity to team up with great editors, learn best practices for research and nonfiction writing, and get books published.
 
             More Books
 
I also continued attending conferences, bringing my manuscripts for editor critiques. I started submitting to agents. I teamed up with a critique partner, Sue Heavenrich, to write a nonfiction book proposal. Eventually, at conferences, I connected with two different editors. The first made me an offer for a picture book manuscript in 2015, which I accepted. In 2016, I signed with my agent, Erzsi Deak, and that same year signed a second book contract. In 2018, my first picture book,Hey, Hey, Hay! (A Tale of Bales and the Machines That Make Them) was published by Holiday House (illustrated by Joe Cepeda). Later that year, Lerner published the nonfiction YA that Sue and I co-wrote, Diet for a Changing Planet: Food for Thought.
 
My second illustrated picture book is coming soon, and I've got some manuscripts in the pipeline. Meanwhile, I still like work for hire. In fact, that's what has allowed me to quit my day job. I've written more than twenty books for the educational market. I'm particularly proud of the recent series "Shaping the Debate," which helps middle- and high-schoolers analyze the complexities of topics such as Human Rights, Climate Change, and Freedom of the Press.
 
So that's where I am on my kidlit journey—so far! I'd be happy to answer questions if you leave them in the comments. I know I wouldn't be here without a lot of support and help from other book creators, editors, and mentors all along the way.
 
Q: What do you find most challenging in this business, either on the creative or publishing side of things? What do you find most rewarding? What helps you stay motivated?

A: My big challenge: The Wait.The Wait comes in many versions… When I have submitted a manuscript: The Wait to hear back. If a picture book manuscript sells: The Wait for an illustrator. If good news arrives: The Wait for an announcement. Once a book is completed: The Wait for book reviews, The Wait for publication, The Wait for the sales numbers. Sigh. I am working on patience.

What's most rewarding: School visits. This surprised me, because I used to believe nothing could be better than research and writing. But I've learned that visiting schools and talking to kids about books makes this book creation work we do even more meaningful. And I love seeing kids read (or listen to) my books.

What helps me stay motivated? Deadlines! I may be weird here, but I love due dates. I'm at my most productive when juggling multiple deadlines on different projects: I might be working to complete a magazine assignment, a pitch, a school presentation, revisions requested by an editor, and an outline for a new book. Honestly, without deadlines, I get anxious. In fact, if I am not facing an editorial deadline, I'll set one for myself: Send book proposal to Erzsi by next Friday—or else! There's nothing like a good deadline to produce a surge of writerly adrenaline.

Q: Could you share any craft tools or techniques that you find most helpful to you when working on a project? What does your revision process look like?

A: You've probably heard that revision is the heart of writing. It's true! Your first draft gets words onto paper, but it will need work, usually a great deal of work. My advice: Have fun with revising. Let your self play. Experiment! (Also—ahem—save all your drafts and revisions. You never know which version you'll want to return to.)
When revising, it's important to re-think big issues, so you're not simply polishing the language. One trick I use to bring a new vision to revision is to rewrite from a new point of view. Perhaps change your POV character, or shift from third person to first person. You may not keep these alterations. But when you rewrite from a different point of view, you'll see new aspects of your piece that may help you improve it.

Q: What's coming up for you next? Please tell us about any new releases, exciting news, upcoming events or anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

A: March will be a big month! March 1 is the release date for my picture book, Free for You and Me: What Our First Amendment Means. This book introduces young readers to the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment (freedom of speech, religion, and the press, the right to peaceful assembly and the right to petition the government), using poetry, historical vignettes and a contemporary story. It is illustrated by Manu Montoya and published by Albert Whitman. I'm looking forward to seeing FREE out in the world and sharing it with kids around the country during this election year.

I'm also helping organize amid-March bookstore event, Celebrating New Nonfiction Kids' Books, with my local indie bookseller Bear Pond Books. We'll share some exciting new and forthcoming NF books. At the end of the month, I'll be heading to KidLitCon 2020 in Michigan. I'm on a panel with author Keila Dawson and poet Shawntai Brown of the Detroit organization Inside Out Literary Arts. We plan to share techniques for bringing poetry and picture books into classrooms.

What else? I'm open to ideas, inspirations, and assignments. And if you're still reading this, thank you—may you find success on your own journey.

Thank you, Christy, it was great chatting with you!

Readers, please support our featured authors/illustrators by following them on Twitter, requesting their book through your local library, posting reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and of course, purchasing their books.

I hope you enjoyed this post — comments and shares are appreciated. Thank you!
 
Connect with Christy Mihaly

Website: www.christymihaly.com
Twitter: @CMwriter4kids
Instagram: @christymihaly

Thank you for joining us, dear friend. Please briefly describe your journey to publication.

A: Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Rosie. I love to share my defining moment – the event that plunged me into the kidlit world – because it definitely caused me to turn the page to a new chapter in my life and I always hope it will inspire others to follow their dream.

On my 64th birthday, my son took me skydiving and my view of the world changed. 😉 When my feet touched the ground, I knew that if I could jump out of a perfectly good airplane, I could do anything. And what I wanted to do at that point in my life was to be a writer for children. So, I jumped into the kidlit world the same way I had jumped out of the airplane…with my whole heart.

That was 2012…I joined 12x12, did Storystorm, participated in every writing challenge and contest I could find. I wrote, revised, joined critique groups…but the feedback from agents told me I was missing something. One agent said my OTTERS story (it had a different title at that time) was pure poetry…but not for him. Another agent liked the idea of my DYLAN MCGEE story, but he wondered if maybe I should write it in prose, not in rhyme. And still others didn’t like my voice. VOICE? What was that?

And that was when I decided it was time to take some picture book writing classes. I signed up for Susanna Hill’s Making Picture Book Magic, Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab, Mira Reisberg’s Illustrating Children’s Picture Books (no, I didn’t want to become an illustrator, but I thought it might help me with pacing and page turns and with understanding the role of the author and the illustrator 😊) as well as two other classes. Yup, five writing classes in one year…I was definitely a student in 2014…and you know what they say…when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

But honestly, that paid off because my writing improved. My voice became stronger. And I developed more confidence and submitted more. Submitting more was a key ingredient in my search for agent. But there is also an element of luck on this path to publication…Essie White created a submission list for Sweet Dreams, Sarah and within two months, by December 2015, we had a signed book deal. However, even though she continued to submit more of my manuscripts, we didn’t get another book deal until the end of 2017…and then we got three. That’s how this business is…you need patience and perseverance. Perseverance because you just have to keep trying. And patience because sometimes the path to publication takes a very long time…that first book didn’t launch until April 2019. Happily, it recently received a Eureka Honor Award and also has been selected for the 2020 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People. Plus, it was made into an animated DVD and is being translated into French.
 
Q: Could you share any craft tools or techniques that you find most helpful to you when working on a project? What does your revision process look like?

A: Because I write a lot of nonfiction, I love YouTube for interviews, especially if the person I am researching had some celebrity status. Watching an actual interview of your subject can give you such a great picture of their personality. For my rhyming stories, I love Rhymzone.com. And of course, Thesaurus.com is a constant companion. My favorite technique is to write my pitch and/or one sentence AFTER I research my topic, but BEFORE I do much writing of the manuscript – it’s important for me to know what focus/direction my story will take. And I spend a lot of time crafting the opening lines – they are the doorway into the story – often providing a peek at the flavor/voice of the rest of the story. And my closing lines often circle back around and echo the beginning.

Revision? I embrace it…although sometimes it is painful. It’s difficult to make major changes once you get comfortable with your text…so I rely on critique buddies to point out places where change might make the story stronger. I revise LOTS of times…with the Ella Fitzgerald/Marilyn Monroe story, I did three major revisions, each for a different editor who had fallen in love with the manuscript, but wanted changes before they acquired it. And because of how this business works, even though you may revise successfully, the editor still might not be able to acquire the story. This happened to that story twice. Just the other day, one of my long-time critique buddies emailed me a copy of my first iteration of that story. Some things remained the same, but many were different.
​
Here's the first page of the original manuscript written in late 2014/early 2015 (Title: Standing Up for Friendship) and the first page of the revised one that became the book (Title: Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe).
​

​And here’s another tip – something I do without fail – read the manuscript aloud…and record myself. Then I listen back and can hear where I trip up or become disengaged from the story. If I lose attention, so will my young readers…and I can make revisions to ramp up the drama and improve the page turns.
 
Q: What's coming up for you next? Please tell us about any new releases, exciting news, upcoming events or anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

A: When I returned from last year’s round-the-world trip, I thought for sure that this year would be quieter. After all, last year I had three picture books debut almost at the same time…and this year I only had Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe (Little Bee Books, illustrated by Alleanna Harris) that launched on January 28. But things are still crazy busy…in all the best of ways. VOICES launched at a local Barnes and Noble in Nashua, NH and then the next day, I flew out to Chicago for an Author Night at the Lycee Francais Chicago where my granddaughter goes to school. Then I had an author chat and Q&A event at Andersons Bookstore in Naperville, IL and several school visits. Later this week, I leave with my son and his family for ten days in Barcelona and Madrid – and what luck…I have a manuscript about a Spanish sculptor who sold his clay figures on the steps of the Cathedral of Barcelona when he was eleven. It will be so much fun to do research in the field…I don’t often get to do that! There are also several other book events coming up…March 21 at the Silver Unicorn in Acton, MA and April 4 at Toadstool Bookshop in Nashua, NH…plus one coming up sometime in March at the Books of Wonder in NYC. Oh, and the Children’s Festival of Stories in Denver, CO on April 25.

An event I would LOVE to share with your readers, Rosie, is my #50PreciousWords Contest which I will hosting on my blog February 29-March 5…the prize list is PHENOMENAL…three editor critique opportunities, seats in writing classes, and lots of author critiques and picture books…there are over 20 prizes already! Last year we had 300 amazing entries…and I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s precious words. You never know what doors this contest will open…several entries from previous years are already on bookshelves all over the world. So please, everyone, follow your dream…because nothing is impossible if you can imagine it!

Encouraging as always, thank you so much, dear Vivian! What a great way to inspire  everyone as we end our chat on a high note!
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Please support our featured authors/illustrators by following them on Twitter, requesting their book through your local library, posting reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and of course, purchasing their books.
 
Comment on this post and share it on social media for a chance to win one PB critique ans one copy of our guest's book. Two lucky winners will be announced next week!

And the winner of our previous giveaway is... Shauntrell Leaks!
Shauntrell gets a copy of Nancy Churnin's Beautiful Shades of Brown, illustrated by Felicia Marshall. Congratulations!
 
Connect with Vivian:

Website: www.viviankirkfield.com
Twitter: @viviankirkfield

Writer for children—reader forever…that’s Vivian Kirkfield in five words. Her bucket list contains many more than five words – but she’s already checked off skydiving, parasailing, banana-boat riding, and visiting kidlit friend around the world. When she isn’t looking for ways to fall from the sky or sink under the water, she can be found writing picture books in the quaint village of Amherst, NH where the old stone library is her favorite hangout and her young grandson is her favorite board game partner. A retired kindergarten teacher with a masters in Early Childhood Education, Vivian inspires budding writers during classroom visits and shares insights with aspiring authors at conferences and on her blog, where she hosts the #50PreciousWords and #50PreciousWordsforKids Writing Challenges. She is the author of Pippa’s Passover Plate (Holiday House); Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book (Pomegranate); Sweet Dreams, Sarah (Creston Books); Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe (Little Bee Books); and From Here to There: Inventions That Changed the Way the World Moves (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). You can connect with her on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, or just about any place people with picture books are found
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If you'd like to support my work, please order one of my books and/or invite me to your elementary school for an author visit.

Hello, radiant readers!

Hooray, you found your way to the Oasis ― it's great to have you visit! This is the place to refresh your spirits, recharge your creativity, and get a literary mood boost!

I know you're already smiling, but stretch your smiles even wider and get comfy and cozy for a delightful chat because today we have another awesome creative on the KidLit Oasis series... Children's author Nancy Churnin is here to share some wisdom, insight, and inspiration with us! Plus, in celebration of her book's birthday, Nancy is giving away a signed copy of Beautiful Shades of Brown! 

Welcome,  Nancy, and Happy Book Birthday! Thank you for joining us on the blog. Please briefly describe your journey to publication.

NC: I was a longtime journalist when I promised my friend, Steve Sandy, who is deaf, that I would write a picture book about the great Deaf baseball player, William Hoy. I thought I would write it quickly as I do my newspaper stories. But I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I made the promise in 2003 and kept revising and getting rejected until I realized I needed, classes, critique groups and support groups. I got my agent, Karen Grencik, through Julie Hedlund’s 12X12. She sold The William Hoy Story and it came out in 2016, 13 years after I made that promise! I have now sold eight picture book biographies, two of which are coming out this year.
 
Q: What do you find most challenging in this business, either on the creative or publishing side of things? What do you find most rewarding? What helps you stay motivated?

NC: Every story presents its own unique challenges as you try to bring a life or story alive in a way that will resonate and find a special place in the heart of young readers. It can be difficult when you know you’re on the road to something good, but you haven’t quite figured out how to bring it across. The most rewarding part is when it all comes together and the story lives and breathes on its own and you have confidence sending it out into the world knowing that it will be a friend and support to a child. I love doing author visits where I share the book and can see a child’s eyes light up and feel a heart brighten. At a recent school visit, a child asked me if I could please write five new books this year. I said I would do my best. That is motivation!
 
Q: Could you share any craft tools or techniques that you find most helpful to you when working on a project? What does your revision process look like?

NC: I spend a lot of time thinking about what my character’s dream is – what he or she wants more than anything – what the challenges are and the actions my character takes to achieve that dream. I find it helpful to make a book dummy to make sure that my scenes are changing and moving and that there’s enough tension and forward movement in the story to make a child want to turn the page. In revision, I try to trim to the essence, to stick to the essentials. That’s a lot harder than it sounds because when you fall in love with your character, you have to fight the urge to go on and on and tell your reader all the wonderful anecdotes you have!
 
Q: What's coming up for you next? Please tell us about any new releases, exciting news, upcoming events or anything else you'd like to share with our readers?

NC: I’m thrilled to share that I have two picture book biographies coming out this year: Beautiful Shades of Brown, the Art of Laura Wheeler Waring, illustrated by Felicia Marshall, on Feb. 4 from Creston Books/Lerner Books and For Spacious Skies, Katharine Lee Bates and the Inspiration for ‘America the Beautiful,’ illustrated by Olga Baumert, releasing April 1 from Albert Whitman & Company.
​
Thanks again, Nancy! All the best with your wonderful kidlit work and we can't wait to see more beautiful and inspiring books from you!

Please support our featured authors/illustrators by following them on Twitter, requesting their book through your local library, posting reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and of course, purchasing their books. Thank you!
 
Comment on this post and share it on social media for a chance to win a signed copy of Beautiful Shades of Brown. Winner will be announced on 2/11/20.

Connect with Nancy
website: www.nancychurnin.com
Twitter: @nchurnin

Nancy Churnin, a longtime journalist and former theater critic for The Dallas Morning News and The Los Angeles Times, is the award-winning author of eight picture book biographies, including Irving Berlin, the Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing, a Sydney Taylor and National Council for the Social Studies Notable; Manjhi Moves a Mountain, winner of the South Asia Book Award, a Junior Library Guild and Anne Izard Storytellers Choice Award selection, The William Hoy Story, on the Texas 2X2 and the state reading lists and Martin & Anne, on the Jewish Book Council’s recommended Civil Rights and Race reading list. She graduated with honors from Harvard University and has a masters from Columbia University in journalism. She lives in North Texas with her husband, a dog named Dog and two cantankerous cats.
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I hope you enjoyed this post and will be back for our next chat. If you'd like to support my work, please order one of my books and/or invite me to your elementary school for an author visit.