Things have definitely changed in my writing in the past week. There’s no explanation for it, other than perhaps Kindling Words East did kindle the words in me.
Update on my creative writing, I turned in my proposal for JULIETA 2 (potentially titled Julieta and the Cryptic Rose) to my editor. It was encouraging that she said they might buy it on spec, meaning, I don’t have to write the whole manuscript before they give me a contract if they think it’s good. Thursday, I was writing with my former class mate Alex Mika, he says ‘hi’ to those who know him. We’ve been doing weekly creative writing sessions on Zoom and it has honestly been great for accountability. Anyway, plotting out the whole novel was proving a challenge, until everything clicked at some miraculous point—after more than a year of percolating a mystery in my mind—and I can say that I’m feeling confident about it. Now it’s back to the waiting game until my editor says, “Yes, Luisana, I agree, this actually looks like a mystery.”
My favorite waiting meme —>
Also my favorite Good Friday to Easter Sunday waiting meme.
On the other hand, my academic has also been shaping up pretty nicely. I am really encouraged every time I teach my ENGL 3420 (Children’s Literature) because the joy of children’s lit is mirrored back to me by my students. We’re doing picturebook week(s) and it’s amazing telling my adult students that they have ‘permission’ to read picturebooks. It’s especially rewarding when I hear them chuckle and say, “This is actually really funny.”
(Note: If you wanna laugh at some picturebooks come visit class next Wednesday when we’re having our second Picturebook Bonanza day. Also, I can give you the best recs for lol picturebooks. I mean, they HAVE to be funny because parents read them to kids again and again and again and… you get the picture. Leon, can you corroborate?)
Anyway, feeling really excited about both of my writing personas.
I can agree 1000% about picturebooks! I also agree that writing on Zoom can be super helpful for accountability and a general sense of fellowship. imho it’s one of the things Zoom is really good for (which is funny because it involves very little interaction!).
If I was an undergrad and a professor asked me to look at a picture book, I would have laughed! But also…why not look at a picture book? Why not engage with what we teach kids to consume? It does make perfect sense!
Are children’s books geared toward children or adults? Does it help the genre to be inclusive of both? Exciting conversations must occur in your class!
Glad to see you are experiencing positive writing experiences–take them while they come!
Oh for real, Picture books have to have a second layer to entertain the reader–else you want to pitch the book right out the window. I also like picture books with leftist themes (Click Clack Moo ftw). It was exactly the reason my friend and I started Father Bother. My kid even drew our logo.
Also, congrats on turning in your proposal! Fingers crossed they buy it on spec. I’m jealous of your ability to keep to a system of accountability. It’s so very difficult.
I went and looked at your books in progress, and I’m so excited about your book about Vero, too! I think that the past three years have been a difficult time for young people: many of them have developed fears they did not have before. So it’s always the right time for a book about overcoming obstacles and facing your fears, but also, there could never be a better time than right now.