19 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in Ask an Editor
Tags
MG, middle grade, PB, picture book, word count, YA, young adult
“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.
Hi Christine – What’s the best place to find current word counts for when I write children’s books?
—Mar, Los Angeles
Continue reading12 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, Christine Van Zandt, interview, Lee and Low, middle grade, Page Street Kids, SCBWI community, SCBWI members, Tina Athaide
Southern California author Tina Athaide’s middle-grade debut was the critically acclaimed novel Orange for the Sunsets (2019, Katherine Tegen). Her latest publication is picture book Meena’s Mindful Moment (2021, Page Street Kids).
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your historical fiction, middle-grade book, Orange for the Sunsets, about two friends (an Indian girl and a Ugandan boy) is set in 1972 Uganda when President Idi Amin announced all Indians with British citizenship had 90 days to leave Uganda—a story that is close to your heart. Did the span of decades help give this life-altering event perspective?
TINA ATHAIDE: Time is exactly what this story needed. The decades in between gave me a broader perspective, which allowed for the space to present two alternating points of view. When I first set out to write the story, it was in the late 1990s, and I had a singular vision—telling the story from an Asian Indian POV. Now when I look at the story, I cannot imagine it without Yesofu, the Ugandan boy. Time healed to look past the loss and pain of the Asian Indian experience so I could give a voice to the Ugandan experiences during that time, so the story had balance.
Continue reading05 Wednesday Jan 2022
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
authors, character development, revision, Rieko Mendez, SCBWI members, voice, writing, writing tips
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the second of three installments on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey. Look for the third installment next month that will explore deeper revision.
I’ve been writing YA fiction seriously for the last five years. Like many of you, I’ve immersed myself in books on the writing craft and consumed every minute of workshops I could afford. Early in the pandemic, I lived for those free SCBWI digital workshops. In these blog posts, I want to share something different — the less obvious, yet crucial insights that upped the game in my writing journey.
Continue reading29 Wednesday Dec 2021
Tags
Amy Rubinate, authors, Elana K. Arnold, Eric Smith, Erin Dealey, Henry Lien, illustrators, inspiration, Jorjeana Marie, Kristen Nordstrom, LeUyen Pham, Rieko Mendez, Sara Schonfeld, SCBWI community
Another year has flown by, and while we have borne the loss of some great creators and publishing influencers, we still have a tremendous community of children’s book writers, illustrators, and translators to look towards for inspiration. We have had many words of wisdom shared on Kite Tales this past year and it is a great pleasure to share them again with you now.
Writing for children requires grit and self-reflection; a sense of play and an openness to the changing world. As creators, we can find inspiration in change and embrace our own strengths and weaknesses to make something greater than we thought possible. Take heart and have patience, we are all on this journey together.
Continue reading22 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in Los Angeles
Did you know that studies have shown that expressing gratitude induces feelings of pleasure and contentment, which in turn can impact your overall health? We are all about expressing gratitude—for our amazing volunteers, for our wonderful members, and for being part of an industry that cares so deeply.
Continue reading17 Friday Dec 2021
Posted in Central Coast
Image by Laura-Susan Thomas, SCBWI CenCal Regional Illustrator Coordinator.
15 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in Contests & Grants, Mentorship Contest
by Brenda Scott Royce
Writers: Do you have a great idea for a nonfiction project noodling in your brain? A work-in-progress that needs a little nurturing before being sent out into the world? If so, I implore you to consider applying for SCBWI-L.A.’s Nonfiction Mentorship Contest. This amazing opportunity pairs you with a dedicated, experienced mentor for a six-month period that can be absolutely career changing! Past SCBWI-L.A. mentees have landed agents and publishing deals.
The deadline for submissions is January 26 — so you can channel your New Year’s Resolution energy into preparing your submission.
Continue reading10 Friday Dec 2021
Posted in #KTIllustrates, Contests & Grants, Illustrator's Gallery
This year we had a tremendous amount of participation in our #KTIllustrates Contest, with entries inspired by the prompt: “Here you will find the dragon’s secret.” The contest was open to any form (spot, spread or cover design) and in any medium, so long as it kept the interpretation of the prompt as it would apply to children’s books.
The winner is set to receive a gift certificate to ArtSupply Warehouse and will have a feature interview article for Kite Tales coming soon. So let’s give a hand to our winner and two runners up!
Continue reading08 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective, Community Corner
by Rieko Mendez
Editor’s Note: This is the first of three installments on What to Take on Your Writer’s Journey. Look for the next article next month, that explores the question of “Why Must You Write This Book?”
I write YA fiction and started writing seriously in the last five years. As a writer, there are craft books, workshops and conferences to hone your writing and I recommend using them. Here though, I want to share what I found crucial in my writing journey—what upped the game so to speak.
Continue reading01 Wednesday Dec 2021
Posted in Author's Perspective
Tags
Alyssa Embree Schwartz, author, character development, cowriting, Fade into the Bright, interview, Jessica Koosed Etting
Jessica Koosed Etting, a Los Angeles native, and Alyssa Embree Schwartz have been BFFs and cowriters for about twenty years. In addition to their TV and film career, their four-book YA series, Georgetown Academy, has over 1.4 million downloads online.
In their recent YA book, Fade into the Bright (2021, Delacorte Press), eighteen-year-old Abby and her older sister Brooke receive a brief letter from their estranged father, telling them he’s tested positive for Huntington’s disease. Both sisters decide to undergo the required six-month pre-testing genetic counseling, then learn whether they have this fatal gene. Abby does; Brooke does not. Trying to process this information, Abby escapes to Catalina Island to spend the summer after high-school graduation with her little-known aunt.
CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Fade into the Bright is amazing! What made you choose to write about Huntington’s?
Continue reading
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