17 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted in Poet's Perspective
Tags
It’s Friday night, and I’m watching The King and I. “Et-cet-er-a, et-cet-er-a,cet-cet-er-a,” repeats the king slowly, with great satisfaction—you know the line. After a while, I begin to visualize etceteras stringing out into space:
Somewhere in space, although you can’t sight ‘em,
Meet et al., etcetera, and ad infinitum.
Just hearing Yul Brynner say his words over and over sparked my quirky little poem.
10 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted in Volunteer in the Spotlight
Tags
As a kid, I hated books. Reading for me was literally a chore. I used to live in fear of the question, “Have you done your reading today?”
In first grade I was diagnosed as dyslexic. Luckily, I lived in a town with a school that specialized in teaching dyslexic kids, and I had parents who made sure I got the training I needed to read at my grade level. By high school I read enough to get by and soon discovered science fiction, which was the first type of book I enjoyed reading on my own. Still today, I think of myself more as a sci-fi writer than a children’s book author. It’s been said that the golden age for science giction is 12 years old, so here I am, and proud of it.
03 Wednesday Jun 2015
Posted in Industry News
1) Whether you have an idea for an app or are looking for an idea, you can start at iKids with this article—http://kidscreen.com/2013/09/09/how-to-make-a-childrens-app/—which breaks down the process of creating an app into five steps:
27 Wednesday May 2015
Posted in LitMingles!
As the wind whips across the desert landscape known as Antelope Valley, writers tumble into the bookstore for their monthly schmooze. The schmoozers are a small, somewhat disheveled yet endearing band of writers who learn from each other and share a love of writing.
20 Wednesday May 2015
Posted in Illustrator's Perspective
Inspiration
One of the things that really inspired me to become a children’s book illustrator was the work of Richard Scarry. My favorite books of his include What Do People Do All Day? and Busy, Busy Town. His characters were mostly anthropomorphic animals, which I’ve always enjoyed more than human characters. Anthropomorphic animal worlds provide an escape from reality; an illustrator can use them to create atmospheres that seem safer and more innocent than any human world. Moreover, there are lots of opportunities to add funny details to animal characters and the scenes involving them. I love adding little touches like carrot themed prints for a bunny character or fish bone prints for a cat.
13 Wednesday May 2015
Posted in Great News!, Toot Your Horn!
Tags
Kite Tales loves to celebrate our SCBWI members. Congratulations to all listed below!
TOOT YOUR HORN
A Day and Night in the Rain Forest, written and illustrated by Caroline Arnold (Picture Window Books) ages 5-8, nonfiction, ISBN: 978-1-4795-6074-5 (hb), ISBN 978-1-4795-6086-8 (paperback), Released January 2015
A Day and Night in the Desert, written and illustrated by Caroline Arnold (Picture Window Books) ages 5-8, nonfiction, ISBN: 978-1-4795-6072-1 (hb), ISBN 978-1-4795-6084-4 (paperback), Released January 2015
06 Wednesday May 2015
Posted in Contests & Grants, SASE Award
And the winner is…. Claudia Harrington!
The Sue Alexander Service and Encouragement Award is given to a deserving member of SCBWI that honor his/her service to SCBWI. This award is a great honor as it embodies to spirit of Sue Alexander who was dedicated to giving back to SCBWI.
29 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Central Coast
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Rev Your Poetry Power with Joan Bransfield Graham
Award-winning poet Joan Bransfield Graham is leading a poetry writing workshop on Saturday, May 16, in Westlake Village. Joan took a few moments to answer some questions about exploring poetic possibilities.
22 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in SoCal
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Spring Greetings from Francesca and Q,
It’s often said that good things come in threes. In the last two Kite Tales we’ve introduced you to two wonderful authors—Marcie Wessels and Elana Azose—who each found a home for their first published picture book through our SoCal Editor’s Day. The third author in this talented trio is Michael Mahin. Michael earned his Ph.D. in American Literature at Claremont Graduate School. He went on to become a professor at San Diego State, a budding screenwriter, and the lead guitarist in an ‘80s cover band called Neon Nation. Michael is a bundle of talent, and we were fortunate to have him speak at several of our events. It was at Editor’s Day that Michael added published picture book author to his long list of credits. Michael agreed to give us an update, and it seems that there is a new book on the way! Here’s what he had to say.
15 Wednesday Apr 2015
Posted in Author's Perspective
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I wrote a book called The Secret Hum of a Daisy, which is about twelve-year-old Grace who loses her mom unexpectedly and has to move away from friends she has come to love as family. Even worse, she must live with a grandmother who turned her back on Grace’s mama long ago. Grace is prickly, a bit of a troublemaker, and doesn’t know what to do with her pain.
Kite Tales 