"The Talking Potato"

Today I finished a draft of a short story titled "The Talking Potato." It is a westernized adaptation of a West-African short story about a yam that spoke to a farmer and nearly scared him out of his wits. Once it's done, it will be a submission to Children's Writer's October contest. It's my first attempt to rewrite a folk story, and I must admit it was more fun than I expected. The plot is already there, but the fun comes in making the characters come alive as you see them. Now just 70 words to cut out to make the 500-word limit!

A Year of Writing

This October marks my one-year anniversary as a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and as a serious children's book author. By serious, I mean that I have committed myself to working on (definitely!) and improving (hopefully!) my craft. Here's a list of my serious efforts:

• I've joined a children's lit critique group in Columbia, MO,
• I've attended at least one local conference of SCBWI and hope to work my way up to a national,
• I've developed a semi-long list of picture book and short story manuscripts, and
• I've gathered my first few (dozen) rejection letters, (some of which actually came back with a personal reply or inked note in the margin!).

So to commemorate my one-year anniversary, I've started my official blog site, Monkey Patch Books. The name, Monkey Patch, actually comes from our family blog. It's a combination of a lot of abbreviations and initials you don't need to know about here, but I think it represents my writing quite well. In my stories, I try to harness the spirit of humor and fun that bubbles at the surface of all children, regardless of their circumstances or situation.

May you take your humor and fun very seriously!