Another Monday Morning Spark AND The New Feature!!!

Last week when I put up the Monday Morning Spark it was a total spur-of-the-moment thing.  But it seems quite a few people actually found it fun and/or useful.  So I thought, what the heck?  I'll put up another one :)

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Today's spark works like this:  pick 5 words you like.  You can do this by pointing at random words on the page of a book or in a dictionary, or by choosing words whose meanings you like, or whose sounds please you.  Or take 5 words from the song you're listening to on the radio in your car or the first five words your daughter ever spoke.   Any 5 words.  Or you can use mine :)  Here they are:

rose
gold
whisper
ocean
feather

Now.  Take those 5 words (mine or your own) and write a story that includes some or all of them.

Take a moment to think about your words and all their possibilities.  Rose, for example, can be a color, or a flower, or a name, or an action - the enchanted bathtub rose into the air!  Gold can also be a color, but in addition it can be treasure or money.  A feather can come from a hawk or a duckling.  Or feather can describe someone's hair, or the way grass looks, or how someone decorates or furnishes their nest or home.

See?  Possibilities!

Now, expand on your 5.  Rose might make you think of other flowers - tulips or tiger lilies or black-eyed Susan's; ocean might make you think of seashells or starfish or pirates; whisper might make you think of secrets or slumber parties or the sound of a snake winding through tall grass....  See what you come up with!

So take your 5 and go!  Let us know if you come up with a good idea from them, and if you're feeling generous, share your five in the comments for someone who is having trouble coming up with words!  (Even if your words seem obvious and unexotic to you, they might spark ideas in someone else :))

Alrighty, then!  Everyone feeling sparkly?  Then it's time for

THE NEW FEATURE ANNOUNCEMENT!

Are you excited?

I'm excited!

Okay!  Here it is!  Fun for writers, parents, and teachers!

It's called, Oh, Susanna! and it's a version of Dear Abby, except not about relationships (well, not yours - character relationships would be OK :))  An advice column/question forum for those of us in the children's book world, as it were :)

Oh, Susanna! (which you have to say like you're calling me across a wide field, not like you utterly disapprove of me :)) will be a chance for you to ask me any question you want about writing, reading, teaching writing, being an author etc.  (Primarily focusing on the picture book and early reader age group.)

For example:

Oh, Susanna!
I am half way through writing my picture book about a pirate who commandeers an enchanted bathtub.  He now has a ship and a crew, but I can't figure out what should happen next.  Can you help?
Love, Lost At Sea

Or:

Oh, Susanna!
My two year old son is afraid of the dark.  Can you recommend a picture book or two we could read that might help him feel safer at night?
Thanks, Owns Stock In Nightlights

Or:

Oh, Susanna!
Can you suggest an enjoyable writing activity for my kindergarten?  Writing is not my area of expertise, but I want to make it fun for my class!  We are currently studying penguins, if that helps at all...
Love, Wants To Inspire Six-Year-Olds

Or:

Oh, Susanna!
I'm giddy with excitement but also extremely nervous!  I'm doing my very first school visit as an author next week.  My picture book is about a chicken who crosses the road.  How will I entertain a roomful of kindergartners?
Please help!  Weak In The Knees

Get the idea?

I will answer, of course, but then, all our lovely and devoted readers can chime in with their ideas, too.  Any question you ask of Oh, Susanna! will (hopefully!) give you all kinds of helpful feedback.  Struggling with your query letter?  Wondering what the average advance is for a first picture book?  Interested in entering contests but don't know where to find them?  Want to try submitting to a magazine but have never done it?  Wondering whether you're the only one who sneaks into the bathroom at 2 AM to scribble ideas on toilet paper by the nightlight?  Want to know who makes bookmarks?  Need an opinion on your homemade book trailer?  Wondering if anyone besides you will be able to read your rhyming couplets successfully?  Curious as to whether Snickers or Milky Ways make a better writing snack?  Ask away!  If I should happen not to know the answer, surely one or more of our readers will!  And remember, there are no dumb questions :)

Shall we give it the old college try?  Please email your questions to me by using the handy Email Me button in the right sidebar or addressing them to susanna [at] susannahill [dot] com.  Please put Oh Susanna in the subject line.

This sounds like fun to me - I always want to know stuff from other authors! - so I'm really hoping you guys will like the idea too!

I'll look forward to hearing from you!

(And if I don't, then I guess I'll know what you think of this idea! :))

Have a marvelous Monday!