Would You Read It Wednesday #184 - Moms (PB) PLUS The July Pitch Winner!

Well howdy, pardners!

Long time no see!  I hope you all had wonderful summers and are coming into September renewed, refreshed, and ready for lots of picture book reading, writing, and pitching, and for contests and fun and high jinx and shenanigans of all kinds!

After a busy summer and a pretty long (for me) blog break, I'm still trying to find my stride again and it will probably take me a couple weeks, but boy am I glad to see you all!!! :)  I have missed this wonderful community and all you lovely folks!

I think this calls for a round of Something Chocolate, don't you?  How about some Chocolate Coconut Pound Cake?

Yum!!!

Now then!  Would You Read It business!  The winner of the July Pitch Pick (I  know! It was so long ago!) was Kirsten with her pitch for Stuck In The Muck!  Congratulations, Kirsten, on a wonderful pitch!  I have sent it to editor Erin Molta for her comments... but it occurs to me that it's been summer, and everyone has been busy, and I have lost track of Erin... so if you haven't heard from her yet I will see if I can discover her whereabouts :)

Congratulations to our other brave and talented July pitchers as well.  As always, I think you're winners just for writing your pitches, putting them out there, and then taking the valuable feedback from our amazing readers and using it to improve your pitches for the pitch pick!  Well done everyone!

Onto today's pitch which comes to us from Lizette who says, "I am from Ontario Canada. I am heading into my 14th year as an Early Childhood Educator and I love it. Working with toddlers keeps me young! I have read many books to the children over the years and I am pretty good at picking stories to read to them as well as engaging them as a storyteller. I am in the process of writing a manuscript and I think this would be a great opportunity to get my idea out there and to get some feedback."

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Moms
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 1.5 - 3)
The Pitch: This book is an illustrated story about mothers. It demonstrates that mothers from all over the world love and care for their children no matter what walk of life they come from. It is very reflective of Canada's multicultural community and celebrates diversity. It is a simple story where the only text is the word " Mom" "Mother or "Mommy " in various languages. The illustrations will represent the feelings and interactions that occur daily between a mother and her children.  Pictures can capture emotions and can be understood by all and make for an open ended reading experience .  

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Lizette improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in November so you've got a little time to polish up your pitches and send yours for your chance to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Lizette is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things around here and catching up with you all!

It's been a summer of change on many levels, and I am hoping to institute a few changes around here as well... but I'm not quite ready to announce anything so you'll just have to wait and see...! :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!!! :)

See you Friday for the return of Perfect Picture Books! :)

Would You Read It Wednesday #144 - Cleo And Pinkie (PB) PLUS The July Pitch Winner PLUS Straight From The Editor x2!

Hellooo Dearies!!!

I am so glad to be back after my August off of blogging, and so glad to see you all!!!

I know the year officially begins on January 1st, but really, September always feels like the new year to me.  Too many years in school, I guess :)

It's lovely to see so many friends reappearing on their blogs after a summer off.  There is energy and excitement and enthusiasm in the air.  I am, as always, full of ideas I don't have enough time to implement (but that never stops me from thinking I can follow through on them somehow :))

There will probably be some changes afoot around here.  I'm not sure what yet, exactly, but I might want to try something new and different on Mondays at some point... feel free to make suggestions in the comments if there's something in particular you'd like to see.  And I'm going to try (after today :)) to make my posts a little shorter...  Stop laughing!  Seriously!  I can HEAR you!

I find I'm having a hard time keeping all the balls in the air, what with writing, teaching, critiquing, blogging/social media, school visits, marketing, continuing ed, and my position as COO in a home with a husband, 5 kids, 2 dogs, aging parents just down the road and a pony up the road, so my answer to that is A SCHEDULE.  Novel idea, don't you think?  I haven't written it down yet, but I am cogitating on it (er, since January...), and I feel confident that at some point a Master Plan that is helpful and productive will emerge that will allow me to get everything done in half the time.  There is a faction here on Blueberry Hill that objects to me working 24/7 :)  You'll know the Master Plan is in place when I tell you I've read a book longer than 32 pages for fun :)

I'm already looking forward to the upcoming writing contests! and I'll give you a heads up: The Halloweensie Contest will run from October 27-31, and The Holiday Contest will run from December 8-12.  In both cases the judging, voting, and winner announcements will occur in the week following.  So mark your calendars :)

Now, before we go a step further, there is something CRUCIAL we must attend to after these weeks off!  It's time for...

SOMETHING CHOCOLATE!!!

Ultimate Brownie Sundae - YUM!

And something specially NOT chocolate for Julie R-Z because she did something deserving of a special treat and she doesn't like chocolate for breakfast - go figure!  (And if you give me a few minutes I might remember what it was she did - all I have here is a note that it had something to do with a survey... :))

Glazed Apple Crumb Muffins!
Recipe here: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/06/10/glazed-apple-crumb-muffins/

Alrighty!  Now that we have bolstered our blood sugar, let's continue, shall we?

(The problem with vacation is there's always catching up to do afterwards.)

First, did I get a chance to tell you who won the June and July Pitch Picks?

I think I mentioned that Kimberly had won the June pick with her pitch for Sprinkles The Clown.  But we can't have gotten around to the July winner yet because we haven't been here!  The July Pitch Pick was won by Brandie with her pitch for The Trouble With Keeping Vikings!  Congratulations to Kimberly and Brandie as well as to all the other brave and talented writers who submitted pitches.  Your pitches were ALL so good, and it's such a wonderful opportunity for us all to learn from each other!

Second, we have Straight From The Editor for both June and July!

Let's start with June since that appeals to my sense of orderly chronology.  Because I am so orderly :) (Please refer back to the Master Plan under construction :))

You will recall Kimberly's pitch for her picture book, Sprinkles The Clown:

Sprinkles the Clown wants to fit in with her classmates on the first day of Kindergarten, but when her show-and-tell juggling act goes wrong, all the other little clowns laugh at her. However, as a storm rolls in scaring all the students, Sprinkles puts her own fears aside and uses one of her true clowning skills to save the day!

Here are editor Erin Molta's insightful thoughts:

This sounds cute, though for a pitch you need to be a little more specific. Don’t worry about giving it all away. I’m assuming that all the kids are clowns, right? So I’d say something like I’ve done below. Also what is a “true” clowning skill? I would definitely say what Sprinkles did that made all of the other little clowns feel safer or less afraid.

Sprinkles the Clown wants to fit in with her classmates on the first day of Kindergarten, but when her show-and-tell juggling act goes wrong, all the other little clowns laugh at her. However, as a storm rolls in scaring all the students, Sprinkles puts her own fears aside and [does what?] to save the day!

Brandie's pitch for her picture book, The Trouble With Keeping Vikings, was as follows:

A boy opens his front door and comes face-to-face with a startling surprise. A Viking horde has come for a visit, and they REEK of mischief. From snot-snakes to clashing swords, the outrageous antics of these pesky pillagers are never-ending. That is until the boy makes a certain phone call that will leave these manner-less brutes quaking in their Viking-boots.

Erin had this to say:

I love Vikings and they are somewhat "hot" now, so this definitely has potential, but no need to hide so much. Who is the boy calling? An editor might be so curious that they'll ask for the manuscript to find out, but usually they'll ask because the idea intrigues them and they want to see how you go about it. So it's much better to give them as much information to aid in that process as possible.

Thanks as always to Erin for her very helpful thoughts.  We are so lucky that she is such a cheerful contributor to this series!

Now, then.  The moment you've all been waiting for - Would You Read It!

Today's pitch comes to us from Hope who says, "I used to travel around the globe, working as a contract interpreter for the US State Department and a freelance translator until I became a mother. Now as the mother of two children, I continue my love of language by reading with them and writing."

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: Cleo And Pinkie
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 4-8)
The Pitch: Cleo is always busy doing something, but that often turns into trouble. As Mommy grumbles, Cleo brings in Pinkie, her imaginary, mischievous friend, and blames him for everything. “Pinkie did it!” But soon Mommy can’t tolerate it anymore and declares, “No more Pinkie!” With Pinkie gone, the house is quiet and trouble free until Mommy discovers another mess…this time to her delightful surprise.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Hope improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in October so jump right in and send your pitch for your chance to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Hope is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to getting back into a routine and implementing my Master Plan... as soon as I think it up :)  I am also looking forward to starting up Perfect Picture Book Fridays again in only 2 days!  I have a special one on deck for you that includes a giveaway so yay! :)

Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!  So glad we're all back together again! :)

Would You Read It Wednesday #102 - The Savage Queen (YA) PLUS The July Pitch Winner

Can you believe it?  Here we are at the last Wednesday in August!  Where did the summer go?

Before we get to all of today's exciting offerings, I just want to thank everyone who took the time to visit Eric's website and listen to his music, and especially those who followed him on Twitter and downloaded tracks.  We are both so appreciative and hope you enjoyed what you heard.  (And if you didn't get a chance to check it out, please feel free at any time :))

Also, while I was listing new things on Monday, I forgot to mention that my blog and website have been revamped a bit to make them more integrated.  I wish the titles for WYRI, PPBF etc. could be in smaller font, but Blogger won't let you do that, so it is what it is.  Otherwise, I feel pretty good about it.  What do you guys think?

Now then, let's fortify ourselves with Something Chocolate, shall we?  I'm in the mood for some Chocolate Cream Pie this morning... something I know Clar will back me up on because I think she eats that for breakfast every day :)

YUM!

By the way, if anybody out there has Something Chocolate they'd like to share with the group, please feel free to email pictures (and recipes if you have them) as Coleen and Teresa have done recently and I will use them and credit you on Would You Read It!

Alrighty... Let's get to the July Pitch Pick!  All the pitches were terrific, and the vote was exceptionally close - unprecedentedly so as a matter of fact! - but in the end, the winner was....

RACHEL with her pitch for The Curse of the Shattered Sceptre!

Congratulations, Rachel!  Your pitch is on it's way to editor Erin Molta for her thoughts.  And congratulations to all our brave pitchers for great story ideas and wonderful pitch revisions.  Good luck to all of you with your stories!

Today's pitch comes to us from Alicia who says: About me: I am currently a freshman at Wright State University and heading towards a Masters Degree in Middle Childhood Education. Writing is my first and foremost passion, leading me to want to help kids in school achieve their goals through teaching them how to write. I also began writing in middle school, which is exactly why I would like to teach children of that age.

If you'd like to follow her on twitter she's @TacitLady and you can contact her by email at aliciastew95@gmail.com

Here is her pitch:

Working Title: The Savage Queen
Age/Genre: YA (Fantasy/Adventure/Coming of Age)
The Pitch: Roma Whitewood is charged with treason for trying to protect the only family he has ever known as they are murdered before his eyes at the hands of the King's Royal Army. The country Roma has always called his own, betrays him as his punishment is to be stripped of his citizenship and sent to work in the treacherous labor camps, where he meets Lyra and she opens his eyes to the truths of the world that he had been overlooking his whole life. All of the stories his mother told him as child, that he never even dared to believe, all begin to come true and Roma must face the ultimate decision: be oppressed or join the Uprising with Lyra. There's more to Lyra than she's telling him, but Roma can only put his trust in the hands of the girl who had been by his side every moment in the camps. She was going to escape, or die trying, and Roma was going with her, no matter the outcome.

So what do you think?  Would You Read It?  YES, MAYBE or NO?

If your answer is YES, please feel free to tell us what you particularly liked and why the pitch piqued your interest.  If your answer is MAYBE or NO, please feel free to tell us what you think could be better in the spirit of helping Alicia improve her pitch.  Helpful examples of possible alternate wordings are welcome.  (However, I must ask that comments be constructive and respectful.  I reserve the right not to publish comments that are mean because that is not what this is about.)

Please send YOUR pitches for the coming weeks!  For rules and where to submit, click on this link Would You Read It or on the Would You Read It tab in the bar above.  There are openings in September so we could seriously use some new pitches!  Send yours for your chance to be read by editor Erin Molta!

Alicia is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch!  I am looking forward to finishing cleaning my office (which yes, I am attempting once again... we'll see if I succeed this time or give up in despair as usual :)  I may need another slice of pie :))

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!! :)