Lauri Meyers .

Susanna Leonard Hill is sponsoring the Halloweensie Contest !  To play you have to write a children's story less than 100 words long and including the words witch ,  bat , and " trick-or-treat " .    Here's my entry:  No Trick or Treating for Jack O'Lantern By Greg Jordan via sxc.hu My costume is ignored, Because I'm just a gourd. Can't cackle like a witch, My lips don't even twitch. White ghosts can scare with boo- An orange one wouldn't do. No flapping like a bat, You need two arms for that. It's hard to trick or treat, I don't have any feet. Without my belly spark I would hide in the dark. What goblins do I see? The treaters came to me! It's only 72 words - Won't you please add another verse in the comments?  Make sure you say Boo to your local Jack O'Lantern this year.  Oh and if I get into the final three, won't you please stop by and give Jack a vote?!   Happy...

By Emil Bacik via sxc.hu Finding the right tool can be difficult, especially when you are a new writer.  Or a vampire slayer. Dressed as a vampire slayer this weekend, I ran to the garage to grab a matching stake.  It was a kid party, so I picked a non-threatening dowel rod.  My husband shook his head no.  I came back with a broomstick.   He yelled, "Short, fat stakes kill vampires better!"  There was a silent "duh," which I found a bit condescending.   I was planning to slay zombie vampires, in which case you would obviously want to keep some space between you and the target.    Duh. Having a killer stake in hand did not help me avoid the first 4-year-old who asked "What are you Miss Lauri?"  I realized quickly zombie, vampire, and slayer were difficult to explain and the term "blood-sucking" generally should be avoided with the young crowd.  So, I magically turned into a dragon trainer- complete with a pe...

Technology can be pretty cool and stuff.  My recent iPhone purchase is delivering new found connectivity and cheers from the children: "Mommy you didn't get lost today!"  But technology is not perfect, much like my sense of direction. I use Dragon Dictation sometimes when my hands are full and I can't write my ideas down.  It's an app that types what you say.  More or less. Here is a picture book idea I had the other day by way of Dragon Dictation: Why you shouldn't let him go come Darlen with you because I don't like me your socks and let him know may e-mail me toothpaste and mess thanks All sorts of other thing .  Why no goats stay with you. "Yeah, I got a big thing that's gonna work out in 3 weeks tops..." By Nick Holdstock via sxc.hu Million dollar idea, right?  May have been, but I totally can't remember from this gibberish here.  I believe it was actually about why you shouldn't let a goat stay with you. ...

I love when my 4-year-old says something random or annoying or demanding or crazy, and I say "that could be a picture book."   This happens pretty regularly, but every once in a while it really develops into something.  I expand on the idea a couple sentences, "so the princess turns into a cat who barks. Then, what happens?"  1 out of 3 times my daughter comes up with something great.  The other two times the princess just eats a peanut butter-Nutellla sandwich or lets an echoing fart.  (What she would do in the situation.) By Ramunas   Geciauskas via Flickr Then I scribble the idea in the medium of crayon on construction paper or marker on hand...whatever is handy.  A solid scrawl of an idea is about 250 words.   Usually it starts with "once upon a time" or something along those lines.  A thing happens.  The story ends.  The middle is a mushy stew of dot-dot-dots.  The first draft is a story, not a pic...

I am notorious (well notorious only to myself) for putting placeholders in manuscripts when I can't think of the right words.  Maybe I need to schedule a brain massage? photo by Julia Freeman-Woolpert via sxc.hu I allow myself thirty seconds to come up with the perfect phrase. If I don't succeed I leave stage directions to follow later.  Stopping for too long causes a break in my flow which leads to picking my nose, eating a few donuts, changing the laundry, and then remembering I was writing several hours later.  My current selection of placeholders includes: "in the hallway something frickin' hilarious ensues" "name that is sweet and rascally" "funny sound an orange would make" "eats something grosser than a caterpillar, but not as gross as a tarantula." "mom gives her incentive so she has to win" "The octopus' arm falls off or some other very bad thing happens" ...

Ahhh, isn't the new blog header better?  The old one was so...moody.  And I really am not moody, unless I drop my ice cream cone or something.  And even then, I am more mad than moody.   I'm more like a kid on a swing enjoying a lovely fall day. A new name too!    Your Imagination is the Limit was too ethereal.  And I really am not ethereal, unless I haven't had coffee yet.  And even then, I am more incoherent than ethereal.  I'm more like a clumsy spider not realizing I'm flying on a kite. The energy goes snap, crackle, pop when I open up my blog now!   Surrounding yourself with inspiring images is important.   The life of the new writer can be overwhelming - blogging, building a platform, writing picture book manuscripts, being sucked into twitterverse, exploring genres, outlining the plot for a middle grade story, developing the craft, reading constantly. Sanity requires knowing the action items to re...

I'm just a perfectly nice mom of two girls who have turned out very messy.  I have no idea how.  Well, maybe I have a little idea how...  Cutest mass murderer ever! I always loved making magnificent mudpies.   They were chocolate, because mud is chocolate-flavored (obviously.)  I decorated my creations with seeds, berries, and flowers in intricate designs.   In today's terminology they were Artisanal Dirt Delights with whole grains and organic ingredients. Another day three-year-old me noticed a stream of ants in the garage.  My parents let me stay out there swatting hundreds of them.   It was a fantastic day!  My mom taught me an important parenting lesson: "Peace and quiet is sometimes worth a lapse in hygiene." My mom may claim dirtygirliness skipped her generation, but she was did teach me how **WARNING- graphic story follows** to pull the tails off lightning bugs and put them on my nails for a ...

The Book Doctor is "In." No I'm not talking about fixing your writing, just fixing books.  Literally.   T he wounded had been waiting patiently with missing pages, absent flaps, non-working pulls, and decapitated heads.   It was time for my  semi-annual book clinic.  Tape, glue, and photo splits (those little 2 way sticky squares) were flying while the repairs took place.  The girls flipped through the books and yanked on the pulls, testing my work.  Then they said, "Thank you for fixing our books!"   Awesome!   It always feels great to be thanked, especially when it comes from the tiny tyrants who caused the casualties.  I want to say "thank you" to two great bloggers Jenny Young   and Ink in the Book who recently gave me a Liebster Award.  Which also means it is time to share about myself again.  Jenny Young asked some very specific questions, so here goes: 1) What state would you...

Mike Allegra My friend Mike Allegra's first picture book Sarah Gives Thanks (Albert Whitman & Company; illustrated by David Gardner) was released September 1 st .   Not only is it his first book, but it is really good.  Just read these reviews if you don't believe me: Kirkus and School Library Journal . I had the opportunity to interview Mike. Lauri: You dedicated your first book to your wife, Ellen, who I know from your blog is disorganized, peppy, sociable, friendly, and a donkey whisperer. Plus, like I do with my husband, she plots your death when you pepper her with ideas late at night. Was the dedication a big decision? Mike: It might be a big decision, but it wasn’t a difficult one. Dedicating the book to Ellen keeps her from smothering me with a pillow when I finally fall asleep. Oh, and she is also my soulmate. So there’s that. If a publisher trusts me enough to give me a second book contract, that book will be dedicated to my s...