Lauri Meyers .

I have to admit I've been hoping to get the Sunshine Award because my 4-H nickname was Sunshine. Awww! I know. I'm adorable.  Imagine my happiness when my lovely friend Leslie Zampetti nominated me!  Leslie and I first "met" in the online critique group " The Yellow Brick Road ."  We officially met in person at the NJ SCBWI Conference a couple years ago, with a classic " Squeee! Oh my gosh! Is it really you!" *insert gigantic hug here* Her blog posts pack a double punch with great posts and the blog title "Rear in Gear" to kick you in the pants to sit down and write. For this award you need to share 10 interesting things about yourself. Now, like Leslie, I find this grueling for everyone, on account of my terribly boring self. And even worse I've shared things before , so I felt obliged to come up with new things. Ugh. I'd rather eat boogers. 1. I don't eat boogers. I may or may not have a kid who does, but I...

I won an ARC of Animal Partners (written by Scotti Cohn and illustrated by Shennen Bersani ) from Arbordale Publishing for my entry in their Poetry Month Contest ! I was very excited to be selected out of the number of entries ( well, one entry to be exact... ).    The challenge was to write a poem about animal relationships. Researching zebras & ostriches, sea anemones & hermit crabs, and other symbiotic relationships got my juices flowing. Upon finding the crocodile and plover bird's tooth-cleaning relationship, my head filled with bits of lines and rhymes. "Wait, wait. Let me get this straight. So, you thought I would let a bird just fly into my mouth, and I wouldn't eat it? Dude. Have you had chicken wings? They are awesome! Bwa, ha, ha, ha!" ( by Yan81 via sxc.hu) My draft needed another term for jaws/ mouth/ teeth of crocodiles to complete a rhyme...which led me to the internet...which led me to a crocodile specialist and his discussion c...

I'm in the middle of NaPiBoWriWee so there's no time to talk!!! Actually I do have a little bit of time because I'm shocked to say National Picture Book Writing Week is getting a little bit easier. In this my third year of NaPi, I cooked for my family twice (so far) and cleaned the house yesterday! (usually we fall into a state of squalor during this week) NaPiBoWriWee is a challenge to write 7 PBs in 7 days with Paula Yoo and guest posts to inspire you. This year's theme is diversity in kidlit. Even if you can't participate in the challenge stop in and read some of the posts. If they don't grease your writing axle, I don't know what will. 5 Reasons NaPi is easier this year I have notebooks of ideas from PiBoIdMo and my wanderings throughout the year. I'm less chicken about research which I've learned even the most fictional picture books still require some digging. I have a better handle on picture book structure. So the...