Google+ Hangout with Pixel Shavings

Just had a great Hangout with some of my Pixel Shavings pals (group of children's book illustrator/writers who glog (groupblog) together): +Hazel Mitchell +Sheralyn Barnes +Russ Cox and +Fred Koehler. We missed you, +John Deininger!

We've never all been in one place together and some of us have never met in person, so it was great to actually chat face-to-face.

You can find out more about us at:
http://pixelshavings.blogspot.com/

Writer & Illustrators: Don't forget the fun!

Above: Me, in the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA.

Nearly finished final revisions to illustrations for I'M BORED (and created a new Facebook Page for I'M BORED -- if you're on Facebook, I'd appreciate it if you could Like it at http://www.facebook.com/boredbook).

Meanwhile, though, I'm still trying to do a little bit of writing and illustrating every day purely for the fun of it. Sometimes I post this publicly, sometimes I don't. I strongly feel that doing something creative & fun with your craft on a regular basis is vital. I find it helps keep me from getting in a rut, gives me a chance to experiment, and sparks new ideas.

Off to do some doodling now...

Working on the cover for I'M BORED

My art director (Laurent Linn at Simon & Schuster) called yesterday to say he had a cover mockup, saying that he had just emailed it to me, was interested in hearing what I thought. I opened the email attachment while he was still  on the phone. Then I started yelling (yes, yelling), I was so excited.

At the beginning of this whole process, I briefly entertained the idea of trying to play it cool, maintaining a composed and professional demeanor. Well, I gave THAT up pretty early on...it's just not me. Plus, who knows when I'll get my next book? Hopefully soon, of course, but you never know. So I may as well embrace every moment.

Fortunately Laurent has been more amused than horrified. Plus he's pretty excited about the project as well, though he doesn't yell like I do.

Anyway, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS BOOK TO BE ON THE SHELVES! Publication date is still scheduled for late 2012.

I'M BORED

Author: Michael Ian Black, Illustrator: Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Publication slated for Fall 2012

Congrats to Marilyn Hilton, winner of the 2011 Sue Alexander Award

A while back, I posted about being nominated for the 2011 Sue Alexander "Most Promising Work" Award.

The winners of the award were announced yesterday (I just found out):

First prize: Marilyn Hilton

Runners-up: Pati Hailey and Karen Bonner

Congrats to all the winners!

Though I didn't win, I'm still hugely motivated to finish my YA novel. Many thanks to all involved in nominating for and judging the Sue Alexander Award. Just being nominated is a great honor, and gives me hope for eventually getting my novels published. Who knows? Maybe this one will be my first. :-)

Comic: Pirate Plagiarism (in honor of Talk Like A Pirate Day)

Time Management and Social Media: Progress Update #1

A little while ago, I posted about needing to rethink my social media habits. I am still rethinking. :-) I was off-line for much of August because of the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles as well as a 10 day anniversary trip with my husband.

I had originally planned to stay offline the entire time. Because we needed to coordinate with friends in California and because Jeff was relying on Google maps and other online navigation information during the trip, I found it impossible to resist the lure.

Yes, I am weak.

I did manage to stay off line for as much as 48 hours at a time, however. This may not seem like a lot to some of you. For me, though, it was an achievement. :-)What I found: I did not miss being online if I had other distractions to keep me occupied.

When I got home, I started experimenting with longer work sessions during which I stayed completely offline. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought, especially when I realized how much more productive I could be. A surprising challenge: training everyone else to learn that I wasn't as glued to my e-mail as usual. I can't blame them, really. People are so used to me being able to respond to an e-mail within a few minutes.

As I mentioned before, I have no interest in pulling back completely from social media. I use social media for so much more than just business networking, and it's part of who I am. I have always been a fan of online communities.The people and posts I follow on various social networks inspire me, inform and educate.

As a creative freelancer, I'm used to working for long periods in isolation. When I'm working on something that requires a lot of creative concentration, I need to be alone. However, sometimes it's great to take a break and socialize a bit online.

The key, of course, is moderation.

Here are some steps I've been taking in my attempts to get more control over how much time I spend online and my productivity:

1. Learn to say no. Sometimes a fun project or a project for a good cause will come up, or a potential promotional opportunity that's hard to turn down. I'm keeping closer track of how many of these I take on at any one time, and learning how to say no or to postpone the rest.

2. Learn how to focus for longer periods of time. I've grown so used to an interrupt-driven workday. What I have learned, which I'm sure is already obvious to most of you: being able to work for longer periods without interruption makes me more productive. I try to ignore the phone when it rings, and let people leave messages. I tried to check e-mail fewer times during the day, and am also gradually training people I know to not expect immediate responses.

3. When I go online, I try to stick to my original purpose. I find it way too easy to start following links and looking things up online, clicking and clicking until I realize I've totally forgotten the original reason I went online. Now I use Instapaper and Pinboard to record links I want to check out later and tell myself (who gets the following nerdy Star Wars quote ref?) to STAY ON TARGET.

How are the rest of you doing? Have you learned any new tips to share?

Woohoo - my illustrated short story's been accepted for the TOMO anthology!

I'm delighted to announce that my short story, KODAMA, has been accepted for publication in TOMO, a YA anthology coming out from Stone Bridge Press.  Proceeds from the sales of the Tomo anthology will go to organizations that assist teens in the quake and tsunami hit areas. Tomo, which means friend in Japanese, will link writers of young adult fiction with readers worldwide and the teens in Tohoku in need of their support. Editor: Holly Thompson.

I'm especially excited because I've been experimenting with a new illustrated story-telling style for teen readers, and Kodama will be the first time this new format appears in print. Eventually I'd like to do an entire YA novel this way (I've started up an ideas folder for this project).

Anyway, you can find out more about TOMO as well as the other contributors at: http://tomoanthology.blogspot.com/

Daily motivation: #amwriting

Writers on Twitter are probably already familiar with Johanna Harness and #amwriting but if you're not, you should be!

#Amwriting is an ongoing chat. You’re not expected to stay tuned-in constantly. The chat happens in the background of your writing day. It is a virtual watercooler for writers, a place you can hang out and talk to your colleagues about your current writing projects (and theirs) and then you get back to work. You are expected to pop in and out of chat as you write, so no one thinks anything of it if you disappear into your writing.

#Amwriting is a community. The writers here care about one another. We have member biographies, a store, discussion groups, help-a-writer classifieds, and a site full of resources.  Both readers and writers are encouraged to join us: http://www.amwriting.org.

If you're not sure how to use hashtags or attend chats on Twitter, please see my Twitter Chat Guide For Writers.

My only warning: Just be careful not to let yourself get so pulled into online socializing that you forget about your real purpose: to get more writing done!

My sister's book trailer PLUS soundtrack composed by my niece

My sister, Ruth Ohi, just posted a book trailer for her newest picture book, Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Class Pet. She created it using iMovie, and the soundtrack was composed by my niece. And yes, I am fairly exploding with pride here. :-)

Ruth has illustrated over 53 books (12 of which she also wrote).

My sister's site: http://www.ruthohi.com