#140 The Many Sources of Monkey Tales

     In this post I want to tell you about the long and winding path that my little beginning reader called Monkey Tales took in becoming the eBook for Nook and Kindles that it is today.

     The current book was once three separate manuscripts about the monkey family.  They each had their own source; a bit like the tributaries of the Missouri River where I grew up in South Dakota.

     The first manuscript was once called Moekey the Monkey.  Most of the ideas in it were based on the dynamics I was observing every day with my growing children.  You see, we have two daughters who are six years apart in age. Younger Daughter was once very resentful of the fact that the rest of us were allowed to do some things that she was not. For instance, we could all stay up later at night, watch certain  television shows, and drive cars.  It didn't seem fair to her.

     When I wrote about the monkey family, I was creating a fantasy world in which a mother (me) might solve our problems in a loving and wonderful way--a world in which I could be a hero. 

     Of course, it was time that eventually fixed everything.  Younger Daughter grew up, and the age difference no longer mattered so much to anybody.

     The chapter about the ant tunnels came from a second manuscript called "Ant Tunnels for One".  The idea for that story came from an event in my own childhood.  One day when I was a third-grader and my brother was a first-grader, we noticed a large ant hill on the sidewalk in front of a church near our house.  We hurried home, collected some big spoons from the silverware drawer, and returned to dig up the ant hill.  

     The ants were not happy!  We raced home with biting ants crawling all over our legs and feet.  Our mother hurried to run water in the tub so that we could wash the angry ants down the drain. It was a tough lesson, and I'll never forget it.

     My story ideas about swinging on vines and losing teeth came from experiences as a mother and a first grade teacher.  Sometimes lunch money and other things were also lost in the sand under the school monkey bars, but I couldn't think of a way to work those concepts into my stories--at least not yet.

     Monkeys are funny animals.  I have always loved those silly brown sock monkeys with the big red mouths.  I even made one for a family member who was celebrating his high school graduation after finishing a successful high school basketball career.  Of course I dressed the monkey in an appropriate team uniform.

     My point is, the ideas for our stories can come from anywhere.  

     Next time I will discuss the two starting places for Margaret's Christmas Cookies.

     On my other blog, I have made recommendations for eBooks about animals. Remember to check it out by clicking on the following link:

                 www. ebooks4kids.blogspot.com.

     And keep reading...   

     

#139 Circles in the Wind's Beginnings

     

     Circles in the Wind has had several names.  The Dandelion was the most obvious and one of the first.

     Desert dandelions in Arizona are different from the long-stemmed beauties I remember from my childhood in South Dakota.  We used to collect armloads of them at the city park, then braid the stems to make necklaces and bracelets.  

     Of course the parachutes with their tiny seeds always went sailing away on the wind from our breath, and I couldn't imagine why our father didn't appreciate those lovely images when we did it in our yard at home.  

     As an adult, after I wrote my first draft in celebration of the life cycle of dandelions, I created seventeen illustrations on 12 x 18 inch watercolor paper using watercolor paints and a black fine-line marker.

     After several revisions, my manuscript had settled into its current format of poetic prose, and I began to send copies and query letters to publishers.  

     In 1992, I received a detailed response from one editor who suggested that I revise my story, eliminating the anthropomorphized characters, and then resubmit it. (The term "anthropomorphize" means to "give human characteristics to nonhuman things".)  

     Thrilled with the input and encouraged by the attention, I changed the manuscript and sent it back to her.  I also foolishly erased the faces from the illustrations of the little seed, plant, sun, wind, and flower. 

     Unfortunately, the publisher was still unable to offer a contract for my story.

     When I later published Circles in the Wind as an ebook, I used my original manuscript and added the little faces to my illustrations again, trusting myself to create the picture book in my own way. I am happy with the results, and it has been well received in the Amazon stores.

     Circles in the Wind by Lynda is currently listed on both Amazon for its Kindles, and Barnes&Noble for their Nook, and sells for $2.99.

     Please feel free to visit my other blog, www.ebooks4kids.blogspot.com.  My current post offers recommended historical fiction for kids in ebook formats.

     Next time I will tell you how the ideas for my little beginning reader called Monkey Tales by Lynda developed.

     Meanwhile, please keep reading...

     

     

#138 Origin of Lucky Alana

     Welcome to our newest reading audience from Israel.  You represent the forty-second individual country listed on the combined stats from my two blogs, this one and my other at  www.ebooks4kids.blogspot.com.

     Our world is full of young readers and those who encourage them.

     Lucky Alana (Agent C Series) by Lynda ($3.99) has recently joined my other ebooks for sale on Barnes&Noble for their Nook.  All of seven are also sold on Amazon for their Kindle devices.


     In this story, ten-year-old Alana tries to control her difficult life by using "lucky systems" such as finger snaps.  She eventually learns that luck is not very dependable when compared to her collection of personal powers such as home and people, hard work, health, and a positive attitude.


     At ten-years-old, I was Lucky Lynda.  I entered my drawing in a contest and won a doll buggy.  Shortly after that, I won $5.00 for my original costume ("a modern artist") in the Kids' Day parade, and then was recognized publicly for my Veteran's Day poster.  My mother was fond of saying, "Lynda, you are always so lucky."  


     I continued to win contests and awards in high school--my poem was published in an anthology of student work, I was selected to be drum majorette, I was elected state president of our church youth group, offered scholarships to three colleges and universities, and on and on...


     I was so lucky.


     But was it all due to my luck?  Film producer Samuel Goldwyn is often quoted as having said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."


     My daughter introduced me to Tom Rath's earth-shaking little book called Strength Finder 2.0.  Its premise is that we spend too much time and effort trying to fix our weaknesses when we should be making more use of our strengths.


     Using a short computer test, I was able to identify five out of a possible thirty-four strengths that were natural personal "powers" for me, and I continue to use this information to drive my efforts every day.


     In Lucky Alana, I have used my writing, art and knowledge about ebook publishing to interpret Rath's Strengths Finder concept for kids.


     Next time I will discuss the origins of a second one of my ebooks.  Will it be...?


     Circles in the Wind by Lynda
     Monkey Tales by Lynda
     Margaret's Christmas Cookies by Lynda
     Tiny Others (Agent C Series) by Lynda
     White Rabbit Time (Agent C Series) by Lynda
     Pomegranate (Agent C Series) by Lynda


     Please join me.
     


            


       


     


     


       


      

#137 My Story Ideas

     
     In my ebook, Tiny Others, Savannah Allen was inspired to write her chronicle of the forest spirits when she was given a strange ream of very old paper by Mr. Pippin, the little shopkeeper in a country market.


     Savannah's story-within-a-story was actually my own creation though, wasn't it? 


     I am often asked where I find the ideas I use in my ebooks.


     It has usually been a lengthy process, and no two stories have been exactly alike.  The ideas and titles have evolved over time, but I have developed a few techniques that seem to tap into my creativity.


     First of all, I keep a notebook of "story seeds"-- a list of ideas from which a story might grow.  Each of these might be only a word or two or they might be several complete sentences.  I read over this list once in a while, and use a colored pencil to star anything that jumps out at me.  I also add to it whenever I think of anything new that might be useful at a later time.


     I like to take a long, quiet walk after I review this notebook.  At first, I actively think about any project that might be worth developing, and then I try to dismiss the idea(s) and think about something else for a while.  


     That's right, I deliberately put the writing ideas into the back pocket of my brain and continue to walk.  That lets my subconscious take over, and often before I finish my walk, I find myself cooking up the bare bones of a  idea.


     When I get home, I try to sort it out.  Does it have an obvious problem or conflict?  Are there several ways it might be solved?  What important message does it offer to my reading audience?


    I write down those loose ends, then try to use this template: 


     (name of the main character) wants more than anything to_________ , but can't because_______ so he/she tries ______, and _____, and ______. Finally he/she tries _______ and it works.  At the end everyone _________.


     I loved teaching my students to use these writing processes that I find so useful.  I hope you can use some of them, too.    


     Next time, I will begin a series of posts about the way seven of my stories developed into published ebooks.


    Please join us, and meanwhile, keep reading and writing.  


      


     

#136 My Illustration Techniques

     Welcome to our new readers from Brazil! My stats indicate that someone from your country has visited my blog.  I was especially excited about it because you represent the first from South America to join us.  

    We now have readers from 41 different countries and six continents, and it makes me wonder if there are any young readers with computers on the continent of Antarctica.  Perhaps not...

     I promised to explain my illustration techniques this time.  Let me begin by telling you that I am not a trained illustrator (probably not a surprise to you!)  I took art classes at three different universities, but never at specialized commercial or graphic arts schools.  The pictures in my seven children's books are more like sketches than polished illustrations.

     In the Mind of a Cat is about my cat, Topper, and I had originally intended to use photographs of him because he is very photogenic.  

     Eventually, though I came to realize that the photos would be inconsistent with my other books, and I decided to use those I had already taken as a starting place and then create drawings similar to those in my previous works.

     This is the process that evolved for one of the illustrations.  I wanted to show Topper on his "Kitty Condo", and had already taken some pictures.  These were two of them. I liked the angle and setting of the first, but his pose in the second.

     
     Next, I did a rough sketch on a folded sheet of computer paper.  It looked like this:

     My "serious" materials are Strathmore watercolor paper, black permanent fine-line markers, and colored "watercolor" pencils.  These pencils allow me to "paint with water" after I color with the pencils. This is the type of paper I use:

     Using a pencil and eraser, I carefully drew the picture, then outlined it with the fine-line marker.  It looked like this at that point:

   I colored it with my watercolor pencils:

     Then I painted it with water and let it dry. It needed  another layer of colored pencil and water for further definition at this point.  

     Then I got really busy with the fine line marker--sharpening up the lines, adding background details, and texturing with little dots.  The dots take a lot of time, but they add depth and dimension to the pictures.  It was finished then.  I just had to scan it into my computer, crop and size it.  Sometimes I edit the colors on my computer if I feel it needs it.

     The finished illustration looks like this:

  
     Here are a couple others I have done for Topper's book.

     I intend to use a dozen or more of these, and they are time-consuming, so please don't expect to see In the Mind of a Cat listed on Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble for a couple more months.

     However, this blog post may allow you to see the illustrations from my other books with new eyes.  The following titles are listed "by Lynda" for either $2.99 or $3.99 on Amazon.com for Kindle eReaders .

Monkey Tales
Circles In the Wind
Margaret's Christmas Cookies
Tiny Others (Agent C Series)
Pomegranate (Agent C Series)
White Rabbit Time (Agent C Series)
Lucky Alana (Agent C Series) 

     The first four in the list above are also listed on the Barnes and Noble site for their Nook eReaders.  The final three will be added within a few weeks.  The prices are identical on both sites.

     Next time:  I will discuss where I get the ideas for my stories.

     Please join us...

     And remember, summertime is reading time.


     

#135 Illustrations

     Let's talk about illustrations today.  


     Picture books have lovely illustrations, don't you agree? Did you realize that they are not just for children?  


     Nonfiction books often have color photographs as well as scientific charts, graphs and diagrams. Graphic novels tell their stories with pictures and speech balloons, something like comic books.


     So why do chapter books usually have pictures only on their covers?


     In 1866 when Alice In Wonderland was first published, an illustrator named John Tenniel illustrated it with woodcut prints.  He cut each and every design into a wooden block, then rolled ink on it and pressed it  down on the pages.  Books were very expensive, and only wealthy families had them for their children.  Later, Tenniel used colored inks on the blocks, and Alice finally had her familiar blue dress!


     As photography and other printing processes developed, some very good illustrators began to use oil paintings for book illustrations.  One of my favorite artists is N.C. Wyeth, who painted some classic characters from Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Rip Van Winkle, The Yearling, and many others.  These illustrations appeared as "colored plates" and were displayed on a full page of special paper.  My own children's Bible illustrations were colored plates like these.


    But they were also expensive to produce.  As children's reading and library books became more popular, some people felt that children who were able to read the words should create pictures in their own minds from the descriptions in the stories.  There may be some truth to this technique because most mature readers do exactly that.


     I believe, however, that a few illustrations are welcome to developing readers, and some wonderful authors like Avi, who wrote Iron Thunder seem to agree with me.


     My latest book, In the Mind of a Cat, will have a lot of illustrations.  Today, I will publish three of them.

     This is Topper, my cat.  Sometimes I think I know what is going on in his mind.  In my book I will tell you what I believe he is thinking about.  My idea will be identified with a picture of me:

     Then you will see a picture of Topper, and a description of what is really going on in his mind.  That picture will look like this:

*****

     In my next post, I will show you my illustration process from sketch through pencil, fine line black marker, watercolor pencil, and finishing touches.


     I hope you have enjoyed my discussion about illustrations.  If you are interested in a list of wonderful illustrated books, you might want to look up the Caldecott Medal winners on the internet.


     Just one more thing.  I have begun to publish my books for Barnes & Noble's Nook eReader.  Margaret's Christmas Cookies is currently available for $2.99, and Monkey Tales will likely join it in the next two days!


    (And all seven of my books are still available for the Kindle eReader from Amazon.com.)


    Please keep reading...

#134 Solar Eclipse

     We had a partial solar eclipse today.

     The moon seldom passes between us and the sun, dragging its dark shadow across the earth. Today it did exactly that right here where I live.

     Using a paper punch, I had made five holes in a half sheet of computer paper by 6:00 p.m.   

     Understanding that it was possible to burn the retina of my eyes if I looked at the sun directly,  I planned to observe what was happening indirectly.  

     By projecting the sun's light through a small hole in a sheet of paper, I could safely watch its image change on the light cast on a second piece of paper held at arm's length from the first.

     At a little after 6:00, I noticed a small, dark bump in the upper-right of each of the five circles of light on the second sheet of paper.  As I continued to check every five minutes or so, the spot slowly changed into a crescent shape--like a cookie with a bite taken out of it. I knew that the moon was beginning to block out a little bit of the sun's light.

     I wondered if I could project the crescent shapes on the east wall around our back yard.  This is a photo of the result:

     Sure enough, the five little crescents shone onto the fence.  My husband began to get interested in the project, and that is his shadow holding the paper for me.


     Isn't it interesting how the projection of light through each little hole repeats the shape of the eclipse in the image?  --Five little holes and five crescents in the shadow of the paper.


     That was when I noticed that the branches and leaves from a nearby tree were casting some more unusual shadows.  The light shining through the tree's spaces was making more crescents on the fence.  


     They resembled bubbles of light on the darkening wall because there were so many.  We took some pictures of them too.

       My husband had a sudden inspiration.  He found an old metal tractor seat with lots of holes in it.  It looks like this:

     "Do you think it will make crescent-shaped projections from each of these holes?" he asked.


     We took a picture of the result.


     Can you see the eclipse projection in each hole?

     
     What else do these shadows look like?  Is someone carrying a basket?  Does it look like an Inca Sun god with a fancy crown on his head?  


     What kind of books might this post inspire you to read?  Non-fiction books about eclipses?  Shadow puppets?  The pin-hole camera?  (Look that one up if you don't know what it is.)


     Next time I really will discuss illustrations and illustrators of children's books.  Occasionally, life just leads me down an important new path. We only get to observe a solar eclipse a few times, and the experience begs to be shared .


     But for now...


     Please keep reading.