Top Posts for 2011 and Wishing You a Top-Notch 2012

First of all, I hope you all have a top notch writing year in 2012.

To celebrate the close of 2011, here are two top lists.

Nielsen Bookscan’s Top Ten Children’s/YA Titles

1. THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, trade paperback)
2. CABIN FEVER, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet, hardcover)
3. CATCHING FIRE, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, hardcover)
4. INHERITANCE, by Christopher Paolini (Knopf Children’s, hardcover)
5. MOCKINGJAY, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, hardcover)
6. THE SUN OF NEPTUNE, by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, hardcover)
7. THE THRONE OF FIRE, by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, hardcover)
8. THE UGLY TRUTH, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet, hardcover)
9. THE WIMPY KID DO-IT-YOURSELF BOOK, by Jeff Kinney (Amulet, hardcover)
10. ELF ON THE SHELF, by Carol Aebersold (Cca & B, hardcover)

The Writer’s Journey’s Top Ten Posts for 2011

1. Reading.  Why this reading list above all others?  I don’t know but I won’t argue with this kind of success.
2. Goals Worthy of a President.  One of my many goals posts.
3. Korean Paper Weaving.  This one is often discovered through Google searches.
4. Mysterious Book Art in Edinburgh.  Another one the search engines often find.
5. Nurturing Your Creativity.  You get to see some of my knitting in the photo.  And he’s wearing a hat!
6. I’m a Versatile Blogger.  The post about the Versatile Blogger award.
7. ALA’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010.  Book banning is a popular topic both among bloggers and readers.
8. Books:  ALA Awards and My Own Recent Reading.  More book lists!
9. A Wacky Book Challenge.  Not surprisingly, another post about book challenges and banning.
10. It All Depends on What You Are Writing.   On different types of children’s books, picture books through novels.

Wishing you all a happy and safe New Year’s Eve.  I’ll be back with more posts next week!

–SueBE

Life-sized Pop ups, the Mobile Office

I’m sure you already realize that pop-ups fascinate me.  Here is one that is just super cool — a life-sized pop up office.   I wonder if they could make me a life-sized pop up dining room table.  That way I could collapse it when not in use and it wouldn’t be a clutter magnet!

–SueBE

 

 

 

Reading — One Last List for 2011

I’ve been reading a lot of picture books lately, so I thought I better go ahead and post a last reading list for 2011.  Of course, even knowing that these are picture books, I look at the list and wonder if I’ve accomplished anything else in the last month or so.  Whew!

1. Manners Mash-Up: A Goofy Guide to Good Behavior (Dial)
2. Adler, David A. Bones and the Dinosaur Mystery (Viking)
3. Adler, David A. Young Cam Jansen and the 100th Day of School.  (Viking)
4. Adler, David A. Young Cam Jansen and the Ice Skate Mystery.  (Viking)
5. Alexander, Tasha. A Poisoned Season: A Novel of Suspense (William Morrow)
6. Auch, Mary Jane and Herm. The Plot Chickens (Holiday House)
7. Barretta, Gene. Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Ben Franklin (Henry Holt)
8. Beecher, Suzanne. Muffins and Mayhem (Touchstone: Simon & Schuster)
9. Black, Michael Ian. Chicken Cheeks (Simon and Schuster)
10. Black, Michael Ian. The Purple Kangaroo (Simon and Schuster)
11. Blackall, Sophie Are You Awake (Christy Ottaviano Books: Henry Holt)
12. Brett, Jan. Home for Christmas (GP Putnams)
13. Brown, Peter. Children Make Terrible Pets (Little Brown and Co)
14. Capaldi, Gina and Q.L. Pearce. Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Sa, Native American Author, Musician, and Activist (Carolrhoda Books)
15. Carlstrom, Nancy White. This Is the Day! (Zonderkidz)
16. Chaconas, Dori. Cork and Fuzz: Good Sports.   (Viking)
17. Chast, Roz. Too Busy Marco (Atheneum)
18. Chin, Jason. Redwoods (A Neal Porter Book: Roaring Brook Press)
19. Collins, Ross. Dear Vampa (Katherine Tegan Books)
20. Crisp, Marty. Titanicat (Sleeping Bear Press)
21. Cronin, Doreen. Rescue Bunnies (Balzer + Bray)
22. Dewdney, Anna. Llama Llama Holiday Drama (Viking)
23. Dewdney, Anna. Llama Llama Home with Mama (Viking)
24. Dewdney, Anna. Llama Llama Red Pajama (Viking)
25. DiPucchio, Kelly and Matthew Myers. Clink (Balzer + Bray)
26. Dormer, Frank. Socksquatch (Henry Holt and Company)
27. Edwardson, Debby Dahl. My Name is Not Easy (Marshall Cavendish)
28. Feiffer, Kate. My Side of the Car (Candlewick Press)
29. Ferraris, Zoe. City of Veils
30. Grey, Mini. Three by the Sea (Alfred A. Knopf)
31. Haskell, Merrie. The Princess Curse (HarperCollins)
32. Hawkes, Kevin. The Wicked Big Toddlah Goes to New York (Alfred A. Knopf)
33. Huntley, Amy. The Everafter (Balzer +Bray).
34. Krensky, Stephen. Lionel’s Birthday  (Viking)
35. Lehman, Barbara. The Secret Box (Houghton Mifflin Children’s books)
36. Loewen, Nancy. The Last Day of Kindergarten (Marshall Cavendish)
37. Lunda, Darrin. After the Kill (Charlesbridge)
38. Lunde, Darrin. Hello, Baby Beluga (Charlesbridge)
39. Lyon, George Ella and Katherine Tillotson. All the Water in the World (Richard Jackson: Atheneum)
40. Marshall, Edward.. Fox and His Friends (Viking)
41. McDonnell, Christine. Goyangi Means Cat (Viking)
42. McMullan, Kate. Park and Wagner: One Funny Day (Viking)
43. Myers, Walter Dean. Looking for the Easy Life (Harper)
44. Nargi, Lela. The Honeybee Man (Schwartz & Wade)
45. Numeroff, Laura. If You Give a Dog a Doughnut (Balzer and Bray)
46. Penny, Louise. A Trick of the Light: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel (Minotaur Books)
47. Pulver, Robin. Happy Endings: A Story about Suffixes (Holiday House)
48. Roberts, Sheila. The Nine Lives of Christmas (St. Martins Press)
49. Sands, Lynsay. The Deed (Avon)
50. Sayre, April Pulley. Rah, Rah, Radishes! (Beach Lane Books)
51. Sayre, April Pulley. If You’re Hoppy (Greenwillow Books)
52. Sill, Cathryn. About Hummingbirds (Peachtree)
53. Sill, Cathryn. About Raptors (Peachtree)
54. Smallcomb, Pam. I’m Not (Schwartz & Wade)
55. Stein, David Ezra. Interrupting Chicken (Candlewick Press)
56. Stockdale, Susan. Bring on the Birds (Peachtree)
57. Sullivan, Sarah. Passing the Music Down (Candlewick Press)
58. Tillman, Nancy. The Crown on Your Head (Feiwel and Friends)
59. Tullet, Hervé. Press Here. (Handprint Books: Chronicle Books)
60. Van Leeuwen, Jean. Oliver and Amanda: Amanda Pig, First Grader. (Viking)
61. Walsh, Dan. Remembering Christmas (Revell)
62. Weston, Mark. Honda: The Boy who Dreamed of Cars (Lee & Low)
63. Wild, Margaret. Harry & Hopper (Feiwel and Friends)
64. Willems, Mo City Dog, Country Frog (Hyperion)
65. Willems, Mo Knuffle Bunny Free (Balzer + Bray)
66. Yorinks, Arthur. The Invisible Man (Harper)

What did I learn doing so blasted much reading?  First of all, accuracy is a must.  I avoided reviewing a book by an author that I adore because of an inaccurate illustration.

I’ve also started reading some more beginning readers and can now see just how hard it is to create a beginning reader that is simple, has a story and also text that flows.  Its that flow that is so often the hard part.  So many read short and choppy.

But most of all I marveled at the wide variety of books out there.  Its like a smorgasbord.  Yum!

Be sure to visit your local library or bookstore soon and gather together a variety of titles to enjoy!

–SueBE

 

 

Writing Communities and My New Blogging Gig

Are you active in your local writing community like the Missouri Writer’s Guild?  Do you participate in some kind of online community?  Or maybe you connect with writers through a genre based organization like the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators or the Romance Writers of America.

Find out why making these connections is worth your while when you read my post on The Muffin.  I’ll be blogging there several times a month. That’s right!  I’m now part of this amazing community of women bloggers.  Stop on by and see what wisdom they have to share.

Me?  I still can’t believe I’m part of the group.

–SueBE

 

Goals Between Christmas and New Years

I can’t believe how much I got accomplished last week.  I set my sights pretty low — 3000 words.  But I managed to pull down 6151 words.  Drafting two major articles helped quite a bit,

But I won’t be doing major drafts this week so I’m not setting my sights any higher.  Everyone is off school and work and I’m basically taking some vacation time.  Again, I’ll aim for 3000 words.

Weekly Goals (these are my must-dos for the week):

• 5 posts for One Writer’s Journey.  Done!
• 1 review on the Bookshelf.
• 1 post for PrayPower.  Done!
• Write my posts for the Church blog.  Done!

Goals with Deadlines:

• Get my next post done for the Muffin.  Deadline: 1/8.  Done!
• Solicit last interview for article for Writer’s Market. Deadline:  1/15.  Done!
• Read over article for WOW! Women on Writing.  Deadline: 1/16.  Done!

Non-Deadline Goals (obviously, these are the ones I’m having troubles getting to and I’m going to start trying to get one done a week):

• Get an essay on writing back out.
• Rewrite the picture book I had critiqued.
• Start writing up my first PiBoIdMo idea.
• Work on my agent research.
• Rough submissions for Blue Mountain cards.
• Keep working on my web site.
• Work up some ideas for leveled readers.
• Read 10-20 leveled readers.  In progress.
• Work on the middle grade. Go over the Plot Whisperer notes that I originally made.
• Pull out the YA that I’m going to workshop at a retreat this spring.

–SueBE

Have a Very Merry Christmas!

I am taking today off to finish prepping for Christmas.  I hope that all of you take some time to recharge your batteries during this Holy Season!  See you next week.

Wishing you all a Blessed 2012.

–SueBE

Researching Photos for a BIG NAME

This isn’t exactly the post I had planned for today.

In the spring or summer of 2010, I did some photographic research for photographer Taryn Simon.  Me, being me, I had no clue that she is considered the rock icon of art photography.  Steven Spielberg attends her openings.  I know that now, but I didn’t know that then.

Her assistant contacted me about doing archival research at the Missouri Historical Society.  When I asked about payment, she explained what an honor it would be to be listed in the catalog.  Mmmm.  Right.  And the electric company will be impressed by that enough to leave my lights on?   She laughed and agreed to payment.

Last week I got an e-mail that the exhibit, “A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters, I-XVIII,” is currently on display at Tate Modern, London until January 2nd.  It is also at Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin until January 1.  Then select chapters will be at the Museum of Modern Art, New York from May 1 until August 2012.  Check out the exhibit, which is definitely something worth seeing, if you happen to be in one of these cities.

Me?  I watched the Youtube interview.  Images flashed by.  The pieces I researched?  Nowhere to be seen.  Yes, they may be in the larger exhibit somewhere but, even if they aren’t, I did get to work for the rock icon of art photography.

And the check?   The lights are, in fact, still on.

–SueBE

Co-hosting Open Book

How are you celebrating Christmas this week?  I’m co-hosting a Blog Talk Radio show!

My writing buddy Lori Strawn is one of the hosts of Open Book.  Lori usually co-hosts with her buddy Alice Shelton.  Our topic is Anthem and Christmas  — two of my favorite topics.   We’re focusing on Anne Porter’s poem Noel and our favorite Christmas carols.

If you’re free today at 3:30 pm central, why not pop on by (click the link above) and see what we’re up to?  If you miss the show, the recording will be archived.

Hope to see, and hear, you there!

–SueBE

 

Humpty Dumpty Hurray!

Let’s do a Happy Dance for my writing buddy, Jeanie Ransom.  Last week, Jeanie opened an e-mail to discover that What Really Happened to Humpty Dumpty won the children’s book division of New Mexico’s Land of Enchantment Book Award.  Jeanie is in egg-selent company too.  The young adult winner is Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games.

How egg-citing is that?

Jeanie will be the guest speaker at the awards luncheon on Friday, April 13, 2012 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Happy, happy, happy dancing for Jeanie!

–SueBE

 

Goals the Week Before Christmas

In terms of word count, I did really well last week — 7251 words.  1251 over my 6000 words/week goal.

But you’ll also notice that my goals aren’t changing much.  In part, that’s because I’m getting the recurring goals done but they crop up again and again.  But I also had a new job crop up last week.  Back in October, I applied to write educational content for a history encyclopedia.  They contacted me last week and the audition piece is due today or tomorrow.   So that’s my story for last week.

This week?  Well, I’ve got goals but I’m also getting ready for Christmas, co-hosting a radio show on Wednesday, school is out and we’re trying to get a bathroom reassembled (the sink is in the family room, the toilet is outside and we need to lay tile) before Christmas.  I’m going to be realistic and set my goal for the week at 3000 words.

My individual goals are:

Weekly Goals:

• 5 posts for One Writer’s Journey.  Done!
• 1 review on the Bookshelf.  Done!
• 1 post for PrayPower.  Done!
• Write my posts for the Church blog.  Done!

Goals with Deadlines:

• Submit audition piece for history encyclopedia.  Deadline:  12/19.  Done!
• Get my next post done for the Muffin.  Deadline: 1/8.  In progress.
• Devotionals out to “God Still Meets Needs.”  Deadline:  1/10.  Done!
• Draft article for Writer’s Market. Deadline:  1/15.  Done!
• Write second draft of article for WOW! Women on Writing.  Deadline: 1/16.

Non-Deadline Goals (obviously, these are the ones I’m having troubles getting to and I’m going to start trying to get one done a week):

• Get an essay on writing back out.
• Rewrite the picture book I had critiqued.
• Start writing up my first PiBoIdMo idea.
• Work on my agent research.
• Rough submissions for Blue Mountain cards.
• Keep working on my web site.
• Work up some ideas for leveled readers.
• Read 50 leveled readers.
• Work on the middle grade. Go over the Plot Whisperer notes that I originally made.
• Pull out the YA that I’m going to workshop at a retreat this spring.

–SueBE