Round Two Voting For the SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards Is Open Now (And Closes On April 30, 5pm Pacific)

Members, this is easy:

First, log in at scbwi.org. Make sure you are on your "My Home" page (if not, go there.) Click the link (bottom left column) "Vote In The Crystal Kite Awards." Now, cast your vote.

Note that you must be a current member to vote prior to voting opening, you get one vote in this round, and you may only vote for a book that is in your own division.

 US Divisions 
· California, Hawaii 
· West (Washington, Northern Idaho, Oregon, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota) 
· Southwest (Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Southern Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico) 
· Midwest (Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio) 
· New England (Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) 
· New York 
· Texas, Oklahoma 
· Atlantic (Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland) 
· Mid-South (Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana) 
· Southeast (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama)

 International Divisions 
· UK, Ireland 
· Middle East, India, Asia 
· Canada 
· Australia, New Zealand 
· Other International

Good luck to all the finalists!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Debbie Ohi offers some advice on how to support an author or illustrators new book (especially if you can't afford to buy it.)

Debbie offers a dozen suggestions in this blog post, Want to support an author's or illustrator's new book but can't afford to buy it? Here's what you can do., ranging from Read the book, and Read it where people can see you enjoying it, to Reserving it at the library, Reviewing it, and Talking about the book (both in person and online.)

And then there are a number of additional great suggestions from the comments, including asking your local or school librarian to help (they can put the book on display) and showing up at the author/illustrator's events!

All in all, great advice to heed and pass on...

Thanks, Debbie!

Illustrate and Write On, and support your fellow Children's and Teen Book Creators!
Lee

Ellen Oh on the Power of Representation

Posted over at the Nerdy Book Club, Ellen writes of how:

"When you’re little, you don’t know what you’ve been missing if you’ve never seen it before. I didn’t know that the hole in my heart that had been filled with self-loathing and a wish that I could have been born white, had formed because of a lack of representation. I didn’t know that seeing yourself in the pages of a book would be life transforming. That book was The Joy Luck Club."

The piece is also a celebratory lead-in to telling us about Flying Lessons and Other Stories, the new anthology of short stories from #WeNeedDiverseBooks that Ellen edited.

Ellen's essay is a great reminder of how powerful it can be to see yourself in the pages of a book. And how we, writers and illustrators, can give that gift to our young readers.

Check out the full essay here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

It's a new season of Podcasts - and the first one is a conversation with Linda Sue Park!

SCBWI Members, make sure to check out the new season of podcasts.

The first episode is available today, a behind-the-scenes, in-depth conversation with Newbery Award-Winning Author Linda Sue Park!

In a one-on-one conversation with Theo Baker, Linda Sue speaks about poetry, revision, her process, first versus third person, and the evolution of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement.

It's well worth your time. Listen to the trailer here.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Character Development Through Music - An Excellent Exercise By Alison Green Myers At The Highlights Blog

I thought this exercise was great in how it took the idea of music and your character beyond the simple, 'what's your character's playlist?'

The idea of identifying the song that your character can't stand,

the song that breaks your character's heart,

the prompt a simple lyric can be to reveal your character through their emotion,

and music as a way to reveal how your character interacts with the world around them...

With some nice examples from Julie Murphy’s Dumplin, Meg Medina’s Burn Baby Burn, and Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Echo. Great stuff!

You can read the whole piece here.

Thanks, Alison and Highlights!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

It's National Poetry Month!

Here in the U.S.A., April is National Poetry Month.

Here are five ways to consider joining in the fun:

1. Write a poem. Try an Ekphrasis. or an Triolet. Or a Pantoum! (There are many more poetic forms listed here.)

2. Read "Tide Of Voices: Why Poetry Matters Today" by Mark Doty.

3. Celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day (on April 27, 2017)

4. Watch a poetry-themed movie (here's a list)

5. Share a favorite poem. With chalk on the sidewalk. On social media. In person, with a friend.


For lots more suggestions, see the full list of 30 ways to celebrate national poetry month at poets.org

Silhouette foreground: An Art Trick, and More Tips, For Illustrators

From this Creative Bloq list of ten top tips for book illustrators, come these three suggestions:


Silhouette foreground
A good art trick is to mask over your foreground to create a silhouette. Does the foreground-background contrast make for an arresting composition? Think about it.

Add but don't deviate
Don't paint things that are obviously different to what's described in the book, but remember you're bringing the story to life. You may need to add things to complete a scene.

Think like a designer
You may receive a template indicating where the text will be - you may not. You must create your image with this in mind. Mock up the page or cover with text to see how it looks.

The points are brief, and worth checking out.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Crystal Kite Round 1 Voting Is Now Open!

SCBWI Members can vote for their favorite book in their division until April 14 (5pm Pacific time.)

Log in and find out all the info on voting here.

The second and final round of voting will take place from April 18 - April 30.

Winners are announced in May in a press release and on the SCBWI website/social media. Winners receive a crystal, engraved kite award, an opportunity to present at a regional conference, a silver sticker for their winning book, and one winner will be chosen to present at the LA Summer Conference. At this year's Summer Conference, the Crystal Kite Keynote will be given by Kat Yeh, who won the 2016 Crystal Kite Award in the New York division for The Truth About Twinkie Pie.

Who will win in your division this year?

Vote now!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee