Recent Updates and #PiBoIdMo Strikes Again!

Art by Joyce Wan

Well, hello there!

It's been some time, which is my now usual thing lately. It's bad, I know. But I'm not going to fight it! Plus, if you've been paying attention, I'm keeping up with Little Raindrop's Blog on a regular basis. So that still counts as blogging, doesn't it? (I "help" Little Raindrop write his posts. His spelling is still on the elementary level!)

A couple of updates on what's been going on...

Art copyright 2013
Melanie Linden Chan

-I will soon be sending out Little Raindrop's manuscript to my parent, science, and teacher helpers for revisions, ideas, and overall hawk-eyeing! This step is important, as Richard and I need some fresher eyeballs to look over this now EIGHT CHAPTER graphic novel/journal hybrid. After that, we will do some finishing touches on revision, and then we'll be sending it off to our editor, Marlo!

-I made some nifty buttons for our helpers, too! ->>>>

-I'm currently researching, sketching, and planning the full color double page spread for Chapter 3 of Little Raindrop's book: the pond habitat! (I will be working on all the double page spreads, as well as the Activity Pages, for each chapter as I wait for our text to be edited.)

-Last weekend, I attended SCBWI's Encore presentation. It was FABULOUS! Usually Encore has more talks on writing children's books versus illustrating, which is exactly what I need since I already have a slew of illustration knowledge stuffed in my brain.

-Due to the lovely talk given by Karen Day at Encore, I have been spurred on to finally FINISH that draft of my MG/YA environmental fantasy novel. It's no longer going to be sitting in the back of my brain, but truly in the foreground. I'm really dying to get this story out!

-Also, thanks to the tips from Lynda Mullaly Hunt, I am also now renewing my search for an agent. I've sent out 3 submissions in the past, and obviously no one has bitten just yet. But it just wasn't meant to be, I think!

-I have a new client that I am doing graphic work for their business. Logos and business cards and all that stuff. I sometimes like doing things that pay the bills! ;)

-I am still in the middle of turning my sitting studio into a standing studio. It's been on the bottom of my to-do list, but as I am sitting here typing, I realize I need to hurry up and do it!

-In crafty/homey news, I custom painted a few tees, painted our hallway a lovely teal color, finally hung up all our awesome vacation photos, and I'm in the middle of creating some fun art for the walls as well.

ALSO...





PICTURE BOOK IDEA MONTH IS ALMOST HERE!!!

http://taralazar.com/piboidmo/

It's only a month away and I totally can't wait! It's like my brain goes dormant all year long, and then- bAnG! The juices start flowing and I get all sorts of ideas and inspiration! Woo! Last year, I made up all these awesome idea journals, and it's about time I rip off the shrink wrap and start using one of them!

And I'm totally in LOVE with this year's theme art by Joyce Wan! Check out all the cute stuff on Tara Lazar's blog! Wheeee!





So, that'd be all for now, Folks! Sorry for being away for so long... Life has been sending our family through a lot of hoops these days. But where there are bad things, there is always some sort of good to come, too. And I'm really digging the good stuff!

Keep on being creative!
~Melanie

#PiBoIdMo 2012 and #PiBoIdMoBrainFlush! and IDEAS!

Hello! It's NOVEMBER again! (Well, almost.)


AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT NOVEMBER MEANS???


It's Picture Book Idea Month! Invented and hosted by the lovely Tara Lazar!

*ta daaaaaaaaa!!!* (this means, GO HERE ---> http://taralazar.com/)

It's a pledge, taken by writers, to come up with THIRTY (30) new picture book ideas, one for each day of the month of November. And we put them all into a fancy journal and keep them for future picture book idea usage. So we will always have a new story to be working on, all year long! Woo!

Here is my shy, quiet little PiBoIdMo journal:



shhh... it's sleeping

it's been around the block a bit...

And inside are... BAM!!!! IDEAS!!!!

HA! I'm not showing you my ideas, Silly!

Although this book works just fine for now, I just ordered (from Shutterfly) some custom matching journals for future use. I might even transfer over all of my ideas into those books, so I might come up with more ideas while I'm thinking! Who knows? WE DON'T KNOW!

Okay, now that you know more of what PiBoIdMo actually is, SIGN up and DO it! Not sure how to start? Go here ----> registration-begins-now-sign-up-here and then read this nice little Pre-PiBoIdMo Post! ----> pre-pibo-day-1-kathy-ellen-davis-and-the-three-little-ps/ by Kathy Davis.

In addition to the neat things Kathy Davis recommends doing to prepare yourself, I have my own personal favorite... the Pre-PiBoIdMo Brain Flush. This little method/game/process is from my own genius mind (me so smaht!). Because it almost feels like cheating when I start off my PiBoIdMo journal with a TON of "new" ideas that I've been brewing on but never had the chance to write them down. So I write down ALL the stuff and bits of things that are floating in my head until my brain is empty.

Yep. It's empty all right.   -_-

Also, I have been keeping track of new ways to get new ideas, so I can keep them in my journal for emergency brain fart removal.

I'd like to share with you some ideas on how to get ideas... but I don't have my whole list ready yet. I'm getting ideas from other people, too! And when I've got them all down in my new, shiny Idea Book, I shall show them to you! (I'm even going to TYPE them up, muah ha haa haaaaaa!)

Anyway, that's what I'll be doing this month. Time to go wait on some tables!
ttfn!