BOOK NEWS!

WHOOP!

I have news! 

I am so excited to tell you about this. 

Can you tell!?!

I might be using more exclamation points than are allowed for a few weeks

because...

TWO MORE BOOKS!!!

 Ah. I am exuberant. 

I am ecstatic. 

Thank you, Molly O'Neill and Root Literary,

thank you, Nikki Garcia and Little, Brown 

for believing in this story and in me!  

So much of this joy is thanks to my agent Molly O'Neill, 

who talked me through the finishing of my first book 

(THE STARKEEPER which comes out with Random House in June!) 

and helped me face the beginnings of another one!  

Thanks to Molly, I found out that while making book number two is HARD!, 

hard is not necessarily a bad thing. 

See, if we didn't struggle, the end result wouldn't be so victorious. 

Which is sort of how PERFECTLY IMPERFECT MIRA has made her way here!

I can't wait for you to meet MIRA. 

This story is kind of about being a work in progress, 

and learning to love the journey of becoming. 

Which is something that feels very familiar to me. 

 Another fun thing is that during the time this story was in revision,  

 I took a writing course with Jolie Stekly "MINDSET MEETS CRAFT." 

MIRA's story is so much about mindset, and revision, too. 

When I had a stroke, then heart surgery, and other life surprises   - 

each time, I felt thrown for a loop. 

That was not the direction I planned. 

That was not the way my road was supposed to go.

 Or was it? 

Because if I hadn't had the stroke and kind of lost my way into writing, 

I wouldn't have taken a WRITING WITH PICTURES course, 

which opened up my heart to illustration and stories 

in a way I'd never dreamed of being able to do.

So, here's to the journey, my friends! 

Here's to the blooms that can come out of hard things. 

- and sometimes the blooms that come because of hard things! 

And here's to the work, day and night, 

learning!

growing!

revising!

 

Hooray! 

How To Spot a Stroke

Today is six years since I had a stroke.
Because I struggled to find my writing words after the stroke, I turned to art, hoping to find a way to be a writer again.


What do you call that?

A moment that diverts your course and sends you in a completely different direction?
A turning point? A boomerang?

At the time, it just felt scary, and discouraging.

Like when you go through a labyrinth, and you think you're getting close to the center, but instead, you find you have to go in the absolute opposite direction before you end up where you think you want to be.

But see?

How beautiful is it that hard things can become soil for new gardens?
Thanks to the stroke, I am here.
Making books!


Who knew?

Anyway, I guess I just wanted to say how thankful I am.
To be alive today.
Thankful for the way my community lifted me up during that time.
Thankful that this extra hard thing contained ingredients that helped me become an author and illustrator today.

Friends, for every hard thing you face,
I wish you courageous hope.

For every detour, I wish you creativity
that grows and blooms and heals.

And because I'm especially thankful for the people in my life, I made a little thing for you. Knowing the signs of stroke can save your life. 
Please feel free to read and share with your loved ones.
#strokeawareness #strokesurvivor #strokeinfographic

12 Easy-Peasy Writing Secrets, or How to Find Ideas

I get to talk with 4th graders this week about writing. 

As they especially want to know where writers get their ideas, 

I thought I should make a list. 

I decided to share it with you, too. 

This isn't the quantitative, end-all list of idea-catchers, mind you

because, as all writers know, ideas can be found....

• 1. At the bottom of the dryer
• 2. In snatches of conversation 
• 3. In the waiting room at the doctor's office 
• 4. Under the couch, next to the monster's eyeball
• 5. Inside a pair of Seven League Boots
• 6. Buried under the witch's bones in the graveyard
• 7. In a fistful of stolen pirate gold
• 8. In the pocket of the Wrong Coat at the Lost & Found
• 9. Behind a secret staircase in the old castle
• 10. In the next chapter after the final chapter of the last book you read

Of course, this list goes on 

and on

and on...

Writer friends, where do you find your ideas?

Any special plants or potions or special tricks

 that keep your ears and eyes 

ready for your next idea?

Teachers, you are welcome to use this freebie printable as a teaching resource.  Feel free to share links to this page. 

To use this resource, just drag the image to your desktop and print. 

Thank you for keeping this original content credited to its creator.  Cheers!

Strokeversary

It's my stroke anniversary. 

Five years!

Because I had trouble finding my writing words 

after the stroke, 

I started making art in earnest. 

Isn't it beautiful 

that troubles can become the soil 

for new gardens? 

new news

I'm so thrilled to share my news with you:

I'm now represented by Molly O'Neill at Root Literary.

Here's to all the words ahead -

The scribbles, sketches, 

 fresh pages,

new chapters,

erasers.

Here's to exuberance -

all those story seeds wishing their way into the world 

- and to hope.

If you're interested, I'd love to show you my new website:

faithpraybooks.com

I'll still tend this blog when I can, 

still share my lovely finds

 of life and books and story-making, 

wildebeest-wrangling, life-learning, and looking for joy in the daily dirt.

Thank you for supporting and encouraging and connecting with me

through the past eight years. 

Thank you.

Here's to our adventures ahead!  

Running with Wolves

No, we do not run with wolves in the summer. 

It's something slightly less scary, but nearly as tangled and free.

School's out! Tide's in! 

It's our creative breath and bread, 

embracing this warmth of days that ease into night.

Time to experiment.

Time to paint.

Time to play. 

Paint pens + plastic animals

+ eye screws + beads.

 Sometimes you just need to wear a rhino around your neck.

Time to read.

The wildebeests and I have retreated into our reading cozies. 

These beauties are in my stack:

Plot Whisperer by Martha Alderson

The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass

Happy sunshine, my friends!
Our summer story awaits!

 

A few book favorites so far:

The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz, illustrated by Hatem Aly

Papillon, the Very Fluffy Kitten by A.N. Kang

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Tippy and the Night Parade by Lilli Carre

 

Chalk Lessons

How do you feel about failure?

This summer, we made chalk paint with cornstarch, food coloring, and water. 

Summery delight!

See our driveway canvas?

 Little did we know that a thunderstorm brewed two hours away.

All our chalky wonders washed away overnight.

It's that resonance of art and failure that makes us strong, right?

Do you ever wonder if we can learn as much from our flops
- our sloppy first drafts, our rejections, our imperfections -
as from our neat and tidy successes? 

I have this thing. This fear of ruining a brand new notebook or sketchbook. 

I figure if I'm constantly working at something, then naturally, I'll keep improving. 

And when I look at my old notebooks stuffed with terrible first drafts and awkward brainstorms, 

I get panicky. What if this first page represents who I am through that entire notebook or sketchbook? Can't it at least start out perfect?
Talk about writer's block, eh?
So, I solved it. 

It's my secret to hurdling the fear of failure. (in a notebook.)

I just skip the first page. 

Then I'm set. I have a one-page cushion keeping me from a first-page flop. 

(Really, it means that the second page becomes the first page, but shhh.)

But really, don't we gain something in being brave with each feeble offering of ourselves?

In truth, even if I jump right into the first page of a notebook and ink it up with a scratchy failure, 

actually my "failure" teaches me something, and that becomes growth.

And if that's true, then maybe "failure" isn't so much of a failure. 

Maybe the effort of trying something stretches and grows our skills. 

And actually, that is beauty right there: being brave.

So, go out and be brave, my friends!

Ruin some second pages.
Scribble your heart out.
Make sloppy chalk paint that gets rained on overnight.

Get all muddy and splash around in those glorious flops.

Our Sidewalk Chalk Paint recipe:

Mix equal parts cornstarch + water.
Add a few drops of food coloring. Voila!

 

 Chalky books!

Journey by Aaron Becker
Quest by Aaron Becker
Chalk by Bill Thomson
Art & Max by David Wiesner
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
Harold's Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson