Blog tour for SCRIBBLE & AUTHOR! by Miri Leshem-Pelly

I am so, so thrilled to be hosting today’s stop on the month-long blog tour for my real-life friend and faithful critique group companion Miri Leshem-Pelly… and her new book, Scribble & Author (Kane-Miller Picture Books, 2017)!  Check out yesterday’s stop at PUYB Virtual Book Club – as well as tomorrow’s stop, when it’s posted, at Interview at Literarily Speaking.  So much fun!!!

As children’s writers all know, though, the book isn’t really about us, the writers.  It’s about our CHARACTERS.  And that’s why, for today’s blog tour stop, I decided to host an interview not with Miri herself (check out this interview for that, or Miri’s website, if you’re interested!) – but with her character, Scribble!

Why did I want to talk to Scribble?  Well, take a look and see for yourself:

Isn’t she adorable???  Just so sweet and full of spunk.  Miri is an author/illustrator – so she gets to create her own characters.  I’m so jealous.  But it’s not enough to CREATE a character – as writers we know that we have to put our character in fascinating situations. 

Here's what the book is about, in a sweet little nutshell (from the publisher):

In Scribble & Author, Scribble's journey starts on a peaceful shore called THE BEGINNING, continues to the rough, adventurous MIDDLE, and leads finally to the gate of THE ENDING, but it's not at all what Scribble expected...
Scribble is a scribble and Author is an author, but who really gets to tell the tale?
An innovative picture book about finding your own voice, making your own decisions, and writing your own story.

Most importantly, as Scribble learns in the book, whether we’re illustrating our story or not, we also have to CHALLENGE our characters – even though we love them, we have to put them in plenty of danger and then let them find their own way out.

All of which is to say, it’s not easy being a character in a children’s picture book – especially given that element of danger.  So naturally, Scribble had lots and lots to say about her own adventures and being a character in this amazing book. 

Let’s listen in:

WKB: Hey, Scribble. It’s great to meet you! How does it feel now that you’re getting all this attention?

Thank you! Finally somebody’s paying attention to me – the main character! You know, the name of the book is Scribble & Author, not Author & Scribble, but for some reason, all other bloggers chose to interview the author instead of me!

WKB: Can you tell me how you first met Author?

When I first opened my eyes I saw Author, right there in front of me. I was very excited to discover that I was inside a book. But let me tell you something - I’m the only one who gets to see Author. Readers don’t see Author. They can read what Author says but they don’t really know who Author is: a man or a woman? Maybe a boy or a girl? I’m the only one who knows. And I’m not telling! It’s my secret.

WKB: Tell us the truth. Does it tickle when you’re being drawn?

You bet it is. I love being

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How to be a Super Blogger in 2015 (or why you should give up now).

You may have noticed that I don’t just write children’s books. 

And I don’t just write adult books.

A lot of what I write is here before you on this site.  For better or worse, I’m a blogger.  I’ve been at it for almost a decade.

When I started, I was a mom with a newborn, and that newborn turns 10 this winter.  She’s not the same, and neither am I.  And neither is the state of the blog world.

Here’s my “state of the blogger” analysis of what’s going on in the blog world.

Good news, bad news

The bad news

Blogging is very 2005.  When people hear that you have a blog, they run and hide.  It’s not a cool thing at all.  Hardly anybody under 30 has a blog, it seems.  They don’t have time to read anything more than about 175 characters.  Go over 500 words and you’re downright long-winded.  (Hope I didn’t lose anybody mid-paragraph.)

The good news

Some blogs today are very, very good.  Excellent, even.

The bad news

The good blogs are usually selling something.

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Ezra’s Aliyah, a book review

Very pleased with this positive review of my kids’ book about moving to Israel, Ezra’s Aliyah, which appeared today on the me-ander blog.  Very widely read and covering all aspects of life in Israel, the blog is written by a fellow “olah” who’s been here for 40 years already.

Interestingly, the blogger, Batya, insisted that I send her a hard copy of the book, while every other reviewer and prospective reviewer has been happy to accept a PDF or other e-copy of the book.  Definitely cheaper to send that way, but this way, she was able to include a picture of her granddaughter actually holding the book, which is kind of sweet.  (She has a policy of not including face shots of people on her blog.)

Calling it a “fantastic children’s book,” Batya wrote, “I loved it. It's just the right length for young kids and brings up the subjects parents must speak to their children about.  Ezra's Aliyah is short enough so that young children won't get bored…”

Plus, she actually tested the book out on her grandchildren – always the best way to tell if a book really WORKS or if it’s just there to impress the parents.  Read her full review here.

You can buy Ezra’s Aliyah on Amazon.com or save the shipping cost and buy it directly from me if you're in Israel for only $9 (including mailing).  I have copies of all my books available here for anyone in Israel who’s interested.

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Coming soon… interviews with Andrea Beaty, Barbara Reid.

I don’t usually give you a heads-up about what’s coming down the pike, but I just can’t help it.  These two are just TOO great not to mention!

Who’s coming?

• Andrea Beaty, writer, Iggy Peck, Architect, and Rosie Revere, Engineer, and one of the goddesses of rhyming kids’ books in the world today (not to mention smart, science-y kids’ picture books!).

and…

• Barbara Reid, writer and illustrator of Picture a Tree, The Subway Mouse, Fox Walked Alone, and many, many more.  As a Canadian, I take full credit for Barbara Reid and consider her illustrations (and stories) a national treasure we have given to the world.  I hope that doesn’t sound condescending; I read tons of other kidlit, but there will always be a special place in my heart for Canadians.

I’ve already finished the (mini-)interviews with both of these writers, but I’m too wrapped up in the holiday of Passover at the moment to possibly do them justice.  So in the meantime, click through, buy the books, get reading, and you’ll be all geared up for their interviews – very very soon.

(Within the next couple of weeks.) 

We also have a new(ish) writer coming up, Stacy Nyikos, whose new book, Toby, will be released in June.  I’ll be reviewing the book and possibly interviewing Stacy as part of the book’s “blog tour.”

Planning little goodies like this is definitely the fun part of blogging.  Now to make it all happen… somehow!  :-)

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To snot or not to snot? (help me out here!)

This is a little more of a personal question than I usually share here, but I figure, what’s a community for, if not learning and growing together.

So here’s the thing:  I wrote a book.

Yay, me!  Right?

Thing #2:  It’s a rhyming book.

Thing #3:  The rhymes are good.  Yeah, I’m sure.  I’d be mighty proud of them, except for…

Thing #4:  The book is about… snot.

I made it up one day while fantasizing with my 6-year-old, who has allergies and also gets colds a LOT of the time.  He sniffles a LOT.  And I thought out loud – what if you could take a pill and just get rid of all that snot at once?

So I sat down and in a particularly boring Hebrew class, I dreamed up and wrote out the entire story – in verse.

Like I said, it’s good.  But also like I said, it’s about snot.

The trouble with snot, farts, etc

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6 reasons to hate blogging in 2014 – and why I do it anyway.

When I started blogging, way back in 2005, “blogging” was a newish word, and not so many people did it.  A blog was a way of sharing your interests, usually painfully specific, with perhaps a few dozen readers who may have been mostly family members.

Blogging has changed.  A lot.

1.  A decade ago, “monetize” was a joke.  Today, it’s the primary reason someone starts a blog.  Many people start blogs just to drive traffic to another blog, which then, in turn, drives traffic to a main marketing site where the big sell takes place – an ebook, an online “course,” or some collection of substandard products.  And sometimes, there isn’t even a “big sell,” the blogs generate money on their own, through ad revenue – it’s their sole raison d'être.

2.  A decade ago, bloggers loved their blogs. 

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Are you a contender?

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… contest!!!  (not mine, read on for deets)

Think your book’s a winner?

If you’ve written and self-published a children’s book, click on through and submit it to Aviva Gittle’s “Top 10 Self-Pub Children’s Books of 2013” contest.  She’s extended the deadline to January 7 just in time for YOU to enter.

You’ll need to send her a PDF copy, hard copy, or free download link (given that the entry deadline is so close, opt for one of the digital choices!).  Full rules and entry guidelines here.

Also, check out her new blog series, Birth of a Children’s Book!

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