Friday, February 28, 2020

Lost Resume #5

Welcome to the final day of my special series of Lost Resumes!

To celebrate the release of my picture book, HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS (illustrated by Courtney Dawson), on Monday, March 2nd (just 3 days from now!),  I'm sharing 5 Lost Resumes from characters who applied for the job of bedtime storyteller, but who didn't make it into the story.

I hope you enjoyed the other Lost Resumes. But if you missed, I've included a link to all of the resumes at the bottom, so be sure to check them out.

Drum roll, please, for the final addition! Today, I present you Lost Resume #5: Rumpelstiltskin



I confess, this one makes me giggle-laugh so hard. I know! I totally crack me up. It is so different than all the other resumes, but Rumpelstiltskin is quite the character, and he likes to do things his own way. This is the only version of his that made sense. And secret? Underneath that big black rectangle is his actual name. Yep. I wanted it to be authentic.

Another secret? I had to give Shailey a last name when I created this resume. She didn't have one before that. I know, I know, characterization and all that. But it was a corner I felt okay with cutting.

The only hard part about this particular resume, was not using the Shrek version of Rumpelstiltskin (either of them . . . you know he's featured twice, right? Feel free to watch them all again. In fact, I just might do that myself).

Once again, while I don't know why my publisher didn't choose this resume, I have my guesses. Rumpelstiltskin is right up there with Grandma Sweets. It's a bit dark to be thinking about a goblin stealing away a newborn baby, and since HELP WANTED is a book for young children, they probably don't even want to be thinking about their future children at all! I get that. I do.

But in the mean time, I'm just over here chuckling away.

Now, there are two final notes I need to make:

First, I dressed up these Lost Resumes for this series, but when I sent them to my publisher, they were nothing more than words in a Word document. Just in case you were wondering. 😊

Second, there is the little matter of the replaced characters. For those who have been dying to find out all week, here you go:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves replaced the Farmer in the Dell. He was my absolute favorite, and I'm so sad he didn't make the cut. But let's just say that the stinky old cheese was a big problem for Shailey.

Captain Hook replaced the Pied Piper. Since the Pied Piper stems from a true story, he was deemed too creepy. But he made things a little too lively for Shailey's liking, anyway. 😳

I hope you enjoyed this series! If you want to see more resumes, you can find FOUR more as the backmatter in HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS. The perfect ones to match the rest of the book.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my book, and a copy of a book by one of my fellow Debut Crew members! You have until Saturday, February 28th, at midnight EST.

And if you want to check out the other resumes, follow the links:

Lost Resume #1
Lost Resume #2
Lost Resume #3
Lost Resume #4

Have a great day!

~~~
You can purchase HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS on bookshop.org, which helps support local indie bookstores. Or if you don't have a local indie, you can always find it on Amazon or B&N.


Thursday, February 27, 2020

Lost Resume #4

Welcome back to my special series of Lost Resumes!

To celebrate the release of my picture book, HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS (illustrated by Courtney Dawson), on Monday, March 2nd (next week!),  I'm sharing 5 Lost Resumes from characters who applied for the job of bedtime storyteller, but who didn't make it into the story (mostly).

I hope you enjoyed the first three Lost Resumes. But if you missed, I've included a link to all of the resumes at the bottom, so be sure to check them out.

Today we are moving on to Lost Resume #4: King Midas!



I had to do a bit of research for this one. I mean, who didn't grow up hearing the story of King Midas? But turns out, I was pretty clueless. I'm certain I must have learned his story came from the Greek Myths at some point. But adult me had completely forgotten that tidbit.

When I mentioned this at the dinner table, my kids (ages 16, 13, and 10) went off on a deep discussion of a plethora of minor gods, comparing the Roman versions to the Greek, and I clearly need to start reading more Rick Riordan. My husband and I just sat there with mouths hanging open. Okay, not really, because we were eating dinner, but mentally, our mouths were definitely hanging open.

As I keep saying, I don't actually know why my publisher did or didn't choose each resume. But I feel fairly confident that King Midas didn't make it in because he is from the Greek Myths, and not from the fairy and folk tales they were going for. And I suppose it's also possible that this resume isn't as funny as the others. Maybe. But I'll let you be the judge of that.

Be sure to come back tomorrow when I share Lost Resume #5! The final one. In the meantime, don't forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my book, and a copy of a book by one of my fellow Debut Crew members! And if you want to check out the other resumes, follow the links:

Lost Resume #1
Lost Resume #2
Lost Resume #3
Lost Resume #5

Have a great day!

~~~
You can purchase HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS on bookshop.org, which helps support local indie bookstores. Or if you don't have a local indie, you can always find it on Amazon or B&N.


Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Lost Resume #3

Good morning! This week I'm gearing up to celebrate the release of my picture book, HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS (illustrated by Courtney Dawson), on Monday, March 2nd!

For those who were here Monday and Tuesday, welcome back to my special series of Lost Resumes!
As a reminder, I'm sharing 5 Lost Resumes from characters who applied for the job of bedtime storyteller, but who didn't make it into the story.

I hope you enjoyed Captain Hook's and Snow White's Lost Resumes! I've included a link to all of the resumes at the bottom, so if you missed them, be sure to check them out.

Today we are moving on to Lost Resume #3: Grandma Sweets!

Wait. You don't know who she is? No, no, no. Of course you do. She is none other than the witch from Hansel and Gretel! Though really I should have made you guess based on the resume itself. Ahem. But here we are:


This one was a lot of fun to write. I mean, it's Grimm, but there we are. A lot of fairy tale characters are a bit Grimm. (I know, I know, I'm so punny!) Maybe I shouldn't admit this part, but it was really fun to put myself in the witch's shoes and think about what she might do to get the job. We already know she's pretty cunning just based on the fact that she lives in a consumable house.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I don't actually know why my publisher did or didn't choose each resume, but I'm guessing there were a couple of reasons for this one. First, the witch has no real name to speak of. I tried to look it up. But even if I had found something, no one would have known it. "Call me 'Grandma Sweets'" was the best I could do.

Second, the Grimm factor. Maybe they worried parents don't want to read a resume to small children about someone who wants to eat them. I don't know. Just a theory.

Be sure to come back tomorrow when I share Lost Resume #4! In the meantime, don't forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my book, and a copy of a book by one of my fellow Debut Crew members! And if you want to check out the other resumes, follow the links:

Lost Resume #1
Lost Resume #2
Lost Resume #4
Lost Resume #5

Have a great day!

~~~
You can purchase HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS on bookshop.org, which helps support local indie bookstores. Or if you don't have a local indie, you can always find it on Amazon or B&N.


Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Lost Resume #2

Hello, friends! I know it is a Tuesday, and I am not normally here on the blog, but this week is special, being the lead-up to the release of my upcoming picture book, HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS (illustrated by Courtney Dawson).

In HELP WANTED, Shailey interviews characters from her favorite stories for the job of Bedtime Storyteller. This week I'm sharing 5 Lost Resumes from characters who applied for the job of bedtime storyteller, but who didn't make it into the book. I hope you enjoyed Snow White's Lost Resume from yesterday. If not, you can find it HERE.

Today we are moving on to Lost Resume #2: Captain Hook!


I really liked this resume. The tricky part on this one was that I needed to be careful not to confuse the Captain Hook character from J.M. Barrie's book, with the one from the Disney movie. As such, I was forced into the extra work of reading the original PETER PAN (sometimes an author's job is tough,* but as a professional, one carries on).

The reason this resume was not included,** is because after I sent in the eight resumes for consideration, I was asked to replace another character in the book. They felt the original character was too controversial for schools.

Can you guess who that character might be? I'll give you a hint. It involved hygiene, and it was a male character. (I'm going to be honest here, I don't think you'll guess who it was! 😂) Anyway, Captain Hook became the replacement. Since we wanted resumes from characters who were not already in the book, the resume fell out of the running.

Yesterday, I said I might tell you who Snow White (and the 7 Dwarves) replaced, but since no one parried a guess, I will hold off until the end of the week. I gave no hint yesterday, but I'll give one today. She replaced someone who also brought along a group, and who was in a nursery rhyme instead of a fairy tale. (My hints don't make it easy, do they? 😂)

If you want to check out the other resumes, here they are:

Lost Resume #1
Lost Resume #2
Lost Resume #4
Lost Resume #5

Have a wonderful week! And be sure to come back tomorrow when I share Lost Resume #3! In the meantime, don't forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a copy of my book, and a copy of a book by one of my fellow Debut Crew members!

If you don't want to wait, and just want to pre-order a copy of my book (I can hardly blame you for that!), you can find it on bookshop.org, which helps support local indie bookstores. Or if you don't have a local indie, you can always find it on Amazon or B&N.

*I'm kidding, this part of the job is not tough at all. I LOVE when I'm forced to read a good book. 😉

**Well, one major reason, anyway . . . I don't actually know all the reasons my publisher chose the four they did. I can only guess.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Countdown to Release Day (plus a giveaway!)

I don't know how this happened, but my picture book, HELP WANTED, MUST LOVE BOOKS (illustrated by Courtney Dawson), officially releases in exactly one week from today! (Aaaaaahhh!!) With the countdown to release day in full-swing, I wanted to share a little behind-the-scenes fun (and then host a giveaway!).

The first time I chatted with my editor at Capstone, my editor asked me what I thought about possibly including some back matter in the book. She couldn't have known, but I am a BIG FAN of all things back matter in fiction picture books. I leapt at the chance!

Ideas came swimming into my head immediately. I told her I had a lot of characters who didn't make the cut in the book. Since HELP WANTED is about story characters who apply for the job of bedtime storyteller, what if we did some character resumes for those lost characters?

She loved the idea, and so I got right to work, and sent her a sample later that week. That sample---a resume for Pinocchio---is now published in the final pages of my book. In fact, there are FOUR character resumes at the end of my book. I hope you'll love them! (Here's the tiniest sneak peeks.)

But guess what? I wrote way more than that. Yep. I wasn't sure what Capstone would like, so I sent them 8 to choose from. But I wrote even more resumes than that . . . because I only sent them the 8 best ones. So over the course of this week, I'm going to be sharing FIVE of those lost resumes! Eventually, they will be available for download on my website, but for now, here is LOST RESUME #1 for your viewing pleasure. May I present SNOW WHITE!



Snow White did not make the cut because I didn't think this resume was quite as amusing as the others. Thus, I never sent this one to my editor. In the end, it was just as well because Snow White, who hadn't been featured in my book at the time of that initial phone call, went on to replace a different character. Oh, the intrigue in the fairy tale world!

Who got replaced you ask? Take your best guess in the comments! I'd love to hear. And maybe I'll answer that question when I share the next Lost Resume! I'll add the links here as they're available:

Lost Resume #2
Lost Resume #3
Lost Resume #4
Lost Resume #5

But now, on to more fun stuff. With my release date being so close, I must, of course, celebrate with a giveaway!

So, to one lucky winner, I am giving not only a copy of my book, but a copy of a picture book written by a member of the 2020 Debut Crew (one book of your choice!)!! You can find a list of the authors and their books HERE. If the book you choose is not yet released, I will pre-order a copy of their book for you.

Entries close on Saturday, February 28th at midnight EST.

For all you international blog followers, this giveaway is open to every country where Book Depository delivers.  If you aren't certain about your country, check it out HERE.

For any U.S. followers, I will gladly send a signed copy of my book upon request. If you win, just let me know!

Just use the handy dandy Rafflecopter link below to enter. Good luck, my friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Monday, February 17, 2020

Author Interview: Elisavet Arkolaki


I'm so excited to welcome Elisavet Arkolaki on my blog today! She is the author of picture book WHERE AM I FROM? which is illustrated by Platon, a graffiti artist.

I met Elisavet through our debut group, and it's been fascinating to watch the process of her book. I was so fortunate to get to read her book in advance. Without further ado, let's get talking! (As always, I'm in the bolded, green text.)

Hi Elisavet, Welcome to my blog! Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you came to write children's books?

Hi Janet, thank you for inviting me here. I was born and raised in Greece, my husband in Norway, our first kid was born in Malta and our second in Norway. We speak three languages at home. I also lived in France and Spain prior to becoming a mum, and most European winters with the kids have been spent in Thailand. I grew up in a monolingual and rather monocultural society, where other languages were taught as 'foreign languages', thus the way I experienced the world during my formative years was very different from our children's. Thus, it's very high on my list to better understand their world view and offer them adequate support on their journey. My favorite medium to explore emotions, concepts, and ideas has always been writing thus it was only natural that I've now turned to write children's stories. I also curated a complimentary guide titled 'How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children' as a resource for parents, caregivers, and teachers which they can download by subscribing to my newsletter list HERE.

Wow! That is an impressive mix of countries, languages, and cultures. So I have to ask . . . I'm guessing you speak Greek, Norwegian, and English in your home. Is that right?

Yes. My husband speaks Norwegian with the kids, I speak Greek with the kids, and the common family language is English. 

So amazing. Well, I love that your kids are at the heart of your writing. Can you tell us about your book?

Through stunning murals by artist Platon, ‘Where am I from?’ will take our young ones on a quest in search of common origins. It's a fun story, crafted for preschoolers and early readers. It portrays children with different racial and ethnic backgrounds, living in countries from all six inhabited continents. The children gather together and try to find a universal answer to the question 'Where am I from?', an answer which isn't true just for them but true for everyone.

I feel that this book helps promote the idea that, in the end, when it comes to the very basics, we're all connected. It's during early childhood that many of our attitudes and beliefs towards others are shaped, and we form a perception of the world around us. It is therefore at this young age we should start introducing these ideas if we want our kids to grow up and create a better world than we have done so far.  

I wholeheartedly agree. We all have so much in common no matter where we happen to live. What inspired you to write WHERE AM I FROM?

Living an international life, I find it hard to answer 'Where are you from?' even if I grew up in one country. Almost half of my life has been lived abroad, my husband is from another country, we communicate and have formed our relationship and so many friendships in 'foreign' languages. 'Where are you from?' is truly a difficult question for so many people, and it implies you're not local.

If you had asked me "where are you from?", for instance, the first time I moved abroad, I would have answered from Greece. I would have probably done the same the second time I moved to a foreign country. Since then, things have gotten blurry. I still answer from Greece, but only for the sake of simplicity. In my case, it's not a question that makes me feel uncomfortable, I just don't know how to answer any more in a way that won't sound like an essay. Being pointed out as a foreigner is not an issue for me but if I find it confusing, how would a child feel? How will my children feel when they are asked this question? Children are vulnerable. They need to blend in, be part of the group and they need to feel local.

Once questions starting popping up at the dinner table about our countries of origin, the places we've lived, where our families and friends live, our travels, and the countries of the world, I felt I needed to be proactive and prepare them for the future. Soon other people would ask them questions. So I came up with the story Where am I from?.

However, the actual thread that began this story is found on a backpacking trip in Australia back in 2009 while I was riding a bus and listening to a local radio station. A journalist was asking tourists "Where do you come from?" I heard all sorts of cities and countries until he approached a mum and her young boy. He asked the boy ‘So, where do you come from?’ The boy replied the obvious, ‘I come from my mum’s belly’. I never forgot that phrase. It was genius in its simplicity. So this is from where I started developing this story: from the very end of it.
😊

That answer is genius. We are all connected, and sometimes it takes a child to see it. Speaking of children, I love how the children in your book have come from all over the world. Are any of them inspired by children you know?

When I was writing the story I chose countries from all 6 inhabited continents. The choice was made based on countries that are dear to me like Malta and Norway where my children have been born. I chose countries where friends of mine have been born or live like Venezuela and Nigeria. Others are from countries like China where I would love to visit one day, plus I felt the words would flow nicely within the story. Australia, as mentioned, is where the seed for this story got planted.

Then, in order to check whether there was indeed a market for such a book that would be illustrated entirely with spray paint graffiti murals, I ran a Kickstarter campaign. It would be a very time consuming, costly, and difficult project so we needed to make sure people would be interested in it, and that it was worth the effort. Because of that, all the kids that you see in the book are based on real kids. Their parents commissioned the art, and all characters except one are based on people of mixed cultural heritage; even the mum and the baby characters. 

That is so cool! What a gift from those parents to their kids. So in conjunction with that, I love that they all travel by animals or mythical creatures. Why did you decide to do that, and how did you choose their animals?

This was actually the editor's idea while we were working on the structure of the story (developmental editing phase). Originally, I had included the lion, the troll and the kangaroo, but there weren't animals and other creatures in every scene. She suggested it would really fire up the imagination of the kids and would make the book more interesting both visually and from a narrative point of view, and I agreed. I wanted us to use characters and landmarks that were part of the fauna, the history, the culture and/or mythology of each land like the gorgeous Chinese dragon, the jaguar in Venezuela and the troll in Norway.



I love that! And thank you for the sneak peek for my readers! Good thing for editors, right? So what takeaway do you hope readers will get from your book?

My wish is that the children will grasp how beautiful, colorful and diverse our world is. I hope they will discover that we all have common origins that go far beyond arbitrary borders on a map, borders which often move. There is, indeed, a universal answer to the question 'Where am I from?' I would also love this book to initiate a dialogue between adults and children about art and the different mediums and tools people use to express themselves. Street art, in particular, is a very powerful medium to express ideas and reach out to the broader public. I love that most of the graffiti has been painted in schools and the kids will get to see gorgeous art every day. 

The art is brilliant, and those kids really are lucky! How did you come up with the idea of using graffiti art for the images? It's so beautiful and I really wish I could see the originals!

It feels like everything is connected. Early 2009 I wrote my very first commissioned magazine article as a correspondent from Barcelona, Spain. It was a piece about Miss Van, a street artist from France who has been residing for many years in Barcelona. I grew up in a big city, Athens (5,000,000 people), and I've been influenced by urban art. I've always loved graffiti in its pure art form. Fast forward to 2017: I was toying with the idea of having my first children's book illustrated with street art and discussing it with Platon, the husband of my oldest childhood friend, who's a very talented street artist.

From a creative standpoint, and to our knowledge, spray paint graffiti has not been used as a medium for illustrating a children's picture book in English. And I can totally see why. Not only does it require an enormous amount of time, but it's also very physically challenging to be out there painting so many walls, and not just for the obvious reasons like having to stand up for hours. Did you know for instance that spray paint attracts mosquitos? lol.

Umm, no. I did NOT know that. Yikes!

Also, having a background in marketing, I sensed that graffiti art would help us bring the message across in an effective, powerful way, that would also make the book newsworthy. As a side effect, it could challenge the belief shared by many that street art is just 'vandalism'. I remember an online 'argument' on Facebook with a guy who commented under a photo of one of our murals that 'this is not graffiti', and when I asked him why he said that, he replied, "cause this is art." There is still this misconception that graffiti is just ugly tags.





Clearly, graffiti can be beautiful, and your book is already changing minds! And I just love getting a glimpse of the real-life image as painted on the wall.

Okay, one last question. Here on my blog, I have a fascination for personalized license plates. What do you think the children in your story might choose for a personalized license plate (even though they are definitely all too young to drive!)? (And do they have personalized license plates in Norway?)

That's a funny one :). My best guess would be 'Future Global Citizen'. I have no idea if they do personalized license plates in Norway. Is it a thing in the USA?

Haha! Fair question. But it is definitely a thing in the USA. 😊

Thanks so much for stopping in. This was all fascinating! Wishing you and your book all the best! And to all my readers, please find Elisavet's social media links below, as well as links for where you can get your own copy of WHERE AM I FROM?

~~~
Elisavet Arkolaki is the author of the graffiti-illustrated children's picture book WHERE AM I FROM? (Faraxa Publishing, early 2020). The trickiest question you can ask Elisavet and her family is ‘Where are you from?’ because they are from everywhere! Passionate about travel and inspired by global learning, she raises her own children in between countries, cultures, and languages. She writes to build cultural understanding and sensitivity in young children while they are still eager to learn.

You can follow her on TwitterGoodreadsFacebook, Instagram, and her Website.

WHERE AM I FROM? is available through Amazon (Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle) and Faraxa Publishing 

Monday, February 10, 2020

Author Interview: Aya Khalil


I've always said that one of the best part about being an author is meeting other authors and getting to read their books and stories (sometimes a little early!). 

With my own picture book coming out in 2020, I was fortunate to meet several other debut picture book authors. One of them is Aya Khalil. Her book THE ARABIC QUILT: An Immigration Story, illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan, releases February 18th.

I got to read her book in advance, and am so excited to have her on my blog today. So please welcome Aya Khalil! (As always, I'll be in bolded green text.)

Hi Aya, Welcome to my blog!

Hi! Thanks for having me. 

I'd love to learn more about you. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Sure, I am a freelance journalist and educator with my debut picture book coming out in February. I live in Northwest Ohio with my three children and husband. 

Wow, three jobs (counting author)! That is not easy, especially with kids. And huge congratulations on your book. I'm so excited for it's release. Please tell us about it.

My book is about a beautiful girl named Kanzi who recently immigrated to the US from Egypt. She tries so hard to fit in but the teasing really gets to her. With the help of her teacher and mom, she learns to appreciate her language and culture. 


It's so hard to remember what's important when you're young . . . especially in the face of teasing. I loved that Kanzi had so many supportive adults in her life. Kids need that! I'd love to know what inspired you to write The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story.
  
My picture book is based on true stories growing up as an immigrant. I moved to the US when I was one with my parents and brother. We attended a mostly all-white school in a rural town in North Dakota. We had incredible teachers there and especially this one teacher who thought of this lesson one day. She asked me, with the help of my mom, to write down our classmates' names in Arabic. My classmates thought their names in Arabic were so cool! So they each copied their names on their own and the teacher hung them up as a quilt. This happened over 20 years ago and just comes to show how powerful teachers can be, especially to their minority students. 
 
What a lovely and inclusive lesson plan! Teachers have such an influence and can do so much good. And I love that you used your own life stories to inspire you. What advice would you give to beginning writers about finding ideas?

Write down ideas all the time! Whether it's a blog or even on your Notes app, write down encounters or situations. Maybe you will end up making it into a book some day.

Great advice! You never know what might inspire a story. 

Above you mentioned you do freelance journalism. Have you always wanted to write? And how did you get into writing picture books?

I read to my kids often and used to review picture books and I always thought it would be so neat to get my words out there to young children. With my background in journalism my published work was usually geared towards adults. 

Well, I'm so glad you took the plunge! The Arabic Quilt is a beautiful story that will no doubt resonate with a lot of kids! 

Thanks! 

As a new author what is the most surprising thing you've learned about being an author?

That it takes A LONG TIME! I was always so used to the fast-paced world of journalism and quick responses and quick edits and quick publishing times! Ha! That's not always the case in the picture book industry.

Haha! No, it is not. Such a stark contrast between the two industries. Patience is definitely needed for the book publishing world.
Okay, one last question. Here on my blog, I have a fascination for personalized license plates. What do you think Kanzi would put on her license plate (even though she's definitely too young to drive!)?

QuiltTheHate (Like quit the hate but with the word quilt instead)

How perfect! And I'm guessing that after your book releases, there will be a lot of classes making their own quilts, just like Kanzi's class.

Thank you again for stopping in and answering some questions!


Thank you so much for asking these great questions!

Best wishes for your book! And to all my readers, please find Aya's social media links below, as well as links for where you can get your own copy of THE ARABIC QUILT!

~~~
Aya Khalil is a freelance journalist and educator. She holds a master's degree in Education with a focus in Teaching English as a Second Language. THE ARABIC QUILT is based on true events growing up, when she moved to the US from EGYPT at the age of one. Her articles have been published in The Huffington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, The Post & Courier, Toledo Area Parent, and more. She's been featured in Yahoo!, Teen Vogue, Verona and more. www.ayakhalil.com

You can follow her on Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, and Instagram.

THE ARABIC QUILT: an immigration story is available for pre-order from your local indie book store (find it at IndieBound), from Amazon, B&N, and wherever books are sold.