Hanni’s first slumber party

We’re off to Champaign this afternoon, and a surprise awaits Hanni when we arrive. Our friend Brad is picking us up at the train station, taking Hanni to his house and hosting her very first slumber party.

Brad is one of the folks interested in adopting Hanni when she retires, and we thought it might be a good idea for her to have a trial run, stay overnight with him and his animal companions to make sure they all get along. I’ll be staying overnight with other Urbana friends. Without Hanni. Here’s an understatement for you: it will be weird!

I won’t be without Hanni for long, though. Brad and I are meeting at a Champaign coffee shop tomorrow morning, he’ll return Hanni to me, and she and I will head off to visit Westview Elementary School. After that, we’re off to Jane Addams Bookshop to give a 1 pm presentation on how to get a childrens book published. We chose Westview for our morning visit because our great-nephew Kieran goes there. For my sighted blog readers out there, here’s a photo of Kieran. He is the first-born son of Mike’s nephew Aaron, and Mike says Kieran is the cutest kid ever born. I can’t tell. You be the judge!

We all know Hanni is the cutest dog ever born, though. I hear people exclaim “She’s beautiful!” each and every time we take a walk together. Somehow I know the comment is not directed towards me.

A woman from northern Wisconsin recognized my dog’s beauty way back when Hanni was only two years old. Kay met us at a conference where I was speaking; she put dibs on Hanni right then and there. Kay reads my blog from time to time (hi, Kay!) and I want to reassure her I do plan on honoring her position in line –she was the very first to ask to adopt Hanni when she retires, after all. But Tomahawk, Wisconsin is so far away. I might never get to visit Hanni there. So we’re just trying out Plan B, aka Plan Brad. At the very least, it’ll be fun to find out how Hanni likes slumber parties!

I’m signed up to train with a new dog at the Seeing Eye in Morristown this November. We’ll see what happens then. Hanni is ten years old already, but she’s healthy, she’s good in traffic, and she still knows her lefts from her rights. Her tail still wags when I grab her harness off its hook and call her to go outside. Which I have to do right now. It’s time to catch our train!

Getting your children’s book published

Wanna write a children’s book? Know someone who does? Seems like just about every person who reads aloud to a little kid considers, “Gee, maybe I could write one of these someday.”

Hanni and me at the University of Illinois quad.

If you’re one of those people, here’s your chance to find out how it’s done! On Wednesday I’m doing a presentation in Champaign, IL along with two other authors about the nuts and bolts of writing and publishing books for children.We chose this particular Wednesday afternoon because it happens to be one of those shortened days at Champaign schools (they get out at noon) and we thought a lot of teachers and staff members might want to come. Hanni and I will spend Wednesday morning visiting our great nephew Kieran’s classroom at Westview Elementary in Champaign, then off to Jane Addams Bookshop for the afternoon presentation.

The two authors I’m appearing with are a bit more accomplished than I am when it comes to writing for children. Alice B. McGinty has had 40, count them, 40, fiction and non-fiction children’s books published. Her latest, Darwin, is illustrated by Mary Azarian, Caldecott Medal winner for Snowflake Bently. Sara Latta has had dozens of children’s books about science and medicine published. The Good, the Bad, the Slimy: The Secret Life of Microbes and Lava Scientist: Careers on the Edge of Volcanoes are two of my favorite titles.

I see my role Wednesday as representing the person who doesn’t see children’s book writing as a career, maybe, but has an idea for a story they think might sell. I’ll talk about how I thought through my idea, wrote a rough draft, revised the rough draft, researched the market to figure out where to send it out, revised the rough draft, piled up rejection letters, revised the rough draft and finally, finally found a publisher.

I guess what I’m saying here is that Alice and Sarah have a lot more experience (and many more books published!) than I do, so they’ll be able to speak more on making a career of writing children’s books, working with agents and/or different publishers, that sort of thing. We’ll make a good team, I’m sure of that! We’ll all be available afterwards, too, to sign books for anyone interested. If you live anywhere near Champaign, I hope you’ll come:

May 12 (Wednesday), 1 p.m.
Jane Addams Bookshop
How to Get a Children’s Book Published
Panel discussion with fellow children’s book authors Alice McGinty and Sara Latta
208 North Neil Street
Champaign, IL 61820-4013
217.356.2555
www.janeaddamsbooks.com