PiBoIdMo Twiends

I have a fantastic list of children's writers whose tweets you'll want to follow. Let's network!

#PiBoIdMo on Twitter:

Angela Peña Dahle: @AngelaPenaDahle
Beth Stilborn: ‎@lizannewriting
Bethany Telles: @BethanyTelles
Bonnie Adamson @BonnieAdamson
Brian Kramer: @Pkeod
Brook Gideon: @brookgideon
Catherine Johnson @CJohnsonWriter
Cindy Cornwall @artmom61
Dana Carey: ‎@danaFR
Dawn Mitchell: @DMReads
Diandra Mae: @DiandraMae
Diane Dawson Hearn @DDHearn
Donna J. Shepherd: ‎@donnashepherd (Me - of course!)
Ellen Ramsey: @SowingIdeas
Jarm Del Boccio @JarmVee
Jeanie Wogaman: @jeanie_w
Jim Hill: @jimhill
Julie Siegel Falatko: ‎@JulieFalatko
Kerry Aradhya: ‎@dancebooks
Kim Pfennigwerth: @kpfenni
Loni Edwards @LoniEdwards
Louise Nottingham @poeticlouise
Lynda Shoup @lyndashoup
M. G. King @mimking
Mindy Alyse Weiss: ‎@MindyAlyseWeiss
Serge Smagarinsky (aka Gary Masskin): @GaryMasskin
Stacy S. Jensen: @StacySJensen
Stephanie Nickel:‎@NickelStephanie
Tammi Sauer: @SauerTammi
Tara Lazar: @taralazar
Wendy Martin @WendyMartinArt

My PiBoIdMo Badge of Honor

I'm only one of many writers who participated, but it still looks nice to see 'winner' on that badge. Now to get to work on all those ideas!

PiBoIdMo and Facebook

The month of November flew by with me trying to keep up with all the other writers and coming up with 30 picture book ideas in the 30 days of November. I did it! Whew!

And I got to combine two of my favorite things - writing for children and Facebook. What fun! The PiBoIdMo group on Facebook was invaluable to my success. Writers posted how an idea came to them. Where they found inspiration. And their excitement of writing for children. I loved it!

With urging from all of us, Tara has promised to keep the group running. Although Christmas is upon us, and I, like many of you, will need to turn my attention to the many activities during December, I hope to get back to that same excitement and and creative state of mind I had in November just as soon as the clock strikes midnight ringing in 2012. Hmm....now what kind of idea can I come up with to start the New Year?

To be continued!

PiBoIdMo

This month I've participated in the PiBoIdMo or Picture Book Idea Month. The goal is to come up with 30 ideas for picture books by November 30. At first, I thought, why that's easy-peasy! I'm always coming up with fantastic ideas. Ha! At about idea 18 or so, I hit a wall. I would come up with what I thought was a brilliant concept, only to do a little research and find that someone else had already written it.

So, while I was on Amazon, I came up with a way to brainstorm. I would simply read titles. No descriptions. It's amazing how a good title can spark other ideas. Then I'd go back to read about the books, and rarely - simply from a title, did my idea match what the other author had written. It was fun way to research what was already out there while I brainstormed. As always - I'm multi-tasking.

The challenge is over for 2011, but if you write for children, you should consider participating next year. I'm glad I did!

Here's the link to the blog. Tara Lazar has posted many great interviews and tips from authors.

http://taralazar.wordpress.com/