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March/April 2024
I saw a meme recently that read, "Not to be dramatic or anything, but the sun coming out really changed my life." Oh man, did I feel that meme! Day light savings time and Spring, in general, has refreshed my soul. As a California girl, I need sunshine. Does anyone else feel that way?
I sort of skipped my regular March blog post. Instead, I posted my entry for the #50PreciousWords Contest, titled Left Over Love, which echoes my feelings about grief. While grief has no timeline, I feel like I am finally emerging from my grief fog and returning to my regular writing schedule. So this post will be a bit of a summary of all things writing in March and highlighting things to come in April.
First, let me start with the most exciting news. ✨ In March, I signed something!! ✨ I can't share details yet, but I am SO excited about this project. I will be shouting from the rooftops as soon as I have permission! Below is a selfie I snapped right before I sent the contract back to the publisher.
I also had a project that I am very passionate about go to acquisitions! My fingers are crossed that the whole team at the publishing house falls in love and that the project ends up getting acquired. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻It's honestly a dream project of mine. And it's NOT a picture book!
I wrote a new picture book draft that I am excited about. I also revised an old story, breathing new life into it. I sent the new version to my agent and can't wait to see what she thinks! Big thanks to my critique partners for all of their help. I would not be the writer I am without them.
I also collaborated on a new picture book project with another very talented author-illustrator at my agency. It was born out of an idea that I had, but something I knew I couldn't create on my own. I was nervous, but took a leap of faith and asked if she wanted to work together on it, and it was such a good decision. I am SO thrilled with how our book is turning out and it is close to being submission ready. My guess is that it will be ready to send out to editors sometime in April. 🥰
At school, we played a lot with picture books! We always have a ton of fun, so much so, that I usually end up forgetting to snap pictures of the crafts or activities that we do. Nevertheless, here is some of what we did do in March:
We read BOB, NOT BOB! by Liz Garton Scanlon Audrey Vernick & Matthew Cordell. This book is meant to be read like you have the worst cold ever, so we had fun playing with our voices. Then we played "doctor!"
We read HOW TO FIND GOLD by Viviane Schwarz. It made for a great read aloud with lots of laughs. We then made our own secret treasure maps, imagining we had hidden treasures. Lastly, we played with fake golden coins and took turns hiding them and then searching for them!
We read TOO MANY CARROTS by Katy Hudson. We had fun searching for all the carrots on the page. Then we made our own bunny ears out of paper plates and pretended to be bunnies! Of course, bunnies need something to munch on, so we got to snack on carrots and then drew outside with marbled Easter egg chalk.
For my other job, I am a bookseller at my local independent bookstore. I know, it's a dream job! Plus, I get to mostly focus on the kidlit section. For real, it's a dream. One of my responsibilities is running the Junior Book Club. This is book club for kids between the ages of 8-12. That's right, I get paid to read middle grade books and then talk to kids about it! So far, our JBC has been pretty small, but we are slowly growing. Our March meeting had to sadly be rescheduled due to a medical emergency. Our April pick is THE MANY POINTS OF ME by Caroline Gertler. I haven't started yet, but I'm excited to read! Has anyone read it? Ruby, our store dog and namesake, loves when the kids come for book club.
As for April, exciting things are coming! Right now, I am on Spring Break. I had glorious plans of writing and reading the entire time, but, of course, I got sick the second break started. That's okay though, I've still gotten a lot of reading done. Audiobooks are my friend!
Current listen: 🎧 THE SEVEN YEAR SLIP
I have an idea for a new picture book I hope to write this month. I also have an idea for a new chapter book series I hope to start fleshing out!
I have an appointment with my neurologist in mid-April. I'm not normally excited for these appointments, and I still wouldn't say excited is the right word. Nervous is more like it. But I need this appointment. My seizures have been out of control lately, so we are going to discuss a possible surgery to help. Or try to find something that helps.
Independent Book Store Day is on April 27! It's always a big celebration at Ruby's Books. If you can, visit your local indie bookstore on April 27th. It means a lot. 🥳
I just secured tickets for an exhibit pass for ALA 2024 in San Diego! That's not until June, but, still, I am pumped! I can't wait to meet other kidlit people. Plus, my brother lives in San Diego, so it will be a good trip.
But, what I am most excited for in April is I am going on a personal writing retreat to HIGHLIGHTS!!! The last week of April/first week of May I will be at the glorious Highlights foundation, along with other authors, just writing! I still can't believe it! An author friend/mentor invited me and I just couldn't say no. Huge thank you to my parents for helping me finance this dream trip! I am excited to finally meet other authors in person. I'm not even sure who all will be there, and honestly am a bit intimidated because I do not feel like I am good enough yet to go to Highlights. But there was no way I could pass up this opportunity.
If you got this far, thanks for reading! I hope you have a great month. Feel free to reach out to me at any time. I am always looking for more book recommendations, especially for our junior book club! Happy Spring!
<3
Jenna