CARRIE PEARSON: CHILDREN'S BOOK AUTHOR AND PRESENTER
  • Home
  • Books
    • Stretch to the Sun: From A Tiny Sprout to the Tallest Tree On Earth
    • A Cool Summer Tail
    • A Warm Winter Tail
  • School, Library, and Bookstore Visits
  • Presentations
  • Blog
  • Contact and Connect
  • News and Calendar
  • Educational Resources
  • Creator Resources
  • Media Kit
  • Children's Book Connections Consulting

Blog

S**T MY REJECTION LETTER SAID

3/13/2012

14 Comments

 
Wanna play? Share a tidbit from a rejection letter in the comments section. You can go incognito if you want or make up a name. (Your street name is your first name and your favorite pet is your last.)  

I'll go first. This is an actual sentence from a rejection letter I received 12 months after submission: I'm embarrassed to say this manuscript was never read and I don't intend to read it now because I am leaving this position.  All the best to you.

Really?

Signed, 

Lakeshore Roxy
14 Comments

Mentor Monday: Shutta Crum and Tracy Bilen--an SCBWI-MI Mentorship Program Success Story

3/12/2012

10 Comments

 
I thought it would be fun to interview a mentor and mentee together and it was! Shutta Crum and Tracy Bilen represent the best of mentorship and I am thrilled to share their thoughts about it below:

Visit them at: 
http://blog.shutta.com 
and  http://www.tracybilen.com/index1.html

Shutta: Please provide a brief introduction of you and your work.


I’m a writer of books for children and poetry for adults, a storyteller and a retired youth librarian who was awarded the Mich. Library Association Award of Merit as youth librarian of the year (2002). I’m also an educator who taught writing at the high school and college level and to third-graders under the auspices of the Mich. Council for the Arts. My twelfth book came out this past summer. At present, I have two more under contract. I write picture books, novels, poems and articles for professional writing and teaching journals—whatever my heart dictates at the moment. I’m also a sucker for writing challenges! They help to keep me focused.

Tracy: Same question for you, please.

My debut novel, What She Left Behind is coming out in May with Simon Pulse / Simon & Schuster. This is the novel that I worked on during my SCBWI mentorship. (Interviewer inserts trumpet fanfare!) Besides being a writer, I’m also a high school French and Spanish teacher and a mom.

Tracy: Why did you decide to apply for the SCBWI-MI Mentorship Award?

I learned about the mentorship opportunity when I attended my first SCBWI-MI spring conference. I had heard Shutta speak at a different conference several years earlier and had been impressed. I also loved her picture book, Fox and Fluff, as do my children. That combined with all the good things I heard about Shutta by others at that spring conference convinced me that I wanted to work with her. I always loved entering contests because they spurred me into doing more writing – the built-in deadlines and possibility of winning a prize was a great motivator for me.

Shutta: Why did you decide to become a mentor? Also, have you been mentored (formally or informally)?

I’ve never been formally mentored.But I was informally mentored by an instructor I had at the community college I attended. He taught the creative writing courses. We have since become life-long friends.

But also,I grew up with the idea of community. My parents were born and raised in the dirt-poor hollers of southeastern Kentucky. No one in our very large extended family had much of anything—but we had each other. Everyone pitched in. I remember trick-or-treating in Michigan as a child, and then boxing-up most of my “take” to mail down south to my relatives who could not trick-or-treat. (There the houses are far apart along rough unpaved and unlit roads.  And few had cars.) It was simply the way I was brought up. I cherish that, now. I became a public librarian and “gave back” to my home town for many years, while my husband was a park’s planner with the City. We were both happy to be servants of the community we lived in.

When I found SCBWI-MI I found another community I loved—another one I like giving to. So when I was asked to be a mentor, I did not hesitate!

Tracy: Please provide a brief description of your winning manuscript and why do you think it was chosen?

Here’s the back cover copy:

“Don’t even think of leaving…I will find you,” he whispered. “Guaranteed.” 

Sara and her mom have a plan to finally escape Sara’s abusive father. But when her mom doesn’t show up as expected, Sara’s terrified. Her father says that she’s on a business trip, but Sara knows he’s lying. Her mom is missing—and her dad had something to do with it.

Each day that passes, Sara’s more on edge. Her friends know that something’s wrong, but she won’t endanger anyone else with her secret. And with her dad growing increasingly violent, Sara must figure out what happened to her mom before it’s too late…for them both.

When I hit on the idea behind What She Left Behind, I was hooked and I spent the next several hours immersed in the story, feeling like I was Sara, the main character. I can distinctly remember that I had to go run an errand before I had managed to get everything that I was thinking onto the screen, and I just couldn’t get the story out of my head. I was driving and feeling like I was this character. I think that feeling this closely connected to the story helped me bring it to life on the page and perhaps was one of the reasons this manuscript was chosen for the mentorship.

Shutta: Were you part of the judging process? If so, what elements of Tracy’s manuscript made you feel it had the most promise?

I was given two manuscripts to make a decision. A committee had whittled down all the entries and arrived at two finalists. One was a fantasy, and one was a suspenseful contemporary. Both were excellent, and it was extremely difficult to decide which to take on.

I’d written a fantasy, myself. And although I was drawn to the world that that particular author had created, I was completely hooked by Tracy’s suspenseful YA. I really liked that she had a good handle on her genre, and a powerful hook.

Tracy says that she really felt like her character, and perhaps that was why it was chosen. But, interestingly enough, it was characterization that we worked the most upon over the course of the year.

If I had to sum up why I chose her manuscript I’d say that I had a sense that she knew what she wanted to accomplish within her genre and format. There was a surety of intent—which is one of the things any good author has to have . . . a vision for the work in progress.  I felt she had that the moment I started reading her manuscript.

Tracy: What did you hope to accomplish during the course of the mentorship (improve craft, revise that manuscript, develop new project/s, etc.)?

I started the mentorship having written 30,000 words of What She Left Behind. I needed help knowing where I could expand the book and how I could improve on what I’d already written. I was also hungry to learn whatever I could about craft while working with Shutta.

Shutta: What were your goals for Tracy and for yourself as a mentor?

I had a couple of goals. First, and foremost, to help Tracy expand and polish her manuscript so that she would feel confident in submitting it to publishers or agents. The second goal was purely personal: I wanted the impetus of helping Tracy to keep me motivated with my own writing. I’m not a terribly disciplined person. (Hence all the joining up with online challenges, which serve to keep me on track.) I don’t have any Michener-esque ability to write everyday. And I wanted to remind myself of craft lessons that I know I knew, but hadn’t really revisited in a very pragmatic way for a long time.

Tracy: Was the mentorship successful? How do you know?

The mentorship was tremendously successful for me. Even if it hadn’t led to the sale of What She Left Behind, I had gained so much. Shutta was delightful to work with and gave me incredible insight into my work. We began the mentorship with her reading my rough draft and writing what I now realize was an editorial letter full of ideas and suggestions. Then every couple of months I would send her my revisions and she would help guide me in the right directions. Simply knowing that I had to work on my book so that I would have something to submit to Shutta kept me pressing onward at times when it would have been easy to give up. I came away from the mentorship with a much better understanding of so many things, especially characterization and character arc. In addition, Shutta shared books and articles on craft tailored to the challenges I faced with my manuscript. I can’t thank Shutta and SCBWI-MI enough for this opportunity!

Shutta: Same question for you, please.

Well, it was certainly successful for me . . . I finished another novel during this time. Making Tracy work, I felt I had to work, too. But unlike Tracy, I haven’t sold this particular novel yet. Hah!

More importantly, it is good to hear that it was successful for Tracy. I was so excited when I heard she’d gotten an agent. I knew there would be further revisions and work for her to do. (Isn’t there always?) But it was like launching my own kid into the world. And then, when it sold I think I was almost as excited as Tracy. I blogged about it, and posted about it on FB and Twitter. I was so happy for her!

Shutta: If you could choose any mentor in the course of history, who would it be and why?

OMG! What a question! I work best within constraints . . . like writing poetry in iambic tetrameter. To give me the whole of history to choose from! You can tell I’m blithering already. Ok. Let me put some limitations on this question myself. Let’s say what writer would I choose? That way I can immediately eliminate Cleopatra (What a mentor she’d be—and fun!), Catherine the Great, Josephine Baker (I’ve always wanted to dance dressed just in bananas—but I’m getting too old for that now, hah!), and Eleanor Roosevelt.

I’ve always admired Shirley Jackson’s writing. We Have Always Lived in the Castle and, of course, “The Lottery” are literary gems of clarity and tension. If I could only choose one, it would be her. (Others I’d opt for if given alternative choices would be Flannery O’Connor, Philip Pullman, Daphne Du Maurier, Peggy Rathmann, Kurt Vonnegut, Polly Horvath, and of course—whoever it was that wrote all those Shakespeare plays!)

Tracy: Would you consider mentoring another? If so, what could you offer?

Yes, I’d love to be a mentor someday. I hope I’d be able to pass along the many things I’ve learned from Shutta, my critique group partners, courses I’ve taken, and things that I’ve learned from my editor and my agent (who’s been, in my experience, an awesome additional critique partner). But I also think that all of us, when we’re part of a critique group, have a chance to positively impact other writers by reacting to stories and brainstorming ways to improve them.

Thank you
10 Comments

U.P. Critique Meet and Greet: This Saturday, March 10, 2012

3/8/2012

0 Comments

 
Hello? Any children's writers out there within driving distance to Marquette? I'm hosting the SCBWI Critique Meet and Greet this Saturday, March 10, 2012. Come find me in the Dandelion Cottage Room at Peter White Public Library. I'll be the one with coffee and a treat or two -- and a red pen. Just kidding; no red pen, just some words of encouragement. Let me know if you are coming at carrieapear@aol.com.


0 Comments

SCBWI-MI Mentorship Opportunity

3/7/2012

1 Comment

 
I know it isn't Monday, but I wanted to share exciting news for illustrators! Read the following blurb that appears on our regional home page of the SCBWI national website or click on this link if you are a do-it-yourself-er: http://www.scbwi.org/Regional-Chapters.aspx?R=23&sec=News&g=886 :

This note is to give you a heads up on the next mentorship, which will be for our illustrators. We have a change in our process from previous illustrator mentorships. Here are the details. Saturday, June 23 in Lansing - HOLD THE DATE! On this date, SCBWI-MI will host the second Summer SHINE conference, and this year there will also be a concurrent illustrator segment. During the course of that day, artwork will be reviewed/judged by our panelists and mentor. At the end of the day, the mentorship will be awarded to one of our unpublished Michigan members in attendance. Therefore, in order to apply for the upcoming illustrator mentorship, you MUST ATTEND on June 23rd. You must be unpublished, must be a current member of SCBWI and you must live in Michigan (and plan to reside in Michigan through the one year mentorship period). I'm very pleased to announce that the illustrator mentor is Wendy Anderson Halperin. Wendy has won numerous awards, provides drawing workshops, and gives lectures on creativity and children's book illustration. She has illustrated a number of books, including Thank you, God, For Everything and Planting the Wild Garden. Please visit her website: http://www.wendyhalperin.com/ to learn more about Wendy and her books. We are excited to have her on board as our illustrator mentor. More details will follow on SHINE-2 and the illustrator segment; the conference chairs (Michelle Bradford and Ryan Hipp) will keep you posted just as soon as details are ready to share.

Questions? Please contact me at
writingal@michigancis.com. Thank you, Rachel Anderson SCBWI-MI Illustrator Mentorship Chair Gaylord, MI
1 Comment

    Welcome!

    This blog shares insights on the craft of writing children's books and the publishing industry, and supports creators and educators on their journeys. 

    Click here to subscribe to Carrie's Blog Posts by Email
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Available now at your favorite bookseller!

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Member of the Nerdy Book Club
    Explore Nonfiction
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing
    A Cool Summer Tail
    Agent Search
    Andy Sherrod
    Arthur A. Levine
    Art Notes
    Austin
    Avante Garde Mentorship Program
    Awards
    A Warm Winter Tail
    A Writing Life
    Be Fearless
    Being Critiqued
    Benefits Of Books
    Blog Tour - Cool Summer
    Blog Touring - How To
    Bologna Children's Book Fair 2018
    Boni Ashburn
    Book Launch
    Books Help Brains
    Book Studies
    Boxing For Cuba
    Bulver-Lytton Fiction Contest
    Butt-in-Chair
    Cbi Clubhouse
    Chasing Home
    Cheryl Klein
    Children
    Children In Exile
    Children's Choice Book Awards 2012
    Christina Wald
    Chuck Wendig
    Coast Redwood Trees
    Conference Success Stories
    Craft
    Creston Books
    Critiquing
    Crits For Water
    Cuban
    Cuban Children Exile
    Cubans
    Curated Content
    Darcy Pattison
    Deborah Halverson
    Dial
    Dos And Don'ts
    Dutton
    Eggstra Crazy Day
    Emerging Voices Award
    Endorsements And Reviews
    Erin Dealey
    Escape From Havana: An American Story
    Exile
    Fall Scbwimi Conference
    Floyd Cooper
    For Book Crafters
    Free Edit
    Frepful
    Gelett Burgess Award
    Goals
    Great Lakes Great Reads
    Guillermo Vincente Vidal
    Holy Family Orphanage Marquette Mi
    Holy Family Orphans Home
    Humor
    Ideas
    Inbound Marketing
    Industry Outlook
    Ingrid Law
    Jacketflap
    Jerry Spinelli
    Jessica Lee Anderson
    Julie Straussgabel672dfe5019
    Katie Davis
    Kickstand Desk
    Kickstarter.com
    Kidsbooklink.org
    Kristen Remenar
    Kristin Wolden Nitz
    Laini Taylor
    Lauri Hornik
    Linda Sue Park
    Lisa Moser
    Lisa Wheeler
    Marketing
    \\\"marquette Boys\\\"
    Mary Kole
    Melissa Shanker
    Mentee
    Mentor
    Mentoring
    Mentor Monday
    Mentor Mondays
    Mentors4rent
    Mentors For Rent
    Mentorship
    Michael Hyatt
    Michigan History Magazine
    Middle Grade Historical Novel
    Milkweed
    Mindy Hardwick
    MINE!
    Mini Labradoodle
    Miss Piggy
    Moosewood
    Motivation
    Must Read
    National Mentor Month
    Networking Day
    New Blog
    Notes From The Road
    Nuggets
    On A Beam Of Light
    Operation Pedro Pan
    Patience
    Patrice Barton
    Pedro Pan
    Personal Mission Statement
    Philomel
    Phrase Frequency Check
    Piboidmo
    Promotion
    Publisher's Weekly
    Puppy Breath
    Rateyourstory.blogspot.com
    Rejection
    Rejections
    Research
    Revisions
    Rhythm
    Ruth Mcnally Barshaw
    Save The Bookstores Day June 16 2012
    Scbwi
    SCBWI-MI
    SCBWI-MI Mentorship Contest
    SCBWI-MI Revision Retreat
    Scbwi National
    SCBWI.org
    Scbwi Wisconsin Mentorship Program
    School Visits
    Second Sight
    Self-growth
    Selfpublishing8081e9eb37
    Selfpublishing8b1f9d6af0
    Show Vs Tell
    Shrunken Manuscript
    Shutta Crum
    Signings
    Sitting Poses Cancer Risk
    Spinster Goose
    Stacy Dekeyser
    Stretch To The Sun Book
    Successful Creatives
    Sylvan Dell Publishing
    Tamra Tuller
    Tara Lazar
    Treadmill Desk
    Twitter
    Unaccompanied Minors
    Underhoured
    Unexpected
    Website Development
    Wild
    Wild Midwest Scbwi Conference
    Word Frequency
    Writing Contests
    Writing In Rhyme
    Wwwdeareditorcomb008ccbbfd
    Www.kidlit.com
    Www.readerkidz

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    May 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009

    Picture


​carrieapear@aol.com
​
906.360.3229 EST
Picture
Photos used under Creative Commons from wuestenigel, Steve A Johnson, dirkjanranzijn, bandita, margory.june, aldenjewell, ell brown, arripay, Edwin Torres Photography, greg westfall., Bill Ward's Brickpile, Peter Blanchard, Enderst07, Karrierebibel.de, Ben Husmann, striatic, plentiful, pdam2, erix!, Parker Knight, autoreverse tiramisù, Chris_J, cheriejoyful, brewbooks, thedailyenglishshow, Maguis & David, Bill Selak, paparutzi, human after all, g23armstrong, Bring on the Photog, hans s, ilovememphis, Enokson, peapodsquadmom, bsabarnowl, photogramma1, bsabarnowl, shawncampbell, KOMUnews, ecksunderscore, Richard Leighton, dvs, xlordashx, tiefkuehlfan, photosteve101, Denise Cross Photography, bluebirdsandteapots, Keoni Cabral, halseike, bovinity, Aaron T. Goodman, Cesari
  • Home
  • Books
    • Stretch to the Sun: From A Tiny Sprout to the Tallest Tree On Earth
    • A Cool Summer Tail
    • A Warm Winter Tail
  • School, Library, and Bookstore Visits
  • Presentations
  • Blog
  • Contact and Connect
  • News and Calendar
  • Educational Resources
  • Creator Resources
  • Media Kit
  • Children's Book Connections Consulting