Mumsi Music

Today I met with the director of the Mumsi Meets a Lion program. She and I attempted to figure out where within the text to place the poems (that she will turn into songs) that I wrote. We found some places where I need to edit the poems for logic's sake. We also found one "hole" that needs to be filled by another song--probably about Mumsi's running home after the lion leaves. The collaboration was a lot of fun.

I've also been asked to speak in a writing class next week as a writer of children's nonfiction. I will discuss my freelancing opportunities and the challenges of writing for a deadline and to fit someone else's idea of a good piece.

More research today on places to send my writing. I used the latest issue of SCBWI magazine for ideas. Always something on the to-do list . . .

Website Demo

I demoed a CMS for my upcoming website yesterday. Wow, was it ever easy, which is just what I need. I'm definitely not wired for techno and creative. Creating pages, adding content, etc., seemed to be a breeze. I continue to write copy for the website: book blurbs and bios and the like. This is another form of self-promotion, a difficult task for me. But if one is going to produce a product (and one is trying to), it seems that one ought to be willing to get it out there for folks to see. (You see, I'm talking about myself here.)

Website Planning

I met with my tech people (wink, wink) and began planning for a website. I've done some preliminary research about what I like/don't like, want/don't want. Now the time has come to make decisions about specifics for each page: how many pages, how people will navigate through the site, what will appear on each page, and many other things I don't know anything about. I'm told I need to select a Content Management System. I'm considering Big Blue Hat, but I need to give it a trial run first. I'm told it's easier than many--and I'm such a techno-infant.

Two More Submissions

I submitted Daniel's Day to two more publishers today. I hope to get a rejection letter from at least one of the publishers I've submitted to. I can't learn from nothing, so it would be nice to get some kind of feedback. I also worked on the novel just a bit. I must get more consistent with that--I wait so long between times that I work on it that it's almost like starting over every time.

Hidden Treasure Reading

Today I took Mumsi Meets a Lion to Hidden Treasure, a school for the disabled. Since today is National Young Readers Day, the school decided to have a number of local celebs and/or authors in to read to the students. (I fall most firmly into the latter category.) The students there were so enthusiastic and attentive. They really became involved in Mumsi's story--imitating the lion sounds and echoing Mumsi's injunction of "Don't move; don't breathe. And whatever you do, don't run." Some understood more than others, but all were appreciative. I found myself encouraged and challenged by those special students. I left a complimentary copy of the book with them, and they were so excited to get to read it again and again. At the end of my visit, they presented me with a big cookie. What a wonderful ministry the teachers and helpers at Hidden Treasure have!

Daniel's Day Out Again

I've decided to send my stories out to multiple publishers at the same time. I sent Daniel's Day out to two more places. It's hard to wait 9 to 12 weeks between sending things out. This way I feel less like I'm spinning my wheels.

Noises in the Night

That's the title of one of the songs I've written for the K5 program that will feature Mumsi Meets a Lion (or Mumsi, the Musical, as my husband likes to call it). The song features onomatopoeic words that mirror animals that Mumsi meets in the forest. I have about eight songs in the works. I've "released" three to the program director/musician who will be setting them to music. So far, so good. I'm hoping that one of the songs that states the book's repeated warning, "Don't Run, Mumsi," will use a variation of the Kenyan folk song (not sure that's what it would be called?), "Jambo Bwana." But we'll see what the composer thinks. . . .