Children’s Writing Web Journal

OK, so you’ve gotten some interest from a literary agent, and you’ve got her on the phone (or trading e-mails). What are the most important questions you can ask to:

1. Make sure she’s the right agent for you, and

2. Be certain you’re even ready to have an agent?

From the good folks at the KT Literary Agency, here they are…..

http://ktliterary.com/2008/06/ask-daphne-what-to-ask-daphne.html

Here’s a terrific post from the always useful Lifehacker.com that presents the state of the art in language tools on the web.

Also, be sure to check the comment thread. Lifehacker users are often as informative as the site’s editors when it comes to digging up cool resources.

http://lifehacker.com/395368/best-online-language-tools-for-word-nerds

Have you seen the movie Being John Malkovich? It’s the story of a forlorn puppeteer played by John Cusack, who works as a file clerk on floor seven and a half of a Manhattan office building. When he steps off the elevator he has to bend over, because the ceiling is only about five feet high. None of the characters seem to notice–this is their everyday world, and they go about their jobs no differently than if they could stand upright. But to the audience, the visual device of a building with half a storey signals there is something slightly off-kilter about this particular universe. And once we enter, it’s perfectly logical that the puppeteer will eventually find a metaphysical portal into the brain of actor John Malkovich.

Writers of fantasy and science fiction have long known that the success of their stories largely depends on how much imagination and detail they invest in their settings. Readers willingly suspend their disbelief and enter a world of magic, time travel and talking animals because that world clearly exists independently of our own. But why can’t more everyday, earthly stories do the same thing? A tweak of the environment can spin an ordinary plot in an unexpected direction. The trick is to create a place that’s just a bit off-center, so the reader knows it’s the real world, only a tad exaggerated. It’s like viewing your story through a funhouse mirror–some elements being wider and rounder than in real life, others elongated and skinny. And because the characters know only this universe, none ever question its shape. (more…)

Thinking Rock is a free software program based on the GTD (”Getting Things Done”) philosophy. According to Wikipedia, “GTD rests on the principle that a person needs to move tasks out of the mind by recording them somewhere. That way, the mind is freed from the job of remembering everything that needs to be done, and can concentrate on actually performing those tasks”.

Here’s the description of Thinking Rock from the software’s website:

Thinking Rock allows you to collect your thoughts and process them into actions, projects, information or future possibilities. Actions can be done by you, delegated to someone else or scheduled for a particular date. Projects can be organized with ordered actions and sub-projects. You can review all of your actions, projects and other information quickly and easily to see what you need to do or to choose what you want to do at a particular time.

Definitely worth a shot for writers looking to add more organization to their efforts. The software runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

Download your copy at http://www.thinkingrock.com.au/index.php

A remarkable — and free — event is coming June 6 for those in the New York area.  The New York Institute for the Humanities is holding an all-day symposium called Post Bang: Comics Ten Minutes After the Big Bang to explore the growing cultural significance of comics.  The entire day looks great but the highlight for children’s lit fans will be the COMICS AND KID’S LIT panel, set to feature Lisa von Drasek (Bank Street College), Leonard Marcus (Minders of Make Believe), Francoise Mouly (The New Yorker), Mo Willems (Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!), and Sara Varon (Sweaterweather).

Check out all the details at

http://nyih.as.nyu.edu/object/nyih.postbangcomics.html