Your Life Yoda

June 15, 2018

Improve Your Writing With Tension

Do you enjoy being involved in tense situations? Probably not. In fact, human biology instinctively seeks to reduce or eliminate tension. Think about how you feel walking into a stressful job environment or how blood rushes to your palms in traffic when someone cuts you off. How about walking into that final test for class and feeling unprepared, knowing you'll pass or fail based on the outcome? All of this is tension. In life, it's no fun. But in stories, tension is where the magic happens.

June 13, 2018

Interview with Author Rhonda Gowler Greene

What a wonderful opportunity all of us have to learn from one of the most genuine authors in the book business, Rhonda Gowler Greene. She is the author of over two dozen picture books. Her books have received honors such as School Library Journal Best Book, ILA Children’s Choice Book, Bank Street College Best Book, and starred reviews. Rhonda is a former elementary teacher, but for over twenty years now has devoted her time to writing and also speaking at schools and conferences. You can learn more about Rhonda on her Instagram @rhondagowlergreene and Twitter @rgowgreene. Although she maintains a Facebook @rhondagowlergreene, she needs all of you to encourage her to keep it up to date! And without further adieu...

June 11, 2018

The Only Publishing Trend Authors Need to Know

Publishing Trends, which is quite the company name, consistently describes various trends in the publishing industry and recent deals going down all over the world. Pretty impressive and worth your while to check out. As an author, it's important you are aware of what books or markets are hot right now and which aren't. With industry trends constantly changing and then changing back, you must remain grounded in the one trend that never changes.

February 13, 2018

Interview with Author Debbie Dadey

Welcome to the stage, author and co-author of 166 traditionally published children's books, Debbie Dadey, a former teacher and librarian. She lives in a log cabin in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, with nature to inspire her writing. Her first book, co-authored with Marcia Thornton Jones, Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots turned into the series, The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids. Ready, Set, Goal! is the newest in Debbie’s Mermaid Tales, a multi-cultural series from Simon and Schuster. Each Mermaid Tales book has an enchanting story couples with non-fiction components where readers learn about ocean creatures and plants. To learn more about Debbie as an author, please visit her website www.debbiedadey.com; like her at www.Facebook.com/debbiedadey; and follow her on www.twitter.com/debbiedadey.

February 10, 2018

Interview with Illustrator Katy Halford

What a cool job I've got interviewing amazing people like Katy Halford. Katy is a children's book illustrator and also works in art licensing and commercial markets. Her love of drawing started when she was small and she continued to study 'the arts' at school, and then went on to graduate at Loughborough University with a degree in Illustration. She is currently working with various publishers on children's books. When she isn't glued to her seat impressing clients, she likes to go for long walks in the countryside. She also enjoys a good cup of tea and a nice slice of cake. Who doesn't?! The best way to keep up to date with her work is through Instagram, Twitter, or her website.

February 9, 2018

Interview with Author Lisa Connors

It's a pleasure to be interviewing author and science extraordinaire Lisa Connors. She writes children’s books and nature essays in the hopes of instilling the same awe of nature in others. Lisa loves traipsing around on her 14-acre property collecting ideas and being impressed by her fellow Earthlings. When she’s not actively writing, she is likely pre-writing (a.k.a. day dreaming) while gardening, cutting wood, mowing, drawing, canning and reading…lots of reading. You can connect with Lisa and see what she's up to on her blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

January 4, 2018

The Power of Positivity

It's been said that "Positive thinking won't let you do anything, but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking."

There is an epidemic in our world today of depression, low self worth, negative thought life, and suicidal tendencies. From what I've experienced, these types of behaviors accompany people who think negatively about themselves, others, and situations. By all means, this does not mean bad things should be viewed through some flower-lined glasses. Instead, it's important to analyze oneself. It's important to sit and ponder whether we are in control or being controlled by the experiences, emotions, and thoughts of the day.

January 1, 2018

How To Query a Literary Agent – Correctly

The inevitable journey for authors and illustrators, if you want to become traditionally published, or if you want to secure agent representation, leads to the dreadful and often mysterious query. You'll often notice the Twitter hashtag #amquerying in frequent use by the most hopeful among us. Are you wondering how to query a literary agent? What exactly is querying and how do you do it correctly? Or better yet, how do you NOT query a literary agent? What should your query letter look like? What should it include? Read on and you'll know the answers to all these questions and more!

December 31, 2017

New Year New You

What a cheesy slogan. "New Year New You" cascades from every motivational speaker this time of the year. You know what the problem is with this phrase? It's true.

I've never come across anyone who wouldn't do things differently if given an opportunity to step back in time. Why be that person? You don't need to live like that. Human nature often settles into comfortable habit and those comfortable habits are often the things we most regret when looking back over the course of time.

December 30, 2017

The Journey of Self-Publishing a Children’s Book

Many of you know of my writing exploits. Recently, I wrapped up the illustration phase of self-publishing a children's book. It required a surprising amount of effort that was largely based on my naivety. After writing the manuscript, I researched and interviewed freelance illustrators on a freelancer online platform. After finding one I thought would be a perfect fit for my manuscript material, we began working together under contract.