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

Why Positivity Is a Skill You Can Train, Not a Personality Trait

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

Why “New Year, New You” Fails — and What Actually Works Instead

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.