Lauri Meyers .

Two of the first children's writers I met in person were Marcie Colleen and Tara Lazar at a NJ SCBWI event last fall.  Tara is the fabulous host of PiBoIdMo , Picture Book Idea Month, which has given me 30 fabulous picture book ideas to work on this year. So when Marcie  throws a party to celebrate the launch of Tara's new book The Monstore , it's time to party! Marcie asked everyone to pick the monster they would buy at The Monstore, name him, and decide what his talent is. The kids wanted to play too. (The Monstore illustrations by James Burks) My 5yo likes this pink one (um, yeah, probably because it's pink. She's pretty consistent on pinkness) with the big smile. She named it "Nada," which I think is short for Nada Scary Monster!  My daughter can be a little shy, so Nada's special talent is saying "hello" to new people my daughter is too shy to meet on her own. (Awww!) (The Monstore illustrations by James Burks) My ...

Last summer I posted about my Mommy Multiple Personality Disorde r and explained all 7 of my mom personalities including Giant Exploding Blueberry Monster (a bad mommy) and Rapping Mary Poppins (a good mommy.)  Now I'm admitting I have a writing personality disorder too. Split-Voiceitosis. Yes, it's serious, but don't worry - I don't think it's too late for treatment. It must have started in the fall, when I was striving for five polished picture book manuscripts (because Tara Lazar recommended that goal, and she's smart.) Finally, I had a solid stack of manuscripts, but then ah, snapadoodle ! Each one was totally different. I don't mean the theme of the stories ( of course they were different stories ), but like written by seven writers with these distinct voices: That's one messed up writer! (Image by Lauri Meyers) 1.        Sweet, quiet, lullaby voice that cuddles in blankets and drinks hot chocolate.   2.  ...