Anita VP

On the picture book manuscripts that I’ve written thus far, I typically have not gotten “stuck,” per se.   I usually find that I’m able to craft a beginning, middle, and ending.   Not sure if they’re any good… but complete nonetheless. I’ve been toying around with an idea for a picture book playing around with the use of color words associated with emotion.   As adults it’s easy for us to understand what it’s like to feel blue and see red.   For children, perhaps not as much.   I think expressions like this are natural to use in everyday speech, including conversations with children.   “Are you just feeling a little blue?”   Especially for the very young, how confusing must that be?!   Feelings are hard to understand and then the idiomatic expressions are even more cryptic!   Woah – poor confused kiddos! Since my oldest has no shortage of feelings and needs all the help processing them, I feel that this concept of playing around w...

Last Friday, we left Colorado.   I’ve written here quite a bit about my move – how my orchids have anything to do with it , why I’ll miss my sink , what to pack , etc. etc.   Yet, when I sat down to write to the prospective homeowners, I stared at a blank screen for a quite a bit. To bring my story full circle, please allow me to share what was finally worth saying to them: Welcome home!   When we moved into this house in 2013, it certainly looked a bit different – nearly every wall was yellow and the outside was a super faded yellow.   Our lack of furniture was nearly comical!   Fast forward a few years and add a few gallons of paint, it transformed into a home for us. Moreover, at the time we moved in, we had no children; subsequently, we’ve had the blessing of bringing both of our children home here. While there’s certainly a million little things that I would like to share with you about this home, I’ll just leave you with two thoughts. ...

Today, I bring to you something slightly different, inspired by my years of working as an editor in corporate America: Have something short that you’re writing in a hurry and no second set of eyes?   It’s still important to mind your Ps and Qs.   Here are seven quick tips and fixes for reviewing your own words: -           Change the font size    and/or type while you review. o    Perhaps nothing as drastic as the above is needed, but it certainly caught your eye, didn’t it?   There’s something about an error in text that will stick out differently when you’re reading it in Comic Sans .   -           Actually use the spell check feature. o    It can be easy to mentally filter out those little red, blue, and green squiggles, but spell check is your friend. -           Walk away. ...

The old expression of “when it rains it pours” undoubtedly is still in wide usage because of its relatability.   This is the Americanized version, thanks to Morton Salt , of the older English phrase , “it never rains, but it pours.”   Nonetheless, the sentiment that undesirable news and events come in distinct waves is understandable and universal. At present, in Colorado, we’re having late May snowstorms, yielding in clumps of heavy wet snow on fully leaved and blooming trees.   Perhaps some of the greatest impact is felt by the most mature trees.   The largest trees, with the thickest trunks and tallest branches, which in turn provide the most shade, experience the most breakage.   Dense chunks of snow and sleet cling to the fresh, full spring green leaves and SNAP off huge limbs.   The distinct sound of our trees breaking woke me several times in the night.   Six o’clock in the morning was thus characterized for me by the dragging o...

Some of my writing as of late as looked a tad different than my usual.   In addition to working on my picture book manuscript about moving, I’ve been writing my house description for the MLS, a note to leave for the house showings, etc. I know that for a lot of home buyers, emotional appeal is a thing.   Yet perhaps moreover, this all is emotional for me to sell this house!   Much of my writing in my career has been dry, dry, dry.   Like, let me tell you about mutual fund share prices and the reason why your complaint doesn’t hold water.   But man alive, you start writing about your first house, where you brought home babies, and queue the internal water works! #AnitaVP #moving #selling #openhouse #waterworks

Self-confidence is a tricky beast.   Tricksy Hobbitses.   Tricky to rock around.   It’s tricky to know where the fine line is between knowing you’re on to something good and listening to the voices around you – be it in the arena of something personal, professional, writing, social, parental, etc. That innate sense of creativity and determination, guided by gut and inner voice, isn’t inherently one that needs to be silenced.   I’d hazard to say that most great works of art (in any form) or inventions wouldn’t exist if their creators listened to the negative noise.   But isn’t that where things get tricky ?   How do you know what’s negative noise and what’s actually constructive?   How do you know you’re on to something great and other people can’t see your vision?   How do you know you’ve really got a bomb of an idea that’s going nowhere?  What do you do when you get a bad critique?  Or no one is interested in buying what y...

The proverbial ‘they’ say that job change, having a baby, and moving are some of the most stressful things in life.   So why not pack that all into the span of less than 12 months, right?   Sure – I’m not crazy.   I’m totally crazy.   Just yesterday, I marveled at the fact that I’m lucky my head is attached at the neck or I would surely misplace it.   It’s also a wonder I’ve not fallen sick with all that’s going on over here. Nonetheless, I’m working my heinie off to help aid for smoother transition for my kids.   So what would my gut reaction be to do to help with that transition: write a new manuscript around the concept, of course!   At the moment, it’s titled WHEN I MOVE.   I’m looking to create something to help Human #1 develop a healthy internal monologue regarding the move.   Inspired by the narrative voice of books like IN MY ROOM , I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and writing something from a first-person point of view. ...

As a parent, I’m finding that some of my favorite picture books to read to my tiny humans are ones that in some way aid with anticipating a transition.  It feels like a parenting BOGO or 2-for – tiny human gets a story and we prepare for something more serious. Case in point, we read books about getting a sibling before Human #2 came along.  Currently, I’m in the writing stages of a picture book manuscript about moving.  What are your favorite picture books to help a child anticipate a transition, either as a parent or from your childhood? Pictured: A transition so fast that no human or picture book could have prepared me. #AnitaVP #picturebook #amwriting #moving #parenting #transition

Frost’s “ The Road Not Taken ” is popular and lovely sounding.   Yellow woods?   Take me there.   People even like to reference this poem in a sort of pop culture sense. However, as with many literature references that “people make”, it leaves the astute reader wondering if the person speaking has actually read. I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. I have commonly heard folks use the above line to mean feel good things like, “I did something different and thus, go me.”   “Making a choice that fewer people have is the better choice.”   “Follow your own path; it feels good.”   Legit, I think there is even a country song about this mistaken interpretation. I wish you could see me shaking my head.   Those may or may not be nice things depending upon the circumstance, but that’s not what that poem means.   Plain and simple.   The speaker in the poem is clearly one who is inclined to regret.   ...

Yesterday, I participated in the #PBPitch Twitter Party.   (The idea is that writers tweet their picture book pitches and agents/editors will like the tweets that intrigue them.)   I submitted the following tweets for my front-running manuscripts: twitter.com/AnitaVanProyen I did not get any “hearts” for my pitches – bummer.   But you know, that’s alright.   I’m trying.   Failure is inevitable.   Perhaps the next go around.   It’s Friday and it’s a great day to be alive. #AnitaVP #Justtry #picturebook #kidlit #betterlucknexttime #friday #friyay

So, it turns out that I’m not the only storyteller in my house.  Human  #1  is most definitely one to craft her own stories as well.   At present, I am working on picture books on the following: -  Stories about Human  #1  and doggos -  A pig story -  A dog-squirrel shenanigans story -  A book about feelings Feels like a lot – maybe it is?! Too many ideas and too little time. If you were picking, what would there be more of in new picture books?  What’s missing in the picture book world? #AnitaVP   #parenting   #moms   #dad #writingcommunity   #kidlit   #picturebooks #writingjourney   #doggos   #amwriting

When evaluating possible backgrounds for head shots with my photographer sister-in-law, I realized all of the fun options provided to me here “back home” in San Diego, as opposed to my “current home” in Colorado.   Bougainvillea has always been a favorite of mine – we even had a bougainvillea bush on our patio in the house where I grew up.   The color is hard to beat.   It really is its very own shade – bougainvillea pink.   (Quite frankly, if someone is unable to appreciate that phenomenal color then they are no friend of mine!) So I ask her, “how pink is your bougainvillea?”   And with a little education from my brother, I have learned that they are the most pink when they are dry and hot and have been in the sun a good deal.   The bracts (the pink parts surrounding the flower) thrive and are arguably the most beautiful in conditions most of us would deem to be unpleasant. Dry.   Thirsty.   Overheated.   Sun burnt.   Those ce...

At present, I’m in process of writing a picture book manuscript about some backyard dog-squirrel shenanigans.   It’s full of inherent conflict.   Dog wants to eat squirrel.   Squirrel does not want to get eaten by dog. But how is that everyday conflict developed into a worthwhile story?   How does that story go from being letters and spaces on a page to being orchestrated to life?   I want my words to nearly be sung by the reader.   I want punctuation that functions like staccato marks.   I want adjectives that hum louder and louder like steady violins.   I want a plot and a meter andante that builds into a crescendo fortissimo! Yet, how do I get that?   That elusive literary crescendo?   Elbow grease may be part of the answer.   Join me on my journey today.   Online research and infographics are two of my favorite things.   They are often components of a writer’s elbow grease.   Here are some find...

Waking up early is for the birds.  And writers.  Rising early is key to beating resistance, i.e. whatever it is that keeps one from implementing his or her talents. And honestly: It. Is. Hard.  Especially with a young baby.  But… we all have our excuses.  Even though it is hard, let me tell you why I’m waking up early.  That brief bit of dark morning is the mental equivalent of a clean chalkboard.  Dark, empty, smooth.  Quietly, silently beckoning to be filled with new words.  Undisturbed and uninterrupted, the words flow most freely.  When the mind, the day, and the page are void of noise, ideas can peek over the horizon with steady beauty. Every other part of the day is inherently lacking the above-mentioned qualities.  The rest of my day will be lost to diapers, the kitchen island, and endless emails.  By evening, my brain will have morphed into an applesauce-like consistency.  And that’s alright, so long...

2018 was a very good year to us.   I found out on Christmas Eve 2017 I was expecting, so 2018 was filled with excitement from the get-go. Since that variety of happy anticipation is hard to top, where to start off 2019 then?   Let’s begin by stating the well-known fact that resolutions are for the birds and rarely successful .   But maybe it’s time for some projects. Using the rush of energy ushered in by January to accomplish a few tasks feels more productive than resolving to change this or that. I’ll organize my office and our files.   I am realizing that I’m too old to have file folders that are this embarrassing.   Lame, but necessary. Perhaps more interesting and important is my picture book writing journey.   The next steps in my project to author published picture books are sure to be filled with ups and downs.   Probably lots of downs.   And that’s ok.   But I’ll do it.   And I’ll share it.   I’ll welcom...