Next Potato

I guess I am 6th potato at this point and very honored to be included in "One Potato...Ten."  This is my first attempt at blogging, and I'm more than a little intimidated.

My name is Edie Hemingway.  No relation to Ernest, as Hemingway is my married name, but E. Hemingway is not a bad name for a writer to have.  I first decided to be an author back in 4th grade when I won a writing contest, but over the years writing often took a back seat to raising two children, teaching, owning and operating a frozen yogurt business, working in college admissions, etc.  In 1996, my first middle grade novel, Broken Drum, co-authored with my friend, Jacqueline Shields, was published by White Mane Publishing Co., Inc.  And in 2000 our second co-authored book, Rebel Hart, was published.  Both Civil War novels have been licensed by Scholastic Book Fairs in the past 2 years (Broken Drum now titled Drums of War) and have enjoyed new lives in classrooms across the country--very exciting!

Determined to continue my writing career on my own, I enrolled in the Spalding University MFA program, where I met Stephanie Bodeen, our founding potato, and Betsy Woods, another one of our potatoes.  My creative thesis, Road to Tater Hill, is under contract with Delacorte Press/ Random House and will be released in September 2009.  Another result of the MFA program is my discovery of a love of teaching creative writing.  I teach classes at two local community colleges in Maryland and also offer monthly workshops at Misty Hill Lodge, my 1930s logcabin home on Braddock Mountain near Frederick, MD.  When I'm not teaching, I enjoy kayaking with my family and learning to play the mountain dulcimer.

I especially like the "potato" theme of our group because of its connection to the title of my book.  "Far in the distance I spotted Tater Hill, the one bare mountain with a rounded top, like a peeled potato." You can visit my website at www.ediehemingway.com.

Next!

After reading the other blogs, I guess I'm small potatoes, but I'm thrilled to be expanding my sights with this blog, a first for me. As a child, I loved to write and illustrate poetry, but never dreamed I'd grow up to be a writer and illustrator. It took many, many years to get to this point, and in my previous life I was a substitute teacher, a volunteer coordinator for a non-profit called Food For All, and an office manager. Now, in addition to writing, I'm pursuing a Master's in English, and loving almost every minute of it. I have a project due tomorrow!

I have a great kid, who's a college student now, and an equally wonderful husband, who's a high school teacher.

My books are Zoom!, illustrated by Kevin Luthardt, A Home For Salty, written by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, and I Can Do It Myself!, illustrated by Nancy Hayashi (due out in Spring 2009). It's been a great experience working with these three talented writers and illustrators, as well as the fantastic editors and publishers.

David LaRochelle's Top Ten Introductory List

#1 I've been writing and illustrating children's books for twenty years.

#2 I live in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where there are no bears, white or otherwise.

#3 I once won $10,000 for creating a five-minute video showing how good Senokot laxative makes me feel.

#4 I'm six feet five inches tall and I don't play basketball.

#5 The first story of mine that was ever published was a short story called Miss Phillip's Sixth Grade Class Goes to the Museum. All of the students in the story died horrible and gruesome deaths.

#6 I was once an elementary school teacher.

#7 Even though I have no sense of rhythm, I bravely go country line dancing every week.

#8 I love to carve fancy jack-o-lanterns which can be viewed at my website: www.davidlarochelle.net.

#9 My very favorite food in the entire world is mashed potatoes.

#10 I don't know how to attach a photo to a blog post yet, but I hope to learn in the near future.

Introduction: Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

I was born and grew up in Puerto Rico, but I have lived with my husband, Jeremy, in Portland, Oregon since 1978. In my other life I was a mathematician and taught college math for seven years. But after my children, Guillermo and Juliana, were born I began to write for children and young adults.

I am the authors of:

Juan Bobo: Four Folktales from Puerto Rico (Harper Collins, 1994) (Spanish in the back of the book)

Poet and Politician of Puerto Rico: Don Luis Munoz Marin (Orchard Books, 1996)

In the Shade of the Nispero Tree (Orchard Books, 1997)

Who Helped Ox? (Scholastic, 1997)

Shake It, Morena (Millbrook, 2002) (Bilingual)

Cesar: Si, se puede! Yes, You Can (Marshall Cavendish, 2004) (This title has an edition in Spanish)

Frida: Viva la vida! Long Live Life! (Marshall Cavendish, 2007)

Both Cesar and Frida won Pura Belpre Honors.

Next spring Marshall Cavendish will release Diego: Bigger Than Life, a biography in verse on the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.

…two potato (Christy Hale)

One potato, two potato, three potato, four…. I'm the number two potato in my family, so I'll go next. I am pictured here with my three brothers. I was ten at the time, the age I decided to become an illustrator and author. I have always loved books—not just reading them, but acting them out. My friends and I became spies after reading Harriet the Spy. We camped out in the empty lot behind my best friend's house one summer and "lived off the land" just like the main character in My Side of the Mountain.

My whole life I have looked for ways to make books. I studied calligraphy, bookbinding, letterpress and all other kinds of printmaking. I "published" small editions of hand-printed artist books. Finally after studying design and illustration at Pratt Institute, I began to work in children's book publishing. Since 1986 I have been designing and art directing books for different publishers. My first opportunity to illustrate came with the publication of Juan Bobo and the Pig: A Puerto Rican Folktale Retold by Felix Pitre (Lodestar, 1993). I have since illustrated many other titles including Elizabeti's Doll, Mama Elizabeti, and Elizabeti's School all by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen. I am now really excited to be moving into another phase. My first book as author and illustrator will publish with Lee and Low Books in fall 09. Visit me at christyhale.com to see some of my work.

Up first: Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen

So I'm the first one up! (Here's me and our chocolate lab, Leilani.) This blog was an idea I had, and I was very lucky that everyone I approached was up for this group effort. I wanted us to represent different stages of a career in writing for children, and we've got a fascinating group. Some of us have written or illustrated books, some have done both. And some are still working on getting to that stage. So we all have different viewpoints on the world of writing for children.

Personally, my first picture book, Elizabeti' s Doll, was published in 1998. Since then, I've had several other picture books, won some cool awards, and even picked up an MFA in writing along the way. My first young adult novel The Compound (written as S.A. Bodeen) was released in May '08, and I have two more books coming out in '09. More info about my books, awards, and speaking schedule can be found on my website http://www.rockforadoll.com/

I'm married, have two teenage daughters, and will soon be moving to Oregon, where my husband is the refuge manager of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog. We all write for children. Some of us also illustrate. Join us as we share our experiences in the world of writing for children.