Today

Today, I received the news that I did not win the Cherry Blossom poster contest. I received a very kind rejection with a note from Random House. (I’ll send them something else.) I painted a spread of my book Roar! (not complete) and tackled a lot of problem solving around color and character. I also worked on my grant letter for the Kimberly Colen SCBWI award. (Which I also will probably not win.) However, if nothing else, I am tenecious, and since that is what everyone who has achieved in this field says is necessary, I figure I have half the battle won. (How is that for positive thinking.) You’d think that as a picture book author a 250 word limit would not bother, or irk me. WRONG. Count me irked. I have tried this darn letter a bunch of ways and can’t say everything I need without having my word count ring it between 280 and 300 words. Argh! What do I cut. The intro? The quick pitch of the book? What I’ll do with the money? The quick bio? I don’t know. Every damn word has a purpose and yet there are too many. Any thoughts.