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My friend Simon’s latest submission on Threadless is undergoing approval, and it features a story co-written by yours truly. The story and design are both called “The Room in the Elephant.”
The design isn’t up on threadless.com yet, but here’s the story:
Page 1, Page 2, Page 3
Once the design is approved, you can vote for it to become a shirt (I’ll keep you posted).
I have to admit, even after receiving the acceptance letter and author’s contract, I was wondering if the story would actually end up in the magazine. I’d ordered several copies of the issue, so I’d have felt pretty silly if it hadn’t.
It turns out that Faces magazine, part of Cobblestone Publishing (which also includes Cobblestone, Cricket, Odyssey and Muse) still liked my story enough to print it – and it’s IN the April 2008 issue! You can get a copy here – just use the link on the right. (It’s the issue called “Go Green!”, shown at the bottom.)
The story is a retelling of “Old Man Winter” after the advent of global warming. The most unexpected feeling came when I opened the story to find three beautiful illustrations. The illustrations were made specifically for the story, showing three scenes that I had written. I can’t even describe it. But I can express my pride in this story’s potential to help kids make more conscious, earth-friendly choices.
I had written the query for the story as part of an assignment for a class called “Writing for Children and Teens” at the Institute of Children’s Literature. It’s a class that you can take more or less at your own pace. My pace has been slow, because I’m working full-time and sporadically nurturing other hobbies. How slow, you ask? I started the class in fall 2005, and I just sent my second-to-last assignment two weeks ago. At the beginning of the class, I was paired with my instructor Constance, who has extensive experience in the field (she was an editor at Highlights magazine). I send each assignment to her, through snail-mail (whoa), and she sends comments and suggestions within the next several weeks. Throughout the class, I also learn more and more about the submission process, so that I can market my work as well as write it.
My most recent assignment was a chapter outline for a novel-length project for teens. The next is three complete chapters from the outline. From there, I’ll have what I need to submit query packages to a few book publishers that I feel are good fits for the project. I can’t wait!
How would the folktale of Old Man Winter change in the advent of global warming? The readers of Faces magazine will find out, when my adaptation of the tale appears in their April 2008 environmentalism-themed issue.
Faces is a magazine about world cultures for kids aged 9-14. Each themed issue immerses its readers in unfamiliar customs and traditions through articles, activities, and retold folktales. (In case you were wondering, the story of Old Man Winter is derived from the Russian folktale “Morozko”.) Faces is part of the Cricket Magazine Group, which also includes Cobblestone, Spider, and Odyssey.
I’m just putting the final touches on the story now. In three short months, the issue will be in subscribers’ hands, sitting in kids’ bookstores, and available to order online.
It’s my first magazine publication, and I’m so excited!
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From Amalia T
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From Mari Blaser
Margoblog 
Neo-Retro: Consider it "coined"
I’ve been thinking about this term for so many months, wanting desperately to coin it. (I don’t even know what the process behind “coining” is, but blogging should do the trick in our modern times.)
Neo-Retro: a genre of music originating in the mid-2000s, consisting of new musical material created by young bands and artists of the time. The genre is characterized by utilization of the playing/singing techniques, orchestration/arrangement approaches or production methods from the 60s, 70s, or 80s. The result is new music that has an “old” or nostalgic sound. It should be noted that the bands and artists creating the trend most successfully arrive at the sound authentically, with no sense of irony.
Examples (listed w/the decade they sound like): The Rosewood Thieves (60s); The Mood Elevator (60s); A Band of Bees (60s, 70s); Jamie Lidell (60s, 70s, 80s); Little Barrie (60s, 70s); Kudu (80s); VHS or Beta (80s); Cut Copy (80s)
In case you were wondering, I love this sound.
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