Happy Book Birthday, TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS! (and a Double Giveaway!)

Apr1 by sudiptabq

In honor of the book birthday of my newest picture book, TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS!, I have such an awesome treat for you! First, a guest post from my incredible illustrator, Zachariah OHora, about his creative process. Then,there is an awesome giveaway where two lucky winners will get some great prizes (scroll down to the end for more information on the prizes, though you don’t want to skip over this great post, do you?)

Tyrannosaurus Wrecks!

by Zachariah OHora

When I first heard about this project I was super excited to work with Chad (creative director at Abrams) and Sudipta.
That excitement quickly turned to fear when I realized I’d never really drawn dinosaurs before.

Not even as a kid.

Plus there seemed to be a whole lot of dinosaurs I’d never heard of.

Gallimimus?!
Really?!

I think there were like five dinos when I was a kid and half of them don’t even exist anymore, er, I mean, they ALL don’t exist anymore, but uh…you get the point.

I realized I couldn’t just fudge through with a vague lizard creature.
So I started where all ignorant people do, with a Google search.

Fear turned to terror as I collected images. NO WAY WAS I GOING TO PULL THIS OFF!!!

Then I had an idea. One that might appear brilliant enough to fool everyone into NOT noticing I can’t draw dinosaurs. What if it was kids DRESSED as dinos instead?

This seemed like the perfect solution as it allowed me a good deal of creative license.

(Left: One of the first sketches for T Wrecks Boy. Right: Then I thought since he was always wrecking stuff perhaps he couldn’t see out of his mask)

Then Abrams politely showed me a book that already had my “brilliant” idea in it that came out two years earlier.

Illustrator gulps.
Illustrator whines.
Illustrator wrecks!

Illustrator practices and practices drawing dinosaurs!

Until finally the characters ended up having some human qualities but were most definitely dinosaurs!

Fortunately everyone was happy with the new version and that’s what you see in the book.
Fear of failure forced me to get my proper dinosaur education on. And best of all Sudipta was happy with them too.

Sometimes in a collaboration you have to go way out of your comfort zone.
And that’s a good thing.

Zachariah OHora is an illustrator and author of a number of children’s books. His debut STOP SNORING, BERNARD! was awarded the Society of Illustrators Founder’s Award and was chosen as the PA One Book for 2012. His book NO FITS NILSON! was awarded a Kirkus star and was the Huffington Post Book of the Year for 2013. He lives and works in the tiny village of Narberth, PA with his wife, two sons, and two cats.

Sudipta wasn’t just “happy” with these illustrations — she was thrilled! (Why am I referring to myself in the third person??)

Thank you, Zack, for such a great and insightful post. And just so you know, I hadn’t heard of a Gallimimus either — not until my then 4-year old son educated me on that and all the other dinos in the book (except the Tyrannosaurus — I had heard of that!).

And now, for the part you’ve all been waiting for…

THE GIVEAWAY(S)

In honor of TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS, we here at Nerdy Chicks Rule are going to give away TWO prizes to one lucky winner.

First, the winner is going to score a copy of TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS! signed by both Zach and me! And second, the lucky winner will get an original sketch from the book, signed by the illustrator himself!

Book and art — how can you not like that?

How do I win? asks my faithful blog reader.

It’s very simple.

1. To register, fill in the form below with your name, email, and Twitter and/or Facebook handles. (Don’t forget to hit ‘Submit’!)

Name(required)

Email(required)

Twitter

Facebook

Δ

2. Tweet or post about the TYRANNOSAURS WRECKS! release with the hashtag #TWRECKS and tag Sudipta (@SudiptaBQ on Twitter or Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, Children’s Book Author on FB) AND tag Zack (@ZachariahOHora on Twitter). Don’t know what to tweet/post? Cut and paste one of the suggestions below:

Happy book birthday to TYRANNOSAURUS WRECKS! http://wp.me/p126Z2-N4 #TWRECKS @SudiptaBQ @ZachariahOHora
Do you know #TWRECKS? http://goo.gl/m28AnO @SudiptaBQ @ZachariahOHora
Got #TWRECKS? http://goo.gl/7nd3xU @SudiptaBQ @ZachariahOHora

3. Every time you share using the handles you’ve registered, you’ll get one entry. The contest will close on April 7, 2014 at 11:59pm. At that time, we will gather up all the entries and choose a WINNER!

GOOD LUCK!

What’s Your Theme Song?

Feb1 by sudiptabq

Earlier this week, we posted about things to tell the tweens in your life. That post was very well received, and we got lots of messages from readers who told us what things resonated with them. One of the most common comments had to do with the theme song suggestion. Said one Facebook commenter, “I love the theme song thing! I need a theme song!”

In light of this, we thought it would be nice to look at the theme songs of some Nerdy Chicks. Maybe that will help you on your own theme song quest?

Kathy Erskine belts out Sister Sledge’s “We are Family.” Her favorite line:

“Here’s what we call our golden rule: have faith in you and the things you do!”

I can totally see how that empowers Kathy.

When Mary Zisk was 24 and a coworker died suddenly, she vowed to see and do everything she wanted and to never wait for “some day.” Her selection is Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life. She says the line

“I just want to live while I’m alive”

has been her attitude ever since, and is fueling her current drive to write. “Also,” says Mary, “the lyric ‘Like Frankie said I did it my way’ cracks me up — so Jersey!”

I’m a Jersey girl, too, and that line cracks me up as well!

Tameka Fryer Brown’s theme song is Michael Jackson’s “Man In the Mirror.” What a great song. Tameka is touched by these lyrics:

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways”

“if you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and then make a change”

Great, great choice.

Kami Kinard’s theme song is “Some Nights” by Fun. “I somehow feel empowered by all of their music,” she says, “because it makes me feel like we’re all in this together.”

Kami’s favorite lyric is:

“What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights, I don’t know. Anymore.”

I love this song as well.

In my last post, I used Saving Jane’s Supergirl as an example of a theme song. And, yes, that has totally been a song that I have identified with many times in my life. But now I have to make a confession — I don’t just have one theme song. I have many, each one fitting a different aspect of my life. But the song that I sing to myself in the quiet moments of doubt that never fails at empowering me to go back to work at my goals is probably Pink’s “Perfect.” The whole song works for me. It was very hard just to choose a snippet of the lyrics. But in the end, here’s what I want to share with you:

“It’s enough, I’ve done all I could think of, chased down all my demons — I’d see you do the same”

Pink fans will notice that I’ve changed the last few words from “I’ve seen you do the same” to my own version, asking the other person to change as I have. That might seem like cheating, but, to me, that’s the beauty of music — that it is a deeply personal experience and we each take away what we need from it. Those lines from the song make me let go of my frustrations toward other people, toward the things in life that are out of my control. They remind me that I’ve done all I could, and that that is all we can do in this life.

What are your favorite songs? Share them in the comments below! And scroll down for links to the videos of these theme songs!

#MooseMoment

Jan9 by sudiptabq

Our week of MOOSE DAY celebrations continue…if you haven’t registered for the TRIPLE GIVEWAY, there is still plenty of time! Click here to fill our the official registration form, and remember, any tweet or Facebook post about Moose Day with the hashtag #DuckDuckMoose is an entry to win! (Don’t forget to tag Sudipta, too — @SudiptaBQ on Twitter or Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, Children’s Book Author on FB.)

We’re going to sweeten the deal, though — add the hashtag #MooseMoment to your posts/tweets, and get TRIPLE the entries!

What is a Moose Moment? you might be wondering.

We’ve all witnessed a Moose Moment. We’ve also all experienced a Moose Moment — probably many more than one.

A Moose Moment is a moment of disaster. When you accidentally back your car out of the garage — while the passenger door is still open. When you leave the house so early and so tired that you don’t notice you’re wearing two different types of shoes (this one I have done personally!).

If you have children in your life, you’ve seen plenty of Moose Moments. Here’s a fairly common one:

Toddler + chocolate bar = MOOSE MOMENT

Once, I left my daughters with a babysitter…who thought it would be fine to let them play with a ballpoint pen. Which lead to this Moose Moment:

Then there was the time I didn’t notice my daughter sneak the baby powder into the playroom:

Another memorable Moose Moment…(She looks so happy! So blissfully unaware of the MESS!)

So, why should we celebrate Moose Moments? After all, they just cause trouble, right?

NO!!!

Moose Moments are the best moments of life. They are the ones we remember for years, the ones we laugh about time and time again. They bring us joy in times of trouble and they put things in perspective when life gets too serious. Moose Moments are crystallized drops of inspiration.

DUCK DUCK MOOSE wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t witnessed hundreds of my children’s Moose Moments.

As we continue our Moose Day party, can you share your favorite #MooseMoment?

Please enter the official MOOSE DAY GIVEAWAY and win a great triple prize!

It’s a MOOSE DAY Party! (And a TRIPLE GIVEAWAY!)

Jan7 by sudiptabq

THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED. (But keep celebrating Moose Day anyway!)

It’s MOOSE DAY! It’s MOOSE DAY!

Shockingly, this is not an official, national holiday (though it should be!), so you might be wondering what Moose Day — today — is.

Simple.

Today is the book birthday of DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE! Hooray!!!

It is a day of joy! Of celebration! It is a day for all ducks and all mooses to put aside their differences and celebrate the true meaning of friendship! (The true meaning of friendship, coincidentally, is the theme of the whole book.)

A lot of people are already celebrating DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE.

It has been selected for the CBC’s Hot Off The Press.

It’s on the Winter 2013-2014 Kids’ Indie Next List — “Inspired Recommendations for Kids from Indie Booksellers” in the General Listing.

Kirkus says, “Two ducks plus one moose equals mayhem, mischief and true friendship.” YAY!

Publishers Weekly says, “Moose’s pratfalls provide short-term entertainment and an opportunity for dramatic read-aloud performances.” Wow!

School Library Journal says, “Good fun that gives a whole new meaning to the word ‘duck.'” Woo-hoo!

Booklist says, “Though this silly story has a lot of well-earned laughs, the sweet ending is a touching reminder that clumsiness is easily forgivable.” HOORAY!

The lovely Robin Newman is celebrating Moose Day here. The fabulous Matthew Winner’s Moose Day Festivities are here. The most creative Creative Bookings is celebrating here. The adorable Darlene Beck Jacobson has her Moose Day party here.

The internet is just a-twitter with Moose Day Festivities!

Which brings us to the GIVEAWAY.

The TRIPLE GIVEAWAY.

In honor of DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE, we here at Nerdy Chicks Rule and going to give away a TRIPLE prize to one lucky winner.

Doesn’t that look lovely? (Oh, did you notice the hand-made paper rose decorating the gift bag?)

Let’s break down the swag:

One signed DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE

Another signed DUCK, DUCK, MOOSE

Cleaning supplies for the Moose in your life!

Yes, that’s TWO autographed copies for your ducks, and some cleaning supplies for your Moose (because you know he’s going to need it, right?).

How do I win? asks my faithful blog reader.

It’s very simple.

1. To register, fill in the form below with your name, email, and Twitter and/or Facebook handles. (Don’t forget to hit ‘Submit’!)

2. Tweet or post about Moose Day with the hashtag #DuckDuckMoose and tag Sudipta, too (@SudiptaBQ on Twitter or Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, Children’s Book Author on FB). Don’t know what to tweet? Use any of the links above or copy the pic below of the book cover and share that!

3. Every time you share using the handles you’ve registered, you’ll get one entry. The contest will close on January 14, 2014 at 11:59pm. At that time, we will gather up all the entries and choose a WINNER!

GOOD LUCK

and

HAPPY MOOSE DAY!

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen Has Nothing to Write About

Nov29 by sudiptabq

This post was originally published on November 29, 2010 at Tara Lazar’s blog in honor of PiBoIdMo. We thought those of you participating in this year’s picture book idea month might find it useful.

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen Has Nothing to Write About

by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

If you’re like me, writing is work. By this I mean it is my job, my primary source of income (therefore, work) but also that it is just plain HARD. There is nothing so depressing as trying to come up with something new and fresh to write about—and coming up with nothing.

That happens to me a lot.

So what do you do?

Well, I really don’t know the answer. But here are some tricks I use to muddle through those times when I have nothing to write about.

1) Start with character. I truly believe that the most important aspect of a picture book, what drives its popularity the most, is a charismatic main character. The premise, the setting, the cutesy word play and rhyme—all of these are secondary to character. So if you need to brainstorm only one thing, work on that viable character list.

The trick to creating a truly charismatic main character is to blend flaws with flair. Don’t just come up with fifty cute character traits. Give your main character some faults, some defects—he will be infinitely more interesting.

2) Something old into something new. There are so many examples of authors who take an old idea and make it into something modern and fresh. The entire genre of fractured fairy tales is built on the premise that recognizable is always a benefit for marketing, but recognizable AND fresh is money in the bank. Now I’m not at all recommending that all you do is read a collection of Grimm’s fairy tales and add a hippopotamus to each story (don’t do that, because it was my idea first). But if you can take inspiration from something your audience will recognize and then take it to a brand new place, where is the downside?

Some examples of this in my own work:
THE HOG PRINCE – we know it’s a frog prince, not a hog prince, but Eldon does not.
QUACKENSTEIN – isn’t every monster story better with a duck?
THE TWELVE WORST DAYS OF CHRISTMAS – believe it or not, in addition to a Christmas song, this is a sibling story

3) Look at your own life. And I mean this as way to eliminate bad ideas. When you’re having a hard time with inspiration, there is the temptation to use your own children or grandchildren as your muses. Trust me, this is a bad idea. Because as cute as their latest antics are to you, they very rarely make for good picture books. Save yourself. Don’t do it.

4) Exercise. Well, do a writing exercise at least. When you’re really stuck you could reinforce your writing ability by taking a book that is perhaps not one of your favorites and then rewriting it the way it should be. Obviously, you can’t then try to publish your version of Dora the Explorer (because Nora the Explorer or even Eleanora the Explorer is simply not going to be fresh enough to merit a whole new franchise!). But the exercise will show you that you are not only able to create a new story but one that is better than something that was actually published (which means there is hope for you yet) and, again, you never know where that road will lead.

5) When all else fails, take a breath. Sorry, guys, sometimes the ideas are not going to come. No matter how much you force it. When you are really and truly stuck, stop trying so hard. Instead, work on revising older manuscripts—maybe you can whip one of those into shape. Or perhaps the something old that you will turn into something new will come from your own pile of older ideas.

Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen joins Nerdy Chicks Rule

Aug29 by kamikinard

If you’ve been around Nerdy Chicks Rule from the beginning, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen needs no introduction. She was the first Nerdy Chick I interviewed.

But Sudipta was also involved with the blog long before that interview took place. I was actually on the phone with her when I came up with the idea for Nerdy Chicks Rule, ran to my computer, and claimed the domain name. (We talk on the phone a lot.) And while I was brainstorming how to develop the blog, she suggested the popular Quotable Nerdy Chick feature.

So when I decided I wanted to bring more content to the blog, but I couldn’t afford to put more hours into it, Sudipta was the first person I contacted to see if she wanted to come on board, since she kinda already was anyway. I’m happy to say that she did!

Sudipta has authored over thirty books for children. Plus, she has a background in science, adding a wealth of knowledge to this blogger base! She is an amazingly smart, funny, and resourceful person. I feel lucky to have her input here.

We’ve had a couple of brainstorming sessions over the past few weeks and I think you’re going to like some of the future additions we have planned. For now, you can count on the same schedule with interviews every other Monday and Quoteable Nerdy Chicks featured on Fridays. Soon, there will be more!

To find out more about Sudipta, visit her website, her Facebook page, see her Nerdy Chick interview, or visit our About page.

Sudipta’s latest book, Pirate Princess, features savvy princess Bea, who doesn’t let tradition keep her from pursuing her dream of becoming a pirate.!