Tonnye Writes
I'll share bits here about what I'm writing, with whom, sneak peeks and details.
April 2021 UPDATE
Holy WOW! I haven't updated since August!?! I don't know how that happened. Well, I kind of do. School started in August and has kept me busily hopping ever since. Christmas break was full of family and grief as I said goodbye to my mama. Since then, it has been grieving and school and all the other "stuff" that makes up my non-writing life. In the midst of non-writing life, I have done LOTS of writing, including contests, and so much more! In the Fall, I participated in Fall Writing Frenzy. Then over the holidays, I managed to participate in Susannah Hill's Holiday contest. November or December I began participating with my local SCBWI chapter in virtual events called INGITE THE SPARK. We gather via Zoom and write microfiction to various seasonal prompts and share a growing and supportive FB group as well. In January, I joined Julie Hedlund's 12x12 PB Challenge and have enjoyed being part of that group. Also, around the first of the year, I began joining Hollie Wolverton's First Draft Fridays. Between that and Mindy Alyse Weiss' monthly critique train, I'm writing 2 drafts a month. Sometimes Ignite the Spark gives me another draft. The great news is that if I keep that up, I'll have 25+ new drafts to work with by the end of 2021. This has been the first year I've tackled writing "full time" while teaching full time. It's challenging, especially with my work with NC Reading Association and our local council, CCNCRA. I've been blessed to be able to offer a win-win to author-friends with books coming out by inviting them to join us via Zoom. Hopefully it's increased their audience and book sales, and has been wonderful for our small rural area to have 2 published authors share with us. In February, Vivian Kirkfield shared with our group and in March, Valerie Bolling shared. I already have a couple of authors tentatively scheduled for next year. I have also presented for 3 other NCRA councils this year, and participated myself in NCRA Young Authors' project, winning at the state level, and will have my essay published in the state anthology. I participated in Susannah Hill's Valentiny writing in February. I am thrilled to say I have received my first "BIG" win for a writing contest as one of 50 winners in Vivian Kirkfield's 50 Precious Words contest. I slid in as number 47, and am so thrilled to count myself as a winner in this international contest. I also participated in Children's Writers Group's birthday contest on FB, and SpringFlingKidLit. During this month, I'm throwing my hat into the ring for some awards and mentorships. I've won lots of books from Twitter book giveaways from authors as well as additional critiques, which has been so helpful and wonderful! It has been a very busy time since August. I've also been blogging here on Snippets about Mama's legacy, as well as interspersing my contest entries there! Our Spring Break ends today and I have 8 weeks left of school. Then I can be a full-time author again for a little while. :-) Pressing onward and upward! I'm putting in applications this month for 2 different mentorships and for a couple of SCBWI awards. Trusting God's timing for everything.
August 2020 UPDATE
I crushed my monthly goals for August! Well, most of them. I've been a little down about querying and felt like I needed to learn and practice more, so August was all about reading and training and critiquing and being critiqued. It was a crazy busy month! I read over 35 picture books in August and participated in 17 writing trainings. Many of those were from SCBWI Summer Spectacular, which was their on-line version of their annual conference. I also enjoyed a week-long picture book challenge by Storyteller Academy. I am now participating in 5 critique groups, most of which are on-line. I'm so enjoying the writing community on Twitter, and especially enjoying connecting with some groups and authors in particular on there. I received a very helpful critique and had a lovely email conversation with Jolene Gutierrez about some poetry and non-fiction writing I'm working on. I wrote I think 3 new rough drafts and enjoyed a very active writing month!
July 2020 UPDATE
July has started off with a bang -- and I don't mean fireworks! I am happy to be part of another critique group -- this one totally online and focused on picture books -- it originated from the FaithPitch event on Twitter.. It has been a lovely addition to my writing arsenal and I'm enjoying getting to know the girls in the group and we've already been active with each other's manuscripts and getting excellent feedback! I'm excited to have a group focusing and learning about picture books like me!
I applied for the PBChat mentorship and those mentees will be announced at the end of this month, and I also sent in a form to possibly join another critique group focused on picture books that Justin Colon is organizing -- a little match-up. I'm excited to see how all of that goes!
The winners for the KidlitZombie week were announced, and I did not win a pledge prize or a pitch/manuscript critique, but it was such a GREAT experience! 6Ladies and a MANuscript did a FABULOUS job planning really fun ways to make it a week of learning. I learned so much and grew a lot through that experience! And then at the very end came this exciting announcement: https://twitter.com/i/status/1278838683324444672 I won an honorable mention just for being supportive and encouraging for everyone else! (which was super-easy because there are so many amazing people in the KidLit community on Twitter! ) It was a blast and I did lots of revisions to a couple of manuscripts that needed some work, I learned a lot, made lots of great connections and in the end, I won a critique after all! I said I had always wanted to be Miss Congeniality :-) Maybe I just always wanted to be Sandra Bullock, but either way, it was quite an honor!
Also, Shane and I have been working like crazy on the new writing space and I'm excited to do a reveal maybe later this week! Stay tuned!
I applied for the PBChat mentorship and those mentees will be announced at the end of this month, and I also sent in a form to possibly join another critique group focused on picture books that Justin Colon is organizing -- a little match-up. I'm excited to see how all of that goes!
The winners for the KidlitZombie week were announced, and I did not win a pledge prize or a pitch/manuscript critique, but it was such a GREAT experience! 6Ladies and a MANuscript did a FABULOUS job planning really fun ways to make it a week of learning. I learned so much and grew a lot through that experience! And then at the very end came this exciting announcement: https://twitter.com/i/status/1278838683324444672 I won an honorable mention just for being supportive and encouraging for everyone else! (which was super-easy because there are so many amazing people in the KidLit community on Twitter! ) It was a blast and I did lots of revisions to a couple of manuscripts that needed some work, I learned a lot, made lots of great connections and in the end, I won a critique after all! I said I had always wanted to be Miss Congeniality :-) Maybe I just always wanted to be Sandra Bullock, but either way, it was quite an honor!
Also, Shane and I have been working like crazy on the new writing space and I'm excited to do a reveal maybe later this week! Stay tuned!
JUNE 2020 UPDATE
During the Pandemic, I've been really busy! I've been building up my presence on Twitter, watching LOTS of webinars through SCBWI, Highlights Foundation, and Serious Family. I've been blessed to win a couple of critiques on Twitter, which have been really helpful, so I've been revising those pieces. I continue to query the pieces that are strongest. I've received rejections on top of rejections, but every rejection is one closer to publication. :-) At least that's how I TRY to look at it. I'm in this for the long haul -- learning and growing. My writing is getting stronger, and I'm learning more every day. I've had a few more ideas for stories that require some research. I've begun that, but haven't written those rough drafts yet. Currently, I have about 15 picture book drafts. About 10 of those have had some feedback and revision. Some are still in the early stages. It's a constant juggling act -- keeping up social media, learning/training, actually writing, revising/editing, researching, querying, getting feedback . . . I could easily do this job full-time. In other exciting news, Shane (Hubby) and I have been working to renovate our upstairs which includes a guest bedroom, a craft room, and a writing office for me! I'm so excited to have my own space to write and put all my resources. It will be fun to see how that evolves. I'll share pics when it's closer :-) Right now, just raw sheetrock. . .
Currently, I have my hat in the ring for a mentorship with PBChat. So many excellent writers have applied. My fingers are crossed, but it will happen when it's time. In the meantime, I will continue learning and growing on my own. Upcoming are more webinars and trainings, finishing "Writing Picture Books" by Ann Whitford Paul, 2 Twitter pitch events, and a Zombie PB week via Twitter, which I'm super-excited about!
Currently, I have my hat in the ring for a mentorship with PBChat. So many excellent writers have applied. My fingers are crossed, but it will happen when it's time. In the meantime, I will continue learning and growing on my own. Upcoming are more webinars and trainings, finishing "Writing Picture Books" by Ann Whitford Paul, 2 Twitter pitch events, and a Zombie PB week via Twitter, which I'm super-excited about!
|
|
|