The Prairie Wind Newsletter of the Illinois Chapter of the SCBWI Spring 2015 • From the Editor Do you think fictional characters need to be likable? In this issue, by coincidence, two of our contributors explore this topic. Molly Backes in her Writer’s Tip says: “Personally, I’m in favor of unlikable characters. We are writing about teenagers, after all! They’re not the most likable creatures in the universe. Lovable, sure. But not always likable.” Juliet Bond, in her review of Blake Snyder’s book Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need for the Writer’s Bookshelf, says, “I’m personally drawn to characters that are a bit prickly, rebellious, and less than charming. But they have to be likable.” See what you think. In our previous issue Lisa Bierman said goodbye. In this issue our new co-regional advisor Deborah Topolski introduces herself: “I’m a prepublished member, still learning how to make inroads in my career . I’m on this journey to publication with you.” Another change in this issue is in the format of our Illustrator in the Spotlight column. A panel of Illinois illustrators has compiled a set of questions that each issue’s featured illustrator will answer. This time it’s Theresa Brandon, answering such questions as “Do you ever tuck little personal homages or details in your illustrations?” and “What gets in the way of your creativity?” Our Tale from the Front, the story of a first-time author, comes from Stefanie Lyons, author of Dating Down. Stefanie has a curious tale to tell: “My first book that my agent liked but thought should be my second book while I was working on my second-supposed-to-be-first book with her turned out to be my first book anyway.” Check out Season’s Crop, compiled by Tina Stoval and Natalie Ziarnik, for a list of ten books coming out this spring by Illinois authors. Interestingly, the largest category is middle grade, including two by Kate Hannigan! Then Dana Wilson Easley’s News Roundup lists recent winners of awards, provides information about applying for grants, and tells what’s happening at Anderson’s Bookshop. Michelle Kogan provides this issue’s Illustrator Tip: “I’m offering up a cornucopia of inspirational, educational, and available blogs for multitalented illustrators and writers . I’ll review six sites, and four of these you can actively participate in.” Jodell Sadler’s Book Look features This Book Just Ate My Dog, by Richard Byrne: “Byrne remains playful with his words as well as the form that is the picture book. Bella, a small girl, walks her rather large dog, who disappears into the gutter of the book! And it’s surprisingly fresh.” In her column The Flourishing Writer, Carol Coven Grannick talks eloquently about ambitions and dreams: “The easy-sounding phrases like ‘If you can imagine it, you can do it’ or ‘If you persist, the success will come’ (‘success’ meaning publication) and, above all, ‘If you believe in yourself, success will happen eventually’ annoy me . how insulting are those phrases for hardworking, skilled, and even talented writers who are not getting published? They’re not imagining enough? They’re not persistent? They don’t believe in themselves?” This issue’s Fly on the Wall is Lisa Katzenberger, who gives us her very personal take on Spring Thaw: “We were seated together by genre, and I was at a picture book table. I thought it was effective to have our lunch first, followed by the roundtable critiques. By then we had all introduced ourselves and gotten to know one another. It as easier, for me at least, to provide a critique to someone who was no longer a complete stranger.” Finally, Emily Ecton offers her perspective on series writing: “All of my books are essentially self-contained. They have the same main characters and settings, but I wanted to make sure that if a reader picked up book 2 or 3 they'd still be able to understand what was going on and enjoy the book, even if they'd forgotten details or hadn't even read the earlier books.” Enjoy! Susan Tarcov, Editor Dana Wilson Easley, Managing Editor Sara Shacter, Editorial Advisor 2 Table of Contents Spring 2015 • Greeting from Deborah Topolski ........................................................... 4 Spring 2015 • Illustrator in the Spotlight • Theresa Brandon .................................. 8 Spring 2015 • Tales from the Front ................................................................................ 13 Why You Gotta Stop and Smell the Stinky Plots ................................................................... 13 By Stefanie Lyons ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Spring 2015 • Season’s Crop ............................................................................................. 16 ANNOUNCING: The Illinois Chapter of SCBWI 2015 Winter and Spring Crop of NEW Books: “Home Grown in Illinois.” .............................................................................................. 16 Compiled by Tina Stoval and Natalie Ziarnik ................................................................................... 16 Spring 2015 • News Roundup ........................................................................................... 17 News Roundup Spring 2015 ........................................................................................................ 17 Compiled by Dana Wilson Easley .......................................................................................................... 17 Spring 2015 • Food For Thought ..................................................................................... 21 Developing Educational Materials to Support Your Books .............................................. 21 Spring 2015 • Don’t Miss .................................................................................................... 22 SCBWI International Conference in LA .................................................................................... 22 Spring 2015 • Writing Tips ................................................................................................ 23 I Don’t Like You, But I Get You: Five Ways to Make Unlikable Characters More Sympathetic ...................................................................................................................................... 23 By M. Molly Backes ...................................................................................................................................... 23 Spring 2015 • Illustrator Tips .......................................................................................... 26 Inspirational Blog Review for Illustrators and Writers .................................................... 26 By Michelle Kogan ........................................................................................................................................ 26 Spring 2015 • Writer’s Bookshelf .................................................................................... 33 Saving the Cat: Creating a Strict Plot and Making Characters Likable .......................... 33 By Juliet Bond, LCSW .................................................................................................................................. 33 Spring 2015 • Book Look .................................................................................................... 37 Movement, Action, Reaction, Interaction: This Dog Just Ate My Book ......................... 37 By Jodell Sadler ............................................................................................................................................. 37 Spring 2015 • The Flourishing Writer ........................................................................... 40 The Pleasure of Dreams That Don’t Come True ................................................................... 40 By Carol Coven Grannick .......................................................................................................................... 40 Spring 2015 • A Fly on the Wall ....................................................................................... 45 Spring Thaw 2015 .......................................................................................................................... 45 By Lisa Katzenberger .................................................................................................................................. 45 Spring 2015 • Perspectives ............................................................................................... 49 Thoughts of an Accidental Series Writer ................................................................................ 49 By Emily Ecton .............................................................................................................................................. 49 3 Spring 2015 • Greeting from Deborah Topolski There is nothing I love more than a new hat. My grandma prescribed hat buying as both a cure and an act of celebration. I think this is a more preferable alternate than, say…pound cake. For me, the hat thing was born out of the necessity of a Chicago winter. I spent many a late night on the elevated platform waiting for a train home, bitterly regretting my lack of attire. Since then, it’s become kind of my thing, honestly, an obsession like some folks have for shoes or new school supplies. You know who you are. Admit it—I’m not alone here—you harbor one of these too. Here in Illinois I can pass it off as Midwestern