2019 Wrap Up: Book News and a Giveaway of 2020 Releases

© Sylvia Liu

2019 was a banner year for me, creatively. To celebrate, I'm giving away TWO pre-orders of highly anticipated 2020 PB, MG, and YA releases. Read on for my recap and info about the giveaway.

How to Make a Picture Book Trailer: NOAH NOASAURUS

My critique and Kidlit411 partner Elaine Kiely Kearns's picture book, NOAH NOASAURUS, illustrated by Colin Jack (Albert Whitman) debuts on April 1. As part of the marketing effort, I made her book trailer using software that comes pre-installed on any Mac.

Happy New Year 2019 - Plus Agent News!

© Sylvia Liu

Last year, my New Year's resolutions were to (1) declutter and simplify my house (getting ahead of the Marie Kondo curve, at least in intentions) and (2) focus on writing, specifically finishing and querying my MG novel.

I totally failed in the first but completed the second. I am now represented by Jennifer March Soloway of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, a dream come true! I am so thrilled and honored that she is my agent.

2018 Roundup: Cheers to My Creative Community

© Sylvia Liu

2018 was another great year for my creative communities. I'm always blown away by how generous my writing friends are. Here are some of the awesome people I've connected with on my writing journey this year (and some of their super cool books coming out in 2019!):

1. MY PICTURE BOOK CRITIQUE GROUP, with 3 picture books coming out in 2019

Going on our sixth year, my picture book critique group, the Penguin Posse, started out as a group of unpublished and un-agented authors. By the end of next year, almost all of us will have agents or books out. I'm so psyched for these 2019 releases:

My Adventure into MG Sci Fi: The Making of an Illustration

© Kathryn Ault Noble

This amazing image is created by Kathryn Ault Noble and represents a scene from my middle grade manuscript. I love it so much and want to share the story of its creation. This post is Part 1, about my end of the process. In the future, I'll post an interview with Kathryn for more insight on her creative process.

#5towatch in 2018: Exciting PB Authors & Illustrators

Recently, Scholastic's blog came out with a post on 5 Children's Book Authors to Watch in 2018, all picture book authors with delightful and fun books -- but also all white men.

Happy New Year 2018: A Giveaway and Some Goals

© Sylvia Liu

Happy New Year 2018!  What are your creative goals this year? Mine are

1. DECLUTTER AND SIMPLIFY my house so that I can

Read Local Challenge Party

Earlier this week I participated in a Read Local Challenge Party, at the Point O'View Elementary School in Virginia Beach, VA. This is an effort organized by the SCBWI MD/DE/WV chapter to encourage students to read kid lit authors from MD, DE, WV, DC, and VA.

School Visit Roundup

One of the most fulfilling things about being an author is visiting schools. I did a number of visits in DC and Virginia Beach last Spring, and I'm just getting around to posting some photos (the schools needed to get permission to share them).

Happy Spring (and Big Catch Up Post)!

© Sylvia Liu

I just realized I'm very behind on this blog, as I've been busy with writing, illustrating, and running Kidlit411 (plus daily life and tearing my hair out reading the news). So I've missed writing my usual round up posts:

1. 2016 Highlights/Reflection 

What a year! 2016 was the year of my debut picture book, A MORNING WITH GRANDPA, illustrated by Christina Forshay (Lee & Low Books) finally came out. It was a whirlwind of activities and excitement, including a book trailer debut, a blog tour, a book launch party, DC events, and book signing at the ALA Convention. I am truly grateful for the whole experience.

A Venn Diagram of Trump's Cabinet & Executive Picks

© Sylvia Liu

[CLICK ON IMAGE TO SEE IT LARGER]

I normally post about children's writing and illustration, but these aren't normal times. A handy reference chart for Cabinet and Executive appointment watchers (updated Feb. 17).

Celebrating and Promoting Diversity in Children's Literature

Lee & Low Books: 25 Years of Diversity

It's times like this when I am so proud that my first picture book is published by Lee & Low Books, the largest publisher of multicultural children's books in the United States. Lee & Low has dedicated itself to creating mirrors and windows for children to see themselves and learn about others since they started 25 years ago.

Mid-Atlantic SCBWI Meeting

© Sylvia Liu

Just got back from a great weekend in northern Virginia for the annual Mid-Atlantic SCBWI conference. A quick recap:

Friday Illustrator Intensives

1. Workshop with Viking Children's Books Art Director Nancy Brennan 

Before we arrived, Nancy Brennan gave us an assignment to illustrate the opening spread of SURPRISE SOUP, by Mary Ann Rodman, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (Viking Children's Books 2009). She gave us a working manuscript so the text is not the same as the published text. I came up with this piece:

Summer Roundup: ALA Conference, Classes, More

The summer has gone by in a flash, but here's a recap of the American Library Association (ALA) convention in Orlando and other kid lit activities that kept me busy.

ALA Convention

The ALA Convention was a dream come true as a debut author. Lee & Low Books invited me to join their line up of authors signing books, so I headed to Orlando for a weekend in late June with my older daughter. Not only was it thrilling to sign my book, but I got to meet so many kidlit friends and idols walking around the convention center. Some memories:

More Book Events: DC & Orlando

DC Events

Fun with A MORNING WITH GRANDPA continues. I went to DC last week and had a book signing party at my friend's house as well as one of my first school visits with 100 first graders at Thomas Stone Elementary School at Mt. Rainer, MD:

A Whirlwind Month: Book Release, Blog Tour, Big Sur at Cape Cod

May has been a whirlwind of book events, a blog tour, and an amazing writing conference. Although I knew it was coming for a couple of years, nothing quite prepared me for the blur of events. A recap:

Happy Spring: A Morning with Grandpa Release & Norfolk Academy Art Show 2016

Although it still feels like Winter, Spring is coming in with a bang for me.

1. A MORNING WITH GRANDPA IS BEING RELEASED

The official release date for A MORNING WITH GRANDPA, written by me and illustrated by Christina Forshay (Lee & Low Books) is May 1, but books have already arrived at my local indie store, Prince Books, and Amazon is fulfilling orders.

Cats on My Mind: A 5-Day #artchallenge

This week I was tagged to do an #artchallenge on Facebook, which was to post five pieces of my art per day. It didn't have to be newly made art, but I decided to doodle my cute new kitty, Apollo:

© Sylvia Liu

Meet Apollo: our new Siberian Kitten

Apollo is our new Siberian kitten. I never thought we would have a cat because my husband is very allergic to them. As a Christmas present, he researched hypoallergenic cats and this breed came up and now we have a cat. He is still somewhat allergic, but only when he handles him, and it's much better than most other breeds.

2015 In Review: Health, Hope and Creativity

My motto for 2016

In the past, I've reflected on my creative year and was grateful for my creative communities (2013) or my very creative family (2014). This year, I focus on lessons learned in 2015: