OK, I may be jumping the gun a bit with that headline. 

And I may be coming off as just a tad arrogant. 
But I just have to say this:

I finished the rough draft of my WIP! :yeah: :yeah:   :yeah:

So now it’s all about revision, revision, revision. But man-oh-man it feels good to have that rough draft done.

Jill Corcoran linked to this PW article about Borders and children’s books. It says in part:

Expanded children’s book sections will be rolled out to every Borders store within 90 days, Anne Kubek, Borders executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, said after the shareholders meeting. “It’s a tremendous growth business for us.”

Okee dokee. The kids and I love to hang out at the bookstore and we have a Borders just down the road. This is so exciting.

We’re kind of slowing down for summer, here. Only eight entrants, this time for the wonderful picture book, Crocodaddy, written by Kim Norman and illustrated by David Walker. I put all them into the one-armed bandit and pulled the handle and the winner is Cathy C. Hall. ( I only entered her once even though she made up three rhymes, but I guess the contest gods saw that she put in such great effort and decided to reward her.)

Congratulations, Cathy. Send me your snail mail addy at sally AT paraklesis DOT com and I’ll forward the info to Kim Norman, who is the generous author behind this book giveaway. And you may have a signed copy of this delightful book in time for Father’s Day.

The rest of you…go buy the book. It’s very cute.

Here’s a good interview at Write About Now, with Kate Harrison, Senior Editor at Dial Books for Young Readers.

Here’s one Q and A to whet your appetite:

I’ve heard many editors say that when they read submissions, they’re looking for reasons to turn it down. Besides voice, what are some of the things that you look for as reasons to accept a submission?

A really fresh hook–a sentence that sums up the book that totally grabs my attention.

OK skedaddle on over there and read the whole interview!

Michael Hyatt–Authors need to blog.

Stacia Decker–Some authors shouldn’t blog.

Sally Apokedak–They’re both right. :D

Read both articles because they both have valid points that authors should consider. One says, “Don’t blog if you aren’t going to do it right.” The other says, “Blog and do it right.”