Dream big 2010 - written by Liz Gallagher

I think there are dreams that stay dreams and dreams that can become reality, and both kinds of dreams are worth dreaming. The first kind can get you through your day, and the second kind can guide your life.

If you’re looking to change your life, the trick is to realize which dreams are actually goals—things you want to and can achieve. And then remember that dreams come true usually not by the wand of a fairy godmother, but through concentrated hard work.

For me, writing books was once a far-off dream, but it became a goal when I realized that nothing was actually stopping me. And it became a dream come true after I learned and took the steps that worked for me to finish a book.

Now, little dreams of books pop up in my brain all the time. Some will stay ideas. Some, I will pursue until they become realities.

All books begin in dreamland. And so do lots of other good things.

~*~

Liz Gallagher is the author of The Opposite of Invisible (Wendy Lamb Books, January 2008) and a forthcoming companion novel. She is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults, where she got to study under literary rockstars. As Seattle HOST for readergirlz (www.readergirlz.com), Liz documents the excitement of local teen book events for a nation-wide audience. Visit her at www.lizgallagher.com.

Dream big 2010 - written by Cheryl Renee Herbsman

I’ve always been a dreamer. When I was a kid, I kind of thought that was a bad thing, you know, like “you’re such a dreamer!” which was another way of saying “you’re crazy.” But to me, dreams are what make life fun. If I’m not working towards a dream, life feels stale. Sometimes it’s a big dream and sometimes it’s a little dream. But I’m always dreaming.

When I was a teen and my boyfriend lived 6,000 miles away and everyone thought I was crazy for thinking it could work, I never gave up. We’ve been married for twenty years now and have two beautiful children, a girl and a boy, just like we dreamed of when we were two teens walking along the beach.

When I first got the news that BREATHING was going to be published, the excitement was almost too much to bear. I was jumping around, screaming, flipping out. My heart felt full to bursting. But after a few days, I started to feel a little down and I had no idea why.

My daughter, who was about eleven at the time, understood, though. “It’s because you don’t have anything to dream for anymore,” she said. “Like when we finally got a dog after I’d wanted one for so many years. I was so excited, but then I felt sort of sad ‘cause I didn’t have a dream anymore.” Wow, pretty profound, no?

We found the perfect solution for both of us – new dreams! That’s what’s so awesome about dreaming – you never run out of stock. There’s always something new to dream about. And the dreaming gets me going, wrapped up in excitement and determination. And that’s where I’m the happiest, when I’m feeling grateful for the dreams that have come true and focused on the ones yet to be realized.

Happy Dreaming!

~*~

Cheryl Renee Herbsman lives in Northern California with her husband and two children. She grew up in North Carolina and often spent summer vacations at the Carolina coast, just like Savannah, the main character in her debut novel, BREATHING. You can visit Cheryl on the web at www.cherylreneeherbsman.com.

Dream big 2010 - written by Christine Fletcher

“Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.” —Clementine Paddleford

For years, I’ve had that quote taped next to my computer. Sounds kind of anti-dreaming, doesn’t it? I mean, who was this Clementine Paddleford, anyway? Some prune-lipped old biddy shaking her finger at people who dared lift their eyes to the sky?

Actually, Clementine left her Kansas farmgirl life and moved to New York City to become a journalist. Specifically, a food journalist. Never mind that in the 1920s, food journalists—male or female—hardly existed. Food writing was Clementine’s passion—so much so, she earned her pilot’s license and flew herself around the country to experience regional cuisine first-hand. In her career, she traveled over 800,000 miles…more than three times the distance between the earth and the moon. She became one of the best-known writers in America, at a time when women weren’t supposed to dream any bigger than the four walls of their own houses.

Clementine knew about dreaming big. But she also knew that dreaming wasn’t enough. In order to make her dream happen, she knew she’d have to do.

That’s where the backbone comes in. For most of us, as soon as we start figuring out what it’ll take to achieve our dreams, fear begins whispering in our ears:

What if I fail?

What if people think I’m a fool?

Maybe I’d better stay home.

If the thought of pursuing your dream scares you, then you’re dreaming big. You’re dreaming about something that matters. When I was deciding whether or not to pursue my writing dream, I thought a lot about What if I fail? But another fear haunted me even more: What if I never try?

That fear got me to find my backbone. To do. The first step wasn’t a big one: I signed up for one little writing course. That’s it.

But then I signed up again. And again. Six times in two years, the same course. (What can I say? I’m a slow learner.) I moved on to workshops. Critique groups. I began submitting stories to magazines and raking in rejections. Fail. Keep trying. Twelve years after that first little writing class, my novel Tallulah Falls was published.

Since then, I’ve published a second novel, Ten Cents a Dance, and I’m writing a third. These days my dream is to write even better. To find more readers to tell my stories to. Big dream. Same fears. What if I’m not good enough? What if I fail?

But: What if I don’t try? And I dig deep and find my backbone.

Dream big. Big enough to get scared. Then do. Take a step. A small step, a baby step. One after another, and pretty soon—like Clementine Paddleford—you’ll be on your way. Flying, and nothing in the world can stop you.

~*~

Christine Fletcher is the author of two critically acclaimed young adult novels. Her first, Tallulah Falls, was named a Book for the Teen Age by the New York Public Library. Her second, Ten Cents a Dance, was named a Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association, a Jefferson Cup Honor Book by the Virginia Library Association, was awarded a Blue Ribbon by the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, and was a Cybils Award finalist. In addition to being a writer, Christine is also a veterinarian. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her boyfriend of many years and an assortment of rescued animals. She is currently working on her third novel. To find out more about her or her books, please visit www.christinefletcherbooks.com.

The traditional release day VLOG!!

It's become sort of a tradition to do a vlog on release day.

This one is quite silly, but sometimes, you just have to let the silly out!

Enjoy!!

Dream big 2010 - written by Lisa Schroeder

I remember the moment clearly.

It was May, 2000.

I was on an airplane, reading a book called BUILDING YOUR FIELD OF DREAMS by Rev. Mary Manin Morrisey.

The first chapter of the book talked about identifying your dream. She asked the reader, kindly, gently - Do you know what your dream IS? It couldn’t be something completely selfish – like to make a million dollars. It needed to have certain qualities. I read over those qualities and then pondered them.

At the time I had a home-based business, through a direct-selling company, in order to stay at home with my small children. I had quit the corporate world because I didn’t want to miss those fun days with my little boys. But we desperately needed some kind of income from me, thus the reason for the home-based business.

So, I wondered, did I dream of working hard and moving up the ranks? Did I dream of selling and recruiting my way to the top, helping people along the way? I thought maybe I did.

But when I closed my eyes and listened to the still, small voice, this is what I heard:

Write for kids.

Write for kids.

Write for kids.

Where did that come from, I wondered?

And soon after, a big, loud voice jumped in. I now understand that voice was my ego, trying to protect me from pain and failure. Or something. It yelled at me - What!? You don’t know the first thing about writing for kids. You didn’t go to school to do that. YOU CAN’T DO THAT!

But the still, small voice nagged at me in the coming days and weeks. And nagged at me some more. And so I continued to read the book. And I started to put stories down on paper. And I continued to be open to the idea that ANYTHING is possible, and many things in life have happened only because someone dreamt the idea first.

And then, at a neighborhood fourth of July picnic, I was talking to one of the women and she told me SHE had written a few stories for kids, and was submitting them to publishers.

It was the first of many times when the universe sent me just what I needed at the right time. Because, I’ve learned, that’s what happens when you do what you are supposed to do with your time and talents.

In the coming years, I listened to the still, small voice. I worked hard. I never gave up.

So here I am, with a third YA novel released today, my first mid-grade novel coming out in March, and a beautifully illustrated picture book coming out in September.

I still have more dreams. Some are small. But a few are big. And yeah, it’s scary, wondering what’s next, if anything will be next. And then I remind myself – you really don't have to do anything differently from what you've done since the beginning.

Listen to the still, small voice. Work hard. And never give up.

~*~

Lisa Schroeder is the author of three verse novels for teens, including I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, a YALSA 2009 quick pick for reluctant readers, FAR FROM YOU, a Texas TAYSHAS selection, and CHASING BROOKLYN, all with Simon Pulse. She lives in Oregon with her husband and two sons.

Dream big 2010 - written by Elizabeth Scott

Dreams have made a huge difference in my life.

I never thought about them that much though, until I started writing. When I first started, I got lots of advice, and one of the many things I was told was, "write down your dreams." I thought that was a little strange, but decided to give it a try. I figured the worst that would happen would be that I'd be unable to read my (admittedly very poor) handwriting, so I bought one of those cheap one-subject notebooks and stuck it on the bookshelf by my bed.

And to this day, most of my dreams are either a. not worth writing down (even though I still do so) or b. have something interesting in them that I can never quite get to gel.

But--and this is what hooked me on writing down my dreams and why I always do--is that every once in a while I will have a dream that does lead to a story. In fact, my novel Living Dead Girl came from a dream that I had not once, but over the course of several nights until I
finally told myself, "All right, I'm going to go ahead and write this!"

So the next time you wake up from a dream and find yourself thinking about it--even it's for a sleepy second in the middle of the night--write it down. See where it takes you.

~*~

Elizabeth Scott grew up in a town so small it didn't even have a post office, though it did boast an impressive cattle population. She's sold hardware and panty hose and had a memorable three-day stint in the dot-com industry, where she learned that she really didn't want a career burning CDs. She lives just outside Washington, DC, with her husband, and firmly believes you can never own too many books. You can visit Elizabeth on the web at http://www.elizabethwrites.com and http://www.elizabethwrites.com/blog.

Book trailer!

Tomorrow we return to Dream Big 2010, which will happen all month long except Sundays. I have left Sundays open to post book-related news if I have any.

And today, I have some!

A book trailer to share.

I hope you'll watch, enjoy, and share if you're so inclined. Just a couple more days until release day - yay!