Interview with Children's Author Christy E. Bykowski

Sorry it has been sometime since I last shared here at Utah Children's Writers. It seems life can easily get into the way of writing goals, but I hope 2014 will yield to better efforts and success for not only me but for all of you. As this year kicks off, I look forward to not only sharing my own personal thoughts but interviews with those who have recently published to help keep you moving towards your publishing dreams and writing goals in 2014.

Interview with Children's Author Christy E. Bykowski

Christy E. Bykowski is an award-winning public relations and marketing practitioner, as well as a wife and mother. She lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband, Benjamin, raising their three boys and spreading awareness about celiac disease and the need for a gluten-free environment for individuals diagnosed with celiac disease.

Tell us briefly about your recently published book and what you feel is the most important topic/sub-message you share.

“Beckmin Goes to School” is meant to raise awareness for celiac disease and the everyday challenges children with celiac disease face in their otherwise normal activities.  As diagnosis of celiac disease increases, education, awareness, and understanding will be the keys to making celiac kids feel normal and included.  This book is written for children to help them express and understand celiac disease.  Beckmin’s stories, written to help children define, understand, and explain celiac disease, are meant to be both empowering and educational for kids and their parents.

 

What are some of the things that have influenced/inspired your writing?

I was inspired by my son, Beckmin, who was diagnosed with celiac disease at age 1.5.  Watching him grow up – how he’s had to explain his disease to other kids and parents; how he’s to make very adult decisions all day, every day – led me to write this book.  I’m hoping it’s a tool that will help him, and others, easy explain what celiac disease is and how someone with it has to cope. 

Can you share some writing experiences with us?

Most of my writing is done in my PJs, at my computer with a cup of coffee – before the kids wake up.  While I enjoy writing all kinds of things, this is the first piece I’ve taken all the way through publication. 

It has been my experience, some things come quite easily (like creating the setting) and other things aren’t so easy (like deciding on a title). What comes easily to you and what do you find more difficult? 
 

The characters for the book and the purpose/intent came really easily – because it was so personal to me.  But, I had a really hard time figuring out the name of the book.  I wanted to be sure that the people who would be looking for this kind of resource were able to find it.

Please describe to us your relationship between you and your editor. What makes an author/editor relationship a success?

I think the key to an author/editor relationship really lies in the ability to accept and give feedback.  I had to be open to the edits and suggestions she made for me. 

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? If yes, how did you ‘cure’ it?

I don’t really suffer from writer’s block because I’m not that focused in my writing.  By that I mean I typically write about what’s on my mind or in my situation around me.  I don’t try to force my writing.  I let the words come to me. 

What happens before sitting down to write? (Explain your creative process.)

I’d like to say I have a formal creative process, but I don’t.  Usually, something happens and I think to myself that I want to remember that moment. It might take a few days or weeks before I get around to getting it down on paper. 

What advice would you give to a new writer?

Don’t give up!  Your children’s book will be a wonderful legacy for you and your child.

 

  

The World of Ink Network will be touring author Christy E. Bykowski's kid friendly celiac disease awareness picture book, Gluten-Free Me: Beckmin Goes to School January 2014. You can find out more about Christy E. Bykowski, her book and World of Ink Author/Book Tour at http://tinyurl.com/lquajjn 

Places available for sale: Halo, Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Author Website: www.glutenfreekids.info
Twitter URL: @christybyk

Time heals

Wa-wa. Pitiful me. I just looked back over the project I’ve been working on for the last two months and it is junk.

It was my NaNoWroMo story. I didn’t finish it in November and kept at it in December. It was starting to gum up in the middle so I figured I would print it out and read what I had. That wasn’t a good idea.

It is total crap.

How can something that held such promise fade away to nothing?

And what is to be done about it? It seems like the harder I work on fixing it, the more impossible it becomes.

All writers go through moments like these. I’ve been there a thousand times myself. It is maddening. One minute you’re up, the next you have no idea how to repair it.

The best solution seems to ignore it for a while. Besides the fact that no solutions is within sight, a few weeks away allows it to stew and work in the subconscious. That will take a few weeks or longer.

There are, fortunately, a couple other projects I can turn to. One is a final revision before shopping for a publisher. The other is another piece that was put away under similar circumstances. It was finished, but lacking in some way. Even if I knew what it needed, I couldn’t muster the the zest to do anything about it.

Time has passed. I see where it needs to go and I’m ready to tackle it again. Maybe when I’m done, the issues with the NaNoWriMo story will have worked themselves out.

What do you do when your work in progress becomes stuck in mud?

Utah Writers Group Exchange

To help meet the goal of making 2014 the year of the Utah Writer, we have created a new Facebook group called the Utah Writers Group Exchange. Use this page to advertise an opening in your group, to seek a group, or to ask question or give advice about making your group and the writers in it more successful.

Anybody who has ever been in a good group knows how invaluable the group can be. Whether you meet in person, online, or both, a group can help you step up your game, light a fire under your (chair), and avoid cliches like these in your writing.

I'm fortunate to be in a great group. They inspire me, challenge me, frustrate me (in a good way), and teach me.

There is no better resource for a writer, whether you are starting to learn the craft, experienced, or a top-selling author. I'm hoping this new page will help others find a group that works for them the way mine does for me.

Dahlia Adler's Ten Blunt Messages for Writers in 2014

by Deren Hansen

Dahlia Adler recently shared, "Ten Blunt Messages on the Eve of 2014" that you would do well to review as you're launching into a new writing year.

Here's a sample and a list of the topics she discusses:

 1. No agent is still better than a bad agent. Also, NO PUBLISHER IS BETTER THAN A BAD PUBLISHER.

... the fact is, there’s only so much being in a bad relationship with an agent can hurt you without a publisher being involved. In the age of self-publishing, there is always that option, and thankfully I know a number of people who’ve recovered from bad agent relationships with successful self-publishing endeavors.

A bad publisher, however, can seriously screw you. A bad publisher can make it so your book will never, ever be read. They can make it so you’ve thrown away your one shot with this book in a way even a bad agent can’t do. A bad publisher can take a huge chunk of your earnings while doing absolutely nothing for you that you couldn’t do yourself.

2. Properly managing expectations is the single-most underrated issue in publishing right now.

3. You don’t need to get offended at everything that can be read as offensive if you want it to be. Nor do you need to respond to it.

4. Refusing to accept critique is the surest way to stunt your growth as a writer, both in skill and career.

5. Idealism is nice, but so’s appreciating where and why some of your ideals are actually probably clashing with other ones.

6. New Adult is a real thing that is selling. That doesn’t mean it’s being handled particularly well by traditional publishers.

7. You cannot have a solid partnership with people you don’t respect.

8. You are a person, not a promo machine.

9. Everybody talks, and everybody can see what you put out on the Internet.

10. The only way to make a change in the publishing industry is to support the change you want to see.

Read the entire post here.

Deren Hansen is the author of the Dunlith Hill Writers Guides. This article is from Sustainable Creativity: How to Enjoy a Committed, Long-term Relationship with your Muse. Learn more at dunlithhill.com.

Growth

Did you grow as as writer during the last year?

Writing is a curious preoccupation. Once you’ve caught the bug, it won’t leave you alone. Sometimes I go days without the time to give to it, but the writing still calls for attention.

It is a solo thing. You can’t share a keyboard with someone as you would a nice dinner or a walk in the park. Engaging in writing means shutting the rest of the world out for an hour or so.

For me, writing is a learning experience. The more I write, the more I want to know how to write. I want to attend every writing conference. I want to read stories others have written and I get inspire to write like these people.

My 2013 writing year was generally good. The best thing I did for myself was attend the annual WIFYR conference. The week long event is always inspiring and the same held true this year. The writing buzz from it carried me though the summer.

By the fall, my writing went into a tailspin. I ran an MS past a friend for a final review before sending it out to the publishing world. She spotted some major character flaws and the whole thing ground to a halt. It took much study of the craft and a couple of months, but I got back on my feet, just in time for NaNoWriMo. That piece is still being worked and it is better for it and hopefully so am I.

May you grow as a writer in 2014.

(This article also posted at http://writetimeluck.blogspot.com)

Three UCW Wishes for 2014

It's a new year (in case you haven't noticed that everything looks different), and I have three wishes for the Utah Children's Writers community.

1. I wish for a lot of news of new books from within the community.

Over the last several years, it seems like Utah writers have been especially successful. When I joined the Utah Children's Writers discussion group on Yahoo several years ago, it seemed like we only had a handful of successful writers. Since then, quite a few Utahns (or people with Utah ties) have been published and seen some great success, including national awards. At the same time, it seems like the number of people who are working to become published, or who are writing for the love of it, has exploded. Our community is large and varied. So, my biggest wish for the year is that we can look back at the end of the year and say the class of 2014 is the best and biggest yet. To accomplish this, we can help each other, and we can use conferences and social media to promote ourselves and other Utah writers by spreading any good news quickly.

2. I wish for a stronger community.

As our community has grown, it sometimes feels scattered. The nice thing about a community is that we can all help each other bring more respect to Utah writing by building and strengthening our community, mentoring each other, and sharing news and tips. We have a bunch of ways to do that now. We have the Yahoo discussion group that helped to create that initial sense of community. We have a Facebook page that has the potential to become much more active. And of course, we also have this blog. There are other Utah writing groups besides our UCW family of pages.

I'd like to see the connections between all of our sites strengthened. I'd like to see us use social media to promote our fellow Utah writers, to spread news about the community, to help each other grow as writers, and to build a true sense of community among writers of all experience levels and interests. One thing Utah is known for is our strong communities, and we should be a reflection of our culture.

If there's a conference, a signing, a personal appearance, a class, a crit group that needs members, or if there's happy, cheerful publishing news from you or someone you know, use social media to spread the news.

Tweet. Create Utah Writers boards on Pinterest. Participate on the blog by reading and commenting. Share news and information on Facebook. Use the Yahoo group as another, more private way to access the knowledge that overflows from Utah writers. Cross-post. Ask questions. Give answers. Be visible. Being a visible part of the community with enhance your own reputation as a writer, as well as building the community.

3. I wish for a lot of words.

The best way to build our community is to write a lot and build Utah's reputation in those big coastal cities. Show them that Utah is serious about writing. Put our high level of education and trans-world experience to use. Show those agents and editors that a Utah return address indicates reliability, dedication, and quality, and that we're not some backward state in the middle of nowhere. The way to do that is to write. A lot. And to do it well. Write, revise, and write some more. Good, bad, or great, let's pile on the words. The only way to be a writer is to write, something I have to remind myself often.

Let's make 2014 the Year of the Utah Writer.

A New Leaf

by Deren Hansen

Growing up I often heard that the beginning of a new year was the time to turn over a new leaf. And for an embarrassingly long time I assumed the leaf in question was one of the ones raked up a few months earlier (though I never figured out what retired shading had to do with new year's resolutions).

The allusion, of course, is to a leaf--a page--in the folio of your life. Like the view this time of year in the northern hemisphere, the new, unblemished page is a white field upon which any mark can be made.

One thing that sets writers apart from others is that we are not terrified by the formless emptiness of the blank page.

What will you write in the folio of your life about your writing this year?


Deren Hansen is the author of the Dunlith Hill Writers Guides. This article is from Sustainable Creativity: How to Enjoy a Committed, Long-term Relationship with your Muse. Learn more at dunlithhill.com.