It’s Kidlit Tea Party time again!
Click this guy open!
How did I do on my September goal?
My September goal was to revise 5 picture book manuscripts
and write 10,000 words.
I revised 6 picture book manuscripts,
and wrote 3,000 words.
I’m very happy that I got one manuscript to my critique group too.
As for the 3,000 words,
it’s not 10,000,
but I did finish a first draft of something I’ve been writing for two years.
So even though I didn’t reach my goal,
if I didn’t have this challenge for myself I may not have written that many words,
and I may not have finished the draft!
So, I count myself a winner 🙂
Speaking of winners, who won the prize?
Well, I had three lovely people play along with this kidlit tea party idea.
And I have to say, I appreciate all three of them.
Yes, Priscilla, Jackie, and Chris, I’m talking to you!
I have these ideas for challenges and such and it really means the world to me
when people get behind me and support what I do.
So, that said,
I have a prize FOR ALL OF YOU!
I think I have all of your addresses, so expect something in a week or so 🙂
Thanks for playing along!
My goal for this month is
to revise 5 picture book manuscripts
and write 5 new ones.
And I also want to make sure 31 in 31 goes well!
I’m in LA today and tomorrow for work,
and on the way down I came up with 15 new ideas!
So I’m going to start writing some of those up while they’re fresh.
And I don’t have to worry about word count until November, when it’s 50K words for NaNoWriMo!
Need more info on the challenge?
Click open these guys to find out what to do 🙂
Where did the idea come from?
I heard about a kidlit tea thing going on somewhere in Northern CA.
San Francisco?
Oakland?
somewhere about an hour and a half away.
It sounded AWESOME.
Kidlit people gathering around,
drinking tea,
and talking about their goals for the month.
Then they meet up next month
and hold each other accountable.
I don’t know about you, but I like accountability.
I was bummed that making it up there wasn’t going to happen.
Plus, there was a waiting list to join.
Just today I was putting some of my tea away
and thought about the tea party again,
then
FLASH!
an idea hit me.
Why don’t I host a tea party on my BLOG?
So, how does that work?
It’s pretty easy actually.
I’ll post a kidlit tea party post at the beginning of the month (this month I’m a bit late since inspiration didn’t strike RIGHT on the first!)
where anyone and everyone can leave a comment,
stating their kidlit goals for the month.
I’ll also post at the end of each month, letting you know how I did with my goal,
and you can comment on how you did with your goal.
Do the goals have to be big?
They can be as big or as small as you want.
Maybe your goal is to draw everyday this month.
Or to edit that picture book manuscript you wrote last month.
Maybe you want to write more blog posts,
type up notes for conferences,
listen to more kidlit podcasts,
really, ANYTHING counts!
My hope is that people can connect here,
inspire each other,
and cheer each other on!
Also, at the end of each month I’ll have a prize to give out.
Because, let’s face it, prizes are fun.
There will be a rafflecopter widget then telling you what to do 
So what do you say?
Are you in?
What’s your goal?
Share below!
Also, feel free to talk about tea and cookies too,
since those are important parts of tea parties!
As I was trying to fall asleep last night, I realized I would wake up and it would be October BUT the Outlaws would be somewhere over the Pacific heading back to their homeland. So, I accomplished goal number one: survive two weeks living under the same roof with them! That I must say was rough. I chronicled what they did to the poor refrigerator again over on Instagram. But there really aren’t words for the feelings that come to the surface during their visits. All I can say that at one point I lost it after they asked to go out for duck a l’orange, and my mother-in-law said to my husband, “Control your wife.” Moving on!
Goal 2: Post at least 2 book reviews on the Cow’s blog. Sadly, this did not happen, so I will move it to October’s goal.
Goal 3: I fear the Outlaws are going to try and convince us to move across the Pacific with them (another goal is to see that never happens). Well, they actually did do this within about 24 hours of their arrival. It was after midnight and lasted nearly 2 hours. I came in at the end (I had been upstairs finishing The Impossible Knife of Memory) , and felt like I was sitting in one of those hard sell time share seminars, but there would be no free trip to Vegas. As I am still here and have my passport, I am going to consider this somewhat accomplished.
Goal 4: Read 10 more books before September is over. According to Goodreads, I am at 131 for the year, so I actually read 11 books. I really lucked out, and several of those were on the long list for the National Book Award. The rest were a bunch of Daniel Pinkwater books we checked out at the LA Public Library because I finally got a library card there (September was library card month, so bonus!).
Goal 5: Write 2 pages. Sadly, this one still has not happened. Writing is exposing myself, and I think it is clear I might have been a little weary of doing that, but I will move it to October’s goals.
For October, I want to complete the tasks unaccomplished (or semi-accomplished) plus continue reading (31 this month as I have accepted the 31 in 31 challenge).
Chris,
sounds like you had a lot going on but you still accomplished many things!
I have some people who’d like me to live on the other coast too! That totally counts as a victory that you’re still here 🙂
I think it’s a good idea to move those goals along and thanks for playing along with 31 in 31!
It’s a lot of work but I like the challenge 🙂
Wowza! I didn’t know prizes were involved with this! JACKPOT!
My update:
Finish line edits to my novel.
DONE. Put in about 24 hours of work in just two days.
Open up next ms and figure out next steps.
SORT OF. I thought about it A LOT and checked out a bunch of library books related to research I need to do for it. Half credit.
Read 2-3 books.
DONE. Read Jandy Nelson’s latest, as well as Cristin Terrill’s “All Our Yesterdays,” and Laini Taylor’s book of short stories. YAY.
Goals for this next month:
Make significant headway on a 2nd draft of my next novel, whatever that might look like.
Read 3-4 books.
I start tonight. 🙂
Good Job, Jackie!
Yeah, prizes are fun. I like giving things away.
I just got a hug from Jandy Nelson yesterday! I LOVED the latest book!
You did great with two dones and a sort of!
You’re always getting things done 🙂
Good luck!