Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Requested Manuscript Prize:

In my new picture book, A Little Quiet, Mama is on a mission. As she searches for a place to rest, her children follow her all over the house, asking what she is doing. When she tells them she's looking for "a little quiet", they decide to join the search. Though they don't know what it looks like, they're determined to find it - even if they have to make it themselves.
I certainly hope the kids make an enormous amount of noise—in creative ways—as they search (that's not clear from the pitch, and should be). I would request this manuscript.

20 comments:

Chris Eldin said...

This is adorable!!! It's something all parents can identify with, and I love the potential humor here.

I do hope you find a great home for your story!!!
:-)

Adrian said...

Love the concept. :)

Anonymous said...

I was nervous reading the pitch, because I was starting to like it. Then I saw that you liked it, too. Whew!

Stephanie J. Blake said...

Cool beans!

Susan at Stony River said...

Congratulations...and when it's in print, I'll buy it. I'm on the same search myself, and my kids helping? Oh no!

Come to think of it, it sounds like a great gift idea for new parents too. You know, the present that gets opened at the baby shower that makes all the veterans look at each other going "uh HUH" while the mom-to-be says, "What?" LOL

This was inspired -- excellent!

Anonymous said...

Am I the only one who feels this story might be appealing more to parents than children?

Vodka Mom said...

okay, as a teacher who has read a BAZILLION books, I love it. I just love it. Great choice, EA.

LindaBudz said...

Oh, I think kids would like it if done well ... has a sort of Amelia Badelia aspect to it.

mamiloca said...

Woohooo! How exciting to read that. I was thinking - "Wait...this is familiar..." before I realized it was mine.

Of course, complete torture that I can't actually send it to you for a reading. Hmmmm....Maybe I could negotiate for my prize a critique of the manuscript? With your identity still anonymous? I'd be happy to send vodka, of course, if you have an alias post office box. :)

In the story, the kids are obviously making tons of noise as they follow Mama around while she searches for some Quiet. I guess I do need to add that in to the pitch.

Motivation to send this out, either way.

Thanks!

Skila Brown

Anonymous said...

Congrats, Skila!

Very clever idea and great pitch. Susan, you are right. It would make a great baby shower gift as well.

Beth said...

emay - I'm not so sure - it makes me think of Charlotte Zolotow's The Quiet Mother and the Noisy Little Boy, which I absolutely adored as a child. I think there's a lot of potential kid appeal here; the quality of the illustrations will have a huge impact on how well that potential is realized.

Skila - neat pitch! Best of luck!

Sarah Laurenson said...

Congrats, Skila! Good luck!

And yes, get that puppy in the mail! We're all waiting to hear how it turns out.

Unknown said...

Wow, that's a fantastic pitch! I can't wait to see more of EA's pics!

ann malaspina said...

Skila -

I look forward to seeing your book on the shelf at our local bookstore!

Literaticat said...

Skila - are you an author/illustrator, or is this text-only?

mamiloca said...

I am only the mere creator of words. I can draw a mean stick-man, however. Or if it's a book about dots. I could illustrate that. :)

So it's text-only. But if you'd like to read it, I'm happy to oblige.

skilabrown (@) msn . com

Anonymous said...

I like it a lot. I'd pick it up.

But, I'm an adult.

I'm with emay.

Still, picture books have to appeal to parents as well as kids, or many of them will never be seen by kids.

Christine Tripp said...

My INITIAL reaction was like Emay's, this might be more about the adult but as I thought about it, no, it's about the relationship of (usually) mom's and kids and, I agree with Beth, if the illustrations are crazy fun, then it IS for kids (but thank heaven's for a book a parent can appreciate too:)
I like it, congrats Skila!
AN FYI for the mom in the story, there ain't no such a thing as a "little bit of quiet"... I remember giving up on locking the bathroom door, as it became too much of a pain to have to get up and down from the throne or in and out of the tub to answer all the inevitable knocks on the door every 5 seconds. (even though the little darlings were no were to be seen BEFORE you went in:)

Anonymous said...

"Am I the only one who feels this story might be appealing more to parents than children?"

I think if it weren't obvious by illustrations or text how much noise the kids were making, you'd have a point. But if the kids get to see this they will be in on the joke, and they will be laughing at their kid counterparts and knowing they'd never do anything like that...while at the same time the parents laugh because they know better.
Congrats and good luck, Skila! Looks like fun.

Anonymous said...

Sounds a lot like Jill Murphy's Two Minutes Peace (The title is something like that). The sequel can be Lost Patience:-)