A Tightrope Walk Without A Net
I first posted this picture on my Facebook page in May of 2016 with the caption, "staring at a blank page, beginning the long-sometimes painful-but always exhilarating-process of turning a spark into a story..."
I then struggled for two months only to create a hash of a story which I subsequently buried next to the many other "misses".
Having gone through this process many times, I know the best thing you can do sometimes is to put the story away in order to let it "ripen"...for a month...a year...sometimes ten. I probably have a hundred stories, or pieces of stories that I worked on for days, months, or in some cases years. Sometimes when I pull them out again, they will have indeed ripened. Other times...not so much-still rotten.
If there is one thing that separates an amateur from a professional, it is the massive amounts of time invested-with absolutely no guarantee of a positive outcome. It is understood going in that it often won't end well. iIt's a tightrope walk without a net.
That said, if you put in the work, learn from the gazillion mistakes you will make, and stay with it, you get better at generating ideas. You get better at fleshing them out. You get better at sensing whether you have something that is worth the investment of your time. You also start to love that tightrope.
So, the story I posted about last May-and buried last July...well, I dug it up last month, ripped out much of what was rotten (most of the story), and just put the finishing touches on a new version-and Sue likes it!!!! (which is always the first test). Time to send it off to my agent. I'll let you know if anything happens.
FIRST LOOK AT MY NEW BOOK!
Arriving home late Tuesday night, I was greeted with a package containing an advance copy of ALLY-SAURUS & THE VERY BOSSY MONSTER. Having started the process of brainstorming ideas for this book 18 months ago, the feeling of holding the finished product in my hands is indescribable.
Uploaded by hmtart2 on 2017-06-22.
ALLY-SAURUS & THE VERY BOSSY MONSTER BOOK TRAILER PREMIERES ON KIDLITTV
On Monday, the book trailer for Ally-saurus & the Very Bossy Monster premiered on KidLitTV along with a wonderful writeup.
Book Trailer Premiere: ALLY-SAURUS & THE VERY BOSSY MONSTER
KidLit TV is proud to premiere the book trailer for ALLY-SAURUS & THE VERY BOSSY MONSTER by Richard Torrey, the sequel to the award winning ALLY-SAURUS & THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Your kids will love the humor and fun in this book as well as the unique characters and illustrations!
See more by clicking HERE
WONDERFUL FIRST REVIEW FOR ALLY-SAURUS & THE VERY BOSSY MONSTER!
KIRKUS REVIEW
The tiny tot–turned-dinosaur (in her imagination) is back, this time facing a new challenge: a domineering friend.
Ally, or as she likes to be called “Ally-saurus,” can’t wait to play outside. After brushing her straight black hair into pigtails and chomping on her breakfast (things dinosaurs do not particularly like to do), she roars and stomps to meet her friends. As in the first outing (Ally-Saurus and the First Day of School, 2015) Torrey uses rough crayoned markings to signify the characters’ innermost passions, an enormously effective visual device. Ally has pink dinosaur spikes down her back to go along with her pink “ROAR!”....
To read the entire review, click HERE.
THE ALMOST TERRIBLE PLAYDATE BOOK TRAILER
Below is the brand new book trailer I have created for my book, THE ALMOST TERRIBLE PLAYDATE. It is the first trailer I've ever done for any of my 14 books.
My aim was to produce something simple and straightforward, allowing the children's expressions to help tell the story, precisely as I had done in the creation of the book.
The book trailer debuted last week on the Mundie Kids blog, which included a wonderful review of the book and has since been featured on KidlitTV.
Ideal for all families who have ever heard (or said!) the words "Why can't you both JUST GET ALONG?!", here is the story of two young children with VERY different ideas of what they want to play.