Spotlight: Heading to the Wedding by Sara Shacter

I’m very excited to have Sara Shacter on my blog today. Sara is not only an amazing writer, but she’s also the Assistant Regional Advisor for Illinois’ Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and a wonderful person. To say that I was thrilled when she agreed to chat with me about her picture book, Heading to the Wedding, is a bit of an understatement.

Please give Sara a warm welcome!

Cherie: Sara, thanks for stopping by. Can you tell us about your picture book, Heading to the Wedding?

Sara: When Patrick, his sister Evie, and his parents are invited to a wedding, his worried mom suggests they all practice for the big day. To do so, the family raids Patrick's collection of stuffed animals and action figures. Evie and Dracula tie the knot while T-rex officiates.  Thanks to Patrick and Evie’s newfound skills, the actual event is a smashing success!

While writing Heading to the Wedding, my goal was to deliver a humorous, warm tale that also happened to educate kids (in a non-didactic fashion) regarding this particular aspect of the adult world.  It's nondenominational, so it has a wide audience, and it isn't just for the flower girl or ring bearer.  It's for ANY child who will be at a wedding.

Cherie: Heading to the Wedding is a wonderful and fun book. How did you come up with the idea for it?

Sara: Years ago, I was at a business dinner with my husband.  While chatting with folks, I mentioned I was a children's book writer.  A woman asked me if I knew of any books that explained wedding guest etiquette to kids.  Her family had been invited to a wedding and she was at a loss.  I spotted a potential hole in the marketplace!

Cherie: I’m glad you did and I love being able to tell parents about your book. What is your favorite thing about writing picture books?

Sara: I love the challenge of packing a great story, compelling characters, goofy humor, and artfully crafted sentences into a package that consists of as few words as possible.

Cherie: I admire picture book writers and I know it’s not easy to keep the word count low and write a great story. Do you have any advice for aspiring picture book authors?

Sara:

   - Read your work aloud.

   - Make each word count.

   - Remember the illustrator -- s/he needs space to insert his/her vision; your story will be stronger as a result.

Cherie: Great advice! Can you share with us what you’re working on now?

Sara: I'm starting the first book of what I hope will one day be a series of middle-grade novels!

Cherie: Oh! I can’t wait to hear more about it! Now for some fun questions…

M&M or Skittles?  M&Ms for sure -- I routinely raid my kids' stash.

Are you a morning person or an evening person?  Evening.  Even when I know I'm exhausted, I can find something to do/read into the wee hours!

Favorite author?  Sooooooo many....hard to choose....but I do so very much love Barbara Park.  Junie B. Jones is one of my favorite characters ever.

Do you have any guilty pleasures that get you through the writing/revising process?  Gum.  I'm a chain-chewer.

Do you have a favorite place to write?  In my kitchen.  It's filled with light.

Are there any types of books you don’t read?   I'm mostly a fiction gal.  Very little nonfiction.  And nothing relentlessly dark.  I need a spark of hope!

Sara, thanks so much for being with us today!

Stop by Sara Shacter’s website to learn more about her and her books.

                              Find Sara:                             Purchase Heading to the Wedding

              Facebook | Twitter | Website                    Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Click here to learn more about SCBWI

Join me at Chicago Tribune Printers Row Lit Fest

This year at the Chicago Tribune's Printers Row Lit Fest, children's book author and writing coach Esther Hershenhorn presents Oh, the Places You'll Go! Writing for Children TODAY!

I'll be talking about my journey to publication along side  M. Molly Backes, Gina Bellisario, Keir Graff, Barbara Gregorich, and Natalie Ziarnik.  

Registration is free. Click here to sign up and avoid having to stand in line hoping there's an empty seat. 

                               Saturday, June 9, 2012

                                               1:00 p.m.

                                               Jones College Prep High School/Student Learning Center

                                               606 S State St. (Use entrance on Harrison)

                                               Chicago, IL

Feature & Follow #12

Welcome to Feature & Follow

Feature & Follow is hosted by Alison of Alison and Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View. It's a fun way to make new friends and to interact with old ones. Click the links above to learn more and to join the fun.

Q: Activity! Dreamcast your current read.

I hate to admit it, but I've been having such a hard time getting into a book lately. I think it's because I've been working diligently on finishing the sequel to my book that every time I try to read for pleasure I feel like I should be polishing mine up. So I'm going to cheat a little on this one and include the dream cast for my novel, Embrace. I do hope everyone will forgive me for doing my own book.

Madison Riley

I chose Emma Watson as Madison because of her easygoing 

personality, lighthearted laugh, and overall sweet appearance.

She'd have to dye her hair a darker, but that's easy enough to do. 

Kaylee Bishop

Selena Gomez's big brown eyes and warm smile fit 

Madison's best friend, Kaylee Bishop.

Isaac Addington

Kevin Lutz’s broad shoulders and sly smirk makes him a good candidate 

for Isaac Addington, the mysterious new guy. Who wouldn’t want to get to know 

him better? And that smirk is a dead giveaway he knows something we don’t.

Josh Corey  

And I can’t forget Josh Corey, Madison’s good friend and Kaylee’s boyfriend. 

Ben Jelen’s dark features, longer hair, and don’t mess with me look reminded me of Josh. 

Dangerous and sweet wrapped up in one delicious package, don’t you think?

Vote to Win: Help Name a Character in the EMBRACE sequel

HOLD TIGHT, the sequel to EMBRACE, introduces new supernatural beings and I asked teens to help me name one of them.

Here’s what I told them about the character: 
Male in his late teens, stormy white eyes and 
pale blond hair. His glamour gives him the 
appearance of having honey brown hair & pale 
blue eyes. Think pretty boy appearance.

The response was huge. There were so many great names entered that I had a hard time narrowing them down to three, so I took out my trusty hat, tossed in over twenty names, and had my son pull three out.

                            And the finalists are:

Zion, entered by Dave Martinez

Kashmeir, entered by Alexis Peplow

Dellis, entered by C.J. Cantilena

Here's where I need your help. Vote for the name you like best. The student who entered the name that receives the most votes and one lucky voter will each win an autographed copy of EMBRACE plus swag or a $15 gift card to Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or Starbucks. (Due to the cost of shipping, contest open to US residents only. International residents are still welcome to cast a vote.)

Here’s how it works. There are three Rafflecopter forms below. Find the form for the name you like best, click “Vote for …”  It's that easy. Plus, there are four additional ways to vote and be entered to win. Come back daily to vote for your favorite name and increase your chances of winning.


Good luck!  

~ REMEMBER ~
Look for the form with the name you want to vote for.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you have any problems with the form, please leave a comment and I'll take a look.

Thanks for participating and good luck!!

Feature & Follow #11

Welcome to Feature & Follow

Feature & Follow is hosted by Alison of Alison and Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View. It's a fun way to make new friends and to interact with old ones. Click the links above to learn more and to join the fun.

Q: Summer Break is upon us! What would be the perfect vacation spot for you to catch up on your reading & relax?

I love this question. My perfect vacation spot to catch up on reading would include a view of the ocean or a lake. The first three places to pop in my head were:

1) Maui. The weather is beautiful, the water crystal clear, and it's the island where it would be easy to relax with a good book.

2) Washington State. I've never been, but I hear it's beautiful. I'd have to do a little research to know the best place for curling up with a book. 

3) I also hear Figi is beautiful. I'd love to mix touring the island and reading. 


I have to admit, most of the places I'd like to visit wouldn't be good for reading. I'd be too busy sight seeing, but I've found plane rides are a great place to catch up on reading and I've yet to fall asleep on one. A trip to Europe would still allow me plenty of time to read: London, Prague, Italy, Germany... my list of places I'd love to go is quite long.


How about you? Where would your perfect vacation to catch up on your reading be?