Peggy Archer
Children's Author

Meet your local authors, and do some Christmas shopping for the book lovers on your list!

What better way to spend an evening than to browse through books at the library. Better yet is to meet the author (or illustrator) of books by authors from your own neighborhood! Check your local library or bookstores for author events and programs planned for your area this holiday season.

In O’Fallon, MO, the place to be on Thursday evening is at the Middendorf-Kredell (MK) Branch Library on Route K for the Local Author Open House. I will be one of 49 participating authors who will be there that evening.

My picture books include NAME THAT DOG!, Puppy Poems from A to Z, Dial Books for Young Readers; FROM DAWN TO DREAMS, Poems for Busy Babies, Candlewick Press; and TURKEY SURPRISE, Dial Books for Young Readers.

Children’s authors who will be joining me there on Thursday evening are:

Margo Dill, author, FINDING MY PLACE, White Mane Publishing Company
Nicole Hardison, author, FARMHOUSE SECRET, Aberdeen Bay Publishing
Angela Sage Larsen, author, FIFTIES CHIX: KEEPING SECRETS, FastPencil Premiere Publishing
Patty Mund, author, NOT JUST A PONY, CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Dawn Bensen, illustrator, NOT JUST A PONY, CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Audrey Munsch, author, THE TALE OF THE RED RIBBON, Strategic Book Publishing
Leah Scott, author, TIN CUP AND THE TORNADO, Outskirts Press

Click under the banner on the right to visit the St. Charles County Library site, then click on November 29th on the calendar to see a complete list of participating authors. There's no need to register!

Stop by and say hello! I’d love to meet you. Bring your kids or pick up a free coloring page from NAME THAT DOG!

Go to http://www.youranswerplace.org/ to see a list of up-coming library events and programs.

For a list of local author signings and events at independent bookstores in St. Charles County, MO, go to: http://www.stlindiebook.com/.
 Read More 

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my blog friends!

Download a TURKEY SURPRISE coloring page from my website—just click on ‘My Works,’ then on ‘Turkey Surprise’ and click on the link to the coloring page on the left.

Or click under the picture for links to my coloring page and other Thanksgiving activities.

Earlier this month I attended the MO-SCBWI conference in St. Louis. The high point of attending a conference is, of course, the speakers and all that they have to offer to both aspiring and published authors. Here are some high points from this particular conference:

from Emma Dryden, consultant and former editor—Your website is key. Editors and agents check your web presence. If you’re not published yet, at least secure your domain name, which should be your own name.com, then create a simple page with your bio.

from Ellen Hopkins, YA author and poet—novel writing is ‘story-telling,’ and is not didactic; poetry is ‘painting pictures with words.’ She talked about writing bravely.

from David Harrison, author, on poetry collections—Know the common core state standards and what kids are studying in school. Choose a theme and make a list of possible poems to go with that theme.

from Will Terry, illustrator—The story is most important, then perfect your craft. The ‘tides are changing’—he does illustrations digitally now, and gathers his audience on places such as blogsites, facebook, flickr, twitter, UTube, and eblogger.

from Joyce Ragland, MO-SCBWI Regional Advisor— find a critique group; go to conferences and national conferences; network with other authors and editors.

Some other perks of attending conferences for children’s writers and illustrators—gathering together with others who understand what writers really do; meeting with old friends and making new ones; networking—sharing experiences and learning from each other’s past; getting face-to-face with editors, agents and authors and having an opportunity to ask those ‘burning’ questions.

Some perks of volunteering to help at a conference—spending one-on-one time with speakers as you drive them to the airport or time their critiques, and schmoozing at dinner the night before the conference starts.

There’s always so much to absorb and follow through on following a conference! Look for conferences for children’s writers and illustrators in your region at the SCBWI website at www.scbwi.org.
 Read More 

Looking for a great book to add to your writer's library? Check out Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life by Barnaby Conrad and Monte Schulz.

See my blog, Advice From a Dog, on the Indiana Writer's Consortium (IWC) blog site. Click under the book cover to visit the IWC blog site.
Or go to http://indiana-writers-consortium.blogspot.com/.

While you're there check out past blogs written by Indiana authors, including This Post is Copyrighted, by author and lawyer Kathryn Page Camp, and find answers to your questions about copyrighting your work.

Visit Kathryn 's website at www.kathrynpagecamp.com.
 Read More 

Come and join the fun at the Indiana State Fairgrounds this week at the Christmas Gift and Hobby Show in Indianapolis. Featured will be several Indiana authors who will be doing book signings at the show.

Joining me on Saturday evening from 7-9 pm will be picture book author, Deb Osza, author of BUTTERCUP’S BIG DAY.

Visit with young adult author Barb Shoup on Wednesday and Thursday from 4-8 pm. Two of her young adult books were selected as American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. Her newest book is AN AMERICAN TUNE (Indiana University Press (September 2012).

Join Mike Mullin on Friday from 3-6 p.m. His first novel, ASHFALL (Tanglewood Press 2011) was listed on the International Reading Association’s 2012 Young Adults' Choices list. The second book in the trilogy, Ashen Winter, was released in October 2012.

Visit with Laurie Gray on Saturday from 1-7 p.m. Her debut novel, Summer Sanctuary (Luminis Books May 2010), won a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award Gold Medal for excellence in young adult literature.

My own picture books available on Saturday are:
NAME THAT DOG! (Dial Books for Young Readers 2012)—an alphabet book featuring poems about dogs and their names
FROM DAWN TO DREAMS: Poems for Busy Babies (Candlewick Press 2007)
TURKEY SURPRISE (Dial Books for Young Readers 2005)—a Thanksgiving picture book and NY Times bestseller.

Click on the link below the coupon for a complete list of the 21 authors in order of appearance, or go to the link listed below.

Take advantage of the coupon posted here for $2 off the entrance fee. It's a great opportunity to have fun and get some holiday shopping done early!

http://www.christmasgiftandhobbyshow.com/features/CGHS_12_AuthorSchedule.pdf
 Read More