http://shutta.com children's author and teller of stories Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:24:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en   For this year's random acts of publicity week, I'd like to give a loud shout-out about  my friend Deb Diesen's book, THE POUT-POUT FISH IN THE BIG-BIG DARK. (Illustrated by the talented Dan Hanna. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) If you enjoyed the first book about ... http://shutta.com/2011/09/1st-random-act-of-publicity-2011/ If you're a writer or illustrator and want to spend some time networking with other writers and illustrators contact me about the annual Schmooze here or via my "contact" page. It's Sunday, August 14 from 2 to 5 p.m.  More information is available on my Schmooze page (under the Events ... http://shutta.com/2011/08/its-schmooze-time/   What a wonderful idea! Artists and writers have joined the wave of folks speaking directly to kids who are having a tough time, or who are being bullied, to let them know that "it gets better." What a great way to encourage kids who are suffering. Many of ... http://shutta.com/2011/06/it-gets-better-video/   Often I am asked about which book had the most impact on me when I was a child. A couple of years ago I finally decided to write about that. The book was a Webster's Dictionary that I rescued from an incinerator and lugged home to a ... http://shutta.com/2011/06/lexical-lust-an-ink-slingers-confession/ If you've read the "about me" info on this website, you know I was a librarian for twenty-four years. On the first Father's Day after my own father had died, I wrote a short piece for a professional journal about two favorite reference questions I fielded while a librarian. Both ... http://shutta.com/2011/05/god-and-the-swearing-book-my-two-favorite-reference-questions/ My friend, Cynthia Leitich Smith, has posted a fun interview with Publisher Elizabeth Law of Egmont and author Allen Zadoff. And Elizabeth has been kind enough to offer a critique of part of a manuscript! This is a wonderful chance for someone to get some thoughtful criticism back from a ... http://shutta.com/2011/05/an-interview-with-elizabeth-law-and-allen-zadoff-and-a-chance-to-win-a-critique/   Since I have a really difficult time waiting for a book to be released, I thought I'd release a tantalizing bit of MINE! via a book trailer.     I hope you like it! I love, love, love Patrice Barton's illustrations for our book! And---just in case you haven't heard . . . MINE! ... http://shutta.com/2011/05/mine-book-trailer-released/   One of the greatest things that has happened since I started writing is that my network of friends keeps growing--writers and non-writers. Many of the writers host contests. (As I did for THOMAS AND THE DRAGON QUEEN last fall.) Below are links to some giveaway contests and good ... http://shutta.com/2011/04/books-contests-by-writer-friends-yay-for-you-you-could-be-a-winner/ Publishing Children's Books: The Dirty Truth! Thursday April 7, 2011 @ 7:00 p.m. Ann Arbor Public Library, Traverwood Branch 3333 Traverwood Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105 Panelists are: Shutta Crum, author and storyteller Heather Hughes, Sleeping Bear Press publisher Colleen Kammer, owner of the the Book Beat in Oak Park, Michigan Marian Nelson, publisher at Nelson Publishing, ... http://shutta.com/2011/03/publishing-childrens-books-program/   I'm tickled and so-o-o-o excited to announce that award-winning illustrator R. Gregory Christie has agreed to illustrate my upcoming book with Hyperion:  JUBAH. It's a picture book story of a young girl with the power of creation in her hands . . . based partly on African creation ... http://shutta.com/2011/03/upcoming-book-by-shutta-crum-to-be-illustrated-by-r-gregory-christie/