Povember

I am in the middle of an identity crisis.

When I started writing for children and blogging about all of my shining experiences, I was on a break from school. This fall, I have put my student hat back on and MAN, OH, MAN, am I a lost puppy.

The only other time I can compare it to is when I was a server in a semi-busy restaurant. The cups were clanging, voices muffled, Six Pence None the Richer playing faintly, seemingly on repeat in the background. The room would start to spin and I didn't know who the heck wanted what. 

Coffee? Please!

There are people on the patio? Oh yeah! 

I have to take all those dirty dishes off the table? Whoops!

And a lovely customer, screeching,  "IS SHE NEW?!" bringing the entire joint to a stop...(I'm pretty sure even silencing Six Pence None the Richer.)

That confusing, whirlwind of an expereince is EXACTLY what I am reliving now, only this time around I have kids, a muffin top, a messy house, grad courses, and a killer love for children's literature and blogging. The last couple of months, I've felt out of the loop. Due to the demands of schooling,  I have spent less time writing and reading for children than ever and I can't help but wonder, was this just a fluke thing, this whole writing for children business? Is it over? Was I dreamin'?! I mean HOW THE HECK DO PEOPLE DO THIS WITH DAY JOBS?!

And then November hit.

Thank goodness for November.

Actually, I think they should change it to Povember. We must honor the letter "P", because for many of us, it is the symbol of both community and indulgence. Besides being the month of massive amounts of pumpkin pie (double "P" goodness), November is the month of the picture book! While my picture book flame may have been reduced to slight flicker earlier this fall, Povember has really rekindled my writerly motivation, breathing oxygen with the strength of a Galaxy 9000 Leaf Blower DX.

Maybe Target does have it right. Christmas has come early as I far as I am concerned. In my world, Povember is filled with the sweetness of blog posts from children's book industry professionals, TWO FOLD.  First I have the daily posts of Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo then I click on over to Dianne de las Casa's Picture Book Month extravaganza. (And not always in that order.) The best part is, I get to take advantage of it all over here in my west coast time zone, sneaking peeks the night before. A little treat for me. I really look forward to it. Like a dessert. Just like pumkin pie. I heart Povember.

Here is an awesome video for Picture Book Month done by my amazingly talented and silly, motion graphics designer, friend CARTER HIGGINS!

Pretty inspiring, huh?

And with this I leave you, but not without a wonderfully, wacky quote from the late and great Maurice Sendak on the topic of inspiration:

"I feel it in me like a woman having a baby, all that life churning on inside me. I feel it every day: it moves and stretches, yawns. It's getting ready to get born. It knows exactly what it is."

                                                            THANKS POVEMBER!