Last summer, I had the most delightful time in North Georgia, spending a week with a most delightful bunch of picture book writers. I wrote all about it here and when all was said and done, I decided that I had to be done with picture books and get back to my heart. Because I had the beginning of a middle grade story on my heart that was begging to be written.

So this year, I’ve been writing, writing, writing that middle grade story. And I am this close to being done with it. But that, my friends, is just the first draft I’ll be finishing. I’ll need to go back and weave in some good stuff, take out some of the stinky stuff. And that revision has been penciled in for…yep, April.

It just so happens that RhyPiBoMo (that’s Rhyming Picture Book Month, in case you wondered) begins in April (and you can register now!). And I’m just not talented enough to revise a 35,000 word middle grade manuscript and follow along with Angie Karcher’s great posts and read all those great picture books, too. And okay, I know I’m prone to hyperbole, but not this time.

Oh, no, people, not this time. Angie (did I tell you I met her? Up in North Georgia at that weeklong writing workshop?) works so hard to bring such a lot of great writing information your way. I mean, she is committed. And I guarantee that you will be a better picture book writer if you commit to RhyPiBoMo. You can’t be half-a…er…baked about it. You have to be all in.

Kind of like I’m all in on my middle grade story. So best of luck to all of us, wherever our heart is leading us (but dang, I’ll miss all those fun picture book writers)!