TV Research and Writing

file511249349101I read something recently about millennials and TV and their viewing habits but what struck me most was the number of hours they were watching daily. I think the average was around four hours. Four hours! That seems like a lot of TV.

Even though I work at home, I don’t have the TV on during the day unless it’s a weekend afternoon and there’s football. Or baseball. Or golf. But even then, I’m not watching so much as pacing. Getting stuff done and checking scores. Because if I sit to watch, it gets a little scary. Not for me so much, but Mister Man has been known to run screaming from the room when I get worked up.

But in the evenings, I watch a little TV for relaxation purposes. I have specific programs I like so I’ll watch for an hour or so and I’m done. Which is a long way to go to get to The Voice and how I love it. And how it inspired my latest post over at The Muffin called “Turning An Agent’s Chair.”

The writing of that post was downright zippy, but the research? That took hours.

Time To Rhyme (See What I Did There?)

writing-in-rhyme-to-wow-class-logo-e1457424491540This month–or at least after all the SCBWI doings–I caught up with a Writing in Rhyme class I won from Angie Karcher. Goodness, Angie really knows her stuff!

I, on the other hand, am not exactly a whiz at writing rhyme (though I like to try). I only have one picture book that’s in rhyme but I learned a whole bunch of stuff to make it better and my project for next month is to take that manuscript and polish it till it shines like a…a…well, see? I need a little work on imagery and such.

And maybe you’re interested in spiffing up a rhyming picture book. Or maybe you’re just interested in rhyming poetry. Boy, have I got a deal for you!

Technically, it’s not my deal. It’s Angie Karcher’s. Every April, she hosts RhyPiBoMo which is short for Rhyming Picture Book Month and holy moly (see what I did there?), you are not going to believe all the wonderful guest bloggers she’s scheduled!

Plus, she has all kinds of fun events and doings over there. And it’s ALL free! But mostly, I guarantee that you’ll learn a TON about rhyming picture books. So run like a Tasmanian Devil (see? I’m getting smarter already!) and register for RhyPiBoMo! (See you there!)