Here’s how I was introduced:  ”Don’t let his lack of hair follicles fool you.  Greg Trine is the author of eight books for children, which one reviewer called ‘Way more compelling than the phone book.’  Another said he liked them more than a root canal.’ and a third said, “These things a chocked full of nouns and verbs.”

Get them laughing before you begin your speech…that’s my theory.

These books will be for age 7 and up and the first should be available in the fall of 2012.  I hope to share glimpse of text and art on here before then.  Yay!

Where do I go for inspiration?  Warner Brothers’ cartoons, of course.  Think Yosemite Sam or Daffy Duck…Or Sylvester the Cat.  There might be more current examples of lovable bad guys, but I’m old.  I go for the classics.

I’m putting together a list of the villains we love.  Suggestions?

Last Saturday, my tall tale won at the Area level and I’ll be moving on to Division in two weeks.  As they say, I hope to break a leg…or at least sprain a few ankles.

Good ol’ Truman Capote.  I finished my latest novel a few weeks back, and now I’m in “What’s Next?” mode.  Start something new…but what?  And in what genre?  Fortunately, I have a story or two on the back burner.  Resurrecting an old story has worked for me in the past, so here goes…  My next work will be…

Oops!  Sorry—only my agent knows for sure…for now.  I’ll let you know.  Which brings up the question, how do you come up with your ideas?  What do you do when you’re between projects?  Do you free write?  Do you journal?  Do you return to an old story and revise like crazy?  Let’s talk process.  Ready?  Go!  Leave a comment.  Let’s start a discussion.

A while back I watched the movie The Other Guys, which was a very funny movie, for the most part.  Now and then the humor fell flat, and it was always when they dumbed it down.  I won’t be specific here, since this is a kidlit blog, but the humor didn’t work when it was less smart.

To quote (or paraphrase) my favorite editor…in a recent newspaper article she says, “There’s a very fine line between silly humor that’s actually pretty smart, and silly humor that’s just kind of dumb—and is generally not all that funny, either.  Humor is very difficult to do well, but so-and-so* has that magic touch.  He/she seems to understand instinctively what kids will find funny, and he doesn’t talk down to them at all.”

That last line is the key to writing smart humor.  Don’t talk down to kids.  In fact, don’t pay too much attention to what you think they might find funny.  Trust your own instincts and you’ll find yourself writing smart humor and avoiding humor that is just-plain-dumb.

*this author shall remain a mystery.

Here’s the link to the video:

(http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dianidevine/replacing-the-n-word-with-robot-in-huck-finn)

1. Ice Cream (need I say more?)

2. The Ball (baseball, kickball…you name it; if it’s a sphere, I dig it)

3. The Afternoon Nap (actually, any time of day works)

4. The Fudgesicle (see #1 above)

5. The Hug (need I say more?)

6. Summer Vacation (closely related to #3 above)

7. A Really Cool Book About Bigfoot.  It’s called In Me Own Words: The Autobiography of Bigfoot by Graham Roumieu.  Very funny stuff.  Like I said, I wish I’d thought of it.  This the first in a series of picture books.  The other titles are I Not Dead and Me Write Book.  Bravo, Mr. Roumieu.  You crack me up…keep ‘em coming.

From GoodReads: “America’s favorite crypto-zoological hominid is hilariously recast as the modern-day everyman, struggling with eating disorders, casual cannibalism, pop culture, and philosophical quandaries.”

Smart guy, Ray Bradbury.  In other news, the economy seems like it’s picking up.  How do I know this?  Schools are starting to invite more than they have the last few years.  Even here in California, where the schools are suffering more than most other places in the country, they’re still trying to make it happen.  My spring calendar is filling up…Yay!

“Trine’s The Second Base Club is one of the best young adult novels I have read, and having a fourteen year old son I’ve read a lot of them. It’s fast-paced, energetic, and funny, but more that that it really gets at the heart of the high school boy’s dilemma, that strange set of internal conflicts that center around self-discovery and girls. I think that’s what I liked best about it: its unflinching honesty. The main character, Elroy, embodies the embarrassing normalcy of struggling through those years–his clumsy attempts to get the girl, his choice to involve himself in wrestling for maybe the wrong reasons, even his errors and what he learns from them. He’s immensely likable, especially in his flaws and foibles. The hard lesson he learns at the end, which comes out of his own near miss with bad behavior, made him all the more human and real. In the end, I just wanted to be his friend, oddly finding myself wishing I actually were Vern or Tuck. I gave it to my son to read right off the bat, mainly because I thought he’d like it, but also because I thought he would relate. Teenage boys need most of all to relate. After he finished, I found out I wasn’t wrong. Read this book, boys. Get it for you kids, parents.”