April 26, 2025 • 55 mins
What if your storytelling dreams could transform into an award-winning career? Join us on Craft Chat Chronicles as we sit down with the remarkable Connie Schofield Morrison, who shares her journey from managing her illustrator husband Frank Morrison to carving out her own path as a celebrated author. Connie's candid conversation covers everything from the importance of setting professional boundaries to finding the right literary agent and ensuring your work meets industry standards. Get ready for an eye-opening discussion about the hurdles and triumphs aspiring writers face in the publishing world.
This episode takes a heartfelt look into Connie's passion for children's literature and her dedication to giving young readers a voice. Discover the essential elements that make a compelling children's picture book, including relatable characters and meaningful narratives. Connie also discusses her motivation to address contemporary cultural issues. Gain insight into her creative process for her current and upcoming books, like the "Spooky Spirit" series and "Big Boy Joy," designed to be inclusive of all nationalities. Learn why it's crucial to respect criticism and develop resilience to succeed in the literary industry.
Connie offers practical advice to overcome fear and procrastination, emphasizing the importance of active writing and learning from feedback. Get tips on finding writing conferences, networking effectively, and building support for new projects through local libraries and bookstores. Connie also sheds light on the collaborative process between authors and illustrators and the significant role of creative control. Don't miss her valuable insight and words of encouragement. Subscribe, comment, and share to stay inspired!
Keywords:
podcast, Bestselling Author Tips, Picture books, publishing, Crafting Bestsellers, Publishing Industry Insights, Writing Strategies, Author Success Stories, Writing Career, Writing Craft, Narrative Development, Networking Strategies, Creative Writing Techniques, Author Interviews, Book Promotion, Literary Agents, Real Life Experiences, Writing Tips, Award Winning Author, Connie Schofield Morrison
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Announcer (00:05):
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast
for tips on craftingbest-selling fiction.
Here at Craft Chat Chronicles,we bring you expert interviews,
insights and tips on writing,publishing and marketing.
Join the conversation andembark on a new chapter in your
(00:25):
writing journey.
For workshops, show notes andmore information, visit
jdmyhongcom.
That's.
J.D. Myall (00:34):
JD acclaimed author Connie Schofield Morrison.
Welcome everybody Tonight atour chat.
We will be honored to haveConnie Morrison, an
award-winning author celebratedfor her vibrant storytelling and
novels like I Got School Spirit.
She's a mother, she's anentrepreneur.
(00:55):
She's a celebrity life coach.
She's done script writing andstuff too.
She's a woman of many talents.
Her books have gotten globalrecognition from people like
Michelle Obama.
She's been featured in the NewYork Times.
Her books are known for theirjoy and their rhythm and they've
been recognized by the Libraryof Michigan and the Library of
(01:16):
Congress National Book Festival,where they posted her several
times.
So, connie, welcome.
She's also sweet and gracefuland wonderful and a good spirit,
so it'll be fun learning fromher tonight.
How are you doing tonight,connie?
Can you tell everybody aboutyour publishing journey?
Connie Schofield Morrison (01:36):
Oh yes, so I'm married to an
illustrator.
Actually, he's illustrated afew of my books Prior to my
journey.
I managed, marketed, branded,made him a world brand and so,
(01:57):
prior to me finding an agent, Iwas the person that acted as his
agent and his manager.
So I got the door slammed in myface so many times, watched the
door slam in his face, tryingto secure a deal, because I
didn't go to school to be awriter.
(02:19):
Writing is what I've done fromthe second grade.
Actually, I wrote to have avoice and so, walking alongside
Frank on his journey, by thetime it got to me, I realized
what I set boundaries for myselfthat I didn't have for him
(02:41):
because I didn't know to havethem for him, have for him
because I didn't know to havethem for him.
So by the time I came around tomy journey, I did not want to
go the route of creating all ofthis work to be told no, or it
wasn't good enough or it wasjust they were looking for
something else or someone else.
So what I did was I hired anagent and my agent journey.
(03:05):
Most people think like, oh, it'sa friend thing or oh, you know,
I was married to an alreadyestablished artist.
I got the easy way and I didn't.
I literally went online and Iat first I thought about places
I would would, what would liketo live other than, um.
(03:27):
At the time it was New Jersey,um, so I chose LA, I chose New
York, because that's where I'mfrom, I chose Chicago and I
actually chose, um Paris.
And so I went and I put up onat the time it was AOL, if y'all
remember that, I pulled up onAOL literary agents,
(03:52):
award-winning literary agents,and I had a list of 100 and I
narrowed it down and at the timemy husband was with a company,
shannon Associates, that's, whohe signed with after, I'll say,
his third or fourth book that heillustrated.
(04:14):
And so I didn't want to be withthe same company that he was
with.
And so I narrowed it down, Iwould call these different
agents, and until I finally gotlike six that I felt I gelled
with, because agents are likeshoes you have to find the agent
that fits, because this personis making deals for you when
(04:34):
you're not there.
They're handling moneydecisions for you when you're
not present in the room.
So you need somebody that youfeel you could trust to make
decisions for you when you'renot there and to make the best
decisions for you.
And so I wind up signing with acompany Painted Words because I
(04:57):
loved Lori's tenacity one andthen her attitude like she was
not a game player and with me Idon't need to be told what I
want to hear all the time.
I need told what's the truthand what makes sense.
And so she was just that, thattype of person, um for me.
(05:20):
So, um, finding an agent.
I then knew what I wanted and Ididn't want to go the route of
going to a hundred differentagencies.
I trusted that connections inthe industry already, because
she was an established agent andlike I thought she did, and so
(05:44):
I asked her to find out what herfriends in the industry were
looking for.
Prior to shopping my book, I hadone manuscript, I got the
rhythm and I knew I didn't wantto sit and be waiting for
another deal because, again, Iwas still married to an
illustrator artist and he wasstill going through some things.
(06:05):
And so I'm like, okay, I don'twant to go through it triple
dose.
I'm already going through it asa wife.
I'm already with businesspartners, I'm already still
going through it on that aspect.
I don't want to go through itwith mine.
So I made sure with mine, I setboundaries and I had goals.
This is what I would like to do.
Do it make sense to you?
(06:26):
And so, with Lori told me no, Ikind of trusted her decision.
And when I got the rhythm andI'm being honest, I wanted this
to be my baby outside of Frank.
I really did not want him toillustrate my books, can I?
J.D. Myall (06:47):
interrupt real quick .
Yeah, I know Frank and you knowFrank, but we don't know that
all them know.
Frank, can you tell them whoyour husband is?
For those who might not know myhusband is.
Connie Schofield Morrison (06:56):
His name is Frank Morrison.
He's a world renowned artistand illustrator.
We've been married going on 34years and we have an art gallery
.
It's online, morrison GraphicsLLC, and it's really dedicated
to Frank.
I'm not an artist, so he hashis artistry and I let him have
(07:22):
that.
Um, and outside of beingmarried to Frank, I have a lot
of other things that I'll talkto y'all about a little bit
later, um, but so back to withLori.
I really had my goals, so I wasusing my mating name, which is
Connie, so that's why it'sConnie Schofield Morrison on my
(07:44):
book, and I'm not sure if youall know how far you are in your
journey.
Authors and illustrators do notwork together in
self-publishing, and it's areason why the publishing houses
do that.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
And so they didn't know.
Connie Schofield Morrison (08:05):
Frank was my husband at first.
Frank wound up leaving hiscompany his agent company and he
signed with my agent company,and so it takes a couple of
months to a couple of years tonegotiate a deal, and so my
particular deal took about ayear.
By the time the deal wasclosing they had selected an
(08:26):
illustrator, which was myhusband.
My agent is who told them wewere married, but they never
knew.
A lot of people think, oh, theyworked on a book together.
We didn't work on any of thebooks together.
He worked on his end from hisstudio and I worked on my end
(08:49):
from my studio.
So that's how it came together,and because my goals were set
and my boundaries were set, Ididn't have to keep writing
manuscripts like that.
I didn't have to keep writingmanuscripts like that.
When it came around to thesecond book, the publishing
house actually came to my agentand said, wow, we was thinking
about a book series.
(09:10):
And how about, if you have?
Suggest that she write?
I Got the Christmas Spirit andlet's see what she thinks about
it.
And so that's how it went.
So if you set boundaries, ifyou choose the right agent and
you set the right boundaries,everything else works out
(09:32):
Everything.
They start suggesting books toyou or once they pick up on your
style if you tell them okay,this is what I want to write.
I told my agent I didn't likehistory books, even though I
wound up writing a history bookand I'll tell y'all about that
too.
I didn't like history growingup.
I didn't like dark stories andI did not like dark pictures,
(09:53):
images and most of thechildren's books in my days in
the seventies growing up weredark.
They were always dark brownsand burgundies and the stories
were even darker.
So I didn't like it.
So I told her on my journey Iwant to write books that were
bright and beautiful and happy,and it wasn't for a particular
(10:17):
child, but I definitely wanted,when kids saw the cover, to
smile, have a reason to smile,whether it was they seen
themselves on the pictures ofthe cover or just the words, the
colors of the words, and so ifyou set your goals, if you know
the genres you want to work,definitely let your agent know.
(10:39):
It helps when it comes time.
J.D. Myall (10:42):
How did you decide to write picture books as
opposed to like any other genre?
What was it about picture booksthat called out to you?
Connie Schofield Morrison (10:49):
One, my oldest daughter she's six now
growing up, um, she didn't liketo read.
The only book that, um, she wasinterested in was DW Arthur
little sister, and I didn't mindher looking at a cartoon
(11:12):
character and getting oh, when Igrow up, this is who I want to
be.
Like the DW, I'm DW.
It's cute, but then when youthink about your child growing
up, it's like okay, you can't beDW forever.
So, um, I helped her understandlike it's not the actual
(11:33):
character that you're wanting tobe, it's what she's depicting
and how she's depicting it andwhat the stories that she's
telling you could identify withthem.
And so it was that.
That was one of the things thatdrove me to writing for
(11:53):
children.
And then my childhoodexperience is not being allowed
to have a voice and the oldsaying what goes in in this
house, what goes on in thishouse, stays in this house.
I felt, if I'm seeing certainthings and I'm hearing certain
(12:14):
things, why can't I say it?
And so, just my mom, shenan herbackground.
I knew I wanted to be adifferent parent.
I knew I wanted children torealize and understand that they
are people too and that they dohave voices and that their
voices matter, their opinionsmatter.
(12:34):
And, um, that's what drove meto write for children.
J.D. Myall (12:42):
I love that.
Connie Schofield Morrison (12:43):
I do have adult books.
J.D. Myall (12:45):
I just haven't put them out yet okay, what do you
think are the essential elementsto make a good children's
picture book like, what are thethings that we need in our
stories to help them do well?
Connie Schofield Morrison (13:03):
one, the character, the attitude of
the characters, stories thatmake sense, that children can
identify with.
Um, we as adults tend to thinkCertain topics are not for
(13:25):
children.
When it comes to emotion, andlately, with everything that's
going on in the world publishinghouses, a lot of them are
giving the okay to write aboutcertain emotions and just
(13:50):
certain things that I'll say forthe gay community, it's been
challenging.
It's been a lot of situationswhere publishing houses wouldn't
pick up books about children ina gay community.
They were against it.
(14:12):
And so I know I have five kids,four in which are grown, and now
I have a grandbaby and that's,it's in their culture now and
it's like, ok, how can we notwrite about this and how can we
not write about the emotionsthat people go through?
What makes a child become whatthey call it non-binary?
(14:37):
Now, non-binary, what is?
Are they born that way?
This is like that's a topicthat publishing houses didn't
want to pick up with andelaborate on.
Right now there's a need for itand there's actually groups and
publishing houses that publishthose kinds of things.
J.D. Myall (15:19):
I think, if I had to be specific, everything that's
going on in culture now, in allcultures, in all genres, all
languages, would be something towrite about.
When it comes to kids, I lovethat.
We got a comment in the chatthat I'm going to read to you.
Cheryl said I agree 100%.
My youngest identifies asnon-binary and needs books that
speak to their experience too.
They're 20.
Yes, okay, Cheryl, weappreciate that.
Connie Schofield Morrison (15:42):
Yes, thank you.
J.D. Myall (15:45):
What's the story behind the story?
How did you come up with theidea for your current novel?
Connie Schofield Morrison (15:52):
is that one for me?
Yes, okay.
So which book is coming outnext?
Okay, so I can show y'all thisis.
I got the spooky spirit that'sso cute.
Thank this is the final bookfor the series that me and Frank
had together.
Actually, I didn't come up with.
(16:13):
I came up with the title andthe story I wrote.
But they asked me Connie, welove the Christmas book.
I got the Christmas spirit.
What about another holiday?
They were thinking Easter and Iwas thinking Halloween, because
I love all the festivities thatgo on at Halloween time the
(16:34):
masquerade balls and thecostumes and I thought if Frank
was illustrating it he candepict kids very well.
I knew he would nail thecostumes on the kids, so that's
how the one came up.
I have coming out after this.
It's with a new um illustrator,shamar night um king, and that
(16:59):
series.
They wanted it to be black boyjoy, but I I have, I'm just
going to say it I have a whitegrandson.
He's half white, half black,but he looks white because my
family heritage my maiden nameis Jewish, because my
(17:20):
grandmother was Jewish, so he'sdefinitely Caucasian or white,
and so I didn't want the book tobe called Black Boy Joy, so I
chose Big Boy Joy, becausethere's a lot of things little
big boys do that's exciting.
So and I didn't want to colorcodeoded because I have all
(17:41):
nationalities in my family.
So that particular one I did myfirst book and now I'm
currently writing two at thesame time because I get writers
blocked very easy.
But this particular book seriesthat I'm working on, my friend,
(18:04):
he's not the charactercharacter, however, his moods
and his different emotions anddifferent things that he do.
Um, I actually go to theplayground, not even with him
all the time, but I'll go to theplayground, um, in church.
I'll go to the nursery and Ilook at the different movements
of the kids and the differentthings that they say.
(18:26):
In a supermarket, when I hearlittle kids screaming or crying,
I'll kind of go in and pick upthe attitudes behind the
children.
And I have my iPhone, I'll typelittle notes in my notes
section Um, and I'll come homesometimes, or office, and just
(18:51):
sit there and think about allthe different attitudes in a
week and kind of put it togetherand I'll write tons of titles,
tons of titles, until I find onethat I feel is you know what's
going on.
Now I'll look at the news andI'll um, I'll say a couple of
(19:13):
months back, the whole situationwith Ukraine.
I was sitting up thinking likewhat would the little boys want
if they could pick up a bookright now and read it?
What would make them happyright now?
And so that's how I wrote downa whole list of titles based off
of that one thought so that'susually what I come up with um.
Well, now, with this series,this is how I'm coming up with
(19:35):
the different um titles in adifferent scenarios that's going
to take place in the story whatadvice?
J.D. Myall (19:42):
what was the best advice you ever got on writing
respect the criticism.
Connie Schofield Morrison (19:58):
You really have to have tough skin
in this industry, especiallywith writing, I know with me I
used to think everything I wrotewas was good enough.
And when I was told you knowkind of you have to respect the
(20:20):
criticism.
At first I didn't take thatlightly, um, and I really didn't
understand it.
Like, why do I have to respectwhat somebody else thinks one of
my manuscripts?
It's not for them, you know.
And then I had to realize whatI was thinking and what I was
saying and respect it.
(20:42):
It's not for me.
What I'm writing is for themasses, it's for people of
different, um that come fromdifferent backgrounds, different
cultures, they speak differentlanguages.
So I had to realize, wow, thetalent is from the creator and
(21:02):
I'm just the vessel that he'susing to create.
And what I'm creating is notfor me, it's for the minds of
the children that's reading it.
And I came up with this sayingif I could change the mind of a
child, it could potentiallychange a generation, which will
(21:23):
ultimately change the world.
And so, back to what you asked.
That was one of the mostimportant things that was ever,
or advice that was given to methat I took and I applied, and
if you apply it to yourself, toyour mindset, then you're able
(21:47):
to handle anything, becauseeverybody that reads your books
is not just coming from theagent perspective or the
publishing house, theircriticism.
You will have fans that willtotally act like they hate what
you create and those areactually the ones that love it
(22:08):
the most.
So if you can handle what themedia is going to say about your
work, you'll be able to writeanything.
J.D. Myall (22:18):
I love that.
I love that.
First time I met you, we did apanel on diversity and fiction
together and you were asweetheart then and you're still
a sweetheart.
Do you have any advice for newwriters on doing panels and
author events and things likethat?
Connie Schofield Morrison (22:43):
Yes, I would encourage it.
One and I still do this now.
I actually pull up all the bookconferences that's going on in
the United States.
I pull it up in January everysingle year and I kind of go
through the list and some of theconferences are huge and it's
like oh, this is going on mydream bigger list.
And then the ones that they'recause they'll tell you they're
(23:05):
looking for authors of genrethat genre, self-published, not
published yet, published yet, uh, published.
And I go down that list andwrite down okay, I'm going to do
this one, this one, that one,and then on my dream bigger list
, I actually have a board on mywall right there.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
And.
Connie Schofield Morrison (23:26):
I just did a whole vision board of
the conferences I want to doand who I want to be at these
conferences, beforehand andafter.
So that's one thing.
Another thing I would encourageas new writers don't be afraid.
(23:48):
Don't be afraid, don't wastetime, don't procrastinate.
Just do it and learn from thefeedback you get, even if it's
not your best work.
Just do it, because when you doit and you put your work out
there, you get the criticismback After a while, like you
(24:08):
feel free, like I did it.
So the second time it gets eveneasier.
Just do it, just write and knowthat you're writing and the
thought of even writing iscoming from a higher source.
It's coming from a highersource I love that.
J.D. Myall (24:25):
Marybeth wants to know what source do you use to
find the list of the conferences?
Connie Schofield Morriso (24:31):
Google .
I put it in Google and, believeit or not.
Some of the conferences listother conferences.
Some of them are on pages thathave multiple conferences and in
bookstores.
Barnes and Nobles they have aBarnes and Nobles and Books a
(24:52):
Million.
They have a board and most ofthem and you can go and look in
their cards.
People put like theiradvertisement on it Starbucks,
people advertise.
I look for that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
OK.
Connie Schofield Morrison (25:08):
Oh, and the library, your local
library, which is my hangoutspot.
Oh, and the library, your locallibrary, which is my hangout
spot, your local libraries.
J.D. Myall (25:23):
Get to know your librarians.
Libraries are attached toconferences as well.
Connie Schofield Morrison (25:32):
I love that, any best practices,
anything that you do to help younetwork better and, you know,
put your best foot forward on apanel, and stuff like that.
Yes, so I?
I mentioned libraries.
Um, I go to all.
Listen, I go to librarieseverywhere and even when I go to
other states I go to libraries.
I know the librarians ingeorgia.
I go to quite a few differentcounties and just volunteer,
volunteer to read story times.
(25:52):
Barnes and nobles as well, go toyour local barnes and nobles,
your local bookstores, andvolunteer to read, and that way
when your new projects come outthey're there to support you 150
percent that's great adviceyeah never thought of that.
J.D. Myall (26:10):
That's brilliant.
What was your biggest surprisein the publishing journey?
Like what was different thanthe way you thought it would be
well.
Connie Schofield Morrison (26:22):
so my biggest surprise was, when
you're published, it's just likewriting a record.
Um, you get these contracts,they give you an upfront bonus
which goes to royalty, right.
And so I was thinking, okay, Idon't want to do it because,
(26:42):
frankly, he wasn't getting anyroyalty.
I don't want to owe any, don'tlike bills.
So, like me, I'm not a bigcredit person, I don't like
bills.
So I didn.
I'm not a big credit person, Idon't like bills, so I didn't
want to do it that route.
But that's the standard way togo.
And so the book came out andwhen it came time to the first
royalties I got, I receivedroyalties.
(27:05):
So I was like hold up, like whodoes this?
So that was the biggestsurprise for me, and if I could
give another, my second surpriseis now.
The life of a children's bookis one year.
My first book came out in 2014and it's still on bookshelves
(27:27):
worldwide, and it's been printedin multiple different languages
, languages I've never evenheard of.
So that was the second um bigsurprise for me.
Let me tell you when you dreambig and you believe in your
dreams, doors begin to open thatyou could never imagine.
(27:48):
But it takes.
It requires walking by faithand believe in dreaming in your
dream, because the dreams arenot in your mind for no reason.
I tell my kids you know what Ithink.
This is my grandmother, someancestor or somebody telling me
that I can't dream anymore,because how am I dreaming?
(28:09):
And it's happening.
So'm I'm learning.
I'm still learning to justdream bigger, dream bigger
you've been doing some scriptwriting too.
J.D. Myall (28:21):
How is that different than your novel
writing?
Connie Schofield Morrison (28:24):
I actually like the script writing
.
Um, um, I did some stuff forthe show the Resident with
Malcolm Jamal Warner and alsoHoney 1, 2, and 3.
It's different in a sense.
(28:45):
You actually see the charactersthat you write out in real life
.
You actually see what you'rewriting alive Within the books.
You have to imagine thecharacters and what they're
doing and place yourself inthese little worlds where, when
you write a script, you actuallysee someone living it out.
(29:06):
So I love it.
My, I have a book, stitch byStitch, that was published with
Holiday House Publishing andthat was actually a slave that
came to me in a dream that Ididn't have enough.
So her book, she asked me in adream, ultimately, if I would
(29:28):
rewrite.
Once I realized what she saidwas true, would I rewrite her
story the way I would havewanted it to be written as a
child and to add the colors thatI would have wanted to see.
And so, when I realized she wasreal, I hope I did Some justice
(29:49):
on what she asked.
But I'm hoping to get a moviedeal off of the Stitch by Stitch
.
I'm in negotiations withNickelodeon Paramount for I Got
the School Spirit.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Mm-hmm.
Connie Schofield Morrison (30:06):
And hopefully this year I could
write some adult books that orfinish adult books that I would
want to see on the shelves andin a movie form love that, love
that.
J.D. Myall (30:21):
Tell us a little bit about your icon makeup and all
your other wonderful endeavorsso I have a brand um icon by
connie morrison.
Connie Schofield Morrison (30:30):
The cosmetic brand is the same
manufacturers as kylie, jennaand rihanna and um.
I've kind of put it.
I'm going to I have my websitestill up, but I'm going to do a,
a big launch, hopefully in umthis year and have it in some
major um story.
(30:52):
And I'm trying to think whatelse do I have going on my life
coaching, celebrity lifecoaching.
So last year I got bored alittle bit and um was given a
gift.
I was in Harvard I'm still inHarvard I took a little break,
um uh break in Harvard, tryingto think of something new to do.
(31:14):
I'm always thinking ofsomething new and I was offered
to go to school for free tobecome a life coach and when I
graduated, my professors told meyou know, you have a knack for
celebrities, so I think youshould do some coaching.
And so that's what I'm doingnow as well, coaching some of my
(31:35):
celebrity friends.
J.D. Myall (31:38):
That's pretty fun and exciting.
What are you writing currently?
Connie Schofield Morrison (31:43):
Just the big boy joy, and I did.
I complete 365 days ofinspiration for women.
J.D. Myall (31:50):
Love that so with.
Connie Schofield Morrison (31:51):
With that concept I'm going to do
journals and pillows, and pensand um wall appliques and
different things.
J.D. Myall (31:59):
Just a whole inspirational kit for women now,
when you do your picture books,do you write the whole thing or
do you guys sell them onproposal usually?
How does that process work withpicture books?
Connie Schofield Morrison (32:11):
just um, just a book, like a summary
one synopsis of nothing morethan a paragraph and I usually
right now I'm seeking a newagent.
Um, I really it's of interestfor me and frank, to be with the
same agent, so, and I need anagent where, with my movie, um,
(32:31):
stuff, everything is under onebelt.
With my former agent it wasjust the children's book and so,
um, I forgot what I was gettingready to say.
Um, I just threw myself off ofthe um the topic, talking about
(32:53):
my agent, just that way.
J.D. Myall (32:54):
Have you tried New Leaf?
I know they have film and TV.
Connie Schofield Morrison (32:58):
No, I haven't heard of New Leaf.
I went with Writer's House thatwas the company that I just
submitted my inquiry to and oneof my friends in the industry
kind of sent me some agents, um,and I've been taking my time a
little bit with it okay becauseI'm not one for it, like it's
(33:20):
just the friend thing.
Don't work with me, not withmoney, with agents.
Anyway that's going to be made.
J.D. Myall (33:29):
So okay, do you guys have any questions for us?
So far I have a question.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Um, could you speak a little more on the relationship
between the illustrator and theauthor?
So maybe not with your husband,but you mentioned you were
working with a new illustratorwho was part of your um uh,
where you're wrapped and so areyou writing the story first and
then that's sent to theillustrator?
Is it done in tandem?
(33:56):
What is that relationship like?
Connie Schofield Morrison (33:59):
Okay.
So I wrote the manuscript andthe publishers have different
authors that they work with anddifferent illustrators, so they
actually paired me up withShamar.
I didn't know him prior towriting a book and, believe it
or not, at first, I didn'tunderstand it.
(34:22):
When I found out with myhusband, like, oh, they picked
the illustrator.
But now five books in, Itotally get it.
They know exactly who to pairyou up with.
They know what the industrywants, what will sell.
They know don't ask me how it'slike magic they know how to
take your words and put it withan illustrator that's going to
(34:47):
depict the book just the way youwrote it, without you even
working with him or her.
And it's part of your contract.
It's not something you payextra for.
Take the money out of yourroyalties for it.
With your contract, theyactually have it.
This, whoever she, you know wepick, choose.
(35:09):
This is what's going to bebudgeted for the illustrator,
this is what's going to bebudgeted for the author.
And I know a lot of writers whowrite the book and they're like,
oh, I have to get or I have tofind an illustrator.
(35:30):
I get a lot of inquiriesthrough email, through social
media.
Do you know any illustrators?
Do you think your husband willbe interested in working on my
book?
And I can honestly say, knowinga lot of illustrators, that's
the last thing they want to seeis an email from an author
(35:53):
asking them to illustrate a book.
Trust me, you'll be veryappreciated with the publishing
house for them handling thatpart of your journey.
Like if you're writing, youneed your mind space to write.
You need it to think aboutwhat's next, not who's going to
(36:15):
depict the book for you inillustration.
J.D. Myall (36:21):
Now with your earlier books, did you have to
write the whole book, or was itstill um able to sell this?
Connie Schofield Morrison (36:25):
on the paragraph One manuscript and
that was the first.
When I um started, you know,seeking an agent, I already had
the manuscript done.
I got the was the onlymanuscript that wrote that I
wanted to present to anybody.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
Everything else.
Connie Schofield Morrison (36:43):
Just I have tons of books from when I
was a little girl, like justbooks of writing but it was
nothing that I wanted to present.
So after yes, I've writtenhundreds of manuscripts now, but
everything you see in book formor that has been submitted.
It was because they asked me todo it.
(37:04):
It was based off of a paragraph.
J.D. Myall (37:07):
Love that that whole manuscript.
Connie Schofield Morrison (37:11):
And if I could say something else,
especially if you're writingchapter books, you might want to
secure an agent first, becausethe agent will tell you I call
it suggestions they will suggestwell, maybe, perhaps you could
write about this, because theyknow what the industry is
looking for.
(37:31):
Sometimes, when you write thesebooks, and especially chapter
books I have friends that havewritten chapter books just to
have to change the book fromchapter to chapter.
They write down, they cut 10 to20 chapters out of the book and
it frustrates the writer.
(37:53):
So I tell everybody, do asynopsis of one page, synopsis
of maybe five to 10 books thatyou plan to write and get their
opinions first, before you doall of the work for them to
change your book around or tellyou what they feel should be
added to the book or taken away.
J.D. Myall (38:13):
That's good advice.
Anybody else have any questions?
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 5 (38:20):
I'm curious about like.
When I'm writing a book orstory, I usually have something
in my head.
You know how I imagine thatcharacter to look.
Or does that happen for youwhen you're writing a children's
book, and how much input do youhave, Like if't, if the, if the
(38:42):
illustrations come back andyou're like no, no, that's not
what I had in my head at alllike does that happen?
Connie Schofield Morrison (38:48):
yes, so you have control over how the
character looks like.
If they have the, they choosethe illustrator and illustrator
come up with dummy sketches ofthe book.
So they come back and the firstdummy sketches they come back
(39:09):
and they ask you how do you feel?
And it's called author notes.
So you could go and you couldsay, well, based off of page one
, I let's say it's a ball-headedcharacter I think he should
have here, or she should have aponytail, or she should have
braids.
I don't think she should be ina park.
When I was writing the story Ithought she was in her bedroom.
(39:31):
So now you give author notes onwhat you wrote about because
it's your story.
And so now the illustrator thengoes and they'll go and change
their dummy sketches.
Sometimes, like with Shamar,shamar wanted to have a meeting
with me before he even did anydummy sketches.
So sometimes the illustratorwill contact you once they find
(39:54):
out you're the author of thebook.
After reading your manuscript,they'll contact you and set up a
Zoom call and get your inputfirst, but that's between you
and the illustrator, but andthen after it goes to the
publishing house, the publishinghouse is going to contact you
as well and ask your input.
(40:16):
So you have you still have fullcontrol over how the characters
are going to look, the setting.
You're still involved with that, even after you write the book.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
OK, thanks you are.
J.D. Myall (40:37):
Any other questions.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
Go ahead.
Sorry, I'm really curious tohear you talk about the
structure of a children's book.
I could be wrong, but I feellike there's 32 pages or there's
a certain number of pages thatyou might need to write to, and
I'm wholly unfamiliar with thestructure of a picture book,
(41:00):
coming from writing mostly shortstories and chapter books.
Are there, um, certain thingsyou have in mind is like, okay,
by page five I need to have ahook, or each page turn um, or
if there's a double spread, likethat has to be the climax of
the book.
Are there certain things likethat that you're just thinking
(41:22):
about organically as you'rewriting?
Connie Schofield Morrison (41:24):
Yes.
So there has to be a beginning,a middle and an end.
It has to be with me.
I say a problem and a solutionBecause realistically, with
children and with the books thatI'm writing with children is
(41:45):
always, if you put, let's say,three little kids in one room,
there is definitely going to besome type of issue which is the
problem and it has to be sometype of solution before
happiness or cheers are in theroom, because if there's no
(42:08):
solution to the problem, you'regoing to have the room full of
the three kids screaming andcrying.
So I always say, withchildren's books especially,
there has to be a beginning,middle and end.
There has to be a problem and asolution.
J.D. Myall (42:28):
About length, though .
About how long do they have tobe usually?
Connie Schofield Morrison (42:33):
To say 32 pages.
32 pages and I will say thisbecause I didn't find this out
with the first book all 32pictures do not have to be words
, but 32 pictures becausechildren get bored after a while
(42:55):
.
Children, I'll say from, let'ssay, the ages of birth till
about eight.
Past 32 pages, you're going tolose their interest.
J.D. Myall (43:18):
And do you do any hooks in children's books over
lower grades that's not asimportant, like um, like I mean
like um, like something at theend of the page that makes them
want to turn to the next, orlike ending on something that
makes them curious to see how itresolves.
Or do you just let it flownaturally with children's books?
Connie Schofield Morrison (43:38):
I leave that to the illustrator to
depict them.
However, with me, I love rhythmand dance, and I don't know how
many of you have children ordeal with children With me.
As a child, I needed to use allof my senses at one time.
(44:01):
Like I watch my grandson nowand he could be watching TV and
on the iPad and still talking tohis mom, dad and me.
It's like, how is he doing it?
I always learn easier singingand dancing, so now in my books
(44:28):
I love to write rhythmic bookswhere if you pick one of them,
except for the stitch by stitch.
but I kind of sort of try to doit with the history book too.
But I love to add some type ofword, whether it's boom, boom,
boom, bang, bang, beat, bop,like.
I love to add words thatchildren can identify with and I
love to show them exaggeratedon the page.
So when the kids they'relooking at the book, it's not
(44:50):
just the actual pictures thatthey're intrigued by, it's the
actual big, colorful words thatthey see.
So that's my thing and I'venever told that secret before.
That's my thing to keep the kidsintrigued, because I'm not an
artist, I'm not an illustrator,I'm a writer.
(45:11):
So my thing is words.
I see words how people seepictures, so that you know.
I want it to be able to capturethe words in the book.
J.D. Myall (45:23):
Love that.
Any more questions you guys?
Yeah, I have a question you hadmentioned writing scripts for
TV and a couple of movies.
Connie Schofield Morrison (45:35):
I was wondering as a children's book
writer, how you got into that aswell.
I had a studio with a partnerin Conyers, georgia.
It was called Real Girls Films,and so I acquired the studio
with her.
She was actually an artcollector of mine, so I sold art
(45:57):
to her for so many years andshe got into film and would ask
my advice all the time and,being african-american and a
female in the industry, just gotturned away so many times.
And so we decided to build um abrand and an all girls
(46:24):
production.
Um, and it was like a task forus, like we didn't think, you
know, we didn't believe at firstthat we would do it and succeed
at it, and so that's what gotme into that.
And then um trying to finddifferent things for my husband
to do in the 90s it was calledtear sheets.
(46:46):
At the time I would createthese tear sheets for magazines
like Essence Magazine and EbonyMagazine and submit his work
through that.
And then I started submittinghis work for TV shows and being
(47:15):
invited to some of the eventsand sitting behind the scenes
and see, you know, watching howeverything came about.
I was influenced to want to doit myself, but I didn't want to
go back to college forproduction, so the only way to
get into it is if I had my own,so that's what I did.
J.D. Myall (47:30):
I love that.
Was it hard to make thetransition to writing
screenplays and scripts frombooks, or was it relatively easy
for you?
Connie Schofield Morrison (47:40):
It was relatively easy.
You know it's harder to writefor children than it is for
adults.
J.D. Myall (47:47):
I think so.
Connie Schofield Morrison (47:48):
You have to go back.
It's like you're going backinto your old self, but trying
to stay current with what'sgoing on today, and even with
the children's slang.
They have their own littleworld inside of our world.
So it's actually harder towrite for children than it is
(48:09):
for adults.
And then you have to bepolitically correct.
You have to be um like correctin all aspects of what you're
writing, because they'rechildren.
So certain things you'll say asan adult you can't say to
children and children.
So it's.
It was relatively easy for meto write for adults and it was
(48:32):
for me to write for childrenlove that.
J.D. Myall (48:37):
any more questions you got?
No, I'm Go ahead.
Connie Schofield Morrison (48:40):
So I did an episodic series, for I
Got the School Spirit and Ithink I wrote 14 shows so far,
and just trying to keep up withwhat goes on in a school every
(49:02):
day and then have it change fromday to day Wasn't easy.
Speaker 5 (49:09):
Another question.
I'm just so, I'm just socurious about all this because I
read to my kids for years and Ijust, I, just, I just think
it's such an interesting thingto do and I'm so in awe of the
fact that you do it.
Do you ever feel a sense ofwell, two things actually when
(49:31):
you write for kids, becausethey're so young and vulnerable?
Do you feel this sense ofresponsibility to about what
you're writing and becausethey're so impressionable?
And do you have sensitivityreaders that will look at what
(49:53):
you like?
We like adult novels.
You know we'll have sensitivityreaders.
Do you have the same or similarthing for children's books?
Connie Schofield Morrison (50:01):
Yes, so you?
I mean I don't know what thepublishing house.
They have editors.
However, for me, I go to thelibrary most of the time on a
Tuesday or Thursday and I'll askI'll do like maybe two or three
pages of a new manuscript.
I'll ask if I could read it tothe kids to get the kids'
(50:24):
opinions.
And let me warn you, they'rethe toughest.
They will sit there and playwith their fingers.
They'll get up and run away.
They'll get up and run away.
(50:48):
They'll you.
You know, when you have a goodmanuscript, if you read the
three pages and they'll sit inthere interested in hearing more
, then you know you got a winner, but for the most part I had
quite a few manuscripts.
That's just had to.
I had to shelve them for aminute because the kids would
look like what is?
What is she talking about?
(51:09):
It's almost like you'respeaking a different language.
Wow, well, I'm telling you, thelibraries is the best place,
even before the bookstore store,to go and, and you know, you
can ask um, each library have achildren's department and a
children's librarian who is notlike the whole the library's
(51:35):
main librarian.
The children's librarian is forthe children.
You can pass your manuscriptoff or certain pages off and let
them read it and they'll tellyou now, the kids are not going
to be interested in this.
Speaker 5 (51:52):
So they're your beta readers.
Speaker 4 (51:54):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (51:55):
Wow, that's interesting.
Connie Schofield Morrison (51:57):
Okay, and another suggestion career
day.
You can go to your localschools they have career days
and ask them when they're.
Tell them I'm an author and I'mcoming out with a new
manuscript and I would like tosee what the kids think.
(52:17):
I would like to speak to theyoung entrepreneurs that are
looking to become an authors andread to them and they'll tell
you they're honest.
Children are honest.
Speaker 5 (52:31):
Okay, thank you, you're welcome.
J.D. Myall (52:37):
Anybody else have any questions?
Have any questions?
Yeah, alrighty, well, Iappreciate you so much, connie,
and I appreciate everybody whocame.
We learned a lot, got a lot ofgood information from you and I
thank you so much for coming andtalking craft with us tonight
(52:59):
you're welcome.
Connie Schofield Morrison (53:00):
And I have one other thing.
I'm on Instagram and Facebook Ilove to share.
It wasn't easy for me, so I doshare information.
You can always contact me if Idon't respond right away.
Know that I will respond withina week and answer whatever
questions I can answer awesomethank you guys, thank you so
(53:24):
much, thank you.
You're welcome.
Keep writing.
Thanks All right, see you later.
Speaker 6 (53:36):
That wraps up today's Craft Chat Chronicles with JD
Mayer.
Thanks for joining us.
If you liked the episode,please comment, subscribe and
share.
For show notes, writingworkshops and tips, head to
jdmeyercom.
That's jdmeyercom.
Welcome to Craft Chat Chronicles, the go-to podcast
for tips on craftingbest-selling fiction.
Here at Craft Chat Chronicles,we bring you expert interviews,
insights and tips on writing,publishing and marketing.
Join the conversation andembark on a new chapter in your
(00:25):
writing journey.
For workshops, show notes andmore information, visit
jdmyhongcom.
That's.
J.D. Myall (00:34):
JD acclaimed author Connie Schofield Morrison.
Welcome everybody Tonight atour chat.
We will be honored to haveConnie Morrison, an
award-winning author celebratedfor her vibrant storytelling and
novels like I Got School Spirit.
She's a mother, she's anentrepreneur.
(00:55):
She's a celebrity life coach.
She's done script writing andstuff too.
She's a woman of many talents.
Her books have gotten globalrecognition from people like
Michelle Obama.
She's been featured in the NewYork Times.
Her books are known for theirjoy and their rhythm and they've
been recognized by the Libraryof Michigan and the Library of
(01:16):
Congress National Book Festival,where they posted her several
times.
So, connie, welcome.
She's also sweet and gracefuland wonderful and a good spirit,
so it'll be fun learning fromher tonight.
How are you doing tonight,connie?
Can you tell everybody aboutyour publishing journey?
Connie Schofield Morrison (01:36):
Oh yes, so I'm married to an
illustrator.
Actually, he's illustrated afew of my books Prior to my
journey.
I managed, marketed, branded,made him a world brand and so,
(01:57):
prior to me finding an agent, Iwas the person that acted as his
agent and his manager.
So I got the door slammed in myface so many times, watched the
door slam in his face, tryingto secure a deal, because I
didn't go to school to be awriter.
(02:19):
Writing is what I've done fromthe second grade.
Actually, I wrote to have avoice and so, walking alongside
Frank on his journey, by thetime it got to me, I realized
what I set boundaries for myselfthat I didn't have for him
(02:41):
because I didn't know to havethem for him, have for him
because I didn't know to havethem for him.
So by the time I came around tomy journey, I did not want to
go the route of creating all ofthis work to be told no, or it
wasn't good enough or it wasjust they were looking for
something else or someone else.
So what I did was I hired anagent and my agent journey.
(03:05):
Most people think like, oh, it'sa friend thing or oh, you know,
I was married to an alreadyestablished artist.
I got the easy way and I didn't.
I literally went online and Iat first I thought about places
I would would, what would liketo live other than, um.
(03:27):
At the time it was New Jersey,um, so I chose LA, I chose New
York, because that's where I'mfrom, I chose Chicago and I
actually chose, um Paris.
And so I went and I put up onat the time it was AOL, if y'all
remember that, I pulled up onAOL literary agents,
(03:52):
award-winning literary agents,and I had a list of 100 and I
narrowed it down and at the timemy husband was with a company,
shannon Associates, that's, whohe signed with after, I'll say,
his third or fourth book that heillustrated.
(04:14):
And so I didn't want to be withthe same company that he was
with.
And so I narrowed it down, Iwould call these different
agents, and until I finally gotlike six that I felt I gelled
with, because agents are likeshoes you have to find the agent
that fits, because this personis making deals for you when
(04:34):
you're not there.
They're handling moneydecisions for you when you're
not present in the room.
So you need somebody that youfeel you could trust to make
decisions for you when you'renot there and to make the best
decisions for you.
And so I wind up signing with acompany Painted Words because I
(04:57):
loved Lori's tenacity one andthen her attitude like she was
not a game player and with me Idon't need to be told what I
want to hear all the time.
I need told what's the truthand what makes sense.
And so she was just that, thattype of person, um for me.
(05:20):
So, um, finding an agent.
I then knew what I wanted and Ididn't want to go the route of
going to a hundred differentagencies.
I trusted that connections inthe industry already, because
she was an established agent andlike I thought she did, and so
(05:44):
I asked her to find out what herfriends in the industry were
looking for.
Prior to shopping my book, I hadone manuscript, I got the
rhythm and I knew I didn't wantto sit and be waiting for
another deal because, again, Iwas still married to an
illustrator artist and he wasstill going through some things.
(06:05):
And so I'm like, okay, I don'twant to go through it triple
dose.
I'm already going through it asa wife.
I'm already with businesspartners, I'm already still
going through it on that aspect.
I don't want to go through itwith mine.
So I made sure with mine, I setboundaries and I had goals.
This is what I would like to do.
Do it make sense to you?
(06:26):
And so, with Lori told me no, Ikind of trusted her decision.
And when I got the rhythm andI'm being honest, I wanted this
to be my baby outside of Frank.
I really did not want him toillustrate my books, can I?
J.D. Myall (06:47):
interrupt real quick .
Yeah, I know Frank and you knowFrank, but we don't know that
all them know.
Frank, can you tell them whoyour husband is?
For those who might not know myhusband is.
Connie Schofield Morrison (06:56):
His name is Frank Morrison.
He's a world renowned artistand illustrator.
We've been married going on 34years and we have an art gallery
.
It's online, morrison GraphicsLLC, and it's really dedicated
to Frank.
I'm not an artist, so he hashis artistry and I let him have
(07:22):
that.
Um, and outside of beingmarried to Frank, I have a lot
of other things that I'll talkto y'all about a little bit
later, um, but so back to withLori.
I really had my goals, so I wasusing my mating name, which is
Connie, so that's why it'sConnie Schofield Morrison on my
(07:44):
book, and I'm not sure if youall know how far you are in your
journey.
Authors and illustrators do notwork together in
self-publishing, and it's areason why the publishing houses
do that.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
And so they didn't know.
Connie Schofield Morrison (08:05):
Frank was my husband at first.
Frank wound up leaving hiscompany his agent company and he
signed with my agent company,and so it takes a couple of
months to a couple of years tonegotiate a deal, and so my
particular deal took about ayear.
By the time the deal wasclosing they had selected an
(08:26):
illustrator, which was myhusband.
My agent is who told them wewere married, but they never
knew.
A lot of people think, oh, theyworked on a book together.
We didn't work on any of thebooks together.
He worked on his end from hisstudio and I worked on my end
(08:49):
from my studio.
So that's how it came together,and because my goals were set
and my boundaries were set, Ididn't have to keep writing
manuscripts like that.
I didn't have to keep writingmanuscripts like that.
When it came around to thesecond book, the publishing
house actually came to my agentand said, wow, we was thinking
about a book series.
(09:10):
And how about, if you have?
Suggest that she write?
I Got the Christmas Spirit andlet's see what she thinks about
it.
And so that's how it went.
So if you set boundaries, ifyou choose the right agent and
you set the right boundaries,everything else works out
(09:32):
Everything.
They start suggesting books toyou or once they pick up on your
style if you tell them okay,this is what I want to write.
I told my agent I didn't likehistory books, even though I
wound up writing a history bookand I'll tell y'all about that
too.
I didn't like history growingup.
I didn't like dark stories andI did not like dark pictures,
(09:53):
images and most of thechildren's books in my days in
the seventies growing up weredark.
They were always dark brownsand burgundies and the stories
were even darker.
So I didn't like it.
So I told her on my journey Iwant to write books that were
bright and beautiful and happy,and it wasn't for a particular
(10:17):
child, but I definitely wanted,when kids saw the cover, to
smile, have a reason to smile,whether it was they seen
themselves on the pictures ofthe cover or just the words, the
colors of the words, and so ifyou set your goals, if you know
the genres you want to work,definitely let your agent know.
(10:39):
It helps when it comes time.
J.D. Myall (10:42):
How did you decide to write picture books as
opposed to like any other genre?
What was it about picture booksthat called out to you?
Connie Schofield Morrison (10:49):
One, my oldest daughter she's six now
growing up, um, she didn't liketo read.
The only book that, um, she wasinterested in was DW Arthur
little sister, and I didn't mindher looking at a cartoon
(11:12):
character and getting oh, when Igrow up, this is who I want to
be.
Like the DW, I'm DW.
It's cute, but then when youthink about your child growing
up, it's like okay, you can't beDW forever.
So, um, I helped her understandlike it's not the actual
(11:33):
character that you're wanting tobe, it's what she's depicting
and how she's depicting it andwhat the stories that she's
telling you could identify withthem.
And so it was that.
That was one of the things thatdrove me to writing for
(11:53):
children.
And then my childhoodexperience is not being allowed
to have a voice and the oldsaying what goes in in this
house, what goes on in thishouse, stays in this house.
I felt, if I'm seeing certainthings and I'm hearing certain
(12:14):
things, why can't I say it?
And so, just my mom, shenan herbackground.
I knew I wanted to be adifferent parent.
I knew I wanted children torealize and understand that they
are people too and that they dohave voices and that their
voices matter, their opinionsmatter.
(12:34):
And, um, that's what drove meto write for children.
J.D. Myall (12:42):
I love that.
Connie Schofield Morrison (12:43):
I do have adult books.
J.D. Myall (12:45):
I just haven't put them out yet okay, what do you
think are the essential elementsto make a good children's
picture book like, what are thethings that we need in our
stories to help them do well?
Connie Schofield Morrison (13:03):
one, the character, the attitude of
the characters, stories thatmake sense, that children can
identify with.
Um, we as adults tend to thinkCertain topics are not for
(13:25):
children.
When it comes to emotion, andlately, with everything that's
going on in the world publishinghouses, a lot of them are
giving the okay to write aboutcertain emotions and just
(13:50):
certain things that I'll say forthe gay community, it's been
challenging.
It's been a lot of situationswhere publishing houses wouldn't
pick up books about children ina gay community.
They were against it.
(14:12):
And so I know I have five kids,four in which are grown, and now
I have a grandbaby and that's,it's in their culture now and
it's like, ok, how can we notwrite about this and how can we
not write about the emotionsthat people go through?
What makes a child become whatthey call it non-binary?
(14:37):
Now, non-binary, what is?
Are they born that way?
This is like that's a topicthat publishing houses didn't
want to pick up with andelaborate on.
Right now there's a need for itand there's actually groups and
publishing houses that publishthose kinds of things.
J.D. Myall (15:19):
I think, if I had to be specific, everything that's
going on in culture now, in allcultures, in all genres, all
languages, would be something towrite about.
When it comes to kids, I lovethat.
We got a comment in the chatthat I'm going to read to you.
Cheryl said I agree 100%.
My youngest identifies asnon-binary and needs books that
speak to their experience too.
They're 20.
Yes, okay, Cheryl, weappreciate that.
Connie Schofield Morrison (15:42):
Yes, thank you.
J.D. Myall (15:45):
What's the story behind the story?
How did you come up with theidea for your current novel?
Connie Schofield Morrison (15:52):
is that one for me?
Yes, okay.
So which book is coming outnext?
Okay, so I can show y'all thisis.
I got the spooky spirit that'sso cute.
Thank this is the final bookfor the series that me and Frank
had together.
Actually, I didn't come up with.
(16:13):
I came up with the title andthe story I wrote.
But they asked me Connie, welove the Christmas book.
I got the Christmas spirit.
What about another holiday?
They were thinking Easter and Iwas thinking Halloween, because
I love all the festivities thatgo on at Halloween time the
(16:34):
masquerade balls and thecostumes and I thought if Frank
was illustrating it he candepict kids very well.
I knew he would nail thecostumes on the kids, so that's
how the one came up.
I have coming out after this.
It's with a new um illustrator,shamar night um king, and that
(16:59):
series.
They wanted it to be black boyjoy, but I I have, I'm just
going to say it I have a whitegrandson.
He's half white, half black,but he looks white because my
family heritage my maiden nameis Jewish, because my
(17:20):
grandmother was Jewish, so he'sdefinitely Caucasian or white,
and so I didn't want the book tobe called Black Boy Joy, so I
chose Big Boy Joy, becausethere's a lot of things little
big boys do that's exciting.
So and I didn't want to colorcodeoded because I have all
(17:41):
nationalities in my family.
So that particular one I did myfirst book and now I'm
currently writing two at thesame time because I get writers
blocked very easy.
But this particular book seriesthat I'm working on, my friend,
(18:04):
he's not the charactercharacter, however, his moods
and his different emotions anddifferent things that he do.
Um, I actually go to theplayground, not even with him
all the time, but I'll go to theplayground, um, in church.
I'll go to the nursery and Ilook at the different movements
of the kids and the differentthings that they say.
(18:26):
In a supermarket, when I hearlittle kids screaming or crying,
I'll kind of go in and pick upthe attitudes behind the
children.
And I have my iPhone, I'll typelittle notes in my notes
section Um, and I'll come homesometimes, or office, and just
(18:51):
sit there and think about allthe different attitudes in a
week and kind of put it togetherand I'll write tons of titles,
tons of titles, until I find onethat I feel is you know what's
going on.
Now I'll look at the news andI'll um, I'll say a couple of
(19:13):
months back, the whole situationwith Ukraine.
I was sitting up thinking likewhat would the little boys want
if they could pick up a bookright now and read it?
What would make them happyright now?
And so that's how I wrote downa whole list of titles based off
of that one thought so that'susually what I come up with um.
Well, now, with this series,this is how I'm coming up with
(19:35):
the different um titles in adifferent scenarios that's going
to take place in the story whatadvice?
J.D. Myall (19:42):
what was the best advice you ever got on writing
respect the criticism.
Connie Schofield Morrison (19:58):
You really have to have tough skin
in this industry, especiallywith writing, I know with me I
used to think everything I wrotewas was good enough.
And when I was told you knowkind of you have to respect the
(20:20):
criticism.
At first I didn't take thatlightly, um, and I really didn't
understand it.
Like, why do I have to respectwhat somebody else thinks one of
my manuscripts?
It's not for them, you know.
And then I had to realize whatI was thinking and what I was
saying and respect it.
(20:42):
It's not for me.
What I'm writing is for themasses, it's for people of
different, um that come fromdifferent backgrounds, different
cultures, they speak differentlanguages.
So I had to realize, wow, thetalent is from the creator and
(21:02):
I'm just the vessel that he'susing to create.
And what I'm creating is notfor me, it's for the minds of
the children that's reading it.
And I came up with this sayingif I could change the mind of a
child, it could potentiallychange a generation, which will
(21:23):
ultimately change the world.
And so, back to what you asked.
That was one of the mostimportant things that was ever,
or advice that was given to methat I took and I applied, and
if you apply it to yourself, toyour mindset, then you're able
(21:47):
to handle anything, becauseeverybody that reads your books
is not just coming from theagent perspective or the
publishing house, theircriticism.
You will have fans that willtotally act like they hate what
you create and those areactually the ones that love it
(22:08):
the most.
So if you can handle what themedia is going to say about your
work, you'll be able to writeanything.
J.D. Myall (22:18):
I love that.
I love that.
First time I met you, we did apanel on diversity and fiction
together and you were asweetheart then and you're still
a sweetheart.
Do you have any advice for newwriters on doing panels and
author events and things likethat?
Connie Schofield Morrison (22:43):
Yes, I would encourage it.
One and I still do this now.
I actually pull up all the bookconferences that's going on in
the United States.
I pull it up in January everysingle year and I kind of go
through the list and some of theconferences are huge and it's
like oh, this is going on mydream bigger list.
And then the ones that they'recause they'll tell you they're
(23:05):
looking for authors of genrethat genre, self-published, not
published yet, published yet, uh, published.
And I go down that list andwrite down okay, I'm going to do
this one, this one, that one,and then on my dream bigger list
, I actually have a board on mywall right there.
Speaker 4 (23:26):
And.
Connie Schofield Morrison (23:26):
I just did a whole vision board of
the conferences I want to doand who I want to be at these
conferences, beforehand andafter.
So that's one thing.
Another thing I would encourageas new writers don't be afraid.
(23:48):
Don't be afraid, don't wastetime, don't procrastinate.
Just do it and learn from thefeedback you get, even if it's
not your best work.
Just do it, because when you doit and you put your work out
there, you get the criticismback After a while, like you
(24:08):
feel free, like I did it.
So the second time it gets eveneasier.
Just do it, just write and knowthat you're writing and the
thought of even writing iscoming from a higher source.
It's coming from a highersource I love that.
J.D. Myall (24:25):
Marybeth wants to know what source do you use to
find the list of the conferences?
Connie Schofield Morriso (24:31):
Google .
I put it in Google and, believeit or not.
Some of the conferences listother conferences.
Some of them are on pages thathave multiple conferences and in
bookstores.
Barnes and Nobles they have aBarnes and Nobles and Books a
(24:52):
Million.
They have a board and most ofthem and you can go and look in
their cards.
People put like theiradvertisement on it Starbucks,
people advertise.
I look for that kind of stuff.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
OK.
Connie Schofield Morrison (25:08):
Oh, and the library, your local
library, which is my hangoutspot.
Oh, and the library, your locallibrary, which is my hangout
spot, your local libraries.
J.D. Myall (25:23):
Get to know your librarians.
Libraries are attached toconferences as well.
Connie Schofield Morrison (25:32):
I love that, any best practices,
anything that you do to help younetwork better and, you know,
put your best foot forward on apanel, and stuff like that.
Yes, so I?
I mentioned libraries.
Um, I go to all.
Listen, I go to librarieseverywhere and even when I go to
other states I go to libraries.
I know the librarians ingeorgia.
I go to quite a few differentcounties and just volunteer,
volunteer to read story times.
(25:52):
Barnes and nobles as well, go toyour local barnes and nobles,
your local bookstores, andvolunteer to read, and that way
when your new projects come outthey're there to support you 150
percent that's great adviceyeah never thought of that.
J.D. Myall (26:10):
That's brilliant.
What was your biggest surprisein the publishing journey?
Like what was different thanthe way you thought it would be
well.
Connie Schofield Morrison (26:22):
so my biggest surprise was, when
you're published, it's just likewriting a record.
Um, you get these contracts,they give you an upfront bonus
which goes to royalty, right.
And so I was thinking, okay, Idon't want to do it because,
(26:42):
frankly, he wasn't getting anyroyalty.
I don't want to owe any, don'tlike bills.
So, like me, I'm not a bigcredit person, I don't like
bills.
So I didn.
I'm not a big credit person, Idon't like bills, so I didn't
want to do it that route.
But that's the standard way togo.
And so the book came out andwhen it came time to the first
royalties I got, I receivedroyalties.
(27:05):
So I was like hold up, like whodoes this?
So that was the biggestsurprise for me, and if I could
give another, my second surpriseis now.
The life of a children's bookis one year.
My first book came out in 2014and it's still on bookshelves
(27:27):
worldwide, and it's been printedin multiple different languages
, languages I've never evenheard of.
So that was the second um bigsurprise for me.
Let me tell you when you dreambig and you believe in your
dreams, doors begin to open thatyou could never imagine.
(27:48):
But it takes.
It requires walking by faithand believe in dreaming in your
dream, because the dreams arenot in your mind for no reason.
I tell my kids you know what Ithink.
This is my grandmother, someancestor or somebody telling me
that I can't dream anymore,because how am I dreaming?
(28:09):
And it's happening.
So'm I'm learning.
I'm still learning to justdream bigger, dream bigger
you've been doing some scriptwriting too.
J.D. Myall (28:21):
How is that different than your novel
writing?
Connie Schofield Morrison (28:24):
I actually like the script writing
.
Um, um, I did some stuff forthe show the Resident with
Malcolm Jamal Warner and alsoHoney 1, 2, and 3.
It's different in a sense.
(28:45):
You actually see the charactersthat you write out in real life
.
You actually see what you'rewriting alive Within the books.
You have to imagine thecharacters and what they're
doing and place yourself inthese little worlds where, when
you write a script, you actuallysee someone living it out.
(29:06):
So I love it.
My, I have a book, stitch byStitch, that was published with
Holiday House Publishing andthat was actually a slave that
came to me in a dream that Ididn't have enough.
So her book, she asked me in adream, ultimately, if I would
(29:28):
rewrite.
Once I realized what she saidwas true, would I rewrite her
story the way I would havewanted it to be written as a
child and to add the colors thatI would have wanted to see.
And so, when I realized she wasreal, I hope I did Some justice
(29:49):
on what she asked.
But I'm hoping to get a moviedeal off of the Stitch by Stitch
.
I'm in negotiations withNickelodeon Paramount for I Got
the School Spirit.
Speaker 4 (30:03):
Mm-hmm.
Connie Schofield Morrison (30:06):
And hopefully this year I could
write some adult books that orfinish adult books that I would
want to see on the shelves andin a movie form love that, love
that.
J.D. Myall (30:21):
Tell us a little bit about your icon makeup and all
your other wonderful endeavorsso I have a brand um icon by
connie morrison.
Connie Schofield Morrison (30:30):
The cosmetic brand is the same
manufacturers as kylie, jennaand rihanna and um.
I've kind of put it.
I'm going to I have my websitestill up, but I'm going to do a,
a big launch, hopefully in umthis year and have it in some
major um story.
(30:52):
And I'm trying to think whatelse do I have going on my life
coaching, celebrity lifecoaching.
So last year I got bored alittle bit and um was given a
gift.
I was in Harvard I'm still inHarvard I took a little break,
um uh break in Harvard, tryingto think of something new to do.
(31:14):
I'm always thinking ofsomething new and I was offered
to go to school for free tobecome a life coach and when I
graduated, my professors told meyou know, you have a knack for
celebrities, so I think youshould do some coaching.
And so that's what I'm doingnow as well, coaching some of my
(31:35):
celebrity friends.
J.D. Myall (31:38):
That's pretty fun and exciting.
What are you writing currently?
Connie Schofield Morrison (31:43):
Just the big boy joy, and I did.
I complete 365 days ofinspiration for women.
J.D. Myall (31:50):
Love that so with.
Connie Schofield Morrison (31:51):
With that concept I'm going to do
journals and pillows, and pensand um wall appliques and
different things.
J.D. Myall (31:59):
Just a whole inspirational kit for women now,
when you do your picture books,do you write the whole thing or
do you guys sell them onproposal usually?
How does that process work withpicture books?
Connie Schofield Morrison (32:11):
just um, just a book, like a summary
one synopsis of nothing morethan a paragraph and I usually
right now I'm seeking a newagent.
Um, I really it's of interestfor me and frank, to be with the
same agent, so, and I need anagent where, with my movie, um,
(32:31):
stuff, everything is under onebelt.
With my former agent it wasjust the children's book and so,
um, I forgot what I was gettingready to say.
Um, I just threw myself off ofthe um the topic, talking about
(32:53):
my agent, just that way.
J.D. Myall (32:54):
Have you tried New Leaf?
I know they have film and TV.
Connie Schofield Morrison (32:58):
No, I haven't heard of New Leaf.
I went with Writer's House thatwas the company that I just
submitted my inquiry to and oneof my friends in the industry
kind of sent me some agents, um,and I've been taking my time a
little bit with it okay becauseI'm not one for it, like it's
(33:20):
just the friend thing.
Don't work with me, not withmoney, with agents.
Anyway that's going to be made.
J.D. Myall (33:29):
So okay, do you guys have any questions for us?
So far I have a question.
Speaker 4 (33:36):
Um, could you speak a little more on the relationship
between the illustrator and theauthor?
So maybe not with your husband,but you mentioned you were
working with a new illustratorwho was part of your um uh,
where you're wrapped and so areyou writing the story first and
then that's sent to theillustrator?
Is it done in tandem?
(33:56):
What is that relationship like?
Connie Schofield Morrison (33:59):
Okay.
So I wrote the manuscript andthe publishers have different
authors that they work with anddifferent illustrators, so they
actually paired me up withShamar.
I didn't know him prior towriting a book and, believe it
or not, at first, I didn'tunderstand it.
(34:22):
When I found out with myhusband, like, oh, they picked
the illustrator.
But now five books in, Itotally get it.
They know exactly who to pairyou up with.
They know what the industrywants, what will sell.
They know don't ask me how it'slike magic they know how to
take your words and put it withan illustrator that's going to
(34:47):
depict the book just the way youwrote it, without you even
working with him or her.
And it's part of your contract.
It's not something you payextra for.
Take the money out of yourroyalties for it.
With your contract, theyactually have it.
This, whoever she, you know wepick, choose.
(35:09):
This is what's going to bebudgeted for the illustrator,
this is what's going to bebudgeted for the author.
And I know a lot of writers whowrite the book and they're like,
oh, I have to get or I have tofind an illustrator.
(35:30):
I get a lot of inquiriesthrough email, through social
media.
Do you know any illustrators?
Do you think your husband willbe interested in working on my
book?
And I can honestly say, knowinga lot of illustrators, that's
the last thing they want to seeis an email from an author
(35:53):
asking them to illustrate a book.
Trust me, you'll be veryappreciated with the publishing
house for them handling thatpart of your journey.
Like if you're writing, youneed your mind space to write.
You need it to think aboutwhat's next, not who's going to
(36:15):
depict the book for you inillustration.
J.D. Myall (36:21):
Now with your earlier books, did you have to
write the whole book, or was itstill um able to sell this?
Connie Schofield Morrison (36:25):
on the paragraph One manuscript and
that was the first.
When I um started, you know,seeking an agent, I already had
the manuscript done.
I got the was the onlymanuscript that wrote that I
wanted to present to anybody.
Speaker 4 (36:42):
Everything else.
Connie Schofield Morrison (36:43):
Just I have tons of books from when I
was a little girl, like justbooks of writing but it was
nothing that I wanted to present.
So after yes, I've writtenhundreds of manuscripts now, but
everything you see in book formor that has been submitted.
It was because they asked me todo it.
(37:04):
It was based off of a paragraph.
J.D. Myall (37:07):
Love that that whole manuscript.
Connie Schofield Morrison (37:11):
And if I could say something else,
especially if you're writingchapter books, you might want to
secure an agent first, becausethe agent will tell you I call
it suggestions they will suggestwell, maybe, perhaps you could
write about this, because theyknow what the industry is
looking for.
(37:31):
Sometimes, when you write thesebooks, and especially chapter
books I have friends that havewritten chapter books just to
have to change the book fromchapter to chapter.
They write down, they cut 10 to20 chapters out of the book and
it frustrates the writer.
(37:53):
So I tell everybody, do asynopsis of one page, synopsis
of maybe five to 10 books thatyou plan to write and get their
opinions first, before you doall of the work for them to
change your book around or tellyou what they feel should be
added to the book or taken away.
J.D. Myall (38:13):
That's good advice.
Anybody else have any questions?
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 5 (38:20):
I'm curious about like.
When I'm writing a book orstory, I usually have something
in my head.
You know how I imagine thatcharacter to look.
Or does that happen for youwhen you're writing a children's
book, and how much input do youhave, Like if't, if the, if the
(38:42):
illustrations come back andyou're like no, no, that's not
what I had in my head at alllike does that happen?
Connie Schofield Morrison (38:48):
yes, so you have control over how the
character looks like.
If they have the, they choosethe illustrator and illustrator
come up with dummy sketches ofthe book.
So they come back and the firstdummy sketches they come back
(39:09):
and they ask you how do you feel?
And it's called author notes.
So you could go and you couldsay, well, based off of page one
, I let's say it's a ball-headedcharacter I think he should
have here, or she should have aponytail, or she should have
braids.
I don't think she should be ina park.
When I was writing the story Ithought she was in her bedroom.
(39:31):
So now you give author notes onwhat you wrote about because
it's your story.
And so now the illustrator thengoes and they'll go and change
their dummy sketches.
Sometimes, like with Shamar,shamar wanted to have a meeting
with me before he even did anydummy sketches.
So sometimes the illustratorwill contact you once they find
(39:54):
out you're the author of thebook.
After reading your manuscript,they'll contact you and set up a
Zoom call and get your inputfirst, but that's between you
and the illustrator, but andthen after it goes to the
publishing house, the publishinghouse is going to contact you
as well and ask your input.
(40:16):
So you have you still have fullcontrol over how the characters
are going to look, the setting.
You're still involved with that, even after you write the book.
Speaker 5 (40:31):
OK, thanks you are.
J.D. Myall (40:37):
Any other questions.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
Go ahead.
Sorry, I'm really curious tohear you talk about the
structure of a children's book.
I could be wrong, but I feellike there's 32 pages or there's
a certain number of pages thatyou might need to write to, and
I'm wholly unfamiliar with thestructure of a picture book,
(41:00):
coming from writing mostly shortstories and chapter books.
Are there, um, certain thingsyou have in mind is like, okay,
by page five I need to have ahook, or each page turn um, or
if there's a double spread, likethat has to be the climax of
the book.
Are there certain things likethat that you're just thinking
(41:22):
about organically as you'rewriting?
Connie Schofield Morrison (41:24):
Yes.
So there has to be a beginning,a middle and an end.
It has to be with me.
I say a problem and a solutionBecause realistically, with
children and with the books thatI'm writing with children is
(41:45):
always, if you put, let's say,three little kids in one room,
there is definitely going to besome type of issue which is the
problem and it has to be sometype of solution before
happiness or cheers are in theroom, because if there's no
(42:08):
solution to the problem, you'regoing to have the room full of
the three kids screaming andcrying.
So I always say, withchildren's books especially,
there has to be a beginning,middle and end.
There has to be a problem and asolution.
J.D. Myall (42:28):
About length, though .
About how long do they have tobe usually?
Connie Schofield Morrison (42:33):
To say 32 pages.
32 pages and I will say thisbecause I didn't find this out
with the first book all 32pictures do not have to be words
, but 32 pictures becausechildren get bored after a while
(42:55):
.
Children, I'll say from, let'ssay, the ages of birth till
about eight.
Past 32 pages, you're going tolose their interest.
J.D. Myall (43:18):
And do you do any hooks in children's books over
lower grades that's not asimportant, like um, like I mean
like um, like something at theend of the page that makes them
want to turn to the next, orlike ending on something that
makes them curious to see how itresolves.
Or do you just let it flownaturally with children's books?
Connie Schofield Morrison (43:38):
I leave that to the illustrator to
depict them.
However, with me, I love rhythmand dance, and I don't know how
many of you have children ordeal with children With me.
As a child, I needed to use allof my senses at one time.
(44:01):
Like I watch my grandson nowand he could be watching TV and
on the iPad and still talking tohis mom, dad and me.
It's like, how is he doing it?
I always learn easier singingand dancing, so now in my books
(44:28):
I love to write rhythmic bookswhere if you pick one of them,
except for the stitch by stitch.
but I kind of sort of try to doit with the history book too.
But I love to add some type ofword, whether it's boom, boom,
boom, bang, bang, beat, bop,like.
I love to add words thatchildren can identify with and I
love to show them exaggeratedon the page.
So when the kids they'relooking at the book, it's not
(44:50):
just the actual pictures thatthey're intrigued by, it's the
actual big, colorful words thatthey see.
So that's my thing and I'venever told that secret before.
That's my thing to keep the kidsintrigued, because I'm not an
artist, I'm not an illustrator,I'm a writer.
(45:11):
So my thing is words.
I see words how people seepictures, so that you know.
I want it to be able to capturethe words in the book.
J.D. Myall (45:23):
Love that.
Any more questions you guys?
Yeah, I have a question you hadmentioned writing scripts for
TV and a couple of movies.
Connie Schofield Morrison (45:35):
I was wondering as a children's book
writer, how you got into that aswell.
I had a studio with a partnerin Conyers, georgia.
It was called Real Girls Films,and so I acquired the studio
with her.
She was actually an artcollector of mine, so I sold art
(45:57):
to her for so many years andshe got into film and would ask
my advice all the time and,being african-american and a
female in the industry, just gotturned away so many times.
And so we decided to build um abrand and an all girls
(46:24):
production.
Um, and it was like a task forus, like we didn't think, you
know, we didn't believe at firstthat we would do it and succeed
at it, and so that's what gotme into that.
And then um trying to finddifferent things for my husband
to do in the 90s it was calledtear sheets.
(46:46):
At the time I would createthese tear sheets for magazines
like Essence Magazine and EbonyMagazine and submit his work
through that.
And then I started submittinghis work for TV shows and being
(47:15):
invited to some of the eventsand sitting behind the scenes
and see, you know, watching howeverything came about.
I was influenced to want to doit myself, but I didn't want to
go back to college forproduction, so the only way to
get into it is if I had my own,so that's what I did.
J.D. Myall (47:30):
I love that.
Was it hard to make thetransition to writing
screenplays and scripts frombooks, or was it relatively easy
for you?
Connie Schofield Morrison (47:40):
It was relatively easy.
You know it's harder to writefor children than it is for
adults.
J.D. Myall (47:47):
I think so.
Connie Schofield Morrison (47:48):
You have to go back.
It's like you're going backinto your old self, but trying
to stay current with what'sgoing on today, and even with
the children's slang.
They have their own littleworld inside of our world.
So it's actually harder towrite for children than it is
(48:09):
for adults.
And then you have to bepolitically correct.
You have to be um like correctin all aspects of what you're
writing, because they'rechildren.
So certain things you'll say asan adult you can't say to
children and children.
So it's.
It was relatively easy for meto write for adults and it was
(48:32):
for me to write for childrenlove that.
J.D. Myall (48:37):
any more questions you got?
No, I'm Go ahead.
Connie Schofield Morrison (48:40):
So I did an episodic series, for I
Got the School Spirit and Ithink I wrote 14 shows so far,
and just trying to keep up withwhat goes on in a school every
(49:02):
day and then have it change fromday to day Wasn't easy.
Speaker 5 (49:09):
Another question.
I'm just so, I'm just socurious about all this because I
read to my kids for years and Ijust, I, just, I just think
it's such an interesting thingto do and I'm so in awe of the
fact that you do it.
Do you ever feel a sense ofwell, two things actually when
(49:31):
you write for kids, becausethey're so young and vulnerable?
Do you feel this sense ofresponsibility to about what
you're writing and becausethey're so impressionable?
And do you have sensitivityreaders that will look at what
(49:53):
you like?
We like adult novels.
You know we'll have sensitivityreaders.
Do you have the same or similarthing for children's books?
Connie Schofield Morrison (50:01):
Yes, so you?
I mean I don't know what thepublishing house.
They have editors.
However, for me, I go to thelibrary most of the time on a
Tuesday or Thursday and I'll askI'll do like maybe two or three
pages of a new manuscript.
I'll ask if I could read it tothe kids to get the kids'
(50:24):
opinions.
And let me warn you, they'rethe toughest.
They will sit there and playwith their fingers.
They'll get up and run away.
They'll get up and run away.
(50:48):
They'll you.
You know, when you have a goodmanuscript, if you read the
three pages and they'll sit inthere interested in hearing more
, then you know you got a winner, but for the most part I had
quite a few manuscripts.
That's just had to.
I had to shelve them for aminute because the kids would
look like what is?
What is she talking about?
(51:09):
It's almost like you'respeaking a different language.
Wow, well, I'm telling you, thelibraries is the best place,
even before the bookstore store,to go and, and you know, you
can ask um, each library have achildren's department and a
children's librarian who is notlike the whole the library's
(51:35):
main librarian.
The children's librarian is forthe children.
You can pass your manuscriptoff or certain pages off and let
them read it and they'll tellyou now, the kids are not going
to be interested in this.
Speaker 5 (51:52):
So they're your beta readers.
Speaker 4 (51:54):
Yes.
Speaker 5 (51:55):
Wow, that's interesting.
Connie Schofield Morrison (51:57):
Okay, and another suggestion career
day.
You can go to your localschools they have career days
and ask them when they're.
Tell them I'm an author and I'mcoming out with a new
manuscript and I would like tosee what the kids think.
(52:17):
I would like to speak to theyoung entrepreneurs that are
looking to become an authors andread to them and they'll tell
you they're honest.
Children are honest.
Speaker 5 (52:31):
Okay, thank you, you're welcome.
J.D. Myall (52:37):
Anybody else have any questions?
Have any questions?
Yeah, alrighty, well, Iappreciate you so much, connie,
and I appreciate everybody whocame.
We learned a lot, got a lot ofgood information from you and I
thank you so much for coming andtalking craft with us tonight
(52:59):
you're welcome.
Connie Schofield Morrison (53:00):
And I have one other thing.
I'm on Instagram and Facebook Ilove to share.
It wasn't easy for me, so I doshare information.
You can always contact me if Idon't respond right away.
Know that I will respond withina week and answer whatever
questions I can answer awesomethank you guys, thank you so
(53:24):
much, thank you.
You're welcome.
Keep writing.
Thanks All right, see you later.
Speaker 6 (53:36):
That wraps up today's Craft Chat Chronicles with JD
Mayer.
Thanks for joining us.
If you liked the episode,please comment, subscribe and
share.
For show notes, writingworkshops and tips, head to
jdmeyercom.
That's jdmeyercom.
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