Wednesday, March 2, 2022

You're A Winner!

Congratulations to the winners of the prize drawing! We have 16 sweet prizes from our amazing bloggers. May the prizes encourage your nonfiction journey.

If you are one of our lucky winners, please email us at nonfictionchicks@gmail.com no later than midnight Friday, Saturday March 5. If we do not hear from you, we will move on to the the next person on the prize list.

The winners are:

Julie Rubini  - an hour Zoom with Kirsten Larson that you can use for career coaching, an in-person critique, or just an “ask me anything” session.

Kelly O'Malley Cerra - A manuscript critique from Ann Ingalls.

Gail Hartman - 30 minute sky Q&A with Melissa Stewart.

Lisa Gaines - signed copy of Revolutionary Prudence Wright: Leading the Minute Women in the Fight for Independence by Beth Anderson.

Rhonda Roaring - signed copy of From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement by Paula Yoo.

Joyce Uglowone of the following: a critique of a full picture book manuscript, the first 10 pages of a longer manuscript, or critique of an introductory packet to an educational publisher—winner’s choice by Carol Kim.

Melissa Stoller - signed copy of Whooo Knew? The Truth About Owls by Annette Whipple.

Maria Marshall - signed copy of Fairy Tale Science by Sarah Albee.

Ruthie KirkChoose between a copy of Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers edited by Matt Gertler sent via Bookshop.org or a half-hour ask-me-anything chat (phone or Zoom) Teresa Robeson.

Myra Faye Turner - signed copy of Our World: First Book of Geography by Sue Gallion.

Katie McEnaney - signed copy of The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just by Mélina Mangal 

Bettie Boswell - a 15 minute zoom session to help with research - Katherine House.

Kimberly Yavorski - a signed copy of VIP: Stacey Abrams – Voting Visionary by Andrea Loney 

Nicki Jacobsmeyer - PB critique or research brainstorm session to be used in the next 12 months with Anna Crowley Redding.

Amy Valore -Caplan - two titles sent by Abrams Books Diego Rivera and Funny Bones  (Jenny Choy) by Duncan Donatiuh.

Tonya Ann PemberThe Rise (and Falls) of Jackie Chan by Kristen Giang.


Congratulations to All!!


PICKING YOUR PASSION PROJECT!

 By Kristen Mai Giang 


Did you read that right? Passion project? But we’re here to talk about nonfiction. Hours upon hours of research. Facts, not fiction. Is there really room for passion?

There is. There must be. Because you will spend hours upon hours researching your topic. Reading every book you can find, watching every video, scouring the Internet for creditable sources and annotating them all so you can cite them months and possibly years down the line when you can barely remember your own name, let alone the obscure source of the obscure photo you once obscurely found.

Then, once your book sells, you may go through rounds and rounds of revisions, cross-checking to make sure your facts haven’t morphed into fiction. And once the art is complete, you may – you guessed it! – go through rounds and rounds of reviews to ensure that the art and text still tell a true story

PLEASE DON’T STOP READING. If you find yourself slinking away from the idea of writing nonfiction, passion is the thing that will make that sly nonfiction idea rear its head and compel you to return to it. Over and over again. Picking a passion project will save you during the dark hours, when you’ve stayed up too late, and your eyes just don’t seem to see anymore. Because you will care so much that you must tell this story, and you must tell it right.

So how do you pick a passion project? Passion is a daunting word. Do we feel passion about many things in our lives? I like many things, but do I have passions? (Cue shrug emoji.) As it turns out, passion lurks in unexpected places. It pops up and surprises you when you aren’t really looking for it.

My first nonfiction picture book is a biography of Jackie Chan. I like Jackie Chan very much. I find him hilariously cheeky and charming. His stunts are perfectly timed blurs of speed and grace, power and precision. I grew up watching his movies and laughing at all his silly humor and punishing pranks. But was I PASSIONATE about him?

I wasn’t.

Until I happened to learn that before Jackie Chan became a global action superstar, he had been classically trained to perform Peking Opera. In painted face and colorful costume, he sang and performed epic Chinese legends. This seemed such a disconnect from the Jackie Chan I thought I knew – that icon of kung fu comedy – that I couldn’t help learning more. And before I knew it, I had read every book I could find, watched every video, and scoured the Internet.

What I learned, what became my passion, was the multidimensional truth of who Jackie Chan is. So often people of color, even those as famous as Jackie Chan, are only seen in one dimension. A stereotype. The kung fu fighting part that doesn’t represent the three-dimensional whole. The whole in whom we might see a universal truth, in whom we might see ourselves, no matter what our race or background. I wanted to tell that story. The whole story of Jackie Chan. I was passionate about it.

Along the way, I unexpectedly fulfilled another passion – for representation. When I was growing up, there weren’t many Asian actors in leading or even supporting roles on TV or in the movies. Only recently did I realize that I gained that representation – I saw those heroes – in Hong Kong movies. My mom would take us kids to the Chinese theater in San Gabriel, California, that played Hong Kong double features. Sharing sticky sweet fruit-flavored beef jerky, we laughed at Jackie’s antics and cheered a star, many stars, who looked like us.

Perhaps Jackie Chan was fueling a passion I didn’t even know I had those many years ago. And perhaps there is a passion in you just waiting to be sparked.

 

GIVE IT A TRY

So how do you locate that lurking passion? How do you coax it out? Start with what you like. What interests you? What are you curious about? What do you enjoy? From there, research and learn more about a topic or a person related to that. If you love food or cooking, perhaps a chef or a pivotal moment in history related to food. As you research, take notes and free-write ideas that come to you. What themes arise? Why does this matter to you? The object of your passion may not be the topic itself, but an idea or theme or memory it represents. Something that makes you want to dig deeper. When an idea captures you, that’s when you know you have a book you want to write. Even better, you’ve done the work of figuring out the real story you want to tell – and that readers will want to read.

 

MEET THE AUTHOR

Kristen Mai Giang is a Chinese American author who emigrated from Vietnam when she was 18 months old. Her debut picture book biography, The Rise (and Falls) of Jackie Chan, releases March 29, 2022, from Crown Books for Young Readers.

She is also the author of Ginger & Chrysanthemum (Fall 2020) and the upcoming Last Flight (Spring 2023), both from Levine Querido.  

When not writing, Kristen has spent the past two decades creating Emmy Award-winning interactive media for Disney, PBS Kids Sprout, and Mattel, among others. She is currently developing a K-5 interactive learning platform funded by the NSF.

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

YOU MADE IT!

You persisted with NF Fest and completed at least 20 activities / posts / books by the bloggers. Congratulations!

To enter the drawing, please include 3 things in your comment.

1.    YOUR NAME (Add the number of items completed if you like.)

2.    YOUR LOCATION (state or country)

3.    OPINION

·       What authors/illustrators would you like to see in the future?

·       What post(s) benefitted you most?

·       How can we improve?

Your comment would look something like this:

Pat Miller-24, Texas, future-Jocelyn Rish, favorites-House/research, Mangal/maps, improve-do it again next year!

All responses must be submitted by March 2, midnight, CST/USA

Bonus: Kristen Giang will send us off on March 2 with her post on Finding Your Passion Project.

2022 Prizes

Kirsten Larson - an hour Zoom you can use for career coaching, an in-person critique, or just an “ask me anything” session.

Ann Ingalls - manuscript critique for a nonfiction levelled reader. She will draw a name from interested individuals.

Melissa Stewart - 30 min Skype Q&A.

Beth Anderson - signed copy of Revolutionary Prudence Wright: Leading the Minute Women in the Fight for Independence

Paula Yoo - signed copy of From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement

Carol Kim – one of the following: a critique of a full picture book manuscript, the first 10 pages of a longer manuscript, or critique of an introductory packet to an educational publisher—winner’s choice.

Annette Whipple - signed copy of Whooo Knew? The Truth About Owls

Sarah Albee – signed copy of Fairy Tale Science

Teresa Robeson -  Choose between a copy of Panel One: Comic Book Scripts by Top Writers edited by Matt Gertler sent via Bookshop.org or a half-hour ask-me-anything chat (phone or Zoom).

Sue Gallion - signed copy of Our World: First Book of Geography.

Mélina Mangal - signed copy of The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just.

Katherine House -  15-minute Zoom session to help someone with a research project.

Andrea Loney - a signed copy of VIP: Stacey Abrams – Voting Visionary

Anna Crowley Redding - PB critique or research brainstorm session to be used in the next 12 months.

Duncan Donatiuh - two titles sent by Abrams Books (two winners) Diego Rivera and Funny Bones  (Jenny Choy)

Kristen Giang – The Rise (and Falls) of Jackie Chan