PIBOIDMO: ONE SWEET DEAL...

If you are a children's book writer and not living on some deserted island, you probably have heard of Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo event. But just in case you DON'T know about PiBoIdMo, it stands for Picture Book Idea Month and it's something I've participated in for the past five years.

Just like holiday candy canes, PiBo only comes around once a year and brings with it the promise of the sweetest time of your writerly life. Thirty days to dance with your muse to possibly create at least thirty picture book ideas. Not fully polished manuscripts, but maybe just something as small as a snippet having the potential to blossom later into something special. And like those tasty candy canes, those ideas can come in many forms.

Mini candy canes...a whisper of an idea but something that captured your attention and worth writing down.

Multi-flavored...crazy characters to take your breath away and lead you on a tantalizing journey of discovery.

Peppermint...the real deal. Maybe only a few of these will be hiding in all those nuggets but they hold all the ingredients to fashion the next great story. . 

I was lucky enough to complete the month with more than 85 ideas. One PiBo idea from two years ago eventually became my debut picture book, THE STORY CATCHER, which is set up for pre-orders right now through Barnes & Noble (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-story-catcher-donna-l-martin/1120753878?ean=9780990908548) or Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Story-Catcher-Donna-L-Martin-ebook/dp/B00PHJRVG0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417402353&sr=8-1&keywords=the+story+catcher+kindle+edition).  

If you were lucky enough to participate in PiBoIdMo this year then I congratulate you on a job well done, no matter how many ideas you wrote down. Enjoy the moment for only you can unwrap the sweet potential of what your muse has shared with you.

Only you can dance with your words and create a little magic...