MINI RACER stars a memorable cast of animals in customized vehicles — a mouse in a cheese cart, a team of alligators in a gas-guzzling racecar, a seal in a wheelchair tricked out with rainbow colored rims, alongside others. This romping race in rhyme zooms through town and country, with mishaps and mischievousness along the way, leading to an exciting finish with an unexpected winner.To win a copy of this bouncy book, just "Like" my Three Ninja Pigs page on Facebook.
The original manuscript was written in about 20 minutes flat. Seriously. I was trying my best to carve out some writing time while my three young children had play time. They proceeded to ride their little vehicles — one on a bike, one on a scooter and one on a tricycle — around the table where I was working, out the side porch doors, around the back of the house and back inside the door on the other side of the house complete with sound effects. Zoom! Vroom! Beep, beep! Around and around and around. I felt as if I were in a circus.
The thought crossed my mind that I should “write what I know” so I pictured a little boy racing through his day like a race car and proceeded to put the rhyming scenes on paper. A few drafts (and a couple of weeks later) I sent it to my agent and she had interest from an editor that same day. Since that day, I look at my children and all the noise they generate with a lot more patience and gratitude! They’re generating inspiration too.
In my very talented illustrator’s (Bridget Strevens-Marzo) hands, MINI RACER became a root-for-the-underdog story with a whole cast of characters with their own side stories. I think the town and country scenes have a slightly European feel and I’m hoping if I ever get to visit Bridget in France, she’ll take me to the little bakery in the “in-town” spread and treat me to one of those éclairs.
You get an entry just for "liking" the page. You get an extra entry if you leave a comment (there or here) Winner will be picked Monday, Feb 16th at 10:00 AM EST. (Entrants must be U.S. residents)
14 comments:
Oh that sounds so fun! I'll have to check it out!!
Yay! I already "liked" your 3 Ninja Pigs page! :-)
Love the behind-the-scenes skinny. :)
Congratulations, Kristy!
Ah, the old write what you know wins again!
Hey Kristy - thanks for the complement and I promise to buy you a whole box of eclairs so come over soon!
Funny - "éclair" means a flash of lightning -fits the Mini Racer theme if not the Snail or me. I was unusually slooow - some big family stuff got in the way. So good to see the book's out at last. Squeee - we got there in the end :-)
This goes to show that the best manuscripts are often the ones we write quickly, right after the muse strikes. Sometimes when we overthink a manuscript, we stray too far from the original intent and lose control of the text.
Wow, what a great story behind the story! Can't wait to see this.
I like the FB page, am a follower, and here's my comment... the book sounds great!
I love the statement about loving all the noise and chaos because it's inspiration. I need to remind myself of that too!
Sounds like a great book! Can't wait ot read it!
Hi Corey! Kristy Dempsey is a dear friend of mine, and I would LOVE to win a copy of her new book! Thanks for featuring her story today!!
Thanks for the Mini Racer back story, Corey. I always find the creative process fascinating. Clearly, writing what you know is a great point of departure. Kristy is lucky to have her little muses riding around while she works.
It is great hearing about inspiration for writers. I always share it with my middle-school students when I'm trying to help them find their own inspiration whenever they have to or just want to write. Kristy is an old friend, and after reading the "story-behind- the-story," having her new book will just be a reminder to all us writers and teachers of writers to appreciate and pay attention to everything in our lives. We never know when inspiration is just waiting to be found!!! Congrats, Kristy on another success.
How exciting! I love the positive spin she took from her kids screaming in circles around her--it's inspiring.
~Carla
This story sounds adorable! It's great how our kids provide so much inspiration. Yes, they're noisy but wow, they are a fountain of ideas waiting to happen.
I wish Kristy good luck with Mini Racer. I liked the Ninja Pigs Facebook page...woo hoo!
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