Hey everybody!
My name is Pamela (I also answer to "poppyseed," but prefer not to answer to "Pam") and I'm a 32 year-old stay-at-home mom of three (the youngest is three months old) in northern Virginia. I've always written (for prizes and personal gratification, but not for major publication, alas), but I'm new to the children's book world, and altogether new to the effort of getting published. (Frankly, I've always been too scared to try. I've run out of excuses now, though.) I'm most interested in picture books - or illustrated books, as often as not - but may move into other types as I get more involved.
My sticky wickets tend to be pacing, endings, and dialogue. I'm pretty good at garnering ideas (my five and six year-olds help quite a lot), and I get going with a roar, but then I run out of steam. What I'm looking for is a place populated with people who are good at the things I'm not, so I can glean insight from them; people who will encourage me when my thin-skinned self begins to get dejection-inducing rejections; people who will be honest with me (albeit kindly) so that I can improve my writing overall; people who are fun and with whom I enjoy "hanging out" when I'm not pounding out my pint-size potboilers, who get what's going on in my life because it's what's happening in their lives, too.
This seems to be the place. I'm stunned by all the resources available out there, but of the open forums available, this seems to be among the very best. I hope I can get a lot out of being here, and that I'll eventually be able to give as good as I get.
Anyway, howdy!