16 Jun HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY to Deborah Holt Williams and NIGHTY NIGHT, DINOS plus a Giveaway

EL: I am beyond excited to welcome my friend, Deborah Holt Williams, to Writing Outside the Lines today. I loved reading her sweet book, and it is now one of my go-to books for baby presents. Check out this adorable stanza.

Stomp and swim and fly and creep!
Yawn . . . these dinos need their sleep.
Now it’s time for nighty night.
T-Rex pulls his blankie tight.

 Cute, right? Welcome, Deb. Congratulations on the adorable Nighty Night, Dinos, and HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY! Will you tell us a little about yourself aside from your writing activities?

DHW: I live in the mountains of Colorado, in a small town called Glenwood Springs. My husband and I share our 1893 home with two aging rescued dogs.  Jim cooks, I bake, and we enjoy reading, gardening, and British crime dramas.

EL: How would you describe the book in just a sentence or two?

DHW: Eleven dinosaurs snuggle in their beds after a busy day of play, because they need their sleep to stay healthy and strong. And children do, too!

EL: Love it!  I’m adding that this book is perfect as part of a bedtime routine for little ones. The message that children (and dinos) need their sleep comes through loud and clear without a single ounce of preachiness. It’s just fun! And the bright illustrations are adorable. 

Deb, do you always write in rhyme? It’s so much fun to read!

DHW: I don’t always write in rhyme, but I love the challenge of getting the rhyme and rhythm just right.

EL: You definitely hit the mark with this one! Will you share your writing journey?

DHW: My writing journey has had several chapters, and the goal was always a hard cover, beautifully illustrated picture book. I made up stories in elementary school and wrote for the local paper when I was in high school. I graduated from UW/Madison in 1973 with a journalism degree and worked for a few small-town papers. When the youngest of my five children went to school full-time, I joined SCBWI and started submitting stories. My first sale in 1998 was an early reader called Awful Waffles to Seedlings (now part of Continental Press). They went on to buy four more, all still available, helping kids learn to read. Then there were years with no sales at all until I sold a poem to Highlights in 2011. I sold them several more and also sold poems and non-fiction articles to Jack and Jill, Appleseeds, Turtle, and to a few online magazines as well. Then, years of nothing again, until I sent Nighty Night, Dinos to Familius in 2021. And now it’s coming out five years later! And Nighty Night, Puppies and Nighty Night, Bears are both due out in 2028.

EL: Congratulations! I personally know the dejection one can feel during the barren years. Do you have any thoughts on how writers can get through that without totally giving up hope?

DHW: What helped me keep going through those years of nothing but rejections was my in-person critique group, my online writer friends (particularly the Caldecoots, mature writers all!), taking classes, treating myself to workshops at the Highlights Barn, participating in contests, following blogs like Ellen’s, and volunteering at my local library. I go in most Fridays to wipe off and straighten the picture books. It lets me see what’s new, and what publishers are putting out books like the ones I’m writing. I also think it’s a good idea to recycle. If a story didn’t sell in one form, try writing it in another. I turned a puppet show I’d written into a rebus story for Highlights, and it sold.  Most importantly, keep writing and submitting! Don’t give up! Follow that dream! Mine’s coming true at the age of 74.

EL:I’m celebrating with you, and I love this unboxing picture. And you have two more books coming out! Fabulous! Did you have any input into the illustrations or any contact with the illustrator?

DHW: I didn’t have any input into the illustrations, but when Familius let me know that the artist, Anna Doherty, was considering going with clouds for the endpapers, I asked if they could be shaped like fluffy dinosaurs, and that’s what she went with! I’m delighted with her gorgeous illustrations. She is from Scotland but now lives in Switzerland. Hope I can meet her one day!

EL: I also hope you can meet each other. Thank you so much for joining us today! 

The book can be purchased from Familius at www.familius.com and in bookstores and all the usual online places. Deborah likes using bookshop.org because you can choose a local bookstore to receive a small percentage of the sale.

Deb’s website is here, and she’s Deborah Holt Williams on Facebook. Check her out! 

And now it’s time for a

Deborah is offering a copy of Nighty Night, Dinos, along with a critique of a prose or rhyming manuscript. Rhymers, this doesn’t usually happen, so take advantage! Just comment on this post to get in the running. Good luck!