Video Transcript (computer generated - may contain errors)

Sara Gentry: Hello, writers. I am so excited today to chat with Christine Alonzha. Welcome, Christine.

Christine Alemshah: Hello!

Sara Gentry: Let me introduce Christine here to our writers. Because you have done a lot of fabulous things, and I wanna make sure that everybody knows what you're involved with. So Christine is a mom, a classically trained vocalist, a former child care manager, and a children's author. She loves to write children's picture books that champion innovation, music, and her biracial Filipino American heritage. Her published works have appeared in little thoughts, press stories for children, me, genius, and no wonder Christine is active within the kidlet writing community, especially on Twitter. I'll make a plug for Twitter here for you, or excuse me. Maybe now I need to call it X. But I think everybody will. We're all kind of rogue in that. Yeah, I know right. And she's also in Julie Headlands, 12 by 12 picture book program and storyteller, Academy and SCBWI and in a couple of critique groups. Christine is also the host of the grow, your writing challenge, which we are going to talk about a lot here today, and when she's not writing she enjoys singing karaoke with her husband. I love that 2 daughters and reading books that transport her to vibrant worlds with emotionally resonant and diverse characters. Her picture books, FAYE GOES DUMPSTER DIVING WITH LOLA and FAYE’S BALIKBAYAN BOX OF TREASURES, will debut with free spirit publishing in 2025, and she is represented by Vicki Weber. Well, that's really exciting. You've got a couple of books coming out soon soon, ish.

Christine Alemshah: Very soon. Yes, we've been doing a lot of work on them. I've been starting to see sketches, which is and cover art, and it's been really exciting. I've been working with the editor, and we've been doing our final edits on on the books. So it's really becoming a book, which is, or they're becoming books, which is really exciting. I mean, even when you sign the contract, it doesn't really feel process starts to, you know, Bill, the ball starts rolling, and it starts actual book. And you're like, what this is that gonna be a book. 

Sara Gentry: Well, and especially for picture books, because the process just does take longer.

Christine Alemshah: Yeah.

Sara Gentry: It. It feels like, oh, it's next year like that actually feels imminent. Other writers, it might still feel long, long away.

Christine Alemshah: Right?

Sara Gentry: I invited Christine here today because she does so much to help writers improve their writing craft through sort of these creative ways by looking at different facets of writing. And I wanted to talk with you about your hashtag, grow your writing challenge. So maybe, could you tell the writers? What exactly the challenge is.

Christine Alemshah: Sure. So it is a page that is, you can get to from my website. So if you go to christinealelmshah.com up in the top. There's a menu that will drop down. That says, Grow your writing, I don't know if it's grow your writing or grow your writing challenge. But that is a page that you can click on. And it is for kidlit writer. Specifically, that's just because that's my experience lies. But it's a low pressure self paced free challenge to grow. Your writing skills and participants are free to join anytime during the year.

Sara Gentry: Yeah, I love it. And writers, if you visit this page you'll see Christine's gone above and beyond with creating all these fun badges for different areas of the challenge. Could could you maybe talk, maybe, about some of the you don't have to list them all? Or if you don't want to, but some of the badges and challenges that people can do within the larger challenge.

Christine Alemshah: Right, so that that sort of came out of my love when I was a kid I didn't have a lot of toys. I had a Barbie doll I had a few dolls, I had crayons. I was in love with crayons, but my! I was obsessed with stickers. So I had a sticker book, and I would collect the fuzzy stickers, the puppy stickers, you know all the different kinds of stickers and that was like my treasure was my sticker book. So I've been really drawn to a lot of challenges out there. You know Julie Hedlin is great about this, too. Having, you know, when I earn a badge just makes me feel good. And so I wanted to create a challenge where I could. You know you could give yourself a sticker. I mean, kids get stickers when they're at school. They get little stars and everything. And I love that. And I and wanna do something like that for adults? So it's really, you know, it's on your honor and I do have a little tracker that you can download, and you can put your badges on a sheet. So if you're a visual type of person, you can see them and some of them are I that I have are called new writing, and I put a line on that one just because I didn't want to box it in. 

Sara Gentry: Sure. Right.

Christine Alemshah: Draft. I wanted it to be any kind of new writing that you do, because for myself. My husband told me a long time ago, you know, when I was I was in the very beginning as a writer.  He knew that I was a reader, and he said, Wow! You know you read so much. If you just put your mind to it, you can do anything. And I said, Well, I really want to be a children's writer, he says, well, and I and I was struggling with sort of coming up with ideas in the beginning. He's like, Well, why don't you start a blog, and I. So I did that. The first is at first, before I started writing picture books, because I've also heard something out there like you have to write 10,000 words I think, before it will turn into a fully formed idea. So I started writing a blog. I was working as a childcare manager at a time at the time, and it was a resource blog for childcare, you know, childcare development and for managers and just sort of ideas, a curated list of crafts, games, things like that for childcare providers, and that sort of took off on its own. And then I was able to take all the content, like all the writing I had done for that, and then morphed it into my children's writing career and said, Okay, I guess it's true that you do need to write you just like sometimes you just have to write so that's why I have that batch that with the line there. Full entry. It could be a blog entry. It could even be a really long email or something. So that counts. I have a re revision retreat. For when you have something you need to revise. Writing, contest percolating with podcasts, brainstorming, cultivating connections. Can't read my writing here because it's really small mature texts which are also really important. But there's all different types of.

Sara Gentry: Well, and I love it, cause they're covering. They're covering lots of different aspects, like some of them are more about connecting with fellow creators, and some of them are more about like ingesting information and ideas, and some of them are about getting your own ideas out into the world. So I love all of that. Is there any of those challenges that you have found particularly challenging for yourself as you've been working through.

Christine Alemshah: As well. I think it really depends on the season of life and the stage of life that you're in, or what kind of challenges you have going on in your own personal life. That's one of the reasons I wanted to make. It sort of low pressure and self paced is because I wanted people to look at this and think to themselves, where am I? At what stage am I at in my writing journey? And what speaks to me? Because you know, there are times in my life where new writing might be really challenging. And then there was a time in my life when I had a newborn at home, that cultivating connections was actually really hard for me, because I just felt like very vulnerable at the time. And I felt like, Okay, I just need to kind of focus on my family. And, like, you know, getting too much endpoint from the from the community at the time was just too much at the time, so I pulled back and I'd say, during those years, like brainstorming was great, you know, cause I would I would let my daughter play, and you know, be sitting sitting next to her, and I'd be brainstorming on my phone or I would also, you know, we read a ton of Mentor text when my really young, and that was always fabulous because I could. I would be doing my own research because I could see, oh, I like these ideas, I this inspires me to write my own stories, and in addition to that, I get the responses of of my kids, and like how they're how the stories affect them, which ones they like, what characters are standing out for them. So that was all growth for me also. So I really, I think it just depends on your stage.

Sara Gentry: No, I love that because I think sometimes some of the advice that's been deeply ingrained in the writing community. I I'm not trying to be angry here, but a lot of it has been perhaps suggested by people who are not caregivers full time at home, whether it's, you know, for their children, or perhaps aging parents, and like, when you're in a very busy season of life like that. It just has different demands. It just does.

Christine Alemshah: Yes. Yeah, and you can. And the you can still nurture your writing journey. In those seasons of life it just might look a little different. And that's okay. So I, obviously, I started in 2010. I took lots of breaks. I'm in here in 2024. I know I have a 7 book deal, so it can happen. Sometimes it does take a while. And that's okay, you know. So that's why I'm here that it's okay.

Sara Gentry: Yeah, yeah, it can be hard, though. It can be hard when you're seeing other people like move at the pace that maybe you wish you were moving, but.

Christine Alemshah: Yeah. That's actually how I came up with the whole analogy about grow your writing is I originally went at the 2011 summer conference in Los Angeles. I took one of their workshops on growing your twitter following, and your author brand. And they talked about hashtags. And they said, and you can even create your own hashtag. And I said, I wanna create my own hashtag. That's really cool. So I did that. And I didn't really do anything with it for a long time. But I I thought about the grow you're writing hashtag, and that sort of was in one of my ideal generals for a long time, and I just love the idea that you know a lot of that growth happens under the surface. You know you, you may not see it. Others may not see it, but one author's journey may just look like, you know, a pile of dirt, but there's so much those there's so many roots under the surface that you've been cultivating, and then it just might take a little bit longer for it to sprout and turn into something.

Sara Gentry: Yeah, I love that, and you never know how quickly it will like it might just shoot up.

Christine Alemshah: It might just shoot up one day. And all of a sudden you've got a whole big plant, and you didn't. But you've been cultivating it thus whole time, so.

Sara Gentry: Yeah, I love that. So since you've mentioned the hashtag and whatnot I I also think that you're a really great example of someone within the KidLit community who does an excellent job of interacting with people in a meaningful way online. You're always a very encouraging presence online. And I know that you're part of like critique giveaways, and the challenge and and all of these things. Why have you felt that to be important, you know, because it takes time. It takes time to be on, on social media. We would be lying if we suggested otherwise. But clearly you feel that it's important to do, or you wouldn't spend your time that way. So what do you feel is important you know, for for spending your time that way?

Christine Alemshah: Well, the lesson I learned a long time ago is that it does take a long time to build a following and you do have to be consistent about engaging. And that can look a pretty different. I think one of I also have a resource online. It's called pitch pie, about how to pitch on Twitter. But I think one of the first things is to be patient and to also try different things. Because you never know what is going to be a fit for you. I think in the beginning, when I started, you know, back in 2010. I did try some routes that maybe weren't the best for me, and I didn't know how to say no, or I didn't know how to stop doing the things that weren't serving me. So I think just being a not being afraid to you know, if you try something and realizing it's not a good fit for you to move in a different direction and say, Okay, to do something else. You know, you can find out what kind of connection you're seeking? Are you looking for in person connection? Are you looking for an online connection? And then if you are looking for online where? Do you know what kind of community you'd like to be a part of? Are you looking for something that you want to engage in every day. Everyone wants to do that where they want to go online and have to post every day. They might just feel like sort of reading and following other people. And that's completely okay, too. I think one of the places that's really great for that. But I found is the Pb workshop on discord. I think that's hosted by Nathan Christopher. Great place you can join it, and you can just, you know you can write in when you feel like it. And then, if you're not feeling ready yet, you don't have to. So I like that too. Definitely with critique groups. I definitely recommend finding critique groups that are serving you. If you've joined a critique of it's not the best fit for you. I am a member of 3 critique groups that I love, but I have tried critique groups in the past that weren't serving me, that weren't the best fit for me. Maybe just my personality. I am quite introverted, you know. I do like to interact online. But I you know, if you saw me on the street it would be really hard for me to come up and say, Hi to you cause. That's hard for me.

Sara Gentry: Yeah.

Christine Alemshah: Finding your finding your you know people you mesh with, and people that serve you you as a person I think great to do. And then everything I mean kind of like what you're getting at, too. And all of this is finding a place where you feel free to be yourself.

Sara Gentry: I mean, in this age of AI, I think people are extra aware and sensitive, perhaps online, to do things that like don't really sound like a person anymore. So, being able to comment on things in a nice way, and not just like blasting out tweets or posts that are like, buy my book, buy my book, bye.

Christine Alemshah: Yes.

Sara Gentry: Always a good thing. So writers. I guess I should ask you, Christine. I know that the grow your writing challenge is intended for kidlit writers. Is it for for all categories of kidlit like? Did you do picture books and chapter books and middle grade, and YA?

Christine Alemshah: I think so. I personally write picture books. I did. I do dabble in ya I was planning on this being my year, but I decided I wanted to write more picture books, so I didn't exactly go that way. But I'm pretty sure. Yes, all the resources that I've been gathering. All the resources I've been gathering are not totally specific to picture books. They are in general more specific to kid lit? Yes. So.

Sara Gentry: Perfect.

Christine Alemshah: Anyone anyone in the Kidlit community can.

Sara Gentry: Perfect. So, writers, we will include a link to all of that, and to Christine's social channels as well. Are you most active on Twitter, or are you.

Christine Alemshah: Yes, I'm most active on X twitter. Yeah.

Sara Gentry: Yeah, I know it's so weird like, can we just go back to calling it Twitter?

Christine Alemshah: Oh, I know. Call it Twitter. Actually, I used the word Twitter in one of my manuscripts recently.

Sara Gentry: That's fantastic. Yeah, I know. I feel like there's like a little bit of a residual like resistance. So well, it's been lovely chatting with you and writers. I do encourage you to check out Christine's challenge. It's just something fun to do that will also have great work here to help your writing, so encourage you to check that out. And, Christine, thank you so much for your time.

Christine Alemshah: Thank you so much for having me today. I'm so excited to be part of kids. Summer camp.

Sara Gentry: Alright, writers. We will catch you next time. Bye.