A Giveaway! Today's the Day!

Hello fellow rhymers!

So, as most of you know...in honor of our official blog launch *virtual confetti*, we are giving away a signed arc of THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN!

And the winner is....(based on a randomly chosen number generated by random.org)

(drumroll please)


Anna Staniszewski!!!

It's time to celebrate your win.
C'mon and let the fun begin.
You've helped to make our launch a great success!

Your prize is on the the way...today!
Okay, there's been a *small* delay.
You'll need to let us know your home address. :-D

(Anna, please email us your address!)


Anyway...seriously...thanks, everyone for joining in on the fun with us. Our goal is to provide as much sought after information on how to create a winning, rhyming picture book as we can...and have a blast doing it.

Don't forget to stay in touch with us via facebook and/or twitter as well:

TWITTER

Tiffany: @TiffRhymes
Corey: @CoreyPBNinja

FACEBOOK:

Tiffany's Author Page

Corey's Author Page

Till next time,
The Meter Maids: Tiffany and Corey
(Always on Patrol)

Rhymes and Misdemeanors

     We're The Meter Maids
     And we are always on patrol. 

     We'll give out fines 

     For faulty lines   

     And place you on parole! 

One of the most heinous crimes of rhyme is to use a word JUST for the rhyme.

Which of the following stanzas is guilty of this infraction?

A)   If you commit
       A crime of rhyme
       You'll go to jail
       And eat a lime!

B)   The prince looked around for a partner
       and found Cinderella- a girl
        he asked her to dance, and she swooned at the chance,
        so the two of them went for a whirl.

C)    On a quiet little farm
        far away from town
        an acrobatic horse
        was hanging upside down


If you said "D, all of the above," you'd be correct!


A)  Obviously, we exaggerated this one make our point.

       PENALTY:  Jail, with no bail!



B)  This one is a bit more subtle.  The word "girl" is there just to rhyme with "whirl."   Everyone knows Cinderella is a girl!  (and even if someone didn't, the picture would show it)  

      PENALTY:  $500 fine!

     

C)    This one is even more subtle. "Far away from town"  does not add any new information.  We already know they are on a quiet little farm.  The line is really there to rhyme with "down."  This type of offense can possibly slide if you don't do it too much. 

      PENALTY:  Get off with a warning... this time!

    

TIP:  Always ask yourself:  Would I have written that line if this story were in prose?

If you are not sure?  SEND IT TO US at  themetermaids@gmail.com

 

The Meter Maids- Open for Business

Okay, let us start out by telling you what we are not going to do.  We are NOT going to teach you about basic meter.  Why?  Because that information is readily accessible all over the internet.  Why reinvent the metronome?  I mean, the wheel.

What we are going to do is share the subtle secrets of writing in rhyme.  The little tricks of the trade that other people don't tell you about.  Why won't you find these tips anywhere else?  Maybe because skilled rhymers use them so intuitively that they don't even realize they are doing it.

In any case, our goal is to help you turn run-of-the-mill stanzas into rhyming extravaganzas!

We'll demonstrate how to effectively use internal rhyme, alliteration, word play, etc, citing lots of examples so you can see these techniques in action.

We'll even take submissions from you...  but more on that later! 

To kick things off, we are giving away a signed ARC of Tiffany's debut picture book, THE MONSTER WHO LOST HIS MEAN.

         
Just follow us and you are automatically entered to win!