Hats
Yeah - I know. It’s a big list of things that I do. I wear a lot of different hats in different situations. But I love hats. I collect them. I like to wear lots of different ones because it keeps me from getting bored. All you have to do is pick a hat below, and learn about what that hat means to me when I wear it. Sometimes I wear more than one hat at a time and it gets a bit confusing…but it sure keeps me out of trouble!
Special thanks to Izabela Bzymek for the amazing job she did turning me into a cartoon…
Children’s Author Hat
When I’m wearing this hat, I am Crystal J. Stranaghan - author of 5 picture books for kids. I can often be found visiting classrooms, doing author readings at community events, and teaching writing classes and workshops for students of all ages. My two favourite writing workshops to teach are The Other Side of the Story (point of view, voice, empathy, facing your fears and thinking outside the box) and The Bookmaker’s Apprentice (how books are made from idea to the bookshelf). I can teach these at any age level from preschool to adults. I also get to belong to groups like CWILL BC, SCBWI and CANSCAIP - which means I get to spend time with other people who write children’s books and learn all kinds of neat things from them.
Publisher Hat
When I am wearing this hat, I am Crystal Stranaghan, Publisher of Gumboot Books. I spend my time screening submissions from writers all over the world, matching authors and illustrators when I find a book I really like and want to publish, designing books for kids and promoting the books we have published. I also get to go to conferences and talk about publishing and teach workshops and do lots of other businessy stuff to sell books.
Publishing Consultant Hat
This is a fun hat. When I wear it I get to teach other people how to publish their own books, and help them make their dreams of being a published author come true. Mostly when I’m wearing this hat I’m working with people who are part of the Self Publishing Network. I help them to make important decisions about how to publish their book in a way that will work best for them, and help them to layout their books and design covers all all the other things you need to do to make your idea into a real book. I was also wearing this hat when I wrote my first book for adults: How to Publish Your Book on a Budget. It will be released this spring.
Editor Hat
This hat makes me smarter. It fills me with great ideas about how to make a story better. I usually wear this hat when I’m reviewing a manuscript we’re going to publish at Gumboot Books, when I’m editing a manuscript for a member of the Self Publishing Network, or when I’m doing an event like the SCBWI Query Idol or Manuscript Idol. It helps me to evaluate beginnings, endings, word choices, language levels, plot points, character motivations and everything else that goes into making a great story. Mostly I edit children’s books when I have my Publisher’s hat on too (picture books, early readers, middle grade and young adult books) but if I’m wearing my Publishing Consultant hat then I edit every kind of book you can imagine.
Website Creator Hat
This hat doesn’t get worn as often as some of the others, but I do enjoy it. I love learning new things, and one of the things I’ve been learning lots about is making websites. I made this website, and a bunch of others too. You can see some of them if you look at the “MY OTHER SITES & PROJECTS section to the right. Sometimes people hire me to make them a website. I like to create the basic look of the site for them, and then teach them how to update and change their site however they want. I’ve learned that it doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to do, and when I learn a cool new thing I like to share it with people. My favourite tools are Joomla and Wordpress. If you are an author, or a crafter, or a small business person then maybe I can help you.
Health Psychologist Hat
This hat is great for my balance! One of the things I do workshops on (with students and adults) is wellness. Bascially, I teach people how to balance their work, and school, and family, and stress, and exercise, and emotions, and communication all at once so that they can live a happier life. I also like to do workshops on leadership, goal setting and personal planning. I especially like doing these workshops with student groups, since I know that they will have lots and lots of time to use the information they are learning!
LOOK - NO HATS!
Sometimes I take all my hats off and fling them in the closet. That’s when I’m just me. Then I do lots of other things like: read other people’s books (just for fun because they look interesting), play games with my husband and step-daughter, ride my bicycle on the seawall, have tea and visits with my friends, watch movies, go on the ferry to visit my family, sleep (I do that quite a bit actually), and I like to cook things - then eat them! I like to learn new things and meet new people and do things and see places I’ve never even heard of yet. Sometimes, I even get time to write stuff in my blog or work on one of my new book projects!