Erin Dealey

We are happy dancing on the blog today in celebration of DEBUT author Lynn Smith‘s picture book,

Just Keep Going

Illus. Lauren Gallegos (Sourcebooks / Jabberwocky), which releases next week!

About Just Keep Going:

“Comforting and empowering… a gently presented suite of responses to help kids face fears and ‘just keep going.'” ― Kirkus Reviews

Mouse’s day is full of big moments and bigger feelings. But with each step forward—jumping to shake off fear, accepting a friend’s comforting hug, or simply pausing to breathe—he builds his courage toolkit. Through Mouse’s journey, readers learn that being brave isn’t about having no fear. Sometimes, it’s about just keeping going. — justkeepgoingbook.com

Meet Lynn Smith:

You might recognize Lynn Smith from her years with NBC News, MSNBC, and CNN Headline News. Just Keep Going, her debut picture book, grew from parenting experiences, her own journey from NBC Page to National News Anchor, and the question: Why do some people get to where they want while others may feel stuck? These days, Lynn inspires others from classrooms to boardrooms. She lives in Georgetown, South Carolina with her husband and two sons, where she’s constantly reminded that courage looks the same at every age.

Let’s ask some questions!

Q 1. Congratulations on your debut picture book. Yayy! Can you tell us more about your initial inspiration for Just Keep Going? Was it podcast-related? ( StrollerCoaster: a Parenting Podcast ) Or–?

Lynn Smith: The three words JUST KEEP GOING came from a particularly challenging time in my life when a lot of things felt like they weren’t going my way, and I was very down. I was sitting in my apartment when a friend from college texted me three words that completely changed my perspective on the situation. She simply said, “JUST KEEP GOING.”

She didn’t say, “Everything’s going to be okay” or “You’re going to get through this”—phrases we often say to people during challenging times, but that doesn’t actually make us feel better because we aren’t sure if everything will be okay.

Those three words, JUST KEEP GOING, reminded me that it doesn’t have to be okay. I just have to keep moving forward. Sometimes that’s getting through one hour, sometimes it’s getting through the next week, sometimes it’s getting through a tough year.

But living the JUST KEEP GOING mentality isn’t about striving for perfection or for things to always work out. Rather, it’s about striving to keep moving forward, even during some of your most challenging times.

Q 2. Once you had the idea, what came next? What was your next step into this unknown territory?

Lynn Smith: Oh, boy, did I not know what I didn’t know! I knew I wanted to write a book for children that would help them understand the concept of resilience, along with facing their own fears. That piece was tied to my current business, which is training executives to become magnetic communicators.

Through my coaching, I’ve come to realize what was holding those leaders back from being that magnetic communicator—someone people are drawn to and lean into—wasn’t what they were saying, but what was going on in their minds, narrated by what I call your “brain bully.”

Silencing your Brain Bully

That brain bully is your inner critic, questioning everything you do and feeding you scenarios of things not working out. I realized that’s really what’s holding back these wildly successful executives I coach. And if that’s happening at the highest levels of business, it has to be something we’re learning when we’re young.

Think about it: we teach children to behave, sit still, take care of their grades, and get first place—we breed perfectionism in our children. So if we can introduce the idea of bravery, courage, and pushing through fears while putting one foot in front of the other, we might be raising the next generation of leaders who are resilient and can face challenges and communicate effectively to make the impact only they’re able to make.

Taking that next step.

The next step into this unknown territory was trying to distill that concept—that very big idea—into something that would make sense to a six-year-old. I’m very transparent about how challenging that was and how many iterations of the manuscript we went through.

While many understand how long it takes to write a 200-page book, it took me years to write the text for a 40 page picture book! That was because I really didn’t have the skill set.

Never give up!

I just kept going, through many revisions. With the help, advice, and guidance from people like you, Erin, and others in my network, I learned how to take this idea and package it for young minds.

Q 3.  Was your actual writing/publishing experience what you envisioned as someone new to this #kidlit path? What surprises or discoveries did you make as the book progressed from idea seed to publication? 

Lynn Smith: I had the expectation that this was going to be extraordinarily challenging, because if anything you want to do is easy, then everyone would do it. There’s a reason we received a number of rejection letters on initial manuscripts—because the manuscript wasn’t what it is today. Every note we received from a publishing house helped us and informed us to elevate the manuscript into what you have in hand.

Discovery

My discovery was that the “no’s” on the path to publication were some of the most significant transformations for the book. They enabled the initial idea to evolve into something more powerful than I could have possibly dreamed of. And the gift that Lauren Gallegos brought to the illustrations further solidified the brilliant magic that artists can add to words.

Illustration Magic

Q4: Speaking of artists and magic, what surprises did the illustrator Lauren Gallegos bring to the book?

Lynn Smith: I was blown away by how she was able to illustrate fear. She brilliantly created a black cloud around Mouse with jagged edges to signify what kids feel like—this darkness and almost lightning bolt of emotion that slowly dissipates throughout the book.

It’s paired with beautiful, colorful, whimsical, magical additional illustrations, so you feel the contrast between the actual world that Mouse is living in and the world he feels he’s living in when he’s enveloped by his fear.

The other thing that really surprised me was how Lauren captured movement in the book when Mouse is breathing in and out. It almost feels like his ears are rising up and then lowering down. To be able to capture movement in a still image is a true gift, and I couldn’t be more grateful to Lauren.

Rejection

Q 5. Let’s circle back to the “no’s.” How did you deal with the disappointment of the many rejections you received for the book?

Lynn Smith: I recently shared on Instagram a number of the responses from publishers explaining why they rejected the book, and then I included the email I sent back to my agent, Deborah Warren, who had shared this feedback with me. I wrote back: “This is such a thoughtful and detailed update, thank you. Despite not having our yes, I really do love seeing the reason behind the no.”

Maybe it’s because I recently read a quote that describes much of my career:

“Turn your no into an on—onward.”

I encountered “no” over and over again, and what I did was turn that into “on” until I got my yes. The yes is a journey, and one that can be really fulfilling in its own right. I hope everyone reading about this book begins to turn on their JUST KEEP GOING mentality in order to reach whatever destination they’re looking for.

Tips and Words of Wisdom

Q 6. Can you share any other tips or words of wisdom for other pre-published or hopeful debut authors? What do you wish you’d known when you started?

Lynn Smith:  The path is very scary and challenging, and at times you’re going to want to quit. Lean into these three words: JUST KEEP GOING.

Whatever is happening to you, the resistance you might be feeling is not the endpoint. Think of it instead as your current. Just like in water, if you swim against the current, you will feel the resistance. If you flow with it, you eventually get to where you’re trying to go.

So treat any setback or rejection as a gift. Use it to enhance and enrich your idea, and lean into your community and experts to constantly refine what it is you want to share with the world.

Favorites and Takeaways

Q 7: What is your favorite spread or line of text?

Lynn Smith: I think my favorite spread is at the end with Moon, when Mouse is worrying at bedtime that he can’t slow down his brain. He’s worried about all he has to do tomorrow, and Moon says to Mouse,

“Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.

Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.”

I wrote that because many times at night, my big-feeling children get very overwhelmed. It’s hard for them to settle down and calm themselves, and we use that phrase so often that it feels like I’m right back there at bedtime with my boys, taking deep breaths with them. It elicits a very joyful memory for me—a core memory that I will carry with me throughout motherhood.

Q 8: What do you hope readers will take away from this heartfelt book? 

Lynn Smith: I hope children remember that courage is a choice and that they have that within them. I also hope they become a friend like Bear, Owl, Bird, and Deer that Mouse encounters on his journey—the kind of friend who helps someone who is scared and unsure, and gives them the JUST KEEP GOING mentality that has helped them, just as my friend did for me many years ago.

My six-year-old son recently asked me if he could bring the book to his class. When I asked him why, he said there was a new boy in class who had never been to his school, and he thinks he’s scared. I realized that at six years old, children can understand these concepts, and all the hard work we put into this story truly paid off.

Q 9: Are there more children’s book projects in the queue that you can share? 

Lynn Smith: Nothing I can share at the moment, other than I fully plan to JUST KEEP GOING in this beautiful kidlit space.

BONUS — Teachers, Librarians, Parents, Caregivers, Counselors

Check out the Educator’s Guide, Worry Journal, and Courage Toolkit for Just Keep Going !

Lynn Smith: Yes! We wanted the Just Keep Going book to be the beginning; the beginning of conversations that families have with their children about what it means to be courageous, what it means to be brave, and what it means to fail.

Here’s the link. Just Keep Going Educators and Parent Guide.pdf

At the end of the guide, we include a Worry Journal where children can write down their worries. We started doing this with my boys at the advice of a parenting expert, and they found such comfort in it. To the point where, randomly at night, my sons will ask if they can write in their worry journal.

This leads to really meaningful conversations about what they’re worried about. They’re able to get that out of their brain and onto paper so it doesn’t fester in the same way that Mouse feels like he might be overwhelmed by his thoughts toward the end of the book.

We also include a Courage Toolkit with some physical strategies to calm yourself down, like jumping up and down, taking deep breaths, and giving yourself a hug. Our goal with the educator’s guide is that you can continue the JUST KEEP GOING journey long after you’ve read the book, and it can become a lifelong mantra, as it has been for me.

Many thanks to Lynn Smith for joining us on the blog today, and

Happy (almost) Book Birthday to

Just Keep Going

There’s still time to pre-order HERE.

To learn more about Lynn and her work, check out the book’s website:  justkeepgoingbook.com

And follow her on IG: lynnsmithtv

Coming up next on the blog –> Not-to-be-missed nonfiction:

Rock Star: How Ursula Marvin Mapped Moon Rocks and Meteorites

by Sandra Neil Wallace

Illus. Nancy Carpenter

Paula Wiseman Books