It seems to happen now and then: someone weaves a story fit for a children’s book that enchants family and friends but, with no experience in publishing, the author watches her hopes wilt. Squandered stories no more! This month in Tomales, two visiting illustrators from the East Coast bring their veteran experience in publishing scores of children’s books to the town hall for a three-day workshop. The program is available to everyone, from those with a seed of an idea to those with a complete manuscript but no publishing industry know-how: professors Melanie Hall and Megan Halsey want to guide the idea into the hands of an editor. “Our philosophy is we try to bring out each person’s natural talent,” Ms. Hall, a Massachusetts native who now lives in the Hudson Valley, said. “Edward Hopper was not so great at seascapes—they were almost primitive, not his forte. But he was a master at painting lonely-looking houses. If something comes easy to a person, they won’t give it a lot of value. It’s the ‘van Gogh syndrome,’ where they feel they have to suffer and cut off their ear before they make great art. No, that’s not what has to happen to make great art.” The workshop teaches the ins and outs of crafting a standard 32-page children’s book and offers insider tips for shopping it to publishing houses. Between the two, Ms. Hall and Ms. Halsey have published over 60 children’s books, and they “team teach” illustration and a history class at Marywood University in Pennsylvania. (They met there and have been teaching classes since 2001.) Ms. Hall received the Parents’ Choice Award for a book on Hannukah and has authored dozens of others on the legend of Sleepy Hollow, poetry and religions (she once flipped on the television and saw one of her series promoted on QVC). She stresses that creativity has no bounds within the pages of a children’s book. “This is what we try to tell people: children have no taste,” she said. “They like everything! It’s up to us to teach them good taste. We tell our students to be as personal as possible. If it’s really personal, somehow it makes the book very universal.” After two decades fostering young writers, Ms. Hall said her favorite part of the process is helping students find their ‘aha’ moment. “At the beginning, a person could be floundering with a white piece of paper. We help them through a process of exercises to get the juices flowing and they evolve really fast,” she said. “Sometimes we liken it to when popcorn pops: each person starts to pop and will have an epiphany. They come through and know what they can do as an artist. They transfer what they see from their heads onto paper.” The M&M Book Workshop is a three-day event beginning on Friday, Feb. 23 with a reception at 6 p.m. at the Tomales Town Hall. The workshop fee is $650 and the registration deadline is Feb. 17. For more information, email mhalseyart@me or call (215) 834.3894.