(why can’t I place images whereever I want? Honestly, no matter what I do, pictures always land at the head of the post. How frustrating!) I’m looking back at my week now and feeling pretty good about how I’ve spent my time. You see, I made a New-School-Year Resolution to utilize my days more wisely…. Read more »
There are wonderful books aimed at inspiring children to write and read. Now that school has started, I thought I’d share a bundle of titles that I’ve come across. Some of these books are useful during school visits. Others are wonderful classroom additions. All of them are visually appealing. This list of recommended reads is… Read more »
School visits can be a lucrative way for authors to supplement their incomes while increasing name recognition among their most loyal followers: students and teachers. But, what about pre-book-published authors? Will a school perceive “value” in a writer who doesn’t as yet have books published? I think the answer is an emphatic yes! Even more… Read more »
Thank you for visiting my blog. Please note that this post was published in 2010—long before my first published book, and long before I pursued an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where I dedicated half of my critical thesis to the murky nonfiction-fiction threshold and how the classification process adds to… Read more »
I love writing retreats. Scratch that…I need writing retreats. As a busy, involved mother married to a husband with a very big job, requiring long hours, home is riddled with responsibility for me. I write at the same desk I pay bills from. My deadlines rest on the same calendar with doctor’s appointments, PTA meetings,… Read more »
It was bound to happen. I spent three years, fifty rewrites, nine hundred miles to research, and countless dollars preparing, what I was certain, would be my book debut, the first kid-lit book on my chosen subject. Even the interested agent was anxious to finally see the end product, after suggesting I rewrite the original… Read more »
My last blog post pointed to the need for authors of picture books to omit physical descriptions as much as possible to allow the illustrator to paint that part of the story. One of the best ways to learn to write with that in mind, is to read existing picture books critically. That’s difficult to… Read more »
Pictures + Story = Picture book. Sounds easy, right? Writers hear it all the time.” Show don’t tell.” Paint images with your words so that the reader visualizes the characters, the setting, the detail. There’s nothing better than picking up a novel or chapter book with such vivid language that the reader feels he/she is… Read more »
I was leafing through my multitudes of computer files and stumbled upon a lengthy discourse by Richard Peck. I loved this poem he ended with. by Richard Peck A story is a doorwayThat opens on a wider place;A story is a mirrorTo reflect the reader’s face. A story is a questionYou hadn’t thought to ponder;A… Read more »
So far, in this blog series, I’ve explored some distinct challenges facing nonfiction picture book writers including word count, language/word choice, and focus/angle. But that’s just the beginning. The more I study nonfiction titles in the pursuit of helping my own writing, the more I recognize the importance of theme. In his best selling book,… Read more »
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