I devoured Kat Yeh’s debut middle grade novel, The Truth About Twinkie Pie (comes out from Little Brown later this month), in two sessions. I got so hungry from reading the fabulous-sounding recipes sprinkled through the book that I had to take a break to eat something. Before I stopped, however, I had . . .
Those of you who have no trouble saying no can just skip the rest of this post. Some of you, however, may be like me. I like making people happy and don’t like disappointing them. I also dislike conflict. I like helping people. So when people ask me for things, . . .
Whether I’m working on my own writing (including the 250, 500 and 1000 Words/Day Challenge) or an illustration project, I find I’m able to better focus and be more productive if I can create a mental space in which I feel safe enough to do my best work. Perhaps safe isn’t . . .
Kevin Sylvester is not only a talented children’s book writer/illustrator and broadcaster, but he’s also one of the nicest kidlit people you could hope to meet. His Neil Flambé books for Grades 3-7 are incredibly fun; you can find out more about these and Kevin’s other books on his website. In addition to Neil Flambé . . .
Some great advice from Cory Doctorow in his “Writing In The Age Of Distraction” piece for Locus Online: Don’t be ceremonious. “Forget advice about finding the right atmosphere to coax your muse into the room. Forget candles, music, silence, a good chair, a cigarette, or putting the kids to sleep. It’s nice . . .
Totally thrilled that NAKED! is a 2014 BCCB Blue Ribbon winner! Congrats to the others on the BCCB’s Blue Ribbon list, including others in the picture book category (shown above). Here are BCCB’s Blue Ribbon picture book picks of the year: Black, Michael Ian. Naked!; illus. by Debbie Ridpath Ohi. Simon. 4-7 yrs (July/August) Campbell, Scott. Hug . . .
A reminder: before you worry too much about a promo/marketing plan for your yet-to-be-published book, make sure your book is as polished as you can possibly make it. No matter what the format, how gorgeous the cover, how well-promoted….you need to have a good story and strong characters. Take the . . .
Title: “Looking For Thyme” Having trouble finding the time to write during the day because of interruptions or other distractions? Or fighting the urge to go look stuff up on Google during your writing sessions? (hand waving weakly here) This year I’m going back to writing first thing in the . . .