Search the Site

Debbie’s Blog

Welcome to my new blog, which now includes content from many of the blogs I’ve created over the years. You can now also access content via category from this one page instead of having to search for my individual blogs, which were scattered over various platforms and websites.

Seven more days

7 more days until I pick up my iPad. Thanks to Susan Pigott for pointing out this gorgeous Vaja cases for the iPad. I especially love the one that looks like a Moleskine. To avoid overloading those of you who aren’t iPad fans, I’ve been pouring most of my iPad obsessings into . . .



Comics for writers: Bo’s Cafe Life

For those who enjoy comics focused on the writing life: check out Wayne Pollard’s Bo’s Cafe Life, which follows the adventures of Bo, an aspiring novelist. Thanks to Wayne for giving me permission to post the comic above!



YA Author Rock Band: Tiger Beat

The members of Tiger Beat(I remember reading Tiger Beat magazine when I was a teen!) are all YA (Young Adult) authors, and they apparently rocked the house at Books of Wonder during a Sourcebooks launch party. From Mediabistro:  Libba Bray wailed on vocals, Daniel Ehrenhaft played guitar, Natalie Standiford played bass, and Barney Miller handled drums. The band headlined the . . .




Lovely Blog Award + 15 sites to visit

Thanks so much to Anita Nolan for giving me the Lovely Blog Award! If you write for young people and aren’t familiar with Anita’s blog, you should definitely visit her website. Here’s my list of blogs that I check regularly because of their excellent info and inspiration. I’ve tried to avoid blogs that . . .




New version of Black Mana Studio’s Manuscript fixes import/export issues

Last month, I posted a review of Black Mana Studio’s Manuscript app for the iPhone, saying it was a disappointment. The developer has released an update which appears to fix the import and export issues from an to Google Docs. I’ve only had a chance to do some preliminary testing, but so . . .



Interview with Mahtab Narsimhan: The Silver Anklet

THE SILVER ANKLET is a sequel to Mahtab Narsimhan‘s THE THIRD EYE, which won The Silver Birch award in 2009. For those who don’t know, The Silver Birch Award is a province-wide honour given by Grade 3, 4, 5 and 6 Ontario students. Although administered by the Ontario Library Association and run by teacher-librarians and . . .



Gail Carson Levine’s blog

Sometimes writers get so caught up in promotion and networking that they forget about working on improving their craft. One of my favourite writing craft blogs is that of Gail Carson Levine. Gail has written many books for young people, including the Newbery-winning Ella Enchanted. I highly recommend a visit to her . . .



Curio for the iPad?

I was recently approached by a publisher who likes my illustrations, asking if I had any stories to go with them. I’ve started using Zengobi’s Curio to brainstorm. LOVE this program. I’m also using it to brainstorm about my other writing projects, both fiction and nonfiction, as well as my cartoons. Curio’s . . .