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.
Trisha Speed Shaskan has written over thirty books for children, including her latest picture book, Punk Skunks. Trisha has an MFA in creative writing. She’s been a bookseller, educator, and youth worker. Trisha lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband Stephen, and their cat Eartha, and dog, Bea. Punk Skunks is written by . . .
“My two favorite things in life are libraries and bicycles. Both move people forward without wasting anything.” – Peter Golkin.
Just finished THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, loved it. This historical fiction novel for middle grade is such a satisfying read, full of adventure and heartbreak and compassion. I loved the characters in this book SO MUCH, and desperately want a sequel. I confess that . . .
(modified from an earlier post) The SCBWI Winter Conference starts in a couple of days! Even if you’re not attending, you can follow the livetweet action via the hashtag #NY16SCBWI on Twitter. If you’re a conference newbie who is nervous, I encourage you to browse my SCBWI Conference Newbie comics. I created these when . . .
I’m heading for NYC for the SCBWI Winter Conference and meetings. If you’re on Twitter, you can follow the action via the #NYC16SCBWI hashtag. If you see me there, please do say hi! Happy writing and illustrating, all!
“One thing that books teach us is that if your life sucks right now, you just haven’t gotten to the good part.” – Tim Federle, author of the Better Nate Than Ever. His new YA, The Great American Whatever, comes out from Simon & Schuster in March. More info about Tim at TimFederle.com. The . . .
As Ellen Jackson said, success as a writer or illustrator depends depends more on intelligent persistence than raw talent. Excerpt from Ellen’s excellent advice: “By ‘intelligent persistence’ I mean the ability to learn from mistakes, to figure out what you’re doing wrong, and then to change it. I know a . . .
Thanks to all who responded to my most recent poll, which asked “While you’re reading a book, have you EVER skipped ahead to read the ending?“ Out of 126 respondents, 60% (or rather 59.52, rounded up) of you replied YES, with the remaining 40% saying NO. Why did you skip . . .
I keep reminding myself of the above as I’m working on the first draft of my middle grade novel. If you like the image above, I’ve made it available as a free print-ready PDF in my For The Love Of Reading resource (where you can find lots of other print-ready posters and activity sheets).
A quickie anonymou survey: Have you ever skipped ahead in a book to read the ending? If you’d like your answers including in the final tally, please answer Yes/No in this survey link.