“Writers are liars, my dear, surely you know that by now? And yet, things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.” ― Neil Gaiman, Dream Country Like pretty much everyone reading this, I engage in social media….
Category: Middle grade fiction
Keeping it real
One of many things I have gleaned from successful writers is to make sure my fictional stories are believable. Experienced sci-fi and fantasy writers are adept at weaving a made-up world and filling it with characters and situations that a reader can believe and invest in. Legal thrillers play out according to real laws with…
When to give up on a story.
Writers love their stories. It can be a love-hate thing throughout the writing process, but when a writer reaches the end and declares the story is done, they are hopelessly in love with it. Does anyone remember the intro scene from Romancing the Stone, when the sobbing Joan Wilder types in the final scene in…
DIY Picture Book Query Letters
When it comes to picture book submissions, editors and agents nearly always ask for the entire text. For novels and nonfiction, they generally ask for a synopsis, the first three chapters, and/or a proposal and outline. It’s a no-brainer that one should write a query for novels or nonfiction to get the prospective publisher interested…
Texting While Driving: a Writer’s Tip
We all know that sticking our nose in a device to read and answer messages while we drive is akin to driving while impaired, or worse. But safe texting while driving is something I’ve done for years. A lot of writers talk of their routine of “Butt in Chair” (BIC) from something o’clock to whatever…
Can you handle the truth?
In the world of publishing we (hopefully) agonize over a project until it is perfect and present something we believe in our hearts is an incredibly awesome work of art. So it’s never any fun when our projects are rejected by an agent or publisher. In 30+ years of publishing children’s books, here’s my take…
The Original Social Media
So today I was out and about, doing mundane chores I’d been putting off for a few years…seriously. One was getting my birth date fixed at the Social Security office. Another errand was getting my favorite watch fixed. I bought the watch because the band is made of cast silver that depicts little stories. I…
“If you can’t do everything brilliantly, at least you should have a bash.”
This week, Kids Discover posted my blog post about the possible perils of labeling a child the “class artist.” Here’s the link that explains why that might be a bad idea. The author Neil Gaiman was interviewed on NPR this morning. He stated, “You have all these amazing tools; it’s up to you what kinds…
Switching Gears
I had a week after the school visit to catch up on things, so I used some of the time to keep messing with computer collage, gleefully recalling that this time last year I was stressing out over the annual SCBWI Spring Conference. Retirement is good. Here’s the latest version of the collage I was…
Ghost Writer in the Woods!
Here is the cover for my first Boxcar book, The Mystery of the Fallen Treasure. It was extra fun to receive this today because I happened to be working on the next one at that very moment and was totally in the Boxcar Mode. So anyway, as you can figure out from the author’s credit,…
"Be part of something good; leave something good behind." 