One piece of advice you hear frequently as a children’s book writer is to avoid writing books with a heavy moral or message. Editors do not want “preachy” books. If your story does have a message, it should be in service to the story instead of the other way around. They should be written in [...]
Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
The Moral of the Story
Posted in Children's Books, Publishing, Works in Progress, Writing, tagged Writing, Children's Books, Publishing, Works in Progress on July 28, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Gratitude Sunday 18
Posted in Gratitude Sunday, Writing, tagged Gratitude, Gratitude Sunday on July 25, 2010 | 7 Comments »
Lest anyone who reads this blog should think I am perpetually happy and optimistic, let me say upfront that this was a pretty blah week. My patience with the kids ran very thin. I struggled with that familiar conflict between wanting to spend time with family and to spend time writing. It was hot. I [...]
Get out of the “Numb Zone”
Posted in Travel, Writing, tagged Creativity, Leslie McGuirk, Rancho la Puerta, Travel, Writing on June 29, 2010 | 5 Comments »
Another fabulous presenter during my week at Rancho la Puerta talked about rediscovering the magic and wonder of life and channeling that wonder into creative energy. Leslie McGuirk — artist, children’s book author (serendipity anyone?), and creativity evangelist — conducted a series of workshops entitled, “The Quest for Inspiration.” Leslie argues that every person is [...]
Protect Vulnerable Beginnings
Posted in Writing on June 15, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I’m now into Day 3 of my Rancho la Puerta week, and I already feel transformed. The minute the bus glides through the gates, my shoulders loosen their death grip. Ahhhh. That’s all I can think. It turns out the focus of this week’s guest presenter series is on cracking creativity open. How perfect! It [...]
Here We Go
Posted in Family, Former Job(s), Parenting, Summer, Writing, tagged Family, Parenting, Summer, Summer Vacation on June 2, 2010 | Comments Off
The kids finished school last week, but since it was a long weekend when we would all have been home anyway, I considered today the first “real” day of summer vacation. We started off with a bang. Both kids had friends over for playdates and we took an excursion to the library and the local [...]
Critiques: How to Take Them
Posted in SCBWI, Writing, tagged Writing, SCBWI, Writing Tips, Big Sur in the Rockies, Editing, Critiques, Critique Groups on May 26, 2010 | 7 Comments »
My brother was a boxer as a kid. One of the first things his coaches taught him was how to take punch. If you’re going to take one in the gut, you have to harden your belly to reduce the impact. It might still hurt, but probably not enough to bring you to your knees. [...]
“Voiciness”
Posted in Publishing, SCBWI, Writing, tagged Writing, SCBWI, Publishing, Writing Tips, Big Sur in the Rockies, Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Writing Voice, Voice, #kidlitchat, Caren Johnson Literary Agency, Roaring Brook Press on May 19, 2010 | 9 Comments »
Nancy Mercado, executive editor at Roaring Brook Press and a faculty member at Big Sur in the Rockies, said she sometimes receives submissions where the writing is great, the hook is good but the “voiciness” isn’t quite right – at least for her. I like that – voiciness. Kind of the writer’s answer to Stephen [...]
A Good Query Letter is Like a Skirt
Posted in Publishing, SCBWI, Writing, tagged Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Big Sur in the Rockies, Literary Agents, Publishing, Queries, Query Letters, Writing, Writing Tips on May 17, 2010 | 12 Comments »
Andrea Brown, president of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency won the award at the Big Sur in the Rockies workshop for giving the funniest advice on queries: “It should be like a skirt. Long enough to cover everything, but short enough to be exciting.” As we writers know, sending a great query letter is every [...]
Ready, Set, Go!
Posted in Dogs, SCBWI, Writing, tagged Big Sur in the Rockies, Dogs, Hiking, Rocky, SCBWI, Writing on May 14, 2010 | 3 Comments »
In just a few short hours, the Big Sur in the Rockies children’s writing conference will kick off. I’m nervous and excited, but I’m also ready. I’m proud of the work I’ve done these past couple of weeks, and I’m ready to expose it to the light of day. I haven’t had any professional feedback [...]
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