Leap day! Feeling poetic? Needing a challenge? Simply mad? It looks like there are a few spots left in the “Friendly NCAA-style tournament for children’s poets.” And I think I’ve signed up for the competition… Madness, obviously. Join me! I’ll make you look brilliant! What’s that? People like Jane Yolen and Julie Larios are playing? [...]
Archive for February, 2012
Leap into Madness!
Posted in Writing information and tips, tagged Ed DeCaria, march madness poetry contest on February 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Pride in Bruises
Posted in Writing information and tips, tagged diving, fear in writing, rejections., writing and rejection, writing is like diving on February 27, 2012 | 9 Comments »
My daughter is a competitive spring-board diver. She works hard, practicing a minimum of 15 hours a week, most weeks a lot more. She spends time in their dry gym – which looks like a playground full of trampolines, mats, dry diving boards, and even a fire pole. I think that place produces a lot [...]
Meet Roo Fanshaw Star of The Humming Room by Ellen Potter
Posted in Uncategorized on February 22, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Author Ellen Potter has written a new book THE HUMMING ROOM inspired by the novel THE SECRET GARDEN. Here is the description of the book: Hiding is Roo Fanshaw’s special skill. Living in a frighteningly unstable family, she often needs to disappear at a moment’s notice. When her parents are murdered, it’s her special hiding [...]
Every Author’s Dream- Congratulations James Burks
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Gabby and Gator, James Burks, Studio Distract on February 20, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Friend of the blog, James Burks, shared some fantastic news last week. About a year ago he was contacted by a studio in the UK called Studio Distract. They were interested in developing his book Gabby and Gator as a television show. Here is demo for the show: I am so thrilled for James. While [...]
Character Development With Dungeons & Dragons
Posted in Writing information and tips, tagged Alignment, character development, character test, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons on February 16, 2012 | 1 Comment »
I don’t actually know much about Dungeons & Dragons. For instance do you have to use “&” instead of “and” when referring to it? I know if I was more than a casual acquaintance I’d call it D&D instead of the whole formal name. A boyfriend in high school was super-embarrassed when I found out [...]
Baggage and Joy
Posted in Writing information and tips, tagged conference planning, Richard Jesse Watson, San Diego SCBWI, SCBWI on February 13, 2012 | 9 Comments »
I had the pleasure, delight, absolute joy of hearing author-illustrator, Richard Jesse Watson speak on Saturday during a special event hosted by the San Diego Chapter of SCBWI. Oh me, oh my. Let me first say, if you are planning any kind of writer’s conference, retreat, event, and want to invite someone special, I highly [...]
Fun Friday! No Cook Valentine’s Day Treat
Posted in A million and two reasons to procrastinate on February 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I found this recipe on the Divine Party Concepts site while searching for a Valentine treat for the family. This pretty little dessert uses Twikies and 2 other ingredients. What could be easier than that? Ingredients 3 Tbsp seedless red rasberry jam 1 cup fresh raspberries 2 Twinkies snack cakes Preparation 1. Stir jam and [...]
Picture Book Writing Tips
Posted in Writing information and tips, tagged Marisa Montes, Picture Book Writing Tips on February 9, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Many people assume that a picture book is the easy to write. They are fooled by the reduced number of words and simple story lines. The truth is, that picture books, if done correctly, are probably the most difficult type of writing. For those interested in writing picture books, I have found a great resource [...]
What Are You Reading?
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged Dodsworth, Doreen Cronin, E.D. Baker, The Trouble with Chickens, The Wide Awake Princess, Tim Egan on February 7, 2012 | 4 Comments »
I have been reading a whole host of fun books lately. These are books filled with fun characters or quirky plot twists. I thought I’d share a few of them with you: I was introduced to this series by Alyson at KidLitFrenzy.com. The Dodsworth Adventures series is written and illustrated by Tim Egan. Here is [...]
Discovery
Posted in A million and two reasons to procrastinate, tagged art changes the world, art drop, Erik Wahl, the art of vision on February 2, 2012 | 4 Comments »
Email Subject: OMG, Tanner found Jesus. Hmmm… I thought. I’d never known the friend sending the message to be particularly religious. But not sarcastic or flip either. OMG? Turns out his son, Tanner, was riding home from school and spotted a painting in the canyon. He immediately recognized the painting as the work of Erik [...]
