In about nine hours here, the polls will open for Election Day 2008. Don’t worry, no push here for whom to vote. I will say, though, as a journalist, I’ve been appalled at low voter turnout on some elections. Those are usually the smaller local elections as opposed to national presidential ones. And while some […]
There’s quite a bit of news to report about Welcome to Monster Isle, the picture book illustrated by Jeff Miracola, my hubby. The book’s been distributed and is now available on bookstore shelves! In the Milwaukee area, you can find copies at independent bookstores such as Harry W. Schwartz. You can also find a list […]
I’ve been posting for several days now on the speakers at SCBWI-WI’s fall retreat. The two I’ll highlight today were informative and funny, and their ideas were excellent. Author Julie Bowe started her session with prompts to get us thinking back to our childhood selves. We’re talking thoughts such as, “It makes me so mad […]
The “economy of language” is how one guest at the retreat summed up children’s picture books. Associate Editor Stacy Cantor of Walker Books for Young Readers, shown right, made us all think about just how tightly we must write for this kind of book. She suggests 300 – 1,000 words. She cited Maurice Sendak’s Where […]
Pull out your English grammar book because it’s time to review story structure. Yay, yippie, I eat this stuff up! 🙂 Here we go… Speaking at the SCBWI-WI fall retreal, Newbery Award winner Linda Sue Park admits that she doesn’t really know her writing process. She says she reads so much that plot, for her, […]
It had been a really long time since I’d seen Holly Black, so it was great to see her again at the SCBWI-WI fall retreat this weekend. You all know of her, through her Spiderwick and Faerie Tales series or her other works. She’s hilarious and very friendly and was a big hit at the […]
Remember that novel you read awhile back — the one with three, four, five (seemingly endless) pages describing a room/field/plaza/whatever? Guh. Yeah, you remember. That may have been the point where you put the thing down. Maybe you never picked it back up. That is exactly what can’t happen for the writer, and it was […]
Soooo good is time spent learning and laughing with other authors and illustrators! My husband and I are back from a fun and informative weekend in Racine at the Fall Retreat for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Wisconsin Chapter. The retreat is a chance to network, share, and critique. It’s an opportunity […]
We all have so many hats we wear on a daily basis: Parent (home manager, teacher, chauffeur), daughter/son, friend, along with the title associated with whatever work we do in or out of the home. Today I add the title of commentator to my repetoire. WTMJ-TV asked me to return to the airwaves to comment […]
I was shocked to find out that I’d passed — unnoticed — the one-year anniversary of my blog; August 20, 2008. A milestone that slipped by uncelebrated. Until now. So I’m pleased to give myself a little pat on the back for a fun year of writing stories and blog entries and making strides in […]