But not everyone does it well. There are angry critics who reject everything they see. There are unhelpful critics who expound without explanation. There are sunshiny, happy critics who see toil behind every work and inevitably praise every effort. Finally, there are objective, helpful critics who judge a work systematically and with professionalism. I’m in […]
I’ve been asked to be a regular guest on WTMJ-TV’s Live at 3 show, again joining anchors Charles Benson, Courtny Gerrish, and WTMJ-AM Host Jeff Wagner to talk over the hot topic of the day. In today’s “What’s Hot” segments, we discussed the waning economy and why video games are still big sellers: I’ll be […]
Monday, I blogged on voter turnout and hoped it would be impressively high this election. I hoped for that because I want to see Americans exercise their right to vote. My Puerto Rican relatives living on the island, as American citizens, can vote in presidential primaries. However, because Puerto Rico is not a state nor […]
On this Election Day, I joined WTMJ-TV Anchors George Mallet and Courtny Gerrish and WTMJ-AM Host Jeff Wagner on the show’s “What’s Hot” segment to talk over election- and voting- related issues. Hot Topic Number One: How foreign countries view the U.S. election and hope for a “less arrogant America.” My take? See for yourself: […]
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 […]