I spent Friday at the 31st Annual Children\’s Literature Conference as part of their YA Panel. I had the opportunity to talk to area teachers and librarians, listen to featured speakers Laurie Anderson, Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, Sara Prineas, and Thom Barthelmess. The conference was held out in the cornfields – almost literally. Northern Illinois University, […]
31st Annual Children\’s Literature Conference Read More »
I few weeks ago I read a portion of a WIP to a small group of men and women, many of them writers. The section I read involved my hero in an E/R wearing that horrible hospital gown that leaves a portion of his thigh uncovered. The heroine looks at a scar on his thigh
Romance for Guys?? Read More »
The topic comes up a lot among writers. Especially beginning writers. “Agents don’t like prologues.” they lament. “But what if a prologue is right for the story?’ They read published novels with prologues and love them and use that to justify using one in their own writing. I’m not an agent or editor, but I
Problem with Prologues Read More »
Today I received news no one wants to hear. Snowmaggedon claimed a long-time friend of mine. I first met Kent Bergren when I started working at Illinois Bell. He and I were fourth-floor buddies, me in General Applications, he in Payroll. Our careers crisscrossed over the years, we moved to different departments, different buildings, different cities,
Snowmaggedon claims a friend. Read More »
I decided to kill the proverbial two birds with this post. I belong to a writing group that puts out regular writing prompts and for February the prompt is … traffic problems. For me, that means writing about my day in traffic court. Let me admit that I did break a rule. And everthing the
Here’s the bad news: agents and editors are looking for reasons to reject your query. Not because they are bad people, far from it. I’ve met a number of agents and editors over the years. They are great people, personable, likeable, businesslike – and horribly overworked. Like any other business man or woman, their first loyalty
What I learned from querying Read More »
I am proud to be published by WestSide books, especially now, when books by two of my sister authors have been selected by YALSA for special honors. Scars by Cheryl Rainfield (ISBN 978-1-934813-32-4) was named the #1 book on the 2011 Top Ten YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers! And Hope in Patience by Beth
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I just read an interview of Lisa Cron, a story consultant and agent, in the January 2011 issue of The Writer. She recommends reading bad books, and I thought, why on Earth would anyone waste their time on that? Then I read her reason. \”Because you don\’t really know what your expectations are until they
My life as a romance writing contest judge Read More »
Today I am going to shill for a contest. Don\’t worry, I won\’t be offended if you stop reading right now. Still here? Good. A few months ago I did what people always tell me not to do, I voluntered for something. Now I need to follow through. I am the 2011 contest coordinator for the 13th
There is strong language in PULL, it is not rated G or PG. I understand that there are concerns about the use of this book in some classrooms and I was asked for my feedback when I visited a classroom recently. First, no kid who doesn\’t use curse words will start because he reads this