January 4, 2011

Some of you know that in a former life I was Promotional Director at a large independent bookstore. The bookstore, Vroman’s, was in Pasadena, just north of Los Angeles, and we had an incredibly busy events calendar. Great authors, big-name celebrities, Nobel Prize-winners (we were only blocks away from Cal Tech, after all), men who ( Read more... )

I never blog -- as you know -- but I'm back again to say HOORAY KATHY!! I'm over the moon about your National Book Award win!!!
Well deserved, toots! And good job, judges!

Congratulations Kathy Erskine!!!!!
I'm so very happy for you!

I got an email this week from a reader who wanted to know how Zoe in a Crooked Kind of Perfect knows which keys are under her fingers. I explained, best I could, and likened it to the very keyboard that my reader was using to type me an email -- that there was a certain arrangement to the keys, that they had a shape and an order that over time ( Read more... )

This is such an exciting week for me. Today, I'll have a phone conference with my editor, Jeannette Larson, about the line edits for Hound Dog TrueI LOVE LINE EDITS ( Read more... )

The picture book I used for our "Obstacles" lesson was this one:

( Read more... )

Thanks for your tips on great openings. I've typed up the openings to four books ( Read more... )

I'm running a tiny (just four girls) writing camp out of my dining room this week. The girls and I will be working on our own stories for four days. Today, we talk about character.We're going to build one today as a group and work through some ideas about what might make a good character -- then we're breaking for Molasses Cookies -- and then in ( Read more... )

No matter which project you all suggested I try, the overwhelming logic behind your choice was rooted in the need for FUN.
Thus, this morning I drafted a picture book.

How about that?

I have no idea if it is transformable into a Real Picture Book, and I won't until I revisit it tomorrow or Tuesday.

But it was FUN to write!

Before I look ahead, I do want to report that Read At The Table Night was a big success though NONE of us read what was on the menu that morning.

I did not get The Dreamer but instead wrangled myself an ARC of Touch Blue which I finished last night. Sigh. Such a wonderful book. More about it later. For now, this: I've read a lot of fabulous ( Read more... )