I am thrilled to unveil the striking, beautiful cover for CANDOR's UK edition, due out in 2010 with Egmont. If you can't read the tagline, it says "If you stick around, you'll get the message".


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I was poking through the liner notes to Colbie Caillat’s album BREAKTHROUGH today, and I found this:

“These songs can mean whatever you want them to mean, they are now yours.”

I love that-because I believe any sort of art is transformed by the experiencing of it. We each bring our own experiences and life viewpoints to art. No two people hear the ( Read more... )

Maybe your weather is better than it is in DC today, but I’m personally sitting here with down slippers and a steaming cup of coffee, cursing the cold drizzle outside. Which is the perfect night to be talking about Kristina Springer’s debut young adult novel, THE ESPRESSOLOGIST. Grab a latte and cozy up to her story today! (Buy on IndieBound, ( Read more... )

I am pumped to welcome fellow DC author Jon Skovron to my blog today to celebrate the release of his debut, STRUTS &  FRETS. Dude authors are definitely under-represented in the YA universe and Jon has a strong, unique voice. You won’t be sorry you picked up STRUTS & FRETS! (Buy it your local bookstore, at IndieBound or on Amazon)…

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Any writer who tells you they’ve never thought about quitting writing is a big fat liar.

I’ve thought about it plenty. And I’ve even tried, a few times. For me that never last more than a few sulky hours. I am most likely to walk out on my writing in the heat of the moment: when a plot seems impossible, when I hate every word that I write, when ( Read more... )

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Two years ago, our little family said goodbye to Florida. It had been home, a good home, for six and a half years. Why did we do it? And what did we gain from it?

And what did we lose?

Halloween will probably always make me remember our last night in Celebration. We sat on our porch handing out candy from a moving box. Behind us the house was ( Read more... )

Yesterday my kidlit bookclub discussed Dilys Evans’ title Show and Tell: The Fine Art of Picture Book Illustration.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure this would be the most relevant book for me, since I focus on writing YA and I’m definitely not an artist. But I’m so glad I read this book. I discovered new illustrators and learned fascinating things ( Read more... )

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