Happy New Year to each one of you! I hope and pray that this year finds you healthy and ready to tackle something new – or something familiar – with enthusiasm. New years do smell of fresh starts, don’t they? Perhaps this year will bring a “first” for you…or even two. For this week’s featured… Read more »
Those of you who have followed my writing for the past year or more may remember this exercise from last year. Children’s author Julie Hedlund, challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. She believes the way New Year’s resolutions are… Read more »
At the end of the year, it is most appropriate to look back to the beginning. Each of the First Stories interviews revealed an aspect of the writer’s craft to me and renewed my appreciation for the dedication and drive required to shape stories and release them into the world. Thank you to each and… Read more »
Happy Thanksgiving friends both within and outside the kidlit community! This year has been challenging in many ways, but I am still so grateful for many things, including another year of truly pursuing writing. I have learned so much about writing, revising, editing, submitting, and the craft from you, fellow writers, and I am so… Read more »
Autumn is in full swing – leaves are falling by the bagful in my backyard, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has kicked off, the kidlit community is stuffed with fun contests, and Thanksgiving is just around the corner. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I have to give thanks for the children’s writing community. It is… Read more »
Susannah Leonard Hill is the author of multiple fun picture books and sponsors three online kidlit contests throughout the year – one for Halloween, the holiday season, and Valentine’s Day. She and many other kidlit authors are incredibly generous to host these contests, read through the amazing entries, and offer awards like manuscript critiques and… Read more »
Hello friends and welcome back to the First Stories series, where I talk to writers (published, unpublished, agented, unagented) about their first story – the one that really compelled them to pursue writing and publishing. The previous four interviews with Norene Paulson, Brian Gehrlein, Amanda Davis, and Tina Cho were gems – I learned so… Read more »
Happy fall to all of you! Thank you for all of the support for the First Stories series over the past few weeks! Tina Cho, Amanda Davis, Norene Paulson, and Brian Gehrlein gave us so much to think about as they shared their very first stories and what they learned and how they have grown… Read more »
Welcome back, dear readers! Thank you for taking a bit of your time to “listen in” to my conversation with Tina Cho. Tina’s recently released picture book – THE OCEAN CALLS – is a wonderful combination of lyrical writing, fascinating premise, and intergenerational story that leaves adult and child readers feeling snuggly and cuddly. This… Read more »
Conducting these interviews with all kinds of #kidlit writers has been a BLAST…and given me so much to ponder! Last week’s interview with Brian Gehrlein was tons of fun, and this week I am delighted to welcome Amanda Davis to First Stories! Many of you know Amanda from her involvement in the #kidlit community, but… Read more »
