Category: First Stories

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…

Hello friends and welcome back to the First Stories series, where I talk to writers (published, unpublished, agented, unagented) about their first story – the one that really compelled them to pursue writing and publishing.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…

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…

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…

Reading the responses to last week’s first-ever “First Stories” interview was wonderful! Norene Paulson’s stories and insight taught me so much – thanks, Norene! And thank you for all of the comments and encouraging feedback! This week, I’m thrilled to be talking to Brian Gehrlein, whose debut picture book, THE BOOK OF RULES (illustrated by…