I’ve been blessed to work with fantastic illustrators and art directors on my novels from my very first one. THE BOY, THE BOAT, AND THE BEAST is my debut novel, but it was also the middle-grade debut of illustrator Justin Hernandez. The book also had a fantastic art director at Simon & Schuster, Laurent Linn,…
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When I got the idea for ARROW, it was this: A boy with one hand lived in a tree. I didn’t know why he lived in a tree or why he had a limb difference, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career as an author, it’s to honor what my characters tell…
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It takes a village to make a novel the best that it can be, and I had a fantastic village at Simon & Schuster and the Paula Wiseman Books imprint when I was working on ARROW. My editor, Sarah Jane Abbott, was indispensable, giving me suggestions that helped lift the characters and story to new…
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I’m a huge fan of Saadia Faruqi‘s work. Her books are as wonderful as she is, which is why I’m thrilled to be able to interview her about her newest middle-grade novel A THOUSAND QUESTIONS. Here’s the publisher’s description: Set against the backdrop of Karachi, Pakistan, Saadia Faruqi’s tender and honest middle grade novel tells…
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It’s launch day for the second novel from author Shana Burg, Laugh With the Moon (Delacorte Books for Young Readers), and Shana has graciously stopped by to answer our writerly questions. Partly based on her own experiences traveling to Malawi, Laugh With the Moon tells the story of 13-year-old Clare Silver, who feels that mourning…
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When I joined the children’s book writing community, one of the things I was immediately impressed with was how supportive everyone was. Not all writing communities — or all creative communities — are like that, and it’s wonderful that children’s book writers are. On Verla Kay’s board yesterday, I saw another example, author Cindy Pon…
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Today, I’ve got a great guest post on writing and researching from Kate Messner, author of Sugar & Ice, a Junior Library Guild Selection, Amazon.com Best Book for December and on the Winder 2010-2011 Kids IndieNext List. Here’s the synopsis of Kate’s book: For Claire Boucher, life is all about skating on the frozen cow…
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Huge apologies for not being around. I’m still busy moving house, and my brain is fried with a bunch of things. But I keep thinking about all the things I want to write on here… then don’t get around to doing it. Lame, I know. I’ll be back really soon. But today, Sherri Cook Woosley…
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Between my DVD and Blu-ray website, DiscDish.com; my books; and moving, I feel like I’m just trying to keep my head above water. So, a couple articles I read today as I was doing research really caught my eye. They’re geared toward bloggers and those trying to make money online, but their message works equally…
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The New York Times reported on a new Kurt Vonnegut library that’s going to open in Indianapolis in the fall, and my favorite part of the article is a quote from his oldest daughter, Edie Vonnegut, who said, “We have boxes of rejection letters, letters saying, ‘You have no talent and we suggest you give…
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