I was asked this question at the SCBWI Houston Editor’s Day, and it’s something I’ve asked myself a lot. In our lunchtime discussion at the conference, one of the attendees said she hadn’t written for a while, and when someone asked her if she was a writer or illustrator, she said she felt funny saying…
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And more are on their way. I was looking at Hollywood trade newspaper Variety.com today and saw some cool book-related movie news. First, after Disney withdrew its support of the Narnia series (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is my favorite childhood book) and Fox signed on for the rest of the series, the…
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First about my goals. Had a bad week last week. Only got three chapters done. So, as I’ve missed my goal of six chapters for two weeks now, I’m going to revise the goal to four. I think part of the reason I’ve been missing my goal is too many late nights and not waking up…
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As I mentioned last week, I attended the SCBWI Houston Editor’s Day last Saturday, and it was fabulous. Five editors gave talks and then chatted with us over some Mexican food. As each talked about their books and what they look for in books, one theme kept cropping up: books that resonate, books that stay…
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I’m still planning to write up a more detailed account of the SCBWI Houston Editor’s Day on Saturday, so think of this as a primer. Finding time to write seemed to be a theme for the writers at the conference, fitting in our novels/picture books/whatever between our day-jobs and families. A number of writers I…
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I interviewed debut author Ellen Booraem a few months ago, and here’s a Q&A with another debut author, Annette Fix. Annette decided not to go the traditional route of getting her memoir, The Break-Up Diet, published through a house. Instead, she self-published and learned a lot along the way. This interview is part of a blog…
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Wow, the week passes fast. It’s Monday again, so it’s time for the Community Story. But first a little update. At the beginning of last week, I was ahead on my writing goal of revising six chapters a week and feeling really good. The end of the week got hectic, however, and I ended Sunday…
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As with many other industries, the last couple quarters have been rough on publishing, with houses downsizing with huge layoffs, closing imprints, and restructuring to bundle imprints together with the same staff. Some smaller publishing houses have closed altogether. Before Christmas, calls went out on many blogs, including mine, for people to put books on their gift…
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It’s that time again. Let’s jump right in. No additions from readers last week — come on, join in, the water’s fine — so here’s the whole story so far plus the last paragraph is my addition for today. Post what you think should come next in the comments, and they’ll be joined to the story…
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As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve been somewhat of an absentee blogger lately. First I was busy, then I was sick, then I was busy and sick, and now I’m back to busy. And when I say busy, I don’t mean I have writing deadlines for my novel that I have to achieve. (I wish!) I’m talking…
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