Sometimes I edit at home, but often I pack up my stuff and to go a nearby B&N cafe to work at a table there, surrounded by books. Some days I’ll pick a table by a window to catch a glimpse of the garden outside, but just as often I sit at a table alongside […]
Happy Halloween!
One of these days I’ll get a jump on Halloween and plan a book-related costume for myself. This year, I brought out an old favorite of mine… and the blue uniform I sewed for my Star Trek: Enterprise fan (HE got a jump on Halloween). Our Halloween co-stars are Scary Goblin and Random Star Trek […]
Deborah’s Tip for Character Development on Fab “Cynsations” Blog
I’m honored to be a Guest Blogger on the amazing Cynsations blog today, with my post “Deborah Halverson on Viewing Narrative Beats as ‘Revelatory’ Beats in MG/YA Fiction.” There so much power and potential in those moments between lines of dialogue — the beats. I explore that in the guest post. Here’s a snippet: “Perhaps we […]
New Look for DearEditor.com
My website designer and I have been hard at work all summer on a little something fun: a fresh new look for DearEditor.com, my writers’ advice website. I unveiled the redesign today. Huzzah! It’s been a labor of love. This designer, Theresa, was the first person I told of my plans to create the […]
The Power of Books Teams Up with the Power of Love
No “blog post” today. I think this is more a “share post” because I’m going to let it speak for itself: The title of the Dec 2015 article I am quoting is “J.K. Rowling found out her books helped save this baby’s life. Her response was magic.” Below is an excerpt, but read the whole […]
Hanging with the Gang at SCBWI’s San Diego Chapter
Now that’s how you spend a Saturday afternoon! Today I was honored to hang out with 120 writers and illustrators of books for young readers. We talked all about the publishing business, from Big Picture happenings to the specifics of what we’re writing as individuals. And the best part: The supportiveness of this group’s members […]
My Mom Writes Books? Meh.
Recently, while my sons got their hair cut, I was flipping through my writing craft books, finalizing a presentation. My son picked up Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies. “You wrote this?” He asked. I nodded, a little puzzled. “Yeah?” he said. ” The whole thing? All by yourself?” Me nodding. “Wow.” He picked up […]
Hot Dogs, Fireworks, and BIG MOUTH
A human being just age 74 hot dogs—and buns—in ten minutes. Why? Because he could. That’s the challenge of competitive eating, to see how much of a food you can chow down, as fast as possible, mostly to beat the eaters lined up next to you but also because you thrive on the self-competition. This […]
Richard Peck, Ya Did Good
My very first speaking gig as a young editor, in front of 300 people in Texas, happened last minute as I filled in for a New York editor whose family understandably didn’t want her flying, being just weeks after the 9/11 horrors. I was nervous–this was the 1st speech I’d ever put together about editing […]
Free Sampler Featuring New Fiction
Did you know Publishers Lunch offers a free downloadable sampler with pre-publication excerpts from major authors and debut voices each publishing season? Anyone can download it and enjoy the samples. There’s a Buzz Books for commercial fiction, and another for Young Adult each season. The 2018 Fall/Winter edition just came out, but you can download […]
Writing Pals & Creative Karma
I’ve tried writing groups/meet-ups before, but for reasons that were never bad, those never worked out. This time: GOLD. I’ve been meeting the amazing Barrie Summy once a week for about a year now, writing across the table from her, and it’s THE BEST. We talk a bit, write a lot, and joke about each […]
Meet Me at the Annual SCBWI Summer Conference in L.A. Aug 3-6
I’m pleased to be presenting two sessions at the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators‘ Annual Summer Conference in L.A. August 3-6, 2018: “Up-to-the-Minute Market Report: Industry Updates, Submissions, and New Imprints” “Subplots & Subtext: How to Deepen and Energize Your MG/YA Fiction” I’ll also critique manuscripts one-on-one, which is something I particularly enjoy doing. Conference registration opens April 17th @10am PT. […]
Deborah at WIK ’18 — Fun Times, Great Craft Talk
I’ve had a lot of plates spinning in the last few months, but they’ve been fun plates to spin. A big one was prepping for and attending SCBWI-Southern Breeze’s 2018 writing-and-illustrating for kids (WIK) conference at the beginning of March. I presented sessions on non-rhyming picture books, revising young-adult and middle-grade novels for submission, and the state of the […]
Expecting Boring but Getting Brilliant
My parents divided our garage in half with a wall of bookcases. While I checked out tons of books from the public library, this home library was a convenient way to satisfy sudden reading urges and a true treasure trove. Need a new book but the library is closed? Need a new book, but not in the […]
Booklovers and their Tchotchkes
Folks love their tchotckes. We display them in curio cabinets, on shelves in our living rooms and studies, even on the dashboards of our cars. Booklovers are no exception. While I’m no fan of visual clutter in my living or workingspaces, I have a few prized booklover tchotchkes, all presents from fellow booklovers. Here are three of my […]
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