When you’re feeling down or dreamy, what do you google on the internet? Baby animal videos? Flowers? I google home library photos. I picture myself in them, imagine redoing my house to be like them, just overall lose myself in them. Here’s one I want to build in my back yard. I won’t — my […]
Prospecting & Publication
Much like with prospectors at the peak of California’s Gold Rush, there was a time when writers rushed to self-publish because they saw other writers striking it rich when editors at traditional publishing houses spotted their books and signed them to lucrative deals. I understand the temptation. Much like those prospectors found with the reality of digging for […]
On Usage
I was perusing the 16th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style this weekend, as editors are wont to do, when I noticed this statement: “The great mass of linguistic issues that writers an editors wrestle with don’t really concern grammar at all–they concern usage: the collective habits of a language’s native speakers.” (5.216) This spoke to […]
When Movie Love Leads to Book Love
Have you seen the trailer for the new movie adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time? Wow, please let the movie be as fantabulous as this trailer looks. This is a classic story I’ve not read — I just couldn’t ever get into it. Sometimes that happens to readers, even with classics. One readers’s beloved favorite […]
All Hail the Persistent Writer
Yesterday I raised a virtual butterbeer toast to two picture book writer clients who just signed with agent and publisher, and to two other writer pals who just signed agents. I celebrated them on Facebook, posting the celebration to inspire other writers. Today, I heard from another writer who just received a contract offer on her picture […]
Writers are Business People Too
Being a writer isn’t just knowing how to wield words or weave tales. Writers are also business people. People forget that… even writers themselves, sometimes. Among the tasks of running your own business is generating, paying for, and maintaining promotional materials, both digital and print. After all, we’ve got websites, postcards, bookmarks, social media accounts, […]
Deborah at SCBWI 46th Annual Summer Conference July 7-10, 2017
I’m excited to be on the faculty of the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators 46th Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles, July 7-10, 2017. I’ll be presenting the annual Market Survey as well as a 3-hour writing intensive “How to Talk Like a Teen When You’re So Not One: Writing Dialogue in YA/MG Fiction.” I’ll also be doing […]
Daring to Try New Writing Software
The creative process can be a fragile thing. Writers can be very set in their process, uninterested in trying new programs because they simply see no need to do so … yet. That’s the kind of writer I am. I’ve used Word so long that I’m no longer conscious of the program itself. And that’s […]
Picture Books Are for Kids of All Ages
Someone recently asked me if older kids really do still read picture books. Yes, they really do, and I have photographic proof. Tonight’s selection is inspired by current events (Kathleen Krull’s Hillary Clinton: Dreams Taking Flight), but just as often my 11.5-yr-olds just see a book in a nearby basket and can’t resist. Leave picture […]
Discovering Tone
My son, who is almost twelve years old, explained to me that writing can have a “tone” — “You know,” he said, “like funny or serious. Sometimes it’s because of the punctuation and sometimes it’s because of other stuff.” He then invited me—“because you’re a writer and you’ll probably think this is neat”—to watch him […]
Excited about Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conf. in L.A. Oct 28-30, 2016
Even as I strive to keep up with work during my sons’ two-week Fall Break, I’m looking ahead. An exciting thing on my horizon is the Writer’s Digest Novel Writing Conference October 28-30 in LA. There, writers in all categories of novels can expand their skills regarding Craft, Storytelling, Character, Genre Studies, Getting an Agent, Getting Published and […]
Deborah at B&N YA Author Panel June 11 Santee, CA
Summer is starting out with a lot of fun writing-related activity for me, that’s for sure. First Revision Week on DearEditor.com last week, and now a panel this coming weekend at Santee Barnes & Nobel (Sat., June 11, 2pm). The panel is “Writing a Book Is Like Riding a Roller Coaster!” My fellow panelists—fabulous YA writers—and I […]
Marie Force Talks Revision for the Revision Week Grand Finale
Here we are, Revision Week’s grand finale. The stunning author who’ll share her revision process on this big day is Marie Force, the New York Times bestselling author of over fifty contemporary romances. Her books have sold millions of copies around the world. Marie is amazing in her work ethic as well as with her storytelling. […]
Revision Week Interview with Celebrated Jane Yolen
Oh boy! Here we go with Day 4 of Revision Week… which means the Jane Yolen, celebrated author of over 300 picture books, novels, and poetry collections for young people. Yeah, that’s right: 300. She’s prolific, praised, and above all talented. With Jane having so many projects in various stage of drafting, revising, reviewing, and approving, […]
Loving Revision Week! Today, Chanel Cleeton
It’s Day 3 of DearEditor.com’s Revision Week already? I absolutely love hearing about other authors’ writing processes, so these interviews make me so happy. Today’s interview is withChanel Cleeton, popular author of thriller and contemporary romance series: “I ALWAYS edit once on my computer, once on a printed draft, and once on an e-reader because […]
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