People say I pull off a lot of stuff in a day, but Katie Davis makes my head spin. When she’s not writing and illustrating picture books for young children, she’s podcasting and blogging and videoing and newslettering and plugging literacy on her regular TV news appearances….  Yowza! Katie is a whirlwind of energy and […]

When a DearEditor.com reader asked about post-apocalyptic novels and the degree of darkness necessary for a true “dystopia,” I immediately thought of author Jeff Hirsch. Not because Jeff is a dark, brooding fellow. In fact, he’s very much the opposite. But with Jeff’s debut novel The Eleventh Plague being a highly-anticipated post-apocalyptic tale and his […]

Barrie Summy may have a successful middle grade mystery series to keep her typing fingers busy, but she still has time to share the secrets of writing a good mystery. Today, she puts on the Guest Editor hat at DearEditor.com and answers a writer’s question about the wisdom of using red herrings in mysteries for […]

Hey, San Diego writers! Wondering about copyright and other related legal issues? My friend, Randy Morrison, a lawyer who is also an author, will present the basic concepts of copyright, give examples, and answer questions at the Dove Library in Carlsbad on March 26, 2011, 10:30-noon. The event is being hosted by Publishers & Writers […]

I love reading, and I love the kids in my sons’ kindergarten class. Today I enjoyed both at the same time as part of the Read Across America activities at our school. I read one of my favorite picture books of all time, If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian, and I brought in […]

Hey, Grown-ups! Grab a book, grab a kid, and grab a seat, because it’s STORY TIME!

With my book Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies pubbing in a few months, I’ve been considering the best way to launch it. In the online world, it’s called a “virtual book launch.” Then I get a question from a writer at DearEditor.com that asks about this very topic: Dear Editor . . . I’m […]

I’m looking ahead at my weekend calendar, and I do believe I see a few planes swirling around the numbers. Saturday, February 12, is the kickoff for the Centennial of Naval Aviation with a big air show at NAS North Island on Coronado, which is just a lovely bridge-ride over the bay from Downtown San […]

Perhaps it’s the editor in me, but I love revising. Filling up a blank page is tough . . . and sometimes startlingly ugly (both the process and the product). But that stage is behind me. Now, with Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies, I’m in Stage 2: Revisions. Today, about three minutes from now, […]

I did it. I turned in the first draft of Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies last week. I celebrated with chocolate. I celebrated with a contest on DearEditor.com. I celebrated with a thorough house reorganization, top to bottom, closet to closet, dust bunny to dust bunny. And I celebrated with an uninterrupted weekend of […]