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 […]
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 […]
What’s Up with the Ebook Sales Increase?
In intriguing but perhaps not sign-of-a-radical-shift news: Publishers Weekly reports that ebook sales were up in May, making it the first time in two years there’s been an increase in ebook sales from one month to next. Why is this intriguing? Because every year since ebook sales peaked in 2013, sales have dropped. Double-, even triplet-digit drops. Ebooks account […]
Deborah’s Interview Is Part of New Online Course at Children’s Book Insider
I’m proud to have contributed an interview called “Writing for Tweens, Teens and New Adults” to Children’s Book Insider’s Blueprint series, for their new Middle Grade/Young Adult Writing Blueprint. CBI always presents great content. Other fabulous interviews are a part of the new Blueprint — editor Mary Kole and author Matthew J. Kirby (a favorite writer of mine, […]
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 […]
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