My article “2019: A Year in Review” has been published in SCBWI’s Winter 2020 edition of THE BULLETIN. That’s a biannual publication provided to members of the Society of Children’s Books Writers & Illustrators. The article is a children’s publishing industry overview, examining events and trends of 2019. I’m honored that SCBWI trusted me to sum […]

I’m excited! SCBWI-Austin invited me to present a submissions webinar as we settle into the new year with resolutions and recommitment. It’s called “Writing Queries, Strategizing Submissions, and Interpreting Editorial Feedback“ The webinar will be for writers of all children’s book categories, for beginners as well as advanced writers looking to perfect their submission package and strategy. I’ll […]

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 […]

  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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

If you follow my DearEditor.com writing advice blog, you know each spring I host a special event called Revision Week, which showcases interviews with prolific, best-selling authors that give us a peek into their revision processes and tons of useful insights into how we can go about revising our own writing. It’s now time for DearEditor.com’s 4th annual Revision Week, featuring […]

I don’t always post my cheers when writers I’ve worked with as an editor reach their goals because I don’t want to look like I’m trying to take credit for their hard work and talent. As an editorial consultant I point out strengths and weaknesses, and I make suggestions about opportunities and guide when writers […]