Is it time yet?? This weekend, May 11, I get to gather with an amazing faculty and the fabulous authors and illustrators of children’s books. Our reason for convening? SCBWI-San Diego’s MayFest. Each year, the San Diego chapter of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators hosts a full day of workshops for those […]

Outlining is a great writers tool. It has never worked for me, however. In fact, outlining was counterproductive for me. I’d outline my entire story… but then when that story insisted on changing as I wrote it, I’d fall into a frustrating cycle of re-outlining, writing, re-outlining, etc., making very little progress toward manuscript completion. […]

I’ve been looking at photos of Mahoney State Park and getting quite excited. In September, I’ll be there, nestled inside a writing cabin, among other writing cabins, critiquing manuscripts and meeting with attendees for a wonderful weekend of writing and industry talk. We’ll fit in some social events, too. What a beautiful place to create. […]

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 […]

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 […]