Q: What is Four on 400? A monthly contest that provides ONE LUCKY MG or YA WRITER with feedback on their opening 400 WORDS! As part of our ongoing mission to support writers, we’ll give a MG or YA writer feedback on their work from four of The Winged Pen’s contributors. Q: Sounds exciting! How do I enter? To enter, simply comment at the bottom of this post! At 4pm (EST) … Continue reading January’s Four on Four Hundred Contest
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss pre-writing and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we talked about revising your world building. This week, Gita Trelease and Gabrielle Byrne talk about how to create powerful metaphors. Metaphor and simile are among the richest, most useful tools in any writer’s kit. The word “metaphor” comes from the … Continue reading MYC: Using Metaphor
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series on revision with Dynamic Dialogue. This week, we’re diving in to how to revise your world-building. Building a world is a lot like building a life. There are a lot of ways to do it. For me, … Continue reading MYC: Revising A World
I am thrilled beyond belief to introduce you to Hilary Harwell. Full disclosure, she’s one of my dearest friends, a long-time critique partner and a member of The Winged Pen critique fellowship. NOW SHE’S AN AGENT TOO–for the renowned KT Literary agency. I’m also excited to share that Hilary will be a participating agent in Pitch Wars this year. She’s opening up to queries at … Continue reading NEW AGENT ALERT! Meet Hilary Harwell of KT Literary
I don’t normally review picture books, but when one of my fellows at The Winged Pen mentioned there was a chance to review STAND UP AND SING! Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice, I jumped at the chance. As a singer, social justice advocate, and fan of Pete Seeger, how could I not? The truth is, this book is important–not only because … Continue reading BOOK REVIEW: STAND UP AND SING!
Gabby: I’m very excited to spend a little time today with Krystal Sutherland, the fabulous debut author of OUR CHEMICAL HEARTS, out now. In addition to writing love stories you want to crawl into, Krystal travels the world being fabulous in fabulous places. Welcome to Winged Pen, Krystal! Krystal: Thank you so much for having me! Gabby: Okay, let’s get to it. Can you tell … Continue reading Author Interview – Krystal Sutherland
Gabby Byrne: Today I have the great pleasure of interviewing two of my local Youth Librarians, working their special brand of book-magic here in Olympia, Washington. Now, if you’re a book person, you are already fully aware of this magic. It’s an uncanny blend of mind-reading, match-making and prophesying. How do they do it, and what are the dark wanderings that brought them to their … Continue reading Interview–Youth Librarians of Olympia, WA
Gabby: Today, I’m thrilled to be chatting with Jeff Zentner. He’s the author of the YA novel, THE SERPENT KING, out now, and GOODBYE DAYS, coming out in March of 2017. If you’ve read Jeff’s work, you already know you better have your tissues handy. Jeff lives in Nashville, TN where he like to rock out, show kids how to rock out, and write books … Continue reading Author Interview — Jeff Zentner
Ahhhh, the dog days of summer. Heat like syrup. Thunder rolls. Falling into the soft, ink-scented comforts of a good story, told well. If you’re anything like me though, summer rolls through your life with the speed of a locomotive, and your only chance to slow it down is to throw a beach towel across the tracks and derail that sucker. Still. Every year, I … Continue reading How We Read & What’s On My Nightstand
Today, Winged Pen is thrilled to spend time with the (fabulous) debut author of the YA book, THE FIRST TIME SHE DROWNED. Kerry Kletter is in the house! I’m especially excited to get to know Kerry better, as we not only have the same agent, but also share a country and a coastline! Yay! Thanks for being here, Kerry. Kerry: Thanks for having me on Winged Pen! Gabby: Okay, … Continue reading Interview with Author — Kerry Kletter
The universe is fond of a good story, same as you and me. This, I tell myself, is why, when one thing goes wrong, there tends to be a glorious cascade of things falling apart to ride along on that one thing’s coat tails. As writers, we can have the last laugh. We can use it. As a comment on craft, I’m pretty sure this is … Continue reading The Real Write What You Know: AKA Your Life in Hip-waders
Gabby Byrne: Today I have the unparalleled delight of interviewing one of my agency-sisters, Karen Foxlee. She’s the bestselling author of OPHELIA AND THE MARVELOUS BOY, THE MIDNIGHT DRESS, and AN ANATOMY OF WINGS. She’s also just an all-around wonderful person. Her new book, A MOST MAGICAL GIRL is due out in August, 2016. Karen lives in the far-flung wilds of Northern Australia and is … Continue reading Interview with Author — Karen Foxlee
