In my quest for critique partners (CPs), I often felt so excited to connect with other fabulous writers, I never actually took the time to sift through my needs. Until recently. CP Connect is happening right now. Also, check on Twitter #CPConnect. Post Pitch-Wars Critique Partner Match Up! will receive your submissions from August 18 through 21. The event will take place August 25 on … Continue reading The Dreaded CPs Search & events!
I had the COMPLETE PLEASURE of chatting with Kelly Barnhill, author of THE WITCH’S BOY, THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON (which I reviewed here last Friday), and many other beloved middle-grade fiction and nonfiction books. THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON is my ✨Favorite Middle-Grade 2016 Read ✨ so far, and I couldn’t think of any better way to celebrate #NationalBookLoversDay AND THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON’s book birthday than to share our … Continue reading Interview with Kelly Barnhill: Author of THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON and THE WITCH’s BOY
My parents gave me a subscription to THE WRITER magazine when I was a kid. Years later, as an adult, I shyly checked out writing books from the library. You’d think I was checking out something indecent, but laying the books on the check-out counter felt like hubris. It was hard to meet the librarian’s eyes. I mean, if anyone knows what a writer looks … Continue reading 10 Tips to Control Writing Book Fever
You’ve heard of the seven stages of grief, but did you know that writers go through those seven stages of writerly grief when they receive feedback on their work? Well they do. Here’s how it happens (and how to survive it). We all know how important beta feedback is to the writing process. And we’ve all heard that getting “thicker skin” is part of writing as well. … Continue reading The Seven Stages of Writerly Grief
When I left my third grade teaching position of sixteen years, I knew I was leaving behind something important – my community. In a classroom, community presses in on you whether you want it or not. Students hover around you like bees. You’re injected into the personal lives of families participating in crippling family events and decisions. For an introvert this intensity leads to exhaustion. But the … Continue reading My Community – An Evolution
Back when we were the age of the kids we write for, summer used to mean long, hot, lazy days filled with reading, outdoor fun, and friends. But for writers, summer can be a huge time of distraction. Schedule changes like vacations and having kids home from school for the summer months can really eat into my writing time. So I asked my fellow Winged … Continue reading Keeping the Words Flowing
I met Pam Vaughan at my first NESCBWI (New England Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators) Conference in 2014. At the time, I was overwhelmed by the awesome authors all around me and my mind buzzed with all I was learning from the great workshops on craft and the publishing industry. I kept catching glimpses of Pam running around everywhere with her camera. I … Continue reading Secrets of a Great Author Photo: An Interview with Pam Vaughan
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
I’ve never really been one for writing prompts. Like everyone else, I am busy, and so have always felt the writing time I had needed to be as productive as humanly possible. If I wasn’t adding to my word count, I was wasting time. It will probably come as no surprise to those of you who have been writing for a while that I got … Continue reading Why You Need to Try Writing Prompts
I am not a morning person. At least, I didn’t use to be. But I need a daily writing routine and morning is the best time for me to do it. A lot of writers participate in #5amwritersclub on Twitter. I’m taking baby steps toward that, but to be honest, I think I need to start my own #6amwritersclub because, well, mornings. Bleh. I started … Continue reading Creating a Daily Writing Routine
Over the years, my fellow writers at The Winged Pen have become so much more to me than CPs. Behind the scenes, we chat about all kinds of crazy stuff. One day, the topic was snacks! Why snacks, you ask? Okay, maybe you didn’t ask, but bear with me anyway. While writing, our brains are like a muscle doing thousands of crunches per hour––squeezing out killer plots, … Continue reading Nom. Nom. Nom. YUMMY WRITER SNACKS! What’s fueling your ideas!?
If you’re a writer, you probably think of yourself as a coffee or tea addicted, insecure person who has lengthy conversations with people in your head, and whose best friend is a dog, cat, or goldfish. In other words, NORMAL. (For more writer characteristics here ) Since that is not the definition of normal for most, I bet you hid this part of yourself, like … Continue reading What Your Family Really Thinks of You
