Ann talks about the journal her mom kept for her since birth, why she chose to write a prequel to The Baby-sitters Club, and the important themes for middle grade stories.
The Writing Process
Critiquing out of your Genre
A few months ago, one of my critique buddies, Judith, asked for recommendations for books on writing middle grade novels so that she could more thoughtfully critique middle grade manuscripts. While I was appreciative of her dedication to her critiques, I was hesitant to steer her to my favorite titles for fear that I’d lose… Read more »
Coming of age in black and white – WHAT I SAW AND HOW I LIED
Before G, PG and PG13 movie ratings, we had As and Bs. I was quite young when the rating system changed but I still remember my parents talking in whispers about B movies. Unlike PG13 movies which often ride the popular wave of slapstick sex and references, a B movie might have been more subtle… Read more »
Double Dose of Query Advice
Two blog posts about querying arrived in my Google Reader on precisely the same day. Both offered wise advice. Nathan Bransford at Curtis Brown, discussed the benefits of batch querying. Shelli Johannes at Market My Words hosted author and query master, Elana Johnson, who lists the top five query mistakes. Ignore these posts at your… Read more »
A Primer on Book Production
Nicole Moulaison, Production Manager for Macmillan Feiwel & Friends and Square Fish imprints, provides a fascinating look at what goes into making a book. http://mackids.squarespace.com/mackidssquarespacecom/2010/1/15/behind-the-scenes-production.html
A Very Purpley and Writerly Birthday Gift!
My daughter, Molly gave me the most lovely birthday gift – a journal. But it’s not just any journal. Here’s what she inscribed in it: Mom, I know it may seem like all the Reidy family gives each other anymore are journals. Also, it seems that you have been receiving a lot of strange, purple… Read more »
How is a Picture Book Like a Golf Swing?
One of my favorite golf pros practiced simplicity in his instruction. Rather than giving me twenty-minutes of pointers to think about during my five-second swing, he’d address just a few. One of his more memorable lessons was when he placed me in perfect body position at address, then backswing, then finish. He had me hold… Read more »
Michael Stearns on Picture Book Writing
Here’s a great essay from agent Michael Stearns at Upstart Crow. Let it guide you as you prepare for our next Picture Book Peek Week coming up on December 14th.
Use Directed Freewriting to Flesh out Your Characters
I’ve found that my single most useful tool for fleshing out a character – better than any lists or profile sheets – is simply freewriting in the character’s first person voice. But rather than sitting in front of a blank screen only to fill it with details of eye color, hair color and family history,… Read more »
Shhhhh! I’m NaNoing.
Sorry it’s been a little quiet around the “Romp” lately. I’ve been NaNoing. I just hit 30K words and I think I’ve found my ideal daily word count – 2500/day. It keeps me in character for a few hours. It stretches me. It feels hard but doable. It knocks off a couple of short chapters,… Read more »