Voice and Word Choice in Picture Books
No, I didn’t mean for the title of this blog to rhyme. Sadly, I don’t write in rhyme. So if I don’t bang out…
Gribble’s Scribbles
Stars Shake Up the President’s Program
The President’s Program at the 2014 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition began as a calm affair, with this year’s award-winning librarians, authors, and library…
Newbery Medal Acceptance Speech
I learned the word capacious from a William Maxwell short story titled “The Thistles in Sweden.” The word appears at the very end of…
Icons of Animation: William Joyce, Peter de Sève, Carlos Nine, and Bill Plympton
The Society celebrates the work of four iconic illustrators- Peter de Sève, William Joyce, Carlos Nine, and Bill Plympton – with an exhibit featuring…
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Hooray, new work I can show! I recently partnered up for the second time with Buzz Hoot Roar—a team of scientists that run a “graphics-driven blog that shares and…
Writing as the Biggest Gamble of All: ALA Las Vegas is Here!
Kids don’t picture their librarians hanging out at a slot machine. But, I’m telling you, it could happen this week. That’s because ten thousand…
First Line/paragraphs from Crystal Kite Finalists Part 3
The annual Crystal Kite Award is a peer-given award to recognize great books from 15 SCBWI regional divisions around the world. This post covers…
Making vs. Marketing
Earlier this week, I received this e-mail from a good friend of mine, Maggie Suisman, asking how to balance marketing work with making work. I…
Building A Platform
I want to touch on something that everyone is hearing about right now. PLATFORM BUILDING. I’m going to start with some basic information. Read…
5 Ways to Hook your Reader with Your Very First Line
Richard Peck said: “You’re only as good as your opening line.” How do we keep our readers intrigued and wanting more? Here are five…