If we’re connected on social media, then you probably saw me post a few weeks ago about my new book deal. I’m very excited that I will have a third middle grade novel out in the spring of 2021, assuming all goes according to plan! That seems very far away, I know. But it takes… Read more »
Posts Categorized: The Writing Process
2018 Wrap-Up: Reflections on my year as a writer and debut author
For the past few years, I’ve written a post in late December about my year of reading, reflecting on books that have had an impact on me and patterns I’ve noticed in what I’ve read. I’d love to find time to do that again for this year, but for now I’m more motivated to reflect… Read more »
Two fun interviews and a podcast episode!
Hi, friends! I haven’t been blogging much in this space because my Every Shiny Thing co-author Cordelia Jensen and I have been busy doing lots of interviews and guest blog posts as we gear up for the release of Every Shiny Thing in less than two weeks! (It’s out on 4/17! Hooray!) Most of our posts haven’t gone live… Read more »
Olympic Scoring, Risk-Taking, and Failure Without Shame
I always love watching the Olympics and getting sucked into the storylines and wowed by the performances, even in sports I know pretty much nothing about. Over the weekend, I caught some of the men’s single luge and slopestyle events, and I was struck by the differences in how those two events are scored and… Read more »
Persisting in the Writing Life: A Guest Post on Lyn Miller Lachmann’s Blog
One fun thing about being a debut author is that I’ve gotten some requests to do guest posts and interviews on other blogs I love reading. Lyn Miller-Lachmann, my classmate from Vermont College of Fine Arts and an author whose work I admire greatly, invited me to write a post about persisting in the writing… Read more »
Figuring Out What Matters
Back when my husband and I were planning our wedding, we got some really good advice. Figure out what really matters to you, someone said. Decide on a few big priorities—a few things you care about and are comfortable investing money and/or time in. That way, you can also figure out which things you don’t… Read more »
Why Verse? An Interview with Cordelia Jensen
With Thanksgiving a few days away, today feels like the perfect time to post an interview with an author and friend I am very, very grateful for: Cordelia Jensen. Cordelia and I were classmates at Vermont College of Fine Arts, and I am incredibly lucky to have her in my writing life…and in the rest… Read more »
Why Verse? An Interview with Joy McCullough
I’m working on a new novel these days, and I very much want to write it in past tense, but it very much wants to be written in present tense. Nearly every time I get into a good writing zone with this book, my verbs slide right into present tense. Maybe my subconscious knows more… Read more »
Why Epistolary? Part 2: An Interview with Debut Author Jen Petro-Roy
You know that feeling when you’re reading a really good book, and you’re so desperate to know what’s going to happen that you hurry through the pages even though you also don’t want the story to be over? That’s how I felt with Jen Petro-Roy’s middle-grade debut, P.S. I Miss You. The book is written as… Read more »
Why Epistolary? An Interview with Debut Author A. B. Rutledge
During the first year of my MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts, I was working on a manuscript that wasn’t quite cooperating. The voice wasn’t quite interesting enough, and the story didn’t have quite enough urgency. My advisor at the time, the brilliant author Franny Billingsley, suggested that I might be able to… Read more »
The Problem of Parents in Middle Grade Fiction
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the portrayal of parents in middle grade novels. There are all sorts of challenges when it comes to creating parent characters in books for kids. For instance, how do you get the parents out of the way so that your middle-school-aged characters can get themselves into enough trouble… Read more »
A Love Letter to 2015-Me and Anyone Struggling to Attain Their Writing/Publishing Goals
Recently, I’ve been pondering what to say to writers I know who are struggling to get an agent, or who have an agent but have not yet gotten that elusive book deal. It’s especially hard to say something that’s honest and encouraging but not condescending or minimizing when talking to a writer who has already… Read more »
Trusting My Own (Uncertain but Exciting) Writing Process
Since I started writing fiction in 2008, I’ve written six full-length novel manuscripts, two of which will be published, but I still couldn’t tell you how, exactly, I write a book. When I sit down in front of a blank document, ready to start a new project, I feel a mix of confident excitement (This… Read more »
Upper MG Books for Older Middle School Readers…and My New Book Deal!
Last Thursday, I wrote a guest post for a wonderful site called Project Mayhem about the importance of “gray area” novels: upper middle grade books that appeal to sixth to eighth graders and that people in the publishing world have sometimes been wary of, because they’re a bit too old for traditional middle grade but a bit… Read more »
When “Finish What You’re Working On” Isn’t the Best Advice
“Finish what you’re working on.” If you want to be a writer, that’s one of the most common pieces of advice you’ll hear, and it makes a lot of sense. It’s fun to start a book, but it can be really hard to wade through the murky middle and make it to the other side…. Read more »
Shiny, Happy News: My First Book Deal!
Almost three years ago, I got an agent. An agent I’d heard great things about, who requested my full manuscript seconds after I queried and then read my book in less than 24 hours. I’d worked on that book for two years, throughout the second year of my MFA program at Vermont College of Fine… Read more »
On Writing and the Struggle to Keep Control
I’ve been neglecting this blog for a long time now because even during the summer, when I have glorious stretches of writing time, there are only so many words I can crank out in a day, and I’ve been hoarding them all for the manuscripts I’m writing. Since I last posted, I finished and revised… Read more »
What Works…and What Doesn’t
The first quarter of my school year ended recently, so I’ve been talking to my seventh grade advisees about how things are going so far in their classes: what they’re proud of so far this year; how they learn and work best; and what strategies they might try out in this next quarter to improve… Read more »
777 Challenge
I’ve been challenged by fellow VCFA alum (and Philadelphia area resident) Nicole Valentine to participate in the 777 Challenge. I’m supposed to share 7 lines of text, 7 lines down, on the 7th page of my work-in-progress. Here’s the link to Nicole’s post, where she shared seven lines from a smart and poignant middle-grade time-travel… Read more »
The Gray Area Between Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction
Back in 2010, Mary Kole, who was then a literary agent, wrote a post called “Is it MG or YA?” on her excellent site kidlit.com. I should note that the publishing market has changed between 2010 and 2014, so I can’t say whether this post would be the same if Kole had written it today…. Read more »