The Best Ever Writing Advice for Adults and Teens In the year since my novel, Forget-Her-Nots, came out, I've had an amazing time meeting readers, teachers, librarians, and flowers lovers. They're always eager to hear about the language of flowers and how I came up with an original focus, but the question on many minds is:  What writing advice can you give me?  With the boom in teen fiction, so many book lovers dream of writing the next Hunger Games or The Sky Is Everywhere, two of my recent favorites. What is the best advice any librarian, teacher, or bookseller can give… Continue reading

Targeting that Eager Tween Audience My novel, Forget-Her-Nots, is considered YA, but it’s for ages 12 & up, which puts it into the younger YA category. And I can’t tell you how many people -- especially parents, booksellers, and librarians -- have told me they’re grateful for that! There seems to be a gulf between MG novels for ages 9 to 12 and most YA novels, which are for ages 14 and up.  Many YA readers these days are in their twenties even. So what about those 12 to 14 year olds (and many 11 year olds) who are voracious readers? Many… Continue reading

Lift Up Your Library The majority of American take libraries for granted.  They are always there, chock-full of information and excellent reads, and will always be, we think.  However, with the current economic situation, libraries are truly at risk.  Lawmakers around the country are slashing library hours, freezing book purchases, and reducing staff. There are even some who argue that with e-readers and the Internet libraries are obsolete.  We, as readers and writers, can only shake our heads at such ignorance. What’s a reader to do?  Here are a few suggestions: 1) Join the friends of the library group if there is one… Continue reading

'Tis the time to be pondering New Year's Resolutions for the new decade.  So, of course, one of the wisest children's books ever written popped into my mind.  I must confess it is also my very favorite picture book:  Miss Rumphius.  If you haven't read it, add that to your list of things to do in 2010.  It won't take but a few minutes. In this splendid tale, the girl Alice (who will grow to be Miss Rumphius) wants to follow in her grandfather's footsteps and do three very important things with her life.  First, she wants to go to faraway… Continue reading

       My own novel publishing journey lasted eight years and followed a long and twisted road with lots of potholes.  How did I keep up the faith and keep revising?  Sometimes I wonder, but one word that I kept hearing all those years and that kept me going was original.  I had a truly original idea for a novel.  (It just took me awhile to find the most engaging way to tell it.)  Originality, along with a lot of really hard work, led to my dream coming true.        So how does an aspiring author of anything come up with… Continue reading