Authors & Illustrators Wild About Kidlit!
Today is a very exciting day here on the blog. I have Ryan Van Cleave here with me, who, if you don’t know, is a bit of a writing and poetry rock star. And some of what he does, you may actually not know, because he has ghostwritten many books (in addition to those under his own name) and coaches and mentors many writers behind the scenes.
It had been about a year since my debut picture book, Counting to Bananas (Flamingo Books, April 2022, illustrated by Estrela Lourenço) had been acquired. My editor, Cheryl Eissing, emailed to say her team was exploring the idea of Banana possibly carrying a picture book series. Was I interested? I had never thought about writing a sequel and, as a debut author, never imagined I would be asked to. But was I interested? Seriously? Of course I was bananas about it!
Lyn Miller-Lachmann’s YA novel Torch brings 1969 Czechoslovakia to life, a time when the country is living under Soviet tyranny. The novel has won major book awards, most recently, Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature.
A friend of mine, who also happens to be a writer, gave me a book called CREATING CHARACTER ARCS, The Masterful Author’s Guide to Uniting Story Structure, Plot, and Character Development, by K.M. Weiland, PenForASword Publishing, 2016. (Thank you Tina Oppici). Tina has been suggesting I read it for over two years. She finally handed me a copy and I’m glad she did.
Everyone knows that all CAPS = yelling. So, yes, I AM, in fact, yelling the title of Jenna Beatrice’s debut picture book THE LOUD LIBRARIAN at the top of my lungs. Please don’t shush me because this book (2023, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster) is just too darn cute to keep quiet about!
Jewish American Heritage Month is a time to celebrate Jewish contributions across American society, and there are many to choose from!
Picture book illustrations are almost limitless when it comes to the materials and techniques used to make them. It’s part of what makes them so
Jessica Brody is a superstar in the kidlit world! With her incredibly busy schedule, I’m thrilled she’s here to talk with us about her new middle grade novel, Amelia Gray is Almost Okay. And trust me, her replies are every bit as clever and entertaining as the main character in her amazing book.
Ask any successful kidlit writer how they succeeded, and chances are they’ll tell you about their writing communities. In this reblog, Carol Gordon Ekster shares the many ways she benefits from the yearly 12 x 12 Picture Book Challenge, one of the most well-respected and supportive online writing communities in the kidlit world.
in literary terms, the four-letter word EVEN is primarily used to provide emphasis, and once invited into sentences, can infect multiple sentences without a writer’s conscious intention.
I don’t know about you, but I see a regular, old, green tennis ball in that dog’s mouth. Author/Illustrator Janet Stevens, on the other hand, saw a mysterious green, fuzzy object from the POV of a prairie dog. And when this mysterious object rolled down a prairie dog tunnel, it caused mayhem amongst prairie dogs far and wide.
The subject of this post is JUST, a four-letter word that sneaks into sentences without invitation. Learn when to let it stay…and when to hit DELETE!
As I type out the words ‘Debut Picture Book Author’ in front of Cathy’s name, I feel a surge of excitement and pride course through
Finding a tale or a topic that intrigues me is only the first step. Sometimes it takes years from my original inspiration to the final product.
WRITERS' RUMPUS 