I recently spoke to a high school Latin class of juniors (11th graders). I had a blast. But ya know what really made me happy? Not a single kid fell asleep during my talk (hey, it was an early class, okay?And we're talking teens).Yesterday, I received a thank you note from the teacher along with a thick packet of letters and cards from the students. I sometimes receive sweet … [Read more...] about Connecting with Teens Made my Day
Writing
On Inadvertently Embarrassing Teens or Why I Changed my Blog Pic
Author and blogger Marc Aronson at http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/nonfictionmatters writes about presenting to eighth-graders and what a challenge that can be. Fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders. he points out, are still enthusiastic learners and, for the most part, eager to please. Not so for eight-graders. Eight-graders can be a tough audience. They have, as … [Read more...] about On Inadvertently Embarrassing Teens or Why I Changed my Blog Pic
The Singular Satisfaction of RIPPING Notes off a Manuscript
So, I posted earlier in the week about receiving the typeset "First Pass Pages" of my 2011 YA novel Cleopatra's Moon. As you can see from the photo on the left, it looked, basically, like someone with a Post-It Note obsession forgot to take their meds that day. In reality, it was all the work of my brilliant editor … [Read more...] about The Singular Satisfaction of RIPPING Notes off a Manuscript
Post-It Parade
Got the 'first-pass' typeset pages of my novel decorated with all of my editor's notes. On the one hand, seems like a lot, though thankfully, Cheryl Klein (aka Editor Goddess) tells me it's not all that unusual for her. On the other, I'm so relieved that somebody is so ON it! It's like having a super-strong safety net.The book, CLEOPATRA'S MOON, is a YA historical fiction based … [Read more...] about Post-It Parade
One Writer’s Tips for Interesting Nonfiction
Writing for kids is not for the faint-hearted. After all, kids have absolutely no qualms telling you when they find your work "boring" or "stupid."Ouch. Yet that's also what makes it so much fun. We have to push beyond the obvious or ordinary to grab young readers--which is even more imperative for non-fiction writing because some kids have been "schooled" into thinking … [Read more...] about One Writer’s Tips for Interesting Nonfiction
