Category Archives: genres and categories of books

A Beginning Reader for St. Patrick’s Day

I’ve been practicing creating picture books. I’m an artist, but I haven’t done illustrations before. My first effort went live just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s called “A Pot of Gold” and it’s for the earliest readers.

Most early readers are created in-house, so publishers and agents aren’t interested in them. Kids love them, though, and there aren’t many St. Patrick’s Day books, so I decided to do the illustrations and post it to Kindle.

I learned so much in the process. I am now a master of the pen tool in Photoshop. I’ve also learned how to use Perspective Warp and Object Select.

I found out what the formats mean on Kindle and discovered free Google Fonts.

If you have a young reader in your house, take a look at “A Pot of Gold.”

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Funny Picture Books Need Golden Hearts

I love the Children’s Book Academy. I just finished a month-long workshop on writing picture books and learned so much. Some manuscripts I need to revise one more time are humorous and that is important, because everyone loves funny stories (especially me,) but the best humorous tales offer a deeper layer, like the finish on a fine wine.

Click on this link to read what it means to create a picture book with both humor and heart.

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Before the Hero’s Journey

This fantastic blog post provides insight into a journey of great interest to writers of middle grade and young adult fiction–the path to individuation, and even better, that path as it relates to women and girls.

The post refers to many classic and recent books for writers for further investigation. I’m bookmarking this one, and you might like to as well. Click on the link below to check it out.

Archetypal Character Arcs, Pt. 2: The Maiden Arc

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Happy Sunday from our daughter and her duck (a long long time ago,) #duck New show up today in Grand Junction. From an acrylic painting I did years ago of a wall of tools. I just loved the design. Zazzle makes these cool hangings. I love their prints. #artprints

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    How to Write a Chapter Book from an Expert

    Interested in writing for children? Don’t miss this great post on literary agent Jill Corcoran’s blog. While you’re there, check out other useful information for writers. I have heard her speak at conferences. Writers who have her as an agent are very lucky. She is warm, honest, and experienced.

    #WritingTips Raffle Editor Jen Arena’s Expert Advice on Writing Chapter Books Win a Copy of Jen’s 100 SNOWMEN.

    Storytelling Basics: Tragedy

    Here’s another in a terrific series of posts summarizing basic plots on The Write Practice blog. For a quick review of the bottom line of storytelling, take an hour or so and review the basic plots covered on the site. It may save you years of learning the hard way.

    The 7 Basic Plots: Tragedy.

    Good News for Children’s Writers from BEA

    Read more about 2013 BEA news for writers of middle grade novels, picture books, and YA by clicking on the link below.

    Harold Underdown: “YA isn’t going away … print end of the publishing business is healthy” | Young People’s Pavilion.

    Start a Series with a Strong Stand-Alone Book

    If you are interested in writing a series for kids, read this excellent blog post from an author who knows how it’s done.

    Writing the Stand-Alone Book as a Series Pilot | WritersDigest.com.

    FIRST FIVE FRENZY with Amy Boggs of The Donald Maass Literary Agency | chasingthecrazies

    Here’s an interview with a top literary agent about the first five pages of your novel. Amy Boggs is currently open to queries. See her preferences on the Donald Maass Literary Agency site. (Also, be sure to read The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass. It’s amazing!)

    FIRST FIVE FRENZY with Amy Boggs of The Donald Maass Literary Agency | chasingthecrazies.