Articles

New story in Highlights for Children!

I was so pleased to see my new story in the January 2025 issue of Highlights for Children. I was also really excited to discover I can download copies of Highlights on the Libby app and read them at home! I read this magazine over and over as a kid. I love that I can… Read more »

Three Things that Help Me Be Creative that Aren’t Writing

  When you’re writing a story, any kind of story, including graphic novels, nonfiction, news articles, funny stories in a text to your best friend – WHATEVER!!! – you want to be creative. At least, I want to be creative. I hope you do, too! But creativity can be hard to turn on some days…. Read more »

Tips to Help You Write More

Are you having trouble writing? Not sure how to get started? Looking for tips to help you write more? I do a lot of writing. Every day. And I do a lot of reading about writing. Every so often I read a book with advice on writing. These books usually have really great tips in… Read more »

What Authors Need to Know About School Visit Contracts

Authors love doing school visits, but with the rise in orchestrated, coordinated effort in book banning, planning ahead by having a well-written contract. **SCBWI is updating their site, and this article isn’t available right now. I’ll update the link as soon as it is!**   I wrote an article about this for SCBWI Insight, read… Read more »

Are Virtual Author Visits for Students Worth It?

I’m sure some people are wondering:  are virtual author visits for students worth it? The answer is YES. I had a fantastic time visiting five classrooms last week over Zoom. I know it’s been hard not seeing people in person, but I was so grateful for this opportunity. The students, from first grade to fifth… Read more »

Ask An Author Premier

I’m excited about a new project for 2021: Ask An Author. When I was a kid, I wrote all the time. I wrote stories in notebooks. I typed stories on my grandfather’s old typewriter. I sent letters to friends and family that were a mix of fact and fiction. I read and wrote, wrote and… Read more »

Newbery Award Book Shelf at My Library!

This is a post of mini-updates about writing. I’m in a really cool work group of fellow writers and illustrators that is working to support each other and promote each other for school visits. Exciting! 2. I was super excited to discover that my local library has an entire shelf full of the Newbery Award… Read more »

Setting up email newsletter

Happy New Year! I love trying new things and here I go again. I’m trying a new way to stay in touch with people: an email newsletter. Check out the upper right area of my website and you’ll see this little green form: I’m not going to send out emails every day or even every… Read more »

Magazines that Use Freelance Writers

Are you looking for magazines that use freelance writers? In early october I spent some time sending emails to new magazines that accept submissions from freelance writers. How did I find these magazines? I can tell you I didn’t spend any time browsing the glossy magazine display at the supermarket or my local bookstore. While… Read more »