I did it! I won NaNoWriMo 2015! I wrote the first draft of my novel, The First Step, in a touch over 50,000 words. Here’s the day-by-day progression of my word count. My boys really enjoyed seeing the word counts grow and as you can see, they also enjoyed writing the updates themselves. At the… Read more »
Big Ideas
Highlights Foundation Workshop
In October, I was made the decision to take the big leap and attend my first Highlights Foundation workshop. The workshop I chose was called “Creating Page-Turning Non-fiction for Middle Grade Readers and Up.” I’ve had a fair number of non-fiction pieces published in really great children’s magazines and I would love to also create… Read more »
Planning for NaNoWriMo 2015
So a year ago I put out a tweet asking people what story I should work on for NaNoWriMo 2014. I got more votes on the second project and have put the first project aside for awhile (but it’s still in the back of my head). For this year, instead of waiting until the last… Read more »
Chapter Titles in Scrivener Compile
Scrivener is great, isn’t it? Scrivener is really hard to learn, isn’t it? I can’t really learn and retain lots and lots of information just by reading it one time. I need to use the information in some way or else I find I have a problem and learn by finding the solution. My most… Read more »
Brain Food: SCBWI and SWPFSP
I hate being hungry. I can’t concentrate and I’m really grouchy. Imagine if you were a kid who was hungry all summer. But here in Pittsburgh, that’s not an imaginary thing. It’s real. In fact, there are more than 45,000 children in Allegheny County that are considered to be food insecure, and 73,500 children… Read more »
Celebrate and Self-Publish a Book
I’m so excited to announce my new kids ebook will be released Oct 2, 2015! It’s called Dinosaur Boogie and it is a fun picture book designed to get young readers moving like mosasaurs and grooving like gigantosaurs. This project to self-publish a book was truly a collaborative effort so read on to find out… Read more »
Writing Outside of My Comfort Zone
This excellent quote was sent to me by a very fun, encouraging agent. It totally fits for the manuscript I just finished and for how I try to live. It’s also a great way to approach the craft of writing and the topics I (or you) choose to write. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the… Read more »
Creativity and Goals
I’m not sure what’s in store during the dog days of summer, but I definitely went through a “spring slump.” In early May after the completion of some big road races and writing conferences. Although I had plenty on my plate and managed to meet the deadlines for client projects, I wasn’t feeling the love… Read more »
Making Time to Write
I’m really scared to write this post about making time to write, because I’m going to share my goals here and if I don’t reach my goal I’m going to feel ashamed and disappointed! People might actually look down on me. They might say “Hey, she failed.” But I also want to be a published novelist… Read more »
New Secret Tip for Picky Eaters
I’ve collected lots of tips for helping parents work with their picky eaters and get more fruits and vegetables into their diet. But new research shows that one of kids’ favorite things – recess – could be a huge help! Schools in a Utah school district switched their schedules so that recess happened before lunch… Read more »