General writing

The Story Starter Award is now open for submissions. Please share this information with children’s writers and illustrators in southwestern PA.   This award can be used to offset the financial costs of the WPA SCBWI Fall 2017 Agents’ Workshop. Find more information on the workshop and SCBWI here.     

What’s worse: letting a fascist regime destroy art and freedom of expression, or paying money to the regime in order to rescue the art? This is the question that confronted me at my September visit to the Museum of Modern Art.   This month, I returned to New York to pass the tiara of the… Read more »

On a recent road trip with my husband, we played Scrabble. Now, I know a lot of words. But he’s a master at game play and maximizing scoring. But I’ve lived with him for over 17 years and know a lot of his strategies. But he also remembers the two letter words that can turn… Read more »

There are a dozen reasons why I can’t write. I’m scared the basic story is bad/boring/dumb/cliche. I’m scared I can’t tell the story that I imagine. I worry as soon as I sit down to try and start, something will interrupt me. I’m worried I ran out of ideas. I’m scared I’m not smart enough… Read more »

I love writing, but really what is my favorite part of being a writer? My niece and nephew stayed with us for a week this summer, and it was a delight. Yes, my kids had fun, but for me the best part was that both kids are super readers. My niece carried a book everywhere… Read more »

I love the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign. I also love summer reading lists. The Lee and Low diverse summer reading list is perfect for both!   They have a list for grades K-8 broken down into age groups. I will read them all. I spotted one of the SCBWI Crystal Kite winners on the list. A really fun… Read more »

I love big rewards and I love reading, so this summer, we are going to tackle Scholastic’s Summer Reading BINGO. I loved doing these activities as a kid and yes, I force my kids to do them, too. But I don’t have to force too hard. I would like to find a math version of this kind… Read more »

Summer reading is almost here! Summer reading feels like such an indulgence. I look forward to it every year. Yes, sometimes I force my kids to participate in the summer reading programs, but the good part is I never have to force them to read. Here’s what’s happening in our area: Northland Library Summer Reading… Read more »

This month, I read the boys two Judy Blume books: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and Superfudge. These were two of my favorite kid book series growing up. I successfully glossed over the part where a secret about a certain holiday character is revealed, and the boys asked for more books about Peter and… Read more »

Should we let kids read bad books? Quick blog post today, readers, about the quality of kids reading materials. Lots of parents just want their kids to read. I’m lucky that my kids are hearty readers and devour most books without any fuss. In fact, taking away reading time is one of their dreaded consequences…. Read more »