General writing

  “I don’t have any ideas,” moaned my middle son. If he were a novelist, he might have said he had writer’s block. He wanted to work on his new boardgame idea but he was in the midst of a creative crisis. He didn”t know how to  get from his basic idea into the drawing stages… Read more »

  I’m chugging away on the final stages of my new ebook for kids about dinosaurs! As part of the brainstorm process I made lists and lists of dinosaur words. Need some? Help yourself!  horns snout spike plate claw frill feather spine tails armor club tail beak bones fossils rocks nest egg tracks jump hunt… Read more »

Sorry I’ve been absent from the blog lately, but things have gotten hot and heavy this summer thanks to an amazing free online class I’m taking hosted by Nerdy Chicks Rule. It’s called KidLit Summer School: The Plot Thickens. There are blog posts coming at me every DAY! With exercises! I’ve found all of the… Read more »

I subscribe via email to Sarah Selecky‘s writing prompts. I don’t always respond to a prompt every day, but I do eventually sit down and write. Sarah’s instructions are to write by hand, in a notebook, for at least 10 minutes, so each piece I share will be relatively short.    I stared at the wax… Read more »

“Charm City” “This place will never be the same without her,” said Tawnee. She was carrying a box of black garbage bags. Tawnee and I had been across-the-hall neighbors for about three years now. We were about the same age, single women just doing the day to day. She was a nurse who worked the… Read more »

Aug 24 2012 Writing Prompt. How to Survive a Broken Heart: A Manual 1. First you must love someone incredibly deeply and commit much of you life to their needs and desires. But this can’t be a hardship for you, it must be something you do willingly, you may almost be compelled to do it…. Read more »

Feb 4 2013 Studio30 Writing Prompt “That was Awkward” They walked around the mall for a short while until they came to a store specializing in clothes that would actually work for her. Holding hands they entered and spoke with a saleslady. It only took a few minutes before she had assembled a lovely suit jacket,… Read more »

Where I share my fiction writing, accept critiques and suggestions, and be bold.  August 29 2013 Studio 30 Writing Prompt “Scratch” Did you ever have one of those workouts that seems off before you even start? The other day the universe just seemed to be telling me to stay home. I stumbled around the house like… Read more »

A few years ago I hosted a book club at the summer camp my boys attended. The kids in the club were in the Kindergarten through second grade age group. Each week we read two books and then worked on a literacy activity. The books are a mix of fiction and non-fiction and the activities… Read more »