"This is the house that the Hinkle sisters lived in, and that's the muddy river where Thomas and Jackie fished together." Joyce Hostetter pointed out the car window as we drove around around her hometown, Hickory, NC--the setting for her Bakers Mountain Series. "See that old building? That's the hosiery factory where Junior worked for a few days. Over there… Continue reading STORIES IN JOYCE'S BACKYARD: A "PICK-YOUR-OWN" GIVEAWAY!
I'm starting off the new year by joining a blog tour for a new book by award-winning Selene Castrovilla, SEEKING FREEDOM (Calkins Creek, 2022). The expressive watercolor illustrations are by award-winning artistrator, E.B. Lewis.REVIEWAlthough most of this informational picture book for 7-10 year-olds is presented in a journal format, the book opens with a quote from… Continue reading SEEKING FREEDOM: The Untold Story of Fortress Monroe and the Ending of Slavery in America- A Nonfiction Picture Book Review and Giveaway
Congratulations to Kathleen Burkinshaw and Carolyn Frazier who won autographed copies of Halli Gomez's book, LIST OF TEN from last week's blog. *******In Lincoln Clears A Path (Calkins Creek, 2021) a new picture book by talented picture book author Peggy Thomas, our 16th… Continue reading Lincoln Clears A Path: A Picture Book Biography
Congratulations to Joyce Hostetter who won THE HERO TWO DOORS DOWN and to Clara Gillow Clark who won PACO'S PAINTBRUSH. Clara Gillow Clark is the blogger from whom I won FOOD FIGHT FIESTA. (And no, I didn't rig the contest. Random.org always picks my winners!) ******* Several weeks ago when I blogged about teaching at Write 2… Continue reading Fundamental STEPS to Writing Historical Fiction– Highlights 2018
As I mentioned last week, this is the second post in a two-part series on the variety of stages writers go through when producing a book. Thanks to Jean Hall who said that she is "always in the middle of creation or revision of picture books." Julian Daventry said, "I'm about to start editing my… Continue reading Four Writers and Four Writing Stages–Part II
I am pleased to announce a new series of posts following up on my You Heard it Here First series. In these Where Are They Now? posts I'll share follow-up publication news from authors and illustrators I have featured on my blog. My first success story comes from North Carolina author Joyce Hostetter, who happens to… Continue reading Where Are They Now? Joyce Hostetter's Cover Reveal + Giveaway
Congratulations to Monica O' Quinn who won A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord. Thanks to so many of you for entering; this was a popular giveaway. And here's another! Last week you heard how Ohio author Kathy Wiechman, the self-proclaimed "poster child for perseverance" attended workshops and critique groups for years before stepping into the… Continue reading You Heard it Here First: Kathy Wiechman's Path to the Grateful American Book Prize- Part II
Last week Becky Shillington tagged me on her blog tour and as you'll see at the bottom of this post, I'll tag three more writers. I hope you'll enjoy this post and check out my fellow bloggers. What are you working on right now? As many of my faithful blog readers know, I'm writing my first… Continue reading I'm On Tour!
On March 16th I’m speaking to the Charlotte Writer’s Club about “Targeting Your Blog.” Since I didn’t want to make 80 copies of my notes for the participants, I thought I’d post the notes here. This way they’re accessible to the Charlotte Writer’s Club as well as to anyone else contemplating starting a blog. Here… Continue reading The A, B, C’s (and D, E, F’s) of Blogging
This week has been an amazing opportunity to learn and grow as a writer. As I look back on the week, I want so share some of the highlights (pun intended) of this inspirational Highlights Writers Workshop.I learned from Harold Underdown, my reviewer, that I needed to figure out what my character wants. Although I… Continue reading Words of Wisdom from Highlights Writers Workshop