In the "it's a small world department," my sister Barbara (who lives in Milwaukee) met Rochelle Melander at a July 4th picnic this past summer. After hearing Rochelle speak about her book, Mightier than The Sword (Beaming Books, 2021). Barbara told her that she should contact me because I love encouraging kids to write. (In case you didn't know,… Continue reading MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD: AN ELA RESOURCE, AUTHOR INTERVIEW and A GIVEAWAY!
I last blogged about my training to be a SmartARTS teaching artist last summer when I attended their training institute. Here's a column I wrote for The Greenville Journal about my first assignment. ********* Five minutes after I started talking to Gayla Day, the Administrator of the SmartARTS program at the Metropolitan Arts Council, I knew I’d… Continue reading SmartARTS: Art Integration at Work
Some of you may remember that last summer I volunteered at the Explore the Arts camp in Greenville, SC. I was thrilled when the camp's director, Donna Shanks-Major, asked me to teach the creative writing class this year. I had two classes: the first one consisted of eleven 6th-8th graders who wrote and published a camp blog.… Continue reading Creative Writing at Explore the Arts
Congratulations to Linda Andersen for winning a copy of Stake Out by Bonnie Doerr. This week I am honored to be a guest blogger on Kathleen Fox's Funbrarian blog. Please mosey on over to her blog, read how librarians can encourage students' writing, and download some free handouts from my book, Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing… Continue reading This & That
If you are new to this blog, you might not notice the tabs on top of the blog posts. If you click on "Half-Truths" you'll find past posts which document my progress in writing my historical novel. Click on "Writing Workshops" for a list of my writing workshops. I can tailor workshops to meet your… Continue reading Navigating My Blog
It never fails. When I teach teens I feel as if I receive as much as I give. That was my experience teaching twelve teens at the recent Write2Ignite conference. Picture courtesy Sean Earnhardt We came together as a group of strangers- some more tentative than others- but we all had the same passion: a love for… Continue reading Write2Ignite Teens Ignite Me and Inspire a Giveaway!
Maria with husband Toby, and children Leif (2) and Kaia (7) Maria Muscarella is a Nurse-Herbalist, homeschool mom, and a children's story writer. She is also the winner of my giveaway contest and will receive a signed copy of Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Grades 4-8. She told me that she lives just outside of Asheville, NC in a… Continue reading And the winner is….
My granddaughter, Ebby Clark, reading before bedtime. Have you always wanted to write a book for children but didn't know where to begin? If you live in the Charlotte, NC area than you can take a class that covers the basics of writing and publishing for young readers. Starting January 22, I'll be teaching at… Continue reading Writing for Children
image from http://www.uber-kitty.com/ If you have taken a writing workshop with me or who are familiar with Teaching the Story, you know that I always stress a positive approach to revision. DevoKids, a Christian website dedicated to providing spiritual inspiration, fun activities, and writing instruction for young people, is now featuring my article on this topic. A funny thing happened… Continue reading The Red Pencil is Your Students' Best Friend
Lately my blog has averaged about 150-200 hits a week. That's great news, but with only 7 "registered" followers, I wonder who my readers are. When I look at my blog statistics I find readers as close as Matthews, NC and as far away as Mountain View, California and Alberta, Canada. I also gather hits from Kingston, Jamaica; Sydney, Australia; Manama, Bahrain; and… Continue reading Who are You?