July 30, 2013

A Dozen Ways to Enhance Your Writing Career Today

I began this blog in July 2007.  Hard to believe it's been six years! 

Blogging takes time and energy, and this year finds me with MANY contracted commitments, including teaching creative writing to high school students, working on my next funny MG novel (Death by Toilet Paper comes out August 2014), etc.  I need to harness as much creative energy as possible for these commitments.

So, while Wild About Words is on hiatus, I leave you with a dozen blog posts that I hope will help your writing career reach new heights.

Thanks for making this endeavor such a joy!

HELPFUL LINKS FOR WRITERS . . .

1.  Links to interviews with industry professionals, including Wendelin Van Draanen, April Henry, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Kate Messner, Tina Wexler, Cynthia Lord and others about a variety of writing topics.

2.  Sites and resources for young writers, especially helpful for those who teach writing.

3.  40 Reasons I love S.C.B.W.I.  (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators)

4.  Marion Dane Bauer offers wise words in her blog about writerly issues.

5.  April Henry's mystery novels keep me riveted as does her excellent blog.  Here's a post she created about jobs for our characters and/or their parents.

6.  Laurie Halse Anderson has done this wonderful annual Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge each day in the month of August.  Here's a link to the first challenge post on August 1, 2012.

7.  Writer Unboxed is a must for highly professional, intelligent thoughts about all aspects of writing.

8.  Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are the powerhouses behind The Bookshelf Muse, where you will find tools to help you with character traits, emotions and much, much more!

9.  Every summer, Kate Messner, creates a free on-line writing workshop.  Each day is a gold mine of ideas, lessons and insights about the writing biz.

10.  Cynthia Leitich Smith publishes the most comprehensive blog on the net about everything to do with children's publishing, including interviews, giveaways and more.  Take a peek at CYNSATIONS.

11.  Barbara O'Connor has a great blog about children's book publishing.  Here's her post about setting up your novel.

12.  I end every day looking at Cynthia Lord's thoughtful blog because it makes me feel good -- even when it makes me cry.   

Enjoy these links and feel free to add your favorites in the comment section below.

July 8, 2013

A Few More Great Resources for Writers:

1.  Pam Calvert's Picture Book University studies a different aspect of creating picture books each Monday.  To view today's lesson about storyboarding, click HERE.  Last Monday, she had a lesson about 10 picture book genres.  It's a fantastic resource for those interested in picture books.


2.  Looking for a contest to flex your writing muscles?  Look no further than Quirk Books -- a very cool publishing company based in my hometown of Philly.  (Hmm.  Makes me want a Philly soft pretzel RIGHT NOW!)

They are offering a $10,000 prize and publication for a novel-length work, featuring fresh, fun and strikingly unconventional love stories.  Deadline is October 1, 2013.

Read all about the contest HERE.


3.  Today, I'm the guest author at Kate Messner's Teachers Write free summer on-line writing institute.  If you want to make sense of sensory writing, click HERE.

Be sure to check out the other mini-lessons, Q&As, etc. from many authors.


Here's hoping your summer is going all write!