Do you read dangerously? Britain’s new Queen Camilla does! Watch her recent conversation with the UK Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho on World Book Day, especially the part about the wonderful excitement of reading a scary book in your own safe space.
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Read Dangerously!
A Fabulous “New” Video of Elinor Smith!
See Elinor SOAR- and talk, too! The University of South Carolina’s Moving Image Research Collection has posted new archival footage of Elinor’s attempt to set the world altitude record- with her powerful Bellanca “Geraldine.” What a treat to hear Elinor’s own words as she describes her terrifying recovery when the engine suddenly stopped at 25,000… Read more »
Great News! A New Book!!
News Flash! My Vermont College of Fine Arts classmate Debbie Dunn and I sold our new book WANTED: WOMEN MATHEMATICIANS. WANTED will be published by Disney-Hyperion in 2019. Common wisdom suggests computers are an exclusively male domain– ironic when one considers that women invented computer programming. WANTED: WOMEN MATHEMATICIANS tells the story of a team… Read more »
What? A Plot!
The Shocking Truth! Novels have plots. I have a confession- For me, like a lot of other novelists, plotting used to feel IMPOSSIBLE. As unfathomable as an algebra problem. And just as bound up by some weird set of rules I thought I’d never understand.
Storyboard Your Way Out Of The Forest
Are you a plotter or a plunger? Can I see a show of hands for each category? I’ve always hated that question a little because I just don’t get it, at least for my own writing. Plotters plan ahead, arranging the sequence of events in their novels with the precision of a German train schedule. Plungers… Read more »
This Is Your Brain On CREATIVITY! Storyboarding Part 2
There are sound neurological reasons storyboarding works for some of us. It literally probes the deepest recesses of the creative mind. How? Neurology. A human brain is a mysterious thing and as a writer I’m always looking for ways to push inside my unconscious, to lift the veil between what I know on the outside… Read more »
Levitate Your Fiction Hand Out!
EVERY NOVEL HAS “UNBELIEVABLE“ ELEMENTS. YOUR JOB AS A WRITER IS TO “MAKE BELIEVE”—THAT IS MAKE YOUR READER BELIEVE THE PARTS OF YOUR STORY THAT DON’T MAKE LITERAL SENSE. SUSPEND DISBELIEF! HOW? HERE ARE SEVEN (PLUS ONE) TOOLS.
Especially for the students who came to see me at Politics & Prose!
I had an AMAZING time at my favorite bookstore, Politics & Prose. Even though we had torrential rain in Washington well over 100 children and adults braved the weather and came out to hear me talk about Soar, Elinor! and my hero Elinor Smith. Thanks Blessed Sacrament and Capitol Hill Day School!!! You SOAR! One… Read more »