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. (more…)

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 take a blind leap off a cliff and write whatever their heart tells them to put on the page.

I do neither. (more…)

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 and what my heart and mind know about my story on the inside. I’m trying to enter “the flow”. Even though I’m no great shakes as an artist drawing a scene is a powerful tool to lead me through the curtain into “the understory”. (more…)

Recently I had the chance to speak with Candlewick Press editor Kaylan Adair.

Kaylan has edited a number of outstanding middle-grade novels including Down Sand Mountain by Steve Watkins, Small As An Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson and the upcoming Garden Princess by Kristin Kladstrup.  She was even the American editor of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, a novel that straddles that tricky YA/Middle-grade line. (more…)

With grit, passion and determination these ladies SOARED.

Visit all 365 fabulous female flying feats… a full year of amazing anniversaries from women’s aviation.

And you can SOAR too!

We’ve all seen the act. The magician waves his wand over the prone body of his lovely assistant and suddenly she rises, suspended in mid-air. He sweeps a hoop across her. “See? No wires!”

And we believe. The woman is floating. The magician is MAGIC.

Rationally we know this cannot be true. There’s no such thing as magic. Women don’t float. But still…

That’s the power of fiction. The power to suspend disbelief. (more…)

Would you cross a black cat’s path to get to a wonderful book?

Tami Lewis Brown writes daring books for dangerous readers. SOAR, ELINOR! is the true story of pioneer pilot Elinor Smith, and THE MAP OF ME is a middle-grade novel about two sisters, one stolen car, and a whole flock of chickens.

There are loads of fun, daring, and dangerous things to do on this website. Explore 365 Fabulous Feats of Female Flying… one amazing achievement for every day of the year HERE. Download a free Women’s History Month Activity Kit for your class, troop or reading group. Watch trailers for Soar, Elinor! and The Map of Me. Plus find a whole lot more, on every page.

Think… Explore… And READ DANGEROUSLY!

December 30, 1936 Maryse Bastie flew from Dakar, Senegal to Natal, Brazil in 12 hours, 5 minutes. She was the first woman to fly solo across the south Atlantic. In 1931, she had won the Harmon Trophy as the world’s most distinguished aviatrix.  She owned a flying school at Orly Airport. and served in the French Air Force reaching the rank of Captain, logging over 3000 hours of flight time.