Blog – Page 168

11/15/10

What to Avoid in the First Page

Over the weekend, I attended my local SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) conference, once again walking away with more writerly friends, awesome editor contacts, and an almost irrepressible urge to get back to the keyboard. The best part was listening to Janice Del Negro talk about excellence in craft. But since I can’t do justice to her… Read More

11/12/10

Harry Potter: Growing from Middle Grade to Young Teens

Debbie Curan posed an excellent question regarding books for Young Teens: How would you handle a series – like HP – where the MC grows older and the series becomes much darker? Starts off as MG then grows up – HP is in the MG section of the bookstore, but the later books I won’t let my guys near until… Read More

11/11/10

Awesome Art and YAlitchat

Last month, I entered my query in a contest over at YAlitchat to win a query critique (for the top 10 queries by popular vote) or a full submission to Little Brown (for the top query as judged by agents and editors). Thanks to my lovely blog followers and friends, my query for OPEN MINDS made it to the Top… Read More

11/10/10

Young Teens – What Say You?

I recently decided to expand Ink Spells’ charter to include reading/reviewing/talking about books for Young Teens. The first Young Teens book I reviewed was The Dark Deeps, and the recently reviewed Behemoth tread close to the dividing line between Middle Grade (ages 8-12) and Young Teens (12-14). I described books for Young Teens as such: These books generally feature younger… Read More

11/09/10

A 12 year old View of the World

My son Dark Omen (age 12) is writing a novel. He’s been diligently working on it for some time now (since the summer). We discussed it over dinner. Me: What genre is your story? Dark Omen: Well, it’s science fiction and adventure. And mystery, too. But no romance. Me: No romance? Dark Omen: No! Why would I write a scene… Read More

11/08/10