We ALL Need a Laugh!^M

-Posted on: March 16, 2022


It has been a long cold Covid!

Since March of 2020, we have been worried, fretted, isolated. We crawled tentatively back out like so many prairie dogs to see if the coast was clear, only to hunker down again as …



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Pressure Like a Book, Book, Book When it Just Won’t Flow—Whoa: What Disney’s Encanto Taught Me About Being an Author^M

-Posted on: February 14, 2022


I have three small children. So obviously, you can find me watching Encanto, watching my kids re-enact Encanto, or listening to rousing renditions from—you guessed it—Encanto. After months of living inside Lin Manuel Miranda’s lyrics, it finally



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The Birth of a Dream^M

-Posted on: January 16, 2022


On January 25, 2019, a dream thirty-three years in the making finally came to fruition – my first picture book was published on that date! Throughout my journey to authorhood, there were zillions of times in which I doubted myself …



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Tale of My Journey and Dance with Words^M

-Posted on: December 15, 2021


 

By Mita Bordoloi

I was born into a bookish family. My paternal grandfather was the founding editor of The Assam Tribune and an award-winning author of books. My maternal grandmother wrote children’s stories. One uncle was awarded the highest …



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WRITING MEMOIR^M

-Posted on: November 15, 2021


 

What with covid and living in an era of plague, noxious politics, climate chaos, and the start of winter I’m feeling a little desperate. How do we keep ourselves balanced, together, sane?

 

Own Voice

How do I keep



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It’s Time to Talk^M

-Posted on: October 19, 2021


I’ve never thought of it until now: but I didn’t find SCBWI, SCBWI found me. I wrote my first middle grade book, The Smell of Old Lady Perfume (Cinco Puntos, 2009) as a twenty-something in the isolation of …



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The F Words: Educator Guide^M

-Posted on: September 18, 2021


By Barbara Gregorich

During the 1980s and into the 1990s, I wrote educational materials: activity sheets, teacher guides, parent guides, flashcards, audio how-to instructions, and teacher guides and parent guides.  At one point I was doing freelance work for educational …



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Getting Down to Business: Self-Promotion^M

-Posted on: July 15, 2021


By Keir Graff

 

Keir Graf in the green room

Signing books at Anderson’s

Author’s note: At the beginning of the year, as I indulged in my annual ritual of setting more goals than I can possibly accomplish, I added a monthly “business meeting” to my



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Surviving The Rejection Rollercoaster^M

-Posted on: June 15, 2021


by Lisa Katzenberger

It Will Be OK book cover

There is a certain feeling that goes along with sharing your stories with the world and asking someone to love your work. For me, it’s a mixture of thrill and fear, with a little nausea mixed in …



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How to Do a 51-Store Book Tour in a Pandemic^M

-Posted on: May 15, 2021


By Alice B. McGinty and Alan B. Havis

To go or not to go? That’s what we were wondering as last summer rolled in. We’d planned this tour well before the pandemic hit. Travel to the east coast and visit …



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