For me, picking out a new book is as simple as reading its first page. Does it grab me? Do I want to read more? Do I want to read it badly enough to: a) check the book out? b) spend my hard-earned money on it? As writers, it’s our job to draw the reader [...]
May 12th, 2010
Story Beginnings — Part 2 (Where to Begin?)
We’ve all read them: books that stupify the senses for the first few pages or — ack! — the first few chapters. Like the literary troopers we are, we wade through those mind-dulling pages, meanwhile muttering incantations, It will get better . . . Any minute now something wonderful will happen . . . If [...]
May 5th, 2010
Story Beginnings — Part 1
Next week I’ll be a part of the faculty at the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Spring conference in Portland, Oregon. Besides teaching various workshops, I have the privilege to participate in a WOW panel. In WOW, attendees pre-submit the first page of a manuscript. The first pages are read aloud (anonymously) [...]
April 20th, 2010
Writer Heroes of the Pacific Northwest
Maybe I’m tootin’ my own horn here, but I just have to say that the writing community here in the Pacific Northwest is pretty dang awesome. Not only are we a creative, friendly, and professional bunch, but we’re generous too. Not long ago, I asked my local writing community for book donations to help orphans [...]
February 11th, 2010
Techno Hate and Ink Pots
If you’ve been thinking that I’ve dropped off the edge of the planet, you’re right. I’ve been embroiled in some nasty computer issues. (Look closely enough, and you’ll see bald patches on my scalp where I’ve torn out my hair.) It all started about a year ago when I bought a new PC with a [...]
