Job Description

I am not a particularly fabulous flier.  I like the idea of flying, of soaring over the earth, white puffy clouds all around, but the reality of being in an overheated metal box, way too high above the ground, always does me in.  After September 11th, I never wanted to fly again.  I have a…

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Connect, Then Blow Them Up

Last week (possibly the week before — life seems to be moving at the speed of light these days) I attended Cindy Pon’s Diversity Tour in Cambridge. I learned several things, the first being that Cindy, no slouch herself, rolls with some amazing authors. The panel discussed, among other topics, how to get YA readers to…

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The Best Laid Plans

I had plans for this post.  Big plans.  I wanted to do an update on the slobbering beast. Or maybe talk about what I learned at last week’s panel on diversity in YA books (featuring the fabulous Cindy Pon). Or even discuss where the heck the sun has gone, and when it’s coming back. (Humidity…

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Once Upon A Time…

A long, long time ago, so long ago I can barely remember, a baby was born.  She was kind of cute, at least for the first few months, but then she got bigger.  She slept in my room, and she used my toys, and she got me in trouble.  I did not care for this.…

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Mother's Day Grooming Advice

Spoken by the youngest at a very early hour, inches from my head on the pillow: “Those lines there (finger poke) are they wrinkles?  I think you are getting wrinkles.  That means you are going to die soon.” Followed by: “Did you know  you should always check your eyebrows for dead flies?  I checked and…

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Invite

I will be at the beautiful Barnes & Noble in Peabody, Ma this Saturday from 1 till 3 p.m.  I will probably have cookies — it has been  rather a long week, so I make no guarantees.  Slobbering beasts are not allowed, but there’s a chance other characters who pop up on my web site…

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Tick Tock

 Put a bunch of writers in a room and we all ask the same questions of each other:  How long did it take you to finish your novel?  What’s your writing schedule like?  How long did it take to find an agent?  How long before your book sold?  How long did you spend on revisions?…

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Catching My Breath…

It was a crazy two days, overwhelming and awesome and tiring and energizing all at once.  In the panel with Meg Mitchell Moore and Jael McHenry, my advice for those new to the conference was to take a few days to mull over what they’ve learned.  That’s what I’ll be doing, but I wanted to…

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