Avi's Blog, page 32

Reading A Christmas Carol Every Christmas

You said you read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol every Christmas. Why? I have no idea when I first read A Christmas Carol. Perhaps it was read to me. I might have heard it on the radio, if you can believe in such ancient times. Many times I have seen the British film, in black and […]

For the 80th time …

Back on February 19, 2019, I posted a note about my difficulties with a book on which I was working. It was something of a pep-talk to me, trying find ways of pushing on. Now, I have the first full draft of the book—which is to say the eighty something drafts of the book. In […]

Charlotte Doyle Q & A

Will you write a sequel to The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle? In my eyes, at least, the story of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is about how a young woman achieves the ability to think for herself, become truly independent, and do as she chooses. Thus, at the end of the book, she […]

The next book

A week ago Sunday I went through my manuscript one final time. Be saying final, that means I am no longer making substantive changes, or I’m bored with going over and over and over the same thing, which means I am in need of other eyes. I ran the text through my spell and grammar […]

What was your first book?

Folks often assume that the first book published by a writer is the first book she or he has written. I suspect that is rarely true, and is certainly not true for me. Before I first published a book I had been working at being a playwright. A couple of plays were staged when I […]

Two Questions about Poppy

The other day I was Skyping with two very different schools—one a public school audience of 500, the other a private school with an audience of six. I was asked two questions, one of which I’m always asked. The other question I have never been asked. Question one: “In the book Poppy why does Ragweed […]

Where do you get your ideas?

This is, it would seem, the most common question asked of all writers. It certainly has been asked many times of me. I used to think people were truly asking me that question. Then it dawned on me the question really was, “Why don’t I get ideas?” I think the way it works (at least […]

What makes a great editor?

With the passing of editor Richard Jackson, and amidst the talk about him, the question quite naturally came up: What makes for a great editor? My own response is highly subjective. I think every writer would say so. The person who is a good editor for writer X is not necessarily a good editor for […]

Before I get started

On Sunday I went through my manuscript one final time. By saying final, that means I am no longer making substantive changes, or I’m bored with going over and over and over the same thing, which means I am in need of other eyes. I ran the text through my spell and grammar checker, thereby […]

Q&A: Does your family help you write your books?

In many different ways, yes. When I feel that a book I am writing has reached a certain level of quality—after about seven months—I read the manuscript to my wife. She knows, generally, what I have been writing about, but I have not shared specifics. Not only is my wife exceptionally well read, she is […]