Kate Messner's Blog, page 48

Adding to the Conversation on Amazon Vine

I've been home sick for three days now, which has given me entirely too much time to read blogs and now, some time to ponder over the Amazon VINE program.

Amazon.com has a program in which they get a whole bunch of books, often advance reader copies, from publishers and offer these to what they call "select reviewers," which I expect are people who have posted lots of reviews on the site that have been voted as helpful.  People who participate in this program get a newsletter once a month and ...

Bear Pond Books in Montpelier

If you have to go out on a blustery, rainy Saturday, I'm of the opinion that there's nowhere better to go than a wonderful, cozy bookstore.  I had a GIANNA Z. event at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier Saturday, and it fit the bill just perfectly!



We had a lovely afternoon talking about books and research and writing, and I was especially happy to meet a couple librarians and home school kids who came out for the talk.

Alas, because of the rain and the rough ferry ride and the parking, I was runnin...

Authors at the New York State English Council Conference

I spent Thursday at the NYS English Council Conference in Albany and had a great time talking with colleagues in both of my worlds - the English teachers and authors alike. 



Nancy Krulik, author of the Katie Kazoo series, was at the table next to me.  She's written FORTY BOOKS in that series.  40!!  I find that amazing and love that she still gets excited talking about new ideas for Katie. 


From left to right, Tim Tocher, Joseph Bruchac, & Ann Burg

I met Tim Tocher, whose historical baseball no...

Thankful Almost-Thursday

Lots of thankfulness to go around this week...

1, I'm plugging away at my revision for SUGAR ON SNOW, stealing bits of time wherever I can.  I used to feel like I needed big chunks of time to get anything done, but that idea has sort of faded away for me, and I'm thankful for that. It makes it so much easier to find writing time when I'm not holding out for the two-hour block.

2,  My brother Tom just finished his last training run for this year's Marine Corps Marathon to raise money for autism ...

Book Club Contest, Skyping into Wisconsin, and "Instructions"

A few quick updates tonight...before I get back to SUGAR ON SNOW revisions. 

1. Thanks to all those who entered THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. book club giveaway.  The winner, drawn at random from those who entered, is Jeni from the Glenwood Schools for Boys and Girls in Glenwood, Illinois.  Congratulations, Jeni!  And for everyone else... please let me know if your book club chooses GIANNA Z. as a selection.  I'd be happy to send along some signed bookmarks and find a time to have a Skype c...

Celebrating the National Day on Writing: A Revision Gallery

A couple weeks ago, a school principal & teacher in California asked me where she could find pictures of real manuscripts from real authors going through the revision process to share with her students so they'd be more excited about revising. I didn't know of such a resource, but as a teacher, I absolutely loved the idea.  As an author, I knew I probably had some writer friends who would be more than willing to help teachers by sharing a photo or two. 

The result is here... a Revision Galler...

How They Got Here: 2009 Debut Author Megan Crewe

This post is part of a year-long series of blog interviews I'll be hosting with my fellow 2009 Debut Authors, called "How They Got Here." 

It should be an especially helpful series for teens who write, teachers, and anyone who wants to write for kids.  2009 debut authors will be dropping by to talk about how their writing in school shaped the authors they are today, what teachers can do to make a difference, how they revise, and how they found their agents and editors.  (You'll even be able...

Don't forget to enter the GIANNA Z. contest for book clubs!

One last thing...and then I'm back to my mug of tea and my revision...

Tomorrow is the last day to enter THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. book club contest, where you can win a whole set of books for your reading group or classroom literature circles group.  Click here for the easy details on how to enter!

I'd love to see more entries from mother-daughter book clubs, so if you know someone who runs one, please let them know about the contest!  And if you have blog readers or Twitter pals who mig...

Revision Process: Tackling character and balance in SUGAR ON SNOW

I'll tell you right up front...this is going to be one of those long rambling posts about the writing process, photos included.  If you don't want to be mired in a tour of my messy revision-mind, you should probably just move on now.  Nothing to see here...

Still  hanging around?  Okay... here's the revision story.  Last Friday, the UPS guy came with one of those big, thick, daunting envelopes.  My editor at Walker had already emailed to let me know the second round of revisions for my Decembe...

October Moments

My blog posts have been few and far between lately, mostly because I had two editorial letters for two different projects land on my desk last week, so I've been keeping my head down to revise.  One of those books -- the picture book -- is just about ready to go back to my editor and off to its illustrator.  My critique partners say it's pretty much set, so I'm just giving it a couple more days to brew, to make sure I don't have "senders' remorse" when I fire off that email.

The other revisio...