Kathleen Duey's Blog, page 12

Critiques. The short answer is: Yes! If my own books aren't eating me alive.

I have been doing critiques for writers' conferences for years.  Because I couldn't attend SCBWI LA this year to do them at the conference, I decided to make amends to the 18 people I had let down by doing their sessions by phone and Skype, expanding from 20 minutes to at least an hour, and doing only 1 a day so that I could focus on each writer's work. This arrangement gives me enough time and emotional bandwidth to do my own writing, too, which is ever and always my priority.

The sessions...

Thanksgiving. It's complicated.

Thanksgiving is an odd holiday for me.
It's complicated.
Twice.
Or maybe three times.

1.
My grandparents moved  from Tennessee to Colorado when my father was five years old.  I loved my  quiet and reserved Grandpa and tried to love my irritable and opinionated grandmother. Grampa's Thanksgiving prayer was always short and sweet, but I remember him including the "Cherokee Nation" once or twice, because his mother--my great grandmother--was half Cherokee. He explained to me that the earliest colonis...

writing updates #5

I have been writing about my writing, avoiding spoilers, but trying to paint a portrait of the day-to-day oddness that is the core of writing any novel.
I want to thank the kind people who have been waiting for this book for far too long (there are reasons, not interesting ones, for the delay).  

Welcome!!  readers from the Philippines, Germany, Poland, France, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom, USA, Georgia, India, Australia, South Korea,Latvia,Czech Republic, South Africa,
Hungary, Macedonia...

Writing updates #4

If you want to read all the recent  updates you can find them here:

http://kathleenduey.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html
http://kathleenduey.blogspot.com/2011/05/writing-updates-all-projects-2.html
http://kathleenduey.blogspot.com/2011/06/writing-updates-3-2011.html

Or you can just start with this one and fly on....


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July  8 2011

Book #3 of A Resurrection of Magic, in progress:

Late last night I finally understood the d...

bombax blooms!

 bombax flowers begin as green and brown pods that elongate slowly, then erupt overnight into full bloom.  This one is in my back yard.  Click any of these twice for max enlargement. 

The flowers last only a day or two, and I love them even  more because of that.  I have decided that they grow in Limori, inside the cliffs, in Jux's forest, magically, unnaturally, on command.... www.kathleenduey.com

Writing updates book #3: 2011

image copyright Omar Rayyan, 1999
I love this illustration, created for The Unicorn's Secret.  It's a series, eight slim books written so that third graders can read it, but almost half the fan mail is from adults.  The story came from dreams I had in gradeschool, contiguous dreams that went on for about a year and a half and  felt like a second life. Every night I went back to the same place, then, when night fell in the dream, I would go to sleep there and wake up *here*.  Writing these...

WIFYR (( Writers and Illustrators for Young Readers conference...))

I am just back from an WIFYR  conference in Utah. I met with my class for five days--four-hour sessions each day. It was the best teaching experience I have ever had. We critiqued as a group and I tried to tell them everything I know--and/or suspect about writing. Writer-bloom filled the room!!!

This is the view from the campus....the colors change with every shift of light, every cloud shadow.



The lovely, incredible and famous King's English
Bookstore  was kind enough to hold a pot-luck
dinner f...

thanks!!!

this picture was taken in Wisconsin, a state full of odd and lovely trees and very nice people.Thanks to everyone for writing to me, leaving comments here, getting in touch through FB, Twitter, my website, my publishers, etc.  It makes me write better, and sometimes faster. In a few days, I fly to Utah to talk to writers about their work http://www.wifyr.com/ .  Then I will be back in CA for three days before I go to join http://www.marjettageerling.com/ and Michelle Burke of Random House pub...

Resurrection of Magic

 Two stories, 200 years apart. The first story causes the second one.
excerpts and reviews here: http://kathleenduey.com/ya.html

I am writing the third book now.www.kathleenduey.com

Rochester NY Teen Book Festival. WOW.

 Heather Brewer, me, Ellen Hopkins


Terry Trueman


Plus twenty- four more teen and tween authors.....and about 4,000 other wonderful  people...
   


Teachers and teens fill the room... Ms. Johnston loves literature!! Her students learn about peanut butter poofs, her family in Germany--and how to read deeper and write better.




....Everyone had a fabulous time at The Rochester Teen Book Festival.  We had amazing transportation...a lovely vintage bus, classic cars!!! A marching band and a Drum Corps met...