Jean Reidy's Blog, page 43

Maggie Stiefvater's Pre NaNoWriMo Process

Maggie Stiefvater, prolific author of LAMENT, SHIVER and BALLAD is a NaNoWriMo success story. Maggie describes her novel planning process in detail in her blog. Check it out. Really good stuff!

Pay it Forward Friday: David Macinnis Gill and his Halloween Teen Read

Yesterday I stopped by the website of one of my crit buddies, David Macinnis Gill. It had been a while since I'd visited and I was blown away with the "busy-ness" of it all.

I adore "busy" websites because they give me that amusement park feel. Maybe that's not a fair comparison, because some amusement parks are rather sleazy. But many are exciting, clean and fun. Just like David's site. It's completely professional and begs to be explored.

So I clicked from link to link, perusing pages of rich...

Ask an Agent Panel

Last night, several top agents held a Twitter Q&A panel. Participants included:

Rebecca Sherman, Literary Agent, Writers House

Elana Roth, Literary Agent, Caren Johnson Literary Agency

Colleen Lindsay, Fine Print Literary Management

Sara Kase, Assistant Editor at Sourcebooks

See what they had to say here.

A Thank You Gift for My Blog Followers

Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, I want to say thank you to my loyal followers.

Private Picture Book Peek Week Coming November 2nd!
A picture book manuscript critique contest for my blog followers only.

To be eligible, you must be a member of my followers list in the sidebar of this blog.
Enter by submitting your PB WORKING TITLE in the comment section of this blog post anytime (midnight to midnight Mountain Time) on November 2nd. Titles submitted before or after November 2nd will...

The Vibrant Triangle Part II

"I try to remember now that my words on the page, my manuscripts, even (one day!) my published books are not the finished product. The experience of a child listening to my story completes the process. I just love that idea. It connects me to something bigger than my own self in my own room, writing away." Tam Smith

Smart stuff, right? Maybe a fresh perspective on picture book writing. Read more about The Vibrant Triangle in Liz Garton Scanlon's interview with Tam Smith.

The Vibrant Triangle in Picture Books

Why are certain picture books read over and over again? Why do some become beloved bedtime or story time tales? According to Tam Ellis, children's author, the answer is found in The Vibrant Triangle.

This is no Da Vinci Code, folks.

According to Ellis, "The Vibrant Triangle is the dynamic between the picture book, the adult reader and the child listener." What creates the magic when a picture book is read out loud to a child? Read Part 1 of Liz Garton Scanlon's (author of All the World) intervi...

Pay it Forward Friday - a Day Early: Spoonfuls of Stories

Cheerios is putting a favorite picture book in their cereal boxes. What a wonderful idea!!

Vote for your favorite "Spoonfuls of Stories" picture book today.

National Novel Writing Month - I'm Jumping In

I just signed up for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I'm s-o-o-o-o excited.

NaNoWriMo begins November 1st. It's touted as "Thirty Days and Nights of Literary Abandon!" How can I resist?

I've written three other novels which are at various stages of resting and revision. But they weren't written under pressure. I noodled around with them for months. They're layered and complicated and have some trajectory problems - I think.

I'm hoping NaNoWriMo will force me to write quickly and linea...

Pay it Forward Friday: Deb Cushman and WRITER SITES

Deb Cushman fired up her blog, Writer Sites, just a few months ago as "A place where Deb Cushman organizes her favorite writer websites and blogs!" And it's one of my favorite feeds.

I was instantly drawn to Deb's mission because a) I'm always on the lookout for new writing resources and b) I started A Totally Random Romp as a place to organize much of my writing stuff.

But Deb's "stuff" is much better defined. And that's the beauty of this blog. It sticks to its mission and features a...

Talking about Titles

In many of my manuscript critiques, I discuss the importance of titles. As a matter of fact, the only part of a story posted for my Picture Book Peek Weeks is a working title. I understand that titles submitted are often not finalized - maybe a first thought or afterthought. Perhaps the writer intends to go back and spruce it up later. But often, writers refuse to put much effort into titles. Why waste time when an editor will probably change it?

Remember the old saying? You only get one chanc...