Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 130

5 Things To Do When Studying a Magazine

Recently I decided to submit nonfiction to Higlight’s High Five, the Highlights magazing for children ages 2 to 6. I hadn’t submitted to this market for quite a while so I knew I needed to refresh my knowledge of the publication. Here’s how to do it. Read The first thing that you need to do … Continue reading 5 Things To Do When Studying a Magazine →

Horrible Reviews of Popular Books or Why Writers Need to Let Some Comments Slide

How to put this kindly? Sometimes the feedback that people give is just off. Yet many of us take every criticism to heart. We need to learn to let things slide. After all, even popular books get awful reviews. How many of these titles can you figure out based on these 1-star reviews? “Doesn’t set … Continue reading Horrible Reviews of Popular Books or Why Writers Need to Let Some Comments Slide →

8 Musts for a Cozy Manuscript

Yesterday I spotted an article on cozy characteristics in Novel Suspects. I was eager to see how my own manuscript scored. Amateur Detective In a cozy, the detective is an amateur with no formal training in detection, police work, or forensics. I scored 100% on this category. My detective was a teacher but has not … Continue reading 8 Musts for a Cozy Manuscript →

2 Reasons Fiction Requires Research

Monday I roughed out a new picture book. It was inspired by a comment a friend repeated. The comment was an excuse someone made for not getting something done. A ridiculous excuse. An over-the-top excuse. A perfect picture book line. From this line, I spun a Little-Red-Hen styled contemporary. Way back when I was a … Continue reading 2 Reasons Fiction Requires Research →

39 Books to Place Beneath the Tree

Whether you are looking for a book to read between now and then end of the year or a book to give as a gift, here are 39 books I highly recommend. I’ve culled these titles from the list of 185 books that I’ve read this year. They aren’t all new but many are. Because … Continue reading 39 Books to Place Beneath the Tree →

5 Ways to Recharge

Last week I saw an article about 7 things to avoid doing when you are stressed. Honestly, I was a little surprised that people needed to be told not to drink to excess and spend days at a time in their pajamas. It seemed like it might be more beneficial to tell people what to … Continue reading 5 Ways to Recharge →

Happy Thanksgiving

For those of you who celebrate, I’d like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.  It goes without saying that 2020 will be a different kind of Thanksgiving for most of us. That said, we still have so many reasons to give thanks.  My husband is working from home – we now share an office.  But … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving →

Celebrate Thanksgiving with Joy Harjo: Poet Laureate

Good news! Joy Harjo, the US poet laureate, has been given a third year to serve in this position. This was just announced by the librarian of congress. The hope is that at some point next year she will be able to once again hold readings at various points throughout the US. Her main duty … Continue reading Celebrate Thanksgiving with Joy Harjo: Poet Laureate →

3 Things to Remember about Backstory

Unless your story starts the moment your character is born, they have backstory. Backstory is their background, what happened to them before the start of your story. Anything that is in your character’s past is part of their backstory. Keep these 3 things in mind as you work this backstory into your work-in-progress. Need to … Continue reading 3 Things to Remember about Backstory →

3 Things You Need to Know about Inner Dialogue

The things your character says are dialogue. The things she thinks are inner dialogue. If inner dialogue isn’t part of your fiction toolbox, you need to find out why inner dialogue matters and when to use it. The why is fairly easy. Inner dialogue is a great way to tell your reader how your character … Continue reading 3 Things You Need to Know about Inner Dialogue →