Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 179

Writing for the Kid You Were

Recently I saw an interview with graphic novel author/illustrator Dustin Brady.  When he was considering what to write about, he considered the kid he once was.  What was it that he loved? What excited him?  He remembered loving the tv game show Nickelodeon Arcade in which two teams competed inside a simulated video game.  That recollection […]

Getting Out of a Slump

Monday, I turned in my last rewrite for the year.  That meant that I had 28 days to finish my writing goal for the year.  I want to rough out my first cozy mystery.  Given the fact that I have yet to bump off the victim, I don’t think a full draft is in the […]

Crowd Control: Working with a Large Cast of Characters

The first piece of writing I ever sold was a fictional rebus.  There were three whole characters.  In fast most of the fiction that I’ve written has had a relatively small cast.  This cozy I’m drafting is a different situation. There is the main character.  There are her best friends, one from childhood and one […]

Pitching a Nonfiction Series: The Work Before the Pitch

When I saw that Bearport Publishing was looking for new nonfiction series, I decided to pitch something to them.  There are several things I’ve had to do before I actually start working on the pitch. Read.  It’s a good thing that I like to read because step 1 is reading a serious stack of their […]

Writing Advice: It Ain’t One-Size-Fits-All

Today I read a blog post written by a well-known agent. She was warning people about taking advice from the people in their critique groups. “Just because someone is outspoken, does not mean they are knowledgable.”  I think we’ve all seen it – the outspoken person who has no picture book experience but oh so […]

Hi/Lo: Is This Right for You?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the term, hi/lo books are high interest with low reading level.  Some of these young readers are struggling.  For someone reason, perhaps dyslexia, reading doesn’t come easily and is often a struggle.  Others are reluctant readers.  Maybe they don’t live in “reading families.”  It can be hard […]

Fan Faves: Writing a Story that Fits into an Existing Universe

Another week spent on rewriting but I’ve also fit in time to watch some more LibraryCon sessions.  Today I watched a session on Fan Faves or writing a story that fits into an existing universe.  The panelists were: Jeremy Whitley who wrote My Little Pony, XMen, Hulk, Wasp and is currently working on Rainbow Brite. […]

Indie Bookstores on the Rebound

Good news for authors and readers – independent bookstores are on the rebound!  Approximately 40% of indie bookstores closed from the mid-1990s and 2009.  But sales are up more than 5% over last year. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, an independent or indie bookstore is a bookstore that is independently owned. It […]

NPR: Best Books of 2018

What?  This is not just another book list. During the fall of each year, NPR Books staff asks for suggestions from staff members as well as book critics.  “Send us your favorite books of they year.”  The responses come in and are reviewed by NPR Books as they take care to eliminate duplicates and work […]

Primary Sources Online: The National Archive and Native American Treaties

Especially if you are writing nonfiction, but also for fiction, it is a good idea to include primary sources whenever possible.  Primary sources are first hand accounts.  Diaries, letters and even photographs are primary sources.  Primary sources are important because they are uninterpretted.  You get what someone at the scene observed. This week when I […]