Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 199

Crystal Kite Award: It is Time to Cast Your Vote

If you are an SCBWI member, it is time to cast your vote in the Crystal Kite Awards.  For those of you who have not vote before, the Crystal Kites are voted on by your peers, fellow authors and illustrators.  There is an award for each of the 15 SCBWI regional divisions worldwide. This is […]

Conflict: Do All 4 Kinds Belong in Children’s Books

Yesterday I read Karen Ann Lefkowitz Writer’s Digest blog piece on the four types of conflict.  Of course, since I most often write for young readers, I immediately found myself wondering if all four types of conflict work in books for younger audiences. Protagonist vs Self At first, I wondered if this would work for young readers of […]

Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award

It’s an exciting day when you find out that a friend’s book is up for an award!  I’m talking about Sue Lowell Gallion and her book Pug Meets Pig is up for the 2018 Missouri Building Block Picture Book Award.  The award is sponsored by the Missouri Library Association and is voted on each year by preschoolers throughout […]

My Books: Which Is My Favorite?

Last week, Twitter pinged me to let me know that I had a notification and I clicked through to find the above tweet.  Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen wanted to know which book was my favorite. No way I could answer this in a tweet so I promised to blog about it today. First things first, I think […]

5 Minutes a Day: Plot before the Outline

Before you try to outline it helps to have some idea where you are going.  You won’t immediately know every step in your plot but it helps to figure out some of the key moments.  These include the inciting incident, the climax and various turning points.  Since I’m currently working on a mystery, these have to […]

Call for Manuscripts: Millbrook Looking for K-3 STEM

Sitting down to write this post, I realize that it has been quite a while since I posted a call for manuscripts.  Sorry!  I’ll try to keep my eyes open for more. Carol Hinz, the editorial director for Millbrook Press, recently posted a call for manuscripts on their blog.  They are looking for STEM or […]

Dialogue: Make it sing

Thanks to Joan Dempsey’s class on Writing Great Dialogue, I am super aware of the dialogue in what I’m reading.  One of the things that she emphasized was how fickle readers are about dialogue.  If it doesn’t ring true they won’t continue to read.  And, to a point, I agree. I am going to finish my […]

Dialogue: Using it to strengthen your theme

On Sunday I finished Joan Dempsey’s class on Writing Great Dialogue.  It is a free introduction to her Writing Great Dialogue Master Class and covers the five things that dialogue can do. The must surprising one for me, and the one that will be most useful in my own work, involved using dialogue to reflect theme.  […]

Trying Something New: Software, Hardware and Techniques

I have to admit that when it comes to updating computer hardware or trying out a new program, I am seldom in the vanguard.  Yet I am typing on a new ergonomic keyboard with a detached number pad and an ergonomic mouse.  Why?  After I meet a book deadline my sciatica and my hand sometimes […]

5 Minutes a Day: Premise

One of the things that you need to know before you write your novel is your premise.  Simpley put, your premise is what your novel is about.  Think of it as a mini-outline. This can be a huge help when either you outline your lovel or get to work because you don’t d outlines. Either […]