Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 239

Characters: Make them interesting

Recently I was reading a fantasy tale and just could not connect with the character.  I tried.  After all, I love fantasy.  But there just wasn’t any attraction.  About four chapters in it hit me.  The character wasn’t specifically unlikable.  The problem was that he wasn’t interesting.  Here are three tips to create interesting characters. […]

MSWL Day: The Best Thing About Twitter

Yes, I participate in social media.  Yes, I get why it is important.  But I also see it as a great big, gigantic time suck.  That’s not someone with a straw that you hear.  That’s social media sucking down your time. But, like I said, there are also pluses and one of the big ones […]

Choosing a Market to Target

Recently, I’ve been looking for new markets for some of my shorter pieces of writing.  I want to get more of my own stuff (not contract work) out there and, realistically, have to admit that short is what I can fit in between book projects.  Because I blog at PrayPower, I’ve been checking out some of […]

National Book Award: 2016 Young People’s Longlist Available

I always love seeing what is in the running for the National Book Award so I was excited to see that the National Book Foundation has made the long list available.  The short list, or finalists, will be announced October 13.  The award itself will be announced on November 16. The National Book Foundation has […]

RIP Barbara Seuling

I spent all day yesterday in my cave working on the outline and chapter that are due today.  I’ve been slogging through this since Monday and emerged Tuesday only to see the news that Barbara Seuling had died. Sadness.  Seuling wore many hats in the world of children’s publishing.  She was an author and illustrator […]

How-to Revamp Your Critique Group

Over the past two years, attendance at our critique group meetings had fizzled.  At one point, we averaged 6 to 8 people per meeting.  Lately?  Two. It was clear that something needed to change.  Maybe the day of our meetings was to blame.  I asked other members and yes Thursday had become less convenient but […]

Writing in the Post 9/11 World

We spent a certain amount of time reminiscing about where we were and what we were doing when the towers fell.  At the time, I had a 2 year-old on my hands.  I spent a great deal of every day telling him not to eat that bug, don’t throw the train car at the window, […]

Research: How I Choose My Sources

One of the things that I discuss with my students is how to choose sources.  Ultimately, you want to base your writing on the most accurate material possible.  That’s obvious.  But how do you make sure your sources are accurate? Ultimately, I save and request just about everything that I find with a few limitations. […]

My Writing Process: Working on a New Nonfiction Book

A week ago, I got an e-mail from Red Line Editorial.  Would I like to write a book for a new Abdo series?  As always, my first response is “Yay! Someone wants me to work for them!  I’m going to get paid.  Hey, wait a minute.  What do they want me to write about?” Why […]

Historic Children’s Books Online: What They Reveal

If you are writing a book set in the Victorian era, I have a marvelous resource for you.  The Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature of the University of Florida has made over 6,000 books available online.  Visit and you will find books in all the major Victorian categories — books on how to behave, […]