Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 241

Goals: Setting Them Isn’t Enough

I’ve been playing around with goal setting lately.  Yes, I get my work out there on a regular basis.  I have three books waiting for their ABDO publication dates and a fourth in the final rewrite process.  Blog posts appear on the Muffin and I’m writing articles for CBI. But I’d like to break into […]

Finding the Right Word

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with dictionaries.  Whenever I didn’t know how to spell something, I’d ask my mom.  Ninety percent of the time, she would tell me to look it up.  Seriously?  I loved the unabridged dictionary and took any opportunity to drag it off the shelf with a thump.  But there were […]

Word Count: How Much Is Too Much?

When you’re writing for a magazine or online market, word count isn’t all that tricky.  You just look up the author’s guidelines and take note of what the publisher wants to see.  But what are the appropriate word counts for books?  Sometimes you can find them on the guidelines but not nearly as often.  Here […]

#BlackLivesMatter Booklist

It isn’t surprising when libraries and librarians stride forward to help teens cope as they try to find their place in today’s world.  That said, it is surprising when you see your own book on one of these lists.  Chelsea Couillard-Smith, a librarian in Minnesota’s Hennipin County Library, created a #BlackLivesMatter book list.  Duchess messaged […]

New RandomHouse Imprint: Mapping Tomorrow’s World for Today’s Children

I’ve heard it said that children’s books need to provide a mirror for today’s readers, giving them books in which they can see themselves.  I’ve also heard it said that books need to provide a window, a way through which they can view the larger world.  Today, I read a new explanation.  According to author/illustrator […]

Speculative Fiction: What’s In a Name

Recently I was with some of my writing buddies and we were discussing, no surprise here, books.  Specifically, we were mulling over what to call Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  Since it focuses on technology and feels a bit grungy, I tend to want to call it futuristic steam punk because science fiction just doesn’t feel precise enough. […]

Flash Fiction: Keeping It Short and Pertinent

I’m in the middle of reading 40 flash fiction contest entries.  The word limit is 750 which really doesn’t feel painfully short to me but that’s probably because I write for children.  Sure, most of my ABDO books start out at 15,000 word but much of what I’ve published in significantly shorter than 750 words. […]

Narrator Beware: Limit the Whining

Recently, I picked up a book that is wildly popular.  I’m seeing it all over the blogosphere.  A friend asked me to read it and give her my take on it.  It’s middle grade fiction but she worries that it is too dark.  She worries that ubber dark is a new middle grade trend. No, […]

Chapters: How Many Is Just Right?

A few days ago, I pulled out my outline for What’s Up, Chuck?  If I’m going to have it ready to submit by the end of August, I had better get to work. I hadn’t worked on a new chapter for a while so I didn’t actually remember what chapter I was writing.  It turned […]

4th of July

I know not everyone who reads this blog is from the US, but I am.  Today is the 4th of July, a family day for me.  I hope that you can all understand that that is where I’m devoting my time today. I hope that all of you who celebrate have a happy, safe holiday. […]