Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 256

Stretching to Write

I didn’t realize how much time I spend sitting at my desk until last spring when it started to bother me.  Not that I realized it.  It wasn’t until I had full-blown sciatica that I put two-and-two together.  The good news is that my sciattica isn’t bad and yoga has been a been a huge help. […]

Plot: Make It Believable

It’s December, that time of year when your mind turns to “maybe next year…”  Sometimes I think of this as fantasy time because, even though 90% of what I write is nonfiction, I start thinking about writing fiction. I’m not a complete pantser but I don’t completely outline my stories either.  I want to know […]

Query letter vs. jacket copy

“When you write a query letter, make it sound like jacket copy.” I can’t even begin to tell you how often I’ve been given this advice by my fellow writers.  The problem is that it may not be the best way to do things.  It all depends on the jacket copy you chose to emulate. […]

Diversity in Literature: Reading around the world

The children’s publishing community is an amazing thing.  We step forward and help each other all the time.  But I learned about another astonishing community to day — the community of book lovers world wide. Ann Morgan is a British author and editor who realized that she wasn’t too terribly impressed by what her bookshelves […]

Writing a Series

I just finished reading book one in a new series — The Accidental Keyhand (The Ninja Librarian Series) by Jen Swann Downey.  Her book got me thinking about the different ways that I could write a series.  This is seriously loaded with plot spoilers but don’t say I didn’t warn you. In some series, like this one, […]

Voice: What it is and what it isn’t

All you have to do to get a room full of writers to panic is to say “voice.”  Why?  Because voice in an intimidating, somewhat vague topic. Why do I say “vague”?  Because you can point to the where and the when and all the little sensory details and say “this is setting.”  You can […]

Creating depth in your writing

There are certain phrases that you simply never want to hear from an editor.  Top on my list?  “This just feels slight.” Yes, there are fixes including adding subplots but I’m always worried that these subplots will feel like they’ve just been tacked on.  After all, I didn’t plan them as I was creating the […]

Manuscripts Wanted: Might Media Press

Are you looking for a publisher that takes an active part in publicity?  No, I’m not teasing. Sammy Bosch, Director of Marketing & Publicity at Mighty Media Pres, had this to say when interviewed by Carrie of Carrie On . . . Together! “The marketing team at MMP schedules a book launch tour for every […]

Using a Rewrite Checklist

When I’m moving into the final draft of a manuscript or rewriting based on my editor’s comments, it can be hard to keep everything in mind that I need to correct.  I have friends who will read the editor’s comments and then start reworking their manuscript at page 1.  Me?  I need a checklist because […]

A Talk with Linda Sue Park

As writers, we all like to believe that we are doing something worthwhile.  Not only will our books engage and entertain young readers, we are giving them the tools that they need to live better lives and even to change the world. That’s what we want to believe.  But how can we tell if it […]