Highlights of the Week
I finished Erin Entrada Kelly’s, The First State of Being* and loved it. There’s a webinar with Erin on Monday that I’m hoping to join with the Middle Grade Writers Group. She’ll be discussing writing flawed characters. None of us are perfect, we all have flaws. And when writing our characters it makes them more interesting and keeps us turning the pages. No wants to read about a perfect protagonist. Erin’s main character in The First State of Being is certainly flawed but you also root for him.
I was the visiting author at a fun book fair at Khan Lab school in Palo Alto this week. Flo from Linden Tree books also interviewed me so take a look if you want to listen to me forget the name of my next book series 🤦🏻♀️ (it’s The Magic Makers Club).
Cute new picture book alert: Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten* by Michelle Knudsen and Kevin Hawkes. I was so charmed by Luigi and his quest to be the perfect pet. It’s about pretending to be someone you’re not and what happens when you just be yourself.
Do you use the Notes app? How many notes do you have?
I have over 3000!! 😳
I use it for everything from book ideas to grocery lists but I think I need to streamline it so I can actually find things. How do you use it?
and ) had some great ideas on how to use it more efficiently like using folders, scanning documents (which I did know how to do) and having a standard packing list.
A podcast I listen to (Bad on Paper by
While looking through mine I found some cute quotes from the kids when they were little, their first words, and a list of baby name ideas so I want to make sure I keep them safe.
For Writers
Do you already subscribe to KidLit411? They have a weekly email that I never miss plus an extensive website of kidlit articles, and an active Facebook group.
Last week on Kidlit Survival Guide Vicky covered her Path to Illustration. I learned so much from it! If you’re curious about illustrating your own books, it’s well worth a subscription (you can just join for a month so you can read it, we won’t mind!) You can see what else we have planned the next few months here. We’re covering the art of signing books in our next free-to-all post on Monday.
For Educators
CLOSED Would your classroom like a free book and a signed set of postcards? Leave a comment telling me a little about your class by 3/22 and I’ll randomly pick one winner.
Happy writing and reading,
Christine
Ah Christine! Love that our BOP episode made your newsletter. I have been so bowled over by the response, of both people appreciating the tips and having even MORE tips. Looking forward to doing a follow up.