Monthly Archives: October 2010
Q. Do You Read Reviews of Your Book?
A. Not normally. I notice they’re out there. If I see a review has 5 stars or a raving first line, I might read it. Anything less, and I look away.
I learned this the hard way. I wish it weren’t the case that strangers’ opinions have any power over me, but they do, so back when Birthmarked first came out, when I read a few bad reviews, they stung. For days. Even an otherwise very nice review could include a zinger about the… Continue reading
Gaia’s Voice
Nan Mercado, my editor, asked me the other day how I came up with Gaia’s voice and how I developed it, and I had no idea how to answer her. What’s strange is that I know Gaia inside and out. I know her personality, and how she talks, acts, and thinks. Her belongings have history. How she perceives her world and how that changes are all part of her, too. I know her so completely that when I wrote a little story about Gaia at… Continue reading
The Genetic Freedom Act
The law isn’t really called that, but since I’m already playing with fiction twists, changing the name is a satisfying place to start. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 says about what you might expect it would: that insurance companies and employers can’t discriminate against anyone because of his or her genes. They can’t demand genetic info about people, or their families, when they’re deciding whom not to cover in policies or whom to employ. That’s the real law here in the U.S.
It’s just too… Continue reading
Gaia at Eleven
(Here’s a bit story about a character from Birthmarked when she was a kid.)
Gaia plugged the last jug with its stopper and tied the handle to the end of her pole. Once more, she tested the grip of the faucet in the great wall to be certain it was off tightly. Spilled water had absorbed into the dust already, making it a richer brown, and she messed her bare toes into it for the coolness before she lifted her yoke pole and balanced it over her shoulders.… Continue reading
Afterward, We Ate
Laura Toffler-Corrie, Caragh O’Brien, Ann Haywood Leal, Jame Richards, Sari Bodi, and Michaela MacColl
Yesterday, I met up with Laura Toffler-Corrie, Ann Haywood Leal, Jame Richards, Sari Bodi, and Michaela MacColl for a panel at the Ridgefield Library in lovely Ridgefield, CT. The local kids were painting Halloween pictures on the local businesses and there were balloons everywhere, so it was a fun day on Main Street. About forty people came by to hear a bit of advice on writing and publishing,… Continue reading
Kids Lit Panel
I’m joining my friend Laura Toffler-Corrie and four other YA and MG writers at the Ridgefield, CT library this coming Saturday for a writers’ panel from 1:00-3:00. We’re ostensibly dispensing advice on the writing and selling of children’s books, but I suspect we’ll digress. I, for one, am far from an expert. Maybe I’ll get the easy questions, like what to do if your fingers get cold all the time when you’re typing.