True Confessions of a BBF Moderator
Since a couple of months ago, when my editor Nancy Mercado asked me to moderate a writers’ panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival, I’ve been reading works by Gayle Forman (If I Stay, Where She Went), Jacqueline Woodson (After Tupac and D Foster, Under a Meth Moon), and Cory Doctorow (Makers, For the Win, Contents) so I’d be ready to ask them a few questions. Gayle’s books made me think about if, without family, there’s a point to living, Jacqueline’s made me… Continue reading
#1 You May Not Read A Book You Dislike
He'll read if he can pick his own book and have time for it in class.
I instituted Independent Reading in all of my high school English classes for a half hour every Friday. The first semester, many of my students didn’t get it. They thought it was time to sleep, pass notes, text, doodle on the desks, do homework, do their hair, or meet in the library to socialize. My fellow teachers informed me they didn’t have such time to spare in their classrooms, so I… Continue reading
Revising, Again
I’ve written about revising before, so I’m not certain this adds much. I just want to say I love this stage. I’m in draft 6 of Promised (Book 3 of the Birthmarked trilogy), and now that I’m more and more convinced I have all the scenes I need and that they’re in the right places, I can finally work at the level where I’m questioning each word. It’s a little like working on a very long poem.
Promised, Draft 6
So much of character emerges here in… Continue reading
Dogs
Scary Dog
Honestly, I’m scared of them. Just when I think I’m over it, one of them bites my daughter’s thumb or knocks down my ninety-year-old neighbor. I get, rationally, that most dogs are harmless, and I’m happy to pet the calm ones I know, but that still doesn’t make me less fearful of big, jumping, lunging dogs. I feel so helpless around unfamiliar dogs, and so confused that their owners don’t control them better. They let their dogs come right towards me with their panting… Continue reading
Powerless, Thanks to Irene
Wires Very Down
We’re among the 700,000+ in Connecticut who are without power since Irene hit, and I expect we’ll be this way for quite some time. Fortunately:
We’re all fine.
Our neighbors are all fine.
We were able to rig a siphon so the sump pump can drain down a pipe in the basement instead of overflowing.
We still have water.
The UConn Library is open so I can post this and spend the day with my computer plugged in so I can work.
I can probably take… Continue reading
The Writer-Blogger Connection
A year and a half ago, people who wrote blogs about books seemed mysterious, organized, technologically savvy, funny, creative, opinionated, and distant to me. I was surprised and grateful when any of them reviewed my novel positively, and I learned quickly to stop reading when a review was meh because it stung. As a few bloggers began to contact me about interviews and as I emailed a handful to thank them for their kind words, I discovered some incredibly nice, generous people who love books as much as… Continue reading
Ari & Milo, my serial novel, is now up on Wattpad! I drew illustrations to go with each chapter, and best of all, it’s free! Because of problematic themes, this novel is for mature readers age 17+.
Book Trailer for Promised