new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts from the Writer category, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 26 - 50 of 238,071
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts from blogs in the Writer category in the JacketFlap blog reader. These posts are sorted by date, with the most recent posts at the top of the page. There are hundreds of new posts here every day on a variety of topics related to children's publishing. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. Click a tag in the right column to view posts about that topic. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
Today I bought my calendars
And boxes full of cards
To send next year conveying
My best holiday regards.
For after Christmas, things like these
Are sold at half the price,
A little gimmick stores employ
To clear their merchandise.
It’s become, to me, tradition
For as long as I remember,
I’ve bought calendars and cards
The 26th day of December.
Can you spot?
A three-eyed thripweedle
A long-tailed nitflicker
A fluffy-eared loopy
From Silly Monsters ABC
There are several reasons when you should use a flashback, and many why you shouldn't.
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/reason-story-flashbacks/
By:
Monica Gupta,
on 12/26/2016
Blog:
Monica Gupta
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Articles,
Videos,
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,
swachh bharat abhiyan progress,
swachh bharat mission,
स्वच्छ भारत अभियान,
स्वच्छ भारत अभियान पर संवाद,
स्वच्छ भारत अभियान पर स्लोगन,
स्वच्छता की आवश्यकता को समझना होगा,
Add a tag
स्वच्छता की आवश्यकता को समझना होगा – बैंको की लम्बी कतार तो हम सभी ने देखी और झेली है पर कूडा डालने के लिए भी कतार है ? ये कहां और किसलिए ? जनता को स्वच्छ्ता के प्रति उत्साहित करने का शानदार तरीका. कूडा मशीन में डालो और ईनाम पाओ … रिवर्स वेंडिंग मशीन की […]
The post स्वच्छता की आवश्यकता को समझना होगा appeared first on Monica Gupta.
Happy Monday! There is only one new release this week with an interview, THE SECRET OF A HEART NOTE by Stacey Lee! Don't forget to check it out below!
Happy Reading,
Shelly, Sam, Jocelyn, Martina, Erin, Susan, Michelle, Laura, Anisaa, and Kristin
YA BOOK GIVEAWAYS LAST WEEK: WINNERS
Cursed by R.L. Stine: Melissa P.
MORE YOUNG ADULT FICTION IN STORES NEXT WEEK WITH AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
* * * *
The Secret of a Heart Noteby Stacey LeeHardcoverKatherine Tegen BooksReleased 12/27/2016An evocative novel about a teen aroma expert who uses her extrasensitive sense of smell to mix perfumes that help others fall in love while protecting her own heart at all costs.
Sometimes love is right under your nose. As one of only two aromateurs left on the planet, sixteen-year-old Mimosa knows what her future holds: a lifetime of weeding, mixing love elixirs, and matchmaking—all while remaining incurably alone. For Mim, the rules are clear: falling in love would render her nose useless, taking away her one great talent. Still, Mimosa doesn’t want to spend her life elbow-deep in soil and begonias. She dreams of a normal high school experience with friends, sports practices, debate club, and even a boyfriend. But when she accidentally gives an elixir to the wrong woman and has to rely on the lovesick woman’s son, the school soccer star, to help fix the situation, Mim quickly begins to realize that falling in love isn’t always a choice you can make.
At once hopeful, funny, and romantic, Stacey Lee’s The Secret of a Heart Note is a richly evocative coming-of-age story that gives a fresh perspective on falling in love and finding one’s place in the world.
Author Question: What is your favorite thing about The Secret of a Heart Note?My favorite thing in writing Heart Note was coming up with novel ways to describe smells. My main character, Mim, with her super sensitive nose, processes the world through smell. Unfortunately, the English language is quite limited when it comes to describing smells. The same thing is true with taste. My inlaws often use Chinese words to describe a particular taste (we do love our food!), and when I ask for the English translation, frequently, none exists. For more exacting descriptions of taste or smell, we must rely on comparisons (e.g., this medicine tastes like a skunk died in my mouth; that perfume smells like cotton candy.)
For Heart Note, I used comparisons, but I also tried to stretch the language to 'suggest' smells, like, "there's a buttery roundness to the scent, like it's used to sunshine." Another thing I did was to read wine descriptions. Enologists are experts in the art of describing taste, and my descriptions often have a 'wine' feel: "It had a dominant of miso soup, osha beats, a lick of buffalo weed, not too spicy, with a silvery finish."Purchase The Secret of a Heart Note at AmazonPurchase The Secret of a Heart Note at IndieBoundView The Secret of a Heart Note on GoodreadsMORE YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK
* * * *
Endgame: Rules of the Gameby James Frey and Nils Johnson-SheltonHardcoverHarperCollinsReleased 12/27/2016The explosive final novel in the Endgame trilogy. Two keys have been found. The strongest Players are left. One final key remains to win Endgame and save the world.
For Sarah, Jago, Aisling, Maccabee, Shari, An, and Hilal, Endgame has reached its final phase. The third key, Sun Key, is all that stands between one Player saving their line—or perishing along with the rest of the world. And only one can win.
West Bengal, India: Maccabee is Playing to win. He has Earth Key and Sky Key and he is determined to find Sun Key. But in Endgame, fate can turn in the blink of an eye. He must Play carefully. He must watch his back.
Kolkata, India: An Liu is Playing for death. His goal: stop Endgame, and take the world down with him.
Sikkim, India: For Aisling, Sarah, Jago, Shari, and Hilal, their mission is to stop Endgame. Sun Key must not be found.
No matter what they’re Playing for, all of the remaining Players have one thing in common: they will end the game, but on their own terms.
Purchase Endgame: Rules of the Game at AmazonPurchase Endgame: Rules of the Game at IndieBoundView Endgame: Rules of the Game on Goodreads
By: cmills,
on 12/26/2016
Blog:
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
Yesterday was Christmas, and it was all that Christmas should be. On Christmas Eve we had our traditional buffet dinner at 4:00, so that Christopher could head off early to church to finish rehearsing for his role as pianist for the high-profile Christmas Eve "carols and lessons" service. This was a "bucket list" item for him - to play on this most holy evening - and his proud mother can report that he performed beautifully.
Christmas morning two little elves appeared in matching elf pajamas.
Great was the joy as we opened the mountains of presents left by Santa and ate cinnamon rolls from the recipe of my mother (who so loved her Christmas birthday). We then played with the presents until Christopher, Ashley, and the girls left for THREE more Christmas gatherings with Ashley's extended family, and Gregory and I assembled the jigsaw puzzle he had gotten me as a gift: a covered bridge-in-autumn scene to reflect my abiding love for the covered bridges of my adopted state of Indiana.
(I still can't stop some of my pictures from appearing rotated despite saving them a thousand times in a re-rotated position!).
Now it is the Day After Christmas, and I'm totally ready for it to be New Year's Day. I'm ready to start my Whole New Life. I'm planning for January to be Buy Nothing Month, where I purchase absolutely nothing except for food and a minimal amount of gas for the car, to offset the money hemorrhage of the holidays. I'm planning for January to launch a year of dazzling writing productivity where I've set myself the goal of submitting one substantial manuscript (creative or scholarly) every single month. I have my little notebook for 2017 all ready to start listing my year's goals in every aspect of my life. I wish it were 2017 right now!
So I decided: why not start my new year today? If Auntie Mame could sing of needing a little Christmas, right this very minute, candles in the window, carols on the spinet, I can proclaim my own need for a little New Years's, right this very minute. Instead of hauling out the holly and slicing up the fruitcake, I'm going to take a good long healthful walk, read a mentee's manuscript, and - gasp - face revisions on a major manuscript of my own. And spend nothing, not one cent! And eat leftover broccoli instead of leftover Christmas cookies! (Well, maybe just a few leftover Christmas cookies).
Happy New Year! May 2017 be a year of love and joy - and if you're enraptured by work like me, promise and productivity - for all of us.
Super light week this week, what with the holidays. But there are still a few MMGMs floating around the blogosphere. So here are the links:
- A Bookshelf Monstrosity is talking about BLEED, BLISTER, PUKE, AND PURGE: THE DIRTY SECRETS BEHIND EARLY AMERICAN MEDICINE. Click HERE to see what they thought.
- Renell Aysling is sharing a list of books that made her love reading as a kid. Click HERE to check it out!
- Carl at Boys Rule Boys Read! has some special messages for everyone during these holiday weeks. Click HERE to read them.
- Justin Talks Books is highlighting DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOUBLE DOWN! Click HERE to see what he thought
- Greg Pattridge wants everyone to CLICK HERE TO START. Click HERE to read his review.
- The Mundie Moms are always huge supporters of middle grade. Click HERE for their Mundie Kids site.
- Shannon O'Donnell is back--and planning a weekly MMGM again. Click HERE to see what she's talking about this week.
- Karen Yingling also always has some awesome MMGM recommendations for you. Click HERE to which ones she picked this time.
- Joanne Fritz always has an MMGM for you. Click HERE to see what she's talking about this week
If you would like to join in the MMGM fun, all you have to do is blog about a middle grade book you love on a Monday (contests, author interviews and whatnot also count--but are most definitely not required) and email me the title of the book you're featuring and a link to your blog at SWMessenger (at) hotmail (dot) com. (Make sure you put MMGM or Marvelous Middle Grade Monday in the subject line so it gets sorted accurately--and please don't forget to say what book you're featuring) You MUST email me your link by Sunday evening in order to be included in the list of links for the coming Monday. (usually before 11pm PST is safe--but if I'm traveling it can vary. When in doubt, send early!) (Also make sure the post you send me is a new post, not one from earlier in the week. I try to keep the content fresh)
If you miss the cutoff, you are welcome to add your link in the comments on this post so people can find you, but I will not have time to update the post. Same goes for typos/errors on my part. I do my best to build the links correctly, but sometimes deadline-brain gets the best of me, and I'm sorry if it does. For those wondering why I don't use a Linky-widget instead, it's a simple matter of internet safety. The only way I can ensure that all the links lead to safe, appropriate places for someone of any age is if I build them myself. It's not a perfect system, but it allows me to keep better control.
Thank you so much for being a part of this awesome meme, and spreading the middle grade love!
Happy Monday! Monday Mishmash is a weekly meme dedicated to sharing what's on your mind. Feel free to grab the button and post your own Mishmash.
Here's what's on my mind today:
- Christmas I had a great Christmas and I hope you did too if you celebrate it.
- Proofing I finished proofing Lies We Tell. I'm very excited to venture into adult mystery/suspense. The book will release in April.
- Winter Break My daughter is home for Christmas break this week, so I'll be spending most of my time with her, which is why this Mishmash is shorter than usual.
That's it for me. What's on your mind today?
If your birthday’s on Christmas, it must be a drag,
For snow may be piled up in drifts
But most likely, the reason your spirits will sag’s
When you realize you’ve lost out on gifts.
For those purchasing presents will figure just one
Should suffice, though that just isn’t true
And when Santa discovers your birthday stash there
He might leave with no goodies for you.
So for those with a birthday on 12/25,
Here’s a bit of unasked-for advice:
Have your party the week that precedes the big day
And prepare to write thank-you cards twice!
Here's a handy chart to help you add emotion to your manuscript through body language.
http://writerswrite.co.za/cheat-sheets-translate-emotions-into-written-body-language
छुट्टियों के दिन – छुट्टियों का आनंद- छुट्टियां शुरु हो गई और घूमने जाने का प्रोग्राम भी … कुछ लोग तो अपने अपने डेस्टीनेशन पर पहुंच भी चुके होंगें… कुछ लोगो का बन रहा होगा छुट्टियों के दिन – छुट्टियों का आनंद तो मैने सोचा कि कुछ सहेलिया घूम कर आई हैं उन्हीं से पूछती […]
The post छुट्टियों के दिन – छुट्टियों का आनंद appeared first on Monica Gupta.
By: Mary Nida Smith,
on 12/25/2016
Blog:
Life's Beautiful Path
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Add a tag
MERRY CHRISTMAS to all! Have a pleasant watch of Rick Steve's Christmas in Europe. Click the image to watch on YouTube.
Nicolette Jones is the children's book reviewer for The Sunday Times out of London and a powerful force for good in the children's book community. I was lucky enough to get a portfolio review with her last year through Picture Hooks. Recently, she recorded a series of videos on picture books and their creators. You can view the first one about non-fiction titles on The Sunday Times website - click here or the image below to go watch.
Here are the polar friends, nearly finished,
hoping to bring light and love
into the world.
They kind of make me feel like the party has arrived.
See? They even brought candy canes and made cookies.
I kind of forgot to make Christmas cards
so these are going to be my tiny love and light-bringers.
And these.
Happy Advent, my friends.
May thankfulness,
love
and light
fill you up
and bring you peace.
A rare confluence of events
Is happening tonight
To fill both Jews and Christians
With a feeling of delight.
At sunset Chanukah begins;
Two candles thus will glow,
While Christmas brings excitement,
Knowing Santa Claus will show.
All celebrants will gather
With their kith and kin to feast.
There'll be gossip, gifts and goodies,
Greedy waistlines thus increased.
So to all who'll spend this evening
With the dreidel or the tree,
Here's a happy merry greeting
Flowing straight to you from me.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!
Hooray, hooray,
Free on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:
HAPPY CHRISTMAS ANIMALS
A jolly rhyming Christmas ebook for kids!
 |
| Happy Christmas, fox! |
 |
| Happy Christmas, spider, in your Christmas socks! |
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FROM AMAZON.COMOR AMAZON.CO.UK
For my final 2016
Philadelphia Inquirer column, I took a train to the city with the men I love and stood at Cira Green, looking down, across, into, and through.
I was seeking perspective of a personal and political kind following a tremulous year.
My thanks to Kevin Ferris, who allows me to seek and speak in my hometown paper on a monthly basis.
Happiness to you all. Peace in this season. Hope.
As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say, "it's always something."
Sometimes you write a play and although it seems like it has good-bordering-on-great possibilities, it languishes in the maybe-some-day file. The play at issue, "The Lemon", focuses on the trials and tribulations of a woman attempting to get help to remove her car, a "lemon" stalled in a busy intersection blocking traffic.
A 15-minute comedy play-ette as I like to call my short but sweet stories, it has been tinkered with over the years including modifications to strengthen the flow of dialogue. The saga involves the use of a public pay phone and therein lies the problem.
In order to make my plays relevant, frequent updates are done, however - as frequently mentioned in my blogs, it's always the 'howevers' that get you in the end - this is a situation requiring a reappraisal of its viability.
Public pay phones are becoming a rarity and according to Wikipedia, "since 2007, the number of payphones in the United States in operation has declined by 48%. In July 2009, AT&T officially stopped supporting the Public Payphone service. Over 139,000 locations were sold in 2009."
In this play-ette, the main character (Penny) is attempting to convince the user of the pay phone to allow her to arrange for her "lemon" to be towed to a garage since her cell phone is dead. Here's what I mean:
PENNY
I don't believe this! How many more things can go wrong, today?
SOUND: car horns. PENNY looks off into the distance and makes an obscene gesture with hand
(cont'd. PENNY) 'Blow it out your nose, idiots! You'll get more out of that!' I don't believe it. Get a new cell phone and forget to charge it.
(aside to female in phone booth)
PENNY (owner of car/lemon)
'Scuse me - are you gonna be much longer?
FEMALE PHONE USER (FPU)Do you mind? I'm almost finished. Why don't you use your cell phone?
PENNYDuhhh! Don't you think I would if I could? Humor me for thirty seconds and perhaps you'll understand my dilemma. Over there in the middle of the intersection - see that car?
FPUYou mean the orange-colored wreck? You actually own that? I'd keep it to myself if I was you.
PENNYI bought the rusting chunk of junk a week ago and it died on me, today. There's a sucker born every minute the dealer saw a big red "S" right here on my forehead. Desperation causes one to make questionable decisions
FPUOkay. I looked at your car. Now can I finish my conversation? The more you interrupt, the longer it'll take
(FPU turns away - PENNY taps her on the back)PENNYPerhaps I'm not making myself clear. I'm not a violent person by nature - not at all - but you're
pushing my buttons. Wait - I made a joke...get it? Public phone booth...push the buttons... In my personal angst, I still manage to find humor. I'm a survivor alright.
Gotta take things in my own hands...
(PENNY reaches over, disconnects and grabs the phone)FPUHow dare you! You...you...crazy woman. Get away from me!
PENNYHow dare
I? How dare I, you ask? How many times did I tell you that I had to make a desperate phone call but did you listen? Nooooooo!
Your phone conversation took precedent over my needs, so I took things into my own hands in the true sense of the word. If you don't mind and even if you do, my phone call needs privacy so block your ears and turn away. Better still, go away
FPUExcuse me? After the way you interrupted my conversation. I think not
PENNY(rummaging through handbag)Let's see here...where's my phone directory...course there's one on my cell if it was working... The handbag is so big, everything gets lost inside. Aha! So this is where my salami sandwich went. Phew! Would you mind tossing it into the trash over there?
FPUI think not. Why don't you go throw it in, yourself. It's a mere few feet away
PENNYSurrrre - uh-huh... You think I'm an idiot?
FPUThe thought did cross my mind in addition to you being insane.
PENNYI take one step away from here and you jump in and take control over the phone, again. I think not! I'll just put it back in my handbag and toss it when you're gone
FPUThat is truly disgusting. You're gonna contaminate the phone
PENNYSo then you better not use it. Let's see here - where's the number of my dealership. I should'a filed it under 'losers'. Here it is...
And so their repartee continues, the two attempting to gain and retain control over the phone. The issue is if the play is still relevant and/or if it can be updated and relevant for today's society. Still, when it's all done and written, I do like this short play... As mentioned at the beginning, it's always something.
And for Christmas eve... I have always liked the quiet contemplation of Silent Night - of something vast and large brought down to a small and intimate instance. We're an entire world full of connected community these days, people. Look for the common thread. Slow it down. Consider. Peace out!
Hello there, I'm Danny and I'm working on a novel at the moment that is a historical fiction set in ancient Greece aimed at teenagers. I am
View Next 25 Posts
By: Gerald Hawksley,
on 12/26/2016
.jpeg?picon=2691)
By: LAURIE WALLMARK,
on 12/26/2016
By: DIWAKAR,
on 12/26/2016
By: Shelly,
on 12/26/2016
By: Shannon Whitney,
on 12/26/2016
By: Elizabeth O. Dulemba,
on 12/25/2016
By: Faith Pray,
on 12/24/2016
They kind of make me feel like the party has arrived. 
By: Beth Kephart ,
on 12/24/2016
By: scriberess,
on 12/24/2016
By: Erik Brooks,
on 12/24/2016
Posted on 12/24/2016
I love Stacey Lee. I can't wait to read this one!
I've had the privilege of reading THE SECRET OF A HEART NOTE! It's wonderful with a capital W. Curl up in front of the fire with a cup of tea and dig in.