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Over many months, reading panels and judges read hundreds of books - stacks and stacks of wonderful books in many categories. The winners were announced on February 14th. Review the winning books for yourself. There is a new widget on this page that the Cybils team and JacketFlap put together. This widget showcases the many entrants to the Cybils Awards. In most cases these are not the same books that won big awards this year, although you will recognize a few titles. There are many excellent choices to make, so choose your own reading adventure. Although mentioned in earlier posts, I was excited and honored to be a member of the fiction picture book category and a part of this wonderful effort to expand the number of books that are highlighted and promoted to childish imaginations of all ages.

A few days ago, the very nice literary agent at Pub Rants did a post on mentors for new writers. This reminded me of a woman I used to know who was working on a master's degree in writing and kept talking about her "writing coach."

That's what I'd really like. Forget about a mentor. I want a coach who will function like a trainer and plan a writing program for me. "Work on your attention span, Gail." "Study plot." "Attend Program A." "Read Book C." "Set a daily minimum number of pages you're going to write." "Don't worry about the first draft--just write it."

I've been trying to work differently on my new fiction project. So, presumably, I will eventually end up with a new manuscript and a new writing process. A twofer.

The Durand Cousins: 6,367 words.