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The story doesn’t get done, “the end” doesn’t get written, the book doesn’t get published until there is some serious seat-planted-in-a-chair time. If you have to start small and build it up to 60 that’s okay. Claudia gets up early to write before heading out the door for her college teaching day job. Early isn’t my best time. I do better in the evening, after things settle down. Some days they never do and that’s okay, too. The key is to get into a routine of writing every day. When you are there, those days you can’t fit it in becomes a minor interference, not a bad habit. Dedicating sixty minutes daily may seem impossible, but if you can figure out a way to eek that much time out, you should do it. 
By: Greg Leitich Smith,
on 9/2/2011
Blog: GregLSBlog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: chapter book, contemporary, Claudia Mills, Guy Francis, Add a tag
MASON DIXON: PET DISASTERS, by Claudia Mills (Knopf 2011)(ages 7-10). In this first of a new chapter book series, nine-year-old Mason Dixon likes his belongings ordered, his food simple, and his socks brown. He does not want a pet, but his parents insist he needs one. But fish, hamsters, and cats just aren't his thing. When he and his best friend Brody adopt a dog, though, he discovers that, just possibly, having a pet companion isn't so bad after all.
MASON DIXON: PET DISASTERS is a winning tale of friendship, pets, and summer art camp. Full of heart and humor, PET DISASTERS will have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. Illustrations by Guy Francis are equally fun and expressive.
By: Catherine Nichols,
on 7/13/2011
Blog: The Cath in the Hat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Claudia Mills, G. Brian Karas, Fractions = Trouble, Add a tag
Boy, don't they! Fractions and I have never been friends. So I can completely identify with the hero of this appealing chapter book, a sequel to 7 x 9 = Trouble! Wilson never met a fraction he liked. He'd much rather play with his new pet hamster Pip (short for Pipsqueak). Instead, his parents inform him he'll have to start seeing a math tutor. Wilson is determined to keep his secret a secret--from his classmates and especially from his best friend, Josh, who's great at math. A subplot concerns the two boys' attempts at devising a winning science project. Josh wants to know if pickles can be made to explode. Wilson only knows that hamsters will figure in his.
Wilson is a believable third-grader with third-grade-size problems. Claudia Mills takes these problems seriously but still manages to let the fun shine through. G. Brian Karas's black-and-white cartoon-style illustrations add to the book's charm. Fans of Johanna Hurwitz's Monty series and Barbara Seuling's Robert books will enjoy reading about Wilson.
And as we learn from an author's note at the end of the book, Mills was also bad at math. And she ended up more than okay. Her books will bring hope to all of us who tremble at the sight of a numerator and denominator. Now which is which again?
Fractions = Trouble!
by Claudia Mills
illustrations by G. Brian Karas
Farrar Straus Giroux, 128 pages
Published: June, 2011
By: Destiny Mae,
on 8/12/2007
Blog: Destiny's Book Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: book review, dragonlance, practical guide to dragons, Add a tag
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By: Bianca Schulze,
on 9/14/2013
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Giveaways, Claudia Mills, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Giveaways, Claudia Mills, Add a tag
By: Guest Posts,
on 9/13/2013
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Best Kids Stories, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Chapter Books, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Carol Ryrie Brink, featured, Eleanor Estes, Books for Girls, Claudia Mills, Maud Hart Lovelace, Add a tag
Blog: The Children's Book Review (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Best Kids Stories, Ages 4-8, Ages 9-12, Chapter Books, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Carol Ryrie Brink, featured, Eleanor Estes, Books for Girls, Claudia Mills, Maud Hart Lovelace, Add a tag
Claudia Mills is the author of many chapter and middle-grade books, including 7 x 9=Trouble!; How Oliver Olson Changed the World; Kelsey Green, Reading Queen; and, most recently, Zero Tolerance. Mills shares a wonderful list of her family's favorite books that feature girl protagonists—she encourages you to share them with both boys and girls, alike.
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By: Bruce Luck,
on 9/15/2012
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Claudia Mills, WiFYR, Add a tag
Blog: Utah Children's Writers (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Claudia Mills, WiFYR, Add a tag
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I’ve had an alteration of my daily schedule and it’s really getting in the way of my writing.
I didn’t have enough time before and have precious less of it now. The sad part is I was on a roll. Not to say people are banging on my door to read my stuff, but the writing was working. I’m getting it. I’m finally figuring out how to do the kind of writing I want to do.
And then they took away my time.
One of my favorite WIFYR people, Claudia Mills, offered a breakout session once. She called it something like 60 Minutes A Day. The gist of it was to find a minimum of sixty minutes each day to work on your story. An hour a day makes for a good goal. It’s sometimes hard to find sixty minutes in a busy life. Conversely, it may seem too little to get anything done. But it’s ideal because it forces you into your story without taking a huge block of time. Unlike a set number of words per day, one hour has a definite stopping point. Chipping away, day after day could give you a rough draft in a few months. I’ve been a weekend warrior before, writing several hours at a time on a Saturday afternoon. Writing daily keeps the story fresh, your brain working on it as the story percolates in the subconscious.
I came away from that conference singing the 60 minutes a day mantra and managed to get it in most days. There were some days when it didn’t happen, but mostly it worked and one day at a time, my story grew. There were days when the rest of my life got in the way and I would go a week or more before remembering I need to write an hour daily.
5 Comments on No time, last added: 9/25/2012
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By: Greg Leitich Smith,
on 9/2/2011
Blog: GregLSBlog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: chapter book, contemporary, Claudia Mills, Guy Francis, Add a tag
MASON DIXON: PET DISASTERS is a winning tale of friendship, pets, and summer art camp. Full of heart and humor, PET DISASTERS will have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. Illustrations by Guy Francis are equally fun and expressive.
0 Comments on MASON DIXON: PET DISASTERS as of 1/1/1900
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By: Catherine Nichols,
on 7/13/2011
Blog: The Cath in the Hat (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Claudia Mills, G. Brian Karas, Fractions = Trouble, Add a tag
Wilson is a believable third-grader with third-grade-size problems. Claudia Mills takes these problems seriously but still manages to let the fun shine through. G. Brian Karas's black-and-white cartoon-style illustrations add to the book's charm. Fans of Johanna Hurwitz's Monty series and Barbara Seuling's Robert books will enjoy reading about Wilson.
And as we learn from an author's note at the end of the book, Mills was also bad at math. And she ended up more than okay. Her books will bring hope to all of us who tremble at the sight of a numerator and denominator. Now which is which again?
Fractions = Trouble!
by Claudia Mills
illustrations by G. Brian Karas
Farrar Straus Giroux, 128 pages
Published: June, 2011
1 Comments on Fractions = Trouble!, last added: 7/13/2011
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By: Destiny Mae,
on 8/12/2007
Blog: Destiny's Book Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: book review, dragonlance, practical guide to dragons, Add a tag
This Practical Guide to Dragons is a good book if you want to learn more about dragons because you can draw dragons learn about dragons and all sorts of stuff. It has all of their height, weight, wingspan, weapon, favorite foods, habitat, enemy, favorite treasure, and the picture of the dragon.If you want a dragon you should have the gold dragon because they eat gems and pearls not humans!!!
I like that they wrote it like a Nonfiction book because if it was a story they would have had one or more characters and they would have started and went on with the story, instead of writing what each Dragon's habitat is and their enemy and what their favorite food is.
0 Comments on A Practical Guide To Dragons, by Lisa Trumbauer as of 8/12/2007 9:42:00 AM
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I feel your pain. Time is my biggest obstacle too. I wish I had the answer for you. I've heard people suggest 15 minutes if you can't do an hour. Then at least something gets written. Sounds good, in theory, but I'm like an old car. It takes me a while to get up to speed.
Sixty minutes is a good goal. It's amazing how plugging away little by little you can end up with a complete manuscript before you know it!
That's my biggest problem too! Thanks for the post ;)
That's my biggest problem too! Thanks for the post ;)
Sorry about the repeat. I think my iPods out to get me sometimes