Writer, teacher, blogger and mom.
Speaking of zeitgeist, something else has been troubling me lately, and this one mostly concerns Contemporary YA rather than dystopian, although with a smattering of Urban Fantasy. Here it is: WHAT IS UP WITH ALL THE DEAD GIRLS? Other pundits have nicely encapsulated the fuckery that is dead girl covers. Dead girl covers are bad … More Death, Death, So Much Death.
So I’ve been a little absent from the blog for the last few days. I skipped my regular Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday posts. I have a pretty good reason. I’ve been hard at work on a book that is turning into a beast (Bookie and the Beast I might call it) and listening to the … More Sex, Sex, So Much Sex. (Warning R Rated)
It’s been a slow reading month for me. I’ve been writing hard though, so that’s my excuse. That said, lots of the reading I’ve done this month has a funny story attached to it, so this Book Tweets post will have a little something extra. So early in the month everyone was talking about 50 … More BOOK Tweets – March 2012
This MMGM I want to highlight two short books by Natalie Babbit, an author who is still writing and publishing, but seems to have been a bit forgotten. TUCK EVERLASTING, which was made into a slightly unsatisfying film a few years back, is a very concise and contained fantasy story about immortality. Here’s the blurb: … More Marvelous Middle Grade Monday – Natalie Babbit
So it was more than a month ago that I had coffee with my friend Jeyn Roberts ostensibly to talk about her book DARK INSIDE. Sadly all we did was talk about other books we both loved, and some that we loved not so much. When we ran out of time I left her with … More YA Author JEYN ROBERTS answers Seven Deadly Questions
I’ve been resisting the pressure to post about The Hunger Games phenomenon, but I can resist no more. I’ve discussed Katniss a couple of times on this blog. She’s a seminal character up there with Harry Potter and a useful tool for examining he idea of heroism, and heroines in particular so I can’t help … More The (A)sexual Politics of the Hunger Games
For this week’s Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway asks what is your favorite literary moment? So I think it will come as no surprise that I am a huge Harry Potter fan, not just as a reader, but also as a writer. The whole Harry Potter experience has colored and shaped the young readers’ book industry … More How JK and HP Changed MG and YA
So, recovering from St Patrick’s Day I think we can all agree that there’s a bit of the Irish in everyone. And no one knows that more than this week’s terrific teen, Drew Lovejoy. Drew, who need not commit to any racial or ethnic pigeonhole as far as I’m concerned, identifies as half African American … More Terrific Teen Tuesday – We’re All Irish Underneath
I’ve just this second come up with a theory. Here it is: Writers not only start out as readers, they start out as re-readers. When I was a child I would read books over and over again – some countless times. Some until the books was dog-eared and falling apart. Others I would borrow from … More Marvelous Middle Grade Monday – Are you a Reader or a RE-READER?
With all my musing yesterday about travelling through time and into space I neglected to celebrate the birth of my book WICKET SEASON! Happy Birthday o’ book of mine! Blurb!: Harry is determined to make the cricket team at his new school, but he’ll really have to step up his game. To prove his commitment to … More BOOK BIRTHDAY! WICKET SEASON
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