Writing a novel often forces you to leave out bits and pieces. In the case of Letters to Follow-A Dancer’s Adventure, the book is written for young adults (and the young at heart). Teens today want action rather than descriptions. I love descriptions and sensory details. So, when I get “carried away,” I save those bits and hope to use them elsewhere. This is one such elsewhere place! Nazaré, Portugal: a scene The warm sand slid between her toes as she walked toward the waves. If she closed her eyes, she needed to listen hard to hear the water’s...
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And, if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then write it for children.” “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter/computer and bleed.” “What really knocks me out is when I’m done reading a book, I wish the author was a friend of mine and I could call him/her up and talk about how the...
Last month I asked you about how early children’s books may have influenced your adult reading. As I shared the partial list, I thought a lot about my answers to the questions I posed. Here are a few of my reactions, marked PE. Question #1: Which newer titles have you read and were able to identify with? PE: I love the stories that create strong visual images (Where the Wild Things Are), those with deep emotion (The Velveteen Rabbit), and ones with the humor as in The Day the Crayons Quit. Question #2: Which newer titles left you wondering what...
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