Photo: Sue Hylen
Kids! Click onto my kid-friendly blog, Yellow Pencils, for writing activities and topics to spark your imagination.
Art by Alyssa L., age 11
My Random Thoughts on What I'm Reading
A Tangle of Knots, a new middle-grade novel by Lisa Graff, is sure to make you hungry. Eleven-year-old Cady is an orphan, and her Talent is baking. Descriptions of her cakes (recipes included), made me want to run to the kitchen and get out my mixing bowls. In Cady's semi-magical world, most people have a Talent. Those who don't, like Marigold, go searching for one. Take this magical world, add several other characters--Miss Mallory, Toby, the Owner, Will, Zane, and Mrs. Asher--and you have the recipe for a fun adventure involving powder-blue suitcases, a ferret named Sally, a hot-air balloon, the Lost Luggage Emporium, and a mysterious man in a gray suit. And knots, of course. This novel has plenty of them, and they all come together at the end of this delicious tale. |
Welcome!I'm a children's book writer, teacher, reader, walker, and bicycle rider on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Jump in and explore my writing world.
And check out my guest post for Barbara Younger's blog, Friend for the Ride. It's all about what I learn from teaching young writers. Announcing my Summer 2013 Writing Workshops! Get the details here. Registration is now open. Sharpen your pencils and join us for a writing workshop. 
About Me I write for children and teens because I still love to take shortcuts through backyards. I’ve written several books for the school market, which are read by kids across the country. I also write short stories and poems. Currently I’m working on a middle-grade novel. I grew up in the Midwest in a large extended family with over fifty cousins, so reading became a place to explore by myself. Once I discovered how great reading was, I couldn't stop. Later I began to write fiction for adults. I switched to writing for kids when I realized the audience was more fun. Along the way I sold corn at the Wisconsin State Fair, worked in a drugstore, answered phones at a used car lot, got degrees in linguistics, library science, and writing for children, and worked as a librarian and book buyer at independent bookstores. Besides writing, I teach writing workshops for children, teens, and adults. Twice I’ve taught English to kids in Poland. I love to walk and bicycle. This fall I walked the Cotswold Way in England with a friend. Closer to home, I like to walk and bike around Bainbridge Island and Seattle, discovering new neighborhoods and stopping often for coffee. When I’m not bicycling, teaching, or taking shortcuts through yards, I’m writing and revising, revising, revising--my favorite part of creating a story. I’m in an email book club with a few of those fifty cousins. And I still read whenever I can. |
|