Suggestions & Cautionary Hints: Rereading “The Elements of Style”
Friday, January 8th, 2010 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations, Readings, the writing process | No Comments »The slim book does not need my praise, so I'll refrain from making a testimonial. But every once in a while I'll remember that it exists, usually by virtue of keeping the physical object in plain sight. Lately it's been ...
James Preller Interviews . . . Deborah Kovacs, Part Deux
Thursday, December 17th, 2009 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations | No Comments »If you missed Part One of the thrilling Deborah Kovacs interview, what are you doing here? Catch up by clicking here, then come on back. Hum-de-dum, de-dum-dum. Everybody else can watch this 40-second video while we wait: [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idpCUocQkGw&channel=sesamestreet] So, tell me, DJ, what makes ...
James Preller Interviews . . . Deborah Kovacs, Part One
Sunday, December 13th, 2009 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations, the writing process | No Comments »Back during the Archaean eon, the earth received a heavy bombardment of meteorites. That's about when Deborah Kovacs and I first met to discuss co-authoring a book for Scholastic Professional Books, eventually titled: Meet the Authors and Illustrators. Wait, no, ...
A Favorite Line from Charlotte Zolotow
Thursday, December 10th, 2009 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations, Readings | No Comments »I busted out the scanner to give you all a gander at a favorite page from a collection titled Snippets, by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Published in 1993, Snippets is exactly that -- forty-one brief passages gathered from Zolotow's ...
By Dickens: Rewriting Christmas
Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 Posted in Current Events, Interviews & Appreciations, the writing process | No Comments »Charles Dickens has been wildly (and unexpectedly) popular around here lately, with children's authors speaking about him in revered tones, and not just because of the holiday season. As Carmen Deedy, author of 14 Cows for America, told me in a ...
A Quick Interview: Bystander and Bullying!
Thursday, November 5th, 2009 Posted in Bystander, Interviews & Appreciations | No Comments »I was recently interviewed by author Kurtis Scaletta (Mudville, Mamba Point) over at his impressive, long-running site -- 2 1/2 blog years and still kicking. That's like 112 in human years, folks. Most blogs come and go like fruit flies. If ...
And So It Goes: Rereading Vonnegut, and a quote on semicolons
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 Posted in Family, Greatest Hits, Interviews & Appreciations, Readings | No Comments »Listen: I've been on a little Vonnegut kick lately, and it's been a happy time. I just reread Breakfast of Champions, and I'm halfway into Cat's Cradle, after tearing through this one, published posthumously: While I've got you -- as my father ...
What Is a Book for Boys? One Suggestion: “Patrick and Ted” by Geoffrey Hayes
Monday, October 26th, 2009 Posted in Along Came Spider, Greatest Hits, Interviews & Appreciations, the writing process | 7 Comments »I've been dwelling lately on the concept of "books for boys." It's a huge topic, one that I can't possibly address in a single blog entry. I mean, yes, we're all aware of the gender gap in reading, that many ...
James Preller Interviews . . . Carmen Deedy, author of “14 Cows for America”
Sunday, October 18th, 2009 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations | 1 Comment »I was happy when I came across the book, 14 Cows for America, written by a long-lost friend, author and storyteller Carmen Deedy. We've since exchanged a few emails, caught up on our lives (to the extent that's possible), and ...
James Preller Interviews . . . Lewis Buzbee (finally, it’s over!)
Thursday, October 8th, 2009 Posted in Interviews & Appreciations | 2 Comments »Well, it's been a wonderful week and I've really enjoyed having Lewis Buzbee as my co-host, trailing after me like a lost puppy . . . Believe me, if I had any idea he'd act like this, I never would have ...