Archive for the writing process

BEFORE & AFTER: The Map!

June 5, 2026 / / No comments

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I’ve posted about this previously, but to quickly catch you up: Every book in my new middle-grade wilderness adventure series, THE SURVIVAL CODE, will feature a map. The first two books, Wildfire Rescue and Snow Blind, are coming out in Spring, 2027. Two more titles are coming in 2028. And beyond that? Complete & total world domination!

There are my first books with maps and I’m pretty thrilled about it. Just a cool milestone. 

After I handed in the manuscript, my editor asked if I could pass along a rough sketch of a map. So I gave him this thing of beauty:

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Basically, the things are in the right place. But: Yikes!

Fortunately, a highly skilled illustrator, Molly Fehr, who specializes in this sort of thing, took over from there. (Note: Vivienne To is doing all the rest of the interior illustrations, and she’s insanely talented in her own right.)

After some minor back and forth, Molly arrived at this: 

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Okay, I’ll admit it. This is an improvement.

THANK YOU, MOLLY!

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Category: The Survival Code, the writing process / Tags: , , , , , ,

Celebrating 40 Years As a Published Author, Pt. 3: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

May 21, 2026 / / No comments

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My education in children’s books began, oddly enough, in my adulthood. The youngest of seven children, I have little memory of reading books as a child — some P.D. Eastman, for sure — and no memory of either of my parents reading to me. That’s not a complaint; they had their hands full. In 1985, I was hired as a junior copywriter for Scholastic at a cool $11,500 a year. I was one year out of college, a mere welp. My primary assignment was to write the SeeSaw K-1 Book Club. You remember those, right? The following year, I was asked to help launch Firefly Book Club. And, later, as a freelancer in Albany, NY, I started the Carnival Book Club out of my home at the behest of Barbara Marcus. You could say I got my Master’s Degree in Children’s Literature at 730 Broadway in New York, working for Scholastic.

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That’s when, in other words, my head exploded just a little bit. 

I was given a cubicle, a typewriter, a lifetime’s supply of Wite-Out Correction Sheets, and a bottle of Liquid Paper. Less than a year later, that typewriter was swapped out for a Gateway computer that arrived in a distinctive, black-and-white, cow-patterned box. I dumped my Wite-Out for a lifetime’s supply of floppy disks and added “booting up” to my vocabulary.

My education really stepped up when I was asked to co-author a book with Deborah Kovacs, titled Meet the Authors and Illustrators: 60 Creators of Favorite Children’s Books Talk About Their Work. Deborah and split the assignment: I took the picture book authors and illustrators, she handled the middle-grade writers. We talked and supported each other and mostly stayed in our lanes.

Two years later, we wrote a sequel, Volume Two. And sometime after that, Scholastic collected my sections of the first two books, we added another 15 new profiles, and put out The Big Book of Picture-Book Authors & Illustrators. It contained 75 profiles in all.

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Not only did I research each creator, but I got the opportunity to interview most of them. At one time, I had a shoebox of cassettes containing hour-long conversations with James Marshall, Barbara Park, Faith Ringgold, Mem Fox, Vera B. Williams, Pat Hutchins, Bill Martin Jr., Barbara Cooney, Peter Spier, Bernard Waber, Jack Prelutsky, Tomie dePaola, Kevin Henkes, Karla Kuskin, Joanna Cole, Donald Crews, Tedd Arnold, Patricia Polacco, Charlotte Zolotow, Shonto Begay, Bruce Degen, Gail Gibbons, and more — real treasures — which I ended up throwing away. Because sometimes I’m just a big dope.

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But what an education! Not only the wisdom they imparted about their artistic process, but their demeanor and professionalism, the kindness they showed me. The goodness of their intentions. The quality of their work. It’s a little sad to realize how many of those folks we’ve lost over the years, gone but not forgotten.

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“You want to write from the heart, that’s the important thing.” — Bernard Waber.

“The most enjoyable part of creating a book is doing the initial sketches, putting the book together, the thinking part.” — Peter Sis.

“My work has allowed me to dream.” — Jerry Pinkney.

“Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Don’t try to emulate. Work from what is inside you, crying out — however softly, however timidly — for expression.” — Emily Arnold McCully.

“If I don’t have a good character, then I don’t have a book.” — James Marshall.

“Writing is very difficult and gives me a great deal of pleasure, partly because it is so difficult.” — Maurice Sendak.

“I get a lot of personal gratification thinking of those people who don’t get any attention in the world and making them really valuable in my fiction — making them absolutely shine with their beauty.” — Cynthia Rylant.

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These books came out at a time when Whole Language instruction was on the rise, when many teachers employed “real books” as a crucial part of the daily curriculum. They hungered for books and eagerly scooped up information about their favorite artists. At that time, many teachers considered it part of their job to be well-versed in children’s literature. These days, for a variety of reasons, I feel that’s no longer the case. Or certainly much less so. Now we have the demands of standardized testing, drastic cuts to librarian positions, and teachers who feel aggrieved, abused, overworked and under-appreciated. They just don’t have the time or the incentive to keep up with the tsunami of books published these days. 

When I started this blog in 2008, I continued to put a spotlight on creators I admired. I still try to do that today, though I don’t think many people read my blog here in the year of two thousand and twenty-six. Whatever. It’s not much different than writing a book. You make the thing and hope folks find it, or not. 

By using the search bar here, you should be able to locate long interviews with the following:

Aaron Becker * James Bird * Elizabeth Bird * Judy Bradbury * Lewis Buzbee * Nancy Castaldo * Carmen Deedy * Lesa Cline-Ransome * Matthew Cordell * Bruce Coville * Cynthia DeFelice * Liza Donnelly * Matt Faulkner * Ralph Fletcher * Alex Giardino * Mary GrandPre * Charise Harper * Susan Hood * Travis Jonker * Alan Katz * Deborah Kovacs * London Ladd * Jeff Mack * Vikram Madan * Daniel Mahoney * Matthew McElligott * Wendell Minor * Florence Minor * Susan Verde * Hazel Mitchell * Jeff Newman * Jessica Olien * Matt Phelan * Deb Pilluti * Lizzy Rockwell * Kurtis Scaletta * Chris Sheban * Jordan Sonnenblick * Hudson Talbott * Liza Gardner Walsh * Audrey Glassman Vernick.

In addition, I’ve featured contributions from the following writers and illustrators:

Tony Abbott * Paul Acampora * Heather Alexander * R.W. Alley * Jennifer Arena * Nora Raleigh Baskin * S.A. Bodeen * Nick Bruel * Laurie Calkhoven * Jay Cooper * Barbara Dee * Erin Dionne * Julie Fortenberry * Donna Gephart * Nikki Grimes * Keely Hutton * Laurie Keller * David Kelly * Jo Knowles * Mikki Knudson * Kevin Lewis * Lois Lowry * Elaine Magliano * Greg Neri * Jerdine Nolen * Barbara O’Connor * Aimee-Joan Paquette * Parker Peevyhouse * Yvonne Printz * Aimee Reid * Jen Sattler * Liz Garton Scanlon * Steve Sheinkin * Alan Silberberg * Charles Smith * Tonya Lee Stone * Todd Strasser * Don Tate * Matt Tavares * Chris Tebbetts * Rachel Vail * Eric Velasquez * Charles Waters * Eugene Yelchin * Suzanne Bloom * Joe Bruchac * Mem Fox * Patricia Reilly Giff * Cheryl Harness * Karen Hesse * Simon James * Eric Luper * Ellen Miles * Linda Sue Park * Karen Roosa * Jerry & Eileen Spinelli * Kyra Teis * Raul the Third * Nina Crews * Hannah Barnaby * Robin Pulver * Elizabeth Zunon.

I’m sure I’ve missed a couple dozen names along the way. Gratefully, I’ve learned something from each and every one of them. That’s the essential thing: the education never ends. There’s so much great work out there. So many good books. It’s an honor to be in this fine company, to stand on their shoulders, and perhaps to see just a little farther than I would have without them.

And if I haven’t said it yet, thank you, thank you all. 

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Category: Interviews & Appreciations, the writing process / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My Kingdom for a Map!

May 7, 2026 / / No comments

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I suppose that all writers have their own hopes and dreams for the books they write. Little benchmarks and accomplishments. I’m not talking about results — like awards or parades — but things that appear in the books. 

For example, one goal that I’ve never reached is to write a work of true science fiction. It’s on the list! Maybe someday. Another, conversely, is the thrill I felt when there was a fistfight in Bystander. I’d written so many kind and benign stories up to that point, many of them in the Jigsaw Jones series, that it was a heart-pumping moment when I finally induced a character to sock someone in the jaw. Ka-pow!

Today I am thrilled that after 40 years as a published author, I have one more thing I can check off the list: I’m writing books that will have maps included!

That’s right: MAPS!

Who doesn’t love a book with a map? 

Anyway, there’s time to kill before that day arrives. The first two books in my Survival Code adventure series will feature nonfiction elements, a dramatic storyline, awesome illustrations . . . and a map! For the map, the publisher, Penguin, had to hire a different illustrator than the one who was doing (almost!) all the interior artwork. Because map-making is a unique skill. So they brought in an expert. 

As the author, I provided a very rough drawing of a map. Then I backed away. Now we’re waiting for the map-maker to ply her craft. I hope to share that final art sometime down the line. 

The books are titled: SURVIVAL CODE: Wildfire Escape and SURVIVAL CODE: Snow Blind. Two more will be coming in 2028, but I haven’t written them yet. So: Shhh. Never talk about unwritten books, it’s bad voodoo. 

It’s a recurring mistake in my professional life, but I have high hopes for these books. Ack, hope? That’s the bumpy road to heartbreak. And here I go again!

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Category: The Survival Code, the writing process / Tags: , , , , , ,

It’s a Thrill When Books Are Translated

April 13, 2026 / / One comment

I’m in the process of downsizing, moving to a much smaller & as yet undetermined location. One of the painful aspects of that is figuring out what to do with all my beloved books — the ones I’ve read and the ones I’ve written. In fact, I just returned from a quick trip to my neighborhood middle school, where I donated a bunch of books for classroom libraries.

Anyone who has ever moved, knows that it comes with a degree of navel gazing. You come across an old photo album and time stands still. Or, no, time goes in reverse. You lose an hour, happily. Part of that process, for me, has been trying to get a copy of each of my books, across 40 years, packed up for safe keeping. This way my children can throw them in the Dumpster at a later date. Because I sure can’t do it. 

So, yes, I’ve pulled out all my books over the years. Spread them out on the floor. And look at this:

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If you are lucky in this business, some of your books get translated into different languages, almost by pure magic. While this is not a complete record, here are some of those titles: Jigsaw Jones in Arabic, German, Spanish; Scary Tales and The Fall in Japanese; Bystander in Greek; Before You Go in German; and Six Innings in Korean. Each one leaves me agog. 

How cool is that? Which is another way of saying: How lucky am I?

Very, I realize. Very lucky indeed.

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Category: the writing process / Tags:

One Memory of My Father

April 1, 2026 / / 2 comments

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In an era of great book covers, this one strikes me as pretty bad. But just wait till you get inside!

I’m reading Susan Orlean’s extraordinary memoir, Joyride. She is, quite obviously, one of our greatest living writers. The book is largely about her writing life, which one gathers is not at all distinct from her life in general. I find it vastly inspiring. She makes me want to be a better writer. A truer writer. Highly recommended to anyone who cares about writing or admires Orlean’s work. Which of course you do, because how can you not?

But I keep putting this book down after a page or two. Over and over again. Long ago I determined that was a very positive sign. The poem that has me staring out the window. The book that elicits memories, new ideas, inspirations, eureka moments. I think of these as source books. Deep wells from which the imagination drinks its full. I suspect it will take me forever to finish it. I also suspect that I’m going to need to own this one, scribbling in the margins. Returning the book to the library just won’t suffice.

Oh, right, my dad. Orlean was writing about her mother and a memory of my father leaped into my head. He passed in 2006, long ago, and I suppose days go by when I don’t think of him. I also suppose that such streaks rarely happen. He’s always there, as anyone with a deceased parent understands. 

My father was an insurance man. A practical man. A man of his time. Smart about things, like money and the stock market and when to rotate the tires. He loved mucking about on his boat. In fact, as I think of it now, “puttering around” was his prime activity. Pruning a tree limb, slathering it with tar. Setting down an imperfect line of Belgian blocks along the driveway. Playing bridge and doing jigsaw puzzles and pouring a scotch. He had a minor but persistent artistic streak, a flag that he never truly unfurled. It came out in different projects, a late-period adult education painting class, that sort of thing. He never took me to a museum or read novels or did anything that I recall to cultivate an artistic sensibility in his children, which includes me, his youngest. 

So I think when I became a writer it sort of baffled and intrigued him. He might have even admired it a little, I’m not sure. He wasn’t supportive or not supportive. It was just sort of like, okay, whatever. So long as you can put food on the table. I think he felt that way about all his children. Go live your life; I’m here if you need anything.

The memory is this: He would sometimes come across an article in the newspaper. Something that tangentially tied into what he thought I did for a living. Maybe he just came across a news item that made him think of me. I imagine him at the kitchen table, an unfiltered Camel burning in the ashtray. He’d grab the scissors, clip it out, fold it neatly into an envelope, and send it my way. If there was a note attached by a paper clip, it would be brief, “I found this interesting.” That sort of thing.

We don’t live in that world anymore. When folks stuffed newspaper clippings in envelopes. It used to happen, I’m sure some readers remember, but not anymore. That time has largely vanished from the earth, living only in memory. How the mailman would arrive and lo, here was a letter from my father, unbidden and unexpected, containing some odd miscellany he felt I’d enjoy. 

This was a man, a veteran of World War II, who didn’t express a lot of emotion. Or, like, any? I’m searching my memory and nothing shows up. Oh, well, no bother. But those clippings in the mail, delivered days later, were his attempts at connection. Saying, I am thinking of you. Saying, I now understand, I love you. 

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Thank you, Susan Orlean, for somehow mysteriously summoning up that memory for me. You wrote another great book. 

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Category: Family, the writing process / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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