The Next Big Thing Blog Tour
Monday, April 29th, 2013 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | 2 Comments »My apologies, I usually don't stoop to these lows, but I was tagged by my pal, Kurtis Scaletta, for the "Next Big Thing" Blog Tour. Essentially, a bunch of authors make up a game of "tag" as an excuse to promote ...
Nice Article Based on My Recent School Visit to Fair Lawn, NY
Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 Posted in In the Classroom, School Visits, the writing process | 2 Comments »A local reporter, Tracey Putrino, sat in for one of my presentations during a recent school visit to Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The school itself was spectacular, warm and clean and bursting with pride, one of the sweetest elementary schools ...
Writers: Stop Whining, Please
Thursday, February 14th, 2013 Posted in Around the Web, the writing process | 1 Comment »I have to get something off my chest. A writer I know posted on Facebook that he'd just completed another novel. He described the process of writing just one book as "painful" and "basically torture." He compared it to childbirth. That's the ...
SCARY TALES SNEAK PREVIEW: Art & Excerpt from Book #2, “I Scream, You Scream”
Friday, February 8th, 2013 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | No Comments »I just got to see the illustrations for Book #2 in my upcoming SCARY TALES Series: I Scream, You Scream. Actually, what I saw was most of the art placed on the typeset pages, with some pages blank, art still-to-come. It's exciting ...
JIMMY TIME! (And a Poem for Dad)
Monday, January 7th, 2013 Posted in Family, the writing process | 2 Comments »I don't write many poems these days -- and no one has complained about that. But lately I've been reading a lot of poetry. I've been drawn to plain-spoken poems of late, not the dense, compressed, intellectual type I used ...
Sloppy Copy, Ugly Beginnings & the Sense of Smell
Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | No Comments »I could never write a book about writing well -- not smart enough, for starters -- but I can give you a glimpse into how it sometimes works for me. I don't speak from a pedestal; this missive comes from ...
Status Update: Spinning Plates
Thursday, October 18th, 2012 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | 1 Comment »As you may know, I've been writing a new series for Feiwel & Friends. It my first return to writing a series since"Jigsaw Jones." These past six years I've published exclusively in hardcover: picture books, middle grade fiction, and young ...
Writing Process: Using Index Cards, Developing Character, Creating an Outline
Thursday, October 4th, 2012 Posted in Scary Tales, School Visits, the writing process | No Comments »On school visits, I'm frequently asked about my writing process. I'm always a little stumped by this, since I'm not usually aware of having one, exactly. Certainly not a consistent one, from book to book, year to year, decade to ...
Pay No Attention to That Man Behind the Curtain
Tuesday, September 18th, 2012 Posted in Scary Tales, the writing process | No Comments »When I started this blog, one of my guiding concepts was to pull back the curtain . . . . . . .to show some of the inner workings of the writing process. It's not all gazing into the luminous sky, ...
PIRATE’S GUIDE Sequel, In Which Red Meets His Match
Monday, September 17th, 2012 Posted in A Pirates Guide (Series), the writing process | No Comments »Here's a touch of art from Greg Ruth, the amazing artist behind A Pirate's Guide to First Grade and the upcoming sequel, A Pirate's Guide to Recess. I had an interesting experience writing this one, because it was the first time ...