Like most writers, my mind wanders often. And by often, I mean: All. The. Time. Driving to work, my mind often wanders. Driving the same route, a courteous part of my brain often takes over, and my creative brain is left to think about things. I bought a chunky little …
During the last week in June, I attended the Shenandoah University Children’s Literature Conference. The conference invites award-winning and nationally- (and internationally-) recognized authors to present talks and roundtable discussions to attendees. In the afternoon, small group sessions are led by leaders working in education, and two graduate credit options …
I was tagged by the lovely Clara Bowman-Jahn, author of Annie’s Special Day, to share the answer to four questions about my writing. Check out her website for information about her newest release. You can also visit her blog, facebook, and twitter. What am I working on? Right now, …
Valentine’s Day is one of those days. While there’s a nice “warm, fuzzy” about it, it also seems somewhat manic—either someone is ecstatic about the holiday, or else in the doldrums. I thought I’d match the manic nature with my Valentine’s Day post, musing on the pros and cons of …
Those of you following my blog from several years ago may remember my dramatic, traumatic entries about The Great Snow Nightmare (it’s so dramatic, it had to be written in three parts: 1, 2, and 3). Those of you on the East Coast have probably been hearing about this ironically-named …
Thirty Days of Thankful As Thanksgiving comes around once again, many people have been posting one thing to be thankful for each day in November. I’ve decided to condense mine to a list of 30 things I’m thankful for. I wrote one each day, and they’re not necessarily in order …
As a horror writer and someone with a natural inclination to delve into nightmares, I spent Halloween thinking about the concept of being scary. I was sitting at home, waiting for our one trick-or-treater to show up, and my husband fell asleep watching television, so I thought I’d try to …
I had a weird dream the other night. It was about a toy–a real toy from the 1980s–I had as a kid, one my uncle had given me. It is shaped like a rock, but when you slide part of it, a fearsome head pops up, and its rock arm …
Back to the Future is my absolute favorite movie. In high school, I had a shrine in my room dedicated to anything BTTF I could find. A great inspiration for me as an author was the character of George McFly, an aspiring sci-fi writer/nerd who always shied away from confrontation …
We’re all hoping the Mayans are wrong… but what if they aren’t? If a severe disaster did affect us all, what book would you want to have with you? Here’s my top 5: 1. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. This novel is beautifully written. It follows a migrant …