Welcome to Writer Wednesdays. Today I’d like to highlight a book hot off the presses (well, the electronic presses, for now. The paperback is on its way!). It’s called Dystopian Express, and I’m especially excited because dystopian writing is probably my favorite genre. When someone asks me what my favorite …
Battle of the Books This year, I was honored that Loudoun County Public Schools chose my novel The Scarred Letter as one of its ten Battle of the Books selections. Battle of the Books is a competition in which students at all high schools across the county compete by reading …
For today’s “Writer Wednesday” feature, I wanted to highlight an anthology I edited called Forging Freedom: Dimensions. Dimensions was published by Freedom Forge Press, a company dedicated to celebrating stories of freedom (of all types). When the company put out a call for submissions for its general fiction anthology, an …
…or “Why I Wrote The Scarred Letter” Background A high school English teacher, I taught The Scarlet Letter year after year. For some students (too few), it became a favorite book that they remembered even years after graduating. For others, Hawthorne’s sentence length, ornate language, and complicated concepts made the …
When I was in school, I had a bizarre experience involving cheating. As a preface: most of my classes were useful, and most of my teachers were dedicated. However, in a class which I shall not name, I remember an answer sheet being passed around during a ten-question quiz. The …
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 …
A few weeks ago, I attended (and presented at) the 2014 Pennwriters Annual Conference. First of all, it was great to be back in Lancaster, PA. I really missed Isaac’s pretzel roll sandwiches, and I snuck away long enough to have one. But more importantly, networking with authors, editors, and …
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, …
I’m happy to reveal the cover for my upcoming Young Adult novel, The Scarred Letter. It will be published by Barking Rain Press in June. I wrote this novel as a modernization of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, taking the themes of the original but integrating them into a modern …
I’m pleased to announce the 2014 Pennwriters Conference at the Eden Resort in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I’ll be presenting a class on characterization on Friday, May 16 and look forward to attending many of the other classes and presentations, networking with other authors, and meeting agents and editors. For any writers …