Let’s start with a question for you, WriteOnCon attendee: How old is your protagonist? Dollars to donuts, if you write YA you probably answered seventeen or eighteen. It’s a trend that’s been slowly taking over the Young Adult category — the movement toward older, more mature teens. The issue was...
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We’ve all read those books that leave us breathless and wondering . . . how did the author pull off that jaw-dropping twist? (And if you’re reading this post looking for an answer to that question . . . well, I’m also still looking, so my apologies.) My debut, Firsts,...
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Why contemporary? I write contemporary because I want to explore the struggle of identity in the real world, and I want teens to know that they aren’t alone—and what better way to do that than through stories in contemporary settings? Writing from experience In any genre, you can...
Everyone likes to laugh. A truly funny book can be a pleasure to get lost in – entertaining, enjoyable, or simply welcome relief from the stresses and gloom of everyday life. Funny books often read very easily, but the process of writing them can be tricky. Before my debut novel,...
Here’s a scenario I’ve been coming across more and more often: manuscripts that feel caught between middle grade and YA, and are having a tough time finding a home in either category. This can be frustrating feedback to receive, I know, in part because the division can sometimes feel too...
If you’re looking into WriteOnCon and our fabulous kidlit conference (*cough* February 9-11, 2018 *cough*), you probably have a basic knowledge/sixth sense about the age ranges and genres contained within this wonderful catch-all. But we can’t deny it: Kidlit has a lot packed into that simple word. In fact, different...
Today I’d like to write about building relationships in YA and middle-grade novels. Creating relationships is critically important in your writing and are the building blocks of the books you write. I spent the first three years of my career working at Aladdin at Simon & Schuster where I became...
To put it simply, a hybrid author is someone who does both. It’s an author who self-publishes and traditionally publishes, each for various reasons. It’s someone who believes there is no right way or one way to publish a book. I’ve been a hybrid author for about three years, long...
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