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November 22, 2018Calling All Aspiring Authors: Never Ask an Illustrator to Illustrate Your Picture Book for Free
A few weeks ago, I was in a local tavern with some friends—a few of them are professional illustrators. They were drinking overpriced mocktails and commiserating about the emails they get from aspiring ...
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April 01, 2016Writing in Public
Harlan Ellison would occasionally set up a typewriter in the front window of a bookshop and crank out a story on public display for anyone who cared to watch him. The point he was making (other than the ...
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August 08, 2020A sentence & a breath
You want to write a book. Terrific! You've thought about this for years. In fact, whenever you tell your stories, people always say, you should write a book. And they’re right! You should. There’s ...
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June 27, 2018Why Do We Keep Picture Book Authors and Illustrators Apart? - or How to Play Well With Others
I completely underestimated how emotional the whole process of creating a picture book would be. When my first picture book was being published, I became a horrible self-involved troll-person. I couldn’t ...
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April 03, 2019Small Victories: How to Keep Writing When the Odds Seem Stacked Against You
Everyone thinks that once you get a book deal it’s all sunshine and rainbows: a beautiful book, great reviews, book launches! … But it’s not. Getting published often introduces you to a host of ...
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May 06, 2019Moving On and Holding On: Writing Picture Books as Therapy
Is it just me or is closure overrated and nearly impossible to achieve? It sometimes feels like the more you try to shut out painful experiences, the more they wave their hands around and yell, “Look ...
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January 27, 2020New Year's Resolutions for Authors and Illustrators to Try in 2020
I looove coming up with new year’s resolutions. There’s nothing like the reset button of a new year to help you recommit to your creative aspirations!Personally, I’d love to complete three picture ...
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December 28, 2020How to Make Your Longest, Darkest Nights Shine
The Winter Solstice is happening as I write this column. It’s the shortest day of the year and the longest, darkest night of the year. But during this time, every night often feels like the longest, ...
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June 01, 2023Why I Write About Difficult Topics
I believe in my readers: their vulnerabilities, their resiliencies, their self-awareness, their goals and aspirations, and their ability to change. That’s why I write about difficult topics.More than ...
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May 11, 2009
Duppy Business?
“Man proposes, God disposes.”The disposition in this case concerns the rear window on the driver’s side of our Civic.We’d said goodbye to our daughter, her husband and our granddaughter five minutes ...