Since I’m the one who used to live in Brooklyn, I was the guide on a recent trip to NYC with my husband. When it was time for dinner, I led us by subway to Union Square and then meandered toward the East Village. I had no idea what to eat, but was just meandering. [...]

My writing philosophy is something like: If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes. Whatever it takes to find the sweet spot of my writing soul. I court this space. Very much like The Little Prince taming his fox. The fox told him everything he needed to know: Come every day, come at the [...]

I once heard an editor explain that for every thousand manuscripts her house received, only 2 or 3 were published in one year. Of course, that number is a bit deceiving. She also said that of the 1,000, about 900 manuscripts were rejected outright without reading more than a line because the writing was so [...]

Often the best souvenirs writers bring back from Trips To Away are fresh new books to write – or a whole new committment to our art.  When we leave our homes, computers, and regular schedules, we become untethered. All the assumptions and paradigms that restrict us as writers suddenly come into question. Wide open, we float [...]

Earlier this month I shook off my summer inertia, hopped a Metro-North train, and hied myself to NYC to attend a jam-packed, standing-room only panel discussion on “What’s Hot and What’s Not: Trends in Children’s Book Publishing,” sponsored by the Children’s Book Committee of the Authors Guild. The panel was made up of : Kim [...]