I visited the Morgan Library and Museum in NYC a few weeks ago where I saw the Charles Dickens at 200 exhibit. Among the displays were pages from Dickens’ manuscript of Our Mutual Friend, handwritten with pen and ink, in small, crowded cursive. Words, sentences and paragraphs had lines drawn through them. New text was [...]

“Where do your ideas come from?” I am asked that question fairly regularly. My answer, depending on the audience, will be a variation on, “I am inspired by the books I’ve read.” Sometimes it’s “stories I’ve heard,” or “an epic poem,” or “comic books.” But the gist is the same: I steal ideas. Gasp! Well. [...]

I have been writing  the script for a graphic novel. To my surprise, the script is about one and a half times longer than the manuscript for a prose novel. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Essentially, the script describes each graphic novel page. In my mind—or more often, on paper—I have created a series of [...]

This summer our town’s youth theater company performed the musical Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (I still have the Oompa-Loompa song stuck in my head). Soon after, I left for vacation to spend time with family. One of my nephews (who lives two states away from us) happens to be on a Roald Dahl [...]

About half the published authors I know use outlines when they write. The other half don’t. As for me, I have yet to start writing a novel with one, but I do find them useful when I revise. I usually begin with one or more characters whom I want to get to know, and the [...]

If you like children’s literature and you’re looking for a way to help folks in Japan, you can make a donation that will benefit children affected by the earthquake and tsunami while also purchasing  some neat children’s literature swag. Beginning at 9AM EDT on Monday March 21st, the Kidlit4Japan site  will feature a children’s and [...]