Welcome to my website! I write children’s books, edit educational resources, swim, sweat, paddle, and explore.
All in writing for children
Mmmmm. This is a celebratory apple pie that I baked.
That's A - P - P - L - E. My (almost) six-year-old helper put the letters on top. Thank you, Noah!
First, I'm very sorry for the delay in blogging. I've had too much going on. Ai-ya, where do I begin?
These days it seems like everyone struggles with work-life balance. Deadlines can be cruel, tensions can run high. Then, at the end of the day, there may be family responsibilities. At my house these include school pick-up, cooking, ferrying kids to activities, homework help, laundry, packing lunches, and so on. Somewhere in all that crazy chaos we’re all supposed to find time to do a whole slew of other “should dos,” including flossing once a day, stretching and exercising, keeping in touch with family, and—back to teeth, again—brushing the dog’s teeth!
I've been thinking about clarity of expression and also ways to achieve an engaging and "modern" narrative voice. Children’s nonfiction demands that the writer distil information in an accessible manner; all the time, keeping interest high. The fun quotient is vital. No eight-year-old is going to slog through a paragraph that is dead boring. The question is: how do you know how much silliness and slang to scoop in?
A couple of weeks ago I described a book proposal as “nice” and “thick.” I don’t know for sure, but the publishers out there may be screaming: “No! No back-breaking tomes to lug home for out-of-the-office bedtime reading!” Admittedly, I don’t know what they want, and can only try my best to supply what I think publishers and editors want, but I find that after compiling all the key components for a comprehensive book proposal the stack of paper ends up being pretty-darn thick. And the “nice” bit? Well, you can use your creative energy to jazz up the cover and insides with whatever images, cartoons, and graphics suit.
I love it when I have two whole weeks to focus on writing, which has been the case since my last post—yay! I’m collaborating with another Kingston, Ontario writer, and we’ve been working (slowly) on a children’s book project for nearly a year, on and off. Together, we are infusing new life into an old manuscript, making it accessible, engaging, and lively for today’s awesome kids. OK, yeah, I know you want to know what the book is, but I can't say just yet. Mum's the word! (The above, slightly skewed, pic of my Backyard Circus proposal is an example of a winning proposal, but this isn't what I'm currently sweating over.) Suffice it to say, having a block of two weeks to focus on this project has been downright glorious.
