I’m slightly* obsessed with kidlit book recommendations. As a parent of two young bookworms, I’m always on the lookout for new books. As a bookworm myself, I love a good story. I don’t judge a book on the width of it’s spine. As a writer, it’s even more important. I need to read books in …
I put myself through college working in a weaving studio. True story. I mentioned this while chatting with the owner of my local yarn store. Turns out she was looking for a weaving instructor. Serendipity. So yesterday I taught my first weaving class. It turned out that one of my students went to the same small college as another …
This Saturday I attended my first children’s book writing conference. I learned a lot, saw some great talks, and even got excellent feedback on a piece. What stands out, though, was a small interaction with an editor. I prefaced a question by telling her that I am a new writer. She launched into her standard spiel …
Getting a puppy is a big deal. I knew it would be a big change for my two girls. Our old dog but was already middle-aged by the time they came around. My 3 year old in particular can be a little, shall we say, overzealous in her affection. Big changes go better when little kids …
My advisor and I did over 30 rounds of revisions on my first paper in grad school. 30. That’s when I lost all hope and stopped numbering the drafts. That’s more than 30 times he handed back my precious manuscript bleeding in ink. It wasn’t just red; it was a rainbow of criticism. Then he told …
It’s been a dog-centric week for me. I wasn’t joking about the new puppy. The Isaacs household has gone from zero dogs to two young dogs in under two weeks. Our home is much happier with dogs in it. It’s also a lot muddier. And a bit more hectic. My reading the last couple of weeks has also been …
I don’t even have four blog posts yet and I disappeared. Before I turn into the least interesting person in the world, let me explain. See I had reasons. First, there was this dog. She needs a home for a few months and we’re fresh out of dogs. Our last doggy died a month ago …
I hope my list of Pluto books whet your appetite. Or maybe you need something a bit closer to home. Here are a few of our favorite storybooks for little space cadets. There’s No Place Like Space Put on your space suit and jump in the Cat in the Hat’s rocket for a tour …
What is good writing? There isn’t a single answer. For starters, it depends a lot on your audience. Good writing for adults differs a lot from good writing for kids. It also depends on your medium and purpose. An academic piece is different from a blog post. There’s one thing good writing isn’t: overly complicated. Only 50% …
Do you have a little space cadet at home? Has the new exciting Pluto research inspired you? Not sure why Pluto got booted from the planet pantheon? These 4 picture books are for you! Pluto’s secret: An Icy World’s Tale of Discovery This book gets top marks from my little space cadet. It tells …
