Vote for your Favorite Election-themed Kids' Book

Of these nine election/presidential-themed books, one was written by Ally Condie of the uber-successful Matched trilogy.

For fun election/presidential Web sites for kids, check out this page.  And a political word search puzzle is HERE.

Election-themed Picture Books . . .

Election-themed Chapter Book and Middle Grade Novels . . .

Election-themed YA books . . .

The Ally Condie novel is Freshman for President.

Vote for your favorite election-themed kids' book.  (Feel free to include a write-in candidate in the comments section below.)

What Writers Do All Day . . .

We write, of course.  All day.  Every day.

Okay, is my agent done reading now?

When I need my 10,785,294th break during writing, I do any of the following:  Make a cup of tea, check my book's ranking on Amazon, look out the window at palm trees and wonder why I'm stuck inside with a computer on my lap, Google my name, go into the kitchen to get an apple, but come back with a Pop-tart and slice of pumpkin cheesecake, check e-mail, pet the dog/cat/goldfish, look up funny baby videos on YouTube, check to see if Amazon ranking has improved since last time I checked, read about someone's breakfast choice on FB, ignore the dust bunnies multiplying under the bed, read blogs.  (Really, it's a wonder I have ever completed a single book in my entire life!) 

On Meg Cabot's super fun blog, she shared an old YouTube video of what a day in her writing life is like.  

And just in case my agent is reading this far, I'm getting back to work write, er, right this minute.  Really . . . just as soon as I check those Amazon rankings one more time.

Win a Copy of the 2012 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market

What has 441 pages, an interview with Meg Cabot and a photo of a singing hamster?

The 2012 Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market, of course. 

And I'm giving away a copy.

"But, Donna," you say.  "Didn't you just give away books in your last blog post?"

Yes, astute reader, I did.  And you still have a chance to win one by clicking here.

But for now, it's all about this book:

Here are 6-1/2 reasons you NEED a copy of this book right this very minute:


1.  Cool interview with James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner.

2.  Audrey Vernick's (Water Balloon, Teach Your Buffallo to Play Drums, She Loved Baseball:  The Effa Manley Story) awesome article about writing nonfiction.

3.  A buttload of listings of conferences, awards and grants.

4.  Did I mention the interview with Maggie Stiefvater, author of Shiver, Linger and Forever?

5.  More magazine and book markets than you could shake a stick at.  (Although I have no idea why you'd want to shake a stick at magazine and book markets.)

6.  Wise words from M.T. Anderson (Feed, Thirsty, etc.) about experimentation in fiction.

6-1/2.  An article by yours truly about not fainting, vomiting or dropping dead when you give a talk in public.  (Helpful sidebars by Cynthia Lord and Alexis O'Neill.)

Alice Pope was the editor of CWIM for many years.  But now she's working with SCBWI, producing this cool blog.  Chuck Sambuchino edits CWIM now.  You can read his blog -- Guide to Literary Agents.

So, how do you win this handy dandy, nifty book, bursting with inspiration and information for those who write and illustrate for children?

Easy!

1.  Follow this blog.  (Button to the right.)
2.  Leave a comment.
3.  Check back Wednesday, Sept. 28th to see if you've won (because I'll need your address to send you the book).

Thanks!
Donna

Writerly Inspiration . . . and a Few Laughs

Meg Cabot talks about writing a book in ten days that required no editing . . .




And Meg Cabot's HILARIOUS trailer from her new book, INSATIABLE . . .




Stephen King talks about the magical moment when you know you can be a writer . . .




Writing funny books with Henry Winkler (The Fonz) and Lin Oliver . . .




What will your video be like after you've reached your writing goals?

How to Write a Novel

Want to write a novel?
Hmm. Me, too.
It's got to be easy, right? Just string a few thousand words together and . . . ta dah . . . you become the next J. K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or Stephen King.
Small problem: They have to be the right few thousand words in the right order.
Hmm. I think we need some help.
Let's turn to prolific writing guru Meg Cabot.
She's got this awesome video to tell YOU how to write a novel.
Stephenie Meyer, look out!

Fun on a Friday -- How to Write a Novel

Meg Cabot is not only prolific, she's hilarious. Enjoy this video where she explains how to write a novel, using several visual aids, including a cat's butt.





Meg would probably enjoy Avi's book, A Beginning, A Muddle and an End: The Right Way to Write Writing. I did. Poor Avon could have used Meg's video. He had a really difficult time just writing "Something."

Happy adventures in writing and in life,
Donna