Category Archives: Authors You Should Know

Books That Made Me: THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien

Authors You Should Know, On Reading, , , ,

So here’s the second in my little series, inspired by The Sweet Sixteens’ December #SixteensBlogAbout theme, “Favorite books and authors”.

Last week I wrote about the book that made me a book evangelist, Watership Down by Richard Adams, and I mentioned how Mrs. Whatley, my eighth-grade teacher, changed my life when she introduced me to the wide world of fantasy and science-fiction. Well, while my reading group was discussing Watership Down, I kept hearing snippets of discussion about the book the other reading group was working on, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I was intrigued, so I read that one too, and enjoyed it.

The dog-eared copies I read every year as a teenager.
The dog-eared copies I read every year as a teenager.

Continue reading Books That Made Me: THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien →

Books That Made Me: WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams

Authors You Should Know, On Reading, , ,

This month’s #SixteensBlogAbout theme over at The Sweet Sixteens is “favorite books and authors”, so I decided to make this a little series celebrating some of the books and authors that have had the most impact on me as a person and as a writer.

First up, the book that made me a librarian, a booktalker, a book evangelist: Watership Down by Richard Adams.

book cover of Watership Down showing a rabbit in a golden field

Continue reading Books That Made Me: WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams →

Guest Post from Celeste Lim: How I Got My Agent

Authors You Should Know, Guest Posts, On Writing,

celeste-lim

Today we’ll hear from author Celeste Lim, who shares her agent story as part of The Sweet Sixteens’ #SixteensBlogAbout November theme.  A Chinese born and raised in Malaysia, Celeste holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School and an MA from Manhattanville College. She is represented by Rosemary Stimola of Stimola Literary Studio and her debut middle-grade novel is forthcoming from Scholastic Press in spring 2016.

About Celeste’s book: In Medieval China, a girl is sold by her family to become a nursemaid and wife to a toddler husband. With the help of sentient creatures called jing, she discovers internal strength, and a destiny that is foretold to intertwine with her spirit guardian – a great, golden fox spirit.

************************* Continue reading Guest Post from Celeste Lim: How I Got My Agent →

Another Sneak Peek

Authors You Should Know, On Writing, Works in progress, Young Adult Fantasy

So remember a few weeks ago, when I posted 7 lines from a recent work-in-progress because the current one was too formless for such things?  Well, maybe the 777 Meme has burned itself out by now, but I am bringing it back because I am so excited that the as-yet-untitled sequel to my as-yet-untitled debut now has words on pages (over 6000, even!).

Set-up: this story is from the point of view of a different main character than the first book, but I am not going to tell you who because it would spoil the end of the first book.  🙂 So I will give a very broad description of the plot: this story is about a character from a privileged background struggling to find her place in a new world where the things that made her special no longer matter.

I am supposed to post the first full 7 lines on the 7th page, starting 7 lines down.  Here you go:

Continue reading Another Sneak Peek →

A Sneak Peek from Victoria J. Coe

Authors You Should Know, Guest Posts, On Writing,

Kathy says: In my last post, I shared a preview of a current work in progress as part of the 777 Meme, and tagged seven other authors, including my fellow Sweet Sixteen, Middle Grade author Victoria J. Coe, to do the same.  Victoria took this summons seriously, but with no blog of her own, what was she to do?  I wasn’t about to let her off the hook so easily, so I invited her to guest post here! 

Thank you to the brilliant and fabulous Kathy MacMillan for tagging (and hosting) me for the 777 meme!

The rules:

  1. Go to the 7th line of the 7th page of your work in progress.
  2. Post the first full 7 lines.
  3. Tag 7 friends.

It’s fun. It’s scary. What writer could resist?

Not me! Continue reading A Sneak Peek from Victoria J. Coe →