Octavia Can Do It!

Author Interviews are a fun way to learn about authors and their books. Interviews can give us insight into the author’s writing process. Author interviews help readers to better understand how and why their stories were written. This week I would like you to meet Liliana Tommasini author of Octavia Can Do It.  Octavia Can Do … Read more

Gumbo Joy

A Picture Book Author Interview is one way to learn about the author and their book. They can be fun and informative. Interviews with authors help readers to better understand how and why stories were written. This week I would like you to meet Robert Dixon Jr. author of Gumbo Joy.  Not only is the pot … Read more

Award Winning Children’s Picture Books

Literary Titan Book Award Gertie Saves the Day is now listed among Award Winning Children’s Picture Books. The Literary Titan Gold Award is awarded to books that were found to be perfect in their delivery of the original content, meticulous development of unique characters in an organic an striking setting, an innovative plot that supports … Read more

A Student’s Guide to Interviewing Authors

Why am I writing a Student’s Guide to Interviewing Authors? One of my all-time favorite children’s book authors was Tomie dePaola. I loved reading his books to my third graders. Strega Nona and Big Anthony and the Pasta Pot were two of our favorites. The more I read his books to my students, the more questions the children had that … Read more

First Draft Completed! What’s Next?

First Draft First draft is completed! What’s next, I ask myself? What should I do now? This week I completed a first draft of another picture book. If you recall, I am participating of the 12×12 picture book challenge. In this challenge we try to write a draft of a picture book each month. This … Read more

Author Interviews

Author interviews have a purpose. They have a purpose for the interviewer, author and reader. As an avid reader and former classroom teacher, I have always been interested in author interviews. Students can get to know the author on a personal level and learning more about an authors writing process. Over the years I have … Read more

Setting Achievable Writing Goals

Setting achievable writing goals is an effective strategy for most writers. Writing a book, whether a novel, memoir or children’s book is a difficult task. That’s why authors set writing goals. Authors often set daily, monthly and yearly goals that help them stay on track with outlining, drafting editing and revising their writing.  In my … Read more

Virtual School Visit

Author visits to schools are one of the most rewarding aspects of being an author. This month I have had the opportunity to share my book, Gertie Saves the Day with a virtual school visit. This was my first experience with a virtual school visit. I was to read the book aloud using book slides.  I was … Read more