3.29.11» Join me and fellow island writers in the challenge group I moderate, Writer Island. Every week we write, edit or brainstorm at least fifteen pages...or we get kicked off the island and have to paddle back in leaky rafts. Are you up the the challenge? It's a fun and supportive way to put the prod back into productivity.
» Phew. Somehow my 70-page outline for my young adult novel Miss Hyde got a green light this winter from my Apprenticeships in Fiction mentor. I wrote the outline during a two-week trance, during which I also lost a lot of weight and forgot to do the laundry. I was surprised afterward to find it's the best work I've done to date. Since then, I've gained back the weight and have drafted past the halfway point of the manuscript itself. This is the most exciting part of the story, where love and danger abound! Stay tuned for the finale. I plan to get down to my bikini weight with it for summer.
» I'm off on a literary adventure in Spain, a one-week retreat of taught workshops, free writing time and all the rioja I can drink (about two glasses). I miss living in the US, but at least there are compensations like Literary Adventures to soothe the lonely writer soul.
11.01.10» Britannia rules my brain waves. I'm delighted to announce that I've been selected as an apprentice in the UK's competitive Apprenticeships in Fiction scheme, sponsored in part by the Arts Council England. "We are very pleased to announce this year’s apprentices," says the programme coordinator on their website, "which include particularly strong candidates in the genres of crime, mystery, romantic historical and fiction for young people. The selection panel this year included Hannah Westland from leading literary agency Rogers, Coleridge, White." If that isn't enough to inspire me, I'll be working throughout the year with a wonderful mentor, the award-wining YA and children's author Brian Keaney, author of the series The Haunting of Nathanial Wolfe and, my favourite, The Promises of Dr Sigmundus, a must-read and re-read.
05.20.10» Film development news. I’ve finished two comedy synopses and a treatment for a producer at Film- und Fernsehen-Labor Ludwigsburg, GmbH. He’s also interested in the film rights to my crossover steampunk novel in the works, having offered excellent insights into the story’s focus and structure.
05.17.10» The Winchester Writers’ Conference is coming up in late June, and I’ll be there! I’m excited about the opportunity to meet commissioning editors for powerhouse UK publishers Piatkus Books and Hodder Children’s Books.
05.17.10» It was a pleasure to meet up with fellow members of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators in the beautiful town of Heidelberg, Germany this past weekend. We came from all over Germany to talk shop and plan future workshops for our region while enjoying a view of the river and the castle above it. I’d signed up for the SCBWI Bologna conference earlier in the year, but the swine flu left me too weak to attend. Thank goodness for second chances like this to meet inspiring and insightful colleagues!
04.28.10» Whew. I’ve finally completed the first draft of a young adult comedic novel The Night My Life Stood Still, and I must say, I’ve enjoyed writing something lighter for a change. The story is about a teen girl in a school musical who gets cursed by the muse of comedy. Fingers crossed that it finds a home.
05.04.09» Charm
School wins! The
opening chapters of my young adult contemporary fantasy
novel, Charm
School, have
won first place in the Great Expectations contest sponsored
by the Romance Writers of America. The final
judge, an editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
(publishers of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series)
has requested the full manuscript based on her read of
the opening chapters. Yay! Earlier versions of the same
manuscript continue to sweep contest finals this spring,
being sent on to editors at Candlewick Press, St. Martin’s
Press and Berkley/Penguin Books for Young Readers, among
others. Here’s hoping my agent and I can sell this
puppy soon, so I can focus writing energies on my new
steampunk romance-adventure novel for teens.
12.15.08» A
film festival first! This December 5th was the world premiere
of “Kissed Awake in Stuttgart,” a romantic
comedy I co-wrote. For the first time in the history of the Filmschau
festival,
the tickets to our movie sold out within hours, prompting festival
organizers to schedule a second viewing. Check out this slide
show of the actors arriving and the gala party afterwards. » For
more information about the movie and the series, visit the official
site.
