query and synopsis

by Darcy Pattison
Liz, at the Because It Takes a Village to Raise a Writer blog has been talking about queries and synopses for the last week (March 20-28). Lots of good info and links: Harold Underdown, Cheryl Klein (editor at Arthur A. Levine Books) and more.

Novel revision

From the NaNoWriMo people: Episode 8 of their Wrimo Radio report “delves into the ups and downs of novel revision and shares some NaNo success stories from the world of e-books.”
One objection I’ve heard to using the Friday Ideas is that it’s hard to come up with stories starting with just a single word. [...]

Women writers; teaching morals

Do women suffer from the Rural Schoolteacher Syndrome and thus lack imagination in their fiction? Three Newbery honor books go against this opinion.
Writing a historical fiction set it the Appalachian Mountains? You need this website about mountain dialect.
Using animal characters–like Smokey the Bear–to teach our kids about right and wrong.

Friday Ideas

This has been a difficult year in many ways with lots of family situations demanding attention. Add to that my DH’s hip replacement surgery last week, and my daughter’s upcoming wedding in June. I realized last fall that it would be hard for me to commit emotionally to a big project like a novel. So, [...]

Revision of a different sort

by Darcy Pattison
Two weeks ago, I heard a new use for the word revision, one that made me shudder. I accompanied my DH to an education class about his upcoming hip replacement surgery. The nurse sat on a stool, casually kicking her espadrilles while caressing a ceramic socket-and-ball hip prosthesis. On an x-ray viewer behind [...]

Jane Yolen on Revision

by Darcy Pattison
Since about February 7, Jane Yolen has been talking about Revision on her journal. Much of it comes from her speech at the New York SCBWI conference last month; but she also answers questions from readers. Scroll down to Feb. 7 and then read up the journal. Enjoy!

Oliver K. Woodman

by Darcy Pattison
I’m catching up on postings I should have done earlier. When I was in Syracuse, NY two weeks ago, Joe Newton presented me with a fantastic wooden Oliver! Newton is one member of a woodworking club that makes Olivers and donates them to schools. When kids travel, librarians let kids check out Oliver, [...]

2007 Wisconsin Picturebook Retreat

by Darcy Pattison
I was in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend for a Picturebook Retreat. You can see pictures here.
We spent the weekend talking about and revising picturebooks:

Imperative of the Unique: “Wonderful insistence on FRESH and UNIQUE.” Kathleen Petrella.
Focus and structure: “Very useful. I’ll be working through all my stories using these techniques.” Susan Manzke
Forms–What’s the best [...]

Oliver & SIBA award

by Darcy Pattison
A few updates on my books:
19 Girls and Me is nominated for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Children?s Book Award. Searching for Oliver K. Woodman is on the 2007-8 Arkansas Diamond Book award reading list.
Oliver K. Woodman (from The Journey of Oliver K. Woodman) sightings:

Oliver in Hawaii with a hula dancer. East [...]