Month: June 2006

Thanks to a link from Cynthia Leitich Smith, I’ve just discovered the website of Cheryl Klein, an editor for Arthur A. Levine books at Scholastic. She’s got some great content on there, and I really like her article on plot (especially the ideas of first and second drafts focusing on different things), and especially the … Read more

Wow, what a great dream I had this morning right before waking up. I finished Specials late last night, and apparently all night I dreamed I was a Special. Flying on a hoverboard over the city, going into a house to find a clue left by someone earlier, and being ambushed by somebody. It was … Read more

Cynthia Leitich Smith‘s interview of me is up on her blog today.

I’ve really admired Scott Westerfeld‘s work since I discovered the first Midnighters book as a bookseller my last semester of grad school in Boston. I’ve been hearing great things about Uglies, but just never had the time to read it. Finally requested it from the library a few weeks ago, which forced me to make … Read more

Last week, I had a nice week of leisurely going through my slush, requesting full manuscripts from some authors, reading said manuscripts, meaning to reorganize my files (but not really), getting some authors started on projects for me, and so forth. In other words, all the things I’ve meant to do, but haven’t had time … Read more

I was just interviewed by Cynthia Leitich Smith for her Cynsations blog. She’s very nice and I had a great time. Watch for it!

posted a great visual explanation of how to use a circle to plot. She talks about how in crime fiction, you have two stories going on at once, really–the detective solving the crime, and the story of how the crime happened. To illustrate it to students, she explains: Draw a circle open at the top. … Read more

I get Friday afternoons off now due to new core hours at work. I was going to go for a bike ride, but it was rainy and oppressive outside, so I was going to work out in the gym, but then I remembered a coworker was having a going-away lunch, so I had to go … Read more

It’s not helping me right now. Rather, there’s just so much to wade through, and I don’t think I’m using the right search terms. I’m trying to get a sense of what children’s and young adult books have been optioned for movies in the next few years. What are the up-and-comers? Also, what other fantasy … Read more

Our parent company just started this health incentive program that as employees exercise and use this web-based program to keep track of it, we earn points that we can earn prizes with. Part of the program is a thing called “10K a day,” which involves trying to walk 10,000 steps (about 5 miles) a day. … Read more