One of the biggest pleasures I have while writing is when the characters come through loud and clear. Dennis Alexander was one of those characters for me. The minute he slouched in, I knew he was a kid who sits in the back of the class so he can lean his chair against the wall. The kind of guy who’d … Read More
7th Grade Revolution Book Trailer
Just thought I’d take a moment to share the brand new book trailer for 7th Grade Revolution. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Pre-Orders now available:AmazonBarnes and NoblePowellsAll available Ebook Retailers
The Homeless Scout Troop
During my school years, up until high school, I belonged to the Girl Scouts. I have many memories of being a scout, particularly the camping trips. We were known as the camping troop in our area, and had several outings a year. So when I think of my time in the Girl Scouts I remember setting up tents, roasting marshmallows … Read More
7th Grade Revolution: When Things Change
When the interior art for 7th Grade Revolution was originally commissioned, we hadn’t yet made the decision to replace Twitter with QuackerMe, so the request for the second chapter of the book was something totally different than the QuackerMe logo from my last post. Once QuackerMe was born, Vesuvian Books decided to replace the original piece with the QuackerMe logo. … Read More
Bullying and the Dangers of Labels
In my writing the theme of bullying frequently pops up because bullying situations occur from childhood through adulthood. No one remains unscathed. If not bullied, you may have been the bullier, or you have seen someone else being bullied. And oftentimes we are reluctant to accept that we are being bullied, or if we accept it, we don’t want others … Read More
7th Grade Revolution: QuackerMe
In 2011, when Exploris Middle School staged its bloodless revolution, a key part of the experience was played out through the “media”. The media presence in the classroom was taken up by the teachers and they reported events as they unfolded throughout the experience. Between the Twitter stream and the article posted in the News and Observer, word on what … Read More
7th Grade Revolution: When the Story Gives Back
As a writer, honoring the story and getting it down and into the hands of readers is my job. It’s a solitary endeavor that takes a host of people to bring to fruition. We are never in it alone. And for each person who helps me along the way, I am grateful for the help I have received. In the … Read More
7th Grade Revolution: The Time of Year
One of the most exciting things for me as we are going through the process leading up to the publication of 7th Grade Revolution is that the publisher, Vesuvian Books, commissioned artwork, sort of a mood piece, to precede each of the chapters in the book. I had the opportunity to work with the talented Luke Spooner and watch scenes … Read More
7th Grade Revolution at ALA
A couple weeks ago I was able to announce the publication date for my upcoming book 7th Grade Revolution (10.24.2017 in case you forgot 😉 ). Well, my book has already been on the road without me. Every year, the American Library Association (ALA) puts on a huge conference, and this year it was in Chicago. I didn’t think it … Read More
7th Grade Revolution Announcement
I am delighted to announce a publication date for 7th Grade Revolution has been scheduled. It is exciting to have a date for this project as I have been working toward the publication for a while now. But everything is falling into place and it will be released 10.24.2017. On top of being able to announce the release date, this … Read More
Infusion Day
Now that I’m a hair less exhausted and might be able to construct a legible sentence or two, I thought I’d share how my infusion day went. Because of the length of time the treatment takes, I have to be to the doctor’s office by 8:30 AM which means leaving the house around 7:30 … just in case I run … Read More
All About What I Cannot Say
This is an update about some of the things I cannot talk about. 🙂 I know, somewhat ridiculous, right? But I am so happy about some things that are happening behind the scenes and want to share the marvelous promo image created for one of my projects I wrote a few years back. The writing game in many respects is … Read More