I got such nice responses from today’s newsletter, I’m posting it here! Thank you!!!! Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius. -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Dear Writers, This weekend, Sara Pennypacker talked about her new novel, Pax,…
From the Newsletter: Writing Resolutions
Dear Writers, It’s that time of year! This week, many of us will make New Year’s Resolutions! (I LOVE LOVE LOVE setting goals. I evaluate them at least every 3-6 months.) Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. -Oprah Winfrey Let our New Year’s resolution be this: we will be there for…
From the newsletter: Bringing the force to your writing
“Fear is the path to the dark side.” -Yoda “Don’t call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease.” -C3PO Dear Writers, I saw the new Star Wars movie this week. And I LOVED it. And you will, too, because it is a GREAT STORY. With GREAT CHARACTERS. They want things that are important. And because of…
Good morning to all
It’s hard not to be affected by all the bad news in the world. The last few days, I’ve found it hard to sleep and concentrate. Terrorism. Guns. Political rhetoric. The news is filled with sad stories. There is less daylight. Almost everyone I know has a cold. A few things have helped. My class,…
Timely and timeless
“I learned a long time ago that life introduces young people to situations they are in no way prepared for, even good girls, lucky girls who want for nothing. Sometimes, when you least expect it, you become the girl in the woods. You lose your name because another one is forced on you. You…
Why THIS retreat?
Tomorrow is registration day for the Writing Novels for Young People Retreat at Vermont College of Fine Arts. (insert: squeal!!!!) This weekend is one of my favorites of the year. Why? This retreat, unlike many retreats, focuses solely on CRAFT. Although we invite an editor, there is no talk of markets or trends or deals. In other words:…
From the newsletter: Tennis and Writing
“You gotta be willing to fail… if you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.” Steve Jobs “There is no such thing as failure — failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.” –Oprah Winfrey Dear Writers, Did you enjoy the US Open? I r did (although I was really sad that Serena and…
My letter to Bethany House
Dear Bethany House, I want to tell you a little bit about what it has been like growing up Jewish in America. When I was in first grade, the crossing guard (a sixth grader) wouldn’t let me cross the street until the bell rang. His reason: Jews cross last. When I was…
From the newsletter: Dream, Dream, Dream
Stop telling yourself that dreams don’t matter, that they are only dreams and that you should be more sensible.” ~Julia Cameron Dear Writers, Over the past five nights, I’ve been waking up to the same dream. It starts with me finding out that I’ve been cast in an opera. The show is hours away from…
My 99th newsletter!!!!!
Dear Writers, So, this past weekend, I did not go to NESCBWI’s annual conference. But I did catch a few tweets about it. And here was my favorite: Dan Santat says, “The key to finding your voice is to LIVE LIFE.” How many ways can I say YES??? and THANK YOU! How many ways can I…