Questions I am often asked about my book, Nothing but the Truth. Q: Is the story based on something that happened to you? A: Not at all. Q: Then what gave you the idea for the story? A: I was living in the East Coast (Rhode Island) and read a news story about the turmoil that erupted in
The community of children’s book authors is quite wonderful. I love being a part of it. I find illustrators and writers in the field to be friendly, open, and welcoming, willing to share of themselves and their experiences. Is that one hundred percent true? I suppose nothing in this world is one hundred percent. But
No. That said, these days most publishers extend me the courtesy of showing me potential covers and responding to my reaction. (They are not required to do so.) Early on, that was not always the case. There have been covers I have liked, and covers I liked far less. I have even disliked some. But
You said you read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol every Christmas. Why? I have no idea when I first read A Christmas Carol. Perhaps it was read to me. I might have heard it on the radio, if you can believe in such ancient times. Many times I have seen the British film, in black and white,
Back on February 19, 2019, I posted a note about my difficulties with a book on which I was working. It was something of a pep-talk to me, trying find ways of pushing on. Now, I have the first full draft of the book—which is to say the eighty something drafts of the book. In
Will you write a sequel to The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle? In my eyes, at least, the story of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is about how a young woman achieves the ability to think for herself, become truly independent, and do as she chooses. Thus, at the end of the book, she leaves
A week ago Sunday I went through my manuscript one final time. Be saying final, that means I am no longer making substantive changes, or I’m bored with going over and over and over the same thing, which means I am in need of other eyes. I ran the text through my spell and grammar checker,
Folks often assume that the first book published by a writer is the first book she or he has written. I suspect that is rarely true, and is certainly not true for me. Before I first published a book I had been working at being a playwright. A couple of plays were staged when I
The other day I was Skyping with two very different schools—one a public school audience of 500, the other a private school with an audience of six. I was asked two questions, one of which I’m always asked. The other question I have never been asked. Question one: “In the book Poppy why does Ragweed have
This is, it would seem, the most common question asked of all writers. It certainly has been asked many times of me. I used to think people were truly asking me that question. Then it dawned on me the question really was, “Why don’t I get ideas?” I think the way it works (at least for