A recent post—prompted by one of my readers—asked blog readers to suggest which of my books would they most like to see made into a movie. While a fair number suggested Crispin, and The Fighting Ground, most folks suggested The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. Over the years any number of people have taken out options
Advanced Reader Copy—or ARCs—as the publishing world calls them, are not so designated because they are for people whose reading skills are considered high (i.e., advanced) but for people the publisher wishes to read a new book in advance of publication. This is to promote interest among those who can generate interest, or buzz. They
What can you find in a book? Words, to be sure, unless it is a blank book. Years ago I bought a 19th century book for children which contained two stories. One was a tale about a young woman who married for love and lived a sad, penniless life. The other story was about a young woman
I’m close to finishing a new novel, a ghost story. I’ve written them before, Something Upstairs, The Seer of Shadows, and even short story ghost tales as in Strange Happenings. Upon reading them, someone inevitably asks me, “Do you believe in ghosts?” My answer, “No, but I believe in ghost stories.” In western literature, ghost
The other day I was having my annual eye checkup. Lisa, the young technical assistant was going over my basic data sheet. LISA: It says here you are a writer. What do you write? AVI: Novels for kids. “That must be fun,” she says and moves on to my medical history. “That must be fun” is the most
I find it hard to believe but it is just about twenty years ago, that Poppy was published. That book and the five other Poppy titles constitute my only true complete series. It was not meant to be a series, and indeed, I did not write them in sequence. Poppy came first, followed (belatedly) by Poppy
I was talking to a woman today, and she, not knowing that I was a writer of books for young people, was telling me about the stories she made up for her grandchild. “My granddaughter so loves my stories,” she told me, “I’m thinking of sending them in and getting them published.” It reminded me
My computer program counts words. It’s useful in a number of ways. My novel contracts usually reference the kind of a book I am meant to write by word total. More or less, that’s my goal. A big novel might be 60,000 words or more. Novella, 20,000. Short story, 5,000. Rough figures. But I use
A writer friend of mine—who shall remain nameless—told me the following tale. Last August she engaged in extensive talk with an editor about a possible book she wanted to write. She and the editor came to an understanding, including some of the basic parameters of the contract. Only a year later, did the contract reach her desk.
From a writing point of view, does it matter where you live? Cities, large cities, have been where, historically, and culturally, literature thrives. It is cities where multitudes of diverse peoples live, where you are bound to interact with folks not like yourself, where talk fills your ears, where emotions are street attractions and the