Every writer has his/her own process of writing a book. From start to finish it usually takes me, more or less, about a year to complete. I have crudely calculated that I read and reread that book some eighty times. This can be tedious, arduous, annoying but, trust me, necessary. In the course of my
When I have handed in a new manuscript it is not uncommon for the editor to say to me—“Are you pleased by what you’ve written?” Often, the answer, you might be surprised to learn, is “No.” Consider, I have worked on the text for much of a year—if not longer. The truth is that the
When you are a public (i.e., published) author you are going to get public (published) criticism. In all the years of my publishing I have never gotten universal positive responses to any book I wrote. One review of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle indicated that if I had worked harder I would have written
I recently had printed a bookmark which displays the covers of all the books in the Poppy series. I’m happy to give a few to those that want them. Please send a SASE to: Avi PO Box 900 Clark, CO 80428 Here’s a brief history of the bookmark plucked from the internet. “The History of the Bookmark” by
Having posted the lyrics and music for “The Mouse Song” from my new book, Ragweed and Poppy. A number of folks asked me to say something about my son Shaun, who wrote and performed the music with his family. His name, Shaun, derives from my admiration of the Irish writer Sean O’Casey. His full name
Dear Avi- Thank you so very much for sending me a copy of Ragweed and Poppy. It was such a wonderful surprise to win the drawing! I’m not sure who was more excited, me or my 9yo daughter. She is a huge Poppy fan. When we heard that you were working on a new Poppy
I have to drive into town to get our mail from our post office box. Occasionally, I find a letter that makes the trip a joyful one. Dear Avi, Because your books appeal mostly to young people, you may be surprised to hear from a 92 year old! My 59 year old daughter introduced me to Crispin.
I was living in Los Angeles, so naturally, I wrote a fantasy set in New York City. It had much to do with subways, the Statue of Liberty, and shadowy creatures called Kerbs. Since I had just bought my first computer it was a long and complex story. I offered it to a publisher who took
Writing something that is funny—that will make readers laugh—is one of the hardest things to do. When I set out to write Ragweed & Poppy, that was one of the goals. The writer sits in front of the blank page (or screen). He/she is usually alone. Maybe you are listening to music. (I like absolute quiet)
The origins of Poppy, and the Poppy series can be found on this blog in a post dated June 13, 2017. If you read that post and the other posts about the sequential books, you’ll note that I never intended to write a series, that even as they appeared they were not written in sequence.