How do you like those apples?

Hello everyone!

“Play is a child’s work and this is not a trivial pursuit.” – Alfred Adler

Your writing challenge for the next two weeks is to choose one of the six word groups below and write a short story that uses all of the words mentioned. To make this even more challenging, you can roll a die to determine which set of three words you must use. (All of the words in the lists are from cards randomly drawn from the game Apples to Apples.)

1. Chickens, Gossip, Zen
2. The Little Mermaid, The JFK Assassination, Scene of the Crime
3. Quicksand, Pro Wrestling, A Crawl Space
4. Confucius, Roman Numerals, Dr. Kevorkian
5. Firefighters, Jimmy Stewart, Leather
6. The 1950s, Pond Scum, Marriage

*This writing prompt was inspired by an activity Justin Tappan had us do at our critique group.

Happy writing!

Katie

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Writer’s Conferences

Hello everyone!

Back in June, I attended the 2017 New Jersey Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators Annual Conference.  I learned a lot and got to meet many interesting writers, illustrators, agents, and editors.

In her blog post, “How to Prepare for a Writer’s Conference,” Julia Yong offers a writer’s conference packing list and tips for how to get the most out of a writer’s conference while there.

Although Julia’s packing list is very thorough, I would like to add four more items to it.

1. Tissues – You never know when you or someone else will need one.
2. Hand sanitizer or baby wipes – You’ll be meeting a lot of people.  If you or one of them are sick, you’ll want to be able to clean your hands.  Getting into a bathroom can be difficult at conferences.
3. Band-Aids – Like tissues, you never know when you or someone else will need one.
4. Dental floss – If you have a pitch session after a meal, you’ll want to make sure the agent isn’t distracted by something stuck in your teeth.

I hope you find “How to Prepare for a Writer’s Conference” helpful when preparing for your next writer’s conference!

Happy writing!

Katie

Read, Write, and Blue

Hello everyone! Happy Independence Day!

In honor of our country’s 241^st birthday, I decided to do a theme based writing prompt which will also serve as practice in following submission guidelines.

Your challenge is to write a flash fiction story with an obvious beginning, middle, and end that fits into the theme.

Theme: Red, White, and Blue

Word Count: 1,000 words

Happy writing!

Katie