Time sprints in the summer. I can hardly keep up! But here’s what I’ve been doing lately. Speaking: I went up to a junior high school camp and talked to some teens about being a writer. That was a lot of fun. And I’m heading out to the Oregon Christian Writer’s Conference in a few weeks.… Continue Reading
The NextGen Writer’s Conference Starts Tomorrow
And it’s not too late to register! How much does it cost? The NextGen Writer’s Conference is free. When is it? August 2 – 3, 2011 Who can participate? The NextGen Writer’s Conference is for writers age 20 and under. What do I have to do to register? Registration opens June 15, 2011. Simply give your name, email, and… Continue Reading
The NextGen Writer’s Conference Starts Tomorrow
And it’s not too late to register! How much does it cost? The NextGen Writer’s Conference is free. When is it? August 2 – 3, 2011 Who can participate? The NextGen Writer’s Conference is for writers age 20 and under. What do I have to do to register? Registration opens June 15, 2011. Simply give your name, email, and… Continue Reading
Meeting New Authors
Hi Novelteeners! Heather here. It’s hard to believe summer is about to end and school will be starting soon. Sigh. I love summer. For the last five weeks I’ve been teaching a class on How to Write Your Novel. I’ve had so much fun meeting new authors and getting different perspectives. I don’t usually blog… Continue Reading
One Way to Cure Writer’s Block
Here is a funny ending to two teen writer’s attempts at increasing their word counts. They had a 12-hour race to see who got in more words. The one with the least amount of words had to film himself eating a grasshopper. Now that’s motivation to get typing, don’t you think? Here is J. P.… Continue Reading
Make Your Own Harry Potter Butterbeer
Over the past few days, my son has been jotting down a list of ingredients to make his own butterbeer from the Harry Potter books. This was starting to make me nervous, because my son really likes to build and create things. So my husband went online and found a few recipes to try. Here is a… Continue Reading
36 Plot Ideas
As I led workshops last week at the Nazarene Youth Conference, a few people asked about how to come up with new plots. I mentioned the book, Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations by Georges Polti, which gives thirty-six basic plots for all stories. And several people asked me to post that information on my blog. So here… Continue Reading
Notes for the Nazarene Youth Conference (NYC) Talk
Today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday), I am teaching several writing workshops at a national conference for teens. The conference is called NYC (Nazarene Youth Conference). The conference happens once every four years. This year’s conference is being held in Louisville, Kentucky. The theme is a World Unbroken. I’m really excited about attending as a sponsor… Continue Reading
Seeing the Cover for the First Time…
It’s the most amazing feeling to look down and see in your hands a book cover with your name at the top. The last several weeks have been a whirlwind and the book doesn’t even hit the shelves until January! Here’s an update on what’s happening with the Halflings. 1. A film producer in L.A.… Continue Reading
Q&A: What are your thoughts on Self-Publishing?
Q&A: BookBlogger asked: What are your thoughts on Self-Publishing? Self-publishing is when you pay to have your book published. You put the money into getting the book made. There is no editor to help you make it better. (A select few self-publishing houses now have editors you can hire.) On top of this, you often… Continue Reading
Tuesday Tell-All
It’s hard to get work done in the summer with my kids home and all the camps and such. But I have to keep working at least a little. Writing: I’m still waiting to hear back from my agent on two stories we submitted to Zonderkidz. One is apocalyptic and the other is dystpoian. In the meantime,… Continue Reading
Q&A: Any special rules for teen writers?
Chihuahua Zero asked: What should I do differently when sending a query letter to an agent or an author? Should I state the fact that I’m underage? And how would I be able to sign a contract? Do I get the same rights than any other author if I had someone else sign it for… Continue Reading