the site of middle grade author Jackie Yeager
Happy Birthday, Spin the Golden Light Bulb! I couldn’t pass up the chance to shout out my debut novels’ 5th publishing birthday. So here I am, thinking back to January 9, 2018, and after all this time, doing my best to let this milestone sink in. Getting published is a huge accomplishment and to be honest,… Continue reading The Crimson Five is 5!
Last time, I blogged about how tough it can be to keep writing through difficult periods. Today, I have something more upbeat to talk about, one of the perks to being published: signing books for readers! In two weeks, I’ll be signing books at the Rochester Children’s Book Festival with about 50 other authors and illustrators.… Continue reading Signing Books & Gold Gel Pens
One of the unexpected thrills of becoming a published author is hearing from teachers who’ve read Spin the Golden Light Bulb to their students. I imagined (and hoped and wished) that teachers and librarians would someday add my books to their classrooms and libraries. But I honestly never went so far as to imagine them… Continue reading Back to School with the Crimson Five Kids
I’m back in the query trenches. It’s official and I thought it would be fun to bring you guys along for the ride! If you’re new here, you may not realize that I was agented before. I blogged about how I got my first agent here. The day I signed with her (after eight years… Continue reading Jumping Back into the Query Trenches
I don’t know if it’s like this for any of you, but when I’m working on a new manuscript, I can’t write anything else. Not a short story, not a blog post, hardly even an email. My mind is so full of new book stuff that there’s just no room to add more. That’s why… Continue reading Great Writing Doesn’t Happen Fast
No book is perfect. It’s more common than you think to find a typo or a misspelled word, those proverbial book Easter eggs, on a page or two. Unfortunately, things like that get missed in books before they go to production all the time, even when they’re edited by the best editing team on the… Continue reading Chasing Book Perfection—or Book Perfect-ish
What Makes Your Story YOU? All books have themes. Things the author subtly (or not so subtly!) imparts into their stories. Like perseverance or teamwork or whatever. My books have them too and I could probably write a post just about those. But that’s not what I’m thinking about today. I’ve noticed a different kind… Continue reading What’s Your Magic Writer’s Mark?
Hey all, Even writers on a deadline need a break, right? Right. So, I’m jumping on here to talk about the very reason I have a deadline this week: Pass Pages. I’m reading through final pass pages for Pop the Bronze Balloon and my deadline is the end of the month. Obviously I’m cutting it… Continue reading What Even Are Pass Pages?
Hey all, I had a different post planned for today. It’s a topic I’m sure you guys will be interested in at some point. But right now, it’s still only halfway written. No matter how hard I tried this week, I just couldn’t find the pockets of time to finish it. I’m on a deadline… Continue reading The Messiness of Writing
A few months ago, a dear author friend, Vivian Vande Velde said something that made me laugh. We were talking about our upcoming book releases and she asked me why publishers refer to publication dates as release dates. She said something to the effect of, “It’s like our books our being held hostage or in… Continue reading Letting Your Book Go…Until Release Day
swirl and spark 