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It’s Halloweensie time! Here’s my story…
It’s past the witching hour on Friday, October 29, and that means it’s time for… HALLOWEENSIE! Yes, it’s time for Susanna Leonard Hill’s fabulous Halloweensie contest, in which writers create Halloween-themed stories for kids using 100 words or fewer (not counting the title), and including special words selected by Susanna. This year the words that…
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I’m on the GROG blog today!
I’m very pleased to be featured on the GROG blog today, as my friend and writing accountability partner Kathy Halsey interviews me about editing in general, and my editing services in particular. The GROG blog is a group blog with a mission to provide guidance and support, resources for the craft of writing, opportunities to…
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BECAUSE OF THAT CROW by Beverley Brenna — Book Recommendation
Title: Because of That Crow Author: Beverley Brenna Publisher: Markham, Ontario/Brighton, MA: Red Deer Press, 2020 Genre: Middle grade contemporary fiction, with a touch of magic Audience Age: 8 to 12 Themes/Topics: grief, parents’ death, healing, coping, hope Opening Sentences: Everything was different because of that crow. Harris knew it. And he was pretty sure the others knew it, too. Grampa,…
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From the Archives: Having Heart and Hope in the Hard Times
From time to time on By Word of Beth, I delve into the blog’s archives, and repost something that can perhaps speak to us again. Throughout this pandemic, we have all been dealing with unprecedented difficulties, with things we have never experienced before, with hard times. Perhaps this post from 2017 can give us some…
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Susanna Leonard Hill is FOR WRITERS!
Many of you already know Susanna Leonard Hill and the myriad things she does to benefit the writing community, but there may be a few of you who aren’t familiar with all she does. Besides, Susanna is worth being celebrated! Susanna is a prolific picture book writer (although with all the other things she does,…
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MUCH ADO ABOUT BASEBALL by Rajani LaRocca — Book Recommendation
Title: Much Ado About Baseball Author: Rajani LaRocca Publisher: New York: Yellow Jacket, 2021 Genre: Middle Grade contemporary with a touch of magic Audience Age: 8 to 12 Themes/Topics: belonging, making new friends, magic, math, baseball, Shakespeare Opening Sentences: “Baseball is magic. Time stops between the instant the ball is released and when it makes it over the plate, between…
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Mary Kole is FOR WRITERS!
At least once a month, I plan to do a post specifically FOR WRITERS as we sit in our respective Writing Rooms, highlighting writer resources, educators, opportunities and more. This, the first of these posts, highlights editor, educator, writer, and former agent MARY KOLE. I first became aware of Mary when I read her excellent…
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Heads Up! Picture Book Summit coming to a screen near you, October 2, 2021
From time to time, I will be posting outside my regular schedule, to alert you to special events and opportunities in a “Heads Up!” post. This is just such an alert. Picture Book Summit, an information-packed one-day online conference, filled to the brim with opportunity, learning, and fun, is coming to computer screens on OCTOBER…
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Welcome Back to “By Word of Beth”
*peeks out of my burrow* *looks around* *whispers ‘anybody here?’* *crawls out of the burrow and dusts off my fur* As this gopher has surmised, it’s time to come out of the burrow and reboot my blog. Or maybe that should be rear-boot, as in boot in the rear to get me blogging again. *grin*…
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From the Desk of Zoe Washington (MG)
Ahhhh — that was time well spent on this dreary late-October day. How did I spend it, you ask? Reading. Voraciously. As if the book were a scrumptious cupcake I couldn’t wait to devour. Cupcake? Yes. If you read FROM THE DESK OF ZOE WASHINGTON by Janae Marks, you’ll quickly learn that cupcakes are very…