#KTWriteOn with Newbery Winner Christian McKay Heidicker: THE DESPERATE AUTHOR (Getting Good with Low Time and Resources)

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Author Tips, Christian McKay Heidicker, tips, tools, writing, writing tips

Welcome to the Kite Tales Writing Challenge: #KTWriteOn. Each writing challenge is crafted by a kid-lit publishing professional to help spark ideas, creative energy, and get your work moving out into the world.

This exercise was created by Christian McKay Heidicker, the author of the Newbery Honor-winning Scary Stories for Young Foxes, Thieves of Weirdwood, Cure for the Common Universe, and Attack of the 50 Foot Wallflower. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he reads and writes and drinks tea. Between his demon-hunting cat and his fiddling, red-headed fiancée, he feels completely protected from evil spirits. He wasn’t always an award-winning author. Read on for Christian’s excellent advice and exercises:

THE DESPERATE AUTHOR (Getting Good with Low Time and Resources)

By Christian McKay Heidicker

It took me twelve years to get my first book published. So in the interest of your sanity and my conscience, I’m going to tell you how to get better at this writing thing no matter what your obstacles are. Don’t have time? Don’t have money? Blessed with the attention span of a fruit fly? I experienced that in spades, my friend. And I’ve got some workarounds. All you need is a little window of time every day, a handful of unique shortcuts, and maybe some heartbreak. (That last one certainly helped me.)

Why Write a Novel in Verse?

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Author Tips, Free verse, Purple Daze, Sherry Shahan, verse, verse novel, writing prompt

by Sherry Shahan

While cleaning out my office I unearthed a shoebox filled with letters from a friend who served in Vietnam during the tumultuous 1960s. I spent hours poring through his astonishingly truthful accounts of this war. I knew I had to do something with his letters; after all, I’d kept them nearly 50 years.

Since letters inspired me to write Purple Daze: A Far Out Trip, 1965 (Authors Guild Back-in-Print Edition, 2020), it made sense to incorporate journal entries, notes, and letters into the narrative. I then began writing sketches about other high school friends and some of our more histrionic experiences. Once I began scribbling, memories assaulted me twenty-four-seven.

Interview with Best-Selling Author-Illustrator, Grace Lin

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A Big Mooncake for Little Star, author, Author Tips, COVID-19, disney, early reader, Grace Lin, illustrator, Ling and Ting, middle grade, Mulan, picture book, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Grace Lin won the Newbery Honor for her middle-grade novel Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, the Theodor Geisel Honor for her early reader Ling and Ting, and a Caldecott Honor for picture book A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Her new middle-grade novel, Mulan: Before the Sword, is an original prequel to Disney’s live-action Mulan story.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! On the West Coast, changes to our lives and livelihoods have been happening at an ever-increasing speed. What’s life like on the East Coast?

Author Jessica Brody on Transformative Stories, Structure, & Character Voice in Retellings

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character voice, Jessica Brody, plotting, story structure, transformative stories, voice

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, as you may have heard, SCBWI L.A.’s 2020 Writers Day has been postponed due to the Coronavirus. Please check your emails for the announcement which provides more details. Despite this news, the below interview (edited lightly following the news of the event’s postponement) provides fantastic information – so, please, read on! 

Jessica Brody, author of the plotting guide Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, is slated to be a keynote speaker at this year’s Los Angeles SCBWI Writers Day! Along with several popular titles, including 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, A Week of Mondays, The Chaos of Standing Still, Better You Than Me, and the Unremembered trilogy, Jessica has also written Sky Without Stars (and the sequel Between Burning Worlds) a sci-fi reimagining of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, and books based on Disney franchises like Disney Princess Lego and the Descendants.

While Writers Day has been postponed (previously scheduled for March 28), here are some great tips and tricks from Jessica!

FARRHA KHAN: We’re excited to have you join us at Writers Day this year! Your keynote on The Transformative Power of Story sounds inspiring. Could you share a bit about what you will be exploring? – Without giving away too much, of course! 

Interview with Best-Selling Middle Grade Author, Ridley Pearson

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author, Author Tips, Dave Barry, Kingdom Keepers, Lock and Key, Peter and the Starcatcher, Ridley Pearson, Steel Trapp, Super Sons

Ridley Pearson is a #1 New York Times best-selling author of more than 50 award-winning books for readers of middle grade and young adult. His novels have been published into two dozen languages and adapted for television network and the stage.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! Your best-selling Peter and the Starcatchers series is co-written with Dave Barry and includes illustrations, but that still must be a very different process from writing your new DC Comics Super Sons graphic-novel series. How does it feel to use words so sparingly?

RIDLEY PEARSON: Words are like coins; you can spend them freely or carefully. One of the projects Dave Barry and I co-wrote was to retell the Peter Pan story through the artwork of Disney Legend Mary Blair (artist). We were given 1,500 words, max. Despite an abundance of glorious artwork from the 1930s there were pieces of the story unrepresented by the archival artwork. Dave and I learned firsthand the importance of every single word.

Prolific Author-Illustrator Mary Ann Fraser on Hooking Agents, Editors, and Readers with Narrative Nonfiction

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Mary Ann Fraser, narrative nonfiction, nonfiction, writing workshop

This year’s Los Angeles SCBWI Writers Day is all about discovering that “eureka” moment by learning tricks and techniques to make your manuscripts shine, digging deeper or simply polishing work to perfection, and attending in-depth workshops with industry pros in areas where we all can use insights and practice. Author and illustrator of over seventy books, Mary Ann Fraser’s workshop, Ready, Aim, Write: Creating On-Target Nonfiction, is all about “carving a gripping informational story out of facts. You’ll learn how to form an irresistible hook to tempt agent and editor alike.” You’ll also get hands-on reading AND writing done in this workshop! We just couldn’t wait until March 28th, though, so we’re bringing you a little sneak peek. Read on for a great Q&A with Mary Ann!

SARAH PARKER-LEE: Thanks for joining us, Mary Ann! Your workshop sounds super fascinating! Nonfiction and fiction are often seen as opposite ends of the kid lit world, or that writing for one means you can’t write for the other. Writers can also feel intimidated because they don’t think they’re “experts” on new subject matter that might interest them, even if they’ve written nonfiction before. What do you say to writers looking to bridge these perceived gaps or who feel intimidated? 

Ask an Editor: The Difference Between a Mentor Text and a Comp Title

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comp, comp title, mentor text, Tara Luebbe

“Ask an Editor” is a forum wherein SCBWI members submit questions that are answered as part of our quarterly Kite Tales blog.

Dear Editor – What is the difference between a mentor text and a comp title?

—May, Los Angeles

Because of her great webinar on this topic for 12 x 12, I’ve asked Tara Luebbe to reply.

Dear May – A mentor text is all about craft, as it’s a book that helps you shape your manuscript. A mentor text could cover a subject matter or concept that’s comparable to your story. It might mirror your story arc, utilize a format you’d like to explore, or have a main character with a similar obstacle to overcome. It may use a voice or POV you want to try, or be written with a brand of humor or sense of irony you are looking to emulate. So the right mentor text can provide a template for figuring out one or more challenging elements in your own work.

Interview with Middle-Grade Author M.G. Hennessey

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author, Author Tips, child welfare, foster kids, M.G. Hennessey, middle grade, novel, published, The Echo Park Castaways, The Other Boy

Local author and SCBWI member M.G. Hennessey’s new middle-grade book, The Echo Park Castaways, addresses LA’s child-welfare system. The four main characters share the same foster-care home and the story is told from three viewpoints.

CHRISTINE VAN ZANDT: Welcome to Kite Tales! This is such an important topic but you convey the issues in a way a middle-grade reader can understand. Did you write it in an alternating fashion as it’s published, or did you write each character’s piece separately?

Meet April Halprin Wayland, Author, Poet, and Beach Retreat Instructor

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April Halprin Wayland, authors, Beach Retreat, Cencal 2020 Retreat, More Than Enough: A Passover Story, New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story, picture books, poetry, SCBWI events, To Rabbittown, writing, writing tips

By Ann Rousseau Smith, SCBWI CenCal News Liaison

(Photo: Morgan Eagle)

April Halprin Wayland will be joining us for our picture book retreat, January 10–12, 2020, in San Simeon, California. She writes poetry and picture books, including More Than Enough: A Passover Story and the Sydney Taylor Gold Book Award winning New Year at the Pier: A Rosh Hashanah Story. She was named UCLA Extension Writers’ Program Outstanding Instructor of the Year, and blogs with five other children’s authors at TeachingAuthors.com. April will be presenting four sessions during the retreat weekend, which is open to the public, and will include time to write, join small critique groups, stroll on the beach, and enjoy a beachside campfire in the evening.

ANN ROUSSEAU SMITH: Welcome to the Kite Tales blog! Most people love origin stories. Can you tell us a little bit about your first published picture book?

Secrets to Writing Rhymes that Sell

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Author Tips, Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh, picture books, rhyming, tips, writing tips

By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh

Rhymes are naturally easy for the brain to process. Their innate musicality makes their messages easier to absorb. They have a calming effect because rhymes set up an expectation and fulfill it each time a verse is completed. And kids love them.

So why are rhyming books so hard to sell?

Well, there are common pitfalls to rhyming. But there are secrets to salable rhyme, too!

The pitfall: Something rhymes just for the heck of it.

“That’s the way” and “What a day” rhyme, but if they don’t tell the story, then the rhyme is doing what I call “treading water.”