Want to know a secret? (This is me speaking softly.) Plot doesn’t have to be hard. Not when Martha Alderson, a/k/a The Plot Whisperer, makes it so simple. I first heard about Martha and her book, Blockbuster Plots Pure & Simple (Illusion Press 2004) shortly after...

Two weeks ago, I was part of panel discussion at Children’s Book World in Haverford, PA with three other authors of young adult fiction—Jeri Smith-Ready, Kelly Fiore and Justina Ireland. We were there because Jeri was gracious enough to let us “ride her coattails” (as...

Sharon Biggs Waller, my good friend and an amazing author who writes breathtaking historical fiction, tagged me on this four-question blog tour in which we talk about process—a subject I love to interview other authors about and have many times on my blog. Sharon is...

10 Things I Wish I Knew About Being an Author I Didn’t Know Before The following first appeared as a guest post on Bookend2bookend.blogspot.com. Writing is hard. Well, that part I knew. But I thought it would get easier after I wrote and sold my first two young adult...

All month over at YA Outside the Lines the wonderful authors I blog with have been posting about first loves in literature—books, authors, and characters. When it comes to characters, I had a difficult time choosing between my two fave fictional fellas. Though their...

Today on the blog, I’m thrilled to be welcoming, Lisa Burstein, author of the young adult novels PRETTY AMY, THE NEXT FOREVER, and DEAR CASSIE, and the new adult novel SNEAKING CANDY, which I recently read and loved sooo much that I’ve convinced my book club to make...

So happy to be part of the official cover reveal of FERAL, the third YA novel by Holly Schindler. Check it out! I love it. So haunting. It’s too late for you. You’re dead. Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal...

SUMMARY: THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY by Holly Schindler: “Beasts of the Southern Wild” meets Because of Winn Dixie in this inspiring story of hope. Auggie Jones lives with her grandpa Gus, a trash hauler, in a poor part of town.  So when her wealthy classmate’s...

To celebrate today's release of A MAD, WICKED FOLLY, by the amazing Sharon Biggs Waller, I'm reposting my earlier interview with her. Congrats, Sharon!!! (Throws confetti.) Today on the blog I’m chatting with to Sharon Biggs Waller—writer extraordinaire, critique...

Today on the blog I’m sooo happy to be chatting with Bethany Crandell, author of SUMMER ON THE SHORT BUS (Running Press April 1, 2014). Bethany and I “met” last year when she graciously asked if she could interview me for the blog OneFour Kidlit. (She asked fantastic...