LibraryCon Live! 2024
Oh my sainted aunt, I am so excited to receive an invite for School Library Journal‘s LibraryCon Live! I’ll be on a fantasy panel talking about my upcoming book, The Griffin’s Boy, on November 14th.
This book was a dearly beloved manuscript that spent ten years (yes, an entire decade) in a drawer because no editor anywhere found it remotely interesting, to my bafflement–it has a baby griffin and a miniature dragon in it; how could anybody be less than enchanted? To have it finally find a home with Peachtree book is balm to my soul, and to be able to talk about it on a panel with other fantasy writers–it just makes me giddy.
Dead Writers Podcast
Maine is something of a beacon for creative types–well known for our visual artists, of course, but also for writers. To learn more, tune into the Dead Writers Podcast and discover a wealth of information on Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and others!
Read MoreLife Advice from a 96-Year-Old
This is a video well worth watching, not least for the speaker’s understanding of her 100th decade as a way to relive her childhood–or more specifically, to live the childhood she wishes she had had. “I’m having my second childhood now, my happy childhood,” she says. “I had a miserable childhood. I did not enjoy being a child….So I have fun now. I’m enjoying my childhood, finally.”
I love the idea that we are not limited to the childhoods we actually had. That we can revisit that intense, passionate, fresh, joyful and rage-filled and awe-filled time, as we wish. That we can do it better, if we want to.
And children’s literature gives us a gateway to do that. Those of us who had lonely childhoods can read about life-changing best friendships. Those of us who were (oh, perhaps) a bit bored can read about wild adventures. Those of us who felt powerless or helpless can find stories of undaunted heroes.
Childhood never leaves us, or rather, we never leave it. Maybe, as the speaker of this video suggests, we grow not away from our childhoods, but toward them–if we’re lucky, coming full circle.
Read MoreStoryGraph
Do you need a suggestion for your next read? Personally, I’ll often suggest something by Terry Prachett, Hilary McKay, or Megan Whalen Turner (or if I’m feeling old school and in the mood for a classic mystery, Dorothy Sayers or Josephine Tey.) But if you need another idea….try this.
Read MoreBook Fair by the Sea
Lovely day last Saturday for the Camden Book Fair by the Sea. So great to hang out with Amy and Stephanie next to what has to be the prettiest library on earth!
Read MoreWriter’s Block
Is there anything worse? (Well, yes, plenty of things are worse…but writer’s block is pretty bad.)
I often hear people define writer’s block as not being able to come up with any ideas. But I find that I’m not actually bereft of ideas…it’s just that my critical, editor’s brain swoops in each time and declares each idea unworthy, dull, impossible, or idiotic before I can even get it down on paper.
What to do? Mostly, trust that unworthy, dull, impossible, and idiotic first drafts often turn out to be reasonably decent second drafts. Set a number of pages I need to finish before I can quit for the day, no matter how bad they are. And remember that I’m not trying to out-Shakespeare Shakespeare….I’m just trying to get to the end of the story I’m attempting to tell.
(It has witches, familiars, and poetry in it. I’m hoping it’s nowhere near as idiotic as it feels right now.)
Read MoreVacation
Just back from a lovely (although very, very warm) vacation on St. John in the Virgin Islands. (I thought they must be named after Queen Elizabeth I, but no, they are actually named after St. Ursula and her eleven thousand virgins, in case you were wondering, as I was.) Trying to get my head back into the writing game…more next week!
Sarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Readers will treasure the blossoming friendship between opposites in this whimsically illustrated tale. Short chapters and plenty of action make for an accessible and appealing reading experience. . . . Touching and inspiring.”
—Kirkus Reviews