The Best Moment
This week I sent a first draft of an adaptation(Inside of a Dog, about the science of animal behavior) off to one editor and a first draft of an early reader (Ancient Animals: Plesiosaurs) off to a second.
There are many good moments in the life of a writer. Getting the first bound book in the mail. Reading a good review. Connecting with a reader and seeing that your book really mattered to her. But I tell you, the finest, finest moment of all is when a draft that you’ve been working on for months is suddenly, with the tap of the SEND key, SOMEBODY ELSE’S PROBLEM for a while.
Aaaaaaaah.
Read MoreScience Marches On…
…but books stand still.
One of the hardships of a nonfiction author’s life is the way you can scramble to get the most updated information for your book, only to have those ding-dangity scientists discover brand new facts that throw everything out of whack right after your book hits the shelves.
It’s a particular problem with dinosaurs. Kids, of course, love to know about the most extreme dinosaurs (biggest! longest! smallest! tallest!). Just as you have firmly declared that so-and-so-asaurus is the biggest, somebody will come up with a newer, bigger find. Sometimes you wish they’d just knock off all the discovery for a year or two. On the other hand, sometimes you need them to hurry it up. Remember when Pluto was in the process of becoming not a planet after all? I was in the middle of writing a nonfiction book on outer space. Deadline was approaching. Scientists could not make up their minds. I was sitting there tapping my fingers on my desk, thinking, “Come on, guys, either it’s in or it’s out, but make up your minds! I’ve got to get this to my editor!”
Now, just after Terror Bird has been published, people are starting to wonder if these marvelous and outlandish birds were VEGETARIANS. No! What will happen to the marvelous illustration of the terror bird chomping up a teeny horse? And can a plant-eater be called a terror bird anyway? I’m pretty sure my editor would not have taken the book if it had been called Extremely Large Seed-Nibbling Bird.
Well, these particular scientists are studying a European species of terror bird, not my South American beauties, so let’s hope that the ones in my book can remain predators at least until the publisher runs out of stock.
Read MoreThe Cats Are Coming!
Saber-Toothed Cat by Sarah L. Thomson–the latest in the early reader series Ancient Animals.
The latest title in the Ancient Animals series has been published! Check out Saber-Toothed Cat. If you know a newly independent reader (think first or second grade) who loves dinosaurs, this would be a perfect introduction to a wider and wonderful world of prehistoric creatures.
Read MoreSarah 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