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Favorite Books Read in 2025

I read some great books in 2025. Here are ten of my favorites: The Carpool Detectives by Chuck Hogan. Nonfiction about 4 moms who work together during the pandemic to solve a cold case murder. Suspenseful and fascinating. I listened on audio and thought it was great in that format. James by Percival Everett. This book was WOW. If I could only recommend one of these ten books, it would be this one. Page-turning retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of James, the runaway slave Huck traveled with. You don’t need to have read Huckleberry Finn to enjoy this—it stands on its own without the original.… Read the rest

September Newsletter

In my latest newsletter, I share an update on lots of things including my next book, my writing prompts, upcoming events, and a whole lot more. Plus I’m giving away a copy of my favorite book that I read over the summer!… Read the rest

Upcoming Events

September 19, 2025: I’m presenting a workshop on “Crafting Stellar Scenes for the Middle-Grade Audience” for the Writing & Illustrating for Young Readers Virtual Conference. The conference is a 3-day intensive and the line-up is fantastic! Learn more and sign up here. October 18-19, 2025: I’m presenting two breakout sessions at the RMC-SCBWI Letters & Lines conference! I’ll be doing a variation of my “Crafting Stellar Scenes” talk as well as a plot workshop on weaving together internal and external narratives. Register for the conference here. October 28, 7pm MST: Sisterhood of Sleuths is the October selection for the Writing & Illustrating for Younger Readers (WIFYR) Book Club.… Read the rest

Middle Grade Summer Reading Bingo!

Did you remember when I did the Middle Grade Summer Reading Bingo game last year? I had so much fun with that, and several people said they hoped I’d do it again, and so I am! Like last year, I’ve collected a diverse mix of books from a variety of authors: some new releases and some backlist, graphic novels, a verse novel, nonfiction, funny, suspenseful, romance, historical fiction . . . Hopefully, there’s something here for every reader. I put Book Scavenger in the center “free” space to celebrate its 10-year anniversary this year. (Confetti throw, hooray!) If you’re here on my website, then I figure there’s a good chance you’ve already read it, so it likely is a free square for you.… Read the rest

Writing Prompt #15: Who lives here?

This year I have a personal goal to do more writing “play,” so I’m creating weekly prompts for myself and sharing online, in case you’d like to join me too. I hope you will! Teachers, you’re welcome to use these with your students. I’ll be posting these every week on my website, Instagram, Blue Sky, and Substack. ♥ ♥ ♥ I love using a picture as a prompt, especially one that suggests a setting with hints of a character, but no actual character. It feels like an invitation to my imagination to fill in the blanks. Who lives in this little cabin in the woods?… Read the rest