interviews

A Peek at the Creative Space of Mary Newell DePalma

Mary Newell DePalma is the author and/or illustrator of over a dozen picture books. A little bit about some of my favorites: A Grand Old Tree is the story of the life cycle of a tree and how the influence and importance of that tree does not stop once it dies. Here’s a taste: “The grand old tree flowered, bore fruit, and sowed seeds. She had many children. They changed the landscape for miles around, perhaps even farther than the old tree knew.” Roads (written by Marc Harshman) Her illustrations depict a family’s drive to visit grandparents and all the sights and sounds along the way.… Read the rest

A Peek at the Creative Space of Julie Anne Peters

Julie Anne Peters is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of 16 published books including National Book Award Finalist Luna, Define “Normal”, Between Mom and Jo, Far From Xanadu, Keeping You a Secret, GRL2GRL: Short Fictions, and Rage: A Love Story. Her most recent title, By the Time You Read This I’ll Be Dead, was published earlier this year. An altered version of this interview originally appeared in the February 2008 issue of Kite Tales for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the SCBWI, available for download on their website. (It’s worthwhile to read both, especially the typical workday section to see a comparison of what she was working on two years ago versus today.)… Read the rest

Creative Spaces Interview Series and a Free Book Giveaway!

Years ago, I attended a conference where Christopher Paul Curtis spoke. I remember him saying he spent every Saturday morning writing at his local library (I believe in the children’s section) working on what would become The Watsons Go to Birmingham. He left me with a mental image of this big man huddled over a small table at the library, scribbling away on a pad of paper. Most Harry Potter fans have heard the story of J.K. Rowling beginning to write the series in a London cafe with her baby napping in a stroller next to her. I once read that Philip Pullman used to work in a writing shed in his garden where he wrote every morning until he’d met his daily quota.… Read the rest

Authorpalooza

Well this is cool. Over on Chasing Ray you can see the master schedule for a Summer Blog Blast Tour. Each day she features snippets of and links to interviews with different authors (and I think maybe other people who work in the world of books? I’m not sure. It looks like today is all authors.) Anyway, visit Chasing Ray and click around on all the different interview links. And watch as Poof! an hour of your time magically disappears. But your brain will fill up with a wealth of information about writers and their habits. And you never know when you’ll find something that will resonate–I already found a little tidbit from one of the authors that helped soothe my poor bruised revising soul.… Read the rest