Laurie Thompson

Writing to Change the World

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 00:22:04 +0000

Recently, Vicki Cobb posted on the I.N.K. (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) blog about writing to change the world. I’ve been pondering this post for days. On one hand I think all authors, especially those of us who right nonfiction for kids, are trying to change the world to some degree (maybe more than Vicki alludes, [...]

Alchemy and Karen Cushman!

lauriethompson — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:00:20 +0000

Oh, this is so much fun! Not only is there a brand-new book out from one of my all-time favorite authors, but I got to read an early copy (squeee!) and interview the author for my blog (huzzah)! First, let me gush a little about how much I enjoyed reading Alchemy and Meggy Swann. There’s [...]

Good news: ONE IS ENOUGH won an award!

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:40:41 +0000

In my last post, I was so busy gushing about the conference awesomeness I forgot to mention the best news of all! My manuscript for ONE IS ENOUGH, a picture-book biography about Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, was one of those nominated for the SCBWI Western Washington 2010 Outstanding Work-in-Progress awards! Here’s the official slide: This award [...]

SCBWI conferences: so many kinds of awesome

admin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:25:17 +0000

I’m finally starting to be able to come down from the high that was last weekend’s SCBWI Western Washington’s Writing and Illustrating for Children conference. After an extended period of not enough sleep, too much forced extroversion, and total detail overwhelm, I expected to be exhausted, but instead I was completely energized. It was so [...]

Interview with Michael Bourret, agent

admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:50:05 +0000

Michael Bourret is an agent with Dystel and Goderich, and recently opened their brand-new West Coast office. I’ve heard Michael speak at a few of the national SCBWI conferences, and it’s always a pleasure. Don’t miss him at the SCBWI Western Washington conference this weekend! L: Welcome, Michael! Thanks so much for taking the time [...]

Ah, sweet rejection

admin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:51:04 +0000

My goal for this year is to receive as many as rejections as possible. I can be a little—okay, a lot—perfectionistic about where and when I send out submissions, so the intention of this goal was to push me to accomplish the part of publishing that I can control, submitting, and let go of the [...]

A poem for writers

admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:57:38 +0000

For St. Patrick’s Day, my daughter had some fun writing limericks. Here is my favorite: Writing Write I will, forever still, you, me creativity is the key, Oh, write I will. Ah, a girl after my own heart. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in this case!

Interview with Sara Crowe, agent

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:19:04 +0000

Sara is an agent with Harvey Klinger, Inc. in New York City. I was lucky enough to be able to hang out with Sara last January prior to the 11th Annual SCBWI International Winter Conference. Yes, she is every bit as cute and friendly as she appears in the photo below, so if you’re going [...]

Interview with Deborah Hopkinson

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 05:28:05 +0000

I became a fan of Deborah Hopkinson in 2007, when I started Anastasia Suen’s Easy Readers and Chapter Books course. For the first assignment, we had to read five chapter books then choose one to analyze. I chose PIONEER SUMMER because it was my favorite. Years later, when I became co-regional advisor for SCBWI Western [...]

Congratulations Cybils 2009 winners!

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:30:52 +0000

A few special shout-outs for a few special Cybils 2009 winners: Non-Fiction For Young Adults The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner; illustrated by Andy Comins Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Nominated by: Laurie Thompson (YAY, that’s me!) Again, what a field. Each of the books in this category blew me away. It’s thrilling to see these [...]