Not Just for Kids

  Writing Tips

Which Way???

1. The worst writing advice I ever received came from a marketing expert  friend. "If you want to succeed, pick one genre and stick with it." This may work for others but not for me. Much as I enjoyed writing inspirational novels, the idea of locking myself into one genre was, and still is, boring.

I smiled, thanked my friend then continued to diversify. Picture books. Juvenile and YA. Adventure, mystery, and romance. Stand-alones and series titles. Personal experience.  Nonfiction. Each title brought fresh challenges and the joy of diversity.

 

It is fine to listen to what others have to say. It is even better to give a lot of different genres a try.  But in the final analysis, follow your heart when it comes to choosing which writing path or paths you believe are right for you. 

 

  2. Watch what you agree to produce. I don't write well on demand. A few times I agreed to do projects because I needed the money. Big mistake. I conscientiously gave my best and the publisher was pleased, but my heart wasn't in it. I could hardly wait to type The End

 I love family-oriented books. I own all  the Pollyanna and Five Little Peppers books, the Louisa Mae Alcott's titles, the Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables set, and  Susan K. Marlow's Circle C Adventures and Goldtown series.

 

What makes these titles classics? Books to be enjoyed by generation after generation? Read and appreciated by senior adults as well as youngsters? The lead characters may be children or young adults, but the stories appeal to the kid that continues to live within most of us. Here are some of my "for kids of all ages" titles. 

     

 God Loves You Whoever You Are, full color, rhyming picture book, with Julie Reece DeMarco. Illustrated by K.C. Snider.

 

 Serendipity

 

 I aawakened one day with a story idea running through my head. I ran to my computer, and sent it to my co-author for input. We revised, submitted, and the book was immediately accepted. It opens with, "You may be young or old. You may be short or tall. You may be fat or thin. You may be big or small. God loves you."

Katydidn't, full color picture book, also a serendipity-inspired title also illustrated by K.C. Snider

 Six of the Witherspoon children have special things they like to do on their farm. 

Katie doesn't . . . until one miserable, awful, lonely afternoon she  discovers the secret of what the katydids [large green grasshoppers] mean when they sing her family to sleep.

 

  Last Page in the Diary, WW 2 story, based on true events

Thirteen-year-old Patricia (Pat) Kelly bargains with God. If He will bring her best friend Mike (Yoshi Mizuki) home from a desert prison camp and make things like they were before the war, maybe she can start trusting Him again.

The war ends, but the hate and persecution of Japanese-Americans continues, with Pat and Mike struggling to make sense of it all. 

 

 

Nine-Tail Kitten, full color, rhyming picture book, my third serendipity. Illustrated by K.C. Snider. 

  It begins:

 Mother Cat was astonished. Father Cat was amazed. Grandma Cat raised her paws. Never in all her born days had she seen anything like Christopher, her new grand-kitten. "Meow, meow, meow, meow." Their voices rose in wails. For Christopher Kitten had nine tails!" 

One reviewer commented, "Some cats have nine lives, but Christopher Kitten has nine tails! How he uses each one makes for a heartwarming story. This delightfully illustrated book is one of my granddaughter's favorites."

 

Wilderness Warriors

Years ago I worked with a man who became fed up with his rebellious kids' actions. He and his wife took drastic measures. He took a leave of absence from his job and relocated far from home and its comforts. My co-worker's story intrigued me so much that it became the basis for Wilderness Warriors. 

  Thirteen-year-old Tyler Clark and his twelve-year-old sister, Caitlyn, are running wild . . . until their parents take them out of school and move to the wilds of eastern Oregon. No electricity. No running water. No TV, Facebook, Twitter, or iPods. Just months of hard work, homeschooling, scary noises in the night, and no other people for miles around.

 Storms rage inside and outside the isolated, snowbound cabin. Will the threat of tragedy reunite the broken family? 

 

Wilderness Warriors and other titles available at

 

 

News Flash

Author and historian Linda Weaver Clarke has just posted an interview with me on her blog. Address:

http://lindaweaverclarke.blogspot.com/2016/12/interview-with-inspirational-author.html

Thanks, Linda, for a great job and have a blessed Christmas!

Colleen