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There are lots of elements that make a good story: characters so real you cry and laugh and swoon over them, a plot that keeps you up past bedtime or makes you late because you can’t stop turning pages, a setting so real and transportive it feels like another character. But today I’m focusing on language. My new YA project is a bit different in voice than the Cahill Witch Chronicles. Its protagonist, Ivy, is whimsical and imaginative – despite her best attempts to be seen as sensible – and uses more figurative language. I turned to Twitter & Facebook this week and asked: Who are your favorite YA wordsmiths – masters of beautiful language? These are some of the names who came up most frequently. (The asterisk means I’ve read at least some of the author’s work and agree.) Laini Taylor* (DAUGHTER OF SMOKE & BONE is so beautiful) Maggie... Read More

Time for my weekly check-in! I wrote this up last night (Wed) but was having some website issues, so it’s a little late. BUT guess what? I finished reading a book AND had that super fun dinner with my friend tonight! Hooray! Writing: ​I sent my revised pages for IVY to Agent Jim yesterday! Not Monday, but…Monday-adjacent? I now have six chapters that I’m really, really excited about. I talked about this on Twitter a bit, but it’s very strange after a whole trilogy and four years of writing in Cate’s voice to try to write in someone else’s. Ivy’s voice is part regional dialect (Eastern Shore of Maryland), part staccato bluntness because that’s how she rolls, and part pretty figurative language because she’s a big reader and – despite her attempts to be super sensible and practical – a very imaginative girl. And it’s contemporary, and she cusses kind... Read More

Hi! Today we’re celebrating Christine Kohler’s debut, NO SURRENDER SOLDIER, which was released January 1! Before we start — why are they called Thrice interviews? The original titles for the Cahill Witch Chronicles were THRICE BLESSED, THRICE CURSED, and THRICE FATED. I have a tattoo with the word thrice, which is partly to remind me how joyful writing that first book was, back when it was just mine, and partly because I like threes. Cate Cahill is the oldest of three sisters, as am I. My birthday is May 3; my anniversary is Sept 30. So there’s a natural theme to these interview questions… They say: A young man, an old soldier, and a terrible injustice. Should the punishment be death? Growing up on Guam in 1972, fifteen-year-old Kiko is beset by worries: He’s never kissed a girl, and he thinks it’s possible he never will. The popular guys get all... Read More

Hi! Today we’re celebrating Peggy Eddleman’s debut, SKY JUMPERS! Before we start — why are they called Thrice interviews? The original titles for the Cahill Witch Chronicles were THRICE BLESSED, THRICE CURSED, and THRICE FATED. I have a tattoo with the word thrice, which is partly to remind me how joyful writing that first book was, back when it was just mine, and partly because I like threes. Cate Cahill is the oldest of three sisters, as am I. My birthday is May 3; my anniversary is Sept 30. So there’s a natural theme to these interview questions… They say:  Escape one danger. Jump into another. . . .   “Eddleman brings a strong sense of atmosphere to this post-apocalyptic coming-of-age piece, and the underlying message—that it’s possible to contribute in unexpected ways—is a positive one.” —Publishers Weekly Twelve-year-old Hope lives in White Rock, a town of inventors struggling to recover from... Read More

Time for my weekly check-in! Writing: Oof. I have done no writing of my own, but I did an extremely thorough line edit for an MCS client! We’re talking 700 comments and a 7 page edit letter. Possibly I need to learn to be slightly less thorough, because I spent more time on it than I had estimated and got paid for. But I finished that yesterday and now I’m turning my attention back to my new YA proposal. I told Agent Jim I’d have it back to him by next Monday — without a deadline, I feel like I’d just futz around trying to make it perfect forever! Reading: I read that manuscript, but I don’t think I’m counting MCS work toward my goal of reading 100 books. Otherwise, I finished Veronica Rossi’s THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT, which I absolutely adored. This series has become one of my favorites. Also, I picked... Read More