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READ LIKE A WRITER, a teaching blog

AUTHOR ADVISES ON WRITING ABOUT WAR IN KID LIT

My guest author today is Skila Brown, author of CAMINAR, a novel in verse published by Candlewick Press in March 2014. The flap copy for CAMINAR reads: “Set in 1981 Guatemala, a lyrical debut novel tells the powerful tale of a boy who must decide what it means to  Read More 

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AUTHOR HONORS DEATHBED PROMISE TO WRITE ABOUT WWII LEBENSBORN PROGRAM

My guest today is the prolific award-winning author Marsha Skrypuch. MAKING BOMBS FOR HITLER was selected as the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice winner for 2014. Marsha is a master at writing war literature and it’s an honor to have her write this article about something very personal that prompted her to write STOLEN  Read More 

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AUTHORS, MAKE THE MOST OF A LIBRARY CONVENTION

I’ve attended the Texas Library Association Convention many times, regardless of whether or not I had a book out that year. Once I was an assistant to a National Geographic author-speaker. The year my NF library book TURKEY IN THE NEWS came out, I pitched  Read More 

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NOVELIST SAYS START RESEARCH WITH JUVENILE NF

Today's guest blogger is Mindy McGinnis, author of NOT A DROP TO DRINK (Katherine Tegen/ Harper Collins, 2013) and its companion futurist suvivalist novel A HANDFUL OF DUST, tbr September 2014.

RESEARCH TIP

by Mindy McGinnis,

So, you've got an absolutely fantastic idea to write a romance set during the potato famine in Ireland.  Read More 

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MAKE THE MOST OF BOOK FESTIVALS

Merit authors (clockwise l-r) Amy Helmes, Kim Askew, and Christine Kohler meet their editor (front center) Jacquelyn Mitchard at the Tucson Festival of Books.

This was my first book festival. Ever. But even if you’ve been to many book festivals, I hope you won’t stop reading here. Other writers could gain from you adding tips, or maybe something in my experience will shed new light on your perspective. That’s what I love about most writers,  Read More 

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WWII PACIFIC RESEARCH ON U.S. NURSES IN PHILIPPINES

By Mary Cronk Farrell

PURE GRIT: HOW AMERICAN WWII NURSES SURVIVED BATTLE AND PRISON CAMP IN THE PACIFIC is a story that was almost lost forever.

Oral histories recorded by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army Nurse Corp became indispensable to  Read More 

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TWISTED LIT AUTHORS DISH OUT INGREDIENTS FOR DELICIOUS RESEARCH

Guest Post by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes, authors of ANYONE BUT YOU (Twisted Lit #3, Merit Press)

ANYONE BUT YOU, the third installment of our Twisted Lit series of Shakespeare retellings, is set in Chicago’s Little Italy, a neighborhood that runs along Taylor Street in the city’ Read More 

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LIBRARY BOOK LAUNCH TIPS

A book launch for NO SURRENDER SOLDIER at Stephens, Tom Green County Library, San Angelo, Texas.

My second book launch—both at libraries one week apart—for NO SURRENDER SOLDIER’s official release was hosted by the Stephens, Tom Green County, Library in San Angelo, Texas. At my first book launch at the Carnegie Library in Ballinger I gave a research program on the history behind the book, mostly about  Read More 

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CARNEGIE LIBRARY LAUNCHES NO SURRENDER SOLDIER

Christine Kohler talks about the research behind her novel during the book launch of NO SURRENDER SOLDIER. The painting in this photo is of the Carnegie Library in Ballinger, Texas.

January 18, 2014 – NO SURRENDER SOLDIER’s launch day. Wow, what can I say? What a wonderful day!

Fellow Merit Press author Steve Parlato (THE NAMESAKE, released Jan. 18, 2013) said that during this past year since his debut novel released that every event has been like birthdays and Christmases  Read More 

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GOODREADS GIVE-AWAY: NO SURRENDER SOLDIER!

Authors often call their books their babies, and use birthing analogies. And so, like the birth of a baby, they often surprise you by arriving early. That’s what happened to NO SURRENDER SOLDIER. My “due date” was December 18, 2013, for the e-book and January 18, 2014, for the hardback to be released by Merit Press (Adams  Read More 

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