VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network Show: Stories for Children with hosts VS Grenier, Kris Quinn Christopherson and Irene Roth will be chatting with author Margot Finke about her recent children’s books: “ Taconi and Claude – Double Trouble” a historical middle-grade adventure, “Horatio Humble Beats the Big D” a rhyming picture book about dyslexia, and “ Ruthie and the Hippo’s Fat Behind” a rhyming picture book about change. Margot Finke is an Aussie transplant who writes midgrade adventure fiction and rhyming picture books. Margot didn't begin serious writing until the day their youngest left for college. This late start drives her writing, and pushes her to work at it every day. Margot said, "I really envy those who began young, and managed to slip into writing mode between kid fights, diaper changes, household disasters, and outside jobs. You are my heroes!"   Her first books, a 7x book rhyming series, "Wild and Wonderful," offers fun facts about

     As writers, we are responsible for creating our own work structure.   No one makes us write.   No one tells us how much to write or when to do it.   If we are to be productive writers, we have to monitor ourselves.   Goals are one way to do that.      The goals we set should be measurable and attainable.   Measurable goals are goals that require some kind of output.   It might be to write a certain number of pages per day.   Or it might be to send out a certain number of query letters per month.   Whatever the goal is, it should be quantifiable.      Goals should also be attainable.   For a goal to be attainable, we have to be honest with ourselves.   So ask yourself, do you really have the time to crank out a five-hundred-page novel in six months?   Are you really going to earn $40,000 a year as a writer?   Our goals should be realistic, recognizing what is possible in our own lives and what is possible in the world of writing.      It is a good idea, when setting goals, t

Editors and readers alike will usually ignore the voiceless writers who write stale, uninteresting articles. What everybody is looking for is a fresh voice that will get readers' attention. Basically, your voice means your style, the manner in which you're writing and you feel most comfortable writing. No one will be really able to define what a writer's voice is, but everybody knows it when they see it. Finding your writing voice can be a difficult and complex process. Believe it or not, even the famous writers took years to find their voice. Writing courses and workshops can help writers find their voice. However, there things you can do starting right now to find your writing voice. Here are some tips on how you can add your own voice to your written work: 1. Be original. Many new writers follow in the footsteps of the established writers they admire. This may often result in plain lack of creativity for the writer. So try to break any patterns you ha

Writer's block occurs when we lose our train of thought or have seemingly run out of ideas. When this occurs it is only natural to increase your determination to get the writing process back on track. Actually this can make the situation worse since it introduces more pressure which further constricts your ability to develop new writing ideas. What to do? Here are 3 tips to use for idea generation or to recapture your train of thought when the writing process for you comes to a grinding halt. Review What You Wrote This often can help to get your thinking back on track. When you lose your focus the best thing to do is 'retract' your previous steps to pick back up on your trail of thought. By reviewing your most recently documented content you can determine what your point is and the direction you were taking it. This can be a very effective way of snapping out of the writers block that has stalled your efforts. Leave Your Work Station Changing environments often

Jamie DeMumbrum, Assistant Poetry Editor of SFC, lives in Loveland, Ohio, with her husband, two teenaged children, and a hairy, high-maintenance dog. After blinking and watching her babies start to drive and think about college, she decided to pursue her interest in freelance writing for children and, sometimes, parents. When she isn’t warming the bleachers at a football, basketball, or lacrosse game, she loves all kinds of reading, writing, editing, and sewing for her home. VS: I want to thank you for being my guest here on The Writing Mama today. I know being a parent and writer can be hard and I find myself asking if I giving my three children enough attention throughout the day. I am sure you have been in my shoes from time to time. So to start here is the first question…how many children do you have and what are their ages? Jamie: My husband and I have a 16-year-old sophomore daughter and a 17-year-old junior son. VS: As a mom with teens in the house, what do you

Below is an article (more of a mini writing workshop actually) that could help you jumpstart those creative juices.   And if you want 3 writing *sparks* delivered to you every day for 31 days, check out WriteSparks!(tm) Daily at http://writesparks.com/wsdaily.html for info on how to get started -- it's free! Thunder When the Universe Burps: A Creative Writer-cise Nature is a wonderful inspiration for any writer. In this mini writing workshop, we'll wax some poetic prose. First, pick a number from 1 to 7: 1. earthquake 2. sunrise 3. volcanic eruption 4. lightning 5. rainbow 6. thunder 7. hurricane Next, create 2 lists for the natural phenomenon you chose. Brainstorm for 5-10 minutes for each list. For List 1, brainstorm for action words associated with the natural phenomenon you picked. For instance, what do you see, hear and feel happening when it thunders? e.g., List 1 (action words): explode, clap, boom, crack, shatter, burst, break, detonate, bust, sha