VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Utah Children's Writers: Guest Post: Plotting a Storyline : "I wanted to share yet another guest post with all of you that will help get those juices flowing as we come to the end of the 30 days/30 sto..."

Cheryl Mansfield, Copy Editor of SFC, still wishes she were still a kid. Since that isn't possible she plays with her imaginary friends by creating stories for young children to preteens. She is published in biographies for the educational market and is a member of SCBWI. Contact Cheryl Mansfield at copyeditor@storiesforchildrenpublishing.com Cheryl, 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… What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? I try to segment my time and make appointments for my writing. For instance, all my family and friends understand that on Saturdays I meet with writer friends to work for a few hours. It’s important to me and I treat it like a second job. How long have you b

The Writing Mama with hosts VS Grenier Marsha Casper Cook 04/22 by WorldOfInkNetwork | Blog Talk Radio Our show guest is Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen. Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen never thought she’d grow up to be a writer . As a child, she thought of being a doctor (but she’s afraid of blood), a lawyer (but she doesn’t like losing arguments), a carpenter (but she’s too clumsy), a model (but she likes eating too much), a presidential candidate (but she had a dissolute youth), a UN ambassador (the argument losing thing again)… almost everything but a writer. In fact, in 2001, Sudipta was well on her way to not being a writer. She had graduated from the California Institute of Technology in 1998 with a BS in Biology, spent a year in Boston, and then had returned to Caltech as a PhD candidate in developmental biology. Even the birth of her first child, Isabella, didn’t change Sudipta’s plans – she thought she’d take a long maternity leave then return to graduate school . Then, her d

Wow, it's been a crazy few months around SFC and my writing office. I've been lucky enough to meet some really great authors and illustrators with World of Ink Tours. Not only because I get to read some wonderful books or learn about them from Q&A's sent via email, but also because I've had the chance to chat with them on my Blog Talk Radio show, Stories for Children each month. Today, I'm excited to share an interview with Award-winning author Renee Hand. She's not only an award-winning author, but also an educator, tennis coach along with various other things. Renee has been writing for over twenty years and has six publications. She also writes for various chronicles and newsletters, as well as reviews for various authors of children´s books on her blog, http://thecryptocapersseries.blogspot.com . Renee Hand's love for reading and writing started when she was a child. Renee always had a passion for it and remembers frequently wearing out the

SFC Blog: Families Matter: Life Skills for Teens : "Teens need life skills and interests. Teens are some of the most lovable kids around although they often give off the impression that th..."

Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network Show: Stories for Children with hosts VS Grenier and Kris Quinn Christopherson will be chatting with award-winning author Renee Hand about her most recent book, The Adventures of Joe-Joe Nut and Biscuit Bill Case #2 Mineral Mischief. Renee Hand is an award-winning author, educator, tennis coach and various other things. Hand has been writing for over twenty years and has six publications. She also writes for various chronicles and newsletters, as well as reviews for various authors of children´s books on her blog, http://thecryptocapersseries.blogspot.com . Renee will also be sharing writing tips, school visit and event information, and trials and tribulations of the writer’s life on BTR’s World of Ink Network show: Stories for Children. The show will air live, April 18, 2011 at 1pm EST (12pm Central, 11am MST, and 10am PST). Tune in at the BTR World of Ink Network site at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork/2011/04/18/stories

Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network Show: The Writing Mama with hosts VS Grenier and Marsha Casper Cook will be chatting with former Food Network Host Amy Finley about her most recent book, HOW TO EAT A SMALL COUNTRY: A Family’s Pursuit of Happiness, One Meal at a Time. A professionally trained cook turned devoted stay-at-home mom, Amy Finley decided on a whim to send in an audition tape for season three of The Next Food Network Star, and the impossible happened: she won her own cooking show on national television. Amy Finley will be sharing her triumphant and endearing tale of family, food, France, and forgiveness. This is going to be one fun show and full of information from working on a TV show to being a stay-at-home-mom. The show will air live, April 14, 2011 at 2pm PST- 3pm MST- 4pm CST- 5pm EST. Tune in at the BTR World of Ink Network site at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork/2011/04/15/the-writing-mama-with-hosts-vs-grenier-marsha-casper-cook . You can

  Renee Hand is an award-winning author, educator, tennis coach and various other things. Hand has been writing for over twenty years and has six publications. She also writes for various chronicles and newsletters, as well as reviews for various authors of children´s books on her blog, http://thecryptocapersseries.blogspot.com . Renee Hand's love for reading and writing started when she was a child. Renee always had a passion for it and remembers frequently wearing out the stone steps to the local library. When in a bookstore, she would sit in the middle of an aisle perusing a novel that she was eagerly going to purchase, but couldn’t wait to read. Often, when Renee has extra time, she will write stories that pop into her head...locking herself in her room for hours. Now that Renee is older, her love for reading and writing has not diminished. In fact, it has only become a bigger part of her. It is because of this that Renee chose to share her interests with other

How Do Your Characters Stack Up? Using Real Life Events in Fiction Stories You are as happy as you can be: your story, be it short story, novel or novelette, is finally finished. However, when you are using real life events as a source of inspiration, you may not always get a true-to-life effect. Before you send your work to a publisher, first check if the story makes sense as it does in real life. In order to reach the final draft, you need to be tough with yourself and cast an editor eye over your piece. Although real life events have their own logic, when you read your story from head to tail for the first time you will surely notice some plotting errors. However, there are other vital points you should check off when comparing your version of the story to the events that inspired you. 1. Is the behavior of your characters as believable as it should be? Bear in mind that in fiction, the people you describe rarely, if ever, act "out of character." If your character b