SPEAKing up about SPEAK

If you haven't heard the buzz about Laurie Halse Anderson's book, SPEAK, check out some of these links and then speak up yourself.

This blog post is a response to an opinion piece in which someone refers to SPEAK as "soft porn." You can also check out Laurie Halse Anderson's blog post, in which she responds to this attack against her book. If you feel moved to, you can also send an email to the editor of News-Leader, in support of Anderson's book.

I understand that not all books are intended for all readers. But can't we be sensible about it? I would go so far as to say that SPEAK is a book every teen age girl should read and talk about with her mother (or another important adult in her life), as I did with my daughter. We can't just sweep these issues under the rug.

The Life of a Picture Book Part Ten: OUT in the World!

The last time I updated, I was not in love with my Winifred story. I went back to it and wrote a prose version. I liked that version less. So I went back to the rhyme version and did some tweaking. I ended up completely rewriting a few stanzas and deleting a couple others. Finally, I decided that Winifred was ready!

On Saturday, I sent Winifred on her first foray into the publishing world!

Maybe in a few weeks I'll have some good news. But if I don't, I'll just repeat step ten a few times. And then, who knows? Writing is rewriting, after all.

September acrostic

Summer

Escapes slowly

Piece by piece, as leaves become

Tinted with yellow

Edges

Making way for fall's

Brisk chill, and giving

Everyone

Respite from the heat.