LINKS AND RESOURCES

My favorite books on writing:

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

On Writing by Stephen King

The Courage to Write by Ralph Keyes

The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogel (if you're feeling in an academic mood)

Making a Good Script Great by Linda Seger (my favorite for story structure and pacing)

Story by Robert McKee

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White  (such an elegant little book)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (who knew punctuation could be so much fun?)

And, of course, any good novel.

My favorite websites:

SCBWI - The Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators.

New England SCBWI - A regional chapter of the above.

CONNECTIONS -- Another great resource for schools and libraries to find authors and illustrators in New England. Provided by the New England chapter of SCBWI.

Cynthia Leitich Smith's Children's and YA Literature Resources - Tons of information on books and authors...reading lists...award lists. It's all here.

Toni Buzzeo's site - An author/school media specialist has everything you need to know about hosting an author or illustrator at your school.  

Author School Visits by State - A great directory of authors (and illustrators!) who visit schools, with further links to their sites. New England author and illustrator

The Purple Crayon - Great info on the kidlit publishing biz, updated frequently, by widely respected editor Harold Underdown.

TeensReadToo -- Lots of insightful reviews of the latest YA books by real teens.

Children's Book Council - Lots of publisher and publishing info.

"Secrets of the Writing Life" by author Shutta Crum - The down-and-dirty, unvarnished truth about the writing life. A must-read for anyone contemplating quitting their day job to write (or inviting an author to their event).