Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Stacy Lynn Carroll and a Confession

2 CommentsMarvelous Middle Grades, Newsy Bits About Writing and Writers

Today’s #MMGM is a tell-all (or at least tell-tale?) interview with the fabulous author Stacy Lynn Carroll.  She’s spreading the word about her brand new book, Frogs and Toads, which is second in her Princess Sisters series! But, before we jump into the interview…I have a confession.  Yes, of the kind that makes everyone else

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: B Magical

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This story is proof that good things can come in small packages!  B Magical: The Missing Magic is a slim little book, and the story’s not terribly complex, but it packs a lot of fun into those pages.  My favorite bit was undoubtably the hamster, which you can see there on the cover, looking like he’s

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Letters From Rapunzel

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My latest middle grade project, Pandora’s Popcorn Potion, is a kind of fractured fairy tale, so I picked this up after I finished the first draft to see what my comps are doing.  I thought it would be light and sassy–which it was–but had no idea it would also bring tears to my eyes!  After finishing it, I

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Why the Carolinas have the Best SCBWI Conference

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First there’s the obvious reason–’cause we rock!  Then there’s our tireless (I swear, she really doesn’t appear to have a ‘tired’ setting!) RA Teresa Fannin, and all our great PAL members that are super generous with their time.  But let me share a few of the highlights from the conference speakers–just a few–and you decide for

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: The Cheshire Cheese Cat

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This book was soo much fun!  It really was the kind of book you can’t recommend highly enough–and it’s rather telling that when I brought it home I was already a few pages in ’cause I’d read a bit in the car…and didn’t read another word for several days. How is that high praise, you’d

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Mavelous Middle Grade Monday: The Fairy’s Mistake, by Gail Carson Levine

1 CommentMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelf

I loved Ms. Levine’s beautiful cinderella retelling, Ella Echanted, so when I picked up The Fairy’s Mistake I decided to try it even though the cover looked a little…passive? Or maybe awkward is the word.  But the story was nice and active–frankly quite better than the cover promised.  Of course, having said that, this is no Ella

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Howl’s Moving Castle (Picture Book) by Hayao Miyazaki

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In order to properly spotlight this book I must first trust you all with a small confession.  A confession which I find is just a little hard to put to keyboard now that I come to it…so no laughing, alright? The thing is, when I heard that Mr. Miyazaki was retiring, I was horrified.  [that’s

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Whatever After, by Sarah Mlynowski

1 CommentMarvelous Middle Grades, The Bookshelf

Once Upon A Time there was a slim little book on the shelf, with pink on the cover and a veeery girly look. But, I tried it anyway–and that ended happily ever after for me!  Whatever After: Fairest of All was just as slim as it looked–not a lot of plot twists there, and we only see a small

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