Don’t Tell the Nazis, #1 Amazon new release!
Author: Marsha
I write historical fiction, mostly from the perspective of young people who are thrust in the midst of war.
More pics from St. Nicholas Cathedral School, Oct 24th.
Visiting St. Patrick in Lucan Ontario
I visited St. Patrick two weeks ago but didn’t get any pics. I was in the area today so dropped off autographed book orders and asked the school secretary to snap this pic with Delaney Brown, the teacher-librarian. I really enjoyed visiting this school. I was particularly impressed with the younger students’ language skills.
Meeting with students in and around Chicago
It was a whirlwind week, traveling with Scholastic Book Fairs, to meet thousands of fantastic students, dedicated teachers and librarians, and getting to spend time with the phenomenal Scholastic Book Fair team! So many schools rolled out the red carpet, greeting me with hand painted posters and signs, and delighting me perceptive and well-considered questions. Thank you all, for treating me like a princess!
Teacher’s Guide for Too Young to Escape
Yay! Thank you, Pajama Press, for creating this teacher’s guide, which is freely downloadable here.
Audio books
I’m thrilled that Scholastic Inc is publishing audio editions of Making Bombs for Hitler and Don’t Tell the Nazis. A couple of weeks ago, I had the honour of listening to auditions from many talented actor-readers for these editions and was thrilled when the two narrators who I liked the best were the ones who were selected. Then to add to that thrill, Scholastic asked me if I’d like to tape my own end notes for both books. I jumped at the chance! The books are being produced in California, but they found a studio close by — Catherine North Studio in Hamilton Ontario. I went there today and did the recordings. Will Crann was ever so patient and cheerful through the entire session. What a great experience!
Chicago author event: Oct 24th
Dealing with Writer’s Block
Regarding your question about writer’s block, don’t worry what you write when you start out because by the end of the writing process, it will be changed a lot. The goal at first is to write what authors call the terrible first draft. You can’t write anything good until you write something terrible. So blat out what’s in your head at first and don’t worry that it sounds terrible. My first drafts are terrible too!
I force myself to sit at my laptop for a set period of time each day with just Word open and all other apps closed. I write for that time and stop when the time is over. The next day, during my writing time, the first thing I do is read over what I wrote the day before and do some revisions, then I write some more. The next day, I do the same — so revising and writing forward during each writing session.
When I begin a novel, my writing periods are 3 hours yet sometimes I only manage to write 200 words. Sometimes when I revise, I end up with fewer words than when I started — that’s okay, it’s part of the process. After I get about one third of my manuscript written in first draft, I’m off and running and can write one or two thousand words during those three hours. Towards the end of the manuscript, the three hours goes out the window. Sometimes I write all day and into the evening without noticing the time flying by because the story is writing itself.
Hope this helps!
More virtual visits
A 4-Skype day with Scholastic Book Fairs
