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Life on the Deckle Edge

VICKY ALVEAR SHECTER GIVES CLEOPATRA ROYAL TREATMENT

If you think ancient history is as stuffy as the inside of a tomb, think again. SCBWI Southern Breezer and talented author Vicky Alvear Shecter (ALEXANDER THE GREAT ROCKS THE WORLD) brings her “history with a twist” approach to one of the most fascinating characters the world has ever known, Cleopatra VII. In CLEOPATRA RULES! The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen (Boyds Mills, 2010), Vicky shows readers young and old why you shouldn’t believe everything you’ve seen or heard about Egypt’s last pharaoh.

Welcome, Vicky! In this beautifully designed and kid-friendly book, you dig way past the stereotype of Cleopatra as a femme fatale and reveal her fiercely loyal, politically-savvy side. When did you first become Cleopatra-crazy, and how long have you wanted to write a book about her? Read More 
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Catching up with editor Joëlle Dujardin of HIGHLIGHTS

This weekend I’m co-presenting two workshops (with writer/media specialist Sharon Wright Mitchell) at our SCBWI Southern Breeze fall conference in Birmingham. One is “The Front Door, The Back Door, The Trap Door… Breaking into Magazines.” I asked HIGHLIGHTS Associate Editor Joëlle Dujardin for some fresh tips for our attendees. Her responses were so generous, I then asked if I could share them with you here! Enjoy.

(Joëlle edits fiction, and I’m personally grateful for the keen eye and sensibilities she brought to my story currently scheduled to run this April.) :0)

Thank you, Joëlle, for taking time to share your thoughts with us! Are there any story types or genres you are most interested in? Read More 
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Janice Hardy conjures up BLUE FIRE

What if pain were a commodity - a weapon? What if you were 15 and possessed the rare ability to draw pain out of someone, but you could release it only into another person? What if your daily choices literally meant life or death for others? Welcome to the world of Nya, the bold and struggling protagonist in Janice Hardy's THE HEALING WARS series for ages 10 and up (Balzar + Bray/HarperCollins).
Book One, THE SHIFTER, came out last year and (drumroll...) Book Two, BLUE FIRE, has just been released.

Welcome, Janice! First, the question I'm sure you always get from young readers: How did you come up with the idea for this series? Read More 
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"Spooky" Guest Author, Nancy Raines Day!

Calling all ye ghosts and goblins - ready for some spooky fun? Award-winning author Nancy Raines Day has dropped by to tell us about her latest picture book from Abrams, ON A WINDY NIGHT.

Welcome, Nancy. The book's jacket flap copy says your birthday is in October, and you used to have Halloween parties with cold spaghetti guts and peeled grape eyeballs when you were growing up. My brother and I always "haunted" much of our house for the neighborhood kids, with the same yucky attractions. (One year his costume was even a haunted house! He's an engineer now.) Have you always loved Halloween like I have?
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