Ten-Minute Blog Break - 26th March

Hello and welcome to the inaugural Ten-Minute Blog Break. This weekly feature will give you the low-down on the week's essential blog posts by our very talented SCBWI bloggers, as well as highlighting the hot topics in children's writing and publishing from around the web. You can see our list of bloggers on the SCBWI Blog Network page.


Let me quickly introduce myself. I'm Nick Cross, and as well as being a children's writer and SCBWI-BI Webmaster, I'm also a blogger. My blog Who Ate My Brain has been running for over three years, covering both the serious and the silly sides of writing and publishing. Do pop over if you get the chance.

OK, on to this week's blogs.

I was engaged by the glimpse that Sally Poyton offers into her scrapbooks, which accompany the process of writing her latest novel. Writing is (inevitably) such a word-heavy task, and it's great to see her bringing a graphical perspective to bear. Not content with that, Sally then turned up again, guest posting on the Nosy Crow blog about her daughter's imaginative Rescue Princesses party, based on the book series by SCBWI British Isles' very own Paula Harrison.

Moving into the world of illustration, I loved Maria Puy Pinillos's drawing of a fox who "got lost in my sketchbook." There are clearly lots of problems with mislaid animals at the moment, because Jane Heinrichs was joined in her studio by a rhino on a bicycle. Have the RSPCA been informed?

This week's SCBWI Professional Series meeting in London was entitled Making a Living as a Writer. It was a fascinating session and Caroline Hooton provides a comprehensive summary. I'm definitely thinking of running a follow-up session called Making it as a Part-Time Writer - How to Keep Your Day Job and Your Sanity ;-)

Elsewhere on the web, I spotted this post on the New York Times site that raises some excellent questions about the use of computer games in the classroom. While not strictly about children's books, the article is food for thought for teachers or anyone considering the creation of an educational book app.

Thanks for joining me and I'll be back next week to fill your tea break with more great blog posts. Save me a biscuit.

Nick.


Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round digital guru. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.
Nick blogs every Friday about writing and publishing at www.whoatemybrain.com

10 comments:

  1. Thanks Nick! For folks who are tweeting, it's a good idea to keep an eye on the #kidlit tag on Twitter. At Twitter.com/search, search for that term, and click on Top Tweets to see the most talked-about industry news.

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  2. This is a great idea Nick, thank you.

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  3. Thanks for the round-up, Nick. Great posts!

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  4. Thanks Nick, what a great idea to have this, I find it difficult keeping up with blog reading as there are so many great blogs and bloggers out there.

    Thanks for including me too, felling very honoured!

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  5. Such a great idea to see a list of SCBWI blogs in one place. Thank you for this great list Nick :) I'm just off to make a coffee and I'll be back :)

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  6. Fantastic round up! And thanks so much for including my rhino on his bicycle. He might be coming back next week for a lesson in watercolours. ;-)

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  7. So useful to have someone sifting stuff whose choices I trust - thanks and I must check out that NY times article too!

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