BLOG BREAK Lockdown Special

Nick Cross presents his fortnightly selection of must-read blogs.

Hello Scoobies! There doesn't seem much point in mentioning how weird things are at the moment, because you already know. You're living it! And our SCBWI-BI bloggers are too, so rather than spending this whole post avoiding the obvious, I'm running towards it. Prepare for a lockdown special!

Let's start with the practicalities. Ellie Rose McKee has some great advice about working from home, including how to manage those pesky other people and pets who seem to be under your feet all the time.

Lu Hersey's advice on surviving self-isolation is somewhere between the practical and the fanciful. Are people really bored enough to watch vacuum cleaner review videos on YouTube?

Juliet Clare Bell has done a great job of collating information about online picture book events during lockdown, to help entertain your cooped-up kids.

With launch and promotion events cancelled, it's an especially tough time for authors launching new books. So, much respect goes to Catherine Friess and Story Snug, for showcasing middle grade fiction published in March 2020 and picture books published in March and April 2020.

Like a lot of us, Tamsin Cooke is having a hard time writing fiction that feels so out of step with world events. Life is definitely stranger than fiction.

Finally, here's B B Taylor with some kind words of encouragement, and a request for us to accept our limitations at this difficult time. Amen to that.

Nick.

*Feature image: Blog Break logo by Nick Cross

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Nick Cross is Words & Pictures' Blog Network Editor. An Undiscovered Voices winner, he both writes and illustrates for children, and was honours winner of the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for fiction.

Nick also blogs for Notes from the Slushpile.