My Favorite Writing Resources
Workshops and Conferences
Better Books Marin
Run by the amazing Darcey Rosenblatt and my critique group. A small, craft-based workshop for experienced YA and middle grade fiction writers
SCBWI Summer Conference
A must for new kid lit writers, and always fun and inspiring for all experience levels
San Francisco North and East Bay Oktoberfest
San Francisco South Golden Gate Conference
Held at the beautiful Asilomar on the central coast. Virtual “Golden Gate Year” for 2020-2021.
Blogs
Good Story and KidLit.com – Mary Kole
Podcasts
I’m a self-professed podcast junky. These are just some of my writerly favorites
Writers on Writing
UC Irvine’s Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and Marrie Stone, not focused on kid lit, but great craft interviews with authors
Literaticast, Jennifer Laughran
Interviews with creators, agents and editors in the kid lit world
Levar Burton Reads
Because Levar Burton (Reading Rainbow!) and short stories. Love everything about this including the deep breath at the beginning of each story
Manuscript Academy
Interviews on the nuts and bolts of publishing
Inside the New York Times Book Review
Great to keep up with the latest in all genres
New Yorker Fiction
Short stories chosen and read by authors, with analysis/conversation at the end
The Guardian Children’s Books
UK kid lit books, entertaining
The Narrative Breakdown – Cheryl Klein and James Monohan
Craft
Software and Tools
Scrivener
Great for me for organizing new projects and until it’s mostly in its final form. So much easier to edit large chunks than in Word.]
Freedom
For tuning out the internet. I should use this more
Websites
Publisher’s Marketplace
For researching sales, agents, comps
SCFWA Fantasy World Building Questions – Patricia C. Wrede
Extensive world building questions, useful not just for fantasy and sci fi writers
Books
The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron
Writing the Breakout Novel, by Donald Maas
Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose
The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, by Christopher Vogler
On Writing, by Stephen King
Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott
Videos
Martha Alderson’s 27-step plot tutorial on plot and structure
Favorite Local Bookstores
Book Passage
My critique group met in the cafe in Corte Madera for years before the pandemic, and to where we hope to return!
Other Fun Stuff
A Way with Words
If you love words, sayings, and their origins
Meet the Composer
Nadia Sirota’s brilliantly produced podcast. So sad there are only 41 of these. One influenced a character in my current WIP
Shannon Ledger 