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For middle readers…and adults who never grew up: The Owl Motel
Climbing the Crazy Family Tree, work-in-progress
Lena: Wild Girl on the Prairie, the story of Laura Ingalls Wilder's cousin, work-in-progress
Chuck Mall
About Chuck
Author of middle-grade fiction. Former writer for men's fitness magazines. Author of Middle-Grade short story collection, The Owl Motel: And Other Places Where You Are Not Welcome. Avid cook and gardener who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Amazon author page: Chuck Mall on Amazon
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Category Archives: Words
A Dose of Encouragement
All of these scenarios about writers exist: * Someone wrote a first novel that sold well and made them famous. But after that success, none of his other books did well. * Someone wrote for 25 years, completing several manuscripts … Continue reading
Posted in MG fiction, Words, writing, Writing Angst, writing for children
Tagged encouragement, publishing, writers, writing
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Way Back in the Wayback Machine
To write kidlit, you need to mine your own past and reflect Continue reading
Posted in fiction, MG fiction, Words, writing, YA fiction
Tagged #middle grade, fiction, kidlit, memory, writing
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Throwing Out the Misdirection
I am going to publicly embarrass myself. I decided to be a writer in elementary school, and by the time I was in high school, I was prolific. There was no emotion or reality in my fiction, though. Being a … Continue reading
Imbue Your Work with Love
The secret to writing well lies with experience, and another “magic” ingredient you didn’t know. Continue reading
Posted in fiction, Words, writing, Writing Angst
Tagged amwriting, litchat, novel, writersblock, writerslife, writingtips
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3 Hot Tips to Make Your Middle-Grade Novel Saleable
If you’ve been studying writing awhile, you’re well-versed on how to create a character, how to structure a plot, and how to find the novel’s “voice” (by far the hardest thing). But did you know these three extras that really … Continue reading
Posted in fiction, Words, writing, writing for children
Tagged #childrensbooks, #fiction, #kidlit, #middle grade, #writing
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Transforming Fear into Fiction
How to use these strange times to propel your words Never have we seen such widespread fear in our society. Yet we were warned. Scientists have predicted a major pandemic. We all coasted along, visiting the world easily, indulging ourselves, … Continue reading
When Your Own Writing Spooks You
Clean the basement. That’s how you find pieces of writing you never remember writing. I found one, and am going to throw it away. It isn’t bad as much as it is strange. In 2008 I took a stream-of-consciousness writing … Continue reading
Angst. Just your general angst.
I know writing is not supposed to be fun. I know it is not necessarily supposed to be hard. I know it can work well as you get into the “flow” and time and space disappear beneath the rapid-fire sequence … Continue reading
Posted in Words, Writing Angst
Tagged Chuck Mallory, fiction, imagination, struggle, writing
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The Strangest Quotes You Have Ever Heard, No Kidding
Here’s what happens when you open an old box you forgot you had and look inside… Continue reading