For middle readers…and adults who never grew up: The Owl Motel by Chuck Mallory
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Tag Archives: writing
Middle-Grader Road Grading
Why are middle-grade books my chosen writing genre? I’ve written middle-grade and young-adult fiction, and picture books (which I’ve tried to write; but can’t do it well). Somehow middle-grade plots, characters, and ideas are what populate my mind. Perhaps it’s … Continue reading
Posted in fiction, writing for children
Tagged diversity, kidlit, middle school, writing
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The Useful Cage
How the Storytelling Format Can Limit a Fictional Narrative Strategically As a writer who has created almost all of his fiction in third person limited, using a standard narrative format, I’m always exploring how established novelists use or misuse format … Continue reading
Posted in fiction, Librarians, writing for children
Tagged beverly cleary, books, diary, kidlit, Librarians, Library, reading, writing
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Love, a Dream, and a Theft
My Secret Relationship with Ursula K. Le Guin’s Mother by Chuck Mallory To understand, you need to know I grew up in a very small town in the 1960s. My mother was able to put me in first grade at … Continue reading
Posted in fiction, Librarians, Library, Ursula K. Le Guin, writing
Tagged books, fiction, Librarians, Library, Prodigy, Theodora Kroeber, Ursula K LeGuin, writing
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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
The Secret about Historical Fiction and Sci-Fi
Chicago is known for its long horrible winters, and being a writer and avid reader, I always have plenty to do indoors. However, sometimes the writing is arduous and you need a break. Then you get to that weird in-between-good-books … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Sci-fi
Tagged historical fiction, novel, old TV shows, sci-fi, Westerns, writing
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