Virginia sunshine

If every kid in America went to a place like St. Paul’s School for Girls, our country would be just fine. Wow. Genuinely nice people, teachers who know and care deeply about their students, kids who respect themselves…. and a dance studio. I spoke to all the students in grades 8-12, and in the evening, I spoke to a mostly adult audience with Annie Young, who was the driving force behind the SPEAK movie.

This morning I took a cab, a train, another train, and another train to get to Virginia. (Public transportation is one of the things I miss out in the country.) The energetic and talented Linda Holtslander picked me up and gave me a drive through the Virginia countryside on a perfect fall day. Tomorrow I’ll be speaking in various places in Loudoun County, thanks to the public library system here.

Thanks to everyone who shared their work based on the hotel room writing prompt. It was very cool reading them.

Be sure to check out the new homepage at Writerlady.com. Theo Black, my Web God, just redid it for autumn. (Not only is this guy a genius, but he has great taste in women: his wife is one of my favorite authors, Holly Black. Read her books!)

54 Replies to “Virginia sunshine”

  1. Do you ever read YA books? Do you feel that revision is important in writing a novel? One author mentioned in her blog that she loathes rewriting. She writes her books within a month. Not that her books are very good in the first place, but do you feel some authors are creating fast food literature?

  2. Do you ever read YA books? Do you feel that revision is important in writing a novel? One author mentioned in her blog that she loathes rewriting. She writes her books within a month. Not that her books are very good in the first place, but do you feel some authors are creating fast food literature?

  3. Do you ever read YA books? Do you feel that revision is important in writing a novel? One author mentioned in her blog that she loathes rewriting. She writes her books within a month. Not that her books are very good in the first place, but do you feel some authors are creating fast food literature?

  4. I think the site looks so pretty very seasony very nice touch using the cover of the speak dvd

  5. I think the site looks so pretty very seasony very nice touch using the cover of the speak dvd

  6. I think the site looks so pretty very seasony very nice touch using the cover of the speak dvd

  7. Gorgeous web site.
    Whenever I clicked on book covers, it returned a 404 page.
    Love the leaves and stones, great work…and the books are nice too!
    Angela Fox

  8. Gorgeous web site.
    Whenever I clicked on book covers, it returned a 404 page.
    Love the leaves and stones, great work…and the books are nice too!
    Angela Fox

  9. Gorgeous web site.
    Whenever I clicked on book covers, it returned a 404 page.
    Love the leaves and stones, great work…and the books are nice too!
    Angela Fox

  10. No, I do not read many YA books. That’s because I am almost always writing a YA book and I need to keep the voices of my characters clear in my head and uninfluenced by others.

    I think revision is the most important part of the writing process. Inspiration is a good thing and it’s fun to unload all your ideas on the page. But without craft – the tools of revision, i.e. pacing, structure, setting, theme, etc., one tends to end up with a mess.

    I am stunned that anyone could write a book in a month, but I would not dream to judge that. Maybe it works for her, although you don’t seem too impressed with the end product.

    Are some writers creating fast food literature? Great question. All genres have books that are a bit fluffy, that are simple stories without much desire to be literature, stories with deeper themes and memorable characters. Maybe that’s what you are referring to. I have rarely met an author who can produce an interesting book in fewer than nine months.

  11. No, I do not read many YA books. That’s because I am almost always writing a YA book and I need to keep the voices of my characters clear in my head and uninfluenced by others.

    I think revision is the most important part of the writing process. Inspiration is a good thing and it’s fun to unload all your ideas on the page. But without craft – the tools of revision, i.e. pacing, structure, setting, theme, etc., one tends to end up with a mess.

    I am stunned that anyone could write a book in a month, but I would not dream to judge that. Maybe it works for her, although you don’t seem too impressed with the end product.

    Are some writers creating fast food literature? Great question. All genres have books that are a bit fluffy, that are simple stories without much desire to be literature, stories with deeper themes and memorable characters. Maybe that’s what you are referring to. I have rarely met an author who can produce an interesting book in fewer than nine months.

  12. No, I do not read many YA books. That’s because I am almost always writing a YA book and I need to keep the voices of my characters clear in my head and uninfluenced by others.

    I think revision is the most important part of the writing process. Inspiration is a good thing and it’s fun to unload all your ideas on the page. But without craft – the tools of revision, i.e. pacing, structure, setting, theme, etc., one tends to end up with a mess.

    I am stunned that anyone could write a book in a month, but I would not dream to judge that. Maybe it works for her, although you don’t seem too impressed with the end product.

    Are some writers creating fast food literature? Great question. All genres have books that are a bit fluffy, that are simple stories without much desire to be literature, stories with deeper themes and memorable characters. Maybe that’s what you are referring to. I have rarely met an author who can produce an interesting book in fewer than nine months.

  13. If every kid in America went to a place like St. Paul’s School for Girls, our country would be just fine.

    I’d think that would be a little hard on the boys, but maybe they need it!

  14. If every kid in America went to a place like St. Paul’s School for Girls, our country would be just fine.

    I’d think that would be a little hard on the boys, but maybe they need it!

  15. If every kid in America went to a place like St. Paul’s School for Girls, our country would be just fine.

    I’d think that would be a little hard on the boys, but maybe they need it!

  16. wicked cool new website. thanks for commenting about my Room 230(Next to the Kitchen) poem. I have very little faith in my writting and your kind words are really helping me along to keep writting. Thank you so much! Sounds like you’ve been busy traveling…

  17. wicked cool new website. thanks for commenting about my Room 230(Next to the Kitchen) poem. I have very little faith in my writting and your kind words are really helping me along to keep writting. Thank you so much! Sounds like you’ve been busy traveling…

  18. wicked cool new website. thanks for commenting about my Room 230(Next to the Kitchen) poem. I have very little faith in my writting and your kind words are really helping me along to keep writting. Thank you so much! Sounds like you’ve been busy traveling…

  19. library

    Thank you very much for coming today, i really love your books. I cant believe that u didnt want to go to college. And that was funny when u threw the t-shirt to my friend and it hit me in the face. u told me and the rest of my 8th grade classmates to go here, so here i am!

  20. library

    Thank you very much for coming today, i really love your books. I cant believe that u didnt want to go to college. And that was funny when u threw the t-shirt to my friend and it hit me in the face. u told me and the rest of my 8th grade classmates to go here, so here i am!

  21. library

    Thank you very much for coming today, i really love your books. I cant believe that u didnt want to go to college. And that was funny when u threw the t-shirt to my friend and it hit me in the face. u told me and the rest of my 8th grade classmates to go here, so here i am!

  22. the Blacks

    Holy chow I love Holly Black! I read her books Tithe and Valiant and they just blew me away! (I still love your books even more, so fear not) I had no idea it was the same Theo Black, her husband, who did your page (it looks fantabulistic, btw). That’s so cool, and it makes sense that two people so awesomely creative would be drawn to eachother. Neat!

  23. the Blacks

    Holy chow I love Holly Black! I read her books Tithe and Valiant and they just blew me away! (I still love your books even more, so fear not) I had no idea it was the same Theo Black, her husband, who did your page (it looks fantabulistic, btw). That’s so cool, and it makes sense that two people so awesomely creative would be drawn to eachother. Neat!

  24. the Blacks

    Holy chow I love Holly Black! I read her books Tithe and Valiant and they just blew me away! (I still love your books even more, so fear not) I had no idea it was the same Theo Black, her husband, who did your page (it looks fantabulistic, btw). That’s so cool, and it makes sense that two people so awesomely creative would be drawn to eachother. Neat!

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