Learning from the Best: Inspiration & Craft

One of my all-time favorite books is The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo.   What I love about this book is the simplicity of the story, the almost lyrical-like language, and the heart and soul of each one of the characters.  These are the kinds of things that inspire me to write.  So, when I create my characters and develop my plots, I think about the literary excellence of books like The Tiger Rising.  And, it's my hope, that because of these amazing examples of storytelling, I am able to write a better middle grade book.

Besides inspiration, the nuts and bolts of my writing have been immensely improved by Martha Alderson's The Plot Whisperer.  Alderson's clear, concise way of teaching authors about story structure has given me an understanding of how to put the parts of a story together in order to make it strong enough to one day be a book.  

I will be forever grateful to Alderson for all that I have learned from her about writing, and I will always be thankful to all the authors like Kate DiCamillo who have inspired me to want to create books for middle grade readers.

Happy Reading!

Nancy