Greece is weighing heavily on my mind this week. Family over there will continue to struggle in these very difficult economic times, and these picture-perfect island streets may be uncomfortably empty during the summer tourist season, which will add to the miserable economic situation.

If it isn't a good time to go there physically, you may travel to Greece in your mind! Experience the adventure, sights, good food and unbelievable beauty of land and sea in my debut novel, The Lost Crown of Apollo. For kids ages 7-12.

By this week's end, I'm thrilled to be able to reveal the amazing, fun cover art of my novel set on the fabled islands of Mykonos and Delos.

The Lost Crown of Apollo is a boating adventure for kids ages 7-12, Climb aboard! This debut novel will be available at all the usual online locations and through Sunpenny Publishing group. Check out their blog at http://sunpennybooks.com

Willard the Dragon

Just like other dragons his age, Willard likes playing with friends and eating hot pepper jelly on firecrackers. Most of all, Willard likes a day of fun outside in the icy snow.

One winter day, Willard wakes up with a bad cold. Ah-ah-ah-chooo! He decides to go play with his friends instead of staying inside his snug Dragon Cave with Mother Dragon's special hot pepper-minted cocoa.

Sneeze-Fire! 

Ah-ah-ah-chooo! Willard's fun snow day melts into disaster when he can't control his fiery sneezes. His unhappy friends act colder than ice. Can everyone become friends again?

Sneeze-Fire will be released by 4RV Publishing in 2015

Check out more fun with Willard the Dragon at his very own blog! http://willardthedragon.wordpress.com

Sneeze-Fire will be available for sale at the 4RV Bookstore later this year!

http://www.4rvpublishingcatalog.com/

Speed Up Your Writing

Do not Pass Go, Do not Collect $100

What is the fastest way from Point A to Point C? Generally speaking, a straight line through Point B does the job. Like pawns in a board game, characters move from one point to another around the story—but their writers should be warned. Mobilizing a main character from the breakfast table to school to a post-game pep rally should not, literally, take all day.

Is it part of the game? If not, skip it. I’m a wordy writer. My first drafts are complicated affairs with blow-by-blow action determining what each limb is up to (“with one hand, the protagonist did x but with the other, he did y!) and so on. Boring! It is not necessary (or desirable) to report every turn of the doorknob between Point A and Point C (unless, of course, the knob-turning is a vital part of the suspense you are creating). Learn easy techniques for speeding up your scenes at my publisher's blog today! 4RV Publishing newsletter for writers and artists

The Lost Crown of Apollo

Climb aboard for the boating adventure of a lifetime!

A bad luck magnet on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Elias Tantalos gets stranded on a ruined Greek island with his kid sister and a sneaky old archaeologist. A (former) soccer star, Elias faces a tough decision when he finds he must give up the golden leaves of Apollo—a crown that promises lucky victories to its owner—as bait. Will it work to save his sister from a band of thieves robbing Greece of its ancient treasures? Or will the Crown of Apollo be lost to the world for another two thousand years?

The Lost Crown of Apollo by Suzanne Cordatos is set in the magical Greek islands and will be sailing your way next March through Sunpenny Publishing of the United Kingdom. Check them out! www.sunpenny.com

www.thelostcrownofapollo.wordpress.com

Little Free Library

That's a GREAT idea . . .

Little Free Library Movement

http://littlefreelibrary.org/

I stumbled across the Little Free Library Movement when searching online for a simple yet clever (world-changing) idea for my daughter's new club at Bacon Academy, her high school in Colchester, Connecticut. Erica joined a volunteer club this year which helps with local projects and wanted to make a bigger impact. With a friend she initiated a new club called International Causes. Their group aims to raise funds and participate in projects that will help various causes around the world. I am very proud of the hard work Erica is doing!

Started by someone in South Korea, the Little Free Library offers access to books for children and adults living in inner cities, towns, rural and remote locations around the world. The Little Free Library website offers pdf guides to download plans to build an official small take-one/leave-one library of your own. All that is needed is some recycled material, download info to make it "official" with a library steward, and you can register your Little Free Library's Google map online. Give it your own special, creative twist! Little Free Library also accepts donations toward building a library for a place in need in Africa. Check out Little Free Library's map of locations to see if one is near (or needed) near you!

Have you ever come across a Little Free Library? 

Thankful for . . . Writer Rejection

Now that we have come off our pie high by now (or shopper’s high, whichever is the closest to your Thanksgiving ritual)—and before we finish decorating for the holidays—let’s take a minute to reflect on our Thanksgiving thank-you list. Good health, check. Family and friends, check. No hurricane Irene or Sandy pounding the northeast in 2013? Check. 

Thankful TV commercials 

for Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over? 

Check.

I’ve got one more item to tick, but if you are the type of writer whose first drafts are snatched up by publishing houses you are excused from reading what comes next: I am thankful for writing rejections.

Writing is both a talent and a craft. Generally speaking, when one finds something easier to perform than others do without trying too terribly hard that thing becomes known as their talent. Singing, playing a sport, painting like Monet . . . skills can be developed, but some individuals have the basic knack from the get-go. 

On the other hand, activities such as following a recipe, folding origami, and crafting children’s hand- and footprints into angels or Rudolphs can be learned by anybody and done well after practicing with a good teacher. (By the way, if anyone wants tips on the angel or Rudolph, simply drop a comment!)

Truth is I’d be mortified if an editor or literary agent had actually taken me up on the earlier drafts of my work that I prematurely mailed with such eager beaver confidence. Most writers produce better work after several drafts, followed by suggestions from a critique partner or group, and then more editing for good measure until the writer would rather give up coffee than change a comma. Working hard to improve my craft has resulted in books that I will be proud to promote.

This year, I'm very thankful that a wonderful, growing Christian publisher in the UK, Sunpenny Publishing, is willing to take a chance on me. Look for The Lost Crown of Apollo to become a published novel for middle graders sometime within the next two years! Most thankful that Sunpenny is also taking on my twin sister's novel for kids, Bon Voyage, Sophie Topfeather, and our dream of promoting books together has a very good chance of coming true!

Need Characters?

Need Characters?

Attend your Summer Reunion!

If you are a writer holding an invitation to a reunion, what are you waiting for? RSVP YES!

Not only will you reconnect with old friends or family, but your attendance will be rewarded with a surprising roster of characters to add to your writing power!

I recently attended the staff reunion of a wonderful camp I worked for when I was a teenager. Those were the years in which we ran along the brink of life, deciding the biggies: what we wanted to do with our lives, where we would attend college, what values we stood for, who we wanted to love. They were exciting summers of goofy, spontaneous fun and deep conversations. Together, we enjoyed endless days of lakeside fun and evening songs to guitar-playing around bonfires.

A gold mine 

At the reunion it was a personal thrill to see those beloved faces and hear voices that remained familiar even after three decades of absence, but as a writer, it was a gold mine. When you see people daily, or yearly, changes are not so obvious. At a reunion, however, you have a clear picture in your mind how people were “back then” – and your writer’s mind can easily conjure the stories that might have happened "in between" when you see them in the "here and now." There were many surprises; those "most likely to succeed" weren't necessarily the ones who did. 

Personalities did not change; we slid into our old personas and friendships with very little difficulty (aided by the fact most of us didn't bring our kids!) What changed most was everyone's level of self-confidence. We had made those big, tough choices and knew ourselves pretty well, by now, even if lives were still in stages of transition or challenged in different ways. 

As a writer, I was fascinated by everyone's life choices. Most fascinating to me was how the common ground we had shared at camp remained a driving force in our lives. The smallest moments shared back then--even specific jokes--were recalled. It made me realize that every interaction we have with others might have a long-lasting impact that we cannot possibly imagine. 

Brainstorm your cast of characters

The next time I plan the cast of a new novel, I plan to think about where those characters have been, and where they want to go. Even if the story doesn't cover that long range of time, just knowing characters that well will help add details and depth to the book.

 Did you glean any new characters from your reunion trip?