If you’re an author, there is nothing more exciting, or daunting, than starting a draft of a new book. It’s like stepping onto the deck of a ship and heading out to sea for an undetermined amount of time. Months, maybe even years will pass by before you reach your destination called The End. You [...]
It seems like everyone has written a book these days. Becoming an author used to be an exclusive club only a lucky few could enter if they were deemed worthy by a highly picky and difficult to reach agent, who then had to convince an even pickier, loftier publisher. But once inside the hallowed walls [...]
If ever there was a year that could claim the title “Worse Year Ever!” 2020 is in the running! But as this year slowly crawls to a miserable end with no hopes of Christmas gatherings in sight, now more than ever it’s exciting to look forward to a brand-new year filled with possibilities and, with [...]
Welcome back to another month of The Iron Jaw, a monthly column on writing tips and finding inspiration. This month we are talking about writing series. As the author of four different children’s series, I can attest to my fondness for writing multiple installments of a story! Some of my all-time favorite books were part [...]
Every time I step into an Uber, the drivers invariably ask me what I do. When I say I am a writer, an excited look will come into their eyes, flicking back and forth from the mirror to the road, as if I am a magical creature they have snared. Next, in a somewhat hushed [...]
Have you ever stood in a bookstore with some other writer’s book clutched in your palm, seething with irritation that their book is sitting on the shelf while yours sits idle in some drawer or is buried deep in a slush pile, never to see the light of day? Worse, when you skim through the [...]
Welcome back to The Iron Jaw, a monthly column on the writing life. This month we’re talking about the editing and revision process. If you’re an author, you know that feeling you get when you type these final two words into your manuscript—The End. A sort of tingling joy runs through you, a sense of [...]
Welcome back to The Iron Jaw, a monthly column on the writing life. This month we will be talking about writer’s block. Let me preface by saying: there is no such thing as writer’s block. That’s right—it isn’t real. Writer’s block is an excuse, a convenient crutch, a way of explaining why you’re not writing. [...]
Welcome to The Iron Jaw—a monthly column on the writing life brought to you by me, Alane Adams. As a children’s author with ten books out in the world, I confess I’ve spent most of my life avoiding the one thing I wanted to do most—write stories. If you are an aspiring writer—this column is [...]