6 Reasons You Should Critique for Others While Revising

Did you miss me? I know I threw that four years of querying post out there and then deserted the blog for a couple of weeks. My family went to the Lake of the Ozarks, and then I had a week of craziness catching up with some deadlines. But I’m back! So, I’m in the…

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The Benefits of Reading Your Work Aloud Revisited

Yes, I have already posted on this topic–but it’s been two years. Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to believe I’ve been blogging long enough to decide to write on something only to find I already did. And in this case, when I looked back at my original post, I was actually pretty satisfied with what I…

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MMGM: THE SINISTER SWEETNESS OF SPLENDID ACADEMY by Nikki Loftin

Yay! I’m back to Marvelous Middle Grade Monday! Well, for this week anyway. I’ve been on a bit of a young adult kick lately since that’s what I’m writing at the moment. However, I managed to squeeze in a middle grade read last week, and it’s definitely worthy of a review. So here’s THE SINISTER…

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Review: CABIN PRESSURE by Josh Wolk

When I posted about research last week I was in the midst of reading a memoir for the first time ever. I’m definitely a fiction girl, so I would never have picked up this book without a strong incentive. I’m so glad I did. There were enough things about this book I loved that I’m…

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The Benefits of Reading Your Work Aloud

Do you ever hear advice and discard it because you don’t understand why you would do that? For me, one of those pieces of seemingly pointless advice was to read your work aloud. I didn’t understand what I would gain from an exercise that would take much longer than just reading the way I usually…

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MMGM: LIAR & SPY by Rebecca Stead

Hi there, MMGMers! I was on a bit of a YA kick there for a while, but I’m finally back with an MMGM review this week. I’ve had LIAR & SPY on my TBR list for a while. I loved WHEN YOU REACH ME (who didn’t?), so I was anxious to see how Rebecca Stead…

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MMGM: KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES with a giveaway!

Like everyone else who participates in MMGM, I anxiously awaited the release of MMGM founder Shannon Messenger’s debut novel, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES. I’m thrilled to say that it met all of my expectations and then some. And because I want to give back to Shannon the way she gives back to all of…

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MMGM: THE SECOND SPY

I’m so excited to share this book with you today because it’s the third in a series I really love. I’ve been waiting for the library to get on the ball and get this book in for two months. I even made a special trip to get it the day it came in. So really…

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MMGM: HECK: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO

Since my novel features the Devil in the title, it seemed appropriate for me to read HECK: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO. I was intrigued by the premise, and once I started reading, I thought it was just so darn clever … but I’ll leave that for my five things I loved. First, here’s the…

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