African American Leadership Forum/Dress for Success

One of the amazing leaders I met at the forum!

One of the amazing leaders I met at the forum!

Thanks so much to Ann Dillard, an awesome educator making a profound difference in the lives of our youth.  I was honored to meet so many fabulous people at The African American Speakers Forum/Dress for Success.  As promised, here are some resources for the young writers I met:

Teenage Writers www.teenagewriters.com (contests and grants)

Loft Literary Center/ www.loft.org (workshops and classes)

Teen Ink/ http://www.teenink.com (magazine/books/website written by teens)

Writer David Barr Kirtley’s website: www.davidbarrkirtley.com/teenwriter/TeenResources.html

Hennepin County Library Bookspace: Minnesota Authors for Teens page: http://www.hclib.org/ (lots of local authors do free readings-go pick their brains about writing!)

Writing Circle for Teens offered by Intermedia Arts/ www.intermediaarts.org

Canvas-Art Based Teen Center in St. Paul/ www.canvas651.com

Addendum Books/ www.addendumbooks.blogspot.com (Young Adult Bookstore in St Paul)

Ancestry Books in North Minneapolis (coming soon!)


Writing Group Tips:

Find a group of people you trust!  That means you can take risks in front of them and feel safe sharing your work. 

Let your writing partners know what you need.  For example, you may need help with spelling, help building tension, or help making dialogue sound real.

Read your work out loud.  Sometimes you need a friendly ear.  Your work will sound different out loud than it does in your head. 

Ask them questions; listen to their feedback without defending your ideas or explaining what you were trying to do.  Take the ideas that help you move forward and leave the rest behind.

A Dream Come True!

At the Jane Addams Peace Association award ceremony I celebrated with Dolores Huerta: A Hero to Migrant Worker's editor Marilyn Brigham, and Illustrator Robert Casilla.  I met members of the association, some of the most inspiring and brilliant women in the world.  In the audience there were also some pretty impressive young people from the community.  Plus, my family came to cheer me on.  What a great day.

 

Robert and I sign books after the presentation.  

Robert and I sign books after the presentation.  

 Editor Marilyn Brigham, Illustrator Robert Casilla, and me!

 

Editor Marilyn Brigham, Illustrator Robert Casilla, and me!

The Amazing Kimberly Norman!

I want to introduce you to a new friend of mine.  Kimberly Norman is prolific author and an amazing ally in the writing community.  She helps her fellow writers by promoting our websites to folks interested in setting up school visits.  Isn't that awesome?  Check out her books.  They will make you laugh, sing and maybe even dance!  

Here is more information about Kim: 

Biography (from Amazon.com)

Kim Norman's children's books have been published by Dial, Dutton, Sterling and Scholastic. Her books have been well-reviewed in publications such as the New York Times and Publishers Weekly, and have been distributed in Scholastic Book Fairs and take-home Club fliers. Kim has built a national reputation as a school presenter, having done author visits in more than a hundred schools around the country.

Kim is an actress and singer, and has been known to practice her time step in a grocery line. Her books often feature animals, which were a big part of her childhood. Family pets included unusual critters such as a squirrel, an iguana and a raccoon named Danny.

She lives in Smithfield, Virginia, with the REAL Crocodaddy (her husband of more than 25 years.) They're the parents of two grown sons and the grandparents of one very large, shaggy Newfoundland. www.kimnormanbooks.com