I’m happy to announce my next workshop with Whale Rock Literary Workshops. I’ll be co-teaching a workshop on social-emotional writing in fantastic literature with US author and poet Laura Shovan. Please check out her latest book – a children’s poetry collection called Welcome to Monsterville. My books with monstrous characters and social-emotional themes include my picture book Sour Cakes and my novels Monster vs. Boy and Bog.
Addressing the Monster in the Room: Social-Emotional Writing in Fantastic Literature
Dates/Times: Sept. 21 and 28 at 7:30 to 9:00 pm ET (two sessions) Cost: $60 US Delivery: Online with sessions recorded for later viewing
Ursula Le Guin writes in Cheek by Jowl, “What fantasy often does that the realistic novel generally cannot do is include the nonhuman as essential.”
Monsters of all sorts live in our dreams, embodying our deepest emotions. They are guides to our truth and, as such, they play a huge role in social-emotional development. While realistic fiction centers the intricacies of humans, fantastic fiction is the imagination on fire, exploring shadow versions of our world and breathing life into our inner monsters. Stories about monsters – whether they appear in a game of Dungeons and Dragons, in a poem, or in a work of fiction are essential, especially in our post-pandemic times. They help readers and listeners better understand how to manage emotions, develop healthy identities, feel empathy, and show support for others.
This two-session workshop will ask four key craft questions to help you incorporate the monstrous into your writing. What is your protagonist’s relationship to the monstrous? What are your monster’s physical, emotional, and/or magical character traits? What metaphors or image systems define your monster and why? Does your monster live alongside our real world or has the protagonist crossed into the monster’s world? Our goal is to deepen your work’s social-emotional themes, offering you and your reader an opportunity to better understand the heart, mind, and spirit.
This Workshop Is For You If
You are drafting or revising a picture book or novel with a monstrous theme and/or character.
You are seeking to deepen your monstrous character(s) (widely defined as invented creatures of any kind).
You’d like to explore how monsters in fiction support social-emotional learning and themes.
To register, go to the Whale Rock website. While you’re there, please also check out their many wonderful offerings for new, emerging, and established writers for children and youth. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Whale Rock newsletter!
I’m excited to be heading to the July 21 to 29 residency for the Vermont College of Fine Arts as a Teaching Assistant in the Picture Book Intensive semester! This will be the first time the residency happens in Colorado Springs – a huge transition for everyone. I’ll be working with faculty member Loree Griffin Burns to support the students during residency and for the rest of the semester too. I’ll also be delivering a lecture and reading. It’s a great opportunity for me to learn more about how to mentor children’s writers. I’ve been prepping my lecture, and I can’t wait to share it. Plus, it’ll be wonderful to soak up all the wisdom and creative energy of an in-person residency. I’m especially excited to connect with my fellow Teaching Assistant Laura Obuobi, author of the fabulous picture book Black Gold, and to see so many friends deliver their graduating lectures. These writers are brilliant, folks.
Here’s my lecture topic. If it’s available to the public, I’ll be sure to share a link:
Generating Story Approaches: How Else Can You Tell It?
You’ve written a good story, or you have a good story idea. How can you make it great? One way is to improve the writing craft skills you’ll need to write it. Another is to consider the optimal approach to writing it. Taking the time to generate and assess alternative story approaches at the start of your writing process and during revision can elevate a good story to greatness. This lecture will explore the process of generating alternative story approaches using mentor texts as our guides.
Reading in Colorado Springs: Monster vs. Boy
While I’m in Colorado, I’ll also be visiting local bookstore Tattered Cover for a reading and presentation of my new middle-grade novel Monster vs. Boy, which will be published on July 11. If you’re around and available, I would love to see friends there!
When: Saturday, July 29 at 6 to 8 pm Where: Tattered Cover Book Store, 112 N. Tejon St, Colorado Springs
I’m busy prepping my upcoming presentations for Canadian Children’s Book Week 2023! From April 30 to May 6, 2023, I’ll be touring along with many other talented creators (25 authors, 6 illustrators, and 1 storyteller in total), sharing our love of reading with young people in schools, libraries, and homes across Canada. Here’s the full list of touring creators, including where each will be. I’ll be touring in-person in Ontario, and I can’t wait. Check out the gorgeous Book Week poster below, illustrated by Jeni Chen, who will be touring virtually in Ontario and Manitoba. Thanks to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and their sponsors and partners for helping to connect kids with books!
Many thanks to Anne-Marie Strohman for her insightful writing-craft review of my picture book One Tiny Bubble, illustrated by Dawn Lo. Anne-Marie and I both attended the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she is certainly a writer to watch.
In her article, Anne-Marie looks at how my writing choices pull the reader into the story of LUCA – our Last Universal Common Ancestor – through the use of direct address, invitation to the reader, kid-friendly comparisons, alliteration, repeated sequences, and more. She begins:
“Non-fiction books are meant to provide information to young readers. But many non-fiction books also tell the reader a story. And some of the best non-fiction books go the extra mile to pull readers into that story. Exhibit A: One Tiny Bubble: The Story of Our Last Universal Common Ancestor by Karen Krossing.”
You can sign up for the KidLitCraft newsletter for more great content.
I first crossed paths with Anne-Marie Strohman when we both attended the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), and I quickly learned that she is an insightful writer and a fabulous community organizer. It was an honour to be interviewed by Anne-Marie on KidLitCraft, especially because she asked so many thoughtful questions. We discussed writing inspiration, what I learned at VCFA, writing quests, and more. Please take a look, and don’t forget to sign up for the KidLitCraft newsletter for more great content.
