I’ve just finished reading Long Island by Colm Toibin, which is the sequel to Brooklyn. We meet Eilis Lacey in Brooklyn, when she is a young woman who leaves her home in Ireland for a chance at a new life in America, specifically in New York. She finds work, friends, love, and a new world…
All posts by Jill M Smith
Independent Reading: The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
The Year of Billy Miller is the first in a series about the Miller family, written by children’s picture-book author Kevin Henkes. Readers will follow Billy as he navigates second grade, with conflicts at school and at home that he must work through. Written for a young middle-grade audience, Billy’s day-to-day problems require him to…
Summer Reading: Painting the Game by Patricia MacLachlan
For the last weekend of the summer, I have a final suggestion for summer reading. Painting the Game by Patricia MacLachlan is a great choice if you’re running out of time and need to get one more book read. It’s a quick, action-packed, friendly book about a girl who wants to learn to throw a…
Writing Tip Wednesday: creating a hero readers will believe in
In his writing manual, The Secrets of Character, Matt Bird advises writers to create characters their audiences will believe in. This makes sense, doesn’t it? Why invest time and attention on a character you do not believe in? Matt (feels strange to refer to him as Bird) offers many devices and tricks to make main…
Writing Resource: The Secrets of Character by Matt Bird
I can’t say enough about all the advice Matt Bird crams into The Secrets of Character. This writing manual is full of tips, tricks, and examples for writers to use just within the first ten pages. That’s right, the first ten pages, because Bird knows that agents won’t read past that if they don’t love…
Summer Reading: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glasser
Another summer reading suggestion for you this mid-August Friday: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glasser. While set during the five days leading up to Christmas, this fun, family story will work nicely for a summer reading assignment. Five siblings, two parents, and a grouchy landlord make for one stressful week. The kids…
Summer Reading: Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt
Looking for another book to finish up summer reading? Consider a classic (published in 1981, so not too old) summertime story of four siblings walking across several states to their grandmother’s house, in hopes that she will let them stay. Cynthia Voigt’s Homecoming is a novel of resilience, self-reliance, loyalty, and belonging. Where is home?…
Writing Resource: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
There is much to say about Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, but today I will focus on one specific detail: assembling the troops. In her novel-writing manual, Brody breaks down the grand finale into five beats, or moments, so that writers have a checklist of sorts to follow. The first of these…
What I’m Reading: Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
Although published in 2014, I just finished reading Susan Crandall’s Whistling Past the Graveyard, and I loved it. It is one of the best books I’ve read in a while, comparable to Demon Copperhead and To Kill A Mockingbird, with a little of The Help thrown in as well. Starla is the nine-year-old protagonist and…
Reading for Reflection: Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Care Givers, Reading for Reflection, What I'm Reading, Writing InspirationLeave a Reply
Who among us has gone to the ocean and found peace, energy, joy, and rest? Any of us lucky enough to visit the coast, any coast, I would wager. We go to the beach not necessarily looking for an answer, but we find answers none the less. What will we feel? What will we learn…