The WIP and I Take a Roller Coaster Ride

by | Jul 29, 2013 | Blog, Writing

I am about half way through the first draft of my WIP, a Middle Grade adventure about a boy with learning disabilities who has left a science project until the last minute, the last minute being a family reunion during Spring Break at a castle in Switzerland.  I...

Stop Pretending……by Sonya Sones

by | Jul 22, 2013 | Blog, Mental health

When I was finishing my forthcoming novel, CRAZY, someone suggested that I should read STOP PRETENDING….what happened when my big sister went crazy.  I did read it with interest, and as my own book marches its way to publication, I recently reread it with even more...

Dyslexia and a Mother’s Intuition

by | Jul 8, 2013 | Blog, Mental health, Writing

Recently I have featured a few Middle Grade books that present protagonists with learning disabilities who reach a turning point after which we know that life is going to be more manageable going forward.  (see Another Struggling Reader in Close to Famous;Eleven:...

Eleven: Another Look at a Reading Disorder

by | Jun 17, 2013 | Blog

In my continuing effort to discern how learning differences have been featured in literature, I enjoyed reading Patricia Reilly Giff’s book, Eleven.  Sam is just turning eleven and can barely read. As he puts it,  “words look like spiders flexing their thin legs...

POETRY THERAPY

by | Jun 10, 2013 | Mental health, Writing

My debut novel originated from poems that were written as a catharsis, my own peculiar way of healing years of unanswered questions and unresolved angst over my mother’s mental illness.  In my teaching years, I saw some of the best student poetry emanate out of...

CELEBRATING JOEY PIGZA

by | Jun 3, 2013 | Mental health, Writing

I’ve taught middle grade students with ADHD and I’m working on a book whose protagonist has it, so of course I am reading all the fiction and nonfiction I can get my hands on that pertain to this subject.  At the bottom of this post I have listed a few...

A BIRD AND A BAD DAY

by | May 27, 2013 | Writing

I’m currently stuck.  No, not the kind that requires a generous dose of Phillips Milk of Magnesia. The other kind, better known in these circles as writer’s block.  Since one of the symptoms of this dreadful scourge is a wandering mind, I have been wasting...