Coming back to a blog after an unexplained absence is like opening up the doors to your childhood home after a few decades. It’s so familiar, and yet a little eerie, since it’s oddly unmarked by the passage of time. So instead of some big comeback post, I just wanted to say the following:
- I’m not dead! (Thank goodness!)
- I have taken the last six months or so to help my husband open up a restaurant in my adopted hometown of Minneapolis, MN.
- There are new editorial services on my freelance website, namely the option for a synopsis overhaul (feedback on your idea before you sit down to write it all out) and a reader report (my eyes on your entire manuscript, but more condensed feedback, which renders the service more budget-friendly).
- Look for more writing and publishing posts here soon.
Maybe it’s the leaves turning golden outside my window, but I feel like change and progress are in the air. I’m excited to think more deeply about craft, as I’m always inspired to when composing posts for the blog. The publishing world has changed since I left agenting in 2013, but really, it hasn’t. There have been trends that come and go, and the usual mergers/acquisitions, and whispers about the viability of this genre or that, but the soul is still intact, no matter how much everyone cried “Doomsday” about ebooks and the recession and shrinking advances and dwindling attention spans.
The reality remains that there’s always room for good stories, and there is an entire industry of people who are hungry to acquire them and bring them to readers.
The world at large has changed, there’s more conflict and suffering, more joy and hope, and I think that our stories are reflecting a more authentic reality that’s compelling to young readers. More now than ever, it’s important to honor our collective humanity and reality, even as we’re wrapping it in a blanket of fiction.
What does it mean to write children’s and young adult books in 2015? 2016? Beyond? Let’s figure it out together. I was gone for a while, and now I’m back.
Great to have you back, Mary. Thought you were gone from us forever!
Loved your book, WRITING IRRESISTIBLE KIDLIT, and have always enjoyed your helpful articles here.
Keep up the good work!
Welcome back, Mary! Good to see you again. I look forward to reading more of your fantastic and helpful posts. And I hope the restaurant is a great success. 🙂
This has always been one of the very best blogs about both the craft and the business of writing. Glad you’re back!
WELCOME BACK!! I’ve been checking the site every now and again, missing you. But I never gave up…which is why I get to comment today. Thanks for not forgetting us. We love you….and need you.
Hey Kole,
Didn’t notice you were gone … just kidding;) Missed your wise words. Welcome back!
Missed your insights, Mary. Back in the saddle (writing chair) – reading and learning from you again! Welcome back.