"How is that working for the Amish?   I guess if I were going to de-emphasize any of our skills, reading would probably be one of the LAST things on the list.  Long before I'd cut out teaching kids to read I'd cut out texting,…"

"I think I understand what you're saying Jeff, but it's a hypothetical that is virtually impossible to create.  It would be like saying that our society once functioned perfectly well having phones in which you dialed up an operator…"

"I'm going to guess that this question is intentionally provocative to get responses, and it's working because I'm responding.  It's quite a lot easier to teach kids how to build and fix things if they can read instructions.…"

"I have done quite a bit of listening. I raised two of my own kids, but I also worked for ten years in an elementary school media center which is when I discovered that children's literature seemed to be my calling.  During that time I…"

"Wow, what a challenge Shelley.  Best wishes to your whole family as you continue to make your way through an almost uncharted terrain.   As for your question about how to write this I would strongly recommend attending a class or two about…"

"I agree with the comment about putting ourselves in the shoes of the kids who will be our readers.  That was exactly my frame of mind when I designed the series of early chapter books that I wrote.  I thought back to what really interested…"

"That is the myth, isn't it?  Trying to tell a compelling story in a very short format is extremely hard, and especially difficult is creating a story that both parent and child will want to read over and over again."

"Sharon - tell them a big, resounding "NO" to the question of whether the writer should hire an illustrator before pitching the book.  As in the example you gave, publishers want to have control over the look of the books they publish,…"

"Robyn, I actually prefer the second one because that scene in a cave, or tunnel, with stairs leading to some mysterious place completely draws me in.  That's the one that makes me want to know what that book is about."

"Very good point about short independents.  I have kind of boxed myself in by only thinking in terms of feature length - but just as you said about your town, here in the Twin Cities of Minnesota we have a ton of creative people who work in…"

"Three novels at one time is what I'd call a lot of balls in the air, but ultimately I find I work more efficiently when I've got several projects going at the same time.  There is something kind of refreshing about switching between…"

"Since you mentioned Withoutabox a couple of posts back I already searched it out and signed up.  I had never heard of that before and am excited to see that there is one place that is a resource for all of those contests and festivals.…"

"I'm just so excited for you.  I am a published author of children's books, but I would love to get back to screenwriter where I started this journey about 25 years ago.  Over the course of several years I wrote seven scripts and…"

"Bev - that is absolutely fantastic news!  Huge congratulations to you, and I'd love to hear the follow-up.  I assume your script was immediately swept up by a studio?  You're an inspiration to us all. I'm going to have…"

"My answer?  Yes.  Years ago I thought that my one and only interest as a writer was to write screenplays.  I couldn't imagine any genre that was more fascinating and had such a high reward factor (seeing your story end up on the…"