FAQ
Wonderful question! I LOVE writing for children of all ages because this age range adores hearing a good story and being the person behind their bedtime stories/leisure reading is a true honor. However, my work is certainly not limited to only a younger audience.
My blog posts, which are primarily research articles on historical topics, are geared for an adult audience.
Yes! Unfortunately, there is no 'secret' to becoming a successful writer. Rejections hurt a lot, but you HAVE to keep trying. Writing is like playing soccer - if you keep kicking enough, you will eventually score a goal. My first novel, BEHIND MOUNT RUSHMORE, was rejected 122 times before I got my three-book deal with Vital Narrative. Imagine if I had given up after 100 rejections - I wouldn't be where I am now. No matter how tough your writing situation is, never, never, never give up.
Ever since I was a kindergartener, I loved telling my friends stories during recess. In later elementary school, I vividly remember telling my friends stories as we sat together around a big, yellow slide. Whenever our teacher blew her whistle to signal that recess was over, they'd say "No! We want to hear the ending, Darlene!"
At ten years old, I wrote a poem and it was published in an anthology called A CELEBRATION OF YOUNG POETS. At fourteen years old, I started writing a novel for the first time. By seventeen years old, I had written four novels, which I never sent out for possible publication, but these novels were definitely practice for my current, published novels. At eighteen, my first-ever short story was published in an online magazine called THE FOUR CORNERED UNIVERSE which sadly does not exist anymore.
So when specifically did I know I wanted to be a writer? Always. I always knew.