by Jamie Chavez | Aug 20, 2015 | Authors & Other Writers
The childhoods of writers are thought to have something to do with their vocation, but when you look at these childhoods they are in fact very different. What they often contain, however, are books and solitude; and my own childhood was right on track. There were no...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 11, 2015 | The Book Biz
Three years ago I did a contrast-and-compare with middle grade fiction and young adult fiction. It was a really useful exercise for me. Since that time, there’s a New Kid in Town. Actually—a New Adult. You’ve probably already heard about it, but wondered how to...
by Jamie Chavez | Jun 25, 2015 | Your Editor Says …
With a convert’s proverbial fervor, I rushed pell-mell into the very heart of what I considered Babar’s unresolved problem: his mother’s death, of course. I never quite got over that death. The ease and remarkable calm with which de Brunhoff blighted the life of his...
by Jamie Chavez | Dec 6, 2014 | Books You Might Like
Earlier this week I took three packages to the post office and shipped them all at the ultra-cheap “book rate.” (It has its origins in the Founding Fathers’ belief in the freedom of the press.) Actually this rate is called Media Mail now: Small and large packages and...
by Jamie Chavez | Sep 6, 2014 | Authors & Other Writers, The Book Biz
The guys I hang out with certainly do. But parents and teachers (and data) will tell you their boys don’t read much fiction. There are lots of theories about it, but kids’ author Jon Scieszka (rhymes with Fresca)—a former teacher—was in Nashville recently for a...
