WILL WRITE FOR COOKIES

INSIGHT – INFORMATION – INSPIRATION

FOR WRITERS

TODAY’S GUEST

MIRANDA PAUL

I met today’s Will Write for Cookies author a couple of years ago when I first discovered this incredible kid lit community. Friends told me about a website called RateYourStory that was run by a writer named Miranda Paul, where you could get a manuscript looked at by professionals – for free! I went, I saw, I fell in love…with the site, the service and Miranda herself. A passionate advocate for literacy and leader in the movement to encourage diversity in books, Miranda is a doer, not just a dreamer. She’s published more than 50 short stories for magazines and digital markets, and is the author of One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia, and Water is Water. Both were named Junior Library Guild selections. She is kind and generous and loving and a super smart mentor!

I’m so happy to have her here to share her thoughts with us.

Welcome, Miranda!

ME: Who were your favorite authors/illustrators when you were a child?

Miranda:

Shel Silverstein, Lois Lowry, and Roald Dahl. But seeing as how I never grew up, I think my current favorites also apply to this question. There are too many to name, but Jacqueline Woodson, Kevin Henkes, Kat Yeh, and Kadir Nelson come to mind. Or maybe those are just the ones that have “k” sounds in their names…

ME: What do you know now that you wish you had known when you first started writing for children? Continue reading →