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Name Game | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/26/name-game/comment-page-1

January 26, 2016. Here is something I’ve talked a tiny bit about in social media, and want to address with a few more words here: character names. Would you name your child the first name that occurred to you? For instance: My favorite dog-friend is a miniature Schnauzer whose name is Titan. That’s funny because he’s little. But it’s also meaningful, because his owner was obsessed with Days of Our Lives, and Titan Industries is the biggest corporation in Salem. Two reasons for one name! Speaking of Gale,...

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Okay! | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/01/02/okay

January 2, 2016. Where did it come from? The thing is, I can’t imagine what language, especially English, would sound like with out OK. It’s a bit of nonsense that caught on because we needed it, perhaps. What did people say before those wacky Bostonians got in there? No one was really saying all correct were they? Hey Stan, how about Netflix and chill tonight? Even, means so many things. But how did it permeate our language so fully? And why did it? And why, like bee’s. Will you go to prom with me?

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Beginnings Part 1 | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/beginnings-part-1

You know what’s the worst? When I read a query and it sounds AWESOME and then this happens:. I feel like I’ve been duped. I’ve been offered a story about a kid doing something extraordinary, and what I’m getting is. Which is like getting. When someone offers you a sip of cool, refreshing lemonade. And you know what happens if I can’t skim the bliz blaz to quickly find the real story? You know how They say to start in the action? Look for that thing that sets off a chain of events. Don’t be dense. You are...

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June | 2016 | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/06

How to Find an Illustrator. Writers: You definitely don’t need to hire an illustrator. Your vision is not the agent or publisher’s vision. Your manuscript could be brilliant, but even the best professionals have a hard time separating text from art sometimes. And sub-par art could mean turning down a perfectly decent manuscript. The friend who you hired isn’t really as great an artist as you think, which can make you both look unprofessional. But what are the exceptions? The friend you paired up with has...

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Slang. On. Fleek. | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/14/whatever-whatever

Slang On. Fleek. December 14, 2015. Obviously teenagers speak only in slang and to make the voice sound real in a manuscript, it needs to be littered with all the latest phrases, right? I see many writers take the extrapolation approach. They troll Urban Dictionary. And then double down. (And they may or may not be using slang correctly. I think about rolling my eyes at my own mother for trying to pull off. Back in the day.). I say, good show! Fancy a spot of tea, mate? Move yer bloomin’ arse! If I actua...

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Beyond the Great Whatever | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/beyond-the-great-whatever

Beyond the Great Whatever. March 8, 2016. A while back, I talked about slang. And how a little goes a long way. But I’d like to dig a little deeper into one of my personal pet peeves: the use/overuse of. Is crucial to the teenage language, is it not? It ends sentences. “It’s this old show or whatever”. It IS a sentence. 8220;Danica, do you hear me? 8220;Whatever.”. And that’s how kids sound. I understand that. But it’s not the. The time. The thing I find so upsetting about it is that. Fill in your detail...

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Niche Job | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/06/niche-job

There are lots of different kinds of publishing. Trade is the one most think of when they decide to write and publish a book. Who doesn’t want to see their book on an endcap at Barnes and Noble? Who doesn’t want to do a reading and sign copies at their local indie? Niche-market books take niche-market publishers to make them successful. Do your research before submitting. Find agents and editors who know that market well, and understand that many do not. I Like Big Buts (and Therefores). Middot; April 6.

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Heather Alexander | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/author/alexanderheather

Hey, That’s Funny! Funny is such a great tool when writing for kids. And the format of picture books is a natural fit for short form comedy. BUT (you knew that was coming). Many funny picture book manuscripts come across more like a sketch in a comedy show. That is to say, they have a beginning, middle, climax, and (in the place of a satisfying resolution reflecting some sort of growth) they have a punchline. Here are some that get it right. Give yourself a treat. Bob and Joss Get Lost. I YAM a Donkey.

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Pet Peeves! Part 1 | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/pet-peeves-part-1

I adore metaphors. They are the wind beneath my wings. I love descriptive writing. The sparkling dialogue reverberates through the whole history of my being like a breeze through the Redwood forest. Know what I don’t like? Eyeballs. Specifically ones that fall on things. You know what I mean. “My eyes fell on the hot guy in the corner.”. Eyeballs are always getting up to mischief, and it’s time we stopped them! 8220;His eyes slid down my dress.”. Share your favorite abuses of this one in the comments.

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Reading Queries Like | interrobangs

https://heatheralexanderblog.wordpress.com/2016/08/22/reading-queries-like/comment-page-1

I was browsing new books at a shop this weekend, picking them up, reading some flap copy, flipping to the text, and putting things back on shelves (or, for the lucky few, into my bookbag). It occurred to me then, and I can’t say why not before then, that the experience was very much like reading queries. You take the book home and dig in excitedly and either it is as wonderful as you’d hoped and you can’t wait to tell everyone, or it falls flat and you move on. Well then, surprise! Keep it in mind when y...