Despite swearing off of live-action-remakes-of-Disney-movies-that-really-didn't-need-to-be-remade-to-begin-with, Tech Support and I recently watched the new version of The Lion King. Which isn't even "live action" so much as "slightly more advanced animation," but whatever. Read More
If you're new to this column, we've spent the last couple months talking about the influence that our intended audience has on the way we approach a piece of writing, and now we're discussing purpose - the goal of ... Read More
I learned about Dr. Patricia Bath - ophthalmologist and laser scientist - while researching my children's book, Innovations in Health. Of all the people I profiled, she's one of my favourites. Bath was not just a woman in science, ... Read More
Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by great Canadian children's writers! Today, something a little different - my friend, author, actress, singer, knitter, and all-around-amazing-talent Melanie Gall, discusses one of our favourite books, by legendary Canadian author L. M. ... Read More
Did you miss the previous instalments in this series? Check the archives for posts on Martin Brenner, Sam Owens, and Dr. Alexei. Today, we're talking about my favourite character, never mind scientist, in all of Stranger Things: Mr. Clarke. Read More
As part of our preparation for writing a new piece, we need to think about audience - who we are writing for and how the knowledge and needs of that audience affect the way we approach our work. Figuring ... Read More
In honour of the recent, first-ever, all-female spacewalk, I thought I'd share three recent, amazing Canadian kids' books united by the theme of women in space. Read More
Warning, readers: I’m not a science writer. But like any scientist, I do incorporate research findings (of a sort) into my stories. Here’s one example that’s especially true of my most recent YA novel, Larkin on the Shore. When stories ... Read More
This is Part III in my series on the scientists of Stranger Things. Check the blog archive for thoughts on Martin Brenner and Sam Owens. Today, we take a look at everyone's favourite Russian scientist, Alexei! Read More
This will be our final column on audience (at least for now). So buckle up for a crash course on age levels in children's literature! First, a caveat: the categories I'm presenting here are not absolute. Different people use different ... Read More
Today, my guest is Tahrana Lovlin, brilliant woman and accomplished engineer... with an unusual specialty. Take it away, Tahrana! So I’m writing this because Lindsey asked me to and I’ve known her for almost 30 years (wow, crazy). And I’m ... Read More
A poet and illustrator once said to me, “Why don’t you stick to one kind of writing? You’re all over the place. You should write one kind of book and brand yourself.” It’s true. I write in many genres— picture ... Read More
And we're back for another look at the scientists of Stranger Things. Today, Dr. Sam Owens, successor of the horrible Martin Brenner, new head of Hawkins Lab. Read More
Last time, we discussed the special, double audience that we have to consider when writing a class assignment for a teacher. Hopefully that advice will help all the students that have now gone back to school! The audience* for ... Read More
Today, we're talking to Dr. Linda Campbell of Saint Mary's University. I worked with Campbell at SMU, and she's passionate about both her science and science communication, so she's a perfect fit for this blog! Read More
Back in 2015, I became involved in refugee sponsorship when I joined a group sponsoring a Syrian family with four small kids. It was a great experience. In fact, this first sponsorship led me to start three more sponsorship ... Read More
Time to get a little... strange... over here, with a series of posts about the scientists* of Stranger Things. We're going to start with Martin Brenner, the true Big Bad of Season One, and a textbook example of one ... Read More
Listen up, students, because this edition of Teach Write is all for you: today, we continue our exploration of audience with a critical one: teachers. When teachers give us writing assignments, they are trying to measure two things: Read More