ME AND WALTER DEAN MYERS

Last month in Baton Rouge at the Louisiana Book Festival, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with the current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Mr. Walter Dean Myers.

I loved listening to Myers' speech about children's literature, most especially the parts about his own life. (He dropped out of high school not once, but twice! And look where he is now!) He speaks to kids in a way that they can hear, because he WAS that kid.

Myers also had some great advice for writers. When asked about his writing process, he said he was very good at finishing books. Not all of them were good, or sale-able, but the man can get 'er done.

He also offered a method for determining whether a mere idea has enough potential for an actual full-length book: write a scene a day for 30 days. If you can write 30 scenes, it's a book!

So. Guess what I'm doing this holiday season? That's right: writing a scene a day. Today is day 7! It's not quite as loft a goal as you amazing NaNo writers, but hey, it's progress...........

Happy day to all of you, and thanks Mr. Myers for the inspiration!