One of My Favorite Authors

In case any of you out there haven’t caught it yet, I love the author, Wendelin Van Draanen’s writing. I’d give anything to be as great a writer as she is. Last year, when a friend and I were reading aloud one of the most recent Sammy Keyes book, we got to this part where Sammy has a fly up her nose and she’s trying to get it out. She describes the whole experience in depth with every last gory detail. My friend and I were laughing so hard, I was crying. I kept thinking to myself, here is a woman who has had a fly up her nose at some point in her life. Only the way Van Draanen writes about this experience, it becomes a comedic adventure worthy of the stage. As a writer, I despair of ever being even the smallest bit as entertaining as Wendelin, but I keep striving anyway.

Wendelin is having her book Flipped (another of my favorite books!) made into a movie this summer. (opening bout the same time my book will be released!) I found this blog entry on her site explaining how a book is transformed into a movie and how much work goes into such an undertaking. It was so fascinating I thought I’d include a link here for anyone who is curious about how these things work.

http://etrtr.blogspot.com/2009/09/thats-what-i-call-cosmic.html

After reading all of that, I'm not sure I'd want any book of mine made into a movie. So much work! If you have not read Flipped, run out and get yourself a copy as soon as possible—it is a fantastic story. And the book is always better than the movie.

And for those who are fans of Sammy Keyes, like I am, I’m including a link that talks about the publishing process an author has to go through in creating a book. If you have ever considered becoming an author, this is a realistic look at how much work goes into the creation of a story.

http://etrtr.blogspot.com/2009/09/thats-what-i-call-cosmic.html