Writing With a Broken Tusk

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Writing With a Broken Tusk began in 2006 as a blog about overlapping geographies, personal and real-world, and writing books for children. The blog name refers to the mythical pact made between the poet Vyaasa and the Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha who was his scribe during the composition of the Mahabharata. It also refers to my second published book, edited by the generous and brilliant Diantha Thorpe of Linnet Books/The Shoe String Press, published in 1996, acquired and republished by August House and still miraculously in print.

Since March, writer and former student Jen Breach has helped me manage guest posts and Process Talk pieces on this blog. They have lined up and conducted author/illustrator interviews and invited and coordinated guest posts. That support has helped me get through weeks when I’ve been in edit-copyedit-proofing mode, and it’s also introduced me to writers and books I might not have found otherwise. Our overlapping interests have led to posts for which I might not have had the time or attention-span. It’s the beauty of shared circles—Venn diagrams, anyone?

Process Talk: Jasmine Warga on A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall
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Process Talk: Jasmine Warga on A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

At the ABA Children’s Institute in New Orleans this summer, I ran intoJasmine Warga and picked up an ARC of her middle grade novel, A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall. It’s a delightful middle grade that spins outward from the main character’s diffidence and self-deprecating humor to a theft at the museum where his mother works as a cleaner. The starred review in Kirkus calls it a “slowly unfurling delight.”

Here’s my email conversation with Jasmine about the book:

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Guest Post: Julianna Swaney on Illustrating Birds on the Brain
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Guest Post: Julianna Swaney on Illustrating Birds on the Brain

Birds on the Brain—Book II in what has now become the Book Uncle trilogy!—is out today from Groundwood Books!

When we first asked Julianna Swaney to tell us about the cheerful, lively art she’s created for the book, we hadn’t quite understood the extent to which her love of birds informed her work on this story. What a lovely surprise! Here’s what Julianna wrote:

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