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Buy: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Buy: IndieBound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
News and Events
Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings Features Muddy!
If you don't read this site, you need to! Always full of insightful and thoughtful commentary on philosophy, science, and everything in between. And, she likes Muddy! Click here to check out Maria Popova's post: The Heartening Illustrated Story of How Blues Pioneer...
Thorne & Cross’s Haunted Nights LIVE! Podcast Interviews Michael Mahin
Stillborn babies, picture books, and Tatum O'Neal!? How do they all fit together!? Follow the link to Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! to find out! What an awesome interview this was! I talk with the wonderful hosts of Haunted Nights LIVE!, Alistair Cross and...
Muddy Makes NPRs Best Books of 2017 List!
Um. We're on a list with Salman Rushdie. Yowza! Click here to see the NPR announcement and list.
Writer’s Block, Resistance, and The Art of Turning Pro
REVIEW: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield (Black Irish Books, 2012). Resistance is the name that best-selling author Steven Pressfield gives to writer's block and those things, both internal and external,...
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How to Fix Character Development Problems with Action Objectives
REVIEW: Getting Into Character: 7 Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins. [This is Part 2. Click here for Part 1.] Kurt Vonnegut has some great, snappy sayings about writing. Here’s one of my favorites: “Every character should want something,...
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7 Secrets Writers Can Learn from Actors
REVIEW: Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins (Wiley 2002). If you’re like me, character is tough. Sure, I can get a character sketch together, but it's hard turning that sketch into a living breathing person. Some...
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Why Writing Dreams Depend on Writing Goals
The single most important step in the realization of your writing dream is setting a goal. It’s for this reason that the process of goal setting figures prominently into the programs of every self-help/ life-coach everrrrrrrrrrrrr. Not an exaggeration. Check out the...
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Writing Picture Books with Ann Whitford Paul (Part 2)
Incidental vs. Cause-and-Effect Action: Do You Know the Difference? This is Part 2 of my look at Ann Whitford Paul’s Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation to Publication (Writers Digest Books, 2009). You can read Part 1, which is about the one...
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Michael is an award-winning children’s author and produced screenwriter whose books have been recognized by the New York Times, New York Public Library, NPR, Parent’s Choice, the California Reading Association, and the Jr. Library Guild among others. His recent PB When Angels Sing: The Story of Carlos Santana won illustrator Jose Ramirez the prestigious 2018 Society of Illustrator’s Original Art Gold Medal.
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News and Events
Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings Features Muddy!
If you don't read this site, you need to! Always full of insightful and thoughtful commentary on philosophy, science, and everything in between. And, she likes Muddy! Click here to check out Maria Popova's post: The Heartening Illustrated Story of How Blues Pioneer...
Thorne & Cross’s Haunted Nights LIVE! Podcast Interviews Michael Mahin
Stillborn babies, picture books, and Tatum O'Neal!? How do they all fit together!? Follow the link to Thorne & Cross: Haunted Nights LIVE! to find out! What an awesome interview this was! I talk with the wonderful hosts of Haunted Nights LIVE!, Alistair Cross and...
Muddy Makes NPRs Best Books of 2017 List!
Um. We're on a list with Salman Rushdie. Yowza! Click here to see the NPR announcement and list.
