![]() “I had a bit of an emotional freak-out and decided that I needed to walk the writer walk, even if I never published anything. ![]() After years of working in practical (read: more likely to pay) fields like teaching and journalism, Cathleen Barnhart, author of the recent MG release THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS DO, made a now-or-never decision. As parents and teachers, we have a front-row seat for the fears, fandoms, and (in the case of MG readers) fart jokes that drive today’s youth.Īge can also bring a new sense of determination. Yet surely something has been gained along with the crow’s feet? For perspective, I surveyed several fellow debuts about stepping onto the kidlit stage as a non-ingenue.Īlthough our own childhoods are disappearing in the rearview mirror, many of us live and/or work with kids every day. In my day (gather round, kids!), colleges sent acceptance letters by mail, on actual paper – and once enrolled, you were almost certainly indoctrinated into the wrong wave of feminism. Far from being a digital native, I grew up blissfully free from the panopticon of social media. My pop culture references are from a different century. The whole idea of being a “debut” implies dewy newness, an awkward fit when your lived experience as a Gen X teen qualifies as historical fiction. ![]() ![]() This is not just a surface-level issue, regrets about skin elasticity aside. ![]()
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