Tag Archives: Writer

Communication, General, Resources, School Media Specialist, Writing

Notable Date to Celebrate: April 10th is Encourage a Young Writer Day!

You probably already know that at CMLE, we offer a service called “Notable Dates for your Noggin” which feature special holidays and birthdays of authors, as well as publications of well-known books. In an effort to help you get more from this service, we’ve decided to select one “Notable Date” each month to feature. We will include a few fun programming and activity ideas too, all for you to use!

April 10th is Encourage a Young Writer Day.

There are lots of ways to encourage a young writer in your classroom, library, or life.  Check out these great gift ideas for young writers or find some neat journals from Amazon. If you’re feeling crafty, work together and make your own book to write in!

Looking for words of wisdom on the subject? This article is written from a homeschool perspective but has great suggestions for encouraging writing in kids of all ages. Check out what author Anne Lamott has to say to aspiring writers, or read this article specifically aimed at helping teen writers.

Of course, the best way to get kids writing is to make sure they read! Going to the library is probably the best encouragement of all! 🙂

Check this out:, CMLE, General, Guest Blogger

A spooky book recommendation!

A Guest Blog contribution from author Alisa Libby.

Alisa M. Libby has been writing stories since she first learned how to properly grip a crayon. Growing up in Natick, Massachusetts, she dabbled in other potential careers in her formative years (trumpet player, actress, astronomer, unicorn) but instead attended Emerson College for a degree in creative writing. While at Emerson she wrote numerous short stories about the “blood countess” of Hungarian legend, which years later evolved into The Blood Confession, her first novel. Fascinated by history, Alisa’s second novel, The King’s Rose, follows Catherine Howard and her brief marriage to King Henry VIII. Currently working on a new book, Alisa has recently moved to Attleboro with her husband and daughter.
the-blood-confession
Eek! A great Halloween read!

In honor of Halloween, I’m happy to share with you the origin of my first published novel, The Blood Confession. It’s appropriate for the time of year as it is, indeed, very bloody.

Growing up I had a tense relationship with horror novels and movies—my wild imagination and tendency toward insomnia could not match my intrigue. Often my bedroom light stayed on all night, while I was plagued by images from movies that seemed a great idea during daylight hours. Carrie, by Stephen King—Brian DePalma’s movie even more so than the book—traumatized me for a while at age 13. But I couldn’t help myself. Why was that prom queen covered in blood? I needed to see it, even if I would later regret it. Continue reading A spooky book recommendation! →

Academic, Check this out:, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Sinclair Lewis Writer’s Conference

Image by Nanagyei. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common's licensing.
Image by Nanagyei. Retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Common’s licensing.

On Saturday, October 12th the Sinclair Lewis Foundation of Sauk Centre will be hosting the 2013 Writer’s Conference. This full day conference will feature keynote speaker Jim Klobuchar; poet Joyce Sutphen; story teller Anthony Bukoski; along with author and literary agent Kim Connor.

Registration costs will cover attendance at the keynote address, a catered lunch and the reception held at the historic Palmer House in Sauk Centre, MN.

Register online before October 9th.