Ellen Leventhal | Writing Outside the Lines

08 Apr Author Cynthia Surrisi

Posted at 13:58h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, kid lit, middle grade, picture books, publishing, revision, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 2 Comments

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I am thrilled to highlight the versatile, talented, and all around wonderful author, Cynthia Surrisi. I "met" "Cynthia in The Best 2018 Picture Book Release Group Ever", and I'm glad I did. Sit down, grab a cup of coffee and a cookie, because Cynthia has...

02 Mar Nancy Takes Her Shot! An Interview with Nancy Churnin

Posted at 02:12h in authors, bullying, children's literature, diversity, kid lit, marketing, non-fiction, picture books, publishing, revision, Uncategorized by Ellen Leventhal 2 Comments

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A few years ago, I was fortunate to meet fellow Texan, Nancy Churnin, while at Kristen Fulton’s WOW retreat in Georgia. I knew that Nancy had written a book about a Deaf baseball player, and I was intrigued. I couldn’t wait to meet her. The...

31 Oct Author, Jenna Grodzicki

Posted at 21:28h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, kid lit, picture books, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 5 Comments

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Today, Jenna Grodzicki popped in to visit. I first met Jenna at Kristen Fulton's WOW retreat in July 2016. I clearly remember talking to her on a shuttle on the way into town. She was telling me about her upcoming book, Pixie's Adventure, and I was...

03 Oct Unnatural Disasters and Children’s Stories

Posted at 18:10h in children's literature, failures, floods, Houston, kid lit, Texas, Uncategorized by Ellen Leventhal 5 Comments

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Show of hands. Anyone else find it hard to keep going? I know, I know. So many of us, right? It’s been a difficult month. Earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, and floods. Natural disasters of great magnitude. I can speak for Houstonians when I say that we...

28 Sep Author, Melissa Stoller

Posted at 18:36h in authors, chapter books, children's literature, critique groups, Houston, kid lit, publishing, revision by Ellen Leventhal 5 Comments

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Since Horrible Hurricane Harvey decided to pay an uninvited visit to Houston, I have been trying to keep my head above water (pun intended). I was stuck in flood mode for a long time, but happily last weekend, I went to the N. Texas SCBWI...

04 Aug Love Your Story

Posted at 03:01h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, failures, kid lit, middle grade, non-fiction, picture books, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 11 Comments

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A group of writers and I are reading a wonderful book called Fearless Writing by William Kenower. I won't say it has been life changing, but I will say it has made me look at my writing and other parts of my life in a...

09 Jul Author Laura Clement

Posted at 17:09h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, kid lit, picture books, publishing, revision, writing by Ellen Leventhal 5 Comments

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One of the best things about the kid lit community is meeting so many other like minded people. It gives me great pleasure to highlight these talented people, and today I am introducing you to fellow "Spork Sister," Laura Clement and her adorable book, Egg....

09 May Ten Year Anniversary! But Why?

Posted at 01:27h in authors, children's literature, kid lit, marketing, picture books, publishing, reflection, revision, writing by Ellen Leventhal 2 Comments

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People always ask me why we “reinvented” Don’t Eat the Bluebonnets and published a new version. After all, it was a good story. It’s a great question that deserves a great answer. So I'll try to answer it as best I can. We really liked the old...

02 Mar #50PreciousWords

Posted at 20:17h in authors, children's literature, Dr. Seuss, kid lit, picture books, publishing, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 10 Comments

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It's time! It's here! It's short!! In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, Vivian Kirkfield has challenged writers to write a short (very short!) story using only fifty words. Did you know that Green Eggs and Ham has only fifty words? Well, only fifty unique words. Dr. Seuss shuffled and repeated them...

24 Feb Author Debbie Levy

Posted at 14:26h in authors, children's literature, kid lit, non-fiction, picture books, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing by Ellen Leventhal 1 Comment

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As someone who is trying to break into non-fiction writing for kids, I have been reading as many non-fiction books as I can get my hands on. I am amazed at all the wonderful titles out there! When I happened upon Debbie Levy's I Dissent,...