All in the Family

Guest post
by Wendy Siefken

Our journey started back in 2009 when my son was still in high school. He was having trouble with school work in the form of being dyslexic and issues with cross modalities. Basically on top of all this, he hated school work. We tried for a long time to find a way to find something he was passionate about to help encourage him to do his homework and participate in school. We had an IEP or an Individual Education Plan in place that would help with the learning issues.

The one thing we found that Charlie did like to do was read books. He first discovered Christopher Paolini’s book Eragon and even though it was slow going the first time he read it, he liked it. He wanted to know more about the author and discovered that he was also a kid in school who had written a book and published it. Charlie was always coming up with story ideas for his journals at school. He would write the stories instead of the topic given.

The principal, at his wits end, finally gave him a challenge. The challenge was to write and publish a book. It had to include subjects such as language, math, history and geography. If we finished the book and it had these subjects he would get a pass/fail grade. He wouldn’t get an A or a B; he would just either pass the class or fail. Continue reading “All in the Family”

Collaborative Writing

Latest book by K.S. Brooks and Stephen HiseI’m on the verge of publishing my second creative collaboration with K.S. Brooks. Two years ago, if someone had asked me if I would be interested in any kind of collaborative writing project, I would have responded with a vehement NO.

I saw little benefit in such joint endeavors, but could easily see multiple perils. To clarify, I am not speaking here of anthologies, but about a collaborative creative process.

In late 2011, K.S. Brooks approached me about participating in a team writing project with her and two other authors, David Antrobus and JD Mader.

The initial idea stemmed from an observation Brooks had made about some of the really awful books out there that have done quite well in terms of sales. She thought it would be a fun and easy-to-do project – low pressure and low expectations. Continue reading “Collaborative Writing”