Author Archives: kellybarnhill
Tonight! At Nokomis Library!
I’m giving a reading tonight (Tuesday! May 21!) at 6:30. I’ll read a little from JACK, a little from VIOLET, and a little from the new book, THE WITCH’S BOY. I also will be answering questions and going off on … Continue reading
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Tagged Childrens literature, Nokomis Library, princesses, reading, strong women in history
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On World-Building, Conferences, and Other Bits of Bookishy Goodness
This weekend is the Children’s and Young Adult Literature Conference at the Loft (located at Open Book, pictured above), and I have been having a wonderful time. Not only was the workshop that I presented right away at the beginning, leaving … Continue reading
Happy birthday, Mr. Baum
Today, the inestimable Anita Silvey on her wonderful blog discussed The Wizard of Oz, and instantly, and I felt my heart give a great leap. I don’t know about any of you, but I was an obsessive Oz fan as a kid – … Continue reading
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Tagged Anita Silvey, Childrens literature, l frank baum, Wizard of Oz
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The only reviews that matter.
I got two of the best reviews ever yesterday. I’ll tell you about them in a minute. I’ve been having this long-ranging discussion over the past few weeks with a number of writers over the utility and feasibility of avoiding … Continue reading
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Tagged Childrens literature, creativity, Review, The Writing Life
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Please play this video to all the fabulous, amazing, butt-kicking teachers in your life.
I think we need a new holiday. We can call it Make A Teacher A Delicious Cake Day. Or Give A Teacher A Pedicure Day. Or Hook A Teacher Up To A Wine I.V. Day. Something like that. Teachers rule. … Continue reading
First Lines (again)
Last week I started my long-term artist residency at Roosevelt High school, and it has been awesome. The kids are engaged, the teachers are passionate – it’s all you can hope for in a writers residency. I’m here today. It … Continue reading
Bevies of Boys
Here’s the thing about winter in Minnesota: we complain about it (and, thanks to social media, we now complain to an international audience), but secretly we love it. We love the challenge, we love the beauty, we love the thrill … Continue reading
In which Mysterious Things are observed in the forest.
Today, I took a long, sweaty run along the creek, past the falls, along the upper lip of the Mississippi gorge and onto the forested trail that leads to Fort Snelling. It’s one of my favorite runs and it was … Continue reading
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Tagged Fort Snelling State Park, Magical Realism, mysterious shoes
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Happy Birthday, Mom!
Today is my mother’s birthday. She is awesome. Here is a story that tells you pretty much everything you need to know about her: Back in the early nineties, when I was in high school, my parents took my sister … Continue reading
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Regarding Harper
I just wanted to give you guys an update on my crazy dog, Harper – who, as I have mentioned before on this blog, may or may not be 1,000 years old, who we brought to the wilderness of … Continue reading
The First Fifty Pages of the Middle Grade Novel
By the way, time is running out to sign up for my class at the Loft – starting on March 19. It’s called the First Fifty Pages of the Middle Grade Novel, which makes its topic and focus pretty self … Continue reading
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Tagged Childrens literature, Middle Grade Novels, writing classes
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Things that shouldn’t exist:
1. Splinters. Look. Splinters are jerks. You know it, I know it. Also, I think they secretly want to kill us. Which, let’s face it, is rude. We are in my house, as I have mentioned before, in a state of … Continue reading
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Theories Of Revision
I am, and have been for the last week, engaged in the revision of my new book, The Witch’s Boy. Actually, I’ve been engaged in a lot of things lately – new short stories, two new novels, a novella, a weird … Continue reading
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Tagged Algonquin Books for Young Readers, books, fiction, the writing process
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The strange Valentines of the long-married.
WHEN you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved … Continue reading
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Tagged love poem, marriage, Valentine's Day, William Butler Yeats
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An important question.
I am having one of those days when my heart is pulled in nine directions and my mind is pulled in fifteen other directions and my body is pulled to the edges of the universe and back again. I keep … Continue reading
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If those boys would stand still for five minutes, they’d write a damn good novel.
Leo and his friends are careening up and down the stairs, a cloud of knees and elbows and supposedly-brushed teeth and glinting blonde hair. They are making engine sounds and laser sounds and sounds of exploding nebulae (which, being a … Continue reading
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Tagged fiction is my job, parenting, raising boys, these kids are crazy, writing distractions
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In which some Cub Scouts take me down a notch or two.
Last night, I had my career, my integrity, my professional efficacy – nay, my very Self – called into question by a bunch of rowdy, eight-year-old Scouts. Usually, my darling husband (eagle scout, voyageur, jack of all trades and man … Continue reading
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Tagged Boy Scouts of America, Cub Scout, raising boys, writer-mama
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