Stacy Ann Nyikos's Blog
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May.01.2009
Do people come up to you and ask you to tell their story? Do you walk away from school visits with loads of new story ideas that kids give you like sticks of gum? Do adults drop hints about stories you could work on?
What about your family? Are they the worst of all?
You might be a writer if...you...
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Apr.27.2009
Thank God it's Monday.
I never thought I see myself saying, thinking or writing that. I usually long for the weekend. I spend my weekdays in my office slaving at the computer, storytelling, and I really enjoy turning my brain off on Friday. However this weekend...yeesh.
It all started Saturday...
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Apr.24.2009
Rousseau cautioned in his writings that the way to true happiness was to walk the middle path, virtu, not too much of one or the other.
I wonder sometimes if his advice was self-directed. I mean, he was a writer and a philosopher, the double whammy. The likelihood of falling down Alice's...
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Apr.20.2009
I'm a little ahead of the rolling current this week, which is something. I'm usually trying to swim to keep up with it. Not this week. This week it's Earth Day. That's a big day for my kids. They go to a Montessori school, which hopefully explains A LOT.
Earth Day is a major event at their school....
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Apr.17.2009
Where do you get those ideas? Wide-eyed, mouths open, kids ask me this at least five times a day at a school visit. Let's face it, so do my friends. Until they read my books. My friends, that is.
The answer I give? Ideas are all around us. You just have to listen and choose the ones that speak...
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Apr.13.2009
The sun was out. The weather warm. And the flowers blooming. It was a perfect day for a lemonade stand on Saturday, and my kids were all over it. Over the last year, they've become lemonade stand pros. They have their own stand, their own company name, they even sell cookies to spice things up a...
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Apr.10.2009
This week the weather has been all over the spectrum in Oklahoma. We've gone from low 20s to high 80s all in one week. And all while I'm in the middle of a work in progress. I wouldn't have noticed the weather swings if it hadn't been for the fact that they've made me think about what I'm wearing....
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Apr.06.2009
Ah, it's that time of year again. Time to roll up my sleeves, pull out every cleaner known to man, and delve into the muck and grub that's accumulated over the last six months of wintry weather, as well as de-clutter.
Yes, it's time for Spring Cleaning. I never know when the mood will hit, or where...
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Apr.03.2009
There is nothing scarier to a writer than an empty page and an incessant, blinking cursor. Well, except maybe one-upping yourself.
You're only as good as your last book, after all.
Yet, how far will a writer go to improve? We all go to conferences, sign up for workshops, even take online courses...
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Apr.01.2009
This month for the Book Review Club, I curled up with Michael Chabon's, Summerland. I chose the piece because I'd never read anything by Chabon. Simple as that. I didn't know he'd won the Pulitzer Prize before choosing the book. I also (guilty cough) didn't know how good-looking he is. Wow. A good-...
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Mar.30.2009
Saturday was that time of year again, time for the annual Oklahoma SCBWI Spring Conference. When did time start to rush so?
This conference was one of the best I've ever attended. Despite the downturn in the economy. Despite the massive lay-offs within the publishing industry. And in our case,...
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Mar.24.2009
Last week was Spring Break, that glorious one week in the Spring when kids get out of school, parents get to sleep in, and there may - if I'm lucky - even be a little adventure. This year, I was in luck. I spent the week in Charlottesville, Virginia, one of my old haunts. I love to get back to C-...
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Mar.16.2009
Whew. We made it. It's Spring Break!!!
No matter how old I get, I can't help but get excited when this glorious week rolls around.
I am spending the week in Charlottesville, Virginia, at my goddaughter's parent's house. I've got three school visits and a signing at the Virginia Festival of the Book...
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Mar.13.2009
What does it mean to finish a book? Finite. Das Ende. Basta. Finish.
I've been thinking about that a lot. I just finished a major round of revisions on my WIP, and tomorrow, I finish my 30s. Endings have been up front and personal this week. I've decided, after much contemplation and sleepless...
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Mar.11.2009
Common wisdom has it that you can never go home again, but what about going back to high school? Last week, I was invited to return to my alma mater, Bishop Kelley High School, and speak at Career Day. I had to chuckle. Were they sure they wanted me, a poor but passionate children's writer? Was I...
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About Stacy
Writing an author bio is perhaps the single hardest writing task for me. I’ve long pondered – in lotus pose – why this might be the case. After my knees threatened to come apart at the seam, I relinquished said pose and I decided my troubles with describing...
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Causes Stacy Nyikos Supports
ASPCA, Humane Society, Wildlife Federation