Writer for Young Adults
I'm thrilled to share that I have a guest post up on the period-drama website Willow and Thatch. "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: A History" looks at the early history of stand up comedy, right as it was shifting from one-liners to the first-person, observational humor we recognize today. You can check out my post here.… Continue reading Guest Post: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a History
The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein Disney-Hyperion, May 2017 Genre: YA Historical Before Verity . . . there was Julie. When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows the lazy summer break she'd imagined won't be exactly what she anticipated. And once she returns to her grandfather's estate, a bit banged up… Continue reading Book Review: The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein
A few nights ago, B finished dinner early, but she wasn't quite ready for bed. So we sat on the floor of our living room in front of the Christmas tree, classical radio playing softly in the background, and read through Peter Spier's Christmas!, one of my favorite childhood books. There are no words, only… Continue reading Slow Fall
After years of my sister telling me all about her favorite podcasts and me nodding and saying I'll listen to them but forgetting to look them up, I finally got into them. And by "them" I really mean one in particular: Witch, Please, a podcast about Harry Potter, radical feminism, and literary analysis. YES. Witch, Please… Continue reading A Podcast, You Say? Oh, Witch, Please!
I always looked forward to the start of school with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. There was the joy of new pens and notebooks, the nerves of meeting new people, and the feeling of starting over, like I had a whole 9 months of chances to learn and work hard. The school year always… Continue reading No More Books and Studies
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Delacorte Press, May 2014 Genre: YA Contemporary, Suspense A beautiful and distinguished family. A private island. A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy. A group of four friends--the Liars--whose friendship turns destructive. A revolution. An accident. A secret. Lies upon lies. True love. The truth. We Were Liars is… Continue reading Book Review: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
So....you may have noticed a few big changes around this site. My friend, fellow critique group member, and all-around awesome, brilliant person Gaia Cornwall designed a fresh look (just in time for spring) and made that glorious header collage on the home page. (Fun fact: Gaia used vintage images from the NYPL as well as elements from… Continue reading A Fresh Look for Spring!
On Wednesday, International Women's Day, my 6th grade history class watched Mulan to celebrate the end of our unit on ancient China. They made silly comments about the villain's appearance, laughed at Mushu, and danced along to "I'll Make a Man out of You" (which is now stuck in my head for the third day in a… Continue reading I’ll Make a Man out of You
Lately I've been indulging in an orgy of Sherlock. Not just the BBC show (although we recently finished the third episode of the latest season, and MAN was that dark), but books and radio dramas, too. Modern adaptations, stories that play the Game - I'm soaking it all up. Maybe it's due to the current political… Continue reading It’s Elementary
In September I wrote about Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn book, The Final Empire, and what it taught me about introducing a complex magic system in fiction. Today I want to examine how Sanderson builds his fantasy world. When you're devising a fantasy world, you're filled with so many ideas that it's so tempting to throw in everything but… Continue reading Lessons in Fantasy World-Building: Creating the Magical World
Abby Murphy 