Janet Nolan - about me

When I was younger I had Favorites

Favorite color – green

Favorite book – The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Favorite poem – "Waiting by the Window" by A.A. Milne

Favorite dessert – My mom's cherry pie cake

Favorite thing to do – Swim in lakes with sandy bottoms

Today I'm married and have two adult age children but I no longer have favorites: The world has gotten too big, the possibilities too endless, and the challenge of narrowing something to a favorite overwhelms me. I prefer liking what I like when I like it, and not worrying about favorites. (Though I have to admit, swimming in lakes with sandy bottoms is still pretty amazing.)

If I can't find a sandy bottom lake to swim in, here are two things I love to do.

I love to read and I love to write.

Reading is a gift I give to myself. Opening a book, ticket in hand, is permission to travel to different places, different periods in time, different cultures and different realities. I love that books have the power to scare me, thrill me, make me laugh and make me cry. And finding that good book -- one that educates me, challenges me and opens my eyes to new ways of thinking -- truly is a gift.

Writing is a different kind of gift, a slower more personal challenge. Writing is a way of learning. If there is something I want to know, or understand, the best way for me to grasp something new is through reading and writing. Awhile back, I started writing stories for children. I wrote one story after the other. Some were good, and some were not so good. It didn't matter: I considered my early attempts at writing for children the artistic equivalent of singing in the shower, harmless but fun.

But I kept at it, and after awhile I noticed my writing was starting to improve. I joined a critique group, and my writing improved. I joined SCBWI – The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators – and my writing improved. I kept writing, and my writing improved. Eventually I started calling my stories "manuscripts" and began submitting them to publishing companies. Now, two of my stories have been made into books.

A Father's Day Thank You ...more info