So you wanna be a writer. There’s a truckload to be said on this topic, but first let’s get all our ducks in a row and determine exactly what type of writer you want to be. By that I mean, do you want to write solely for shits 'n giggles, or is it your intent to fund your entire existence (clothes on your back, food in your fridge, roof over your head, adult beverages on the weekends) by selling your literary ramblings? If it’s the former, cool beans. Have a blast! However, if it’s the latter, well, that’s a totally different cauldron of spells, and it begets yet another question: For reals? Seriously, have you thought this decision through? Perhaps you bumped your head or, if your skull is

Today, we are in for a real treat as author and illustrator of The Great and the Small joins the CDP blog and lets us pick her brain. The spooky and beautifully illustrated YA book released on October 31. You definitely want to get your copy! Where did the idea of The Great and the Small originate from? The need to write a book that explored questions of good and evil had been with me for a long time, but I didn’t know what form the story would take. About 15 years ago, a title came to me, Plague Rat, giving me a springboard from which to work. While the title eventually changed, it helped focus my search in gathering the elements that made up the story: the bubonic plague, rats as sentient