(ages 10 - 14) Finally, a book for the budding wordsmith! Veteran author Cynthia MacGregor tells it like it is: the only way to become a good writer is to write, write, write! With entertaining anecdotes, practical tips, and useful exercises, MacGregor encourages children to sharpen their pencils, satisfy their creative urges, and strengthen their communication skills.
Born in the suburbs of New York, I moved to the city itself as soon as I was old enough to go out on my own, eventually transplanting myself to South Florida. A part of me had always felt I belonged where the warm tropical breezes shake the palm fronds into beckoning motions. They beckoned, and in 1984 I answered, leaving my beloved NY behind. I've since put down roots a mile long.
I have been writing for as long as I can remember - from back when I first learned to spell t-h-e c-a-t. By age 9, I had written a play (admittedly short and childish, but a play nonetheless), which was put on at summer camp, and there were stories and poems too, some of which were printed in such places as the newsletter of the arts program I took part in, and the local weekly paper in the community where I grew up.
My earliest serious aspiration was to be an actress, and I'm still a ham who loves the limelight, but I traded in my theatrical dreams for the writing life decades ago and have no regrets whatsoever.
I am definitely a glass-half-full person, and there is no one in the world I'd want to trade lives with. My life hasn't always been easy - I'm a cancer survivor and have had additional health issues too, as well as other adversities - but it's been a marvelous ride so far, and I hope it just keeps going and going and going. I jump out of bed each morning (normally at 5 AM), eager to start a new day.
My past includes stints as a theatre reviewer and specialty-newspaper publisher, a lot of freelance editing, and a bit of agenting. My first book wasn't published till 1993, but I've made up for the late start and have had over 50 conventional books and another over-50 ebooks published in the time since then, and I'm still going strong. I have NO plan to EVER retire. I absolutely LOVE what I do. Why would I ever want to stop?
My wish for each of you who reads this is that you find your life as fun and as fulfilling as I do.
