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Debbie Ridpath Ohi reads, writes and illustrates for young people. Every once in a while she shares new art, writing and reading resources; subscribe below. Browse the archives here.

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Creative Commons Licence

Writer comics by Debbie Ridpath Ohi are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

More details: Comic Use Policy

Welcome to Inkygirl: Reading, Writing and Illustrating Children's Books (archive list here) which includes my Creating Picture Books series, Advice For Young Writers and IllustratorsWriter's and Illustrator's Guide To Twitter, Interviews With Authors And Illustrators, #BookADay archives, writing/publishing industry surveys, and 250, 500, 1000 Words/Day Writing Challenge. Also see my Inkygirl archives,  and comics for writers. Also check out my Print-Ready Archives for Teachers, Librarians, Booksellers and Young Readers.

I tweet about the craft and business of writing and illustrating at @inkyelbows. If you're interested in my art or other projects, please do visit DebbieOhi.com. Thanks for visiting! -- Debbie Ridpath Ohi

Entries from October 1, 2015 - October 31, 2015

Saturday
Oct312015

A comic for others starting NaNoWriMo tomorrow

Good luck, everyone! I'm "inkygirl" on the NaNoWriMo website, but I'm not sure how far I'm going to get in my novel since I'll be away for part of the month and also have a book deadline. :-\

BUT I just found out that you no longer have to start from scratch to participate in NaNoWriMo. You can also be working on outlines and other types of writing.

Friday
Oct302015

Comic: A NaNoWriMo Halloween

Don't forget to check out my friend Errol Elumir's daily NaNoToons during November!

Thursday
Oct292015

Comic: Death and the Writer

Thursday
Oct292015

THE NEST by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Jon Klassen


I read middle grade novel THE NEST (written by Kenneth Oppel and illustrated by Jon Klassen) in one sitting last night. Totally lives up to the hype. I'm a horror fan and this was genuinely scary, with tension and dread gradually building to a nightmare-inducing climax. Yowza.

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Oct272015

LOUD LULA by Katy Duffield and Mike Boldt launches today!

LOUD LULA launches from Two Lions today! Written by Katy Duffield and illustrated by Mike Boldt, LOUD LULA is southern-flavored tall tale about a little girl with a big voice. "...Little ol’ Lula’s big ol’ voice wreaks ten kinds of havoc from the day she’s born, and that doesn’t change one smidgen when Lula starts kindergarten. As you might imagine, Lula’s oversized voice isn’t a great fit for the classroom—or maybe it is…"

See Katy Duffield's answers to my Three Questions.

See Mike Boldt's answers to my Three Questions.

Monday
Oct262015

Halloween Reads: BOO-LA-LA WITCH SPA and THE GHOSTS GO SPOOKING

Looking for some new Halloween books to share with young readers? Here are two recent releases that would make fun read-a-louds:

BOO-LA-LA Witch Spa, written by Samantha Berger and illustrated by Isabel Roxas (Penguin Random House):

 and THE GHOSTS GO SPOOKING, written by Chrissy Bozik and illustrated by Patricia Storms (Scholastic Canada):

Friday
Oct232015

New free, print-ready poster: "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend" Groucho Marx quote

With a slightly creepy feel appropriate to Halloween coming up, I've added one of my favorite Grouch Marx quotes about books to For The Love Of Reading as a free print-ready poster.

For all my free, print-ready material, visit Debbie's Print-Ready Archive For Teachers, Librarians, Booksellers and Young Readers.

Thursday
Oct222015

HAPPY #CAPSLOCKDAY, EVERYONE!

More about Caps Lock Day.

More about Picture Book Month.

Wednesday
Oct212015

Three Questions With Mike Boldt: Advice For Young Writers, Storm Troopers, LOUD LULA

Also see Three Questions With Katy Duffield, author of LOUD LULA.

Mike Boldt has been illustrating for kids for the last 16 years. Over that time he's worked on puzzles, video games, comics, and even toy design. He now spends most of his days writing and /or illustrating picture books such as 123 VERSUS ABC, COLORS VERSUS SHAPES, and I DON'T WANT TO BE A FROG. Mike lives just outside Edmonton, Alberta, with his wife and three children.

Click to read more ...

Tuesday
Oct202015

Three Questions With Katy Duffield: Advice For Young Writers, Persistence and LOUD LULA

Katy Duffield is the author of twenty books for children including the picture books FARMER MCPEEPERS AND HIS MISSING MILK COWS (illus Steve Gray Rising Moon), LOUD LULA (illus Mike Boldt, Two Lions) and the forthcoming ALIENS GET THE SNIFFLES, TOO (illus K.G. Campbell, Candlewick).

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Oct182015

Be aware when research & prep becomes a crutch. At some point, you need to jump in & WRITE.

Be aware when research & prep becomes a crutch. At some point, you need to jump in & WRITE.

I love creating found object doodles and post them on Instagram"Found Object Art" gallery on Flickr, Pinterest, Tumblr  and in my Found Object Art portfolio.

Sunday
Oct182015

Tips for SCBWI Conference newbies and 2nd-timers plus challenge for many-timers

Registration opens tomorrow for the SCBWI Winter Conference! You can follow the pre-conference excitement virtually via the #NY16SCBWI hashtag on Twitter as well as the SCBWI conference blog. Do read Jennifer Laughran's recent "Ask The Agent" post about SCBWI-NYC.

I'm excited about rooming with my friend Hazel Mitchell again this year. Hazel's also my agency sister! Both of us adore Ginger Knowlton, our agent at Curtis Brown.

Here's my updated SCBWI Conference Advice post for first-timers (as well as a challenge for the many-timers):

Click to read more ...

Sunday
Oct182015

One reason you should take regular breaks away from the keyboard

Friday
Oct162015

How we handle rejection is just as important as how we handle success

Wednesday
Oct142015

THE SCORPION RULES by Erin Bow (Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster)

I've been a fan of dystopian YA long before it became a trend, and confess I had been turned off the genre because of so many jumping on the bandwagon. THE SCORPION RULES by Erin Bow (Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster) however, has such original and multi-layered world-building plus I find the main antagonist (Talis) so fascinating that I can't WAIT for the next book in the series. THE SCORPION RULES is a breath of fresh air for fans of dystopian YA.

Find out more about the book on the Simon & Schuster website and on Erin Bow's website.

Thursday
Oct082015

Reading Journal: ROLLER GIRL by Victoria Jamieson

Thursday
Oct082015

A comic for those about to dive into NaNoWriMo or another writing challenge

Wednesday
Oct072015

Here's a headstart for those of you doing NaNoWriMo this year

Just a few more weeks until NaNoWriMo!

Tuesday
Oct062015

Writers' Block Biscotti

Monday
Oct052015

Three Questions With Megan Crewe: Advice For Young Writers, Office Dragons and A SKY UNBROKEN

Like many authors, Megan Crewe finds writing about herself much more difficult than making things up. A few definite facts: she lives with her family in Toronto, she tutors teens with special needs, and she can't look at the night sky without speculating about who else might be out there.

Click to read more ...