First Blurbs for Witchlanders!
I’m so thrilled that these three wonderful authors have provided blurbs for my forthcoming book, Witchlanders. I hope they pique your curiosity about the book, which will be coming out from Atheneum on August 30th. It’s getting close! “As unique and enchanting a world as Garth Nix’s Abhorsen myth: here’s a thrilling tale of the clash between two magical races, Witchlanders and Baen, seen through the eyes of very likeable young characters. And it’s written in beautiful prose. Warning – you may stay up all night until you are finished and you will want more! Lena Coakley is...
Read MoreWorking Through an Agent’s Critique Letter
Check out my guest post over at the Adventures in Children’s Publishing blog! http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/search/label/Lena%20Coakley
Read More6 Children’s Authors Infiltrate the Grown-up World of Screenwriting
Last weekend, Erin Thomas, Cheryl Rainfield, Urve Tamberg, Karen Krossing, Jennifer Gordon and I attended the two-day Screenwriters’ Summit in Toronto. I had one goal in mind: to find out what the **** a plot is. Yes, you’d think I’d know, with a novel coming out and all, and I do, don’t get me wrong, but I’d like to become more articulate about what I, and many writers, do intuitively. Many novel-writing books are thin on plot information, and many novelists are almost too superstitious talk about structure—they fear it will make their writing formulaic....
Read More10 YA Novels I’m Looking Forward to This Year
So many book bloggers know so much more than I do about what’s coming out in 2011 that I’ve been a bit shy about posting my wish list. But then I realized I AM compiling quite a catalog of YA sci-fi and fantasy novels I can’t wait for. Plus, it’s a good excuse to drool over some purdy, purdy covers! All descriptions are from the publishers’ websites except where noted. Bumped by Megan McCafferty When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society....
Read MoreMiss Hurka: The First Writer I Ever Knew
Is there anyone whose books you loved? Anyone whose diary prompted you to pick up a pen? Anyone in your family, maybe, or someone you knew growing up, who loved books and encouraged you to write? This was the question posed to me this week by the lovely writer Erin Thomas. Today on her blog, she’s posting an interview with Marthe Jocelyn about Marthe’s new book Scribbling Women, and as a lead-up, Erin wanted to include a few blurbs from authors she knew about the scribbling women who had inspired us. Immediately, I thought of Miss Hurka. Miss Hurka was a boarder who lived in the attic...
Read MoreAbout Me
Hi! I'm Lena, a young adult fantasy author from Toronto.