Ellen Leventhal | Writing Outside the Lines |

14 Feb Vivian Kirkfield and a “Don’t Miss” Giveaway!

Posted at 00:43h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, Dr. Seuss, kid lit, marketing, non-fiction, older picture book readers, picture books, revision, rule of three by Ellen Leventhal 12 Comments

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It's just a few hours before Valentine's Day, and although I was planning to post this tomorrow (What better Valentine's Day present than a post about Vivian Kirkfield?), Houston, TX is expecting an ice storm tomorrow (yikes!), and I'm pretty sure I will lose my...

08 Sep Rosie, and Charlie, and Lauren, Oh My!

Posted at 19:14h in authors, children's literature, kid lit, marketing, picture books, publishing, writing by Ellen Leventhal 5 Comments

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Although I first met author, Lauren Kerstein in our 2021 marketing group, The Picture Book Scribblers, I am thrilled to welcome her here to talk about what's happening NOW. (We'll get to 2021 later, I promise. ) Lauren, will you tell us a bit about...

09 May Living, Loving, and Writing in the Time of Corona

Posted at 16:20h in authors, children's literature, kid lit, marketing, picture books, writing by Ellen Leventhal 3 Comments

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A quick show of hands. Who is having trouble carrying on as usual? I certainly am. However, I am acutely aware of the fact that my family and I are among the lucky ones. Over here at my house, we are healthy, and my children...

12 Nov Writing, Marketing, and Living in the Age of Social Media

Posted at 23:11h in authors, children's literature, failures, kid lit, marketing, picture books, reflection by Ellen Leventhal 12 Comments

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In the nineteen sixties there was an ad campaign titled “The Pepsi Generation." The people in the commercials frolicked on the beach, danced at amazing parties (where nobody was left out or feeling anxious), and when they smiled, their perfect mouths were filled with sparkly...

04 Apr Gayle Krause, New Book, Fabulous Giveaway!

Posted at 13:12h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, kid lit, marketing, picture books, publishing, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 10 Comments

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One of the best parts of being involved in the children's literature community is the friends I've made. I am so happy that the prolific author, Gayle Krause, is one of those friends. Thanks for dropping by, Gayle. I am thrilled to have you. Thank you for...

02 Mar Nancy Takes Her Shot! An Interview with Nancy Churnin

Posted at 02:12h in authors, bullying, children's literature, diversity, kid lit, marketing, non-fiction, picture books, publishing, revision, Uncategorized by Ellen Leventhal 2 Comments

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A few years ago, I was fortunate to meet fellow Texan, Nancy Churnin, while at Kristen Fulton’s WOW retreat in Georgia. I knew that Nancy had written a book about a Deaf baseball player, and I was intrigued. I couldn’t wait to meet her. The...

09 May Ten Year Anniversary! But Why?

Posted at 01:27h in authors, children's literature, kid lit, marketing, picture books, publishing, reflection, revision, writing by Ellen Leventhal 2 Comments

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People always ask me why we “reinvented” Don’t Eat the Bluebonnets and published a new version. After all, it was a good story. It’s a great question that deserves a great answer. So I'll try to answer it as best I can. We really liked the old...

07 Jan Small Successes

Posted at 09:23h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, failures, holidays, kid lit, marketing, new year, picture books, reflection, revision, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 6 Comments

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Each January first, I beat myself up. Not literally, of course, but it's still pretty painful. I focus on everything I did not accomplish during the past year. Was I lazy? Not good enough? What was it? Turns out that type of thinking is not...

25 Feb Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde Me, Please!

Posted at 02:41h in kid lit, marketing, publishing, short stories, writing by Ellen Leventhal 8 Comments

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OK, I know. The title is pretty lame. But right now I feel like I am two people. Two very different versions of me. It may be because I’m in the middle of too many things in my writing life…the least of it being the...

10 Feb I Am a Writer

Posted at 16:19h in children's literature, marketing, short stories, writing by Ellen Leventhal 10 Comments

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I am a writer. There, I said it. You would think that wouldn’t be a problem, but actually saying it doesn’t come easily for me. For years all I wrote were plays for kids in schools, poems for my friends and family, and a huge...