Peggy Archer
Children's Author

Concluding the four days of Random Acts of Publicity (check out Darcy Pattison’s website at www.darcypattison.com), I thought I’d post the websites of some of my friends who write for children. Some are famous, some are not. All are wonderful writers, and good friends.

Indiana has been my home for most of my life, and there I met many wonderful children’s writers. Following are a few of their websites.

Katie Mitschelen: http://www.kathrynmitschelen.blogspot.com
Katie, is a member of my critique group in Michigan City, Indiana. She is a children’s author whose first book, MOUSE’S BEST GIFT, was illustrated and published on the store windows in downtown Columbus, Indiana at Christmas time! Also published in several children’s magazines, Katie writes fiction and non-fiction for children. Visit Katie at her author blog site, Droppings.

Peggy Reiff Miller: http://www.peggyreiffmiller.com/index.html
Another member of my Michigan City critique group, Peggy writes fiction, non-fiction and poetry for children and adults. Her passion is the seagoing cowboys. Go to Peggy’s website for more about her and her writing. Then click on the link to go to her website about Seagoing cowboys to read stories from some real cowboys (http://www.seagoingcowboys.com/).

Sharon Biggs: http://sharonbiggswaller.com/about/
Sharon writes for a ‘whole bunch of magazines!’ Her book, THE ORIGINAL HORSE BIBLE, is now out from Bow Tie Press. Sharon also writes YA and middle grade books. Find out more about Sharon, and horses, on her website.

When I started out in SCBWI, some of my first contacts were authors in our neighboring state of Illinois, specifically in the Chicago area.

Esther Hershenhorn: http://www.estherhershenhorn.com/home.html
Esther is an award-winning author of picture books and middle grade fiction for children. She is also the former Regional Advisor for Illinois SCBWI, which is how I first met Esther. “Lucky me!’ she says. “I spend my days doing what I love and loving what I do.” Find her smiling face, and information about Esther and her jobs as an author, along with answers to questions about being an author, on her website. Also link to the website Teaching Authors (www.teachingauthors.com) where Esther and five other children’s authors blog about writing and things related to writing for children.

Heidi B. Roemer: http://heidibroemer.com/
Heidi is an award-winning children’s author of children’s pictures books and poetry. My favorite is COME TO MY PARTY, and Other Shape Poems. Always willing to help out other children’s writers, Heidi is the former Assistant Regional Advisor for Illinois SCBWI. She joins two other children’s authors to blog about non-fiction books for children on their website, Wild About nature (http://wildaboutnaturewriters.blogspot.com/).

Carolyn Crimi: www.carolyncrimi.com
For a website with humor that matches the style of her hilarious picture books for children, visit Carolyn Crimi’s website. Read more about Carolyn and her books, and tips for children’s writers.

I hope you have fun surfing the net for these and other children’s authors!  Read More 

Greetings from O’Fallon! It’s been a summer of emptying boxes, finding things and re-discovering other things, and everything else that it takes to move from one state to another. We’re finally settling in, and I’m beginning to make a few connections to the world of children’s books here in Missouri.

My first stop, shortly after moving in, was to the Middendorf-Kredell Library in O’Fallon, where I visited the children’s department and met the librarian and staff there. I’m lucky to be just ten minutes away from this beautiful new branch of the St. Charles Library District.

The O’Fallon children’s librarian gave me the name of the owner of Main Street Books, an independent bookstore in near-by St. Charles. I made a visit to Main Street Books a couple of weeks later, and met Vicki Erwin, bookstore owner and fellow SCBWI member. The warm, cozy atmosphere, like most independent bookstores, feels like family, and I have it on my list to return soon and browse through the stacks. (www.mainstreetbooks.net)

Wherever there’s an SCBWI member, there’s a smiling, friendly person ready to share children’s book-related information. Vicki gave me the link to the St. Louis Independent Bookstore Alliance. I was amazed at the number of independent bookstore in the St. Louis area. Checking their schedule of events, I found that several children‘s authors were on the books doing author appearances at various stores, including Jarrett Krosoczka (the LUNCH LADY graphic novel series), author/illustrator Peter Brown (CHILDREN MAKE TERRIBLE PETS and YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND!), and Jack Gantos (JOEY PIGZA and ROTTEN RALPH). My calendar is filling up quickly! (www.stlindiebook.com)

I enjoy doing author visits to schools and libraries, as well as visits to bookstores. I stopped at the Mid Rivers Barnes & Noble bookstore in St. Peters, where my son’s family lives, and met Shelly, who schedules the activities there. I just added an author story time and a book signing to my calendar during Educators Week on October 22nd. My daughter’s family recently moved from north of St. Louis to Fenton. I contacted the South Roxana Library where they visited before they moved, and offered to sign copies of my books. I'm looking forward to doing an author visit there sometime in the next several months.

Of course, the one place that I KNOW will connect me to other children’s writers no matter what state I’m in is SCBWI (http://www.scbwi.org ). I’ve registered for the Missouri SCBWI fall conference (http://moscbwi.org/Home_Page.html) on November 5th in St. Charles, which is just a hop over from O’Fallon. I’m looking forward to meeting an editor, an agent, and of course other children’s authors and illustrators.

I’m beginning to warm up to this new home state of Missouri. No pun intended (or maybe so), since except for the past few days, the temps have been in the 90’s and 100’s ever since we moved here!
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