iUniverse Rising Star author Rebecca Linam on children’s books

iUniverse Blog wrote to author Rebecca Linam on seeing that her book, Alex the Great, had just achieved our Editor’s Choice and Rising Star awards. We asked Rebecca whether she would like to contribute to the Blog and, well, here is the first part of the great stuff she came up with.

iUniverse author, Rebecca Linam on writing children’s novels

“Some of the most helpful things I’ve run across when writing children’s novels are things that I wrote when I was a child. I started writing books in the second grade, and although the first ones were construction paper held together with glue, it does give me a clue as to what was important to me as a child. If you haven’t already destroyed all your diaries and journals from when you were in school, these can also give you insight into the mind of a child or young adult. Even old school assignments can give your memory a jog. Maybe that fifth-grade essay will remind you of that teacher everyone avoided.

Children have a different perspective than adults on what is important. For example, that bully who lives down the street is just as serious to a kid as that guy who always tries to one-up you at your current job. They’re both annoying and both kind of scary, depending on the circumstances. Having primary sources straight from your own childhood can give your characters some real depth.”

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