Tag Archives: Middle Grade Fiction

Puppy Summer

Posted on June 19, 2025 by PB Rippey

My house still has a hole in the dining room ceiling, the upstairs bathroom has no walls, puppy only mostly uses his potty pads, cats are freaked by puppy and WILL PEE on his leash if it’s left lying around, … Continue reading →

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Baby in the Laundry Basket

Posted on June 5, 2025 by PB Rippey

Ever woken up with a pounding heart because your dream was, once again, that you put a baby to bed in a laundry basket instead of a crib and suddenly you couldn’t find the baby when you went to the … Continue reading →

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Welsh Cakes (Delectables Edition)

Posted on September 30, 2024 by PB Rippey

Placing in the SCBWI Sue Alexander Grant Competition tossed me into a novel-revising fever since my last post, interrupted by actual fever/flu and the teen getting fever/flu during the same week the husband got Covid and was quarantined in our … Continue reading →

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MAE RESPICIO’S: ISABEL IN BLOOM

Posted on April 17, 2024 by PB Rippey

Mae’s new book was recently released. I’m halfway through and highly recommend it. Beautiful, sincere writing offering direct connection/insight into the novel’s young heroine as she navigates a brand new life in San Francisco, CA. Mae was my workshop leader … Continue reading →

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Summertime &

Posted on June 9, 2023 by PB Rippey

School’s out for summer & we’re living on a timetable, this helmet-of-grey-clouds-June crammed with little trips here/there + revising revising revising my work + swimming laps 4-7 days/week+ reading Demon Copperhead. I’LL TAKE IT! Yours in keep-on-writing-in-summertime, PB

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SCBWI/LA TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS

Posted on April 29, 2023 by PB Rippey

The SCBWI-LA booth was busy on Sunday 4/23! Wonderful for the authors signing books. So many parents and kids visited our booth, it couldn’t have just been the bubble machine attracting everyone–I mean, even meandering teens lingered. Zeena M. Pliska, … Continue reading →

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Festival Weekend 2023

Posted on April 17, 2023 by PB Rippey

I’m going. Are you? Sunday I’m helping out at the SCBWI booth. Both days have a great lineup of kidlit authors signing books. Poetry tent will be quietly rockin’. Lots to explore, as usual. See you there!

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Except He Doesn’t Proofread My Blog Posts

Posted on March 13, 2023 by PB Rippey

Now that the Feb (me) and March (spouse) event-packed birthdays are over, it’s back to work. I purposefully let my MG synopsis and first 10 pages of the manuscript marinate while I ate cake and socialized with my people. Grateful … Continue reading →

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Hearts on the Horizon

Posted on January 26, 2023 by PB Rippey

Hurtling towards February, my birthday month, I’m still writing every day thanks to Nephele Tempest’s December Writing Challenge AND I almost have my synopsis ready (though–are synopses ever really ready?) for my women’s fiction novel AND the synopses for my … Continue reading →

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Night Writing Paradise

Posted on January 3, 2023 by PB Rippey

If I was to write solely by night, every night I would want to do it here: Which is also here: Here: And especially here: Sadly, this installation is temporary. I did let them know I’d be happy to take … Continue reading →

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JANUARY 1, 2023

Posted on January 1, 2023 by PB Rippey

HAPPY WRITING NEW YEAR! PB

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Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 26, 2022 by PB Rippey

Hope that on the 25th you were warm, dry (even if in an airport), or getting sunburned, but most of all SAFE. Yours in love, PB

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SCBWI-LA and CenCal Writers Day ’22

Posted on October 20, 2022 by PB Rippey

So happy to finally attend in person again. Looking forward to seeing one of my favorite kidlit authors, librarian and conference host, Sally Rogan. Full day of mass-info-absorption in an inspiring environment. See you there. #WritersDay2022

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O Revision!

Posted on September 9, 2021 by PB Rippey

Ever since the SCBWI Big Five-Oh summer conference, I have been the Madwoman of Revision. Lots of adhering to red ink exclamation points. Filtering critique. On not just my manuscripts, but synopses, loglines…You, too? Whenever I’m convinced my writing is … Continue reading →

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SCBWI Winter 2021

Posted on January 12, 2021 by PB Rippey

I’m going. Are you?

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STARTING NOW

Posted on December 13, 2019 by PB Rippey

I mean, why wait? W.R.I.T.I.N.G.

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O First Pages (Retreat Edition)

Posted on November 8, 2019 by PB Rippey

The last event of the SCBWI Working Writer’s retreat consisted of 3 minutes allotted to each attendee to read aloud their first page of a manuscript. Professional critique was squeezed into that 3 minutes from a panel comprised of 4 … Continue reading →

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Retreat!

Posted on September 26, 2019 by PB Rippey

Heading to the SCBWI Working Writers Retreat tomorrow. This will be my second time attending this annual event. The workshops are small and focused. I learn tons about my work (my middle grade novels) and it’s a joy to read … Continue reading →

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Festival Weekend (creativity-obsessed edition)

Posted on April 15, 2019 by PB Rippey

Saturday morning, my husband and my middle-grade son zoomed to the Los Angeles Convention Center for its uber-serving of Minefaire. Minecraft. All. Day. While up the street at USC I attended the Los Angeles Festival Of Books. Mostly I hung … Continue reading →

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Retreat!

Posted on February 17, 2019 by PB Rippey

Faced with views custom-made to inspire writers, I didn’t. Write. Or edit the 50 pages I’d brought with me. Instead, I continued reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming. Occasionally I glanced up from the book and gaped at the storm–then I’d consciously … Continue reading →

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~2019~

Posted on January 1, 2019 by PB Rippey

May the year be merry and bright and productive. And may I acquire a new laptop. And definitely completion of the current novel and definitely long before the end of this shiny new year. And may I continue to exercise … Continue reading →

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Ho!

Posted on December 18, 2018 by PB Rippey

Busy keeping my butt in a seat this week before Christmas (see everything Anne Lamott has ever written about the writing process). My son is under-the-weather, and while his feeling sick is not great, we are taking advantage of the … Continue reading →

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SCBWI Los Angeles Writers Day 2018

Posted on February 21, 2018 by PB Rippey

  I’m going. Are you? Gary D. Schmidt is giving the keynote. That’s right, author of one of my favorite YA books: ‘The Wednesday Wars’. You’ve probably already read it, but here’s the SCBWI GDS Interview from 2/16/18. I especially … Continue reading →

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