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**Tynea Lewis, LitPick Site Administrator, has submitted this article on behalf of Claire Merchant.
When I first started writing novels, I never thought that I’d be writing stories with sequels. It’s not that I had anything against sequels, but I always thought that if a character’s story ended then there was nothing more to say. Like, why wouldn’t I just keep writing if the story wasn’t finished?
It’s not always that simple.
I suppose you can liken...
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by Claire Merchant
My name is Claire Merchant. I write books and I live in one of the most isolated cities in the world—Perth, Western Australia.
Yes, I am Australian, but let me just clear a few things up. I don’t have a pet koala, I can’t surf, I have never had a ‘shrimp’ from a ‘barbie’, my preferred mode of transport is a car and not a kangaroo, and I consider the left...
Now that my book is out, I’m savoring the finer reviews―and skipping right over a few others! I’ve combed through (and written) enough book reviews to make a few observations that might help with review writing, and what better place to post them than an award-winning review site with so many young reviewers!
1.
Good reviews are clear, yet fun to read. Letting your distinctive voice come through can add flare to your reviews.
2...
Many years ago, I was just a dad trying to encourage his fourth grader to read. It was a challenge competing with Pokemon, yoyo's, baseball cards, and a packed academic and athletic schedue. At the same time, I was learning how to build websites so I told my son Seth that we could build a website and feature his reviews of books that he read and reviewed. Penguin discovered his online site, sent him boxes of books to review, and the rest, as they say is history...