It is important to have something on paper, a WIP – Work In Progress. Next, go back and revise your story. No one gets it right the first time. Sometimes writers write many versions of a story before they are satisfied with the result. I always tell students that the best writing comes from rewriting. No one does it perfect the first time.
You have many interests outside of writing books. Tell us about some other interests of yours.
I have many interests and stay very busy with them. I am the ‘fairy organizer’ of Once Upon a Storage and have many videos on my YouTube channel that will teach you how to stay organized. How is that connected to writing? At the core of everything I do is that I love teaching and helping people. I love to pass along useful information that will make people feel good and improve their lives.
Another passion is cooking. I love cooking with my 15-year-old daughter, Eliana. She is known as Kid Chef Eliana, and is an award winning celebrity chef, cookbook author, and radio show host. She has written several cookbooks and does cooking demonstrations and television appearances around the country. Visit her website at KidChefEliana.com.
Picture books are very important to me. I am the founder of an international literacy initiative called Picture Book Month. During the month of November, print picture books are celebrated around the world! Be sure to visit Picture Book Month to read essays on the importance of picture books by literacy luminaries. You will also find some really cool activities you can use for your next Picture Book Month celebration.
I also love to motivate people. You can follow my motivational quotes on my Facebook page and all over my social media. I post several quotes a week.
What else would you want readers of The Missouri Reader to know about you?
I live in New Orleans with my 15-year-old daughter, Eliana. I have an older daughter, Soleil, who is 25 years old and a graphic designer. In fact, Soleil designed and illustrated all of her sister’s cookbooks! It's really amazing that I get to work with both of my daughters in a literary capacity.
I am glad that everyone who is reading this is passionate about literacy. I’ll repeat one of my favorite quotes, “You can’t build leaders if you don’t raise readers.” Inspire the love of literacy! Leave a lot of reading materials around – available for all to read -- comic books, magazines, articles, fiction and nonfiction books. ANY reading is GOOD reading (within reason, of course) as long as the reader enjoys it. Children get plenty of broccoli in school – things they HAVE to read. Give them cake as well – reading material they enjoy and WANT to read. They need balance - required reading and pleasure reading. Getting children to read and become lifelong learners is our ultimate goal, isn't it?
TEACHERS, Keep doing what you do, it allows us writers to keep doing what we do. We all have the ability to empower our children through the power of words. And remember, life is too short not to sparkle!
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Perhaps one of the most critical things that occurred for my student was differentiation. Providing a lot of independent reading time is naturally differentiated and incredibly powerful (Boushey & Moser, 2014).
“You can’t build
LEADERS
if you don’t build
READERS.”
Dianne De Las Casas
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