GiG Amateau

Welcome my readers!

Thanks so much for stopping by my website. I hope you’re having a fantastic year of writing and reading and loving life.

Many of you write or email me asking about the next horse book. Gosh, I wish you could come over here and help me! I think I’ve written and finished Macadoo about a gazillion times. (For real. The word finished has completely lost its meaning for me.) Now finally, I feel closer than ever. You know what I believe the problem was with my earlier drafts of Macadoo? I hadn’t wanted to let go of Chancey. That’s an indirect way of saying: I WAS STUCK.

My best tips for getting unstuck?

1. Go for a long walk in the woods or mountains. Don’t think about anything except our beautiful planet.

2. Write anyway, keep writing, and give yourself permission to suck. You can come back later and erase the suck away.

3. Ask your main character these questions: What do you want more than anything in the world? What is standing in your way? Darling, how may I help you? Write your character’s responses down on paper. Keep asking; keep writing.

4. Start something new. (I started something new when I got stuck on Macadoo. Come August, Come Freedom comes out this September!)

News & Shout Outs

My friend Meg Medina, (Milagros Girl from Away, Tia Isa Wants a Car, and The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind) and I had such fun last year with our Girls of Summer list that we want to tell you about even more amazing books for amazing girls this summer. We’re reading and thinking and talking to lots of folks. Stay tuned.

I’d like to thank the students in Ms. Nixon’s Creative Writing Class at John Marshall High School for the inspiring Socratic seminar they shared with me regarding my book, Claiming Georgia Tate. I treasure the time spent with y’all more than you can imagine!

Also this school year I’ve really enjoyed writing with young authors at Carver Middle School and Midlothian Middle School, in Chesterfield, Virginia. (Roar!)

The 4th grade at Bettie Weaver Elementary really knows how to welcome a visiting author! Check out some of their Chancey artwork.

This September Candlewick Press will release my first historical novel for young adults: Come August, Come Freedom. I loved researching and writing this story and am feeling sort of sad about being finished. (See above!) You never know, I might just hang around the 1800s a bit longer.

See you soon!

Gigi

What I'm thinking about.