by Mary E. Cronin | May 2, 2016 | Conferences-workshops, LGBTQ+, SCBWI, We Need Diverse Books
Lively conversation and great questions added rocket fuel to our presentation yesterday on Writing about Characters with LGBT Parents. The New England SCBWI* Conference is broad and deep– 700 attendees, many workshops on all aspects of the writing life, and...
by Mary E. Cronin | Apr 16, 2016 | Conferences-workshops, LGBTQ+, SCBWI, Uncategorized, We Need Diverse Books
“Who’s your real mom?” “What do you mean you don’t have a dad/mom?” “Please bring these permission slips home to your moms and dads.” Life is just different for kids of LGBTQ parents. They navigate awkward questions, tricky social situations, and heteronormative...
by Mary E. Cronin | Apr 7, 2016 | Cape Cod, Community connections, Middle-grade fiction, We Need Diverse Books
I had the privilege of watching author James Howe present to Nauset Regional Middle School today– the whole school. (I have an inside advantage: my wife Bonnie is a guidance counselor there!) He spoke at two different schools today, and will give an evening...
by Mary E. Cronin | Mar 29, 2016 | Cape Cod, Community connections, Middle-grade fiction, Poetry, Teaching, We Need Diverse Books
Raising a Reader! I’m offering this community education class in May 2016 at the Cape Cod Campus of Bridgewater State University. Raising a Reader is a non-credit course aimed at parents and caregivers who want to infuse a love of reading and books into their...
by Mary E. Cronin | Jan 21, 2016 | Cape Cod, Community connections, Prison writing project, Teaching, We Need Diverse Books
Like a plane coming in for a landing, I am settling back in to work and writing after the excitement of the holidays and a January trip to Ireland. Thanks to local arts funding, I will be teaching a new version of my creative writing class in the women’s unit of...
by Mary E. Cronin | Nov 3, 2015 | LGBTQ+, Middle-grade fiction, We Need Diverse Books
I was shaken recently when a friend relayed a story from a school in my liberal state of Massachusetts: an 8th grader received an anonymous note at school, to the effect of “Faggot- hope you kill yourself.” In my writer world, I admit I get lulled into a...