From The Mixed Up Files

Hot days, cold poems Let’s capture “aha” moments Lazy summer days                — Ann Angel   Summer days are meant for daydreaming on beach blankets, sitting on porches lost in a great piece of fiction, and writing about this very moment we’re in. It’s a great time to pull out a journal and create a poem that captures these special moments. Poetry seems to fit the lazy timeless summer experience and allows writers to capture the thunderstorms that feed our gardens even as they shake us to our toes,...

As the use of generative AI grows, concerns about its negative impacts grow as well. Most notably, Pope Leo XIV recently issued his Magnifica Humanitas, an appeal to safeguard humanity against the use of AI in a way that is detrimental to our collective future.   While concern is spread across industries, the publishing arena has become acquainted with a unique set of issues. Lawsuits are waged over the unauthorized use of intellectual property, and many literary agents and publishers now require authors to attest that AI was not used in the development of stories.    And yet, AI is...

Summer is the perfect time to dive into a good book, and if you ask me, the spookier the better. Whether you’re reading by the pool, at the beach, or under the covers with a flashlight, these ghostly adventures and spine-tingling tales are sure to make your summer a bit...

  It’s summer! I know everyone is busy, so here’s a short and sweet STEM Tuesday Writing Tips & Resources post in place of my normal rambling dissertation on the beauty and significance of STEM in a literary world. I am the son of an engineer, a civil engineer. My...

Today, let’s give a hearty Mixed-Up Files welcome to Maddie Frost. An award-winning author and illustrator, Maddie has been praised as a “powerhouse creator,” making over a dozen books for kids. Her first middle-grade novel, Really Rubie, which Kirkus hailed as: “Humorous, frank, and guaranteed to reassure,” is out now from...

Summer is here, and school is out. Why not use some of your extra free time to work on a writing project? By writing a little each day, you could end the summer with an entire collection of poems, short stories, essays, journal entries, or even the first draft of...

The Cat Prophecies: Claw Quest By Nik Korpon and Jorge Enrique Paz A thirteen-year-old boy holds the fate of his family, his neighborhood, and the world in his hands when he discovers that his cat is from a secret realm of warrior cats facing a dangerous enemy. The walls between worlds are wearing...

Hot days, cold poems Let’s capture “aha” moments Lazy summer days                — Ann Angel   Summer days are meant for daydreaming on beach blankets, sitting on porches lost in a great piece of fiction, and writing about this very moment we’re in. It’s...