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Category Archives: The Monthly

What Was on My . . .
The Importance of Story / The Monthly

What Was on My . . .

Posted on July 30, 2014 by sandranickel • 9 Comments

  July marked the anniversary of What Was on . . . And what a year it has been! Contemplating and reveling in the creative life. Peaking into the worlds of some of Young Adult and Children’s Literature’s best and brightest. Connecting writers, illustrators, and readers from nearly 70 countries. Everywhere from Peru to Russia … Continue reading →

What Was on My . . .
Literary Curiosities / The Monthly

What Was on My . . .

Posted on June 30, 2014 by sandranickel • 13 Comments

Since it’s officially summer and a friend from South Africa has been visiting, I’ve dragged myself out of the writing cave—and been bombarded with serendipity. A trip up the mountain, a mistyped internet search, an article found on the bottom of my to-read pile, all brought me a piece of literary esoterica. Or more precisely, … Continue reading →

What Was on My . . .
The Monthly / The Trickiness of Connection

What Was on My . . .

Posted on May 30, 2014 by sandranickel • 12 Comments

Hi. I’ve been deep in my writer’s cave, lost in other worlds, so imagine my surprise to stick my head out and discover summer is nearly here. I missed Memorial Day. And June is in two days! But it can’t come before my May post and telling you all about What Was on on My . … Continue reading →

What Was on My . . .
The Monthly / The Voracious Child Readers of Russia.

What Was on My . . .

Posted on April 30, 2014 by sandranickel • 10 Comments

    Hi and welcome back! If you’ve been waiting all month, desperate to know where I’ve been, what I’ve been reading, and the torture I’ve suffered, you’re in luck. All you have to do is keep reading and you’ll find out What Was on My . . . Coffee Table: A stack of the 15 best … Continue reading →

What Was on My . . .
Creativity and Madness / The Monthly

What Was on My . . .

Posted on March 30, 2014 by sandranickel • 22 Comments

Once again it is the 30th of the month, which means it is my turn up. So, if you are curious about my March, read on for What Was on My . . . Credit Card Bill: A TGV ticket to Paris. TGV, as in Train à Grande Vitesse, one of the fastest commercial trains in the … Continue reading →

What Was on My . . .
A Jet-Setter Sort of Month / The Monthly

What Was on My . . .

Posted on February 28, 2014 by sandranickel • 8 Comments

Agenda: A sort of jet-setter month that is so completely opposite from my usual writing in a dark office with the blackout stores closed. It all started with Jill Santopolo inviting me to the launch for her Sparkle Spa Series, and since I usually go to New York at the beginning of the year, it … Continue reading →

What Was on My . . .
The Childlikeness of Writers / The Monthly

What Was on My . . .

Posted on January 30, 2014 by sandranickel • 11 Comments

It’s the 30th, and I guess you all know what that means by now: It’s my turn up. So, if you’ve been desperate to know what I’ve been up to, keep on reading, because you’re about to find out What Was on My . . . Birthday Cake: Butter cream frosting and not nearly enough candles. … Continue reading →

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what was on…

A blog about the writers and illustrators of children's and young adult literature. Here, we get to the heart of their work and lives by asking What Was on Their . . . minds, desks, play lists, refrigerators, and more.

Sandra Nickel

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Sandra Nickel writes books and poetry for young readers. Sandra has two forthcoming picture books with Abrams Books for Young Readers and one with Lee & Low Books. Her poetry can be found in SCOOP magazine. Sandra holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has presented workshops on writing for children and young adults throughout Europe and the United States. Sandra is the winner of Hunger Mountain‘s Katherine Paterson Prize for picture books for two years running.

Please visit Sandra’s website at sandranickel.com

Sandra is represented by Victoria Wells Arms of the Wells Arms Literary Agency.

 

Poetry . . .

‘The Sun Has a Secret,’ my poem about the sun falling for the moon, is in SCOOP’s 1st anniversary issue. If you haven’t yet picked up an issue of SCOOP, do. It’s a brilliant children’s magazine that counts among its contributors Neil Gaiman, Sir Tom Stoppard, Herbie Brennan, and Jacqueline Wilson.

 

Antagonists . . .

I started thinking about antagonists when I was working on my MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. It wasn’t too long before I came to the conclusion that antagonists—yes, antagonists plural—were at the core of the very best stories. In fact, as I examined my favorite stories more closely, I realized that there are 13 Antagonist Archetypes, each capable of producing different reactions in the protagonist and reader. This realization turned into a presentation I gave in Amsterdam, morphed into a three-hour workshop I gave in Switzerland, and then was condensed into a breakout session for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrator’s Annual Summer Conference in Los Angeles. For those of you who missed it, you can find it here: Enter the Antagonist–no scratch that–Enter the Antagonists, Plural.

THE PARIS REVIEW . . .

The Paris Review celebrated James Fenimore Cooper’s birthday by picking up and republishing portions of my April 30, 2014 blog–The Voracious Child Readers of Russia. If you would like to read the Paris Review’s Natty Bumppo, Soviet Folk Hero (September 15, 2014), click below.

WRITING AND ACTING

Melanie Fishbane invited me to join her series on Embodying Character, where she interviews the actors of Anne & Gilbert, a musical adapted from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island, all toward the end of investigating the overlaps between writing and acting.

Before taking up writing, I studied acting for three years in New York City. If you were a fan of New York’s acting scene, you might have caught me in some very dark, very serious off-off-Broadway showcases and as a nurse on The City or serving up coffee as ‘Sandy’ on As the World Turns. So, as you can imagine, I’m endlessly fascinated by the similarities between writing and acting and was thrilled to participate in Mel’s series.

You can discover the Embodying Character Series by clicking below:

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