As a child, while other kids would answer the question of what do you want to be when you grow up by choosing the career of their parents, Margaret longed to have a career that she didn't believe real people actually got to do. She thought all people were farmers, like her father or nurses, like her mother, or doctors or teachers. She thought that authors were only found in books.
Margaret Peterson Haddix did become a writer, the prolific author of more than 20 books beginning with Running Out of Time in 1995. She is the author of The Shadow Children series and also of the tenth and final book of the 39 Clues series which will be available in the fall of 2010. At any given time she has two or three books in various stages of readiness for publication. "I know I have to write a story when the story keeps me awake at night, teases at the back of my brain all day, just won't let me go."
Kids watching houses being constructed, a girl piecing together a Cinderella puzzle, a few minutes of muzziness as an exhausted air traveler...What do these snippets of ordinary life have in common? Margaret Peterson Haddix developed them into three of her highly original, popular novels for children and teens: Among the Hidden, Just Ella and Found.
A former newspaper copy editor, newspaper reporter, community college instructor and freelance writer, Haddix also draws seed ideas for novels from her career experiences. Her lively presentation about her books and life delighted 225 children, teens and adults at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library on May 26. Enthusiastic audience members posed numerous questions about their favorite titles as well as about what it was like to be one of the authors contributing to 39 Clues, a hot multiplatform series for tweens. A book signing followed the program.
Haddix has authored over twenty books for kids and teens, including the seven-part futuristic fiction Shadow Children series. Missing, her current series, chronicles the adventures of contemporary middle school students who travel back in time after discovering that they have been snatched out of past eras. Sabotaged, Missing's third installment, will be published in August.
Haddix's trademark suspenseful plots and treatment of thought-provoking issues intrigue readers around the world. Her works have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Korean. Haddix's books have garnered numerous state reader's choice awards as well as the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award.
Haddix shared the following tips for aspiring writers:
· Read a lot
· Write
· Keep a journal
· Pay attention to things around you and think about them a lot
· If working on a book, start with a synopsis but leave room
to change things if a better idea comes along.
Margaret Peterson Haddix did become a writer, the prolific author of more than 20 books beginning with Running Out of Time in 1995. She is the author of The Shadow Children series and also of the tenth and final book of the 39 Clues series which will be available in the fall of 2010. At any given time she has two or three books in various stages of readiness for publication. "I know I have to write a story when the story keeps me awake at night, teases at the back of my brain all day, just won't let me go."
Kids watching houses being constructed, a girl piecing together a Cinderella puzzle, a few minutes of muzziness as an exhausted air traveler...What do these snippets of ordinary life have in common? Margaret Peterson Haddix developed them into three of her highly original, popular novels for children and teens: Among the Hidden, Just Ella and Found.
A former newspaper copy editor, newspaper reporter, community college instructor and freelance writer, Haddix also draws seed ideas for novels from her career experiences. Her lively presentation about her books and life delighted 225 children, teens and adults at the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library on May 26. Enthusiastic audience members posed numerous questions about their favorite titles as well as about what it was like to be one of the authors contributing to 39 Clues, a hot multiplatform series for tweens. A book signing followed the program.
Haddix has authored over twenty books for kids and teens, including the seven-part futuristic fiction Shadow Children series. Missing, her current series, chronicles the adventures of contemporary middle school students who travel back in time after discovering that they have been snatched out of past eras. Sabotaged, Missing's third installment, will be published in August.
Haddix's trademark suspenseful plots and treatment of thought-provoking issues intrigue readers around the world. Her works have been translated into French, German, Spanish, Chinese and Korean. Haddix's books have garnered numerous state reader's choice awards as well as the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award.
Haddix shared the following tips for aspiring writers:
· Read a lot
· Write
· Keep a journal
· Pay attention to things around you and think about them a lot
· If working on a book, start with a synopsis but leave room
to change things if a better idea comes along.
