The fourth installment of my Creative Writing Workshop is up on Teachers Pay Teachers. Lesson four is about plot. What drives a plot and keeps the reader engaged? Students will learn basic plot structure, from inciting incident to climax, as well as tips for organizing everything in between. Then, they’ll draw plot charts for their own stories.

And the third lesson plan from my Story Writing Workshop is now available at Teachers Pay Teachers. Lesson three is about characterization. Students learn the tips and tricks that make a well rounded character.  Through brainstorming exercises, mock interviews, and character autobiographies, students develop their main character’s life experience and personality. Then after they’ve nailed down their protagonist, students explore how supporting characters complement and challenge the protagonist.  Finally, students learn about the ways  which characters grow and change throughout a story. Check out the rest of the series as well: Lesson One: Introduction to Storytelling Lesson Two: Freewriting and Idea Generation (The writing prompts in this lesson are also…

This past July, I ran a week long creative writing camp for middle and high school students.  After the camp, I revised my materials and expanded on them for other teachers to use. Lesson 2: Freewriting and Idea Generation is now available on Teachers Pay Teachers. It’s all about figuring out what to write. Sometimes the muse is ready to meet us, but other times we have to go look for her. This lesson leads students through eleven writing prompts. After they complete the exercise, they pick their favorite idea and develop it into a rough synopsis. This lesson can be used as a standalone creativity exercise. Alternatively, students can…

This past July, I ran a week long creative writing camp for middle and high school students. We had a ton of fun, and the students wrote some great stories! After the camp, I revised my materials and expanded on them for other teachers to use. Lesson one, introduction to storytelling, is now available for free download at Teachers Pay Teachers.  It’s a bird’s eye view of storytelling. Why do we tell stories in the first place? What makes a good story? How do you become a better writer? The lesson uses several well known stories to discuss plot, character, and writing, with the goal of encouraging students to start…

Midnight Thief is Tome Society’s November book of the month, and I made an introductory video for their blog.  In it, I talk about how I came to write Midnight Thief, as well as some of the influences behind it. (It’s also the first video on my youtube channel, and I still haven’t figured out how video editing works. I feel old…)

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours! Go to…

Daughter of Dusk, the sequel to Midnight Thief, launched on August 4th. A huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to read and share Kyra’s story. To wrap up the first month of release, the Midnight Thief ebook is on sale for 99 cents on all ebook retailers from 9/10-9/13! If you haven’t read it yet, grab it from Kindle, Nook,  Kobo,  iBooks, or Google Play. (Edit: In addition, Amazon allows you to buy an audiobook with the ebook for $3.99 more, so you can get both the kindle ebook and audiobook for under $5.)   And if you’ve read MT already, I’d really appreciate help…

Update 8/14/15:  And the winners are…. Emily from Bibliobibuli wins the signed and annotated copy of Poison Dance. Frannie from Instagram wins the signed and annotated copy of Midnight thief Erin Arkin from Instagram wins the early draft of Daughter of Dusk     It’s hard to believe, but DAUGHTER OF DUSK launches in just under two months.  I have some fun giveaways planned, but I need your help!  If you have a blog, instagram, tumblr, or youtube account, I’d love to have you as a host for an ARC giveaway!  Here are some more details: When: The giveaways will occur between now and 9/14/15 What: The blog giveaway will…

  Daughter of Dusk, the sequel to my YA fantasy Midnight Thief, launches on August 4, 2015! If you’re familiar with the book industry, then you probably know that preorders are really important to a book’s launch.  These early sales let publishers gauge reader interest and helps them decide how much marketing muscle to put behind a book. Because of this, I’m offering some goodies to people who preorder Daughter of Dusk.  This year I have two different offers prepared, and I’m super excited about them. Option 1: Preorder Daughter of Dusk from your retailer of choice. (Open Internationally) Email proof of purchase to liviablackburne at gmail dot com by…

There’s a great charity auction going on right now that I’m happy to be part of. Reposted from NA Alley: Back in 2008, Queena was a vibrant eighteen-year-old with her whole life ahead of her. That changed the night she was brutally raped, beaten, and left for dead after dropping books off at the library. The attack left her blind and unable to walk or talk, requiring around-the-clock care. To get a true feel for her story, please take a moment to watch this video:       This April will mark not only the seventh year since Queena’s attack, but also her twenty-fifth birthday. Now, she can communicate by…