All About Linda...
 

Even before I could read, I wanted to tell stories. I’d block out a comic strip and draw my stories with stick figures. Later, after school, I would climb the willow tree in my backyard, where I’d write in my journal and make lists of favorite words. As a teenager, I wrote poetry and my own Nancy Drew mysteries, but I never imagined being an author. Real grownups weren’t authors, they were things like nurses, or secretaries, or salespeople. Instead I went to college and became a teacher.

Then I got married and had three daughters. I read them lots of children’s books and I fell in love with the poetic language, the wonderful characters, and the beautiful stories. One day, I decided to write my own children’s book about the squirrel who raided our birdfeeder. “Hickory Squirrel” was never published, but I kept on writing, even after I went back to teaching. I took a class on writing for children, joined a writer’s group, and went to writing workshops. I wrote, rewrote, and rewrote again.

Finally I had my first piece published in Humpty Dumpty Magazine. It was a recipe for making an elephant for breakfast. Publishing my second piece was still a struggle. I revised “The Dream Violin” fourteen times before it appeared in Highlights for Children. Since then I’ve published countless other stories, articles, and books for children. Seeing my words in print is a thrill, but even if I had never been published, I would still love the process of writing, polishing, and refining until I’ve told my story just right.

Linda Crotta Brennan is the Award-winning author of Marshmallow Kisses, Flannel Kisses, North Carolina: Rookie Read About Geography, and the soon to be released The Black Regiment of the American Revolution.

Ms. Brennan writes articles and stories for the educational market, electronic media and magazines including Highlights for Children, Cricket, Guideposts for Kids and Ranger Rick.

She writes the bimonthly Kid's Page column for the Rhode Island Audubon Report.

Ms. Brennan is the Teen Program Coordinator at the Coventry Public Library and an instructor with the Institute of Children's Literature. She holds her master's degree in Early Childhood Education. She is an active member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators as well as the Author's Guild.