Cynthia Lord's Summer Blog Reruns

This summer, author Cynthia Lord has been going through some of the blog posts she wrote back when she was in the process of writing Rules. Before it was published. Before it won the Newbery Honor. Before it swept reader's choice awards across the country.

If you have ever been curious about how a writer's mind works while working on a novel, these "summer reruns" are fascinating reading.

If you are a writer, you're bound to pick up some tips and inspiration.

And, most especially, if you're a fan of Rules, it's a real treat to get a special in-the-moment glimpse of Ms. Lord's processes, struggles, and triumphs during the book's creation.

Here are some of the recent highlights:

• How she came up with some of the details for Catherine's room
• How she finally made Catherine's friend Kristi come alive
• How she started over (Seriously. She wiped her entire file clean and started the book over after it was written and sold because she knew it could be better. Bold. Scary. Absolutely courageous.)