our stories, ourselves

The Hard Parts

Recently a dear author friend, Virginia Euwer Wolff, posed what seemed to be a very simple question: What's the hardest part about writing and editing?  As I explored how I might want to answer her question, I realized why I haven't posted anything on my...

Beginnings

Margaret K. McElderry  07/10/1912 – 02/14/2011 My mentor and friend, Margaret K. McElderry, passed away at the age of 98 on February 14, 2011. Valentine's Day. A day on which we celebrate and express love. And a day somehow wholly appropriate on which to say farewell...

Alignment

As artists we seek to create our own sense of the chaos. Through our storytelling, poetry, painting, composing, sculpting, designing, we wrangle and wrestle with a swirl of ideas and emotions that seem at once as heavy as lead and as elusive as air. We all of us seek...

The Great Wall

A few years ago, my partner and I were lucky enough to be able to take an incredible month-long trip to China. It took about six months of planning and preparation and before that, it had taken several years of “what if”ing to set it all in motion. We wanted to see...

Nesting

I have been nesting .  Cleaning the house.  Doing the laundry. Sorting through books. Sorting through old clothes. Organizing folders and drawers. Writing the e-mails and proposals I thought I would do later, but have decided to do now.  Paying the...

But On The Other Hand…

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. --T.S. Eliot I included this Eliot excerpt on my High School yearbook page many decades ago. It resonated with me then and it...

drydenbks LLC

drydenbks LLC: emma d dryden’s company offers editorial & publishing consultancy services to children’s book creators & producers. www.drydenbks.com