Besides writing, I teach several adult ed. classes for people who want to write for children. I usually plan lessons and review student assignments in the afternoon. I also do errands and household chores in the afternoon. Many self-employed people make a strict division between work and their personal life, but for me it all melds together. Going grocery shopping or to the bank in the middle of the day is more efficient overall than waiting for the weekend, when everyone else is doing it.
6. Please complete this sentence: "My passions are....." . . . science and writing-and, of course, my family and friends.
7. Your school programs are very appealing. What do you enjoy about school visits? What do you not enjoy? How many do you do in one year?
I love doing school visits because it gives me personal contact with my readers. I can find out what they like most about my work, and sometimes they tell me ways I could have done things better. That's very useful. It also helps me to understand kids developmentally. It's important for me to know how a second grader is different from a fourth grader. Understanding their interests and level of comprehension helps me write more effectively for them. 8. You put your editing skills to work through your manuscript editing service. How do you manage to do all you do and roughly how many manuscripts do you edit in one month?
I do two different kinds of editing. Sometimes I edit books for publishers. In these cases, my goal is to make the text appropriate for the publishers needs. If, for example, the book will be added to an ongoing series, I need to make sure the book meets the series guidelines and that the voice is appropriate for the series. I also need to make sure the content is accurate and age appropriate. I have edited more than 200 books for publishers, and they have won such awards as Bank Street College Best Children's Books, Booklist's Top Ten Animal Books for Youth, CBC/NSTA Outstanding Children's Science Trade Book, Colorado Authors' League Award, IRA/CBC Children's Choices, IRA Notable Children's Book Award, New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age, Science Books & Films's Best Books of the Year, VOYA Honors List, and YALSA/ALA Quick Pick.
I also have a manuscript critique service offered through my website, www.melissa-stewart.com. I have been critiquing manuscripts-both fiction and nonfiction-for my writer friends and former students for many years. At their urging, I started my critique service about two years ago. At this point, I critique perhaps six manuscripts a month, but the business is growing all the time. Most new clients hear about me from a friend or are impressed by the testimonials on my website.
