Maranda Russell

Tag: teens

  • Six word story – home invasion

  • My Mother Helped a Guy to Stalk Me

    Lately I’ve been dealing with a lot of resentment and anger towards my mother. To explain why, let me share a specific incident that kind of illustrates why I am upset. When I was 14/15, my mother worked with a guy named Danny who met me and developed a huge crush on me. He was […]

  • “Love, Simon” Movie Review

    “Love, Simon” Movie Review

    Today my husband and I went to see the new movie “Love, Simon”. I love reading YA novels and have always enjoyed teen movies as well, so I was excited to go see this one. I thought the premise of a teen hiding his gay sexuality from his friends, family, and school was a realistic […]

  • In Love with Pat Sajak – A funny little story

    In Love with Pat Sajak – A funny little story

    As a child, I wrote my diary in code, knowing my mother would likely find it and read it. I swapped names, and made substitutions, just to throw her off the scent of what I was really thinking and feeling. One of my first adolescent crushes, I referred to as Pat Sajak (the Wheel of […]

  • Drugs are Scary

    Recently, my husband and I went to a special class about street drug use among youth. The only reason we really went was to earn some of our foster parent educational credit hours, but I must say that the class turned out to be eye-opening and even frightening on many levels. I thought I already […]

  • What makes a good poem?

    Poetry is an intensely personal thing, so opinions abound regarding what makes a poem truly good. I’m not here to tell you that I know the magic formula or to try and pretend that I am some literary genius that has it all figured out, but I would like to share my opinion of what makes a […]

  • Tips for teaching poetry writing to kids and teens

    Along with all the author visits and book signings I do, I also spend some of my time teaching poetry and other writing forms to kids and teens. I often have teachers express to me how hard they find it to teach poetry (or any kind of writing) to the kids in their classroom, so I […]

  • Cursing and sexual terms – ok in literature for young adults?

    Lately, as I have been working with my editor to get my first book for young adults ready for publication, I have been thinking a lot about what is ok and isn’t ok to put in young adult literature. My new YA book is a poetry collection, and while it certainly isn’t riddled with sexual stuff […]

  • Author Anxiety

    You would think after you have your first book published and spend lots of time out in the public marketing it, that you wouldn’t be so nervous about future releases. Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case. At least, not for me. Of course, I think part of the reason I am anxious right now is […]

  • Is the ‘Twilight’ Saga really all that bad?

    Along with the throngs of female fans, it seems that the ‘Twilight’ saga has another group that feels just as passionately about the series, although their feelings go in another direction.  It seems anywhere you go, whether it is online or in person, whenever the subject of the ‘Twilight’ movie or book series comes up, […]