Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Welcome Back Nikki Loftin to MCBF 2014


Welcome Back...         Nikki Loftin returns to MCBF


Nikki Loftin is the author of two middle grade novels: THE SINISTER SWEETNESS OF SPLENDID ACADEMY (winner of the 2013 Writer’s League of Texas Book Award), and NIGHTINGALE’S NEST (coming February 2014), both published by Razorbill/Penguin. Nikki’s short children’s fiction has appeared in Boy’s Life and Pockets magazines, and she is a contributor to Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves (Zest books, Nov. 2012).

Nikki lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country, surrounded by dogs, goats, and rambunctious boys. She prefers scary stories over sweet ones, reads so much it’s embarrassing, and loves ice cream almost as much as she loves writing. Say hi at www.nikkiloftin.com.
 
Find out more about Nikki in her interview below:
 
At what age did you start writing?
 
Why do you write for Children?
I write for children because I like them best.
Not that you adults aren’t all lovely people, I’m sure you’re great. It’s just that I prefer the honesty and fierce sense of social justice, the humor, and the emotional truths of kids.
I also feel like a part of me – an important part – is still nine or ten years old. I may look old on the outside, but inside, I’m still that little girl who climbed out on the roof to read until it got dark every night, whose best friend was a sycamore tree. I think I’m writing her stories.
Do you have a pet (pets)?  Tell us about it (them) and how they help/hinder your writing.
I have two dogs and two goats. Honestly, I don’t think their presence affects my writing at all! (Except when the dogs insist on being walked or petted in the middle of an important scene.) But the animals do help my emotional state when I’m dealing with the business side of things. I mean, have you ever seen goats jump around when they’re playing? They are adorable. Almost adorable enough to make a writer forget all those rejections.
It’s the dawn of the zombie apocalypse, what 3 things are a must to take with you when you flee your home for refuge from the undead hordes??
My kids and I have given this one some thought. (Zombie Apocalypse is a favorite road trip game.) Definitely I would take duct tape. You can’t go wrong with duct tape –you can use it for a bandage, to tape yourself in a tree to sleep at night, etc.
I’d also take my son’s water purification filter – the one he’s using for his science project on water quality. You could suck up a mud puddle and be fine, and since I’d be heading for the forest, I’d need one of these.
Last? A machete. Of course I have one. Don’t ask why. And don’t ask about those stains on the blade.
We are so lucky to have Nikki making
a second appearance at the
on February 15 at Lone Star College - Montgomery.
 
Don't miss your chance to meet her!

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