What is Toni Gallagher reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Toni Gallagher, author of Twist My Charm: Love Potion #11.

Her entry begins:

I’m a relatively new author. My two middle grade books from Random House (Twist My Charm: The Popularity Spell and Twist My Charm: Love Potion #11) came out within the last nine months.

As I was working on my books, I attended conferences, panels, classes and retreats. One bit of advice was always proffered: “To be a good writer, you have to read. Read everything, good or bad. Read books like yours. Read books not like yours. Read in your genre. Read outside your genre.”

Well, I have one question for the people tendering this advice. When in the world are you able to read? I have a job ten months out of the year (I’m actually one of the Executive Producers of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills on Bravo), so it’s almost impossible to find time to write, much less read.

So let me tell you some of the things I’ve started to read.

Of course I want to read middle grade books, so I’ve begun Raymie Nightingale by Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo. Her eloquent simplicity makes me want to be less verbose. However, if I’m less verbose, am I...[read on]

About Twist My Charm: Love Potion #11, from the publisher:

Magic and a little twist of mayhem will charm fans of Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Wendy Mass in this fresh, contemporary debut!

When a package arrives in the mail for Cleo Nelson, she can’t wait to open it. The birthday present is seven months late, but it’s from Uncle Arnie and that can only mean one thing: magic! Inside is a voodoo doll complete with instructions for making happy, wonderful things happen to Cleo and her friends—err, friend. Just one, really. But maybe the doll can change that....

Cleo can’t wait to try out the magic with her friend, Samantha. They start small by wishing for treats (surprise pizza!), but then their spells start to grow. And when they wish for popularity, they accidentally get the popular girl in school in major trouble with the principal. Can happy spells be twisted into bad magic?

Visit Toni Gallagher's website.

My Book, The Movie: Twist My Charm: The Popularity Spell.

Writers Read: Toni Gallagher.

--Marshal Zeringue