How can a famous novelist for young teenagers describe how she does what she does as a writer? It's easy, if you're Mary Jane Meeker, aka M.E. Kerr. Wrong. It isn't easy. On page one Kerr tells about the framed quote attributed to Gene Fowler hanging over her desk "Writing is easy. All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead." Kerr describes some of the courtesies a writer should extend to each reader, such as remembering to include important facts, give characters interesting names, forgetting about using heavy slang or dialect, etc. She relates several real-life anecdotes and reprints a short story or chapter from her work for young adults to illustrate specific writing concepts. Kerr is down-to-earth, witty, and helpful. Her fans will enjoy these glimpses of Kerr at work, even if they don't think of themselves as writers. The book is dedicated to the kids who hope someday to write...and to their teachers, very often first ones to recognize their talents and to cheer them on. (Ages 12-16)

Award-winning novelist M. E. Kerr shares for the first time the stories behind--and excerpt from--five of her novels and five short stories and offers young people dozens of sensible writing tips that can be used immediately by any aspiring writer of fiction. A professional writer who has earned her living solely as an author from the year after she graduated college to the present, Ms. Kerr--with her usual mix of sparkling with and common sense--talks about how she gets her ideas and, more important, how she uses them to create her stories.

Whether you are writing your next school assignment or thinking about writing as career, "Blood on the Forehead" gives you a fascinating insight into the way one highly successful author approaches her own work.