Kristin Wolden Nitz
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While I didn’t set a scene at Al-Ahzar Park, my characters visited it between the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another. It also came up in conversation a number of times for various reasons. So of course, I had…
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Kentucky Bluegrass Master List: Music to my Ears!
I found out yesterday that Saving the Griffin made it onto the Kentucky Bluegrass Awards Master List for grades 3-5! This is Kentucky’s children’s choice award program. Students will vote for their favorites next Spring. It’s so exciting to know…
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Like a Jane Austin Novel with Less Clothes….
I can certainly understand why Terry Pratchett’s novel NATION won so many awards and received so much critical acclaim. It’s set in a parallel world to ours that has enough changes that he can do what he likes with certain…
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At the Khan al-Khalili
Egypt has over 5000 years of recorded history. Often, people concentrate on the days of the pharoahs from Menes (Narmer) to the suicide of Cleopatra VII. But Egypt continued to play its part in world history even though it wound up…
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Abusir is Closed
Abusir is not one of the classic, must-see sights of Egypt. As one of my characters observes, “No one says ‘I want to see Abusir before I die.” The pyramids there are 100 years younger than those in Giza, but…
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My Characters Made Me Do It!
In every other project that I’ve done up until MARK OF THE SCARAB, I experienced things before I created characters. In fact, on my website, there’s an article about how I wasn’t able to write about Merano, Italy until I got…
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Dirt Piles and Pyramids
I was mowing my lawn one day when I found myself thinking about how I might be able to deduct a visit to see my sister on my taxes. At the moment, I was thinking more in terms of trying…
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My Griffin
How much is that griffin in the window It had been a long day in Siena. My family and I were walking along the Via Terme back to the Blue SITA buses when I saw him in the store window:…
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A Book Binge
Claire Dunkel, the author of THE HOLLOW KINGDOM, once wrote that she never reads other people’s novels when she’s in the middle of writing one of her own books. This was years ago, and she very well may have changed…
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Edit Using More Than Your Eyes
Last week, I put the finishing touches on a middle grade novel and sent it off to my agent. It had undergone one major revision and any number of minor ones. Once I fixed various problems with setting, logic, characterization,…
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Kristin Wolden Nitz 