Nikki Loftin

For a writer, there’s nothing like that feeling you get when you’ve been to a really great conference, and you come home fizzy and full of ideas, encouragement from your peers, and potential writerly awesomeness.
I just got home from the Best Conference Ever. (Um, the conference was Austin SCBWI, driving distance from my house, so [...]

Merry Christmas Eve, Blog Friends!
It’s cold in Texas today and getting colder — beginning to feel (at last) a bit like Christmas. I got a stocking stuffer this week already — an essay of mine will appear in The Ultimate Christian Living anthology, out next March. Yay! (Of course, Santa may have to work a [...]

Give me a second and I’ll tell you, as soon as I figure it out.
I suppose I spend most of my time writing children’s fiction. So, when people who want the short answer ask what I do, I say that. (Actually, I say Middle-Grade Humor for Boys, although that’s not entirely true. My current WIP [...]

A perfect weekend. Yesterday we celebrated Dave’s birthday with a dinner at Eddie V’s and a night in the Hyatt Regency on Lady Bird Lake in Austin — free babysitting courtesy of Aunt Lari. Yay Lari! Yay free babysitting! (Of course, we took a side trip to the Alpha & Omega gallery to see Dave’s [...]

Last night, my Grandma fell and broke her ribs. Well, only two of them, but that’s enough when you’re 89. This is the Grandma I keep writing picture books and essays about (that’s her with her stapler in this month’s Skirt! essay). We’re beyond close. She taught me to bake cookies, to hang laundry, to [...]

Okay, let’s just get this out there: Everything I write is autobiographical. I’m not going to tell the lie I learned in my graduate school writing workshops. I don’t make all this stuff up. Not really.
Well, I mean, of course I make it up. But what I’ve been noticing more and more is the things [...]

Well, hello intrepid blog readers! I haven’t posted anything but good news recently (a welcome change from the usual diet of whining, moping, and cursing the agents/editors/children who don’t appreciate me adequately, n’est-ce pas?) — so why stop now?
I am happy (more like peeing-my-panties ecstatic) to announce that my essay, Coming Out of the Craft [...]

Okay, I’ll admit it. I like Miley Cyrus. Well, one of her songs anyway. You know the schmaltzy one, It’s The Climb? Yeah, I know. If I belonged to Mensa, they would yank my membership. I’m a little afraid my more sophisticated friends (all two of them) might judge me harshly. But my writer buddies? [...]

My mom and I still go shopping together. I know many of you will think that’s sad, but let me tell you one thing: it’s hard to find a shopping buddy who will honestly tell you when you’re offending the Gods of Fashion. Think about it. Do you think your husband will answer the question [...]

Hi, y’all ! Yesterday was something special.
First off, my talented photographer husband got a great boost: his photo was chosen as the Austin winner of the Scott Kelby Photo Walk 2009 Contest! Check out his photo here. He could win even more, but he says not to hold my breath.
Yay, Dave!
Then, I got a nice [...]