KidLit Craft Podcast

By kidlitcraft

At KidLit Craft we look at mentor texts to discover ways to improve our own writing. Our Deep Dive series looks at one novel over multiple weeks.... more

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FAQs about KidLit Craft Podcast:

How many episodes does KidLit Craft Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.

KidLit Craft Podcast episodes:

April 25, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 11: In-Community Accessibility
In Buffalo Flats, Rebecca belongs to a religious community that exists within the larger community in the Northwest Territories of Canada. In this episode we look at how Martine makes this community recognizable to those in it and accessible to those not, and we share our personal experiences reading about the community. The craft techniques we discuss apply not just to religious communities, but to any smaller group within a larger culture.

Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay
The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

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27min
April 11, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 10: Historical Feminism
We explore how Martine incorporates feminism into historical fiction in a way that respects history and characters, by finding friction points between the character’s desires and their experience of the world. Also, Erin emotes about corsets.

Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
The book Erin references set in 15th-Century China is Lisa See’s Lady Tan’s Circle of Women.
The story of Esther

The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

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...more
35min
March 14, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 9: Humor
At risk of making Martine’s humor less funny, we take apart the humor in Buffalo Flats, from set-ups and punchlines to adding a funny twist, from individual sentences to full subplots.
Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
Laurel & Hardy, “Chickens Come Home”
Pizza Pirate
This is Us
The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

Support KidLit Craft
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...more
30min
February 27, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 8: Romance
In this episode, we’re talking ROMANCE! We look at how Martine Leavitt sets up the balance between physical intimacy and emotional intimacy, uses contrast in secondary romances, and manages a perfectly balanced love triangle for the main character, Rebecca, in her YA novel Buffalo Flats. We also talk about how to write a perfect romantic kiss.

Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
A KidLit Craft post on playing with tropes in romance
The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Support KidLit Craft
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...more
30min
February 05, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 7: Subplots
A novel requires more than just one main plot. In this episode, we look at three major subplots in Buffalo Flats by Martine Leavitt, one that involves Rebecca’s family, one that involves her local community, and one that involves the larger community. We look at how Martine weaves in these subplots and how she makes them work hard for the story and for Rebecca’s internal journey.

Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
A KidLit Craft post on using best friend subplots in middle grade novels
Another look at subplots: thinking about threads introduced and carried through a story.
The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

Support KidLit Craft
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...more
21min
January 30, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 6: Misbelief
In this mini-episode, we switch things up! Anne-Marie defines what a misbelief is, how it connects your character’s internal and external journey, and we see the concepts in action in Martine Leavitt’s YA novel, Buffalo Flats.

Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
Writing exercises to explore a character’s misbelief
Misbelief in Paul Acampora’s How to Avoid Extinction
A different kind of controlling belief in How to Trap a Tiger, MG by Tae Keller and Calvin, YA by Martine Leavitt.

The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

Support KidLit Craft
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Buy T-shirts and sweatshirts (click on “small logo” or “big logo” for a range of styles)

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...more
16min
January 22, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 5: Internal Desire
Martine Leavitt’s YA novel Buffalo Flats is full of desire. In addition to wanting to own a piece of land, the main character, Rebecca, also wants to become the person God wants her to be, and that means loving other people, most of whom she finds annoying or unlovable. Erin walks through how the desire is introduced, what standard Rebecca is holding herself to, and what internal obstacles there are. She also examines how the external and internal desires conflict with each other and support each other.

Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
Hamilton
A KidLit Craft post on Internal Journey

The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

Support KidLit Craft
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Buy T-shirts and sweatshirts (click on “small logo” or “big logo” for a range of styles)

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...more
33min
January 10, 2024Buffalo Flats, Ep. 4: External Desire
Martine Leavitt’s YA novel Buffalo Flats is full of desire. The main character, Rebecca Leavitt, wants more than anything to own a piece of land near where her family is homesteading in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Erin traces how Martine introduces the external desire right from the start, where Rebecca runs into obstacles, and what the stakes are for Rebecca.

Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
Heroes Trailer: Save the Cheerleader, Save the World
Newsies
Louise Hawes on YEARNING
Making Desire Concrete at KidLit Craft
Another way to make desire concrete: Controlling Beliefs on KidLit Craft

The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

Support KidLit Craft
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Buy T-shirts and sweatshirts (click on “small logo” or “big logo” for a range of styles)

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...more
22min
December 24, 2023Buffalo Flats: Update
We’re three episodes in, and we’re taking a holiday break! Anne-Marie and Erin share how life is in podcast land and encourage you to read Buffalo Flats during the break. Starting in Episode 4 there will be spoilers. But the book is so rich that even if you listen first, you’ll have wonderful moments of discovery when you read the book.
Links:
KidLit Craft website
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.

Support KidLit Craft
Patreon
Buy T-shirts and sweatshirts (click on “small logo” or “big logo” for a range of styles)

Email us at [email protected]
Sign up for our newsletter
...more
6min
December 18, 2023Buffalo Flats, Ep. 3: Opening Chapter
Erin takes us through the four scenes that make up the first chapter of Martine Leavitt’s YA novel Buffalo Flats. We talk desire line (both internal and external), character, setting, language, humor and more.

Links:
Martine Leavitt’s Buffalo Flats
"Making Your Character's Desires Concrete" by Anne-Marie
"Crafting Character: Discovering Desire" from KidLit Craft
Backstory, articles from KidLit Craft

The KidLit Craft Podcast is hosted by Anne-Marie Strohman and Erin Nuttall.
Music by Trevor Strohman.

Support KidLit Craft

Patreon
Buy T-shirts and sweatshirts (click on “small logo” or “big logo” for a range of styles)

Email us at [email protected]
Sign up for our newsletter
...more
23min

FAQs about KidLit Craft Podcast:

How many episodes does KidLit Craft Podcast have?

The podcast currently has 32 episodes available.