K.A. Barson, Author
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Biography
Like most writers, I liked writing when I was a child and teen. I wrote stories and poems and didn't mind writing papers for school. Even when I got a little older, I thought that I would like to be a writer, but never thought I could.
In 2001, I decided to write a novel. I spent a lot of time writing it, but it was not ready for publication. I put it away for a while, thinking of it every so often. By 2004, with the encouragement of a dear writer friend, I started to think seriously about my writing. What that really means is that I changed how I thought about writing from something I did for fun to something I wanted to do as a career. That does not mean that my career started then. I've spent many years honing my craft and learning to be a good writer. I joined The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and took classes the The Institute for Children's Literature. Then I went to several workshops through the Highlights Foundation.
Eventually, after several attempts and many revisions, Highlights for Children magazine decided to buy some of my work. Seeing my work in print has been a dream come true.
Now I am working on writing books for children. In January 2011 I graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts' MFA for Writing for Children and Young Adult program. A few months later, I signed with the wonderful literary agent, Sara Crowe. She sold my YA novel, 45 Pounds, to Sharyn November at Viking. I'm hoping to see it in print summer 2013. Dreams really do come true!