Laurel Decher

Growing into shape: A 1,000-year-old linden tree - Laurel Decher This 1,000 year old linden tree has such a perfect shape from the outside. A really old tree gives me a new perspective on life and how long it takes to grow

Growing into shape: A 1,000-year-old linden tree https://laureldecher.com/how-long-does-it-take-a-1000-year-old-linden-tree/

The Reverse Backstory Tool Brings Your Characters to Life - Laurel Decher Angela Ackerman’s and Becca Puglisi’s Reverse Backstory Tool in THE NEGATIVE TRAIT THESAURUS is the perfect way to jumpstart a new story or re-animate a faded

The Reverse Backstory Tool Brings Your Characters to Life https://laureldecher.com/the-reverse-backstory-tool-brings-your-characters-to-life/

Tame Your Revision Step-by-Step: SLICE AND LABEL with Scrivener - Laurel Decher If you’re not a Scrivener person, feel free to adapt to your tool of choice. There’s more than one way to slice and dice a manuscript! :)

This is my most popular blog post of all time. Glad you liked it. #amwriting #amrevising Tame Your Revision Step-by-Step: SLICE AND LABEL with Scrivener https://laureldecher.com/tame-your-revision-step-by-step-slice-and-label-with-scrivener/

7 Reasons Why There’s Not a Moment to be Lost on Your Creative Journey Patrick O’Brian’s sea adventure Master and Commander is a perfect snapshot of the creative journey.

This post is my personal manifesto for why I write. Does it resonate with you? 7 Reasons Why “There’s not a moment to be lost” https://laureldecher.com/7-reasons-why-theres-not-a-moment-to-be-lost/ #amwriting #amreading #amexploring

Exploring: the vineyard-covered Ahr valley - Laurel Decher This is a view to feed your soul, so I’ll keep the words to a minimum.

Especially when it rains, I like thinking about places that feel like a cupful of sunshine . . . Exploring: the vineyard-covered Ahr valley https://laureldecher.com/exploring-the-vineyard-covered-ahr-valley/

Tour the Seven Kingdoms - Laurel Decher The Middle Rhine Valley is a World Heritage Site because of its amazing castles! It has all kinds. For the Seven Kingdoms series, I chose a tollbooth castle,

Tour the Seven Kingdoms https://laureldecher.com/fun-extras/tour-the-seven-kingdoms/

Welcome Aboard! Are You Ready to Make New Friends? - Laurel Decher Train travel is always an adventure and sometimes you make new friends, even when you don’t speak the same language. Last year, we accidentally missed our train to Paris, and made some new friends. Here’s the story for you and a few games for your next trip with the kids.

If you're planning a trip with the kids, here are a few games to lighten the journey . . . Welcome Aboard! Are You Ready to Make New Friends? https://laureldecher.com/welcome-aboard-are-you-ready-to-make-new-friends/ #raiseareader #jackandthebeanstalk

Shopping for Kids’ Books (ages 9 to 12) at your Home or Library? - Laurel Decher It’s not easy to find books for kids ages 9 to 12. You can flip through picture books fairly easily, but books for elementary school or primary grades take longer to read. Here’s a little help for you--I suggest my new favorite book for this age group every month in my Readers List and once a year, I put all the recommendations together in a convenient book menu for you. Take it to the library or bookstore and amaze the kids with wonderful books to read!

My favorite reads for the kids at your house who need a book. Perfect for library and bookstore expeditions. Shopping for Kids’ Books (ages 9 to 12) at your Home or Library? https://laureldecher.com/shopping-for-kids-books-ages-9-to-12/ #expatfamily #raiseareader

It’s a Pilgrim Life - Laurel Decher You can’t be a pro the first time you try something new. That’s a repeated theme in my middle grade books, but I’m still learning it! In September, I tried to hike on a famous pilgrimage route--Via Francigena. I thought it was going to work, because I got an excessively-detailed guidebook from the library, set low expectations for how far we could walk, made hotel and train reservations, and kind of expected the weather to cooperate. Because it was Italy. Read about my #PilgrimFail.

In case you need one today, here's your Official Failure Permission Slip. You don't have to get it right the first time. It’s a Pilgrim Life https://laureldecher.com/its-a-pilgrim-life/ #BeginnerPilgrim #FirstDayOfSchoolThoughts

cover reveal for Kickstarter project. Learn more about the new 2nd editions at laureldecher.com/kickstarter/

Still working on my tiny book, because my amazing illustrator + cover designer took it up six levels! #coverreveal #kickstarterreads #readinginthemiddlegrades How To Make A Tiny Edition Of A Book https://laureldecher.com/how-to-make-a-tiny-edition-of-a-book/

Past Adventures: Stories of Immigration - Laurel Decher Last week, my family and I visited the German Emigration Museum in northern Germany. The museum is in Bremerhaven, literally “Bremen’s harbor”, so there are

Germany's Immigration Museum in Bremerhaven took us on a difficult voyage to a new country--making friends is a necessity. Past Adventures: Stories of Immigration https://laureldecher.com/past-adventures-stories-of-immigration/ #everyoneiswelcome

6 ways THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET shows its warm and funny heroine - Laurel Decher Click here to download Six Ways to Reveal Character handout as a pdf with links to Karl Iglesias’ website and to WRITING FOR EMOTIONAL IMPACT.

6 ways THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET shows its warm and funny heroine https://laureldecher.com/6-ways-this-journal-belongs-to-ratchet-shows-its-warm-and-funny-heroine/

Veggie of the Week Challenge: The Colors of Italy Pizza - Laurel Decher The summer the first Seven Kingdoms Fairy tale came out, my brand-new middle grade book, TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, took up the vegetable portion of my brain (I

Veggie of the Week Challenge: The Colors of Italy Pizza https://laureldecher.com/veggie-of-the-week-challenge-the-colors-of-italy-pizza/

A new place to find more book recommendations for 10 year olds - Laurel Decher Do you want to find books your ten-year-olds will love? There’s a new website called Shepherd you might enjoy. It connects books to each other, so you can figure out if the book being recommended is one for your kids. Speaking of “likes” it’s like Facebook for books but without ads. :) Here’s how it works:

A new place to find more book recommendations for 10 year olds https://laureldecher.com/a-new-place-to-find-more-book-recommendations-for-10-year-olds/

An Epic Tree - Laurel Decher My husband and I went looking for a half-circle of oaks he knew from thirty years ago. (No comments from the peanut gallery ;) He said their group held hands around it because it was so big (nearly 8 meters around and 24 meters tall!). It’s gotta be old: 600-800 years!

An Epic Tree https://laureldecher.com/an-epic-tree/

Basic Garden Vocabulary in German and a side-trip to Mexican Oregano - Laurel Decher I’ve never grown vegetables in Germany--until this year. That means I need lots of new words!

Basic Garden Vocabulary in German and a side-trip to Mexican Oregano https://laureldecher.com/basic-garden-vocabulary-in-german-and-a-side-trip-to-mexican-oregano/

There’s more to explore! - Laurel Decher The second book in the Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tale series is all about exploring--with a prince who has no sense of direction!

There’s more to explore! https://laureldecher.com/theres-more-to-explore/

a. Welcome - Debbie Ridpath Ohi - Obsidian Publish Welcome to Debbie's Unofficial Guide To Bluesky Greetings to those finding me via the "Where Is The Kid Lit Community Online?" article in Publishers Weekly, Vox post about Bluesky, Bluesky tips blog…

Thanks to those who have been boosting my Unofficial Guide To Bluesky. Much appreciated, since I've put a lot of work into this project.

publish.obsidian.md/debbieohi/bl...

#BlueSkyTips

Graphic for SelfPubCon from Oct 18-19, 2025 with registration link selfpublishingadvice.org/conference-2025

I always find new inspiration at this free annual conference for self-publishers from the Alliance of Independent Authors. Come join in this Fri, Sat, Sunday (free for everyone for 3 days.) #indiepub #amwriting #selfpubcon

7+ English Language Bookstores in Paris - Laurel Decher This post is for all you readers of English language books who are living in or visiting Paris. Maybe you need a book for the plane home or presents for your

7+ English Language Bookstores in Paris https://laureldecher.com/english-language-bookstores-in-paris/

A Mini-M.F.A. in the Psychology of Character - Laurel Decher How do you know what your hero is capable of? A modernistic St. Martin cuts his cloak in half to share with a poor man. Mainz, Germany. Craft books like The Negative Trait Thesaurus and The Positive Trait Thesaurus can help you build strong characters.

A Mini-M.F.A. in the Psychology of Character https://laureldecher.com/a-mini-m-f-a-in-the-psychology-of-character/

Looking in from the outside: Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series - Laurel Decher Thick as Thieves came out in 2017 (Yay! I read it twice in a row!) and I’ve been enjoying re-reading Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series. She’s

Looking in from the outside: Megan Whalen Turner’s The Queen’s Thief series https://laureldecher.com/looking-in-from-the-outside-megan-whalen-turners-the-queens-thief-series/

Wonders of the Winter Gift: A Deluxe Edition Fairy Tale A no-spice Gift of the Magi fantasy short story set in a snow-kissed Scottish world. Limited edition hardcover and paperback.

Who can resist a story about the Magi? Not me. Wonders of the Winter Gift: A Deluxe Edition Fairy Tale on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/bel...

Lost in a Campground - Laurel Decher Burg Rheinfels (Fortress Rhine Boulder) is the inspiration for the Saffron Kingdom. ©Laurel Decher, 2021.

Lost in a Campground https://laureldecher.com/lost-in-a-campground/

Train travel in Belgium - Laurel Decher Even more Day 1 of the travel to an environmental conference without breaking the environment.

Train travel in Belgium https://laureldecher.com/train-travel-in-belgium/

Puzzles + Quizzes - Laurel Decher Here’s a crossword puzzle for the Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales. If you’ve read TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, LOST WITH LEEKS, and UNDER PRESSURE WITH A SQUASH, it

Puzzles + Quizzes https://laureldecher.com/fun-extras/puzzles-quizzes/

Collateral damage: What if there’s no one to vouch for you? - Laurel Decher A reputation is a thing you don’t think about until it’s lost. There are so many ways to “prove” who we are today, and most of them involve your smart phone . . . My children’s author brain starting thinking about visitors without smart phones--giants from the Giant Mountains--who needed someone to speak up for them. . .

Collateral damage: What if there’s no one to vouch for you? https://laureldecher.com/collateral-damage-what-if-theres-no-one-to-vouch-for-you/

Exploring: the vineyard-covered Ahr valley - Laurel Decher This is a view to feed your soul, so I’ll keep the words to a minimum.

Exploring: the vineyard-covered Ahr valley https://laureldecher.com/exploring-the-vineyard-covered-ahr-valley/

Create something new: Lessons from a re-cycled Convent, a Peacock with a Looking Glass, and a Cow with a Drinking Problem - Laurel Decher In the small village of Swisstal-Dünstekoven, a one-time convent was built solely with materials scavenged from the Roman water line. Now it’s a farm with

Create something new: Lessons from a re-cycled Convent, a Peacock with a Looking Glass, and a Cow with a Drinking Problem https://laureldecher.com/create-something-new-lessons-from-a-re-cycled-convent-a-peacock-with-a-looking-glass-and-a-cow-with-a-drinking-problem/

5 Proven Discoverability Hacks for Indie Authors to Beat the Vanishing Act Struggling to get your self-published book noticed? Learn five actionable strategies—from building a backlist to leveraging author communities—that will help your work rise above the noise and reach e...

Susan Odev speaks truth (again!) in the newest Indie Author Magazine: “Instead, discoverability is a messy blend of strategy, persistence, and experimentation. The trick is not to beat the algorithm but to outlast the noise.” indieauthormagazine.com/5-proven-dis... #indiepub #amwriting