“The Spooky Science of Fear” is all about how our brains process fear and why it’s important. As always when I write for kids, I learned a ton, too!

I wrote “Building Bionic Bodies” for the September issue of ASK. It’s an overview of prosthetics through the ages…where we started, what’s being done today, and what the future might hold.

Not only did ASK take a pitch I proposed about a visit to a recycling facility, but I was offered–and accepted–a position as a contributing editor for Click, ASK, and Muse magazines! As a contributing editor, I’ll do a combination of proof-reading and fact checking, idea generating, and writing. I couldn’t be happier!

In this month’s ASK…meet the small bird who doesn’t chirp or tweet. Instead, he taps his wings together to make his song!

I just heard from Spider magazine that they’ve accepted an article I wrote about “Real Life Dragons!” Yes, dragons are real, even if they’re not quite what we imagine a dragon to be…

Like the blue dragon sea slug:

Check out my article “More Precious than Gold” in the May/June issue of ASK magazine to find out the full story!

I write the words, but it’s the art department that really makes an article pop. The layout process is endlessly fascinating, and this month I’ve seen three layouts that are great examples of the process.

Early in the month, ASK sent me the layout for my upcoming article about aluminum. There had been a few tweaks, but the structure was largely what I’d pictured as I was writing it. (Of course, the ASK art department had done its usual amazing job.)

Then mid-month, Highlights emailed the layout for an article I’d written about fear. Because it was a commissioned article, I’d been given a template to work from when I received the assignment, so I knew exactly what it would look like. Except when I opened the PDF, it had completely changed! Even though the original template had been Highlights’ design, they’d decided on a new direction. Still my words, and still a great article, but now in a completely different structure.

Finally, last week my ASK editor sent the layout for an article I’ve done about prosthetics. There’s so much information in the article that she thinks it’ll be easier for kids to read if the article is broken into text boxes, or what she refers to as a “wireframe”. In this case, she wanted my input and requested I do some revision to help her restructure. She’s absolutely right about the new structure improving the article, and I’m in the process of revising right now.

So, three layouts, three different—and equally great—experiences. That’s part of why I love writing for magazines…it’s always something new and unexpected!