Allyson Valentine Schrier

My blogs

Gender	Female
Occupation	Writer
Location	Fall City, WA
Introduction	I graduated in July from the Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. People often ask if I felt my skills as a writer improved as a result of my work at Vermont. The short answer is absolutely. But I think the place where I noticed even more development was in my skills as a reader. Vermont is intensely focused on craft, which includes developiong skills to critically analyze the work of others in an effort to discover ways to improve one's own skills as a writer. It was my enjoyment of that part of the MFA program that led me to start the Storysleuths Blog. My works-in-progress include a couple of middle grade novels which I hope to have submittable by the end of the year. Prior to going to Vermont my emphasis was picture books and I am proud of the awards some of my manuscripts have won. I've published in popular children's magazines, and have written extensively for the children's educational market. I am a regular columnist for our local newspaper where I have a column on Going Green. I teach creative writing at our local elementary school, and lead writer's workshops for kids of all ages.