A Novel Idea

11/26/2025

🚀 Summer 2026 writing camps are officially on the horizon!
If you have a young writer in grades 5–12, ANI Kids is opening pre-registration for next summer — and I’m so excited to finally share this.

This year, parents asked for:
✨ more locations
✨ earlier access
✨ guaranteed spots
✨ sibling-friendly schedules

…so we built exactly that.

Pre-registering is totally free, and it gives you:
⭐ First pick of weeks + neighborhoods
⭐ A 15% Early Bird discount for any camp
⭐ The chance to help us decide where to open sites in the Atlanta area
⭐ Early access to scholarship applications

Camps are brain-science-meets-creativity and genuinely SO fun — confidence, imagination, and stories kids can’t wait to write.

Here’s the link with details:
👉 https://www.anicreative.com/summer-camp-preregister

Feel free to share with anyone who has a kid who loves stories (or a kid who thinks they don’t — we’re very good at those kids too). 💛

Happy to answer any questions — I’m right here.

Pre-register for summer camps designed for young writers in grades 5-12. Secure early access, discounts, and locations while building confidence and creativity with brain-based methods.

05/12/2025

Doesn't this fellow just look like he's saying, "You're kidding! And then what happened?"

Spotted him casually holding up the roof of a darling little cottage in England—as he's been doing for hundreds of years. I wonder how many good stories he's heard? Or seen on the street outside? I wonder how many celebrations he's quietly been in the background of, or whether he's overheard someone consoling their friend who just got dumped.

Maybe he's the original Noticer—tuned in to the everyday beauty, heartbreak, and hilarity of human life.
Here's to keeping our ears open and our hearts curious.

(And if you've got a story to tell, we’ve got a spot waiting for you this summer: anicreative.com/novelcamp 🖋️)

05/08/2025

This little guy let himself into my hotel this morning — just strolled right through the front door and into the breakfast room like he had a reservation.

So — what do you notice first?
What questions pop up?
Where might this story go?

At Novel Camp, we teach kids to start right there: with a single image, a curious moment, and the freedom to wonder. Writing doesn't have to start with a blank page. Sometimes it starts with a pigeon and a locked door.

05/06/2025

Kids play sports. They play instruments. But writing? No, let's grade that. With a red pen.

I think kids should play with words, and write with abandon in the way kids play dress up, or video games. Not for approval. Not for grades. And not to compare themselves to others.

If your kid is struggling with writing, or the joy is starting to fade into groans, or you wish you'd had a writing guide instead of a grammar teacher, read on....

What began as a novel-writing camp for kids has become a storytelling movement for all ages. Here’s how it started — and why I still believe in it.

05/05/2025

✨ It’s go-time, Atlanta! ✨

Not quite ready to dive into a full-on novel this summer? Totally get it. That’s why we created Shorts Camp — a one-week, creative free-for-all where young writers can explore stories, songs, spooky tales, haiku, scripts, and more.

It’s fun. It’s freeing. And yes — it ends with a beautifully printed anthology featuring everyone’s best work.

💫 Three one-week sessions — each one totally different:
🗓️ May 26–30
🗓️ June 2–6
🗓️ June 9–13

📍 Sandy Springs
📚 For rising 3rd–8th graders
🕘 Full-day camp (9am–3pm)
💵 Just $350/week — seriously the best deal in town (plus the most fun, duh)

Come find your story. Come find your people. Let’s write.

➡️ anicreative.com/novelcamp

05/01/2025

Maybe they’re a drummer.
Maybe they’re doodling in the margins of their math homework.
Maybe they blurt out “Great name for a band!” twelve times a week.

That’s generative creativity—and it’s exactly the kind of spark we love to catch early.

At A Novel Idea, we teach kids how to take their wild ideas and turn them into real stories. Real chapters. Real books. With structure, encouragement, and a lot of joy along the way.

📚 Want to see what happens when kids find their voice?

📝 Read the full blog post:
https://www.anicreative.com/say-more/is-there-a-novelist-hiding-in-your-house

📅 Join us this summer at Novel Camp:
https://www.anicreative.com/novelcamp

Your child might be more ready to write a novel than you think. Here’s how we help turn sparks of imagination into full stories—sometimes without them even realizing it.

04/24/2025

🎉 Calling all ATLANTA word nerds! 🎉
This summer, we’re opening the doors to imagination with A Novel Idea’s Summer Writing Camps—and we’d love to see your young writer there!

✍️ Novel Camp: The Jumpstart (2 Weeks)
May 26–June 6
Perfect for your big-idea kids, the wild-imagination child, or anyone ready to kick off a story with heart, humor, and a whole lot of momentum.

🌟 Shorts Camp: 1-Week Sessions (3 unique weeks!)
May 26–May 30
June 2–June 6
June 9–June 13
Short stories, spooky tales, song lyrics, haikus, flash fiction—you name it, we’re writing it. And yes: we publish what we create in a real, beautiful book.

📍 Location: 1025 Mount Vernon Hwy, Sandy Springs, GA
🔗 More info + sign up: anicreative.com/novelcamp

Let’s help young writers find their voice—and their people.
Let’s write. Together.

04/23/2025

Good morning, ANI friends!

If you're an ANI alum (or a parent of one), I'd love to hear how your story has unfolded after the novel.

✨ Did you keep writing?
✨ Did your child discover a newfound love of storytelling?
✨ Did it spark a dream, a friendship, or a sense of confidence that stuck with you?

Whether it led to a published book, a school essay you're proud of, a D&D campaign with better plot twists, or a deeper love of reading—I want to hear it.

Drop a comment below or send us a message!
We’re gathering a few testimonials to share with new families who might be wondering what ANI is really about—and there’s no one better to answer that than you. 💛

04/11/2025

*Wow -- it's been a minute. Hi, Wordy Friends!*

ATLANTA: This Summer, Your Teen Becomes an Author
Imagine this:
Your kid walks into a writing camp… and walks out with their name on the cover of a professionally published book. 🎉
Welcome to ANI Kids Summer Camps 2025—where creativity takes the lead, confidence blooms, and young writers become real authors.
🌟 2 Camp Tracks | 1 Creative Summer
📍 Sandy Springs, GA | Ages 12–18 (Rising 9th–12th)
✍️ Novel Camp: The Jumpstart (2 Weeks)
They’ll write the bones of their novel—characters, plot, and core scenes—then finish their book over the summer with support from real writing mentors.
📝 Shorts Camp (1, 2, or 3 Weeks)
Wild, joyful, and wildly productive. Each week, writers explore short stories, poetry, music, memoir, and more. Every student is published in a professionally bound anthology.
🎁 Bonuses That Make This Camp Legendary:
✅ Two tickets to our fancy December gala book launch
✅ Personalized guidance from published authors & expert teachers
✅ Confidence, community, and the thrill of “I wrote that!”
💸 Discounts (Act Fast!):
🔹 10% off when you register before April 30
🔹 20% off when you:
– Sign up for all 3 weeks of Shorts Camp
– OR combine 2 weeks of Jumpstart + 1 week of Shorts
📬 Spaces are limited—and we will sell out.
👉 Grab your spot now:

You’re not like all the other kids.And that’s why we like you. These are the camps we wish we had when we were kids.It seems like everybody else gets to play, doesn’t it? Some kids play sports. Some play an instrument. Some kids play… in a play. But writers? We write alone.Is it any wonder s...

06/26/2019

Today these wonderful young authors got to meet Greg Wilkey, the author of the Mortimer Drake vampire series.

Greg shared countless writing tips that they quickly jotted down in their notebooks. Most importantly, though, he encouraged them to embrace their own "novel ideas" and know that some of their most brilliant ideas will come from unexpected places.