Blog

one puzzle piece with a flat edge photo by David Tonelson on Dreamstime

Writing Jigsaw Puzzles

February 10, 2026 No Comments

Stella, a young reader, recently wrote to me and asked: “I find it very hard to invent plots for my books. How do you do it?”

In Praise of Muddles

February 3, 2026 2 Comments

One of the key aspects of reading — and why I think the decline of reading is so alarming — is that reading helps to create greater empathy toward people and society.

Marketing and Publicity

January 27, 2026 No Comments

You publish a book. Great. But many thousands of books are published each year. How do you get your book into the hands of readers?

Lost and Found

January 20, 2026 3 Comments

In the age of computer writing, it is very easy to lose your text. Computer confusion. Power outages. Inadvertently flicking the wrong key. I’ve experienced it all.

Does it feel ordinary?

January 13, 2026 1 Comment

A young reader recently wrote: “Avi, you publish a whole lot of books. Did it feel kind of ordinary to have a new one come out?”

The Road from Nowhere

January 6, 2026 1 Comment

While The Road from Nowhere does portray many of the characteristics of the Old West, the book has most meaning to me as being about brothers and how their relationship evolves.

As a restless teenager, growing up in Brooklyn, New York, I often bolted out of my home, and without informing anyone (which is to say my parents or siblings) what I was doing, set off wandering. No one knew I had gone, which was very much what I wanted.