Six on a Sleepy Saturday

I missed posting yesterday so I’ll throw one up today.

1. The dogs were on crack or something yesterday. They kept running inside and jumping at the gate (sounded like someone was bouncing a ball or something). After being driven insane by that all day, when we brought them inside and locked them in the kennels (that’s what we do at night) all they did was whine and cry. I put them out many times to use the restroom—thinking that was the trouble—and gave them water to drink and everything I could think of (I even sprayed them with a squirt bottle). But they wouldn’t shut up! So I haven’t had more than a couple of hours of sleep. I’m tired.

2. When I went to buy dog food at the pet store, they were out of the brand I usually buy so I bought them some Blue Buffalo. I wonder if that was the reason for the extra hyper-activeness? It might be because one of them is inside jumping at the gate again today. *sigh* They better behave tonight or—yeah, I don’t know what I’ll do. Probably whine and cry and bawl right along with them (and change dog food on Monday).

3. Even though I’m tired, I’m going to try to get a little bit of work done on the rewrite of my MG. Things are going well with it and I’m super excited to be rewriting it. I’ve always loved the story and characters and I hope this rewrite will do the trick (I’ve learned quite a bit since I first wrote it eight years ago).

4. We were going to go to Flagstaff today, but since the dogs kept us up all night, we will probably just stay home. This doesn’t make the kids happy as they wanted to visit grandma and grandpa and eat at Peter Piper Pizza, but that’s the way things go.

5. Because they were up all night too, the dogs slept in this morning—which meant hubby and I got to sleep in a little. Youngest son, JR, came in at about 8:30 to ask if he should get a bath before going to his friend’s birthday party at 10:00. Hubby took pity on me (he got slightly more sleep than me and doesn’t have trouble sleeping during the day like I do) and took JR to buy a birthday present and then to the party. <3 that man!

6. I’m trying to win me some Jodi-mitts so, despite my exhaustion, I spent the morning drawing an entry for the contest Jodi Meadows is having. Check out the details on her blog. The contest ends tonight, but there’s still a little time to enter (you don’t have to draw anything—it gives extra entries—all you have to do is leave a comment on her blog post for an entry). Anyway, here is the drawing I did.

 

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Write on.

Creating = Writing + Chocolate cake is dangerous

Yesterday was my first ceramics class of the semester. It’s been a year since last I did ceramics. I missed it! I decided to make a Christmas-ish container type thing—it was a spur of the moment/what the heck am I going to make/I have to do something besides sit here situation. We’ll see how it turns out after it dries and is fired, glazed, and fired again.

Anyway, by the time the class was over, I had thought through some issues in my MG (making ceramics doesn’t use all my concentration) and wanted to rush home and work on it. I couldn’t because I had to pick the kids up from school (the class goes from 8:3-2:20 and the kids get out at 2:15). After I picked them up from school, I rushed home (drove a little over the speed limit) in the hopes of getting to work on it.

Alas, I had to do some house cleaning because my parents called and were on their way to my house. It was great to see them, but the weather was turning nasty and they had to rush away after only a few minutes. Still, at least the dishes were done and the floors swept and mopped. I hoped to get to writing then, but my cousin called with some questions and then my sister called with an update on my brother (he’s been in the hospital since Sunday with complications from an appendectomy). By the time I got off the phone, I had ten minutes to get to my evening History class.

The class went well, and I really think I’m going to like it, but when I got home, I had to help the kids with homework and get some food in me (hubby made dinner) and then I was exhausted!

Today I was supposed to help out in the kids’ school library. I ditched so I could do some writing and also read the chapter I need to read before class tonight.

The point of all this is that I’m back! I’m no longer in a writing funk and WANT to write again. YAY!!

Those of you who have been there will understand my excitement. I was hoping the ceramics class would due the trick and am pleased that it did (even though I didn’t get the time to write yesterday). I’m not sure the librarian is very happy, but sometimes volunteer work has to be put on the back burner for a while.

I’m working on my MG today (though I’m taking a break to blog—and then get some breakfast/brunch) and things have been going well so far this morning. I hope to accomplish more before I have to go get the kids from school (I’ll do my History reading after I get them since class isn’t until 6:00 tonight).

Anyway, this whole thing got me thinking. How do you get out of your writing funk? Are you the type of person who just writes even when you don’t feel like it? Do you have another creative outlet you do (crochet, drawing, painting, photography, etc.) to help get your creativity flowing? Or do you have something else that may not necessarily be creative that you do to help get your writing groove back?

Write/Share on!

Edited to add:

Chocolate Cake Is Dangerous!

I decided my breakfast/brunch would be a piece of the Entenmann’s Chocolate Fudge Cake that hubby brought home yesterday (he brought home two and we ate the other one after dinner). As I opened the box, I cut my pinky finger! OUCH!! Stinking cardboard cuts! It sliced off a little bit of skin and is stinging and bleeding a little. I managed to scrounge around and found what I’m pretty sure is the last band-aid in the house. It stuck together when I was trying to put it on and I mangled it a bit, but managed to get the cut covered (so I won’t bleed all over my keyboard).

Now I’m sitting down with a sliced finger, a slice of cake, and a glass of milk (we’ll pretend this is a balanced and nutritious meal). Mmmm. It’s worth it.

Friday Five

1. I’m pretty sure K had a seizure last night/early this morning. All I know is that when I went to wake her up for school, she had wet her bed and drooled all over (poor girl). I got her up and into a bath and then she started complaining of a huge headache and feeling like she was going to throw up—which always happens after a big seizure. She doesn’t usually wet the bed (though she does tend to drool a bit) and when coupled with the headache and nausea, I’m pretty sure had an episode. I just wish I knew how long it lasted and how bad it was. She didn’t seem to have bitten her tongue this time at least.

2. After all that, she still wanted to go to school. I tried to convince her to stay home, but she insisted. I gave her children’s ibuprofen and off we went. When we arrived at school, she was still complaining of a headache and nausea. It took her teacher telling her to go home that finally did it, but only after K made me promise she could go back if she felt better later. She came home and slept for about an hour and wanted to go back to school. I grudgingly took her and hope she will be okay for the rest of the day. The teacher knows what to look out for, but I still worry.

3. I got a little bit of writing done while she was sleeping on my bed. It was hard because I was trying to type softly so as not to wake her. I never realized how LOUD typing can be until I was trying to be quiet! Dang! Those little key strokes are noisy!

4. Yesterday morning, I sent of the third PB manuscript for the series my agent suggested. I had also sent her a Christmas PB manuscript. She’s been sick and emailed that she’d get to them as soon as she possibly can. Poor woman! I can’t imagine trying to work and fight off the whooping cough at the same time. Anyway, I told her I’d work on my YA or MG stuff until I hear back from her. Yesterday I worked on one of my new YA projects and again this morning. But, if I do any more writing today, I think I’ll work on my MG for a while.

5. I’m feeling run down because I haven’t been getting enough sleep and am thinking of taking a nap when I’m done with this post—writing can wait, right? I mean, if I write when I’m tired, I may end up with a more mixed up and crazy world than Alice’s Wonderland!

Write Sleep on!

Friday Five—um, I mean—Thirteen

In honor of this most wonderful superstitious filled day.

1. I’ve signed up to attend college classes (9 credit hours)

2. College started on Wednesday. My first class was to be last night (U. S. History II), but the college called at about noon to tell me the teacher dropped the class for lack of students.

3. Since that class was dropped, I signed up for another class that was to be held last night (Psychology).

4. The college called at about 3:30 to say they found another teacher to teach the History class that the other teacher had dropped.

5. I dropped Psychology (they are on the same night and time) and re-signed up for History, but the class was cancelled for Thursday night since the new teacher needed some time to get a lesson plan together. Our first class will be on Tuesday evening.

6. I have Ceramics on Monday morning and History 105 (Western Civilization II) on Monday nights. Since MLK day is on Monday, I won’t get to attend these classes until January 23.

7. January 23 is AFTER the add/drop date so I really hope I like them—I know I love ceramics, but am concerned about the History class especially since I will be taking two of them this semester. What was I thinking???!!!

8. I was going to take a drawing class this semester, but decided to drop it because the class was Wednesday mornings. If I would have kept it, I’d be gone all day Monday for Ceramics (8:30-2:20), all day Tuesday to volunteer at the kids’ school library (9:00-2:15), and most of Wednesday (8:30-12:50) for the Drawing class. I also volunteer at the library part of Thursday mornings. That would have left me NO WRITING TIME!! AHHH. It was painful to drop the drawing class, but it had to be done. I’ll take it another semester.

9. One “fun” class is enough (ceramics) and I needed to fill the other two slots with “serious” classes. Hopefully it was the right decision, but I can’t help wondering if I should have taken two “fun” classes and only one “serious” class.  

10. It’s been cold and windy here the last few days. I’m ready for spring!

11. I haven’t been in the mood to write much lately. I’ve still been trying, but it’s hard to make the words come. I’ll probably have to delete everything I’ve written and start over when I’m finally back in the groove of things.

12.  I’ve fallen off my Wii Fit wagon. I was aiming for “playing” it every day in hopes of getting a little bit in shape, but I only made it three days in a row. Of course, it doesn’t help that the kids take the Wii Fit platform out of my room so they can play it in the living room (yes, we have two Wii systems—one for the kids and one for hubby and I . . . we’re geeks, okay?). I’d tell them to leave it in here and ban them from taking it, but how can I deny them the chance to exercise too? Maybe I should break down and buy another Wii Fit system. *sigh*

13. I’ve delayed as much as I can (well, I’m sure I can find some other distraction if I REALLY wanted to) with online time and need to get some writing done. Unfortunately, it hasn’t felt fun for me lately and I’m approaching it like it’s a chore. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I need to get out of this funk soon!!! I love writing---I just don’t want to do it right now. I know this mood will change, I just don’t know when.

Well, I made it all the way to 13 (I wasn’t sure I would). Hope you all have a wonderful and LUCKY Friday the 13th.

Write on.

Finally Friday Five . . . or so

It’s been a crazy since I last posted!

1. I had a birthday and got another year older—hate it when that happens.

2. It snowed here on Monday night, and the school decided to give the kiddos a snow day on Tuesday (which was good because it continued to snow throughout the day)! Yay!! We only got a few inches and it melted away quickly, but it was fun while it lasted.

3. We got some of the Christmas decorating done. I know I said it would take two days, but I forgot that I had to spend most of the day on Saturday getting things ready for Sunday’s trip to my parents’ house. We try to come together three times a year and the December meeting includes a Christmas Program. Normally we have the kids dress up and put on the Christmas pageant, but we weren’t going to have enough kids coming this year who would be willing to do it (curse that whole getting older and more mature thing). Since it was my year to be in charge of the program, I had to put something together. I ended up doing a Power Point presentation complete with videos, scripture readings, and music. It was kind of a pain, but turned out well. Anyway, the decorating didn’t get done. We do have the tree up, the lighted deer figures and lighted candy canes are hooked up to the light show box and put out on the lawn to blast the Christmas music and flash the lights and annoy the heck out of my neighbors (that’s what the Season is all about right?). I hope to get the other lights up and hooked into the box today and tomorrow (cause it might take me two days—not cause I have THAT many lights, but it’s cold outside and I don’t want to be out there too long).

4. I finished my final for my last college class last night! YAY!!! It was U.S. History 101 and I feel I did well on it—so hopefully I did!

5. We got our Elf on the Shelf and have been having so much fun with him! The kids named him Winter Tinsel. If you’re not familiar with this tradition, click on the link above and check it out! Here’s a picture of one of Winter Tinsel’s hiding places:

And this is how we found him this morning:

Too much fun!

6. Dawn Metcalf is having a contest in which you can win some fabulous reading material. Click the link to check out her Don’t Miss This If You Missed It Contest Giveaway.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Write on.

Seizure The Day

K had a seizure on Monday (she hadn’t had one since sometime around Labor Day). She’s been home from school since then because of headaches. She was going to go back to school today, but at the doctor’s office yesterday, she had a temperature—so home again.

This post by Rachelle Gardner got me thinking about my priorities and how I “triage” not only my writing life, but my life in general. For me, my family/kids have always come first (though housework isn’t considered family—hee hee hee). I drop everything to take care of them.

This has never been an issue for me, but I can’t help wondering if there will be a day when it is. What happens if I have a deadline I need to make? Will I be able to drop it and let my family come first? I’d like to think I’d find a way to do both, but—especially in K’s case—I’m not sure it will be possible. It’s not that she needs my undivided attention after she has a seizure (she usually sleeps for several hours), but I can’t concentrate and feel the need to check on her every five minutes or so to make sure she’s not seizing again or having any problems.

Monday I tried to force myself to write, but I just couldn’t. I was able to write on Tuesday so I guess that made up for the lack of writing on Monday. Had K not stayed home on Tuesday, I wouldn’t have been able to do any writing because I volunteer at the kids’ school library all day Tuesday and on Thursday mornings. That would have put my only full writing day this week on Friday (the kids have half days today and tomorrow for teacher in-service). Were I on a deadline with a novel, this could pose a problem.

The thing is, in my “triage” I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to prioritize my writing above my kids/family. They will always come first. That doesn’t mean I’ll blow off a deadline to go on a field trip with the kids or something like that (depends on how important it is to the child in question), but the really important things—where they need me will always come first. If that makes me a bad writer, I’m okay with that. I believe in God and an afterlife where families can be together forever. My writing isn’t going to get me a place in the eternities, but the relationship with my family will.  I’d rather be a bad writer if it makes me a better mother.

Do you ever have days when no matter how much you want to write and have the means and time to write, you just can’t bring yourself to do it? If so, do you fight it and get some writing done anyway or do you just let it go? How do you triage your writing life/real life?

Write Triage on!

LiveJournal Tags: life,writing,bad days,family

Brrr . . . December!

It’s raining (trying to snow) and cold here today. I wanted to curl up in my bed and stay there, but the school thinks my kids need to attend, even on days like this. *sigh*

We bundled up and went off to school. I spent the first part of the morning helping out in the kids’ library (I’m now helping all day Tuesday and on Thursday mornings), and stopped at McDonald’s to get myself a large peppermint hot chocolate (I don’t drink coffee) on the way home. It’s still too hot to drink (you should have heard my taste buds scream when I tried to drink it), and I’m thinking of putting it in the freezer to cool down . . . but that means I’d have to get up from the laptop and move. #toolazytomove

After I finish blogging and checking my email, I’ll dive into working on the new picture book (the third one). Yay! I stopped working on this one to write up a Christmas one that was nagging at me (it obviously doesn’t have the Christmas spirit to be nagging like that).

Speaking (or writing) of Christmas, the kids have been bugging me to get out the decorations. I promised we would today, but since it’s raining, I’m hoping to postpone it. They’ll probably insist we do the tree even though we can’t put up the outside decorations (kids are smart like that), but I’d rather not mess with it today.

Between college assignments and writing new picture books for my agent (my agent!! SQUEE—uh-hem, sorry, I’m still excited about that), NaNo was a bust for me this year. I didn’t even get half way—barely a drop in the 50,000 word bucket—but I’m not too horribly upset about it. Maybe I can do it next year—we’ll see.

Brr—I stepped in a puddle when I was running into the house to get out of the rain (being the wicked witch of the west and all, I didn’t want to melt) so I had to take off my shoes and socks and now my feet are cold. I’ve got to get some more socks on. I think it’s time to bust out the fuzzy socks!! That means it’s REALLY winter—even though the calendar says it isn’t. Come on, who are you going to trust; the fuzzy socks or the calendar??!!

Cold weather like this always makes me want to get back into crocheting. I really don’t have the time for it, so I’ll have to resist the temptation. This chilly weather also makes me want soup, or chili, or stew (and the hot chocolate, of course). What do you like to do (keep it clean, people)/eat when it’s cold outside?

 

Write on.

I’m Thankful, And I Have An Agent!!

Oh, it feels so good to type that. On this day of giving thanks, I want to take a moment to thank all of you who have been so influential in my writing journey. I can’t thank you enough for the critiques and love and support you’ve all given me over the years. I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without you!

Nor would I have come this far without my family who’ve been so loving and supporting of my writing moods and neglected housework. I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and children and extended family. Love you guys!!!

On to the announcement.

For those who haven’t heard, I’ve signed with Jennifer DeChiara of The Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency. As most of you know, I write for children and have been focusing on young adult and middle grade novels. Back in 2008, I entered the 2nd Annual Cheerios New Author Contest with the one and only picture book manuscript I’d written (though I’ve written a few more since). The story was posted on the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories website in 2009 and stayed up there until 2010 when the new winners were announced. After the story was taken off the site, the rights were returned to me. Hubby started bugging me to try to query with it, but I was too focused on my YA at the time and ignored him.

I finally started querying with it (though I was also querying with my YA) in September, but only “on the side.” I received some interest from an agent, but since I didn’t have any other picture book manuscripts she was interested in, she ended up passing. It only took a few weeks before another agent got back to me. This time, she didn’t ask for more manuscripts—she made an offer. I emailed the other agents and let them know I had an offer, and received another offer!

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that it was my PB that had landed the offers, but the disappointment didn’t last long. In the end, one of the reasons I signed with Jennifer is because she offered to represent my entire career, not just the picture book. She also gave me great feedback and suggested a couple of tweaks that have helped the manuscript. She also suggested I write more picture books along the same lines as the one she fell in love with. I’d never considered this, but I’m loving every minute of it. I’ve already written one (doing some revising) and started another!

I’m so excited to be able to work with Jennifer! She’s so awesome, she’s agreed to do an interview to post on the blog. Keep an eye out for that in the near future.

May you all have a joyous and wonderful Thanksgiving Day!!

Write on.

Full of AWESOME!!

This is the most amazing, awesome, creepy, eerie, spooky, beautiful, wonderful and all those other words I can’t even think of to describe this outstanding (there’s another one) trailer!

You have GOT to watch this!!

And if you haven’t read the book, run (don’t walk) to your nearest bookstore, buy a copy and get reading. I’m telling you, the novel is everything this book trailer promises.

Write on (or watch on and read on)!

Giving Up Is Hard To Do

Yeah, I know, the song says, "breaking up is hard to do," but I think giving up is even harder. At least for me. I've heard that there comes a time when a manuscript has to be put aside and we have to move on. While I don't disagree with this, I think putting it aside and giving up on it are two different things. I've set manuscripts aside, but I've never given up on them--well, except for the romance I wrote back in high school. *grin* While I had no problem letting go of THAT one, there are others I just can't walk away from. I believe in them. Sure, they've been through revisions and rewrites and restructurings and revisions and rewrites and restructurings and . . . well you get the picture.

I'm in the process of rewriting my first MG--again! I love the story and characters too much to let them sit in a file and never come out to play. Granted, the rewrite isn't the only thing I'm working on, I also have a YA idea I'm writing and another MG I'm writing, and several rhyming picture books I'm trying to convert to prose (just to see if I can). And this morning I got an awesome idea for a new YA (which I added to my LONG list of ideas for YAs).

Now, this isn't usually the way I work, I promise. One idea takes off and I work on it exclusively, but that's been frustrating in the past. At times I hated a story and felt forced into working on it when my heart wasn't in it (and it shows in the scenes I wrote during that time). Or, I haven't done any writing that day because I was stuck on a scene and couldn't move forward. I've found it much easier to leave the project(s) alone for a day or so and work on something else until I'm ready to move back in. This helps me avoid writer's block because I always have something else to go to when I'm stuck, and by the time I'm ready to go back to the project I left, my brain has worked through the block and I can  move forward. Everyone has their own writing method(s), and right now, this works for me.

This whole idea of moving on to something new and leaving old work behind as a learning experience may work for other people--and, in my case, it worked for that high school days novel--but for certain projects, I don't think there's anything wrong with coming back to them once you've learned more about writing and can improve them.
That being said, I'm not a proponent of working to revive a dead manuscript at the exclusion of all other writing endeavors either. No one should spend all their time redoing the same novel over and over and over. We do have to write other things because it's only through the new that we learn the mistakes we made in the old. If we wallow in the old, we miss the experience of the new.

I'm sure there are exceptions to this (there always are), but most of us aren't the exception. I'm not saying there's nothing new to be learned from continuing to work on the same manuscript for years at a time (that's how I started out), but I do think more new knowledge comes from exploring other characters and their voices.
Anyway, this little post is just my way of saying we shouldn't always give up on our manuscripts. Set them aside, write something new, but don't be afraid to come back to that set aside story. If we believe in something that much, chances are, we believe in it for a reason. Keep coming back to that story until there's nothing left to believe in.

May you all have a great weekend. =)

Write on!

A New Week

When I woke up, it was raining. When we left the house to take the ten minute drive to school, it was raining. A couple of minutes into the drive, it started pouring down snow! Big fluffy white flakes of the stuff! Thankfully I wasn’t the only one caught off guard by the weather. The line to drop off the kids at school was HUGE!! The kind people in charge of the school decided not to take attendance until 8:00 so the kids weren’t counted as being tardy. Whew! The snow has slowed down and we probably won’t get much, but here’s a picture of some on the tree out front (I took it from the porch because I didn’t want to go too far outside).

Yeah, it sure is pretty, but along with the pretty comes the cold. Brrrr!!!

Despite the hectic morning, and despite the knowledge that I have to do more revisions on my Moby Dick paper for American Literature class tonight, so far this week is starting off with a bang . . . or some really good emails and a phone conversation anyway. I’ll share details when I can.

So, I’m off to revise and hopefully also do some new writing to catch up with the NaNo count (or at least give it a shot).

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

Write on!

Sighing on Saturday

I’m so glad this week is over (well, after today)! Things have been extremely stressful and I think I have at least five new gray hairs (time to make a trip to the hair color aisle).

On Monday, I had a rough draft of my Moby Dick paper due. I’ve been trying for weeks to focus my thoughts and decide what analysis I was going to do. On Monday, I sat at the computer with no firm decision and started writing. I ended up going with the prolific use of the color white in the novel. I typed up the seven pages required (and a little over) and turned it in that night. Whew! But I couldn’t rest yet. On Wednesday night I had another massive project due. Granted, I’ve been researching and organizing thoughts for this one, but hadn’t actually started working on it (other than getting the pictures I needed). The project was a three page essay (it ended up being 3 1/2) and PowerPoint biography presentation on Nathaniel Hawthorne.

It was fascinating to learn more about him, and I especially loved learning how he was friends with Herman Melville, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Henry David Thoreau. Writers were friends and supported each other even back then. Hawthorne was an inspiration to Melville and, had it not been for him, we probably wouldn’t have Moby Dick on the shelves today. Also, Edgar Allan Poe did a review of Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales, as did Longfellow. Cool! I’ll refrain from giving you the complete biography (though it’s hard to resist *grin*). Anyway, I typed up the biography and put the presentation together Wednesday morning and was finished in time for class (yeah, what is it with waiting until the last minute with me . . . though technically, I didn’t as I was researching and highlighting info and organizing thoughts WAY before then).

AND, I got it done in spite of the issues of the afternoon! K accidentally hit JR in the eye with a baseball bat. *sigh* A few weeks ago, a neighbor kid hit JR in the mouth with a baseball bat and we stressed to JR that if someone had a bat in their hands, he was to stay far away from them. Apparently the lesson didn’t sink in. He didn’t lose any teeth or chip any, but the inside of his lip was cut by his teeth, not enough to require medical intervention or anything. Needless to say, we were baffled as to why he wouldn’t have heeded the advice to stay away from people holding bats. He was hit on his eyebrow, and everything was fine, though he had a headache and his eye got swollen. He’s black and blue now.

Did he learn his lesson? NO, he did NOT!! Yesterday he comes running in with blood running down his face. Another neighbor kid had hit him in the head with a baseball bat!! WHY JR? WHY??? He had a trip to Urgent Care where they used that wonderful glue to close the cut on top of his head. I walked down to the kid’s house and let him know we weren’t mad at him and that it wasn’t his fault JR walked into his swing. Poor kid was a bit upset. After JR got back from getting glued back together, the kid came bearing a gift of homemade muffins to apologize. He’s a sweet kid and I hope this doesn’t throw him off playing baseball because he’s REALLY good at it. =)

However, we have banned our children from playing baseball for a while (but I let the neighbor kid and my girls know that they can still play baseball  together when JR isn’t around . . . shhh).

So, this weekend, I’ll be revising my rough draft of my Moby Dick paper (it’s due on Monday . . . hmm . . . maybe I’ll wait until then to do it . . . hee hee hee), and trying to catch up on my word count for NaNoWriMo. I’m WAY behind on that.

We were supposed to get snow last night, but it didn’t happen (though we had a brilliant rain storm). It’s cold and cloudy out there today though so we’ll see what happens. I’m kind of hoping for the snow which is weird since I usually don’t like it at all. I think I just want to see the pretty whiteness . . . OOOHHH whiteness!! Maybe it’s because of that stupid Moby Dick paper and all the focus on white that I’ve been doing.

 

Have a great weekend!!

 

Write on.

I Wish I Blogged More

Yeah, things have been crazy since I went back to school. Homework, homework, and more homework. And that’s on top of my already busy family life.

I’m supposed to be working on an assignment for American Literature class right now. It’s an outline that’s due tonight (thank goodness it’s the outline and not the paper). I spent the last three days trying to finish reading Moby Dick so I could do the outline. I began reading it several weeks ago just after I downloaded it onto my Kindle.

Normally it doesn’t take me nearly that long to finish a book, but have you read Moby Dick? My first mistake was reading an unabridged version. Yeah, if you’ve done it, you know my pain.

I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it, but it’s not one of those books you can read while the TV is going and the kids are being noisy (and if you could I don’t want to hear about it). This tome takes some serious concentration (again, if you breezed through it, don’t tell me . . . let me pretend it’s hard for everyone to get through cause it will make me feel better . . . you want me to feel better, RIGHT?)!

In addition to the chapters on cetology, whaling practices, and other wanderings, the language of the story itself is . . . um . . . old. Yeah. We’ll go with that. If someone tried to publish a novel like this today, it wouldn’t happen . . . or it would, if it were self published.

That’s not to say it never should have been published, it’s just that there’s a HUGE difference between books being published in America during it’s fledgling years and ones being published now. HUGE difference.

Okay, see what I did there? I’m so used to reading Melville that I just went off on a tangent myself! I’m so going to have to read a modern novel before I go back to writing my own. *sigh*

Really, I just popped in here to let you know about a contest the most awesome Shannon Messinger is having. You can win a wish!! No, really, you can!! Go check it out by clicking on the beautifully Photo Shopped Shannon:

And you can also win books!!! One of them is THE BEYONDERS by Brandon Mull. It's an awesome MG adventure and if you read his FABLEHAVEN series, you'll love this one too (BEYONDERS is a quest type fantasy which I LOVE).

Now, I’ll get back to writing my outline after which I’ll get started on the Hawthorn biography and PowerPoint presentation I have to have done by either Wednesday or next Monday (whenever we finish up Poe). Yeah, I thought going back to school part time was going to be easy.

Write on.

Shhh . . . It’s A Secret

Actually, it’s a lot of secrets! Last week the post office was good to me and delivered my four copies of SPRINKLES AND SECRETS by Lisa Schroeder (my three youngest kids and I are reading it aloud in our “Book Club”) and also my two hard cover copies of CIRCLE OF SECRETS by Kimberley Griffiths Little. Over the weekend, I finished Circle of Secrets (LOVE it and there will be a review coming) and hope to start Sprinkles and Secrets today . . . I might have to read ahead of the kids though cause it’s slow going in the book club sometimes *grin*).

I wasn’t sure things could get any better until J told me there was a book fair at her school this week (middle school). Of course, I had to go this morning  . . . I mean, we’re talking books (and the librarian is a close friend of mine)!!

And what did I find there? Paperback copies of CIRCLE OF SECRETS that included charm bracelets! Yeah, I had to buy the only four copies the book fair had (for my two daughters and two of my nieces)!!

Here’s the beauty of them all laid out on my bed:

And a closer picture to show the charm bracelet (probably should have removed the price sticker to show it better . . . oh well):

You probably noticed I have an extra copy of Circle of Secrets (hard cover) . . . I bought an extra because I’m hoping to have a contest on my blog in the near future in which I will be giving away the extra copy . . . as well as some other goodies. Stay tuned!

In writing news, I’m working on a new project and revising an old one (a MG).

Write on!

The Inbox: A Tale of Horror

I’ve enjoyed attending WriteOnCon this week (it ends tonight). I’ve learned and grown and have been inspired. Tomorrow I will be busy catching up on housework that I’ve neglected for the last three days (the Con started on Tuesday). Because of this, I’ve decided to do a blog post today instead of my Friday five (or four) tomorrow.

 

My desktop icons blink to life. Amid the shortcuts for games and programs, one stands out. It’s the Firefox link. Its blue globe wrapped with the orange fox is more intimidating than one would think. Why is this icon so sinister? Because Firefox connects me to the internet and the internet connects me to my gmail.

I place a trembling finger on my laptop version of a mouse. The arrow inches across the screen, making its way to the Firefox shortcut. Once in position, I pause. Do I want to click? I only use my gmail account for submissions and the occasional entry in a contest. If I have mail, it’s most likely a reply from an agent.

The brave part of me wants to click. It’s so easy to do. One little movement with my thumb or a simple lift and tap of my finger will do it. But I’m afraid. What’s out there in the darkness of the internet? Will I find rejection? A request? What?

I have to know, and so I click.

And there it is.

Nothing.

*sigh*

I’m not sure which is worse, an empty email inbox or an inbox with a rejection or two (or more).

Yeah.

I’m once again in the submission stage in my search for an agent (after not submitting for over a year while I did a complete revision and started a few more projects). I’d forgotten how time consuming and gut wrenching the process is.

First, there’s the time consuming research. Making sure the agent is one who accepts the genre. Reading interviews, tweets, and anything else I can find (sometimes I’ve taken notes so I look through my notebook and update as needed). If I were to add it all up, I bet I’ve spent more time researching agents than I did researching info for my books! Alright, probably not, but it seems like it.

After the research, comes the query letter. It’s not something as simple as copy and paste (other than the novel info). The personalization comes into play. Putting the research to good use, I craft a beginning (or ending depending on agent’s preference) into the query so the agent knows I didn’t just pull their name out of a hat.

When all is finally ready, I have to let the query sit for at least 1/2 an hour. Then I come back to it and look it over to make sure it’s error free (though sometimes I still manage to miss things). Once I’m satisfied, I steer my arrow cursor to the send button.

Usually at this point, I pause because I’m overcome with doubt. When I work up the nerve, I hit send. It flies across the internet and lands in the agent’s inbox (or that of an intern). This is terrifying!!!

It’s out of my hands. I’ve done everything I can and put my query and/or pages out there for consideration.

Now I wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. There’s always a moment of panic when I click on my email and wait for the page to load.

Earlier, I said I wasn’t sure which was worse, an empty inbox or a rejection. After thinking about it while I wrote this post, I think the empty inbox is worse.

With the empty inbox, I don’t know. The hope is alive, it’s exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I try so hard not to get my hopes up, but I can’t help thinking that maybe this time I’ll get a request for a partial or full. It could happen. Hope; a dangerous plant to cultivate.

At least with a rejection, I KNOW. The hope is dashed. I can go to QueryTracker.com (a great way to track submissions)and change the query icon from an envelope with lightning bolt (for equeries) to a red frowny face rejection icon. I can move on to the next agent on my to query list and start the process all over again.

The Inbox is a terrifying tale of horror that retells itself each and every day.

Since it’s doubtful that I’ll have time to log in tomorrow, I’ll be early and say I hope you all have a great weekend!

 

Write Submit on.

There Are Dandelions on the Other Side of the Fence Too

Jon Gibbs has some amazing links on his Interesting Posts About Writing this week. One of them is Confessions Of A Writer With A Book Deal by Natalie Whipple. Her post is a great reminder not to get into the “grass is always greener” mode of thinking.

Will it be nice when I land an agent and get a book deal? You bet it will. Will I celebrate? Absolutely. However, Natalie’s post reminded me that there is opposition in all things. Along with the wonderful things an agent/book deal will bring, there will be not so wonderful things. New pressures, new deadlines (self-imposed deadlines are nothing to the real beast from what I understand), and new worries.

The grass may be a bit greener on the other side of the fence when I first get there because it’s new and wonderful and beautiful to me. But after a while, I’ll start to notice that the green grass on the agented/published side has just as many dandelions (maybe more) as I had on the un-agented/unpublished side.

And dandelions love to multiply (no matter which side of the fence they grow on)! But they have their good uses too. In real life dandelions can be used for gall bladder, kidney, and urinary disorders; the juice from roots is used for diabetes; the greens are more nutrient rich than spinach . . . among other things. In our writing lives, dandelions are obstacles we have to overcome. These will make us (and our writing) stronger . . . IF WE LET THEM.

That’s the key. If we let the dandelions take over the grass, we’ll lose control. We have to choose how we react to them. Let them win and ruin the grass, or take charge and pull them out, use weed killer, whatever.

My personal choice will always be to fight back and rid my grass of as many as I can. That’s not to say I won’t have bad days when the dandelions multiply by five (or more), but I know those days are my choice (though I can make all the excuses in the world). If the pesky yellow flowers grow and spread, it won’t be the fault of the market, or the publishing houses, or the agents who reject me. No. It will be because I made a choice to let things get to me. I allowed the dandelions to grow instead of digging them out (much more satisfying—though time consuming—than the weed killer IMO).

So even though the grass seems to be greener on the other side, there will always be dandelions. Even if we can’t see them on the surface, they lurk beneath just waiting to come into the light. And it’s good to know we’re not alone. Other authors (such as Natalie) have noticed and are sharing their dandelion experiences with us.

Have a great weekend!

Write on.

Friday Five . . . yay I have Five this week!

1. We’re starting to get into a school routine. It’s hard after the freedom of summer (for all of us). We’re trying to get back into the habit of doing homework, chores, and dinner at the scheduled times. Some days are easier than others (right now, Monday and Thursday are tough because the older two have after school activities). Also, our youngest, JR, just turned eight so he’s starting cub scouts. He’s thrilled, but Thursday he brought home a model boat kit. I guess they have boat races or something (E wasn’t very involved in scouts . . . except for the Pinewood Derby car races) so boats are a new adventure. He says he’s supposed to build and paint it so that’s what he’ll be doing after school today. Anyway, a schedule is much easier to type up and print out than it is to follow. And I don’t go back to school until the 22nd (only taking two classes; American Literature and U.S. History) so I’m sure there’ll be a shakeup in the routine then.

2. Writing is going well. I was able to finish the critique and have moved on to taking notes for the next project. I decided to try a different method and am actually plotting and planning before diving into writing. I’m also trying a new thing: Blockbuster Plots Pure and Simple by Martha Alderson, M.A. I only got my scene tracker kit in the mail yesterday and haven’t had much time to play around with it so I’m not sure how it will work (or not work) for me. I’ll be sure to come back and report when I’ve experienced it a bit more.

3. We’ve had some pretty good thunder storms rolling through the last few days. We need the rain, so I’m not complaining at all. I love when it clouds over and the thunder starts rumbling . . . but it’s the humidity I can do without. I haven’t weighed myself lately, but I’m sure I’ve lost at least five pounds from all the sweating I’ve been doing. I’m showering two times a day (at least)! Yeah, I could never live in the South.

4. I ended up rewriting my first chapter of the old WIP yesterday. I know, I know I’m supposed to be working on the NEW WIP . . . and I am . . . except for yesterday. I had an idea to enhance the first chapter and was only going to make a note for it, but that note ended up being a revision. Oh well. It’s a better chapter now. I decided I’m going to give in to the occasional urge to tinker with the old WIP . . . BUT only when I’ve been working on the new WIP and need a little break or get stuck, or whatever. Yeah, that’s my plan.

5. Have you ever gotten to the point that you hate your MS? I know we should love our work, and I usually do, but yesterday’s foray into the first chapter of the old WIP made me realize how sick I am of that novel!! Granted, I first wrote the blasted thing in November of 2007 (or maybe it was 2008) and it’s been my constant companion through revisions, revisions, revisions, a complete rewrite, and more revisions for the last almost four (or three) years. Change is good, even when it comes in the form of revisions, but changing to a whole new WIP is definitely called for right now.

So, have you ever hated a MS and dreaded working on it?

I’m off to get the kids from school now (there’s still 25 minutes before the bell rings, but it takes a while to get through the line if I don’t get there early).

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Write on.

Friday Four

1. Maybe by doing a Friday four (cause I’m not sure I can come up with five) I can find something to blog about every week.

2. I got a return email from the teacher (see previous post if you’re confused). She was very kind, but said she hadn’t ever had a parent complain about The Hunger Games before. She read it to her classes last year and is disappointed she won’t be able to read HG with J’s class. She also said she’ll have to think about whether or not to read it with her other classes (6th grade is middle school here so they have it set up like a Jr. high). This surprised me (and gave me a teensy twinge of guilt). I honestly didn’t expect her to pull the book. I thought she’d give J something else to read. The writer in my feels horrible for having her pull the book from her curriculum, but the mother in me is relieved . . . and mother trumps writer every time! I downloaded some of the books on the teacher’s reading list to my Kindle and ordered print versions of the rest of them.

3. The kids have been enjoying school, but in my excitement for them to go back, I forgot about all the $$$ I’d have to spend. The lists of school supplies needed just keep on coming! In addition to the school clothes and supplies, I’ve got a birthday party to pay for this weekend (J’s b-day is today, JR’s was the 14th, E’s was June 22, and K’s is Aug. 8 so we have one huge party for all of them) . . . yeah, our money tree shriveled up and is almost dead!!

4. I hope next week will allow me to get some writing done. I’m working on a crit for my ever patient crit partner, Joni, and hope to get it finished over the weekend (yes, in spite of the party and everything). Come Monday I hope to dive into my new WIP. We’ll see if it happens that way . . . and it probably won’t. My life is just as messed up as LJ right now . . . well, okay, more like LJ a few days ago (because at least now I can post on LJ and my life is still a crazy mess).

 

Have a great weekend all!

 

Write on.

You’re Going to Read What in Your Class???!!!

Maybe I’m an overprotective parent and should just crawl back under my rock and let this go, but the mama bear in me wants to fight tooth and nail to protect my daughter.

J will be twelve-years-old tomorrow and started sixth grade this year (they started school yesterday . . . YAY!). Last night, she brought home a letter from her Reading teacher that welcomed students and parents and included a list of some of the novels they will be reading as part of the curriculum this year. And the problem begins.

While I’m not a fan of banning books or restricting others from reading whatever they want, I’m rather picky in what I allow my children to read. I tend to screen novels before I allow my children to read them . . . sometimes in my screening, I decide a novel isn’t appropriate for them to read (depending on their age and maturity level). Maybe I’m the only parent out there who does this, but it’s just how I am. I know my children. I know their fears, concerns, phobias, etc. and have a pretty good idea about what they can handle and what they can’t.

So, the list (which included only a few of the novels the class will read) included The Hunger Games. Don’t get me wrong, I loved this book! Katniss is a strong character and the world Collins created is both fascinating and frightening. However, I don’t feel it’s appropriate for my twelve-year-old who was freaked out after reading Paris Pan Takes The Dare (which I also LOVE and so did she even though it freaked her out a bit). My oldest son (now 18) read The Hunger Games, and I’d have no problem with J reading it if she were fourteen (or maybe even next year depending on how she mentally matures this year). But at her present mental maturity, I don’t think she’s ready for the violence and intensity of the novel.

There are so many middle grade novels out there to choose from, and I don’t understand why a sixth grade teacher would want to include a young adult novel in the curriculum for such a young age group. Wouldn’t middle grade novels be more appropriate?

Am I way off base? Am I too overprotective? I’ve composed and saved a draft of an email to the teacher outlining my concerns, but wanted to send out feelers to you all before I sent it. Have you read The Hunger Games? If so, do you think it’s appropriate for sixth graders?

Do any of you have kids around twelve-years-old? Would you (or have you) let them read The Hunger Games? If so, how did they handle it?

I briefly outlined the plot for J by telling her it’s a novel about a future world where the people are divided into districts and a boy and girl from each district are chosen, taken away from their families, and forced to kill each other  for TV entertainment until only one of them is left. Yeah . . . she doesn’t want to read it.

I looked up the other books included in the brief list on Amazon, but haven’t read any of them (though I plan to):

Schooled (MG), Esperanza Rising (MG), Maniac Magee (MG), Stargirl (another YA), and Tracker (MG).

Have any of you read them? If so, should I be concerned about any of them (the YA in particular)?

Write Read on.

Revisionland: The Rides

You made it in the gates of Revisionland! Congratulations. Now get to work.

Since revising styles vary, the order in which you’ll ride and even the choice of rides will vary too. Let’s take a look at a few of those available.

THE ROLLERCOASTER/KIDDIE COASTER

This ride is a wonder right out of a Harry Potter movie because it’s constantly changing (like those Hogwarts staircases). Each person will experience something different on this ride, though it takes everyone up and down and around and has some twists and turns along the way.

Your ticket for the rollercoaster is a manuscript that needs anything from major overhauling to changing little things . . . and let’s face it, we will all ride this one at some point.

If your manuscript changes are minor, your rollercoaster ride will resemble the kiddie coasters in a regular amusement park. If, however, your manuscript needs some major changes, your ride will be a bit more frightening. The more you need to change, the higher up the tracks will take you. When you plunge, screaming, down the long drop on the other side hold on tight and don’t jump out. Let the safety bar of determination and love of writing keep you in your seat.

THE GRAVITRON/TEACUP RIDE

These ride spins you around and around, looping over and over and over. The ticket for this is a beginning or other section of the MS you can’t seem to get right. Jump aboard this ride and send yourself (and your mind) spinning.

If it’s major problems you’ll have to hop on the Gravitron. Smaller issues get you a ticket on the Teacups which still spin you about, but aren’t as gut wrenching.

You may have to ride several times before you’re ready to move on. Eventually, you’ll emerge with a revision you like, but don’t be too excited. You aren’t through yet.

THE DROP TOWER/THE SLOWER DROP TOWER

Happy with your work, you send chapters or maybe the whole MS to your trusted critiquers (or agent or editor) and climb aboard this ride. It takes you up, up, up. You’re feeling nervous and excited. Once at the top, you look down and wave to everyone below. You’re sure the critiques will come back glowing, telling you all is ready for submission. You’ve worked hard and have done wonderful work, after all. And then it happens . . . the critiques come in and the ride plunges you back to earth.

If you are among the lucky whose critique does come back with only minor changes needed, the ride will drop slower and you won’t have the fast plunge the major changes will bring. But no matter how you get there, you’re brought down to earth. You aren’t even close to done. Choose your next ride and keep going.

These are only a few of the rides you’ll experience in Revisionland. You may enjoy the rides or you might get sick (or burned out or whatever). You may even spend a long time riding (or writing) in Revisionland. Other writers might take a few spins on the rides before leaving the park for the bus terminal at Submission Central . . . which is another adventure all together.

Write on.