Thankful Thursday

Merry Christmas! Today was an exciting day. The food... the presents... the presents... the food. My kids got all they wanted plus more (my mom goes a little bonkers since they are her only grandchildren). Being with family is great and sometimes stressful. But I am very thankful to have the crazy, insane family I have.

My husband's cousin has been staying with us because he came down to visit his friend who is dying of bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma). I've met the friend, Gene, a dozen times and he's a great guy. He actually came over to our house tonight and stayed for awhile. It's been really hard for him to eat anything because the way the food tastes to him, and he's lost 40 lbs. Gene wasn't a big guy to begin with.

He is ready for his time on earth to be over, which is very sad and difficult, but is realistic in his eyes. What's worse is: he's estranged from his son.

My dad passed away from bladder cancer in 1999 when my daughter was only 2 months old. It was a very traumatic and awful time, but I'm glad I had the small amount of time I had with him. He made me into the person I am today. I pray that I make him proud of me every day. And I am so glad I got to be there his last days. There has never been any regret. He knew I loved him and vice versa.

Now, I didn't mean for this to be a depressing post. I just wanted to say, cherish what you have while it's still in front of you. While you can still reach out and hug them and fight with them. For no matter how crazy, they are YOURS and you are THEIRS!


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and may all your wishes come true this New Year. Hopefully you won't have to throw any rocks to get what you want. :) Many blessings and joys to you and your family. It's a wonderful life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJHpBCyTTi0

Query Holiday

I saw this over at http://asuen.wordpress.com/ For those of you who don't get her e-newsletter, you should. It's filled with all kinds of facts about the publishing industry. So here is the latest tidbit.


Are you terrible at query letters? Want an agent? Well here's your chance to avoid the dreaded query letter and possibly hook an agent. Good Luck!

Firebrand Literary is hosting a QUERY HOLIDAY- check it out: http://www.firebrandliterary.com/query-holiday

Things I have done Meme

I saw this on http://saputnam.livejournal.com/ blog and thought it sounded interesting. The ones I have done are in bold.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (okay, I was a band geek for 2 years)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (does Disneyworld count?)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (Um..no, these bugs scare the beejeezus out of me)
10. Sang a solo (I wouldn't torture anyone that way)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (enough said)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (played softball all through childhood)
32. Been on a cruise (actually, used to be a travel agent)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (off and on)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke (those poor people)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (love both)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving ( No way!)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (One day!)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (well most of it)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (watched my dad do this many times)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (Actually 2)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day (and in one sitting)

I've got a lot of things to do and see!!! :)

I tag anyone who wants to play.

Inspire your Imagination

I thought this seemed fitting and inspiring.

http://www.duirwaighgallery.com/inspiration_aknock.htm

Happy Weekend.

Keep writing and learning!

So, I didn't get out into the craziness that is Black Friday, but I am almost done with my Christmas shopping! Yay! Which is a VERY FIRST for me. I have never had all my shopping done before December 1st or even before December 20th.

What good deals did you get today. Anything worth getting up at 4 a.m. or earlier?

Happy Holidays

Submission Admission

So, I sent a little poem into a magazine. I'm trying to do small projects while I get this mess of a novel figured out. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and frustrated with it right now. Wish me luck on the poem. :)

What have you submitted lately?

Okay, why do 4th graders have Science Fair Projects??? Ugh. That is what I did all weekend. I tried to let my daughter do all of it, but some things aren't that easy. And to top it off I cut my finger open on the scissors and a few hours later I went out to the garage and stepped on a top from a coke can and sliced my foot open real bad. Ouch!

All right I'll stop whining. :) Tomorrow is a new day and I'm thankful for that.

Picture Book info

Check out what Editorial Anonymous had to say about PB layouts.
http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/2008/10/basic-book-construction.html

Happy Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite "holidays". Especially when it's warm outside --like it will be here today. The spooks and fun that ensue always get me in a festive mood. I love the jack-o-lanterns and skeletons, the bats and black cats, the mummies and goblins. But what I don't love is going through haunted houses. I know, I'm a chicken but they just flip me out.

My hubby and I used to go to an annual Halloween party every year. It was always so much fun. One year we went as Tinkerbell and Captain Hook. Another time we went as Marilyn Monroe and Joe DeMaggio. Unfortunately I have no pics to show.

So what have you dressed up as? What is your favorite thing about Halloween?

Go check out www.kidlitcentralnews.com today and get a chance to win some cool writer gifts from some amazing authors.

Good luck!!! Keep writing and learning.

On Halloween, check out http://www.kidlitcentralnews.com/ for a spooktacular treasure haunt for writerly gifts. It will be sure to make you scream with excitement. Mawahahahahahha.

Description & Setting

Description & Setting by Ron Rozelle, one of many Writer's Digest Books, is a phenomenal asset to have in your collection of writer's handbooks.

I knew I had to put description and setting in my novel but reading this book was like putting the light in a firefly. I started glowing from the inside out with all the knowledge and could finally see through the dark.

It talks about:

-The importance of your setting and description

-Learning to pay attention to your surroundings

-Use the flavors of your words (metaphors,

similes, cadence, flashbacks, backstories,

foreshadowing, sentence lengths, adverbs and

adjectives.)

- Showing and telling (when to use each)

- Sensory description (the SIX senses)

- Descriptions of characters (making character

profile sheet)

-Time and place

-Get your facts straight for specialized fiction

-Using description and setting to drive the story

(mood and tone)

-Working the Magic with titles, opening

paragraphs, voice, etc.

-Too little, too much (dialogue tags, repeating,

passive voice, need to know basis)

I highly recommend this book. One of the best things I got out of it was to make a writer's journal of different details you'd use in your writing and to really make notes in it every day. It enhances your senses and creativity.

Hope you love it as much as I do.

The Wacky Things Kids Say

This is what I blogged about at kid lit central on Wednesday.


http://community.livejournal.com/kidlit_central/30588.html

When to let go

I've been working on this picture book for...hmmm...let's see...oh, yeah---years! It started as a little poem for my son's pre-k classroom door. Then I added more of a middle. Then later, after an editor critique, a beginning and ending came about. My poor critique group has seen it so many times in so many phases of its life. I know the final revisions I need to make before I can send it out into the world and for some reason I hesitate on making them.

Do any of you have a manuscript like this? I guess it's like having your baby walk for the first time. You want it but you don't.

I learned today that I know absolute nada about football. (Okay, maybe I know a tad more than nada). I need to take a crash course because it seems we're in it for the long haul. My son had his first game today. He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES football. He even LOVES to go to practice. Is that crazy or what? I can learn a lot from him.

But, I was thinking that maybe writing is a lot like football.

-Sometimes you score a field goal by meeting the little goals you set for yourself.

-Sometimes you make a great tackle by finishing that manuscript you've been slaving over.

-Sometimes you get knocked off your feet with a rejection, but you get back up and try, try again.

-Sometimes you cry on the sidelines (these are 5-7 year olds) but after visiting your favorite writer's forum, you feel encouraged to tackle that query letter once again.

-Sometimes you make it to the end zone for a touchdown and actually see your name on a book cover.

-Most important though, sometimes you inspire someone to do the

best they can and never give up on what they love most. Go for the goal!!

Keep writing and learning!

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace's drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder.Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, Jennifer Donnelly's astonishing debut novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original.

I just finished reading Jennifer Donnelly's "A Northern Light" and all I have to say is WHOA!! I know I'm very late in reading this book, but I loved that it made me laugh and cry. Mattie's voice is amazing and real. It touched my heart.

Makes me hope beyond hope that I'll write with that much feeling one day.

Cheers!

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog.

I have been writing seriously for the past 4 years. In high school I dabbled in a little poetry that I pretty much kept to myself. Then somehow I drifted away from writing anything.

After my kids were born I gravitated back toward it. So here I am four years later with a lot of knowledge and a little procrastination. (I'm working on that)

Last week I was lucky enough to get to go to the SCBWI National conference in L.A. It was absolutely fantastic! I met tons of nice people in elevators, at the Paint the Town Red party and in sessions. I left very inspired and hyped about my own WIP. Children's writers are just the friendliest people. Here are a few pics of some I met.

Darlina and me

Martha and Lisa

Sonia and Steve

Lisa and Jenn

The Big Bad Wolf, Anna Myers, and

Little Red Riding Hood

The Oklahoma Chapter

There are others who I didn't get good pics of. Kim from Kidlit Central News http://community.livejournal.com/kidlit_central/ has started a new blog. Kidlit Central News brings you the HOTTEST children’s publishing news, reviews, entertainment and more—by and about those involved with children’s literature in and around the Central U.S. Featured states include: Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. Go check it out!!! She's the one who encouraged me to start this blog.

Keep writing and learning.