Let me just say how much I love school librarians! I had such an awesome time at AASL last week. Meeting and talking with people who love books and working with kids is such a privilege--and a total perk of being a children's book writer. Plus, I got to meet lots of the Debs (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
debut2009 ) in person, and they are some talented people! Being part of such a huge conference is surreal.
Here are some highlights.
Part of the convention floor, aerial view:
Who's that in the Penguin booth with her books and wonky name tag?
On Friday, I signed in the Penguin booth after Laurie Halse Anderson--Laurie Halse Anderson! I was petrified that no one would show up. But I guess the allure of my argyle sweater was strong, and people actually lined up to have me sign ARCs of TOTAL TRAGEDY. Wheee!!!
We gave away every ARC that Penguin sent in 20 minutes! Wow!! Librarians told me how much the kids in their school enjoyed MODELS, which was amazing to hear. I still can't believe that this is my life.
After my signing, I had some time to walk around and check out the convention. Then it was time for the Author PitStop, which was a simultaneous multi-author signing all around the convention floor. I sat with picture book author Kristy Dempsey (who is so nice, BTW), and we signed books and chatted with librarians for nearly 2 hours.
I also had the fortune to spend lots of quality time with members of the Debs. We did a group signing Friday night, had dinner together, and several of us spent a portion of the night hanging out with other authors (including Maggie Stiefvater--who drew me a super-cool picture that I need to scan and post). Everyone was so nice and we had a blast getting to know one another in person! Check us out at the AASL conference bookstore:
(l-r: me, Jennifer Jabaley, Shani Petroff, Lauren Bjorkman, Carrie Ryan, Neesha Meminger, RJ Anderson). Debs also present but not pictured: Jenny Moss, Cynthea Liu, & Jackson Pearce. For more about the Debs (and a chance to win an entire library of our books for your library!), go to our blog.
I had a wonderful time meeting everyone and really, really enjoyed the experience of the conference. What a way to cap off my debut year!
debut2009 ) in person, and they are some talented people! Being part of such a huge conference is surreal.Here are some highlights.
Part of the convention floor, aerial view:
Who's that in the Penguin booth with her books and wonky name tag?
On Friday, I signed in the Penguin booth after Laurie Halse Anderson--Laurie Halse Anderson! I was petrified that no one would show up. But I guess the allure of my argyle sweater was strong, and people actually lined up to have me sign ARCs of TOTAL TRAGEDY. Wheee!!!
We gave away every ARC that Penguin sent in 20 minutes! Wow!! Librarians told me how much the kids in their school enjoyed MODELS, which was amazing to hear. I still can't believe that this is my life.
After my signing, I had some time to walk around and check out the convention. Then it was time for the Author PitStop, which was a simultaneous multi-author signing all around the convention floor. I sat with picture book author Kristy Dempsey (who is so nice, BTW), and we signed books and chatted with librarians for nearly 2 hours.
I also had the fortune to spend lots of quality time with members of the Debs. We did a group signing Friday night, had dinner together, and several of us spent a portion of the night hanging out with other authors (including Maggie Stiefvater--who drew me a super-cool picture that I need to scan and post). Everyone was so nice and we had a blast getting to know one another in person! Check us out at the AASL conference bookstore:
(l-r: me, Jennifer Jabaley, Shani Petroff, Lauren Bjorkman, Carrie Ryan, Neesha Meminger, RJ Anderson). Debs also present but not pictured: Jenny Moss, Cynthea Liu, & Jackson Pearce. For more about the Debs (and a chance to win an entire library of our books for your library!), go to our blog.
I had a wonderful time meeting everyone and really, really enjoyed the experience of the conference. What a way to cap off my debut year!
- Location:home
- Mood:
happy
1. getting to have dinner with David Lubar who is in Houston doing school visits.
2. getting free dinner.
3. being called a goddess.
4. enjoying great food and tastier company.
Really, what a great job I have.
2. getting free dinner.
3. being called a goddess.
4. enjoying great food and tastier company.
Really, what a great job I have.
- Location:home
- Mood:
full
Getting emails from my BFFs two little girls! Well, not so little anymore at ages 9 and 7, I suppose. My friend set up supervised email accounts for them. They emailed me to ask me what I wanted for Christmas. I just about cried when I realized the little baby whose diapers I used to change was emailing me. Whoa.
- Mood:
nostalgic
Notes augmented
We've enhanced and de-bugged Notes. If you haven't tried it yet, now's the time! You can create a private note when you ban multiple users. You can also delete multiple notes at once. Lastly, paid users have the option to add a note (visible only to you) whenever you add or remove a friend (guaranteed to avoid embarrassing social mishaps). If you don't currently have a paid account, you can upgrade now! It only takes a few minutes and costs less than a bad shopping mall haircut (plus, it's way more fashionable)!
Product tweaks and bug kill
- In another effort to zap spam, comments containing links from domains LiveJournal deems untrustworthy are now automatically screened
- If you sign up to get notifications of the Writer's Block question of the day, you'll now see the daily question in the email notification, so you'll have a little extra time to ponder before you post. You can subscribe to Writers Block notifications here
- The issue causing random comments to vanish has been fixed!
- If you visit a LiveJournal page and get prompted to log in, you'll be returned to the same page after you sign in (Thanks, Dreamwidth)!
- If you don't edit the timestamp for an entry at all, the entry timestamp will indicate the time the entry was posted instead of the time the Update Journal page was loaded
- Comments with paddings/backgrounds render correctly within the comment box (and will no longer wrap outside the box and break frames/margins)
New FCK fixes rich text editor!
- We've updated our RTE (Rich Text Editor) to FCKeditor version 2.6.5
- When switching from the RTE to HTML editor, links for syndicated feeds are no longer broken
- RTE now functions properly in Safari 4.0
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- The insert image link now works correctly in all browsers
LiveJournal Cares
We’re pleased to introduce you to lj_cares, a new LiveJournal community dedicated to raising awareness and funds for U.S. charitable organizations that improve the health and well-being of people around the world. Each month, we’ll spotlight a nonprofit that is making a significant global impact through medical research, public outreach, and/or humanitarian social programs. Charities will be selected in accordance with the U.S. calendar of national health observances based on a high rating (of over 60%) on Charity Navigator and global scope of impact.
In this, our inaugural month of November, we will celebrate national adoption month by offering a charitable virtual gift (priced at $2.99) to support Love Without Boundaries, an organization that saves the lives of orphans with life-threatening diseases and places them in loving homes around the world. LiveJournal will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of charitable vgifts (we'll cover the cost of credit card transaction fees). To learn more about Love Without Boundaries, please visit lj_cares and read about how they helped save Baby Kang and the Rainbow Twins from fatal illnesses, who are now thriving in nurturing families. You can purchase your Love Without Boundaries gifts in the Virtual Gift shop.
Papered in postcards
A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to send in postcards to surround us with LiveJournal community. Thanks for coming through! We've received postcards all the way from Germany, Finland, and Canada and from all over the US, including Texas, Florida, Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Indiana, Hawaii, and Oklahoma just to name just a handful. We're thrilled with our improved decor.
Please keep the love coming for one more week by writing to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be drawing the names of ten random contributors next Thursday to win paid account credits!
Photos of the week
We have more dazzling images posted by talented LiveJournal photographers from around the world. We're hoping to span the entire globe, so please continue posting and tagging. Of course, you can also sit back and enjoy the view at lj_photophile.
You can see a sample of this week's gorgeous photos and check out spotlight communities and awesome user content after the jump!
( Read more... )Curtains
We thank you, once again, for joining us. See you next week!
Hubby just snapped some new photos of me for back of forthcoming book. How did I get so old? And fat? Nothing like a photo to bring reality crashing back.
On a happier note, I did finish a few "almosts" today. Before I depart for NCTE I want to have the stack of TO DO cleared. Then I can enjoy the week with less guilt and not return to craziness with any luck.
Here is the ever photogenic Scout.
On a happier note, I did finish a few "almosts" today. Before I depart for NCTE I want to have the stack of TO DO cleared. Then I can enjoy the week with less guilt and not return to craziness with any luck.
Here is the ever photogenic Scout.
My, but it's blustery here in Brigantine. Were I to pick a Winnie the Pooh song for right now, it might be "And the rain rain rain came down down down . . . " because the remnants of Ida are now a Nor'easter, and Angela (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
angeladegroot) and I have sea-view seats for it. We are, even now, in a condo on the topmost floor of an ocean-view building. Fortunately, the building's not located on the beach, but is instead a bit over 1/4 mile from the actual ocean, separated by scrub- and brush-covered dunes from the wildly crashing waves that we can see from the back windows. At least, we used to be able to see it. Lately the rain has been sheeting so much (between large amount of rain and large amount of wind) that we can barely make out the white caps in the distance.
Needless to say, no afternoon walk today. But we've enjoyed tea and writing time, with much more of both to follow. And tonight, as long as we still have electricity, there will be wine and a DVD (we have three Jane Austen flicks from which to choose, although two of them are versions of Mansfield Park, since Angela's not seen either of those yet, as well as The Ugly Truth and Catch and Release).
And now, back to it. Hope you're safe and warm and dry, wherever you may be. Fingers crossed that we keep our power, as I believe 'most everything here to be electric, save for the fireplace - but as the wind is even now gusting loudly down the chimney and knocking at the flue, so we're pretty convinced it would just outen the fire and/or fill the lovely high ceilings with smoke.
angeladegroot) and I have sea-view seats for it. We are, even now, in a condo on the topmost floor of an ocean-view building. Fortunately, the building's not located on the beach, but is instead a bit over 1/4 mile from the actual ocean, separated by scrub- and brush-covered dunes from the wildly crashing waves that we can see from the back windows. At least, we used to be able to see it. Lately the rain has been sheeting so much (between large amount of rain and large amount of wind) that we can barely make out the white caps in the distance.Needless to say, no afternoon walk today. But we've enjoyed tea and writing time, with much more of both to follow. And tonight, as long as we still have electricity, there will be wine and a DVD (we have three Jane Austen flicks from which to choose, although two of them are versions of Mansfield Park, since Angela's not seen either of those yet, as well as The Ugly Truth and Catch and Release).
And now, back to it. Hope you're safe and warm and dry, wherever you may be. Fingers crossed that we keep our power, as I believe 'most everything here to be electric, save for the fireplace - but as the wind is even now gusting loudly down the chimney and knocking at the flue, so we're pretty convinced it would just outen the fire and/or fill the lovely high ceilings with smoke.
- Mood:
a bit chilly - Music:And the rain rain rain came down down down (brainradio)
For some unknown reason, I got this on my mind:
Ginger Snaps,
Drusilla's red-and-white-tipped fingernails,
and some *serious* buckle boots.
...Don't ask me why. But I mostly blame Georgia McBride & last night's nostalgic #yalitchat. (And maybe a bit for Fluevog &everflame's too-cute fingerless gloves!)
*sigh* Back to surreality!
Ginger Snaps,
Drusilla's red-and-white-tipped fingernails,
and some *serious* buckle boots.
...Don't ask me why. But I mostly blame Georgia McBride & last night's nostalgic #yalitchat. (And maybe a bit for Fluevog &
everflame's too-cute fingerless gloves!)*sigh* Back to surreality!
I just spent an hour on the phone with a reporter who wants to write an article focusing on the more disturbing aspects of New Moon, the ones that parents may not know about, and it was the best game of Horrify the Twilight Noob EVER. It may actually be the longest such game on record. She knew to ask about all the controversial points, but... not the entire width and depth of the horror, if you will. There was a lot of "Oh... wow." I apologized for going on at such length, but she did have a lot of informed questions about a number of plot elements--if nothing else, I give an interviewer plenty of material to work with. And a larger audience will now be made aware of rocking chairs. "You're probably the one who knows the most about it," she said, laughing. I... kind of don't know how to feel about that.
(I imagine it'll come out next week--probably run on the day the movie opens. I'll tell you more about who and what and where when it does. In fact, I may see if one of y'all can clip the article and send it to me or scan it. The Littlest Edward can totes scrapbook it for me.)
I was actually pretty complimentary about how the movies handle some of these elements, though. That said: while I highly doubt I would in any way be the focus of the article, this is going to be read by a wider, non-LiveJournal, probably Twilight-loving audience. They're only going to see my commentary on this specific angle, and not the more affectionate, even-handed snark. I am pretty sure that their outrage will be a complete novelty in my sheltered little corner of the internet. BRING IT. Because I totally won't read any of their responses and my journal doesn't have anonycommenting enabled. Have fun storming someone else's castle, kids!
Cleolinda Jones: Senior Sparkle Correspondent. HATERS TO THE LEFT.
(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)
(I imagine it'll come out next week--probably run on the day the movie opens. I'll tell you more about who and what and where when it does. In fact, I may see if one of y'all can clip the article and send it to me or scan it. The Littlest Edward can totes scrapbook it for me.)
I was actually pretty complimentary about how the movies handle some of these elements, though. That said: while I highly doubt I would in any way be the focus of the article, this is going to be read by a wider, non-LiveJournal, probably Twilight-loving audience. They're only going to see my commentary on this specific angle, and not the more affectionate, even-handed snark. I am pretty sure that their outrage will be a complete novelty in my sheltered little corner of the internet. BRING IT. Because I totally won't read any of their responses and my journal doesn't have anonycommenting enabled. Have fun storming someone else's castle, kids!
Cleolinda Jones: Senior Sparkle Correspondent. HATERS TO THE LEFT.
(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)
- Mood:
gleeful - Music:I am so going to get my ass kicked
1) Delsym cough medicine is the best. It's expensive, but worth every penny.
2) I really don't like it when men have hairy necks. If you don't want to get your hair cut very often, fine, but please, can you at least shave your neck?
3) Check out this amazing, AMAZING post about ARCs by Kristi, aka The Story Siren. She went to publicists at publishing houses and asked them some questions about ARCs, including how much an average ARC costs. Good stuff, people!
4. Taylor Swift - OMG, she won FOUR awards on the Country Music Awards last night. I can't quite decide if I want to marry Taylor Swift or BE Taylor Swift. I know I want to write books the way Taylor writes songs. Now that I'm learning to play the guitar, I'm trying to teach myself some of her songs. Teardrops on My Guitar is one I've been playing a lot.
In my dreams, I sound like this:
5. Speaking of guitar, I'm playing on the one my husband has had for about 30 years. No joke. It's fine for now, but I'm really hoping Santa might bring me a new one for Christmas. If you know guitars and have any recommendations for him, please let me know so I can pass it along. I think I'd like to try and find one that works well with my small hands. If there is such a thing!
Happy Thursday!
2) I really don't like it when men have hairy necks. If you don't want to get your hair cut very often, fine, but please, can you at least shave your neck?
3) Check out this amazing, AMAZING post about ARCs by Kristi, aka The Story Siren. She went to publicists at publishing houses and asked them some questions about ARCs, including how much an average ARC costs. Good stuff, people!
4. Taylor Swift - OMG, she won FOUR awards on the Country Music Awards last night. I can't quite decide if I want to marry Taylor Swift or BE Taylor Swift. I know I want to write books the way Taylor writes songs. Now that I'm learning to play the guitar, I'm trying to teach myself some of her songs. Teardrops on My Guitar is one I've been playing a lot.
In my dreams, I sound like this:
5. Speaking of guitar, I'm playing on the one my husband has had for about 30 years. No joke. It's fine for now, but I'm really hoping Santa might bring me a new one for Christmas. If you know guitars and have any recommendations for him, please let me know so I can pass it along. I think I'd like to try and find one that works well with my small hands. If there is such a thing!
Happy Thursday!
Carol Hawthorne from the Westlake Porter Public Library in Westlake, OH sent this entry to the Debut Library. She poses here with a copy of Michelle Zink's gothic PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS! As you see, there are twins on the cover, and next year, there will be twins on the shelves. Keep an eye out for the next book in the series, GUARDIAN OF THE GATE, coming in 2010!
Are you a library professional? You can enter to win 46 brand new YA & MG novels for YOUR collection! See this entry for details.
I have to say, this has been quite a productive week all around. The high temps this week inspired me to not only do the usual yard work of raking and winterizing outside the house and store, but to do some beautifying too. I thought all the physical labor would leave me too tired for creativity. I imagined myself falling onto the couch after supper to alternately read and doze until bedtime. But I was excited to experience the exact opposite!
This week, I've already firmed up my plot line and written three more chapters in my middle grade. I'm 1/3 of the way through the book! This is a fast draft, so I'm sure there's at least another rewrite in my future. It does feel good to be moving forward though.
So I'm off to do a power walk, wash the outside of my windows and then tackle the inside of the house before my meeting with my rec director on the 2010 calendar of events. That ought to earn me another couple of chapters tonight!
- Mood:
productive
Last night I went to the Odyssey Bookshop http://www.odysseybks.com/ to hear Harriet Reisen talk about her new biography for adults: Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Like many of us, Harriet Reisen’s passion began as a girl reading her way through Louisa’s novels, and grew during the past twenty years of writing this biography and co-producing a film biography which will be aired Dec. 28 as part of American Masters on PBS. She talked about conversations with costume designers about making the linen outfits the family wore on the utopian farm, Fruitlands. There were visitors, many of whom wrote journals, but while Henry David Thoreau, for example, might lavish pages on a tree, there’s no written description of the tunics and bloomers. The costumers did their best with this period when the Louisa was ten and her family avoided cotton, because it was based on slave labor, and wool, since it relied upon unconsenting sheep, and leather: though practical Mrs. Alcott surely insisted on shoes once the weather got cold. As authors we can do our best with words, but costumers and illustrators have to get more specific. Here’s what illustrator Jean-Paul Tibbles did with the cover of my book (Putnam 2001).
Like Harriet Reisen, the topic of the Alcotts is one I could go on and on about. I liked that the quote from the diary Louisa wrote when she was ten – how she and her older sister Anna were called to a meeting to see if the family should stay together -- which inspired my novel also kind of broke her heart. I loved hearing a few research stories: the unanswered phone calls, the plodding, the serendipity of a letter that fell out from a volume at a used book store with a phone number at the end. Harriet Reisen read two excerpts, and it’s clear she worked hard not only to elegantly and truthfully show Louisa, but put her vividly into the context of her time and place. Harriet Reisen loves a material world both for its clues and color. And she shows Louisa as a runner. Often twenty miles a day.
She cited authors who have been influenced by Louisa Alcott including Simone de Beauvoir, Cynthia Ozick, and J.K. Rowling. I might add more than half the the writers I know. I look forward to reading the biography and seeing the television documentary, with a script that is all quotes, many from Louisa’s diaries and letters, with some commentary by scholars.
Today’s inspiration came in the form of one short sentence: They were there after Brannockburn. OMG. It belongs in a thread I’ve already tied. But it cinches that thread so perfectly and I don’t have to change another word in the entire manuscript.
But why do I have to think of these things when I’m in a hurry?
62,000 words. Threads are tying together. I’m starting to feel a bit sad about coming to the end. Actually, I’m on the cusp of the last big scenes, which I’ve wanted to write since July. I’m guessing I have about 10,000 words left to go, could be less. And I have to go to work.
~couldn't resist the pix--that's how I feel right now~got to run!
Tip of the Day: The 2009 Debutantes are doing group signings in a number of locations across the country this holiday season. See if they are coming near you! Check Holidaze with the Debs.
I survived!! Actually, I did better than that-- I had so much fun at my launch party!! I couldn't wait until today to blog about it so the big post is on my personal blog here.
Today, I'm going to share some of my favorite things from the party.
First, signing. I signed my arcs at ALA this summer but this was different- it was the actual book! And it was really, really fun. People started coming about ten minutes before the party started and it was pretty steady for the entire time.
Speaking of books, don't they look so pretty all set up in a big ol' stack like this?
Then of course there was all the pink. I love pink! (Did you spot the plates I was freaking out about last week?)
And I loved that so much family came! My parents and all three of my brothers (even the one from Seattle, WA) and their families, my aunts and uncles, cousins, and godparents. And of course my family, Hubby was taking mega pictures and the kids were SO good. I was very relieved!
Although my 3-yr old kept taking advantage of my being distracted to steal chocolate hearts again and again. And again.
And the writers! I love getting to chat with other writers and I was especially happy that local writers came out. Below is Kristin Walker and Trina Sotira.
And finally, I was so excited to see so many old friends-- some I hadn't seen since high school!
Thanks for the support everyone!
Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut
I survived!! Actually, I did better than that-- I had so much fun at my launch party!! I couldn't wait until today to blog about it so the big post is on my personal blog here.
Today, I'm going to share some of my favorite things from the party.
First, signing. I signed my arcs at ALA this summer but this was different- it was the actual book! And it was really, really fun. People started coming about ten minutes before the party started and it was pretty steady for the entire time.
Speaking of books, don't they look so pretty all set up in a big ol' stack like this?
Then of course there was all the pink. I love pink! (Did you spot the plates I was freaking out about last week?)
And I loved that so much family came! My parents and all three of my brothers (even the one from Seattle, WA) and their families, my aunts and uncles, cousins, and godparents. And of course my family, Hubby was taking mega pictures and the kids were SO good. I was very relieved!
Although my 3-yr old kept taking advantage of my being distracted to steal chocolate hearts again and again. And again.
And the writers! I love getting to chat with other writers and I was especially happy that local writers came out. Below is Kristin Walker and Trina Sotira.
And finally, I was so excited to see so many old friends-- some I hadn't seen since high school!
Thanks for the support everyone!
Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut
I had this book about the Beatles when I was a kid and there was a photo in it of Paul standing around outside the Magical Mystery Tour bus and the caption said "Paul, waiting for the magic to begin." I don't know why that sticks with me, but it's one of those things embedded in my head. Waiting for the magic to begin. The truth, a lot of times, I've discovered, while making parenthetical asides so I can use more commas, is that while you thought you were waiting for the magic to begin, the magic was already happening.
So ... Tuesday I went to Washington DC to photograph three Supreme Court Justices, it was basically 12 hours of prep and setup for 30 seconds of actual shutter button pushing. I did get to listen to Justices Breyer, O'Connor and Kennedy talk for an hour and a half or so beforehand about Thurgood Marshall, cases they'd agreed on, cases they hadn't, all of which was pretty nice. I've photographed all of them before on several occasions, so the initial awkwardness that's sometimes there was gone but Justice O'Connor's husband, ill with Alzheimer's for twenty years, had taken a turn for the worse and she left quickly to get on a plane and go to the hospital to see him. I'm left powerfully impressed with her ability to deal with his illness for so long and with such strength -- with her ability to function in the face of such adversity, to talk with colleagues and have your photo taken and simply move from one place to another. She watched her husband of half a century slowly forget who she was and then watched him fall in love with another woman in the same assisted living center, and then watched him fade completely. John O'Connor died the following afternoon at the age of 79.
Flags were at half staff to honor the victims of Ft. Hood, but I'm now reminded that people go through powerful and tragic losses every day, and some of them deal with it with incredible grace and determination. I wish I had a flag for them.
I spent most of Tuesday taking photos with my iPhone waiting for the magic to begin, but really, it was already there.
Add me as a friend on LiveJournal, Add me on Facebook, Follow me on Twitter.
So ... Tuesday I went to Washington DC to photograph three Supreme Court Justices, it was basically 12 hours of prep and setup for 30 seconds of actual shutter button pushing. I did get to listen to Justices Breyer, O'Connor and Kennedy talk for an hour and a half or so beforehand about Thurgood Marshall, cases they'd agreed on, cases they hadn't, all of which was pretty nice. I've photographed all of them before on several occasions, so the initial awkwardness that's sometimes there was gone but Justice O'Connor's husband, ill with Alzheimer's for twenty years, had taken a turn for the worse and she left quickly to get on a plane and go to the hospital to see him. I'm left powerfully impressed with her ability to deal with his illness for so long and with such strength -- with her ability to function in the face of such adversity, to talk with colleagues and have your photo taken and simply move from one place to another. She watched her husband of half a century slowly forget who she was and then watched him fall in love with another woman in the same assisted living center, and then watched him fade completely. John O'Connor died the following afternoon at the age of 79.
Flags were at half staff to honor the victims of Ft. Hood, but I'm now reminded that people go through powerful and tragic losses every day, and some of them deal with it with incredible grace and determination. I wish I had a flag for them.
I spent most of Tuesday taking photos with my iPhone waiting for the magic to begin, but really, it was already there.
Add me as a friend on LiveJournal, Add me on Facebook, Follow me on Twitter.
- Mood: accomplished
- Music:cars driving through the rain
So far, there’ve been lots of great entries for the Meager Puddle of Light Award for Best Opening Line. If you haven’t sent in your own yet, or you’d like to send another (maximum three per person please), there’s still time to take part.
To enter, just follow these simple guidelines.
I’ll be cut & pasting everyone’s opening lines directly from the comments/messages you sent, so if you want to check your spelling, or change them in any way, please do it before the competition closes for entries tomorrow night (11:59pm US/Eastern).
First round voting will start on Saturday, November 21st
On a related note, I think the Meager Puddle of Light Awards need a motto.
I toyed with Puddilurus te salutat (we who are about to Puddle, salute you), but in the end I settled on Vene Vidi Puddli (I came, I saw, I Puddled). What do you think?
- Mood:
mischievous
My 5 Randoms pal, Susan Colebank's new YA book, CASHING IN is out today! Happy Book Release Day, Susan!
The Shaws have won the lottery. One point six million, to be exact. But does money bring happiness? Depends. For someone other than Reggie Shaw, maybe. But when you have a compulsive gambler for a mother and mediocre grades and best friends in the middle of a break-up and no kind of future mapped out, money is just one more complication.
Don't you want that bag on the cover?? I know I do ;-) Find out more about Susan and her book(s) here.
The Shaws have won the lottery. One point six million, to be exact. But does money bring happiness? Depends. For someone other than Reggie Shaw, maybe. But when you have a compulsive gambler for a mother and mediocre grades and best friends in the middle of a break-up and no kind of future mapped out, money is just one more complication.
Don't you want that bag on the cover?? I know I do ;-) Find out more about Susan and her book(s) here.
Our kind and generous d_michiko_f interviewed me about JUMPING OFF SWINGS and has posted our talk on her website here: http://www.debbimichikoflorence.com/aut
Debbi always asks the best questions. :-)
THANKS DEBBI!!!!
Today I'm leaving for my class. We only have three left! I'm so sad. This semester just flew by. And yet, it's been such a treat to see the students stretch their wings, challenge themselves, and soar. I think running a writing workshop or class has to be one of the luckiest things you can do. You get to sit there and watch story after story enter the world. It doesn't get much better than that.
d_michiko_f interviewed me about JUMPING OFF SWINGS and has posted our talk on her website here: http://www.debbimichikoflorence.com/autDebbi always asks the best questions. :-)
THANKS DEBBI!!!!
Today I'm leaving for my class. We only have three left! I'm so sad. This semester just flew by. And yet, it's been such a treat to see the students stretch their wings, challenge themselves, and soar. I think running a writing workshop or class has to be one of the luckiest things you can do. You get to sit there and watch story after story enter the world. It doesn't get much better than that.
I spent yesterday morning with a group of home schooled students in Williston, Vermont. They ranged in age from six to fourteen -- something that usually makes me a little nervous when I'm presenting, but with this group, it worked. The younger students were incredibly well-informed, and the older ones were generous and patient and had great questions of their own. I gave one of my newer presentations: Firing Cannons and Kissing Frogs: The Truth About Author Research, and I've decided this might be my new favorite because it talks about all the different kinds of research authors do and allows me to look back on just how many fun and challenging and downright strange things I've done in the name of research for all my books.
Best part of the day? After my presentation, as I was winding cords and shutting down my laptop, one of the younger boys came up to me with a huge smile on his face.
"Thanks!" he said. "That was a LOT more fun than I thought it was going to be."
I was very happy to have surprised him.
Thanks, kids (and parents!) for such a great morning with your group!
Best part of the day? After my presentation, as I was winding cords and shutting down my laptop, one of the younger boys came up to me with a huge smile on his face.
"Thanks!" he said. "That was a LOT more fun than I thought it was going to be."
I was very happy to have surprised him.
Thanks, kids (and parents!) for such a great morning with your group!
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