Storyqueen's Storycastle

12 Years of Attempting MG

2012-01-31T19:35:00.000-08:00

So, um, yeah.

I started writing my first MG in 2000. (Okay, actually I started my first MG in fourth grade, a fabulous novel called The Adventures of Suzie McGuire. Adventurous in neither title nor content--still, it was my first book with chapters. And I still have it:)

The first novel (circa 2000) was a retelling of an old legend.

It was in first person.

From the perspective of a dog.

(You can stop laughing now--it was actually a bit of a tear-jerker.)

But it wasn't quite right. Nor was it long enough to be considered an actual novel. It might have qualified at a "chapterbook" but I think the content was too high. (And don't get me started on the whole chapterbook vs novel thing...I still don't know how it all works!)

So, I then I wrote a chapter book. (Which I still kind of love, just so you know) with three princesses (named Sunbeam, Moonbeam and Buttercup--yes, I know there already is a Princess Buttercup, but not one named after a Peanut Butter cup!) who went and mixed up a bunch of fairy tales and such. Perhaps too episodic, but I tend to be a fan of episodic stories so.....

I rewrote the characters into a modern day mystery, thinking perhaps my princesses could solve many mysteries. But the pacing was off and try as I might, I couldn't really save it.

Then I wrote 80 pages of Trinket (which had a horrible title that I can't even force myself to type, it was so bad....) but my computer crashed and I lost it all. But I wasn't even that sad because I knew I hadn't done the idea justice. I knew I needed to be a better writer to tell Trinket's tale.

Now, all the while, I was still writing picture books and easy readers. I absolutely love playing with language. I love the way the words sound when read aloud and I knew I still wanted to write something longer. I just didn't know if I could...and do it right.

My next two attempts were probably a little terrible--but I kind of loved them. I tried hard to write books that followed the "rules". (By rules, I mean that I probably didn't take enough risks with them. I played it safe, adhering to non-existent "this is how a plot goes" rules.) One was about a dungeon under a school where kids with low test scores were sent during the testing time so the school would maintain its excellence. (Teacher disillusionment with standardized testing? You be the judge.) The other was about a girl who lived between two worlds (yeah, I know, there are only a zillion books with similar plots) and, yeah, it was the faerie world. So, um..yeah.

But these two books I finished...and if they weren't good, at least they were Finished.

In addition writing my picturebooks and easy readers (which I already mentioned), I also had a love affair with folk-tales. I LOVE folktale retellings, but they are not the easiest thing to get published in picture book format. But I didn't care, (I still don't.) Sometimes it is just plain fun write fairy tales.

Finally, in the Spring of 2009, I decided that I needed to give Trinket her shot again. I knew I could finish a longer book (which is not the easiest thing, I tell you!) and I knew, after having followed the "rules" in my last two attempts, I was ready to break them. I knew the telling of this tale would require an unusual structure, and finally, I was brave enough to follow the story, instead of doing what I "thought" I should do.

So, here I am , 12 years later. That's a long time to wait, you might be thinking. But that whole time, I WASN'T just WAITING. I was writing.

And that made all the difference.

hrh

Hi. My Name is Shelley and This is the Cover of My New Book.

2012-01-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so a picture sometimes really is worth a thousand words. And this picture says SO much!!

However, here is a blurb for THE SEVEN TALES OF TRINKET, in case you were interested.

Left with nothing but a tattered map, a boy who tends pigs, and the storyteller's blood that thrums through her veins, eleven year-old Trinket's very survival depends upon her ability to capture a good tale and retell it well. If she is lucky enough to find seven tales, well, wouldn't she be the fortunate lass? Then she would have enough stories to star in one place for a week, trading tales for food, shelter, and maybe coin.

But stories can be wily an many like to keep their secrets.

As Trinket follows in what she believe to be her father's footsteps, she travels from one adventure to the next, and closer to a truth she might not be ready for. From an exotic gypsy camp, the the island of the seal people, to the ruins of a banshee's tower, Trinket gathers her stories and writes her poetry, as a good bard should. But when her journey takes her past the wall between the living and the dead, a dark encounter with a mysterious ghost threatens to destroy the one story Trinket is most anxious to discover: What really happened to her father?

(This is not the official blurb--this is just part of my query to Jo, but I think it captures the tale very nicely.)

September 4 is the big release day (I think).

The cover art is by Dan Craig (not Dan Craig the actor...though that would be cool, too, just not as cool as the stuff on this link.)

I just love it and I hope you do, too! (I am putting something in parentheses here just because I did on the earlier lines and I didn't want this one to feel left out.)

hrh

Lookit! Lookit! Lookit!

2012-01-20T18:01:00.000-08:00

So, I've been meaning to post about this for a while.

Well...just look, okay?

Yes. That is an original painting of the Good Knight and his dragon friends by the amazing Jennifer Plecas.

So, in case you don't remember, there was this auction inspired by THE ARTIST WHO PAINTED A BLUE HORSE by Eric Carle and Jennifer was asked to paint a horse to be auctioned off to support art programs. She chose to paint the Good Knight's horse, which meant that I HAD to have it.

So, we watched the bidding, ready to swoop in at the last minute and walk away with it. But we were not alone in our desire to own this adorable painting. AND the auction was set to end the night before Thanksgiving....and we were traveling in a different time zone. So, I logged in to check on the bidding....thinking I had all the time in the world...and there were only 10 MINUTES LEFT!! (And my husband was bidding for us, not me....and he was out somewhere...aaauuugghhh!!)

Yes, the call I made to him was frantic. And he might have had to exceed the speed limit to get back in time (sorry police officers of Albuquerque). But I am happy to report that he was victorious...even though it was a tough battle--perhaps the toughest ten minute bidding war in e-bay history.

But we won!!

However, my family kept the painting from me until Christmas. But that was okay because it was the Coolest.Thing.Ever to open on Christmas morning.

And now it hangs above my desk. Love.

(And yes, I have new glasses. And yes, they may or may not look like Justin Bieber's. I was actually trying to get Harry Potter glasses and ended up with these, only to be told by my class that they looked liked Justin Bieber's. And also Brad Pitt has my glasses, too.)

xoxo

hrh

Writing Discoveries

2012-01-16T12:01:00.000-08:00

I am trying to end a novel.

It is hard.

I keep thinking, "This will be the day. I will finish TODAY."

But that was yesterday. And the day before yesterday. And the day before that.

I think the reason it won't end is because I have yet to have that moment.

For me, that moment is when I am writing a book and I make myself cry. It's not a forced cry, mind you, but a deep, heartfelt tear or two.

(Okay, sometimes I am writing funny things and I have to make myself laugh out loud before I know that it is right....over and over again at the same joke...it still has to be funny to me. Hey, that's just how I roll.)

Anyway, I need that moment in the writing when it's no longer about the words or the story. I need that moment when the only important thing is what I am feeling in my heart. If the deep feeling is not there, well, the story cannot end.

So, I am back at it today, hoping my characters will lead me to that moment of perfect rightness (or perfect wrongness, as the case may be) and I will have my little cry and get to type THE END.

Wish me luck!

hrh

P.S. Because I have an extremely full plate these days, dinner time at the Thomas house has been SUFFERING. So, I have developed a little dinner schedule:

Monday- Something good...Mondays are hard enough at it is, they really deserve to have a good dinner. Often it is crockpot night (nothing like coming home from work and smelling FOOD. Tonight it is BBQ chicken pizza.
Tuesday-Salad Night-Some kind of main dish salad. This week I think it will be a greek chicken salad, or perhaps a roast-beef bleu cheese salad. Dunno yet. But it will be a salad.
Wednesday-I have to drive kids this night, so it will be fast food. Usually In-n-out Burger is the choice because it is semi-healthy (you can have protein-style!) and not too pricey. And it always tastes good.
Thursday- Leftovers (if there are any from Mon and Tues) or Breakfast for Dinner. I love breakfast food and there is never time to make it. And eggs are super easy to whip up. So Thursday is Breakfast night!
Friday-Soup Night OR Mexican Food- It totally depends on my mood. If I need comfort food, it will be a soup night. If I need a fiesta, it will be Mexican!
Weekend-No rules...whatever anybody feels like making.

Imaginary Writing Retreat

2012-01-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

Back before I even had my own blog, I scoured the internet searching for author blogs. I wanted to know what other authors thought and if I thought the same kinds of things from time to time. I remember reading a blog (I think it was Maureen Johnson's but I am not sure. Let's just say that it was.) Anyway, she was going on a writing retreat with other authors to a CASTLE in IRELAND. Seriously. Could there be anything cooler?

I think not.

Sometimes, when the writing gets hard, I dream of this legendary Irish Castle Writing Retreat. In my mind, it has morphed into paradise.

Large and imposing, with a great cloud cover and awesome castle grounds to walk at dusk for inspiration.

This is what happens in my imaginary retreat:

I am awakened by a small pot of steaming hot tea placed by my bedside table every morning.
Hours and hours and hours to write. And when I am not writing, I am talking with witty, fab, amazing people about writing. Or I am traipsing about the Irish countryside, thinking about what I shall write next.
There is not any awkwardness between me and imaginary new author friends, even though we all just probably met.
The castle is neither too warm nor too cold.
Delicious food prepared by a cook that we all lovingly refer to as "Cook."
All unfinished stuff gets finished.

This is probably what would happen at a real writing retreat. To me, anyway.

Rodents, vermin, bedbugs.
Freezing cold or stifling hot.
Lost luggage.
Hideous food. (And the snacks I brought all get eaten by said vermin.)
Author conversations: Awkward, awkward, awkward.

Notice the complete lack of lasting structure. Sneeze too hard, and the whole thing is gonna crumble. See that big fat window on the right that looks like a monster took a bite out of it? That's my room.

Yeah, I think I'll opt for an imaginary writing retreat.

hrh

PS. Where is your dream writing getaway?

Oh, 2012, You Cheeky Monkey! (bonus feature: Buying Gift Books For Yourself)

2012-01-05T18:39:00.000-08:00

Well played, New Year, well played.

Just a few short days ago, I listed my few, fairly simple resolutions (lifted from a well-timed tweet). To review, I resolved to:

1. Read more.

2. Write more.

3. Worry less.

Now, I have this theory about resolutions, a theory of the be-careful-what-you-wish-for-variety. I mean, if you resolved to be patient, then you will undoubtedly have the most patience-trying events rock your year. It is just the way it goes.

So, the New Year, (or Universe, or whoever is in charge of ill-formed resolutions) had this fun little spin for mine. More time to read? You got it! More writing time? It is all yours! Worry less? Well, I'll see what I can do about that.

How do I get these wonderful things? By catching a hideous illness (of the bronchial-ailing variety). I can't do any of the cool things I wanted to do over break. I can't even go outside for long (strange anti-biotic sun reaction)!! And the weather is GORGEOUS. But I am trapped inside. Alas.

So, notebooks, books and keyboards, here I come!

Again, I commend your cleverness, 2012.

In other news, I highly recommend getting a book gift for yourself, just to start out the new year. I mean, why not? I bough one YA, one MG and one PB back in December as a promise to myself that I WOULD have more time for reading (pre-illness, naturally).

I bought:

Loved this creepy YA. Really a fun book for teens, and for me. I've got to say, I am a sucker for a London ghost story with a fun narrator. Just what I needed to forget about coughing.

Gorgeous and moving and just WOW. A perfect story. I wouldn't have changed a thing. And I loved those moments when I was muttering to myself, "HAZEL! Don't do that!!"

Sweet and inspiring. There is something just so wonderful about a picture book that makes you realize what an unusual and special medium the picture book really is.

So, if your New Year's Resolutions are having their way with you already, go out and buy a gift book for yourself (or two, or three.)

You won't be sorry.

Off to snuggle with more books.

hrh

WHAT?? It's 2012? Wait! I Wasn't Ready!

2012-01-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

I am not ready for 2012 to start. Now don't get me wrong. I am kind of tired of 2011. It was a year of HUGE changes for me and every member of my little family. Everyone has those moments of, "Well, this was unexpected. This changes everything," but the Thomas crew seemed to have more of them than usual.

I know I did.

And I am tired.

But no, wait, it can't possibly be a start of a new year. I didn't get any closure!!

I wanted more of this:

I didn't get time to play with the ornaments!!

I think a purple chicken (Blanch the Bumpy Chicken, if you must know) just stumbled upon the manger, along with pictures of family from far away and I haven't had time to return her to the coop!

And the Christmas villagers were just getting ready to do another carol!

And the Darth Vader Flash Drive just arrived--I've got to have time to defeat him before 2012 starts!

Come on, 2011!! I needed more of this! It's not fair to get to the good part of the year and then just leave like that!

Ah, alas, the early morning twinklies.

And I could have used a little more of this! (Actually, I still think I have some in the fridge--breakfast of champions!)

Yeah, and 2011 would have used a few more lightsaber battles before the end.

But here we are. 2012. And I do really have so much to look forward to in the coming year, I'm just kind of not ready to think about it all just yet. I am still in the reflecting part of 2011. So, instead of jumping ahead with resolutions, I am only going to try for three things this year. (And I am stealing these from Sarah Dessen's tweet yesterday, but I thought they were just what I wanted, so there you have it.)

1. Read more.

2. Write more

3. Worry less.

But for all of you, my friends and readers out there, I am wishing you a year filled with thrills and excitement, with a heaping dose of peace and tranquility, just to balance everything out, you know?

xoxo--

hrh

Live Blogging/Writing Day

2011-12-29T08:18:00.000-08:00

I am about three fourths of the way done with a writing project and I just really need to kick it in gear and get a first draft of it finished before I go back to teaching on the 9th. So, today I am going to do a series of timed writings to see how much I can crank out.

So far progress has been unsteady, with days of lots of words and days with VERY few. I attribute that to the holidays, naturally. But no more excuses!

So, I am starting my first chunk right now. Wish me luck!

Okay, I just finished my first 1/2 hour timed writing.

word count: 466.

Not bad, but I can feel that I am stalling. And I can't figure out why. If I need for something kind of bad to happen to MC, then I just need to let it happen!!

Last line:

True, I did not want to go wherever they were taking me alone, but one does not live as a princess for as long as I have without learning even a little about bravery and how important it is to have courage at all times, or at least appear that you do.

Going to have a little run and work some things out in my head. Back in a bit!

9:55 The run was evil. I went twice as far as usual just to avoid coming back and getting myself out of the fine mess I've gotten myself into! Why did I think the public humiliation of not getting the writing done would spur me on to finish this book? Why? Why?

I will tell you why.

Because it is strangely effective.

So, at 10:00 I am going to try for another 1/2 hour, then maybe have a little breakfast. Something with a poached egg, I think. I had something at a fancy schmancy restaurant the other night which was a chanterelle mushroom tarte with goat cheese, frisee and a slow poached egg. I have been dreaming about that egg.

Okay, I am off to the tower prison. (Feeling a little cliche...perhaps all will not be what it seems.)

10:30

Word count: 701 (which makes for a total of 1156 so far! Which pleases me to no end!)

Got out of the tower, thank goodness. Not a big fan of towers, really, except the one I saw a Blarney Castle which wasn't dark and dreary at all.

So, off to eat a little breakfast and perhaps do some laundry (ugh...but the clothes must be cleaned!)

Last line:

It could not have come at a less opportune time, but I felt the itch in my fingers to paint.

12:19
Had to run and get cold medicine for sick people...poor things. And I've for a dr.'s appt. myself here in a bit, so I am going to try and squeeze in 1k in 1 hour starting in 11 minutes. It's nice because once the words start flowing, it is easier to pick up where you left off and keep going. (And I bought myself a little present when I was out medicine gathering....new moleskines!!)

Yes. I should have a sign above my desk: Will Write For Rewards.
Well, I'm off to hit the pages!

1:38

word count: 742 (but a neighbor stopped by and we had to show them how to play Fruit Ninja on the Kinect)

So, off to the doctor now, more later.

Oops! Forgot the last line: We spun and spun and for a moment, I let myself believe that this would, indeed, be far better than returning.
4:40 Back from dr. with a nasty case of asthmatic bronchitis. Lovely. But at least I have a fresh inhaler to get me through. It is quiet in the house now, so I am thinking of doing another one-half hour, but I am almost positive there will be an interruption. Such is the day. And soon I am going to a friend's house for little holiday get-together (to which I am bringing the famous Thomas cheese ball) but then I hope to have most of the evening for writing.

8:58 p.m.

So that rest of the evening for writing thing SO did not happen. But holidays are for friends and gatherings, thus sometimes I have to go counter to my hermit tendencies and get out a bit.

However, I did manage 169 more words, bringing the total for the day to 2067 words! (Honestly, not a much as I had hoped, but I am always grateful for whatever progress I make. Writing is not a race to be won, but a life to be lived.)

last line: “What are you doin’, you foolish lad?”

hrh

And thanks for the twitter encouragement, everyone!

Favorite Things of Christmas

2011-12-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

1. I love that the new green for Christmas is Grinch green. When I was young, a deep evergreen shade of green was the Christmas green. But I just love the way Grinch green works with red.

Love his saucy little expression!

2. Love that I am finally on break--and still standing, even after taking nine twelve year-old girls, (who decided to speak in loud, shrill, British accents for the evening), ice skating last night.

3. Love that I STILL cry when everyone is singing towards the end of ELF. (Seen it a billion times, still gets me!)

4. Love this:

I shouldn't love this so much...but I do.

4. Love my simplified menu for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:

Christmas Eve:

Tortilla Soup

The red and green makes it so festive! (And it's easy)

It will be nice just to have a pot of something on the stove for anyone who pops by.

Shortbread Cookies (made by Noel...thank goodness for college-aged daughters!)

And that's it...going simple this year.

Christmas Day:

I scored big this time...Sean said he'd make BBQ!! He hasn't done this at Christmas for almost 10 years. So excited!!

So there will be ribs...

And Southern style green beans with the heck cooked out of them.

Cooked so long the beans inside fall out. And I like the pink-red of the ham and the green of the bean together. (But I might use bacon....)

Potatoes (not sure what kind yet...maybe scalloped or au gratin)

And trifle

Ours won't be quite as pretty, but just as yummy!

6. I love that my shopping is done and the wrapping is ALMOST done. (Not loving the wrapping.)

7. I love writing time...uninterrupted writing time.

Happy Christmas to you!

xoxo--

hrh

Of Budgets and Blossoms

2011-12-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

There were a lot of things I felt like blogging about today, like how insane it is that teachers in my district are teaching up through the 22nd! Of December! Yes. True. Or the fact that my muse is being quite naughty and distractable, finding things to be interested in other that the work at hand. Or the wonderful book-presents that I bought myself. Or the ridiculously ugly Christmas cards that are left in stores (sorry, had to buy more today....ewww.) Or how my husband got me an early Christmas present of a housecleaning service and somehow, during the dusting, the Lego Millennium Falcon went DOWN. (sob.) Or the easy holiday menus I am thinking up for this year since there will be only a teensy about of prep time this year (see TEACHING THROUGH 22ND!)

But I am not going to blog about any of those things today. Soon, perhaps, but not today.

Today it's time for a little story.

Once not too awfully long ago, there was a school that was able to do big things. Amazingly big things, like putting on epic performances with spectacular, sparkly costumes and huge audiences. Everyone would watch these shows and say "ooh" and "aah". The coolest of the newest technologies abounded, and everything was just so, so shiny. For though the school itself was not wealthy, it did not want for much.

Then hard times hit. Gone were the big budgets and the big shows. Gone where those things that glittered in the light and made folks say, "ooh" and "aah." Gone (or broken) were the newest of the new gadgets. They were replaced by little things. Tiny things. Things people might not even notice unless they looked very closely.

But somehow, the smallness of these new things was no less wonderful than the largeness before, as long as you knew what to look for.

Is a rosebud any less magical than the sun just because it is smaller?

..........

I guess what I am trying to say is that today I watched some kids play the most incredible game with the rattiest-looking-tennis-ball-in-the-world and their baseball caps and it was just so beautiful. They didn't have new, great stuff, but they had fun.

Today I listened to kids sing, not in fancy costumes on a big stage, but in the classroom I passed on my way to kick the temperamental copy machine, and their little, golden voices touched my heart.

I did not end up kicking said machine.

I probably don't need to harp on this, but my wish for you this holiday season is to be open to the smallness of things.

Bigger doesn't mean better. It just means bigger. That's all.

hrh

The Dangers of Being Awesome

2011-12-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

My daughter recently completed her first year of soccer. Her team was Awesome (yes, with a capital A). I mean, these girls were incredible players. Incredible. Many had been on a "competitive" team before but it was no longer "fun" so they switched to a" recreational" team. But these girls....truly I don't have the words for them. Wait, maybe I do. Velociraptor comes to mind. (Remember that scene in Jurassic Park where the raptors are using their superior psychic, mind-reading abilities to hunt like a pack? Well, that is what is was like to watch this team play.)

They were deadly to opponents. A girl would kick the ball and another girl would be there and BAM! GOAL! These girls scored off of corner kicks and headers and backward bicycle kicks. They were made of win.

The coach (who I will call St. Coach because he was the most chilled-out, gentle coach in the WORLD, would often say to the girls in hushed tones so as not to be overheard, but I have super-sonic hearing) "Ladies, don't score this half. Just play Keep Away."

They had an undefeated season.

Then they went into a post-season tournament.

They were so used to being Awesome, and so afraid NOT to be Awesome anymore, that they started playing scared.

You can't play scared if you are going to win.

They were playing it far too safe.

You can't play it safe if you are going to win.

Luckily, St. Coach said something to the girls (that even my superior hearing could not make out) and things turned around for them. Four games later, they were tournament champions, still undefeated.

But the fear of not living up to your previous success is a very real one. I think it hits writers very hard. "What if what I am writing today is not as good as what I wrote yesterday?" or "This story will never be as good as my last one."

We can't let being awesome do this to our creativity. For the power of creativity lies in the creation not the product.

Do not fear the Awesome. But don't let it mess you up, either.

hrh

Dear Carlos

2011-12-09T16:15:00.000-08:00

Dear Carlos,

I just wanted you to know how much you warmed my heart the other night. When you picked up my book and held it against your chest, your small arms barely able to encompass it, and steadfastly refused to let you parents buy you ANY other book in the store, well, I got a little teary.

You see, Carlos, above getting published and seeing your book in a store and all that, the real moment an author longs for is when a child picks up her book and won't let go. Oh, I watched you walk so proudly when you parents finally caved* and let me sign one for you, like you were a little soldier of literacy, marching off to battle.

But Carlos, I am a little worried for you. Soon, there will be fewer and fewer choices when you go to buy a book. More books stores are closing and even though you can buy a book on-line, it's not the same as walking out of a store with a brand-new book, one you picked out for yourself.

You are probably like me, Carlos. I mean, sometimes I read the blurb on-line when I go to the bookstore, I am convinced that I am going to buy a particular book...but then I get there and the book doesn't live up to what I thought it would be and meanwhile, I have fallen completely in love with another book. I am the kind of reader that has to read the first couple of pages to know if it is right for me. (I watched you do the same thing as you made your decision--thumbing through several books before choosing A Good Knight's Rest).

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I will never forget that look on your face. Ever.

Thank you, Carlos.

hrh

*Okay, so his parents weren't against the book, per se, but I think they were hoping for a cheaper option. I think. If they hadn't bought it for him, I would have done it myself! Oh, that smile!

Loose Ends and Book Signings

2011-12-05T21:52:00.000-08:00

First of all, I am a little behind with my announcement of the winner of A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST. The book goes to the lovely Lydia Kang!

Email me your address and I'll get it out to you soon, Lydia.

Next, tomorrow I am doing a performance/booksigning at the Barnes and Noble in Oceanside.

Yeah, I know. I should call it an "appearance" not a performance. But actually, with my puppets and all, it is more of a show than a "talk."

And that's fine with me. I love my little puppet friends.

But seriously, every booksigning is a bit nerve wracking. I mean, there is there fear that you will be standing there all alone, the fear that you will forget something vitally important that will ruin everything, the fear that people will heckle you. (Okay....so, I don't usually get hecklers, except for the occasional toddler...but any toddler worth his/her salt will heckle ANYONE if the situation is right and the child is cranky.)

And shhhhhh...I really shouldn't tell anyone, but I think there is a FLASH MOB happening sometime during the event.

The truth.

A flash mob!!! I am so excited. Naturally, I won't actually BE in the FM...(those little kids probably think I would ruin it with my bad dancing--and they aren't that far off the mark.) But I get to have one at my signing and that's enough for me.

(I wonder if it will be the Macarena, Kung Fu Fighting, or some other fun/wacky song for the flash mob. I am being kept in the dark. I mean, what? Do people really thinkg I would post about something as secretive as a flash mob on my BLOG??)

Er, um, .....oops. Looks like that is what I just did.

So, anyway, I had to google a lot of flash mobs, you know, just to see. I highly recommend it. I can't decide which one I like best, but the billions of elves in the Elf Yourself one is pretty awesome.

Moving right along--would love to see you tomorrow at B and N if you'd like to come. (Flash mob is at 4:15, I will read and sign at 5 and 7. Lots of other fun things as well, including some hula-ing.

hrh

Those That are Now Lost to Us

2011-12-03T06:54:00.000-08:00

We lost someone this week.

And it's not like we didn't see this coming. My friend had fought her illness bravely for six years. And yet....the shock is still immense and my heart is hurting.

The hardest part when we lose someone are those moments when all of a sudden, in the middle of the drive to soccer practice or a math lesson, it hits you all over again, as if you are realizing for the first time that your friend is truly gone.

Life, however, goes on. But Death--Death stops us and wakes us up and says, "Hey! Something happened here! Slow down and pay attention. And Remember."

Remember.

I remember her quick smile and her grace and her passion for teaching little ones. I remember how much she cared and how much she believed.

And I find myself rushing, rushing, rushing (even more so than usual) to get all of the THINGS done that must be done so I don't fall BEHIND because this is the life that I lead. The life where there is always more to do than there is time for and the life that if I sit for one minute quietly, I agonize over the THINGS I am not getting done in that moment.

Yet this particular passing, this Death, brings me to a screeching halt. It makes me understand that it is impossible to get behind in Life. Life just goes on. It.just.does. And it's okay to stop and remember. Not only is it okay. It is necessary.

They say that those who pass live on in our hearts and our minds. And I think that might be true. But I also think that it is hard to plant a seed and nourish a young seedling of memory if the ground is unstable and ever moving.

A seed needs quiet and calm.

For those of use who have suffered the loss of a dear one, I am wishing us moments of comfort, calm, and peace this December.

hrh

Holiday Contest!!

2011-11-27T18:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here's the deal.

I'd like to give the gift of reading (as in one of my books!) to a classroom. Reading aloud to children is one of the best presents a teacher can give to his/her students. And in these days of high stakes testing, sometimes the practice of sitting down and enjoying a book with children falls by the wayside.

This.Must.Not.Happen.

Please win us! We love for our story to be read by children!

So, if you'd like to win a copy of the latest Good Knight adventure, A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST, for your child's classroom, just enter below. I am planning to go to the post office by December 16th to mail packages to my family and I can easily add one more to the stack. I'll send it Priority, so hopefully the class can share the fun before the holiday break.

All you have to to do enter is to leave your email and tell me what your favorite holiday book is.

I'll start: Charles Dicken's Christmas Carol.

Speaking of caroling....are those the elves from Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer getting ready to sing??

And I think there are some Santas battling in the corner!

Contest will run until Friday, December 2. I will place all names in the Sugar Bowl of Despair and draw one lucky winner out.

hrh

In the Story Castle Today...

2011-11-21T18:21:00.000-08:00

Well, let's see.

There are lots of tired people in the Storycastle. As in very tired. I can remember being a kid and whenever my folks had "yard work day" I would fall into bed SO TIRED (but everyone around here is even TIREDER than that!) That's what a weekend of Irish Dance Championships will do to you.

And there are also Christmas boxes down from the attic.

"But StoryQueen," you say. "'Tis not even the Giving of Thanks. How can one possibly be setting up for the Season of Yule?"

It's like this. Every moment between now and December 23 is completely packed for the residents of chez Story and if I don't get it set up between now and 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night, it won't happen until the 23rd.

And that is just not acceptable.

I like a full holiday season, my friends. I think my favorite part of the whole thing is sitting by the tree in the dark of the morning before everyone gets up. Every day in December. No presents. No craziness. Just me and Tree. I could do it for weeks on end. Which is precisely why I have to set up NOW.

And I have a lot of work to do if I am going to find a way to suspend the Millennium Falcon from the ceiling so it can protect Tree.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

hrh

Something Very Cool

2011-11-15T06:23:00.000-08:00

Eric Carle had this lovely book come out this year:

This is a wonderful, inspiring book and the NEA is using it for their Blue Horse Auction, to support the arts. "Art Inspires Learning, Learning Inspires Art," is the theme.

The gist of the auction is that several artists were asked to paint some kind of horse inspired picture to be auctioned off during October and November. There are paintings by Mo Willems, Mary Grandpre, David Williams, Tomie DePaola and of course, Eric Carle, just to name a few.

Here is the link to the auction: www.bluehorseauction.com.

But wait! There's more! Look at this little beauty:

That's right! My artist, Jennifer Plecas, was asked donate a painting, and she chose to immortalize the horse from the Good Knight books! Look, he finally gets to be the star! The auction for this painting went up yesterday.

I want it. Badly.

I am just so honored and thrilled to be somehow connected to this wonderful auction. Creativity lives in each of us!

hrh

Progress

2011-11-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

Hmm..

Progress.

Not too much, really.

But I keep reminding myself that it is better than nothing--and way more than there would be if I hadn't decided to NaNoFiMo.

I am writing a book right now that I truly have NO IDEA how I am going to get it to the place I think it needs to go. Not that I really even know where it will end up. I just kind of have an idea of where it might ought to go. I feel like some inept person pointing to a map and saying, "Hey, I think I'll go to that dot there. Looks like a good dot."

But the story is interesting to me, so I will continue to follow it.

At a snail's pace.

However, I kind of want to write something Christmas-y, and I am not certain if such a scene will fit in my WIP. Some of my favorite tales are Christmas tales (A Christmas Carol, The Velveteen Rabbit, etc). I just want to write something that will get me in the spirit.

Maybe I'll just throw caution to the wind and start something new. (Not something long, just something a little newish...)

Something small.

Like a tiny, little Christmas story.

"Most stories about Christmas are big and shiny
with large presents and tall, glittering trees.

But not this story.

This is a very tiny Christmas tale..."

Hmm...wonder what I'll do with that.

hrh

The 22nd Day

2011-11-04T06:09:00.000-07:00

On the 22nd day (I had been running every day for 21 days straight. Every.Single.Day), something happened.

I know they say that you need to do something 21 times for a habit to kick in.

I've never really believed stuff like that.

But on the 22nd day, I sprinted.

My knees didn't ache, nor did my ankles. And when I got to the park near my house, I just felt like running as fast as I could, so I did.

I supposed I posted this so I could tell you how it relates to writing, but I don't think you need me to make the obvious connection for you.

The more you do something, the better you get.

In that vein, here are somethings I want to get better at, hence I should do more of :

1. Petting my dog's tummy in just the right way.

2. Sleeping and dreaming GOOD dreams.

3. Prioritizing.

4. Baking apricot pecan bread.

5. Writing beautifully crafted scenes.

6. Cracking myself up with my words.

7. Loving every moment in this life and appreciating it for the lesson it is trying to teach me.

Wishing you a weekend filled with wonderful moments.

hrh

Oh, and Sarah the Bookduck interviewed me yesterday. Here is the link. Watch out for Popeye.

Hey, Yoda! I Beg to Differ

2011-10-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I was teaching my third graders about chemistry (I know!!) and one of my students brought this in:

Could it be any cooler? No. It could not be any cooler.

Anyway, I was reading it (and cracking up!) when I discovered that on the bottom row are the elements :

Do (do) and Dn (do not) and Tr (there is no Try) and I thought, "Now wait a minute, Jedi Master."

There IS a Try.

Because sometimes we start things that we aren't even certain if we can finish them, so we challenge ourselves. Is it the not knowing that makes the challenge all the more.....um...challenging? I mean, if I knew I could do something, and then I did it, well, that would be wonderful, right? But what if I didn't know if I would be successful, but I threw myself into it anyway, wouldn't that be even more risky? And wouldn't the pay-off be (maybe) even more wonderful?

Perhaps because I lead a fairly safe life, I test myself by taking risks in my writing. I start things that I have no idea how to finish. And sometimes, I have not finished them.

But other times, that Try turns into an accomplishment.

With that in mind, I am going to Try my own twist on NaNoWriMo--NaNoFiMo. I will be attempting to finish a book. I am about halfway there.

But even if I don't make it, the cool thing is that I will be a lot closer than I was.

Take that, Yoda.

(Or "That you will take," for those who understand Yoda-speak.)

Who's with me? Who else is going to Try something this November?

hrh

Running, Writing, and the Hardest Part

2011-10-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

So, I started running.

Oh, not far. I don't run very far.

And not very fast, either.

I mean, I was just kind of bored with the rowing machine in the garage and craved fresh air as I attempted exercise, so I started running 13 days ago in the early morning darkness. And I have run every day for 13 days. It's kind of like a personal challenge, just to see how long I can mange it--running every day.

And 13 days in a row is nothing, NOTHING in the big picture of fitness. But I feel like I am doing what I can.

And that will just have to be enough.

But I was telling my husband about my pitiful distance (can't even record it here, I don't have numbers on the keypad small enough) and he said, "But you're doing it! That's the hardest part, the getting up and starting."

I thought about that as I ran. Is the hardest part really just putting your mind to it and starting?

As I rounded the first bend (and the grade increased and a Hummer pulled out of the driveway in front of me), I realized that starting is the EASY part.

Not stopping? That is the hardest part.

The will to keep going, in running and writing, is the battle I wage against myself most days.

Beginnings are lovely and beautiful and the adrenaline is pumping and Man-o-MAN is this ever going to be good! I breathe the cold air into my lungs in large drags. I write freely and wildly, because these are the first words and it doesn't matter if they are perfect or not because if I don't like them I can start again. Starting is easy.

But continuing--laying word after word on paper, foot after foot on the rough pavement--this is what makes a runner into an athlete and a writer into an author.

So...don't stop.

(As if it were that easy...)

hrh

Crud...Where Did the Week Go?

2011-10-21T18:26:00.000-07:00

Pick the best excuse for the week that just disappeared:

1. A herd of angry, runaway camels stampeded through the week, leaving only its dusty remains.

2. Someone in a time machine (perhaps HG Wells himself) time-traveled and actually stole the week and took it back to another century.

3. It's like when you lose that hour with daylight savings time, but with a week.

4. I am part bear and I hibernated a little early, then woke up when I realized it wasn't even close to winter.

5. A tiny mouse with a locket borrowed from the late Harry Houdini hypnotized me into thinking that a week had actually passed when in fact it didn't. (Which means that the week didn't really disappear, I simply perceived that it did.)

6. Stephen Hawking did it. (I am not sure what he did...but he probably did something since it involves the space-time continuum.)

7. The Force Was Not With Me.

8. I fell asleep in a meeting* and woke up centuries later, kind of like Rip Van Winkle, except that I have to re-experience everything like Bill Murray did in Groundhog Day.

9. I fell asleep in a meeting* and woke up centuries later, kind of like rip Van Winkle, except that I have to re-experience everything like Bill Murray did in Groundhog Day.

10. (did you get what I just did there^?)

Okay, seriously, I have no idea what happened. It seems like I just blinked and it's Friday. Don't get me wrong. I love Friday!! But come on! I'd like to remember the rest of the days, too!

And, before I forget, I just want to say that my third grade class is loving this book:

love, love, love, love, love

It is written by the wonderful RL LaFevers. It is just so perfect for my third graders. They love the interesting vocabulary and everyone just adores Greasle.

Teachers, this is an awesome read-aloud.

Okay...back to find what is left of the week.

Oh, I did get to hear Elana Johnson, Kirsten Hubbard, Jessi Kirby and John Corey Whaley talk about their books on Thursday night. I really wished I could have hung out with such coool authors for a while, but alas, the mommy chauffeur service was in high demand.

hrh

*this part may or may not have actually happened.

Making a Difference

2011-10-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, this appeared in my inbox. It is an article that tells about young people planting trees and making a difference in the world.

And they did this, too:

The students took turns reading passages from “Somewhere Today: A book of peace” by Shelley Moore Thomas before helping pat dirt around the new tree, which will soon boast a plaque commemorating Peace Week.

I could not be more touched.

When the youth of today take action in their world, it inspires others to do the same. That was the whole point of the book. And I cannot tell you how much it means to me that, 13 years later, the message from my little book is still out there, getting read to new ears and new trees and hopefully influencing new people to make decisions that change our world for the better.

Still in print.

Thank you, students from Santa Maria, Orcutt, and Guadalupe for letting me be a part of your amazing Peace Week. (About 450 of the 700 people that participated were students! Go awesome young people!!)

I challenge all of you reading this to do one thing this week that helps the world--big or small--it doesn't matter. What matters is that you put thoughts and words into action.

hrh

When Hungry Gargoyles Come Calling

2011-10-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Over the summer, my daughter, Noel, went to Paris. (I know! Lucky!) Anyway, she asked me what I wanted her to bring back for me. At first, I didn't want her to have to lug anything back. I just wanted her to study for her classes in France and to come back safely. (And I didn't want her spending her hard-earned money on me. The exchange rate was horrible in July.)

But then I thought of something I really wanted:

Notre Dame. Could it be any lovelier?

I wanted her to take a picture of a gargoyle at Notre Dame Cathedral (in black and white, for I like black and white photography best) so I could put it above my desk.

Yes, believe it or not, in addition to Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, apparently I've got a thing for gargoyles.

Noel accomplished her task well. However, I had completely forgotten about printing the picture and getting it framed until the other day when I saw gargoyles at Target. (I love their Halloween gargoyles! Might have to add a new one to the collection.) So I rushed home and opened up the file in my computer.

The problem?

I can't decide which gargoyle!

This is the fierce, eagle gargoyle! Listen, you can almost hear him shrieking.

The dog-gargoyle twins. I have named them Fred and George. Notice the mis-shapen ear?

This little beauty is ready to pounce!

This guy is totally trying to eat that tree, poor little hungry thing.

So, which gargoyle will get to live in the antique retro-looking (or perhaps shockingly modern) frame above my desk, frightening off all distractions?

Help me decide.

hrh

Things I Might Have Done This Week

2011-10-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

1. I might have ordered an In-N-Out burger without the spread. And I just might have liked it.

2. I might have finished all of the edits I needed to for a while, which means I might get to work on my WIP.

3. I might be totally afraid to open the document. (Of course this means I haven't opened it...what if it is lame???)

4. I might have encouraged my students to make origami hats out of a math page that made no sense. (Not sayin' I did, just sayin' I might have. Besides, there are better ways to assess mathematical knowledge than worksheets. Everyone knows that.)

5. I might have forgotten to do laundry. (Okay, I did. I'll just admit it.)

6. I might have sorted my class into Hogwarts' Houses (then switched the houses to Star Wars ships, just to change things up a bit.)

7. I might have gotten to see a draft of my cover for The Seven Tales of Trinket. It might be totally awesome. (Actually, it IS totally awesome.)

hrh

The End is Near

2011-10-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

Well, the end of the copy-edits are near, I think. (A copy-editor would probably say "is near" in that last sentence.)

Doing the edits hasn't been that bad, just finding the chunks of time in which to do them has been hard! (And getting over the embarrassment of some of the silly mistakes I make...like the occasional forgetting of a WORD! An essential word! A word needed for sentence sense!!! So, um, yeah, glad I don't have to look the copy-editors in the eye right now.)

But I am struggling with a capitalization issue. It deals with the Gaelic spelling of a creature in Celtic folklore. I seem to be capitalizing this word all of the time...and according to my copy-editors, I don't really need to. So I started thinking, "Well, self, why are you inflicting capitalization where none is needed?"

No easy answers, of course.

But I thought, maybe, just maybe, I was subconsciously copying an old folkloric style. Perhaps, long ago, such words were always in caps and I was inadvertently doing the same. So I pulled out a bunch of old Celtic folklore books (got Celtic folklore questions? I'm your go-to-gal.) to have myself a look-see.

But I got distracted from my search when I found this poem by Irish poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy (who supposedly wrote poetry while working for the British Museum.) This is part of a larger poem called "Ode", this part is an ode to writers:

We are the music-makers,

And we are the dreamers of dreams,

Wandering by lone sea-breakers,

And sitting by desolate streams.

World-losers and world-forsakers,

On whom the pale moon gleams:

Yet we are the movers and shakers

Of the world forever, it seems.

And after than, I really have no other words.

hrh

P.S. I love when I am searching for one thing but find something even better! (I guess I did have a few other words.)

Why My Kids Rule!

2011-09-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

My birthday was over the weekend and this is what I got:

Yes.

Seriously.

Is my family awesome or what? I mean, I cannot believe that I now actually own the Falcon!! (Shh...the best part is that I didn't have to build it! They built it for me. It's not that I stink at Lego building or anything, so don't think that. AT ALL. Because I bet I could build an awesome Millennium Falcon...once I undid the mistakes and tried again for like the third or fourth time.)

And it came with these:

I KNOW!!

A tiny little Han Solo! He can play with my other Lego guys! I bet he will be besties with:

Uh-oh. Wait a minute. Han Solo and Indiana Jones are both alter-egos of my inner editor--Harrison Ford.

Crud.

Because what I am supposed to be doing right now is focusing copy edits, not playing with my new little Lego guys and searching for internet pictures of them

I hear them from the other room. They are probably talking about me.

Indy-So....

Han-Yeah....

Indy- (cough) this is awkward.....

Han-Where is the cheese?

Or not.

Off to edit more, before the boys come and get me.

Hrh.

p.s. What was your favorite birthday gift ever?

Small Things That Make the World Better

2011-09-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Twitter is an interesting world. Just last week, a professor/friend and I reconnected and he had linked to a fascinating article about some mysterious book/art/gifts that were turning up around Edinburgh, Scotland. Here is an example:

I love this little guy!

You can read the whole story if you click here.

I mean, how cool is that? Awesome book sculptures mysteriously left at places that value literacy. (Okay, so I have a tiny problem with the books being cut up--but it is a tiny problem. The art that springs from the pages and the message from the artist is...well....I don't quite have the words, actually.)

What I do know is that when I see things like this, when I see someone doing something completely unexpected and beautiful, perhaps even anonymously, I am filled with hope for our world.

I know we all have our own ways of touching the lives of others. Some (like the dragon maker) create art, some write poetry, some help children, some wipe tears away, some heal wounds, some make chocolate cupcakes. some plant trees and flowers...I could go on and on.

The important thing is that all of these little things make the world a better place. Imagine if every person did one awesome, unexpectedly beautiful thing tomorrow...the world would be billions of times better in just one day! (yeah, I know, my math is off, but you get the idea.)

hrh

The Things You Find on the Internet...

2011-09-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

So I was taking a quick break from revising (only 15 more pages to go...considered cutting them, but then the story just doesn't really end, and as much as I want to finish, I can't just whack off the culminating moment, now can I?) and so I was playing playing with google and look what I stumbled upon.

Yes. Some completely humiliating photos taken whilst I was in Chicago this summer. These are from my visit to Plainfield Public Library. I found them on the flicker feed from plainfieldpubliclibrarydistrict.

Me and Oreo. I kind of look more like a monkey than he does.

Look! I am even putting myself to sleep! What is up with that?

Forgot to feed the crown that morning so it ate my head.

Elvis the Alien and I look strangely like twins. Ugh.

And what is the lesson, boys and girls?

I will tell you: When you are supposed to be revising, do not surf the internet as a way to procrastinate or you, too, might stumble upon embarrassing photos.

(Actually, as goofy as I look, I am grateful to Plainfield for recording the event. When I am presenting to kids, I can't take pictures, and usually I am so focused on getting ready for the show that I forget to hand my camera to someone else. Thank you, Plainfield!)

And now my crown is hungry again. Must go feed it before it eats my head.

Oh..um...yeah...there's that revising thing I still have to finish.

hrh

My Muse

2011-09-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

This is my current muse--a Glen of Imaal terrier. I have named this one ^ Mungo. (Although I don't know what its real name is...but I have never seen a dog look so much like a Mungo in all my life.)

One part adorable + one part gruff + one part strong + one part stout = Mungo.

You know, sometimes at night before I go to sleep, I kind of wish I could live in my stories for a while. Maybe I am just hopeful that the dream faerie will allow me to visit my story-land for a bit. Usually by morning, theses fanciful thought have disappeared, gone with the last star.

However, I find myself wishing these days for a little terrier named Mungo....(and also wishing that if I did have one, he could also happen to shape-shift into an otter!)

What is your current muse?

hrh

Why Everyone Needs a Head Lamp

2011-09-09T19:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday all of the power went out. I mean, really went out. No street lights, no nothing.

It was supposed to be Back-to-School Night at my school, but of course it had to be postponed. So, when I finally got home (horrible traffic) I was trying to figure out what to do.

DO NOT OPEN THE REFRIGERATOR was the command from my husband. ONCE YOU LET THE COLD OUT, EVERYTHING WILL SPOIL.

Not knowing how long the blackout might last, we ate pretzels from the pantry for dinner. (Luckily the neighbors came through with campfires and smores and hotdogs for the kids.)

But I have this miserable cold and just didn't feel like socializing. So my husband gave me his headlamp (for, of course, he is prepared for stuff like this. Me? I've got a plate of five tea light candles I'm carrying through the house.) And I got to sit and READ.

There were no revisions to work on. No email to answer. No paperwork on the computer to do because we were totally cut off!

It was a little bit lovely.

hrh

P.S. This has nothing to do with anything, but I noticed this recently when I was reading TAKE CARE, GOOD KNIGHT to some kids. Look...right THERE:

LOOK! I am selling icecream to the Good Knight!!! There I am! Right in the middle of my own book!
(I bet Paul didn't even know he put me there!)

So, How Many Times Do You Revise a Book?

2011-09-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

I am talking about chapterbooks/novels right now, for picture books are a different kettle of revision fish for me. Anyway, this is kind of how my process goes:

Step 1: Write a first draft. (Not the easiest step, but my favorite. Usually, there is no time limit or deadline unless it is self-imposed. It can take a while to finish. For example, The Seven Tales of Trinket took 5-6 months to write--even though I started to try and write it in 2003 but the computer crashed and I figured the story must be cursed* so I did not attempt it again for several years)

Step 2: Revise for clarity of story. (This is my first revision and it is just for me. This is when I try to decide if the story even makes sense, and if it doesn't, I've got my work cut out for me. I usually try to finish a revision like this in a few weeks. It is far more intense than a first draft, but easier in some ways, since the ground work is laid.)

Step 3: Revise for Chapter Breaks. (I usually write the book as one giant lump, except in cases where there are natural breaks, as in Trinket where there were 7 tales which were already broken up. This is the revisions where I am deciding where to break the chapters and how to frame them, and if framing the chapters is even necessary.)

Step 4: Revise based on Agent's Feedback. (This might happen three times. My agent, Jo, first works on the Big Ideas of the plot with me. Then she might do a round of line edits or two, depending on how much sense I make as I revise. For Trinket, we did three rounds. None of the rounds were incredibly difficult, but each time we went a bit deeper until the story held together the way we envisioned it. I am on my second revision for Jo for my book, Keelie of the Lake.)

Step 5: Revise based on Editor's Feedback. (This also might happen several times. My editor, Beth, approaches revision in a similar manner to Jo, wherein they both look at Big Ideas of the plot first, then work they way down to sentence fluency/story consistency and the picky word choice edit is saved for last. For Trinket, we did about 3 rounds. The book is in copyediting right now, so I suppose when I get it back that will be the 4th round.)

If you count all of those up-- 2 for me, 3 for Jo, 4 for Beth, that gives us 9 revisions. Sheesh! That seems like a lot of versions of the same story. The funny thing is, it doesn't really FEEL like a lot of revision.

It feels like getting closer and closer to the way the story is supposed to be.

How many revisions do you do?

hrh

*Truly, it was a good thing that those 80 pages were lost. I can still see a few of them in my mind. I was not a patient enough person to write the story back then and I think I would have botched it. I know I did not have the strength of heart to revise 9 times back then, I can tell you that much!

Well Hello, September

2011-08-31T22:00:00.000-07:00

I guess you kind of snuck up on me, September. I mean, I knew you were coming, but I did not expect you quite so soon.

To me, September is the official beginning of Autumn. Oh, I know the equinox (great word, equinox) isn't until September twenty-something, but ever since I worked as a young college student at Goldwater's department store and Sept.1 was the mandatory switch-over-to-Fall-wardrobe-deadline-or-get-written-up-we-don't-care-how-hot-it-is, the first day of September has always signaled Fall. (Yes, there were many days were were sweating up a storm in our preppy flannels, sweaters and woolen skirts as the New Mexico Summer hadn't finished with us until well into October...But Goldwater's was unsympathetic to the plight of the sales associates. Can't sell the Fall line unless the sales clerks wear the clothes!)

Anyway, here's a few things I look forward to most as Fall approaches:

Cooler weather! (Until the Santa Ana winds come. Boo!)
Colorful and crunchy leaves. (So stereotypical, I know, but I love them.)
Friday nights with homemade soup and apple crisp for dessert
Children (my own) who are excited by homework and not bored by it yet
The smell of fireplaces burning in the chill of the evening
Saturday soccer games

*sigh of contentment*

Welcome, Fall!

hrh

Here are a few of the recipes I am most looking forward to making:

enchiladas

green chile stew

Greek lemon chicken soup

bacon waffles

So hungry!

Random Things: The Weekend Before School Starts Edition

2011-08-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

1. Since I will have my own classroom again, I am seriously considering not giving any homework except for reading. (As in read some books, for goodness sake!!)

2. Trying to figure out a way to wear an Indiana Jones outfit to school on the first day without looking like I am trying too hard.

3. Had some mangoes at a teacher meeting yesterday. Usually I don't like mango, but it was so yummy!

4. Ate at Benihana last night--wouldn't it be cool if dinner every night was performance art? (Probably wouldn't be as exciting with a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese...)

5. Written very few words this week. Not happy about that. At all.

6. Fresh baguette=awesome. Old baguette=yuck. (No, it's okay, I didn't need that tooth anyway.)

7. Bought some frames yesterday to put some of my bookcovers in...yes, I am three books behind. But the frames are bought. Hopefully I'll get it done before 2012.

8. I am afraid to make a list of everything I need to do this weekend. It is not good to live in fear, but there you have it.

So, what's the randomness that's clogging your brain these days?

hrh

In Which I Judge Books by Their Covers

2011-08-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

I mean, we all do it, don't we?

And I can't really explain why I am drawn to certain book covers over others. Much of it is just personal preference. Some people like Swiss cheese, some like Monterey Jack. Some don't like cheese at all (but I really can't conceive of this situation myself) but you get the idea.

That being said, here are I few books that are soon to release (or have just released in the last few months) that draw me to their covers.

First up is Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver. I love this cover so much! I love how it's like I am looking through a magical peep-hole--and oh, what a peep-hole! Love the carvings. (I am guessing that they are supporting characters to the story) Again, I know very little about this book ,but I am guessing that the friendship of the girl in the picture (probably Liesl) and the little furry thing beside her is a very important part of the story. Oh, I can't wait. Releases in Sept.

Next, we have Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes by Jonathan Auxier. It's no secret that I love a cover with a silhouette on the front. And, oooohhh, look at the sneakiness of the boy! I bought this the other day based on the description ( the greatest thief, who is really a boy with no eyes who has three sets of FANTASTIC eyes), but I picked it off of the shelf in the first place due to the cover. Love. Looking forward to digging into this one. Released in Aug.

When I look at the cover of With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo, it tells me that this book is going to be full of heart. I am kind of expecting to cry a little when I read this, but I love a good middle-grade book that makes me tear up. I love how the pieces of paper floating by seem a little mysterious. Disclosure: I have read Tess's blog for a couple of years, but she is in no way forcing me to love her cover. I simply do. Releases in Sept.

Kat Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis. Nothing says fun like a floating teapot! Seriously folks, this cover simply oozes fun (or pours fun, I should say. Difficult for tea to ooze. At least I wouldn't drink it if it did ooze.) I love the old-fashionedness of the setting, yet look at our girl's hair. Ha! She is going to do things her way, I can just tell. Love, love, love a strong middle-grade heroine. Released in April.

Finally, we have Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Okay, is this the creepiest cover you have ever seen or what?? And I don't like scary things. I really don't. And yet, I am drawn to this cover, for it seems ghosty-scary, but there is also something that is so compelling about it. I cannot stop thinking about what secrets must lurk between the pages. And the curiosity is getting the better of me! Released in June.

So there you have it. Books judged by their covers. By me.

Isn't book art wonderful?

hrh

Feel free to share your cover love, recent or far in the past. Your choice.

Getting Books in the Hands of Children

2011-08-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

That's what it's all about, right? Getting books into the hands (and hearts!) of readers. In my case, the readers are children.

So, I was so happy to see what Penguin (my publisher for the Good Knight Series) had cooked up for a couple of my books. They are re-releasing GOOD NIGHT, GOOD KNIGHT and GET WELL, GOOD KNIGHT as part of their Penguin Young Reader Program. I am thrilled, because that means more books in the hands of young readers!!

And look, they even did a little redesign on the covers:

This one releases in September.

This one comes out in January

And I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Imagination Library, but it is a program (started by Dolly Parton) that puts books into the hands of children FOR FREE. I have been honored by the fact that they have been giving away TAKE CARE, GOOD KNIGHT in their program:

Here is a nice article about how some really great people who have made such a difference in the lives of preschool children in their community by seeing that books get into the hands of kids. I mean, 10,000 books! (That's a lot of books!)

Of course, my favorite part of the article was this quote:

Sometime this summer, the 10,000th free book was delivered to a child’s mail box. It may have been Julie Chaffee’s. Chaffee, 5, loves receiving the books in the mail. Her favorite is “Take Care, Good Knight” by Shelley Moore Thomas. “I like it because I get to read it to my dolly that I got at the garage sale,” she said.

Yes, I melted a little. And there could have been a tear. Because that's what it's all about when you write for children, getting the book into the tiny little hands and having them read it (or having someone read it to them).

It's why we do what we do.

And Kudos to both Penguin and Dolly Parton for doing their part in helping our children become literate. Knowledge is Power, and the better you can read, the more knowledge is available to you and the more control you will eventually have in determining your own destiny.

(Sorry to go all Jedi on you, but this is important, folks. Kids need reading. They need books!)

hrh

You Don't Want to Miss This!

2011-08-15T22:28:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard about this....WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??
This free, online conference will be going on August 16, 17 and 18. If you didn't get to go to SCBWI (or even if you did) this is a chance for you to attend workshops and interact with industry professionals right in the comfort of your very own home...in your very own pajamas if you like.

I am honored to be a small part of such an amazing event. If you haven't clicked over to see the full faculty and the schedule of event, do it now. I'll wait. You can click here.

I know, right?

Anyway, I made a vlog in which I am visited by some very famous, virtual guests...kind of. My blog airs at 10:30 a.m. (eastern time), on Tuesday, August 16. I hope you get a chance to participate in the coolest thing on the internet since Marcel the Shell with his Shoes On. (google it if you don't know what it is...adorable!)

See you in the WOC forums!

hrh

Progress

2011-08-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

August is the time of year when I kind of look back and evaluate my yearly progress in preparation for the new year (of school, naturally.) I joked back in January that this would be the year of revision for me.

Well, it was. It still is. But let's take a look-see, shall we?

1. SEVEN TALES OF TRINKET-This was revised a couple of times and is now in copy-editing. (I kept thinking each round would get easier, but in truth, each round held its own hidden gargoyle of despair that I had to defeat in order to move on. But move on I did!)

2. KEELIE OF THE LAKE-Revised this once for myself and once for my agent (who has it now). I will probably do another round based on her feedback.

3. Various Picture Book Titles-Er, um...yeah. I played with a few ideas, but I haven't really written one in the past few months that I LOVE. And that is what it takes when it comes to a picture book manuscript. (Well, any ms, actually). You must LOVE it and you must be able to visualize it in the hands of children. It must work on every level you need it to work on.

I am a bit bummed that I haven't come through with something like this in 2011 yet. But I am not giving up. I have two ideas (pitifully low number) that I THINK can go the distance, if only I can conjure the perfect words. (Because with picture book writing, it's conjuring as much as anything that gets the book written:)

4. New Book (mg novel): Yay! Something new in the year of revision. It's tentative title is: Feathers, Songs, and Curses. I am about 1/3 of the way done.

Goals? Well, before the end of the year, I'd like to get Keelie all shaped up and purty, and finish the draft of FS and C. I'd also like to have TWO picture book mss that I LOVE and BELIEVE in with all of my heart and soul.

How are your writing goals for the year coming along?

hrh

P.S. Chapterbook? (yes, please.)

So...I Have Map

2011-08-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

Yes!

My children's novel is going to have a map.

Not that I am new to the whole map thing. I mean, Jennifer Plecas (my illustrator for A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST) put a map in that book:

Could it be more adorable? I mean, just look at it! And, there's the added bonus that a map makes it easier (and more fun)
for a child to retell a story. Look! You can follow the exact path the dragons took!

Hmm...that mountain is almost as cool as this mountain:

Behold the amazingness! (I took this in Yosemite on Saturday.) Theodore Roosevelt is now my favorite president for creating the National Parks Act (or whatever it was called.)

Anyway, my new book, THE SEVEN TALES OF TRINKET is going to have a map!! They even had me sketch a lame version, but an actual artist is going to do the one for the book. Thank Heavens, or you would be looking at something with scribbles and stick trees. I am so excited to have a map. I mean, it probably won't be as intricate as this map:

(I really wish I could take my Lego people and play with them on this map!! My micro Indiana Jones, Obi-wan, and Harry Potter could wage some epic battles--What? You don't play with your kids' toys? Sure you don't.)

But a map! A map! Yay!

I would squee, but I am a queen, and hence far too dignified for squeeage. But you can imagine that I am sitting in my throne clapping, if you like. I clap like Dumbledore, with only two fingers on each hand. It's a very classy way to clap.

Try it sometime.

I guess I am so excited about getting a map because I was the kind of kid who loved drawing maps, who loved watching pirate movies (just because they were likely to have a map!), who loved imagining imaginary places....

And now I get one!

hrh

Are there any books with maps you love?

Changes: National Parks, Jobs, Hair, and Twits

2011-08-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

Oh, hi.

So, this has been a summer of changes for me.

1. In which I changed my mind....

See, I was really, REEAALLY going to go to the SCBWI conference in LA this year. Really. I mean, all year long I thought, this is my year, baby. I even socked money away so I wouldn't feel guilty about the big ding on the old credit card when I hit the pay button. And then I looked at my calendar and realized that the ONLY weekend the ENTIRE summer that my little family could get away and do something was the very SAME weekend. I was torn.

But folks, these people I live with have been so awesome to me this past year. They have given up a lot of mom/wife time so I could write/revise/edit/tour and, well, I realized how much I miss them--how much I miss just hanging out with them. Sooooo, we are crazily going to hop in the car and go to Yosemite tomorrow. Do we know where we are staying? No! Are we bringing appropriate footwear for hiking? No! Do we have any idea what we are doing? No! (Watch for our upcoming special on the Animal Planet Show: I Shouldn't Be Alive.)

2. In which my job changed:

Um...yeah.

So, there are these things called budget cuts. Perhaps you've heard of them. And though I've tried hard to fly under the radar, it is hard to stay undetected when you are selected as Teacher of the Year. But times are tough. Thus, my job will look a little different this year and it appears I will have my own class again as part of it. I am excited, but a tad saddened. Here I am holding one of the many notes from kids at my school, letting me know how much they will miss having me come to their classes each week to tell stories and teach about writing.

But don't get me wrong. I am thrilled to still be employed. Many great teachers are not so fortunate.

3. In which I wonder what is happening with my hair:

For a while, my hair might have looked like Xeno's.

Then it grew even longer, more like Lucius'.

This is me this morning in a still shot from a vlog.

I mean...wha?? Are we like triplets separated at birth?? #needhaircutandormajorconditioningnow.

4. In which I have a change of policy:

I have always said I wouldn't join twitter because I feared the sucking away of precious time. And I still fear it. Listen...slurp...slurp...that is the sound of time being sucked away. But I caved. The reason? Well, I discovered a way that twitter could actually SAVE me time. You see, there are lots of people I would like to say something to, or books that I would love to recommend to kids/parents/teachers/whatever, but when I write a blog, I tend to ramble a bit. (What? Like you haven't noticed?) And thus, it takes me a long time to write a post, and my best intentions go by the wayside. However, twitter forces you to be short and sweet. I can tweet (still feel funny saying that word) about #bookseverykidshouldread and I am done in like a minute! And I don't feel the addictive tug of it that I was afraid of. So, yes. I have become a twit. @story_queen, if you are at all interested.

Whew! Off to pack mosquito repellent. If you are going to SCBWI, have a blast. If you are with your family having fun, enjoy!

hrh

The LIKE Button

2011-07-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, I 'll just say it.

The LIKE button drives me crazy.

It reminds me of back long ago when I was in junior high and one of my friends passed a note to a boy that I liked asking him if he liked me and there were boxes he could check. I NEVER would have been so bold as to write such a note. But my friend did.

The boy checked "no."

Well, of course I got over it. Eventually.

But guys, (and I am speaking mostly to you, former students of mine who read this, but maybe I am speaking to me and other writers as well), do we really need that button on EVERYTHING?

I am going to be bold now and say no. We don't need it. You don't need it.

You don't need anyone to tell you that what you are doing is likable all the time. You don't need someone else to approve your dreams. You don't need the constant approval from others as long as you approve of yourself.

That's right.

You have to like yourself. You have to believe in you and what you want to accomplish. What you CAN accomplish.

I know many of you are dipping your toes into the social networking world...be careful. An artist takes inspiration wherever he/she finds it, but don't become too needy for the approval of others. I cannot imagine an email from Vincent Van Gogh popping up in my inbox. "Just posted new painting! Click over and LIKE Starry Night!"

I dunno. I mean, Vincent sold only one painting in his lifetime. If he cared too much about pleasing everyone, sure, he could have painted differently and sold more.

And the world would be without some of its most incredible works of art.

Trust yourself.

Trust the artist/writer/singer/whatever that lives inside of you.

Develop a group of friends/family/professionals that will nourish your soul and your art.

As for the masses with their fingers poised over their LIKE buttons, don't worry so much about them.

Maybe to create we need to go to that place that we can only get to when we journey alone, armed with just our courage and our dreams. The LIKES can't go with you. And the LIKES couldn't help you when you get there anyway. You have to be brave to face your own creativity, to pull from it the bits and pieces of wonder, to hack away at the overgrown vines of what-everyone-else-does-or-thinks, to weave, coil, wrestle, wrangle, those pieces into something the world has never seen before.

Good luck, my friends. Adventure awaits.

See? This is too much awesome for a LIKE button! Now, if they had a LOVE button......

hrh

Speaking to Crows in Pig-Latin

2011-07-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

You know you've been revising too long when you have this conversation with someone:

Sean-- What did you just say?

Me-- I said, "Ut-shay up-yay upid-stay irds-bay."

Sean-- Huh?

Me--I told the crows to shut-up in Pig Latin. They are being far too noisy outside. I am trying to concentrate.

Sean--Why Pig-Latin?

Me--Why not? (mumbles to self as I open the fridge to find the remnants of over cooked* roast beef from last night. Why not Pig-Latin? It's not like they were going to understand anyway. Sheesh.)

So, yeah.

I've been talking to crows and revising.

This is what revising looks like:

Notes to self on pages that aren't working right...lots of arrows and such. Makes me feel like I'm doing something when I make an arrow.

The dreaded yellow legal pad. This is where I write down a brief note about what happens in each chapter. (Shh..I write the whole story as one giant story pretty much and divided it into chapters later. So I really have no recollection of WHEN something happens to a character (as in WHAT CHAPTER) until I make a little cheat sheet for myself.) Cheat sheet is four pages long. (55 chapters. Don't worry. They are short.)

So, you can see why my poor brain is a jumble and I find myself talking to birds, can't you? (And crows, if you are reading this, you could help the whole situation by being a little quieter. Just sayin')

I will be done with this round** before I sleep tonight. That is a promise.

And then I will look like this:

Art by Jennifer Plecas...totally captures my future mood!

hrh

*over cooked the meat because I wasn't paying attention....revision and all that.

**These revisions are not for The Seven Tales of Trinket. That is off to copy editing! Yay. These revisions are for something new.

Ode to Middle Grade Writers...With Links!

2011-07-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm not really writing an ode today. Oh, I could. But I don't think you really want me to do that.

What happened is that my handwriting on the legal pad near my computer is so illegible that I thought Link to Middle Grade Writers said Ode to Middle Grade Writers. It took me five minutes to figure it out. Oh, I know what you are thinking. Nobody's handwriting is that bad.

Yes. Mine is. You would not believe how many teachers in high school were thrilled when I learned how to type.

And it's hard when you have messy handwriting. People (especially teachers) judge you by the messiness of it and, well, they tend to think you are not as smart as you might be. On the upside, teachers were often surprised that beneath the sloppy Bs and the what was going on here Ws, there was a kid with a bit of a brain and a large amount of creativity.

I liked to think that I wasn't lazy. I liked to think that Mrs. Sanders, my fifth grade teacher, was right and that my brain just moved too fast and my hand couldn't keep up with it. (Thank you, Mrs. Sanders!)

Oh, how I longed for lovely handwriting...it was not that I didn't practice. It was not that my fine motor skills completely stank (or is it stunk? sorry.) It was just something that was beyond me.

But just because the handwriting was awful did not mean I couldn't grow up to be a writer. And any of you kids reading this who have handwriting like mine (you know who you are), fear not. If you are a writer in your heart, then your hand will eventually follow. (And that's why they have keyboards:)

But this was supposed to be about links!

Some middle grade authors have gotten together and created some group blogs. I love to read group blogs because you get a taste of several different writers at one place. One stop shopping! (Click on the words, not the pictures for the links!)

Project Middle Grade Mayhem Blog

Lots of new middle-grade authors and writers post here. Don't you love the soap? You'll find out about lots of new books here.

The Enchanted Inkpot

Okay, this one is not strictly middle-grade. It's emphasis is fantasy, so they welcome all children's fantasy writers, picture book to young adult. Some really fascinating posts here.

Smack-Dab-In-The Middle

Okay, so I was a little naughty on this one...I directed you to a page where there is an interview with my editor, Beth Potter (no relation to Harry, she assures me...but I think she has at least a little bit of magic!) And she mentions my book!!! (There...at the end!) I would squee, but it is early and I don't want to wake the sleepy heads, so I'll just do a happy dance. There. Be glad you didn't have to see it.)

So, enjoy your foray into middle grade blog land.

And, since I am linking stuff, I really liked this post by Jane Yolen about her on-line journal and why it is a journal and not really a blog. Good stuff. As for me, my blog is a journal/blog, I suppose. I write in order to think and process...but I write to communicate with you as well.

Jane Yolen. I just love how honest her posts are about the writing life. Just love.

hrh

Potter Envy and Night of the Giving Dead

2011-07-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

I miss Harry.

And I am envious of JK Rowling. Oh, I don't envy her cash (richer than the queen..richer than this queen for sure!) or her fabulous life-style or her fame or really anything except this one thing. This one Special Thing.

You see, Jo connected with readers (middle grade and up) in a way that no one else had before...or likely will again for a long time. She resonated with the hearts and minds of her readers in such a close, close way.

Harry, Ron and Hermoine....they are like family.

What a gift to be able to touch so, so many readers and make them wish for an owl, clutching an acceptance to Hogwarts, flying down the chimney flue and into their lives.

My kids grew up with Harry. And in a way, I did, too. Reading Harry's story made me admit to myself that someday I wanted to write more than just picture books. JK Rowling made me feel like such a dream was worth pursuing.

So, Harry and Jo, thanks. From the bottom of my heart.

And yes, I went to a midnight showing. It.Was.Awesome.

Speaking of AWESOME, hilarious author Carrie Harris is doing something really cool. Yes, this is even cooler than her year of Give Backery. This time, she has organized an auction called Night of the Giving Dead. The auction will benefit the children of CS Mott Children's Hospital. This event is very close to Carrie's heart and WOW, she certainly has a lot of support from the writing community! She got donations from MANY great authors including some NYT Bestselling folks (I am not going to tell you who they are...just look at the list, my friends. Look now.)

Again. WOW.

And, somewhere in there is little ol' me. (Okay, stop twisting my arm...I'll give you the link!) Here it is.

So, help Carrie help some kids who are dealing with stuff we all hope we never have to deal with. (And you don't have to bid on my books...bid on something...ANYTHING!) Er...um...but don't bid against me on anything.

hrh

Thwack....Thwack...

2011-07-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

What are you doing?

Throwing pennies from the top of the stairs on to the map of the United States at the bottom. Duh. What does it look like?

(Thwack.....thwack)

Why?

Well, they keep bouncing off. I am hoping one of them will stay on.

Do you know what time it is?

Six...maybe six thirty.

(Thwack....thwack...)

That's a very annoying sound.

Yay!! Finally!

That would be Colorado, my friends!

And that makes our winner Jess! email me at storyqueen@gmail.com and I will send you the perfect road-trip book...A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST. You'll have to let me know what you think of it!

And on to other things....

Remember my list of books I wanted to read this summer? Well, I still cannot find it. However, I remember a few of them! (The reason that I remember them is that they are written by bloggers of wonderful blogs that I visit often. Naturally, that makes me curious about their books. I mean, you get a taste of their writing personality on their blog, but a whole book! Now that is very exciting!)

Now, this is not my whole list. Just a few titles. These also happen to be YA. It helps me sometimes when I am DEEP into a first draft or a very complicated revision NOT to read in my genre. I don't want to inadvertently pick up the wrong voice. My brain just shifts into a different gear when I am reading out of genre and that seems to work for me (and not effect my own writing too much.)

Summer 2011 Want to Read List 1A: (If you click on the covers, it will take you to the author blogs.

Why do I want to read this? Because Carrie is warped and funny and I could really use a little bit of warped and funny these days.

Why do I want to read this? This one is probably a wish fulfillment kind of book. Who wouldn't want to go off to some fancy schmancy dance world and be the muse of an enigmatic choreographer? Plus, Stasia herself has lots of experience in the dance world. She is choreographing the dance for her own trailer.

Why do I want to read this? Well,this seems to be the buzz book of the summer and usually I am so out of the loop on these kinds of things, but I got to read an excerpt online (which is an evil but brilliant way to get you hooked on a book) and I am excited to read more. Plus, Veronica is one of the most honest bloggers out there. I love the simple truths she often blogs about.

Why do I want to read this? It's an e-book and I want to give it a try! I mean, why not, right? Plus, PJ dressed up as a goddess at a book event and, well....I mean....I wear a crown and stuff. Gotta stick together.

Why do I want to read this book? Well, Elana just goes for it on her blog. That's the kind of person she is. So I am expecting that she will just go for it in her book.

So, that is the beginning of the list. All books freshly out (as in within the last few months.)

However, today I will not be reading. I am off to Yellow Book Road to be part of their Summer Literacy Camp! And tomorrow I am off the the libraries of Camp Pendleton for the day.

But the next day. I.Am.Reading. (When I am not revising, that is.)

hrh

Road Trip Give Away!!!

2011-07-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

No, I am not giving away a road trip.

However, to celebrate the fact that my new book baby has been in the world for a month, and also to acknowledge that it is the ultimate going-on-a-trip-in-a-confined-space-with-kids book, I am going to give away a copy of A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST.

Here's all you have to do to win:

1. Leave a comment telling me where you are road-tripping to this summer by July 11.
2. When I have all the entries, I will take a map of the US and I will throw something at it (like a dart if it is hanging up, or a penny if it is on the floor--I don't quite have the logistics figured out yet). Wherever my flung-object lands will determine the winner of the book! (So your road-trip must be somewhere findable on a US map.)
3. And if you want to tell me about your favorite road trip ever and it makes me laugh, cry or sigh wistfully, I just might be giving away a another surprise something as well.

And I don't want to brag or anything...but Jennifer did an AMAZING job with the illustrations. Every time I read the book to kids, I notice a little something different she put into the pictures. I am so lucky to have such a talented artist bringing the little dragons and their every faithful knight to life.

Aren't they cute? They would just love to travel to your house..as long as you have potato chips...and bushes.

hrh

The Mystery of the Missing List and the Too Quiet House

2011-07-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

So lame.

I had a post prepared (kind of...well, actually I had a list made) of something really cool I wanted to share with you. And actually, share with myself as well. See, I use this blog not only to talk a bit with whoever is out there from time to time, but also as a way to talk to myself--to remind myself of stuff I need to remember, or to mull over how I am feeling about my writing, or to maintain a record of my progress on certain WIPs. Whatever.

But I have been thinking I ought to post about the books I REALLY want to read this summer. The books I have been making a list of since Spring so that once I FINISHED my latest set of line-edits, I could prioritize my BOOKS of SUMMER list and get started.

Except that now I can't find it. Lame.

I am certain it will turn up, though. And I ought to be able to find it in this newly quiet house. (shhhh...yes, it is so quiet here. That's because I've got one kid at a sleepover, one at a movie and one in PARIS. And yes, skype is a life saver!))

And since I have finished my huge writing chore,( and also a re-read of the 7th Harry Potter in prep for the movie), and it is so calm and peaceful here, I am all ready to hunker down with my list and start deciding what mood I am in...what will the first book be?

Except that now I can't find it. Lame. (this is like a refrain or something!)

So...um..if anyone has any good ideas until I find my list of new(ish) books that must be read this summer, feel free to let me know.

hrh

P.S. If the kid at the movie or the sleepover moved the list, I might have a chance at finding it. If the kid in Paris moved it, I am in a pickle. Or should I say I vill be in zee pickle, non? Yeah, I know. My fake French stinks.

Because I can move furniture with my mind, that's why.

2011-06-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits to my particular style of writing (which is writing whenever I have a minute or two--regardless of where or when that may be, whilst eating lunch (although not on a soup day...impossible to write on a soup day), or waiting in the car during a dance lesson or something like that) is that the story has time to unfold in its own way, in its own time. In other words, though it may take a long time to write a book in little snippets of time, it never feels rushed as I write. The back of my brain is always processing where the story might go next...it always stays just a bit a head of my hand or keyboard.

HOWEVER, the pain-in-the-rear part of writing over a long period of time is that sometimes the writer (me) imagines the setting looking a little different each time I happen to be writing a scene in that location. Yes, sometimes the walls change color (easy to fix) or THE FURNITURE MOVES (not so easy to fix.) How can the hound be next to the bench? You said on page 143 that the bench was next to the door. If the hound is next to the bench which is next to the door, wouldn't Thomas trip over the dog before he gets to Trinket when he rushes into the room? It seems like the bench is across the room? Is there a second bench? If so, perhaps it is not a bench, because then it is confusing as to which bench it is. Maybe it is the bed? Or a chair?

Yes, I move furniture with my mind. Sometimes I picture a room one way. Sometimes it looks another. I suppose it might help me to draw little maps of rooms and such, except that my drawing skills are not that refined...at all. And remarkably, I am completely unaware that I do stuff like this--this mental room rearrangement. Perhaps one too many episodes of Spouse vs House were on as I was falling asleep at night. I ONLY notice this when someone else points it out.

Yes, I know you are all wishing that you were my editor! Doesn't it sound like a fun job!!??

Off now to re-read the bench scene. What's another word for bench, by the way?

hrh

A Midsummer's Knight's Read In Which Hijinks Ensue....

2011-06-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

Fried.

That's what I am.

No! Not like these fries at Gibson's in Chicago, here served with filet sliders w/ maitre d' butter. And no, I don't know anything about maitre d' butter except that it should be served on everything.

I am fried in the sense of being exhausted. (Yeah, I know, you already figured that out. You are smart, after all.) I just got home after a significantly delayed flight and had to present a workshop for teachers in a graduate class at San Diego State University about Storytelling and Early Literacy Development FOR 3 HOURS. Seriously. Even I get tired of me after 3 hours. (And folks at SDSU, thanks for not throwing stuff at me...)

Anyway, someone one said (probably a famous person, for famous people are always saying stuff) that a picture is worth a thousand words. So here are some pictures of my excellent adventure in Chicago, but not very many words I'm afraid.

Really, I wasn't as cranky as I look here...except for maybe a little at my GPS on my phone, which kept trying to tell me that the bank on the left was actually a library (which was on the RIGHT, Hagatha! THE RIGHT!)

Lovely story area in Des Plaines. With the castle and clouds, I felt right at home!

What?? Get this picture out of here. This post is supposed to be about my adventures and not about what I ate. (Except that the broasted chicken sandwich at Chick n Dip in Hampshire was incredible!)

Yes, as a matter of fact that is my castle back there.

I know...just a poster about me....but I thought it was cool!

Sir Andrew and Sir James...yes, folks, there were KNIGHTS at the show in Bartlett!!

How lucky can a queen get?? Two fabulous knights!

Dudes. They battled. Seriously.

And there were crafts in Geneva (Father's Day cards depicting knights in shining armor...so sweet!)

And crown shaped cookies (even sweeter!)

Mark Twain and I having a private moment in Batavia. (I know. It totally looks like he is sniffing my hair. And I don't know how I feel about that.)

An indoor lunch picnic because it was so hot outside the queen would have melted.

Hey, Italian Beef Sandwich! Get out of my post! I am not talking about food. This is about adventure.

My peeps at the South Elgin Assisted Living (it was Bring-Your-Grandparent-to-Storytime.) Remember, you are never too young for a good story.

Ooooh! Pretty, pretty Plainfield.

Heigh-ho, off we go!

Me and a small friend.

I know! Librarian Vince's crown is spectacular!

Me and bloggy buddy Kelly Polark. (She is about 6 feet tall and drop dead gorgeous. So are her kids. Well, her kids aren't six feet tall, but they are lookers, I tell you! That is because the best looking people read this blog.

Yes, back to the fried-ness of this post. (There are sweet potato fries from Culver's Butterburger. Yes, there is a place that cooks burgers in butter. Not maitre d' butter, but butter is butter, right?)

So, I wanted to take more pictures of me with all the kids that came, but it is very awkward to stop and take a picture in the middle of the story! And for some reason (nerves, most likely) I kept forgetting to hand my camera off to someone to shoot some pictures during the performances. Anyhow, the kids were so wonderful and polite and non-heckling (and some even printed my picture off the internet and had me sign them!!! Rockstar moment) and the librarians could not have been more awesome. These folks love their libraries! And their communities love them as well.

Thank you for having me. It was an honor.

hrh

What? Are you expecting a picture of deep-dish pizza? Well, me too! Unfortunately the only picture is on the cell-phone and Hagatha is being stubborn and not letting me download it. She is such a stinker sometimes.

Speaking of stinkers, blogger is not letting me move this bit out of the caption. *sigh*

Bit by bit by bit with a guest appearance by Alex Trebek

2011-06-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Musings from a hotel room...

1. I use the word "bit" a LOT in my stories. I am editing one right now and it's there ON EVERY PAGE! A bit of this...a bit of that...No.More.Bit.

2. I had an Italian Beef Sandwich at Geno's East yesterday. YUM. Chicago food=yummy. (Chicago style pizza, I am coming for you. Tonight.)

3. Folks around here LOVE their libraries. AND the youth librarians know all the kids by name!! Literacy is alive in Illinois!

4. My hotel has skinny mirrors. I want to take one home with me.

5. I watched the National Geographic Bee on TV this morning. (Hey, I was taking a small break from editing. Truly I am getting a lot done. I promise.) Anyway, Alex Trebek hosts the finals. I have a special interest because I am the sponsor of our school's Geo-Bee, and have been for the past ten years. However, with budget cuts and time constraints, I have been thinking that next year we will not be able to participate in the Bee. No time to run it, no money to fund it, no personnel to help...

And then I watched these children, 12 and 13 year-old brilliant, BRILLIANT children and...I guess I'll be hosting another Bee! (And getting my own subscription to National Geographic!! So many places in the world have new names. I bow at the feet of these amazing kids.)

6. I miss my kids.

more later

hrh

P.S. Um, this has been bothering me a little, so I'll just say it. This year, all of the National Geographic Bee Finalists were boys. Come on, girls! A bit* more geography-love, I say!

* Oh no! There is is again!

In Which I Go Off to Tell Tales in Chicago

2011-06-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Get ready! Here I come!*

Hopefully, we'll have lots of this^.*

Here is the schedule for my Summer Library Tour Extravaganza!!
(Okay, maybe extravaganza isn't the right word, but I will be performing a dozen times in as many locations in the next week and I am super excited!)

Here is the full list of dates and times:

June 16th

10:30 Des Plaines Library

1501 Ellin Wood St., Des Plaines IL

2:00 Ella Johnson Library

109 South State Street, Hampshire IL

7:00 p.m. Bartlett Library

800 S. Bartlett Road, Bartlett IL 60103

June 17^th

9:30 Geneva Library

127 James St., Geneva IL

11:30 Batavia Library

10 S. Batavia Ave #2, Batavia IL

2:00 St. Charles Library

One South 6^th Ave., St. Charles IL

June 18^th

2:00 and 3:15 Heritage Woods Assisted Living Facility

700 North McLean Blvd. South Elgin IL

June 20^th

10:30 Plainfield Library

15025 S. Illinois St., Plainfield, IL

3:30 Gail Borden Library

270 North Grove Ave., Elgin, IL

7:00 p.m. Glenside Library

25 East Fullerton Ave., Glendale Heights, IL

June 21^st

10:30 Cary Library

1606 3 Oaks Rd., Cary IL

I am so excited! All events are free, but some require a ticket, so check with the individual library if you need more information. If you are a blog reader and are able to come to an event, make sure you introduce yourself!

hrh

P.S.* Lovely art is by some equally lovely first graders!

Booksignings by Numbers

2011-06-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

Number of little dragon finger puppets given away: 120

Number of Oreo cookies consumed: 210 (eating an Oreo cookie with Oreo the Monkey (puppet) was VERY popular!)

Number of bags of potato chips given away: 3

Number of kids who REALLY wanted those chips: A bunch!

Number of hours spent in chair signing books: (minus reading time) 3

Number of tiny bookmarks left: 0

Number of wonderful families who came out to a booksigning the last week of school despite their crazy busy schedules: Too many to count, (and I am grateful for each and every one.)

Number of bites of a red chile (that my mom brought from New Mexico) burrito that I was able to take from 4:00-8:00: 2

Number of semi-decent author pictures: 2 (thanks, dad!)

Number of dollars in books earned for Jefferson Elementary: almost $900

Number of days it took to recover: 1

Number of very happy authors: 1

hrh

Book Release Checklist

2011-06-06T17:19:00.000-07:00

Making sure I have everything for tomorrow:

Tiny dragon finger puppets to give away--CHECK.

Close-up of tiny dragon finger puppets.

Huge bag of potato chips for a door prize--CHECK.

(There are potato chips in the story!)

Silly cup for summer slurping fun--CHECK.

(Perfect for when you are feeling thirsty on a road trip...giving this away, too!)

Beach ball for door prize--CHECK.

Assorted adorable mini-bookmarks--CHECK.

Extra crowns for visiting royalty--CHECK.

Okay, so, um, all that is missing is me...and YOU, of course!

See you at Barnes and Noble, Oceanside, between 4-8.

Gratuitous cover shot.

I am reading at 5:30 and 7:00. Drawings for silly stuff throughout the evening. And even if you don't buy the new book, buy something great to read over the summer. 20% of all sales benefit Jefferson Elementary School!! Yay!!

And special thanks to Connie, Jo, and all of the people at Penguin who helped assure that we would get the books on time!!

hrh

Why You Need an Agent...Really

2011-06-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

I have a wonderful agent. Her name is Joanna Stampfel-Volpe. She is the bomb of all bombs. I know you are asking yourself what is so great about Jo?

Let me tell you.

My first nine books were sold without an agent. Now, that would make it seem like I knew what I was doing...but really, I was just pretty lucky. But persistent. There was a time when editors might send you a personal rejection, inviting you to send something else in if you'd like. So, I'd keep track of where I had sent which manuscript and try to match stories to editors, NEVER submitting simultaneously because that was frowned upon at the time. Again, I was lucky to find editors for some of my books.

But.It.Took.a. LOT.of.TIME. Response times were slow and research took a lot of time, too.

Enter Jo.

In the past fourteen months since I found her (and she is a find, my friends), Jo sold my book, negotiated my contract, offered numerous editorial comments on manuscripts, prepped items for submission, AND did TONS of things to help out with a book (which releases next week) that was sold long before I met her.

She has done ALL of this for more than a year and is only now seeing any kind of financial payment. Seriously.

The passion and dedication she shows blow me away. *I am so lucky!* (Seriously!! No payment until now!!)

And the best part is that because she looks out for me, I have more time to write!!! With working a full time job and all, it is lovely to know that there is someone in my corner, calling my publisher to make sure that books get to events on time, commenting on my work, negotiating with my best interests at heart...

Again, someone up above smiled on me the day Joanna Volpe stepped into my life.

Jo=Awesome!!!

What?? You're still here? You want to know where the next StoryQueen video is?

Okay, here it is...

But I need to say a few things first:

1. Yes, I read to dogs. (Mikey saw me put on the crown and cape and he came to sit and listen! And yes, that is him that you hear making strange growly noises.)

2. Mikey does not want to eat cats. (He loved little kitty. Wha???)

3. Yes, that is a toilet in the background. Sorry.

Enjoy!

hrh

P.S.

Seriously youtube? I look like Popeye recommending spinach.

What's On My Desk: The Crazy Month of May Edition

2011-05-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Tra-la! It's May! The crazy month of May! (Okay, so in Camelot, they sing different words...but this is a G-rated blog, so no Lusty Month of May here!)

So, let's take a look at what's on my desk, metaphorically speaking, of course.

To-do this weekend:

30-50 more pages of line-edits on Trinket. (Yeah, I know. I did line-edits already. But sometimes, there are more.)

Clean junk off of desk, remembering to put important junk in a place I will find it again. (Yes, I am talking about you, June 23rd SDSU parking pass!!)

Clean out fridge (ugh.)

Clean out pantry (ick.)

Paint hallway (hahahaha! Good one! Like that's going to happen! Why is it that hallways are white and people's fingers are grimy?)

Get rid of stupid looking table in the backyard. It is never, EVER used. It looks ugly. If I do nothing else this weekend, I will feel good if at least the table is GONE. (Sometimes, I wish my husband read my blog...just sayin.)

Go to final Show Choir performance. Bring kleenex. (Last high school show for my senior.*sob*)

See new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Write 3-5 pages of *new* book. (When life gets too hectic, every writer needs a safe place to play.)

Do about a thousand loads of laundry.

Clean out Cave of Wonders (or Pit of Despair, as I think of it now. It is a closet int he laundry room...big, deep and scarily full of junk.)

Make a nice dinner (maybe Sunday night. We've had little time for family dinners as of late.Maybe a Thai curried chicken...it doesn't sound that good now, but maybe it will tomorrow.)

Eat a hot dog.

Film the next reading of a Good Knight book and post it.

Plan party favors for book signing on June 7th. (Thinking of making cookies...and having goodie bags..just don't know. But definitely must finish making book marks.)

Strategize the packing of the classroom.

Sleep.

hrh

Summer Plans...and Happy Birthday!

2011-05-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, a very cool librarian from the Chicago area contacted me and wanted to know if I would be interested in coming to do a "Library Tour" to help celebrate their summer theme of A Midsummer's Knight's Read. Amazingly, everything worked out with my schedule (they were willing to wait until after my job finished for the summer and after my daughter graduates from highschool *sniff*). So, I'm going to Chicago, baby!

So far, it looks like this:

Thursday, June 16
Des Plaines
Hampshire,
Bartlett

Friday, June 17
Geneva
Batavia

Saturday, June 18
Gail Borden
St. Charles

Monday, June 20
Plainfield
Gail Borden
Glenside

Tuesday, June 21
Cary

I'll put more details up on my events page on my website. But I am so excited to go! Never been to Chicago before and I am planning a little deep-dish pizza exploration.

Also, Looks like I will be teaching a Young Author's Class for the Carlsbad Educational Foundation again this summer. This year it is from July 5-8, 9-12:30 p.m. You can email me for more information. storyqueen at gmail.com.

AND I will be visiting the libraries of Camp Pendleton on July 13th, for their Midsummer's Knight's Read, too!

And then there is this:

Yes, Mikey the dog tried to eat another puppet! This time it was a monkey named Oreo. He is hopeless. If you listen, you can hear him barking a few times in the background. We filmed outside this time, just because we could, you know?

I am usually not concerned at all with blog-stats or anything, but my videos have been watched on youtube over 100 times! (combined number, of course.) I know that is nothing in the youtube world, but in my little mind, I imagine that I have just read bedtime stories to 100 kids. (Yeah, I know, it's probably not even kids at all. Just people who somehow got there by mistake and are thinking, "Well, now, what in the world is this? Who is that old lady? She looks like Lucius Malfoy with a crown on. Why does she keep letting that dog eat her puppets?")

Oh well.

But if you do have kids, bring them over! Let the ol' StoryQueen read to them! I mean, this last video is 9 minutes long...that's enough time to shower. Just sayin'.

And then there is this:

Coming out on June 9th. (Except that Shhhhhh....we are having a pre-release party at Barnes and Noble in Oceanside on June 7th.)

What???

A PRE-RELEASE PARTY AT THE BARNES AND NOBLE IN OCEANSIDE ON JUNE 7TH???

See, my daughter graduates on my release day, and school ends the next day sooooooooo.....what's an author supposed to do?

This post is too long. Sorry.

hrh

Fried Day

2011-05-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

So.

What a busy week!!

I am trying to hard to keep up with my one-page-per-day goal on my WIP, but that is just not happening today. Sigh. It's been a week of giving school tours, attending important meetings, writing up proposals, writing up reports, compiling data, glueing 100 books together, going to school open houses, and attending school related dinners. (I have to go to a fancy-schmancy dinner tomorrow night, what with being a finalist for district Teacher of the Year. Oh, don't feel bad for me that I didn't win...there wasn't a sash or anything so I didn't mind so much). My kids call it the Mom Prom, since everyone has to dress up. Problem? SHOES. I wore nice shoes whilst hosting our visitors from China on Tuesday and I STILL have blisters.

Somehow, I just don't think clogs will go well with the little black dress.

Tomorrow I am presenting a workshop for San Diego County Librarians, so that should be fun. Librarians are cool.

And this weekend I will be posting something really ultra-cool that I am doing in conjunction with some librarians in the Chicago area in June. I am really looking forward to it....provided I survive 'til then! The great thing is that I made it to today. Back on Monday, I had my doubts.

It looks like this post is just kind of a big, fat whine. So feel free to whine with me. Let it all out in the comments. What do you need to whine about?

hrh

Edited to include: HA!! I just reread over what I wrote and I am covering up the vulnerability big time! I am trying to make the week sound all glamorous.

But it wasn't.

It was hard.

And busy.

And if I could find a way to lay in bed all day tomorrow and not feel bad about it, I probably would.
But I can't. So that's that.

I find one of the things I really appreciate about bloggers is that many are so able to place complete honesty in the seat of honor. I am not. I am too guarded. I don't want to admit sometimes how completely uncharmed my life feels.

But Wait! There's More....

2011-05-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

Here is the next installment of Story Time with the StoryQueen. In addition to placing them on my video page (www.shelleymoorethomas.blogspot.com) they are also on my youtube storytime channel. If you type in hrhstoryqueen on youtube or (click here) the videos will come up.

Some things about this particular adventure in filming:

1. I used Cali's room because of all the color. We had thought we might do it outside, but too much wind (and wet grass from earlier rain) made it not seem like such a good idea.

2. Mikey the Dog cannot deal with my puppet voices! Every time he hears them, he shows up and wants to eat the puppets. (Please don't worry about the Old Wizard. I wiped the slobber off with my cape.)

3. My daughter (Noel), has a pretty steady hand, considering a dog was crawling all over her half of the time.

4. This story was inspired by Isabelle not wanting to take her pink eye medication and my trying to tell her that she was being a big baby. I tried to show her the the ointment wasn't going to hurt by trying it myself. Um. Yeah.

Enjoy!

P.S. Penguin is re-releasing this title (and Good Night, Good Knight) as part of a new easy-reader program! Yay!!

The Kids with the Words

2011-05-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today I was working with my First Grade After School Writing Club and a little girl came up to me and asked, "Where are the kids with the words?"

She was referring to my helpers. I have two young gentlemen, Ethan (grade 4) and Tobias (grade 3), who meander through the throngs of little first graders armed with post-it notes and pencils, helping the six year-olds spell the words that elude them. I loved that way of thinking about them, the kids with the words.

How lucky I am to have them! (And are their names great or what? Ethan and Tobias. It's like I have squires who will someday be knights in the StoryQueen's army!) Of course, they were where they always are, between the bookshelves of the library, helping some kid sound out Squidward or the like.

The kids with the words.

Earlier in the week, I had my 4th and 5th graders write about why they liked to write. I read their papers and teared up a bit. There are kids among them for whom writing is like breathing. I understand that. Maybe I was kind of like that when I was a kid.

And then there is a little boy in second grade named Darren who says that Tuesday is the absolute best day of the week because he can come to Writing Club. He claims he could write all day. Actually, he probably could. Such an imagination!

The kids with the words.

And then, folks, there are the realities of a bad economy and budget cuts. And the truth is, there will come a point when it will be impossible to offer all that we are currently able to offer to our students.

But words. Words.

If we do not help children find words, then we silence them.

And that is wrong.

hrh

The Queen's Speech

2011-05-08T10:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's not really a speech. More of a reading actually.

You see, I have a new book that comes out in one month:

I am so excited! This is the perfect summer road trip picture book.

So, I thought I'd do something to celebrate. Kind of. Well....here's the story:

A few months ago, a student at my school and I had the following conversation:

Kid: StoryQueen, guess what we did today?

Me: I don't know. What did you do?

Kid: We watched Jan Brett read her book on her website. Why don't you ever read your books on your website?

Why indeed?

So...without further ado and absolutely no fanfare, I present the first of the Good Knight books, as read by me.

So, if you have little kiddos, have them pull up a pillow! (and have them watch for special appearances from Mikey the Dog, a baby dragon, and my husband, the Story Prince Consort, peeping his head around the corner.) The next video, GET WELL, GOOD KNIGHT will be released next week. There will be a new one each week until the release of A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST.

And if you have any ideas for the location of the next video, leave it in the comments. This first one was filmed in the office area of my house (notice the blue wall...that's my corner.)

And do you like the theme song? That was composed and recorded by my nephew. He is awesome.

And I will be keeping these videos (so that you can enjoy them again and again...ha!) on my website on the video page. Click here for webpage.

Let me know what you think!

hrh

Jedi Mind Tricks

2011-05-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Star Wars Day (on May the 4th....get it? May the Fourth...May the Force....)

I missed this day last year, so I have been looking forward to it for 364 days!

So, a Star Wars inspired post seemed appropriate:

Sometimes, you open up the laptop with the intent to do something important, like work on your WIP. But first you have to check a few things, you know, just to see...

And the next thing you know, you are totally off track. Maybe you are distracted by your emails or maybe it's even worse than that. Maybe checking the internet (twitter, blogger, facebook, what-ev) has made you feel like you've been fooling yourself. You? A writer? Hahahahaha! If you were a writer, you would have agents fighting for your attention. You would have books auctions with HUGE advances. You would be a Best Seller.

And none of those things are your reality.

And so you leave the internet all discombobulated and confused, thinking, Those aren't the droids I'm looking for. You step away from your computer (and your WIP!!!) and eat too much ice cream and it doesn't help.

DON'T LET THE INTERNET PLAY JEDI MIND TRICKS ON YOU!

THOSE ARE THE DROIDS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR! Right there, sitting under your nose!! Don't let Obi-Wan get all up in your grill and mess with your head. You know what you need to to--WRITE.

Don't EVER let stuff you read online make you feel like you can't...or that you are doing it the wrong way.

Or you will end up with this guy:

So, go on, go wrangle up your droids and get cracking on that WIP!

hrh

Queen's Note: I resisted the urge to write this entire post in Yoda-speak. (or, The urge I resisted....hahaha).

Be glad you won't be seeing me tomorrow. Speak like Yoda all day I shall.

Naughty Boys that I Love

2011-04-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

No, I'm talking about Bad Boys. Not those sultry, dark, broody types that attract girls like certain substances (that I will not name here) attract flies. (But if you are every interested in finding or picking up some of that substance with a small shovel, I have a whole bunch in my backyard. Have at it!)

I am talking about naughty boys. What IS it about a naughty boy that is just so delightfully compelling? When I was working on a book that had a very, very naughty boy for a character, I pretty much laughed myself to sleep each night. Honestly, it was the most fun I ever had writing. The surprising thing is that I never ran out of naughty ideas for him to enact. Perhaps that is why we love them so much. They do the naughty things that we cannot.

Here are a few of my favorites:

I love the Weasley Brothers. And they are just so pea-picking naughty! They jokes, the pranks, the devil-may-care attitudes. Sigh. They are just awesomely naughty. I actually might have cheered aloud when I was sitting on my couch reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and I came to that scene where Fred and George drop out of Hogwarts and fly off into the sunset. I reread it many times.

I love these guys, too. Harold and George from the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey. (Is there something innately naughty about the name George???) They are awesomely naughty AND continue to save the world on a regular basis. Stellar combination.

These guys, too. Bill and Ted are neither egregious nor heinous. They are just awesomely naughty. Be excellent to each other, boys.

And then there is this guy! Zachary Ruthless! I am so excited to read this book, because I do have a soft spot for the awesomely naughty. My treat for myself this weekend (if I get my other stuff done) is to get to read it! Ooooooh! Just look at him and his ginger sidekick. Are they saving the world? Or blowing it up? The suspense is killing me. Can't wait.

(And congratulations to Allan Woodrow, the creator of Zachary. His book just released this week! Yay!)

So...who is your favorite naughty boy? And you don't have to limit it to one......

hrh

Bob the Donut

2011-04-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Whenever I have the kids in class do a writing warm-up, I do it with them. We right side-by-side, elbow to elbow, trying to wrangle our thoughts down into words on paper. Usually, I just write whatever comes to mind, but before we began today, a student asked me, "Mrs. Thomas, what are you going to write about?"

I replied (quite truthfully, I might add,) "I really have no idea yet. I hope I get one before I start."

"Here is an idea," said the student. "You can write about a donut named Bob."

The music started. I was NOT going to waste my precious writing time writing about a donut named Bob. I just wasn't.

But then....I did.

Bob the Donut

Bob was a donut. An ordinary donut. He did not possess super powers like the ability to fly or to shoot firebolts from his eyes. He could not lift two elephants at a time or anything like that. Nor could he become invisible...unless someone ate him. Then he couldn't be visible at all. That's because he would no longer exist.

But Bob still wanted to exist.

So, what does a donut with no super powers do if he doesn't want to be eaten,( especially one as tasty looking as chocolate glazed, rainbow-sprinkled Bob?)

He escapes.

And that is just what Bob the Donut planned to do.

Okay, it's official. My brain has been invaded by fifth grade boys.

This post really doesn't have much point except to say that when you can't seem to jumps start your own writing, there is usually a fifth grade boy somewhere with a strange little idea.

hrh

Is it crazy that I am picturing Bob using part of an old buttermilk twist to create a lasso? Or that I can hear the theme song from Rawhide in my brain as I picture Bob rolling off in the sunset? "Rolling, rolling, rolling...keep those donuts rolling....."

Mondays=Brutal

Winners and Chickens

2011-04-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

First off, the winner of the three ARC (Demonglass, Like Mandarin, and Warped) is:

Susanne Drazic!

Susanne, drop me an email at storyqueen@gmail.com and let me know your address and I will ship those books to you! Enjoy!

Hmmmm....there are lots of things I have been wanting to post about, but for some reason the words won't come tonight.

That has been happening a lot lately...the whole lack of words thing.

I wish they would. I wish I could open the doc or the notebook and the words would come pouring out, hot and fast, like soup in a bowl.

But lately it's been kind of like oatmeal. Cold Oatmeal.

Sadly, I know the reason why.

I am afraid.

I am afraid that I am not ready to write the story I soooo want to write. Or worse, not worthy. I know, it sounds so stupid. But these are the true feelings a writer goes through. We have times when the rush of words is awesome. And other times when....not so much.

The worst part, the absolute worst part is that I just don't know what to do about it. I mean, maybe I can't write the words because it is the WRONG idea for me right now. Maybe instinctively I know it in my gut, but I don't want to admit it.

Or, maybe I am just being lazy. Or a chicken. I like to think that I am strong and brave, you know. But really, it's a mix of chicken and brave.

But mostly chicken.

*sigh*

What to do?

Any of you out there who are in the struggle of words that won't come, well, obviously I can offer no valid advice. But please know that you are not alone.

hrh

Elegantly, Ruthlessly and Honorably.....and an ARC Giveaway!

2011-04-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

I was driving down to San Diego to watch the final show choir competition of the school year and I had the radio on. The annual Coachella Music Festival was happening somewhere out in the desert and I was hoping to find out who was there. It's kind of ultra-cool to go to Coachella and so, not being cool myself, I have never been. But if you are into up-and-coming, awesome bands and the like, then sweltering out in the desert for three days of concerts is the place to be.

But again, I was did not go. I went to the show choir competition.

However, the DJ on the radio was interviewing the members of a British band called Foals. I have to admit, I am a sucker for an accent. So, these two boys were talking about their artistic process (I am a sucker for artistic process) and saying that they were changing the way they were creating music*. In the past, they took a very calculated approach. They knew just what they wanted in a song. They knew just what there needed to be in that song for it to be "successful." But they were frustrated because they weren't creating. They were just producing stuff.

The gist of their conversation was that they stopped thinking so much about what the song needed and instead tried to let the music unfold itself. They said the music should emerge Elegantly, Ruthlessly and Honorably.

Of course, it made me think about writing. I want to write elegantly, ruthlessly and honorably. And I want my books to reflect that. I don't want to list ingredients and pour them in a bowl and hope that a book comes out. I want to rely on the format** less and the story more.

* I am paraphrasing.
** yes, ironic coming from a writer of easy readers. But I am nothing if not a contradiction.

ARC GIVEAWAY!

Now that you sat through my weekly inner-writer turmoil, you get a prize. In January at ALA, I got some great ARCs and I promised to pass them on (but I had to read them, first!) so that other folks can read them and get the word out about them. This week, I am giving away these three books:

If you would like to be entered in the drawing for these three books (that's right, winner take all!) then just leave a comment below. I read and enjoyed all three of them, however please note that they are from my stack of YA ARCs. YA stands for young adult. Middle Grade ARC giveaway to come soon.

hrh

Flirting With a New Idea

2011-04-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

It's kind of magical when you first get an idea.

You see it looking at you and so you look back, yet it looks away quickly.

Was that idea just looking at me? It was, wasn't it?

So you chase it around a bit, discreetly of course. I mean, you could have imagined it, right? Maybe it was an idea meant for someone else, not you at all.

There it is again.

It just winked.

And so now you are determined to meet up with that idea. You are going to find out what it is up to. So, you kind of stalk it a bit. You hang out where it hangs out. You listen to the music it likes. You pretend that you are having a great time with your other ideas...you don't really need this idea after all. It's not like you are desperate. You have plenty of other ideas that would be happy to have your attention....and yet there is something about this idea that is Just.So.Compelling.

And you really don't want to scare it away.

It just might be the ONE.

So, anyone else out there chasing a new idea?

hrh

Okay, usually I KNOW my idea will work when the title is right (even if I end up changing the title midway through...I have to have the title first.)

Confession: I do not have the title for the new idea. It's killing me.

Real Life GLEEKS

2011-04-09T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hello. My name is Shelley. My daughter is a real life GLEEK.

By this I mean she is in Show Choir. I should say EXTREME SHOW CHOIR.

I had the pleasure of chaperoning her choir at a recent competition. Let me tell you, honestly I was not looking forward to it. I mean, we are talking teenagers. Lots of them. Don't get me wrong, teens are awesome. It's just that there would be so many of them...and I would have to make certain they stayed out of trouble until competition time.

Oh, and I had to ride on the bumpy, old yellow school bus with them. Did I mention it was bumpy?

My worries were totally misplaced. These kids were great. They knew just where they were supposed to be and just what to do. In addition, they all really cared about doing well in the competition. A passionate bunch they were.

And regardless of how much they wanted to win, they were SO supportive of the other teams. All of the teams were hooting and hollering for each other when something cool happened on the stage. I was so impressed by them.

But what impressed me the most were the performances. Folks, you have no idea what really happens on the stage of a show choir competition. (I know this because I sure didn't). I thought it would be kind of like GLEE. But GLEE totally underplays it! I mean, the competition I went to had lasers! And smoke! And Star Wars! And Harry Potter! And levitating people! And star-crossed lovers! And 5 second costume changes! and brilliant, brilliant singing.

Wow.

Here is a little PSA about the importance of show choir which was filmed at one of the comps.

GlEEK On!

hrh

What's on My Desk Right Now?

2011-04-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

What is on the old desk?

1. A laptop on its last leg (I fear). Backing up everything with this:

2. A Darth Vader Flash Drive. (Also on desk.)

3. A Mickey Mouse watch with a scratched up crystal. (How do I do that to every watch I own?)

4. A fat plastic canister of clicky ball points in three colors.

5. An awesome green desk lamp that matches cheapo green desk.

6. A red moleskine waiting for more words.

7. A rainbow houndstooth composition book filled with too many words.

8. A baseball cap from Killarney Golf and Fishing Club.

9. Bookmarks from Across the Universe, Incarceron and Sir Gawain the True that I got at ALA in January.

10. A huge blingy ring I wore last week.

11. My wand.

12. A small yellow notepad that I keep by the computer upon which to write important stuff. The top page has a quote I copied from one of your blogs, but I don't remember which one!
   "There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.
   That will be the beginning."

   Louis L'Amour
(So if I copied the quote from your blog, let me know!)

13. The best thing in the world: A retractable Sharpie. Seriously, best pen EVER.

14. And ewwww, fingernail clippers left here by SOMEONE. Gross. Now I have an image of someone using my precious space to clip their long toenails. Someone is going down.

Soon, the desk will be lustrous and tidy, for I am cleaning today!

What's the strangest thing on your desk?

hrh

10 Minutes

2011-03-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

Busy week.

It is late and I am tired and tomorrow is another busy day, along with being April Fool's day...a big favorite among teachers. NOT. Teacher, there's a spider on your arm. Teacher there's a spider on your head. Teacher, there's a spider on your nose. I am half tempted to go to school covered in black plastic spiders so that when the inevitable spider joke comes, I can say, "Tell me something I don't know."

But alas. Wrong time of year for black plastic spider shopping.

I started something new with the fam this week which is working smashingly, if I do say so myself. You see, I was getting totally snowed under with writing stuff, school stuff and stuff around the house and I just couldn't keep up. (I mean, the house....well,.....if you threw a grenade at some of the messes, the grenade would halt itself mid-flight and turn around crying for its mommy. True.

Now, I hate to nag. Hate it. And I hate to assign chores, because when you assign chores then you have to remind people to do their chores and when you remind people to do their chores, they always respond, In a minute, I'm________________________. (fill in the blank with the appropriate excuse. My kids like "I'm doing homework" because they know that, as a teacher, homework is my kryptonite. I am powerless against it. A teacher's kid has to do their homework.)

Thus, the work never gets done. Except by me. And when I drop the ball, it's pretty awful.

So, to make a quickly becoming boring story short, I initiated the 10 minute rule. Everyone must donate 10 minutes per day to the upkeep of the casa. (And your own room doesn't count. Must be for the greater good. And it can't be something you are already responsible for. But really, 10 minutes isn't going to kill anyone.Even homework can wait 10 minutes.)

I let them choose anything they want to do, because everything helps. And 10 minutes times 3 kids (4 if you count my husband) is about 40 minutes a day....that's like 4-5 hours of extra housecleaning that gets done a week.

I am amazed by my brilliance.

(Hopefully, it won't go by way of the sugar bowl of despair....good one week, obsolete the next)

Do you have any tips for keeping up with "the house?"

hrh.

Storytelling

2011-03-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

In June, I will be giving a workshop at SDSU entiled: Telling Tales: The Impact of Storytelling on Early Literacy Development (or something like that...) What I am focusing on is not writing/storytelling, but good, old-fashioned sit-around-the-campfire storytelling or bard-with-a-harp-in-a-castle-hall storytelling.

The oral tradition.

So, even though I don't tend to plot out my stories, I do plot out my workshops. And I already know a lot of what I want to say (and need to say). However, I thought it would be interesting to ask my friends out in blogland if they have any questions about storytelling or storytellers.

The how, the when, the why, the why not.....or anything you always wanted to ask a storyteller but never had the chance.

Well, your chance is now. Ask away! (And if you don't have a genuine question yourself, feel free to think up something that a future teacher might ask.....)

hrh

P.S. I am starting to jot notes on a new project. It is not the one I thought I'd be working on next. It is a strange one that just kind of reared its head a week or two ago, but I keep stumbling across things that bring it to the front of my brain.

Interesting.

Lessons from Other Authors: The YA Edition featuring Setting

2011-03-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

If you are busy because you are working a job and such as well as trying to write a book, or maybe your time is filled with kids, homework, school, or perhaps you have very little disposable income, do not despair!

If you would love to go and hear authors speak at some type of awesome conference where you rub elbows with editors and agents and cool authors, perhaps there is even hob-nobbing (I wouldn't know, never having been to said conference), but can't find the time/cash/time/babysitter or whatever, do not despair!

You can learn TONS of stuff from other authors just by reading their books.

True.

In the last few months, I have noticed that several books I read (most are YA arcs from ALA, but not all) did some cool things with setting. Basically, these authors wrote their settings so strongly and with such voice, that the settings exist as almost characters themselves.

For example:

We have some real, actual places:

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins uses Paris, lovely Paris as the third wheel in her teen romance. Hmm, let me see....Etienne or Paris? Which would I choose? (Luckily, I don't have to!) Actually, Paris isn't the third wheel so much as a magical cupid's arrow that draws everything together. You can NOT read this book and NOT want to go to Paris. Like right now.

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard allows the badlands of Wyoming free reign throughout her compelling novel about the electric friendship between two very different girls. The desolate beauty of the badlands is ever present. Unpredictable. Extreme. And the town the story takes place in, Washokey, well, I dare you to find a town with a funner name to say.

And then there are those writers who create their own place:

From the small:

In the Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roeker, the prep school is called Pemberly Brown. Seriously. What a great name. Already the place is infused with personality just by the cool hoity-toityness of the name. Ivy covered and pretentious, what more would you expect from Pemberly Brown?

To the medium sized:

Swampsea, the town in Frannie Billingsley's Chime, is just about the weirdest, strangest, most Gothicly eerie town I have ever, EVER read about. It defies description, just promise me you'll read it. There are stories that you can move from one place to another and it wouldn't really matter. Chime is not one of those stories. Swampsea is Chime.

To the vast:

Across the Universe by Beth Revis has a setting which is both big and small. The big being the universe and all that (and Beth didn't really create the universe) but she did imagine a fantastic ship called the Godspeed. First off, the name is amazing (it's a pattern with me and names, I think), secondly she describes everything in such detail that you can really, truly see it. And again, without the Godspeed, there would be no story.

So, when workshops seem impossible or far away, remember you can always use existing authors as your mentors. I mean, they wrote the book on....well.. writing the book, I guess.

Blogger's note: All of the books above are teen books, which I recommend for teens and up. But if you are not a teen or above and are reading this, do not despair! Lessons from Middle Grade writers coming soon!

hrh

Real People vs. Imaginary People vs. Virtual People

2011-03-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

Ah yes. The delicate balance. Real vs imaginary vs virtual.

Of course, real people should come first, right?

Followed by the imaginary people (these are the people that inhabit your stories, your brain, your soul...they give life to your writing....you can't ignore them.)

And last but not least, the virtual people....those out in cyberspace.

Seriously, but I don't see how some writers do it. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love my blog friends, but how can a person really balance the real, the imaginary and the virtual effectively? I struggle with real vs imaginary all the time (Come on, girls, keep it down in there, Mommy is writing), but the addition of the virtual piece....wha? how? I'm barely hanging on here with my little blog, trying to connect twice a week. It's not a chore, mind you, and I love reading other writers' blogs, but there is no way that I can comment as much as I'd like to. I mean, I can only JUST manage to post my own thoughts twice a week. How do folks manage with facebook and twitter as well?

And I know I am not the only one who works a full time job in addition to being a writer. There are others of you out there, I am certain.

But I fear that my real and imaginary worlds would suffer if I let the virtual world have a bigger piece of me. Again, how do folks manage to do it?

Jugglingly yours,

hrh

Issy's Feet

2011-03-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So, early this morning I had to drive Issy over to the high school so they could film her feet for the school live news show before she and the troupe went out to dance in the local elementary schools.

Yes. That's right. Film her feet. Such is the life of an Irish Dancer on St. Patrick's Day.

I thought it would be cool to post a quick video of her amazingly fast feet, so I had Cali film her feet while the cameraman was also filming her. Unfortunately, Cali kind of filmed the camera guy's backside most of the time. Actually, all of the time. Occasionally, you can see Issy's feet peeking out from behind the cameraman, and you could definitely hear her (for she was wearing her hard shoes), but I just couldn't post it. (The cameraman may or may not have had sagging pants.....)

So, you'll have to make do with a still shot of Issy's feet, taken by a nice gentleman from the Irish Pavillion at the World's Fair in Shanghai last June.

A mom knows her kid's feet anywhere.

Except here. A mom isn't sure which kids' feet are her kids' feet here.

What's a show at the Irish Pavilion at the World's Fair in Shanghai without a few mid-air Cotton-Eyed Joe heel clicks?

With that, I'll leave you to continue enjoying your day!

hrh

P.S. If you are wondering which girls are mine in the photo, they are the tall ones with dark hair.

Yeah, I know. Impossible to tell!

The End of the Line (Edit)

2011-03-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be honest here. When I started working on the line-edits for The Seven Tales of Trinket, I wasn't looking forward to it that much. I mean, on the positive side, the book is that much closer to being real. On the negative side, well, it's a lot of work. Not really HARD work, because most of the notes are small and easy to fix. But then there is the occasional question written in the margins that makes me go Oh Crud! You are right, that doesn't make much sense that way does it? Hmm. Now I need to go back and change page 153, too. And page 87, for that matter.

But now I am on page 221. Which means the end is near, and I'm kind of dreading being done. I feel like I've gotten to know my editor in a whole new way by pouring over her suggestions. I laugh a little at some of her funny comments and am truly touched by others. Last night, when I was working on a very difficult section (one that makes me cry every time I read it), I felt like she was right there, holding my hand as I crafted the words of that scene to make it even stronger. And as I near then end, it feels like we are really in this together (even though we've never really met and only talked by phone or e-mail.) She is closer to Writing Shelley than anyone in the world right now.

And I will miss the feeling.

The process has helped me recognize few of my writing demons:

1. I have consistency issues (as in I forget where my characters put stuff, or where they are standing, etc.) which means I sometimes contradict myself. Relatively easy to clean up, but I am more aware of my tendency to do it now.

2. I play fast and loose with commas sometimes. I tend to hear the tale being told in my head, and imagine the pause in breath a storyteller might make, and stick a comma in there (whether or not it is the right place.) Other times, I imagine the internal teller talking quickly, and totally leave commas by the wayside. I used to be dang good at comma-fying, but now....not so much.

3. I tend to make up words (ie: comma-fying).

4. I get stuck on words. It's like I'll use a word and then need to use it again and canNOT think of a good synonym that sounds right. So, I'm stuck with five he lookeds on the page. Not good.

5. I have the worst keyboard in the world. (Since the crash of October, the cursor jumps around of its own free will, adding words in the middle of sentences that make no sense.) I would not wish the possessed cursor on anyone.

These are all such helpful things to know about my writing self, especially when I go to revise the next book. I have internalized a little bit of Beth's (my editor) eye. I can recognize what is going to bug her and can hopefully tweak it before it even goes to her.

More March News:

This Friday, I will be at the San Diego County Office of Education for their annual Author's Fair.

The first batch of corned-beef and the first loaf of soda bread have already been made and consumed. More on the way! (But no cabbage. Yuck.)

hrh

A Strange Day

2011-03-11T18:30:00.000-08:00

My school is a couple of blocks from the beach. So you can imagine the scene in the office this morning...lots of tears....lots of kids afraid of being left off at school. What if it comes? What if the tsumani comes?

Of course I told them it wouldn't, and that everything would be okay.

And it was.

Today.

For us.

But things like this remind me of how unprepared I am. I have no plan...and maybe it is impossible to plan for such events, but this morning as I drove from where I live (high ground) down to the school (low ground), I realized that I had no idea if everyone (in my family) had actually charged their cell phones so I could reach them if I needed to. We hadn't planned any times to check in with each other, or places to meet, or decided who was going to get the pets.

I mean, I even took the good car. I should have taken the crummy car if it was at all likely that it could be washed away in a parking lot. What was I thinking?

I wasn't thinking. I was just doing. Because that is what we do. We just go on...and we pray for those who weren't as lucky as we were today.

But I started thinking today that I need to give all of this a bit more thought. I mean, I live in SoCal. It's not a question IF an earthquake will strike, but WHEN.

hrh

Things I Love Right Now

2011-03-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

1. Driving by a car that has a dog hanging out of the window, ears flapping in the wind.

2. A baguette with melted Dubliner cheese, Granny Smith apple slices, a bit of brown sugar and a smidge of cinnamon. Yum.

3. Blackberries and sliced strawberries.

4. Heirloom tomatoes.

5. Monday evenings (far, far better than Monday mornings.)

6. Teachers who don't assign too much homework.

7. My cheapo green writing desk. (It is a Goldilocks desk...not too big or too small.)

8. Page 244 of line-edits (there are no corrections/changes/questions on this page!)

9. When one of my kids charges my phone for me, knowing I'll forget to do it myself.

10. Libraries that arrange for me to visit them (thank you! You know who you are!)

11. The Good Knight Theme, which I will be sharing with you soon. Yes! the GK has his own theme song, composed, played, recorded and all that just for him (and the dragons, too!)

12. Parentheses (obviously).

Loving something right now?

hrh

What I Did This Week

2011-03-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

1. Had a debate with a 12 year-old over which book was better: CATCHING FIRE or MOCKINGJAY. (I was for CF myself.) It's pretty cool to have literary discussions with kids. I might just like them better than with adults, because with kids, you get to a point in the discussion where you just have to draw your wand or your lightsaber, you know? Grown-ups don't always get that. They just want to talk things out. What gives?

2. Had take-out twice. One time burritos. One time sub sandwiches. Neither was great, but there was just no time to make food this week.

3. Acted as backstage chaperone for highschool choral show. (Actually, I haven't really done that yet. I have to do it tonight....in a few minutes to be exact. Wish me luck. I'll need it.)

4. Oh, and this:

Yes, that is a little toilet seat on the very top of the wagon. Don't ask.

The Good Knight (and his mustache) direct the wagon packing.

The annual Good Knight/Read Across America Play at my school. This year, we did the brand new story: A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST. It was really tons of fun, probably because there was lots of falling down. Except for me. I didn't fall down, though I did get a squirt gun to the face and a gigantic fluffy-puffy marshmallow stuffed in my mouth. Good times. Oh, to live in your own story, even for a moment. Sigh.

What did you do this week?

hrh

The Auld Sod

2011-03-01T18:46:00.000-08:00

When my daughter Isabelle was 12 she qualified for the World Championships of Irish Dance which were held in the west of Ireland.

We could barely afford it. We scraped together enough to send her and Sean (my husband) to Ennis. She was the first from my side of the family to back to Ireland, the first to touch her foot on Irish soil since my forefathers (and foremothers) bravely sailed across the ocean to create a new life in America.

The first to touch her foot...how appropriate that her feet came back to dance!

So, just a peek into Irish dance life. This is the trailer for the film Jig, a new documentary that releases in Ireland in April.

Here's hoping it will come to America. You can imagine how jazzed we are!

(Shhhhh, I am going to tell you a secret. There is a little bit of Irish dancing in The Seven Tales of Trinket, but you will have to wait until 2012 to read it. But, um, there is not any big, Shirley Temple hair.)

Happy March!

hrh

Progress

2011-02-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

This week, my executive brown chair and I became closer than ever.

Perhaps too close.

There was no school this week due to a little thing called "ski week." True.

I only know one person who was actually going skiing. Everyone else......well, off to do fabulous things. For example, my boss went to ROME! Yes, that Rome. The one with the Colosseum and all of that cool Roman stuff.

I am trying hard not to be jealous.

I mean, I got to do something cool, too.

I got to sit in my chair.

A lot.

The first half of the week, I spent revising Keelie of the Lake before it went off to my writing group. (I have a love/hate relationship with sending stuff to readers....so terrifying and yet completely freeing. Nice to have something out of your own hands for a bit.) But not five minutes after I finish, the line-edits for Trinket arrive.

Line-edits.

What is a line-edit? I wish I could scan a page and show you, but that would take precious time away from me and my chair...I mean, I would have to stand up and go over to the scanner....too much time away from chair.

We are as one now, executive brown chair and I.

But a line edit is when your editor lets you know that you used the word looked already three times on the same page, and perhaps you should save italics for when you really need them, and my, aren't you fond of those little dots....(there they are again!) and how can your character possibly see if the other character gulped when you said on page 137 that she is behind the character? And how could she pull such and such from her pocket on 198 if she left it on the table on 195? And you explained the situation this way on page 145, yet this way on 215...which is it? (You used those dots again!) Can you tone down the hungry bits? Your characters are always starving.

In other words, line edits for me = hard work. Brain work.

But I am getting there.

I'd like to have the line-edits done in a few weeks. Hopefully. March is one crazy month. (Remember, I am the mother of Irish dancers.) And next week, my lovely Writing Club 5th graders are performing the world premiere of A GOOD KNIGHT'S REST to kick off Read Across America.

And one of my babies has a birthday in early March.

Busy, busy, busy.

(Shhhhh...I kind of have an idea for a new picture book.....shhhhh....not allowed to work on it now or anything.........or am I?)

Get back to work.

Uh oh. Executive brown chair is bugging. Sheesh.

hrh

I am a Big Faker....

2011-02-22T17:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I wonder if I even deserve to be a writer.

What if people find out what a fake I am?

I mean....there are literary classics that I hated (sorry, Herman Melville, I just couldn't get into the whole Captain Ahab thing.....and Nathaniel Hawthorne, well, at least The Scarlet Letter was kind of short) and worse, there are literary classics that I haven't yet read (I can't even put this in a regular-sized font....Pride and Prejudice*). I write only the stuff I feel like writing, and when it gets tough, I just get up and have a non-healthy snack or something. No important stuff flies from my fingertips on to my outdated laptop. Just stuff that amuses me. And speaking of outdated computers, I've got no twitter, no facebook, no I-pod upon which to create my playlist......What in the world makes me think I can or should be an author?

And yet, here I am, still chasing the dream. Still writing my books because there is nobody that says I can't. And I guess that is my message today, to myself as much as anyone. There IS nobody who says you can't.

Only yourself.

And as long as you can sit down with the blank page, just the two of you, and create something where moments before there was nothing, then you are a writer. As long as put the time in typing the words, learning from the mistakes, trying everyday to make the words string together more beautifully than the day before, you are a writer. As long as the ideas in your head create an undeniable urge to touch pen to paper, regardless of how messy and wild that writing may be, you are a writer.

So, um, that's where I am today. Hope the words help you if you find yourself in the same spot.

hrh

*Here's the dilemma with P and P. What if I read it and hate it? Then I'll just looks like one of those hoity-toity "Oh, Jane Austen is so bourgeoius" people or something like that. Sure, I'll probably like it...but my expectations are HUGE. I mean, it's just about everybody's favorite book. So, that is why I choose to remain ignorant. It's supposed to be bliss, right?

Real Entry From the Writing Journal-Poetry

2011-02-18T18:46:00.000-08:00

Jane Yolen (one of my favorite writers) is trying to write a poem a day for 2011.

A poem a day. Wow.

I can't even write a poem a month. And that started me thinking.........

True life journal entry, 2/7/11

I was a poet before

I was a storyteller

and that is the truth.

Ironic.

A poem to bemoan the fact

that poems rarely

find me these days.

That is because I

am the one

who must seek them,

isn't that so?

Poetry has not called to me

on the wings of an old black owl

or in the glimmer of a moonbeam

or from the depths of my marrow

for a long, long time.

True, I do listen

and search

and quest

for the words that play upon

my tongue,

teeth

and lips.

But they are words

that serve the story,

whispers that breathe life

into the tale.

They exist for a purpose

apart from themselves.

I want to open my eyes

to see the images that

wait, quietly

for a poem

to come.

Instead, it is only my ears

that are alive...

and they hear

but fleeting echoes.

So, um, I don't even know what that is up there. But I do know that I want and need more poetry in my life. Maybe everybody needs more poetry in their lives. Again, ironic because I write bits of poems with kids every day, but I discard them like those little shreds left behind when someone tears the page out of the spiral. (Note: those little things really need a name. Shredlets?) I need to keep those bits of poems. I need to start seeing life as a poem...or a series of poems.

I want the poet inside of myself not to be so intimidated by the storyteller.

hrh

Coming Full Circle

2011-02-15T17:32:00.000-08:00

First of all, the winner of a prize pack including:

Cool mini-bookmarks!

A Cold Winter's Good Knight!

A mini blank book for saving ideas!

A reusable LOVE shopping bag!

Karen Akins!

So, Karen, just email me at storyqueen at gmail dot com with your address and I will send your package right out.

Now for other things.

Twice within the past week, I have been visited from spirits from my own past. (Not in aCharles Dickens kind of way, but in an oh, yes, I remember that person I used to be kind of way).

I used to be a very young teacher in a school called Monte Vista in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I used to teach a combination class of first and second graders. But one year, I think my third year of teaching altogether (which would have made be about 23 or 24), I got to teach a second/ third combination. Oh, I loved this class. It was very diverse in many ways. And the kids were such fun. Imagine my surprise when I got an email from one of them the other day! Not only did I remember him (who must be around the same age I was when I taught him) but I remembered me, that young, idealistic teacher who thought she could make a go of being a teacher, who thought maybe she could make a difference in the lives of kids.

I am so honored that you remembered me, H.

And then, gmail held yet another surprise for me. I got a letter from a coach of a speech team in Iowa asking if a student could perform my story, GOOD NIGHT, GOOD KNIGHT for a show. Have I ever mentioned that I was PRESIDENT of the Speech and Debate Team? (Seriously, you are not surprised, are you? I mean, if you'd ever met me in person you wouldn't be surprised.) My claim to fame was a piece I performed which used over ten different voices. I think it was The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber. And now, one of my stories is getting the speech team treatment! And with that little thrill, I was visited again by a teenage girl who practiced funny voices and planned outfits to wear to Speech Tournaments (yes! Tournaments!) that wouldn't look too business-like nor too casual, the girl who could memorize a new story in less than a day if necessary, the girl who wrote her own speeches and practiced while she vacuumed so no one would hear her. Teenage me was so confident and so completely non-confident at the same time.

Sigh.

The funny thing is, I should feel older. I haven't been a teenager or a twenty-something for quite a while.

But I don't. I just feel a bit strange and protective of these earlier versions of me...and how glad I am that they never gave up their hope, idealism or silly voices.

hrh

Belated Thank You, I am a Cheapo, and a Giveaway

2011-02-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

First, I want to thank all of the fabulous folks who brought their children out to Barnes and Noble in Oceanside to support Mission Meadows Elementary School. What a great event. It was lovely to see so many kids so excited about reading! This is my third year appearing for Mission Meadows and I can tell you that I'll absolutely be back for a fourth.

On the I-am-a-cheapo front, I thought it would be nice to have some bookmarks to hand out at the booksigning and I only had a few left from the batch I made up for ALA (and they were kind of giant....not what I had in mind for an event like this) so I thought I would enlist my old pal, vistaprint. However, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make a reasonably sized bookmark on vistaprint. Either a postcard or a business card or a brochure. That is what you get.

"Darn!" says I.

"There must be a way!" says I.

Just then, my inner-cheapo (who hangs around a LOT) said, "Why don't you just do a vertical business card, punch a little hole in the end, add some ribbon and voila! You have a little mini-bookmark!"

I love my inner-cheapo. (One time my IC convinced me to make my daughter's Irish Dance Dress. These things run about 1,000-3,000 bucks. Seriously. I had many people ask me who my dressmaker was! Just me and my glue gun.....hahahaha.)

And I love mini-things. Tiny little donuts......Lego people....itty-bitty cupcakes.....who doesn't like little things?

So, I took the advice of my inner-cheapo and made the most adorable bookmark/business cards EVER.

Very pleased with myself.

Now to the giveaway part. You, yes, YOU can get some of these bookmarks for yourself. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL.

You can get one of these:

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

You also get a lovely reusable shopping bag that says LOVE and a cool little blank book to fill with your own ideas.

And the only thing you have to enter is to leave a comment about why you love dragons....or knights.....or both.

Oh, and promise not to tweet about the contest. Just kidding. I don't have twitter, so I'd never know anyway. I just wanted to put something in about twitter so I would look cool.

Which I am not.

But I am okay with it. I mean, I am royalty....so that kind of trumps cool in some places.

hrh

P.S. Contest ends February 14th, the LOVE day, at 11:59 p.m. I'll randomly select a winner from the sugar bowl of despair.

Inner Dork Revealed

2011-02-07T19:52:00.001-08:00

I.Am.A.Dork.

It's true.

I mean, who else but a total dork like myself would get so excited to receive this in the mail?

Yes. I know. I complain that I have no time to put a dirty dish in the dishwasher....but now I can make my own CAULDRON CAKES!! And Guinness Stew for Children (wha?)

Anyway, I am jubilant with my dorky little purchase, which would be more understandable were I twelve. But I am a far cry from twelve and yet, I am in the midst of planning my great-hall-style-feast!

And then, as if that weren't enough, I am in love with this:

I mean, don't you just love this little guy?

What dorky things do you love?

hrh

Who Do You Write For Part #2

2011-02-03T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is the middle-grade novel edition.

When I am working on a novel, I am not writing for the Queen (shhhhhh!! Don't tell her. She might be listening.)

I am writing for the child I once was.

I am writing the book I wanted to read when I was eleven.

Eleven year-old Me was such a little conundrum. I loved watching Star Trek re-runs with my dad (the really old ones. "Why does it look like Mr. Spock is wearing eyeshadow, Daddy?"), and found Monty Python hilarious when I sneaked a peek of it on PBS. (More than once. And just for the record, the parrot WAS dead.)

Eleven year-old Me still played with dolls sometimes. Barbies. Yeah, I know...but they really did have them back then. I wanted a princess dress badly, but never, ever had one. And I thought it would be cool to be a general (nice medals) or a super-hero (flying power and super-strength, please.)

Eleven year-old Me created stuff all the time. Seriously, all the time. I loved projects, messes and art...and baking cookies.

I lived in my head a lot.

I was rarely bored.

Don't get me wrong-- I have not written a book with Star Trek or Barbies or Generals in it (yet). My current book is a far, far cry from such things. However, it is still for eleven year-old ME, that little girl that I knew so well. She would have loved something different from what other kids were reading. She would have loved the adventurousness of the MC and the quiet magic that unfolds with the story.

I think she would have read my story more than once. She would have dreamed she was the girl in my story when she closed her eyes.

hrh

The REAL Truth about Picture Books

2011-01-31T17:50:00.000-08:00

Despite my A in college Calculus (yeah....I like to throw that in from time to time....even though it was probably a grade calculation error on the part of the professor.....but it makes me feel smarter if only for a moment....) I am not really a math person. However, I am about to do the impossible. I am going to attempt to numerically quantify that odd beast known as the Writing of the Picture Book.

I come up with about 4 REALLY GOOD picture book ideas a month. Really, really good ones. Ones I wish were already on the shelves so I could grab them and read them to my students over and over and over again. And again. (I mean, these are great ideas.)

Do the math: 4 ideas x 12 months = 48 ideas per year.

However, I am really only able to actually write about 1/4 of them. (Not due to lack of trying!!!) I mean, some of these ideas are just too rascally to get a grip on. The image of a greased pig comes to mind. I try and write most of them, but due to wrong voice, loss of initial excitement, inability to make it all come together and did I mention wrong voice, (for often I am not the right writer for the idea I have hatched) I come up with a fraction of manuscripts based upon my ideas.

Do the math: 48 ideas divided by 4 = 12 semi-viable manuscripts.

Not bad, you are saying. 12 manuscripts a year is not bad at all. But remember, my friends, these are picture book manuscripts. PBs. Yeah, I saw that grin slowly leave your face. Because this is where all of the laws of mathematics no longer apply.

Enter the variables. (Cue menacing music)

Timing-Timing is everything in PB publishing. Maybe you have the shiniest most perfect manuscript, but it is just the wrong time for it....or you walk into your local bookstore and see another one almost like it was just published....or it takes so long for the publishing process that by the time your idea even gets read, the idea is no longer current.

Preference- Just because I think my 12 mss are viable, doesn't mean my agent thinks they are all equally salable. (Some are more equal than others.) And it doesn't mean that she can go out and try to schlep all 12 at once. People will get tired of seeing my stuff....I mean even Mo Willems isn't coming out with 12 new books every year. You have to make some choices and prioritize.

And editors have their preferences, too. I got a rejection for Good Night, Good Knight from an editor saying that dragons had been done. But then Lucia Monfried at Dutton really, really liked the idea, and that is how my first easy reader came into being.

Luck- Nobody controls luck, and this is perhaps the mosts encouraging thing I can think to say about picture books. Luck is some wild cowboy riding an untamed stallion that shows up late, if he even shows up at all, but when he does, smiling his cowboy smile and tipping his hat, IT IS WORTH IT.

Do the math: 12 manuscripts + Timing +Preference + Luck = Maybe Something Wonderful. Sometimes.

Now, don't get discouraged!! Keep your chin up!! I am not telling you aspiring picture book writers to throw in the towel. Quite the opposite. Keep writing and write some more. If you want to stack the odds in your favor, then start stacking up some more manuscripts! The more chances you give yourself to get lucky, the luckier you will be.

Success comes to those who never give up.

hrh

P.S. These are some books I had a similar idea for, but wasn't lucky enough to get a decent draft done and well, I probably wasn't the right writer for them anyway. But look....my loss is their gain!!

Check this out here. (Except I called mine The Adventures of Stick Boy...and I never finished but two chapters. Curses!)

And check this out here. (Except mine was called Ballerhino....but the gist was similar, giant animal takes ballet with kids.....sigh.)

I could go on, but the reality is that when a great idea comes to you and you put it on the back burner, somebody else is probably already frying it up into breakfast.

Who Do You Write For? Part #1

2011-01-27T06:08:00.001-08:00

I write for me.

There, I said it. Truthfully, it's not that I don't care about what other people think. It's not that I don't care about other people in general or anything. For goodness sake, I am a teacher....dedicated my life to other people's kids and all that. It's just that when I write, my first audience (and my most important audience) is me.

That being said, there are different MEs that I write for. (Not that I have a split personality....at least I don't think I do....I mean, I'd know, right? Or maybe just one of my personalities knows and the other, the blogging one, is hopelessly in the dark....hmmm.) Anyway, back to the different MEs.

When I write a picture book, I am writing for teacher/StoryQueen Shelley. She wants a book that:

she can read billions times aloud and not get sick of.
she can use funny voices with (most of the time).
inspires kids to want to join in (especially the repetitive bits)
makes kids laugh.
makes kids have that glassy-eyed there-is-nothing-in-the-universe-but-this-story look when they listen to it.
makes kids laugh (did I say that already?)
plays with language in a way that reminds her what a fabulous thing books are.
has a magical combination of the simple and the complex.
asks kids to think, or maybe make connections with their own lives somehow.

Now, of course, I am considering my kid audience in all of these areas....but it is the Queen that calls the shots. It is her perception of how my book will measure up when she is on the front lines that guides my writing. She loves when she reads to kids and THEY love it. She loves when a book just BEGS to be read aloud.

She is not always easy to please....but she knows her stuff. (Uh-oh, I am talking about myself in 3rd person....I DO have a split personality! Crud.)

Who do you write for?

hrh

Winners and Strange Dreams

2011-01-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

I used the Sugar Bowl of despair to help me determine the winner of SOMEWHERE TODAY: a BOOK OF PEACE. (Okay, so I just put lots of little slips of paper in the bowl and picked one out.)

The winner is:

Kelly Polark!!

So, Kelly, drop me an e-mail at storyqueen at gmail dot com with your address and I'll get your book and bag out to you asap.

And now for something completely different:

Recent Strange Dreams

1. I dreamed I was being pursued by a strange little wolf boy. He was kind of terrifying. (Understatement, in the dream I was COMPLETELY terrified of him...however when I picture him now, he looks like Max from WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE but with blond hair. Meh.)

There was a moment in the dream when he was outside and suddenly he put his hand/paw against a dark window pane. I just might have the kind of noise you make in a dream when you are really hoping someone will wake you up. Not quite a scream, but.....kind of a weird breathing, snorting noise.

2. I dreamed Neil Gaiman and his wife came over for dinner but I lived in a treehouse instead of my real house. Living in a treehouse was COOL! However, I was too embarrassed to ask Neil to sign my copy of THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. Wha?

(If you are wondering what we ate, it was some kind of chicken with an orange-looking sauce...maybe a red curry. With rice. Neil and Amanda seemed to like it.)

3. I dreamed I was on a boat and I had to get down to San Diego, but the boat just wouldn't move. At all. (Woke up in a bad mood after that one, I can tell you.)

Um..yeah.

Strange dreams anyone?

hrh

The Love List

2011-01-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was reading Natalie Whipple's blog and her guest blogger was Stephanie Perkins. The topic was Love Lists, ie: the list you make about your WIP of stuff that you LOVE...the stuff that made you write the book in the first place....the stuff that helps keep you grounded.

I just went through a very intense revision on The Seven Tales of Trinket and while I was adding the finishing touches, it really helped me to make such a list.

So, here it is:

*a quest for tales and truths

*a girl with the blood of a teller in her veins

*a pig boy

*the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter

*magical sealskins

*a ghostly child with long white hair

*a harp made of a whale bone, strung with a long, golden hair

*a coin for bargaining

*a brave hound

*a highwayman

*a man in a smoke grey cloak

*and a haunting lullaby that binds everything together

So, there's my love list. I highly recommend trying this. It really helped me focus. If you try one for your WIP, let me know. I'd love to read it!

hrh

I Have a Dream.....and a Book Giveaway

2011-01-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

I wrote this book, SOMEWHERE TODAY: A BOOK OF PEACE, after I dreamed about a small book that showcased the small things that people do that actually make the world better.

Because really, every single day we are faced with choices that can, in the end, make our world a better place to be.

Or not.

When I woke up, I really wanted to get this book that I dreamed existed for my class. I was teaching first and second graders at the time and well.....it was that point in the year where they couldn't even look at each other and not complain. I wanted to read them a book that accentuated the positive.

Uh....you totally dreamed that book. It isn't real.

So, um...write it. Make it real.

And so I did.

SOMEWHERE TODAY: a BOOK OF PEACE first came out in 1998 and it is still in print (yay!). It is a recommended book by the Anti-Defamation League and is the subject of countless letters I get from teachers and librarians. When the tragedy that was 9-11 took place, I got letters from many schools telling me that my little book helped their students feel empowered again. We might not have control over what other people do in our world, and the terrible choices they might make, but we do have control over our own actions. Somewhere Today someone is choosing to be a friend instead of fighting....maybe it is you.

And it is through these small actions that our world becomes better. For everyone.

And so, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream, I am giving away a copy of my book, and also a reusable shopping bag that says PEACE.

Just leave a comment and I will enter you. The winner will be drawn at random and announced next weekend.

hrh

Randomness

2011-01-13T06:16:00.000-08:00

1. When is U2 going to come out with a new CD?

2. My house is too cold. I live in SoCal. There is no excuse.

3. Too many good books to read, no time to crack them open. sigh.

4. How is it even possible that there are 12 books on my tiny desk? And a lamp, laptop, manuscript pages, bookmark....oh, and a Christmas card I accidentally addressed to myself and mailed. Way to go, self.

5. There is a vase with flowers on my mantle that is from before Christmas. It looks like a haunted bouquet.

6. French fries after 9:00 p.m. = bad idea.

7. One side of my nose might be getting a cold.

8. In a recent unscientific poll of 4th and 5th grade boys, the following things are funny:

Poop

Pee

Catapults

Exploding ducks

Men with hairy backs

Anyone named Bob

Pie

9. I have to get ready for work so I can do a retelling of the Japanese folktale The Crane Wife to fourth graders today. There is a part when the tension builds and they just know something is going to happen (because IT IS) and, well....I like to drag it out until their eyes are all glassy and big.....then I SCARE them.

Some days, my job is better than others.

hrh

ALA......How did I not know about this?

2011-01-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

The ALA Midwinter Conference is in San Diego this weekend. I found out from another blogger about a month or so ago (which is a great reason to read blogs, I might add, to keep up with stuff you would otherwise have no idea was going on.)

So, since I have a new picture book coming out in June, I thought to myself, Self, you should get some bookmarks made and take them to the Penguin booth, you know, just as a Preview of Coming Attractions kind of thing.*

I mean, why not let the librarians of America know, right? How are they going to order my book for their libraries if they don't know about it?

So, I waltz in to the exhibit hall with my trusty little stack and deliver them to the nice folks at Penguin (who were very nice, by the way, and put my little bookmarks right up in front. Of course, they may have moved them later, but at least for a few moments, I was right there next to Ladybug Girl.)

The next thing I know, I am being piled up with awesome swag and ARCs! Like tons. I mean, WOW.

My arms hurt so bad after lugging those bags around, and all the way back to my far, far away car. They still kind of hurt today.

So what did I get?

Across the Universe by Beth Revis!

Like Mandarin by Kirsten Hubbard!

and

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood!

Just to name a few. (Actually, I now have seventeen ARCs. Seventeen, baby!)

I could have gotten more probably, but I felt tres greedy taking what I did. I mean, it is so weird, watching people pick up books, read the back and then put it back down in the stack. My brain is screaming, It is a FREE BOOK!! Take it, fool, take it!!

And then, of course, my own arms got so tired and achy, I found myself being a little more choosy as well. (All the more reason to have a great cover. I picked books that had great covers or that I had read something about on a blog. Yay blog power!!)

Anyway, off to read and do that which I promised not to mention.

hrh

And yes, it is too greedy to keep all of these to myself. I will be passing them on, so watch for giveaways.

*Sometimes publishers make them for you, and sometimes you get to make them yourself, if you want them. I just made my first ones and it was more fun than I expected!

Well played, Universe, well played

2011-01-05T22:09:00.000-08:00

So.....hahahaha.....my one and only New Year's Resolution was to laugh more, right?

I thought the Universe would have a hard time twisting it into something that I'd regret.

I underestimated you, Universe. (A mistake I'll not make again.)

This is what happened:

I am kind of revising more than one piece right now (I promise to NOT mention revision at ALL in my next post) and a comment I received was that a particular part of a particular book needs to be funnier. That's right. FUNNIER. As in MORE HILARIOUS.

Seriously?

Not 5 days after I decide I need to laugh more, the Universe is telling me that I'm just not funny enough.

Oh, you cruel Guardian of the Giggle.

Universe, you win this round.

However, I am not defeated! I will rise up and....aaaauuuugggghhhh!! SPLAT!!!

Er...um...just slipped on a banana peel.

(Yeah, I know. Lame-o.)

hrh

2011: The Year of Revision (and a talisman)

2011-01-02T20:22:00.000-08:00

Sorry.

It's like all I've posted about lately is revision.

That's because if I don't get my butt in gear, I won't have anytime for writing new things this year at all. I'll just be spending my time polishing up old stuff.

Well, not really old stuff...but old as in not the first draft.

I love the first draft.

But alas, first I have to finish revising The Seven Tales of Trinket for my editor. I just finished what I think is the hardest part just a few minutes ago. Yay! We'll see in the next few days if I like what I did or if it is lame-o. (I am afraid to ask Harrison Ford. You see, he'll just say something smart aleck-y like,"If you have to ask, then you know the answer already....")

Next, I have to do the first revision of Keelie of the Lake. I finished the first draft in the fall (yay!) but just as I was going to dig into revisions (so that I can see if it even makes sense) I got the editorial letter for Trinket. So I put it on the back burner until Trinket is done.

After Keelie, I need to revise Wren Faire, a story that I really loved when I wrote it last year, but I think needs some over-hauling. I had written it as a YA, but I am just not sure if I am a YA author or not. I want to play with this piece a bit...change the ages of the MCs and see what happens. I am so excited to tinker around...but not until I finish other things.

THEN I want to play with a new draft of something kind of weird, but that might require some research on my part. (Finally, a story with a chimpanzee butler, you are saying to yourself. Admit it.)

My goal is to finish Trinket by the end of the month, then get one round done with Keelie by the end of February. I am giving myself a bit more time to play with Wren, but I'd still like a revised version by the end of April. That would leave me and chimpanzee butler the spring and summer to play together!

Big goals. I thought I needed a talisman, you know, for inspiration. So I bought the tiniest glass dragon today named Onyx that came with this little biography:

Onyx the black dragon likes to do magic tricks and is intrigued by legends of powerful sorcerers. He spends his evenings studying alchemy and making potions in his kitchen. Onyx has an abundance of curiosity and likes to explore the world around him. He encourages others to think outside the box as well.

So I guess I'm all set.

hrh

Resolutions From The Revisionist

2010-12-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

I always worry about New Years Resolutions. I mean, they are in that barrel of monkeys called the-be-careful-what-you-wish-for.......you-just-might-get-it category. I mean, if you resolve to be more patient, does that mean that the universe is going to send you lots more opportunities in which you HAVE to be patient? If you resolve to lose weight, do you end up with a tapeworm or something which MAKES you lose weight?

Be careful what you wish for.....

Last year, I resolved to stop using the word DUDE. Just stop. Cold turkey. And I did pretty well...except that then there were so many experiences thrown at me that simply REQUIRED the use of the word DUDE (in a bit of a disparaging way....naturally.)

And I resolved to eat more vegetables, not realizing that the state would cut the education budget in a way that will pretty much force teachers to start their own victory gardens if they want to feed their families. (Okay, yes, I am exaggerating some....but be careful what you wish for.....veggies will soon be all many of us can afford.)

So this year, I am resolving to laugh more. Just laugh. A lot. And then some more.

I am trying to figure out a way the universe can spin this one....maybe I'll go all mental and end up laughing about pots and pans in some padded little room somewhere....ugh.

I sign this post The Revisionist because that's what my writing goals revolve around. Revision. A lot. And then some more.

But more on the writing goals next time. Right now I have to go and laugh at all of the dog poop my daughter's sleepover pals are tracking into my house......ha.....ha.......(it's not coming out right....) ha......ha...

The Revisionist

The Space Between

2010-12-27T09:13:00.000-08:00

What I got for Christmas:

No, not actually Harry....just Harry's wand. Oh, I have wanted a wand for such a long time. I went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter over the summer, but the wait to get into Olivander's was four hours or something equally absurd. Four hours? In Florida? In July?

No. I think not.

But my wonderful kiddos decided that it was just plain wrong for me to remain wandless. So far, I have stupified everyone in the house....and disarmed them.....and, conjured countless patronuses (or is the plural patroni?). Now I just need to wave it over my revisions:

Finisho

Deleto junko

Reworko chaptero sixo

Um...yeah.

I also got this:

And folks, this is so ultimately cool. You are not going to believe this, but on the lightsaber page, the lightsabers actually light up!!!

Now I just need to use the sabers to whack off about 2 chapters in my book......

Sensing a theme here?

Yes, I am revising.

And not on my own, but with the help of a very smart, very pointed, very helpful editorial letter.

Except that it is not easy. I keep having to remind myself that I need to look through future readers' eyes this time...not just my own. Future YOUNG readers.

And sometimes less is more....but the word count keeps creeping up.....

Hence the need for wands and lightsabers.

hrh

P.S. I also got chocolate, lots of it, you know, to recover from dementor attacks and such. I find that chocolate with salted caramel does the trick amazingly well.