I am off tomorrow morning for a super fun author school visit in League City, at Bauerschlag Elementary, and then on to The Woodlands, Texas, for the amazing Montgomery County Book Festival.
I’m also putting the finishing touches on my line edits for my second novel, Nightingale’s Nest, and finalizing my discussion questions/teacher guide for The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy… SO BUSY! But I had to post some pictures of the most wonderful thank you notes I got in the mail from Barton Hills Elementary this week.
I think you’ll agree that these are the cutest thank yous in the history of gratitude. And, kids? This sort of artwork and sweet sentiments make an author’s busy days smell as sweet as roses.
I’m not sure if any of you who write middle grade or young adult fiction will be interested in this (I hope you ALL will be!)… but I am the featured author this coming month at the excellent Adventures in YA and Children’s Publishing blog contest!
Yes, you can win the dubious honor of having ME critique your first five pages. I promise to say something more than “um, yeah. I like it.”
For contest details, click through this link. You have to sign up on the second Saturday of the month, and only the first five manuscripts excerpts will be accepted. (Five lucky winners!) And then you have to be willing to revise, submit your revisions, and have me hack at them, I mean, offer even more constructive criticism on the revisions. 🙂
Seriously, this should be fun and useful – but read the fine print to make sure you enter everything correctly to be considered!
Now I have to go think about kittens, or eat cake, since this all makes me a teensy bit nervous.
Or maybe I’ll just shoot on over to the Cabinet of Curiosities blog, and read a lovely story by Claire Legrand about some very special cake. (I love this new blog! Such scary stories. Like a box of chocolate-covered fingers. Yum!)
I’ve been having so much fun the past few weeks! Too much fun to update my blog, honestly. But here I am, with pictures to make you jealous… or inspire you. Or to stare at when you’re supposed to be working. (Am I getting closer?)
So, this month I’ve been doing Official Writer Things. First off, the Lodge of Death Writing Retreat, where I spent time with some amazing writers (who are also some of my favorite people in the world).
I need fabulous author Jenny Moss to live next door to me forever. Love her!
Samantha Clark and Jo Whittemore look appropriately impressed at Salima Alikhan's reading.
Writers in the front... dead things in the back. So much death at this retreat...
We ate, we drank, we wrote, we read… we stared at dead things.
With some lipstick, it could work as a metaphor for some of my old manuscripts.
Also present (as moral support) was the super fabulous Cynthia Leitich Smith, who hates it when people post photos of her on their blogs.
But it's such a great picture. How can I resist?!
And to wrap up, I presented at a local elementary school for two fifth grade classes, who were amazingly polite, attentive, and prepared.
Barton Hills is awesome!
I have a bunch of other events coming up in the next two weeks, including a school visit in League City, the Montgomery County Book Festival, and… oh, I don’t know, my line edits for Nightingale’s Nest to finish?
BUSY ME! I hope you’re having as much fun as I am, busy or not. Write well!
For Christmas, my mom gave me a crock pot. At first, I thought this was strange. Also, at second, I thought it was strange. “I have two crock pots, Mom. You know this.”
“But you don’t have this one,” she said. “This crock pot will change your life.”
Yes, my mom really, really likes this new brand of crock pot.
She called me every day after Christmas. “Have you used your new crock pot yet?”
“No,” I’d say. “I haven’t gotten it out of the box yet.” Or, “I haven’t read the manual.” And finally, “I can’t figure out how to turn it on.”
Don’t judge me, people. It’s a difficult crock pot to master.
I finally made soup in it yesterday. It was… fine. The soup was good. I could have used my regular soup pot. Did the crock pot change my life?
No. But it is a very good crock pot, with some extremely fancy non-stick action, and some other nice features. It may not have changed my life, but it gave me another tool to help get dinner on the table. (And as writer-cooks know, it gets dinner cooked without the typical “Oh, no, I burned the meal again, quick let’s order pizza” that usually accompanies a meal cooked while the Muse is sending Shiny New Ideas your way.)
I’ve been asked to speak in a couple of weeks about how to motivate yourself to keep writing, no matter what. Aside from “I need to make rent,” there are a lot of motivational strategies. Some involve punitive measures.Some involve kittens. There are thousands of ways, hundreds of blog posts with great advice.
But none of them are perfect for everyone. Not a single one is a surefire way for EVERY writer to keep going, to get back to the page with regularity. Not every great new idea is life-changing for me, even if it may be for every other writer in the world.
Some of them, however, are very good. Many of them are like my new crock pot – a new, effective tool that – while it may not change my life – will make certain recipes/projects easier.
So, what did you get for Christmas, if you celebrate it? Did any of you get a life-changing gift? Or a crock pot?
And if you have any great advice (other than punishment and kittens) for helping writers keep writing, I’d love to hear that, too! I’ll share it with the Writer’s League of Texas in a couple of weeks.
Hi, friends! I spent New Year’s Day with the flu (although it may have been the bubonic plague. I swear I was sicker than any flu could cause), and I’m still recovering, so not much to report. But I’m very excited about some things coming up, including the Montgomery County Book Festival. In fact, I’m pulling copies of books off my own shelves to get signed by some of my favorite authors ever. Exciting! I’ll try to remember not to act like a total fangirl.
If you’ve read my book, you pretty much know I think a little scary is perfectly fine for kids. This month, I wrote an essay for Hunger Mountain where I expand on that a bit. 🙂
What an interesting week! Aside from personal ickiness (like getting my car broken into), it’s been pretty amazing.
I was invited to speak to two undergraduate classes in the College of Education at Texas State University by Professor Dianne Pape. Her classes were attentive, curious, and willing to believe almost anything I told them about fairy tales and how best to brainwash kids with them. I mean, how best to keep the cultural tradition alive.
(On a side note, Dianne introduced me as an “expert in fairy tales.” Which made me laugh so hard! And then, about twenty questions into the Q&A, I realized – I may not be an expert yet… but I’m getting there.)
It was fun to have a soapbox so readily provided, in such an amazing forum, to share my (extremely fervently held) beliefs that fairy tales – especially the original, un-sanitized ones- are truly valuable for children.
And then, today, the illustrious Association for Library Service to Children handed me another soapbox, on an even larger stage, to say some of those same things. So, what do you think? Have you noticed kids are less and less exposed to fairy tales? Why do you think that might be?
I’d love to hear from you, in their comments section or mine.
And – while you’re at it – what is your favorite obscure fairy tale? I’m trying to become an expert, you see, and I’d love to see which classic tales resonated with my writer friends/blog readers. And if you can tell me WHY you love a fairy tale, I’ll send you a bookmark and stickers in the mail!
Or at least it feels like I’m everywhere this month! I just finished doing a handful of amazing festivals, library conferences, school visits, and book clubs this month. (I’ll attach a bunch of random pictures below, just for fun. And also because I haven’t had time to do blog posts for each of these!)
But, back to the crazy appearance schedule. Next up? The launch party for the amazing anthology, Dear Teen Me. A bunch of authors (me included) are teaming up to make this either the most amazing or the most awkward book shindig ever. I mean, it has to be awkward. We’re revealing our teen secrets, and wearing our old prom dresses.
Or wait, and see a whole bunch of super duper Texas authors (and me, too) at the Texas Author Day in San Marcos, on November 18th. I’m excited about this event – so many authors I can’t wait to meet!
And that’s it until December, when I will be reading my adult, literary poetry at Bookpeople.
I know, I know. I can’t wait to see what that will be like either. Anyone have a black beret and turtleneck I can borrow? Mine are too small. (I’ve got to lay off the M&Ms…)
As promised, here are my random pictures!
Talking to awesome fans at the Book Spot!
More Book Spot loveliness...
My kindergarten teacher showed up for this! It was AWESOME.
Um, yeah. Me and AVI at the Texas Book Festival party. Oh. My. Gosh.
The absolutely delightful Apocalypsie Kristen Paige Madonia signed her debut book for me!
I have decided there aren't enough underpants in my books. And not enough inflatables at my appearances. 🙂
I have a million and a half more pics… but I’ll leave them for next time. I’ve got this book I’m supposed to be writing RIGHT NOW…
One of the coolest things about the writing life is the writer friends who come along with it. I met one of these amazing people, Lindsey Scheibe, at a SCBWI monthly meeting and critique session a few years back. She read from a manuscript she was working on, and I knew right then I wanted her for a critique partner – and a friend!
We’ve shared tears, laughter, soup and manuscripts – and now it is my great pleasure to share the cover of her upcoming debut novel, Riptide, with you!
Isn’t it gorgeous? It should be one of your Must Reads for next summer!
Here’s the super-short pitch:
A seventeen-year-old is training for a big surf competition — her ticket out of an abusive household — and trying desperately to keep from falling in love with her best friend.