HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The days between Thanksgiving and the New Year have a tendency to blur together... I lose track of which day of the week it is. Christmas was lovely -- quiet and wonderful. I used to get a bit melancholy on New Year's Eve but the last few years it hasn't bothered me as much. Instead of looking back at what I didn't do, I look forward to what I want to do the coming year. I don't make resolutions but I do think of goals -- usually writing goals. This year? It's very simple -- more time at the computer WRITING! Not thinking about writing, or reading about writing or talking about writing, but actually moving my fingers on the keyboard! And the first step toward making that a reality is to clean/organize this office! Hmmm, it seems I have that same goal at least every few months. This room is like a black hole -- everything gets sucked into it!

Good news about IPP! It comes out in paperback in April! Woo-Hoo!

I'm halfway through the mg novel revisions and have a new idea for a pb. It's hard to get the new idea from your brain to paper -- it never has the same "wowie-zowie" factor when it hits the light of day! BUT, my goal is to get a rough draft done, emphasis on the ROUGH, in the next week.

As much as I love the holidays, I'm always anxious to get back to a somewhat normal routine. That should happen next week...

Random Thoughts on a Tuesday

I LOVE Thanksgiving! No stress, no presents to buy, just sitting around the table eating waaaay too much. What could be better?

At the big family get-together the Sunday after Thanksgiving. I even recognized most of my relatives! There's always a "significant other" or two that I think might be a long-lost cousin...

I have the sketches for my next pb and they are adorable! The facial expressions really capture Emma's personality and emotions -- should get the color artwork very soon!

I took some time off from the novel revisions but plan to dive back in this week. But I did revise a pb and send it to my editor.

Painted the kitchen and dining room! A lovely color called "Prairie Dust." Yeah, that's a fancy-schmancy word for "tan." College son came home for the break and I handed him a paintbrush. He painted all the really high parts -- it's a vaulted ceiling. Can't wait to do more rooms!

SNOW. Enough said about that.

Big plans for today -- library run and grocery shopping. Woo-Hoo!

another one bites the dust!

I've been in several writing groups and they have all fallen apart at some point. Just like my most recent one. They all start out with a burst of enthusiasm, goal setting and camaraderie. Then the critiques get less helpful (or nonexistent) and those fun, lively discussions get rude and nasty. Why? It seems that the participants start to fall into 2 categories. Those that are seriously committed to improving their writing and what solid, honest feedback. And those that are writing for fun and want to hear that their story is "wonderful." There's nothing wrong with writing just for the sheer joy of creating but if you are writing to get published, you need to learn, study and follow some basic rules of fiction writing. Like POV, conflict, voice, playing fair with the reader, etc. It seems that some writers want to focus on STORY -- and that's the writer's group I want/need to be in. When the STORY doesn't matter as much as being "right" or making comments about the other people rather than the manuscript, it's time to leave. So, I left. Will I give up on writer's groups? Have I learned that they aren't really helpful? Will I work on my own now? Have I learned my lesson? Um, I guess not. Because I'm joining a new group that means during the day that will focus on improving our writing and getting published. Am I just an eternal optimist or a glutton for punishment? Only time will tell!

Amazing Retreat!

I spent last weekend at a Novel Revision Retreat and it was incredible! My head is still buzzing with ideas -- for both the novel I'm revising and my wip. D'Anne Love, Deborah Noyes Wayshak and Jamie Weiss Chilton (need I say more?) all had such concrete and valuable advice and were friendly and helpful all weekend long. Saturday night we had First Pages and they were the BEST ones I'd ever seen at a conference! And Deborah and Jamie were able to offer suggestions and comments reading them cold. That was impressive. The whole atmosphere was cozy, supportive and enthusiastic. I feel good about the revisions I need to do, and positive about the direction the wip is going. Remind me I said that when I am banging my head on my desk at some point in the future! The retreat was just the boost I needed to dive back into my writing. Let's hope I can keep that momentum going!

Pondering POV

Good news -- got a detailed revision letter from my editor for my mg novel! All her comments were reasonable and will make the story stronger -- IF I can make the changes. (that's the scary part!) She did suggest I try writing this story in third person instead of first person, and that's really got me thinking about POV. It's weird, my pbs are written in third person but when I write for older readers I switch to first person. I guess I like to make personal, funny (to me, at least!) remarks in first person. But, it would probably be easier to show the MC's emotions and how he changes if I wrote in third person. Oh, the decisions! I did rewrite the first chapter in third person and well, it seemed flat to me. Part of the problem is I've rewritten the first 3 chapters at least a zillion times and it's hard to get excited about them anymore. But, I was surprised that I started thinking about this story from different angles and directions. I came up with a new beginning. I always worry about being funny but this time I want to concentrate on the STORY and then see where the humorous bits fit. In my mind, the story could be deeper and richer -- I'm just not sure I can pull it off. We'll see. But I'm kind of excited about the story again and I'll need that to get me through the revisions. Instead of going over the manuscript line by line, I'm setting it aside and just opening a new file and writing the story in third person. I have no idea if it will work -- could be successful or could be a train wreck. Is there such a thing as a successful train wreck? Off I go, diving into the unknown!

Just for fun? What a concept!

My husband and I play in a pool league with another couple. He also plays on a different night in a serious league with serious players -- getting ready for the State Pool Tournament. Last time the two guys decided that OUR pool night was just for fun. We all sang to the jukebox (even though only one of us should be allowed to sing in public!) and we laughed and ate and oh, played some pool. Thursday pool nights are "just for fun pool." It got me thinking about how stressed I've been about my writing lately. I lost sight of the fact that it should be FUN! I need to lighten up and forget about editors and publishers and focus on story telling. Focus on how my characters do interesting and surprising things. How they say things that make me laugh out loud. If I focus on the story itself, I think writing will be fun again. And that would be a wonderful thing!

Super-Duper School Visit!

I had a marvelous time at Corse Elementary School in Burlington, IA on Wednesday! They were celebrating Constitution Day and they did it in style. They created a Hall of Honor which had photos of service men and women related to the students -- it was wonderful to hear them telling others about their military member! They also made a flag of handprints -- every student's hand is part of the flag -- very impressive! The students were so well behaved, attentive and full of questions I never wanted to leave.

Questions ranged from EASY: Where did you get your boots?
MEDIUM: How much does the Statue of Liberty weigh?
HARD: Why were we at war with England?

After my presentations and some quick (but fun!) visits with the kindergarten classes I attended their Constitution Day assembly. Wow. Fifth graders recited the preamble to the constitution and it gave me goosebumps. They also sang "American Anthem." The Principal played the guitar and led everyone in a sing-along of "This Land is Your Land!" There was a veteran sitting across from me and he was struggling not to cry listening to all those voices singing along...

Corse Elementary ROCKS! The students, the staff, everybody there was fantastic! One of the fifth grade classes went back to their room and wrote me letters so I got to bring them home with me -- Oh, they're wonderful! Thank you Mrs. Woods students!!!!

On the long drive home I just kept thinking of all those fabulous, curious and adorable students and said to myself "This is why I write for children."

And now I am pumped up to get back to my writing! Nothing gives you a boost like
spending the day with kids...

And if that wasn't enough, a reporter from the HawkEye came -- here's the link to an article about the day!

http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/constitution-day-091808

Road Trip!

I'm off to Burlington, IA for a school visit at Coarse Elementary School tomorrow for their Constitution Day -- and I can't wait! WOO-HOO! More details when I get back home...

Rain is a pain

I used to love to fall asleep listening to the gentle, lullaby sound of rain pitter-pattering on the roof. No more. Not after this summer's devastating flood. Instead, hearing rain during the night makes me nervous. I keep wondering when it will stop and if the river is rising. It's been 3 months since the flood and people are STILL mucking out buildings. And some of those that want to renovate and rebuild can't even though they've removed everything down to the bare beams. Because the beams are still wet! There are 3 plans to "redo" the riverbank and protect us from future floods -- all cost millions of $$$$$ and will take years. But, at least the city is moving in the right direction and working on recovering and rebuilding. No matter what plan is used, we'll never forget. And will probably all be nervous when it starts to rain.

Wonderful Wildlife

Ah, I was gazing out my office window when four deer ambled by, nibbling on the grass. Such a wonderful sight! Wildlife in all its glory! What could be more beautiful that those graceful creatures? And then one lifted his tail and proceeded to "relieve" himself in the yard. Totally ruined the picture postcard moment. When you gotta' go, you gotta' go. But couldn't he have waited until he was out of the front yard? I'm just saying...

Next month -- NOVEL RETREAT!

Since this is September, that means we're getting close to the October Novel Retreat for IA-SCBWI! I'm equal parts excited and nervous. I have a mg novel with my editor right now and I'm waiting to hear it's fate. Even if that one sells I feel like I have so much to learn about writing a novel. The retreat will have 2 tracks -- plotting and revising. I don't mind revising so I'll concentrate on the plotting aspect. It's one thing to intellectually understand themes, subplots, story arcs and all that good stuff, it's quite another thing to DO it in a novel successfully! I bow to everyone that has published a novel. Working on a novel makes writing a pb look like a piece of cake -- but if that were true, I'd be cranking them out more often. Note to self: ALL writing is hard.

Fall fell when I wasn't looking!

I can't believe it's September! What happened to August? Heck, what happened to SUMMER? With the flood, a wedding, youngest moving to an apartment, family health issues... it's been a bit of a blur lately. But with the "back to school" atmosphere, I feel ready to get back into a daily routine. Summer is meant for goofing off and "school time" is meant for working. Which is weird because I don't have kids in school anymore -- unless you count college -- but it's not like we still shop for school supplies together! Also, we've been doing some much needed cleaning. I'm not sure if this is Fall cleaning or belated Spring cleaning. Or maybe we're getting a jump on NEXT spring's cleaning! I tackled the hall closet yesterday and filled two boxes for Goodwill. They're sitting next to four other filled boxes... It feels great to do some de-cluttering! I even weeded out my bookshelves. Not to de-clutter but to make room for the stack of picture books I just bought!

I plan on having a rough draft of my new pb idea by the end of September. Hold me to it!

Cabin Daze

Spent the last few days at our cabin -- nice! Hubby went fishing early Saturday morning. Can you still call it "fishing" if you just feed them worms and don't catch any? He says he's doing that to lure them into a false sense of security and then one of these days -- BAM! he'll catch one! I don't think the fish are worried. In fact, I think they were giggling at him. While he was on the sandbar he saw a bald eagle munching on a fish carcass just a few yards away. Incredible sight! We've been seeing more bald eagles along our river in the last year or so -- nothing compares to an eagle soaring overhead. Takes my breath away!

The problem with being away for a few days is all the stuff that needs to be done when you get back home! Laundry, weed pulling, boring chores... Oh, and I need to squeeze in some writing too! I'll put that on my To Do List ahead of weed pulling...

On the Hunt

Tomorrow I'll be posting wondrous and amazing writing prompts and exercises on the KidLit Blog. Legions of writing fans will gasp with joy as their brains are tickled and delighted by the creative selection of prompts to choose from. Oh, yeah, it's gonna' be a mind meld of authors. A larger than life celebration of words in their purest forms. Or it might just be one silly limerick where you fill in the last rhyming line... I thought it would be easy to come up with some clever prompts and exercises to help stretch our imaginations. Maybe mine stretched too far and snapped! But I'm on a mission -- a mission to uncover at least one interesting and helpful writing exercise. Failure is not an option. Tune in Tommorrow...

Workshop Time Again!

I'm getting all my materials ready for the Whispering Woods Picture Book Writing Weekend Workshop that Jill Esbaum and I teach. I've added a new handout about Fantastic First Lines (that was fun to research!) and piling up picture books... I love spending the whole weekend with other writers concentrating on picture books. But, it does pull me away from the mg novel I'm supposed to be working on... except this October, the Iowa SCBWI chapter is having a novel retreat -- ah, the best of both worlds!

Even though I'm teaching at this retreat, I learn something new every time. Something just "clicks" in my brain differently or the participants bring up something insightful... it's a win-win situation for everyone. And one of the high points from the last WW workshop? Playing Cranium late Saturday night -- what a BLAST! I'm still trying to figure out how to act out "gravity."

To Show or Not to Show...

Yes, that is the question. I'm still pondering my new pb idea and have lost count of how many times I've been asked to talk about it. But, something keeps me from saying anything about it. I'm not ready to actually talk about it yet. Will it jinx the project? Probably not. Will it sound half-baked and illogical coming out of my mouth? Probably. Will I lose interest if someone thinks it's a dumb idea? Yep. I want to let this idea simmer some more in my brain before it hits the paper. After I write a first draft, after I revise it, THEN I'll be happy to share it. But for now? I'm keeping it tucked away in my brain!

Everyone's a critic!

I like to read out loud when I'm writing -- especially dialogue. I can catch a lot of problems in a first draft that way. Usually the cats don't pay any attention when I'm sitting at my desk talking to myself. But today, this is how Toby (aka Big Orange Fluff) reacted. He stuck out his tongue at me! I don't know if he was critiquing my work (and finding it lacking) or if he'd had a bit too much catnip and was hungover. As a critique, this ranks right up there with licking yourself where the sun don't shine. And yea, he's done that before when I was reading to him! I'm playing to a tough crowd.

Cleaning Day -- the sequel

I started cleaning my office yesterday but it turned into a 2-day project. I can't believe all of the non-writing stuff that finds its way here! There are shoes, a vaccuum cleaner, bag of granola, assorted cat toys, and cats, stacks of books, piles of papers... Yowzers! I hate not being able to put my hand on the paper I need because it's buried somewhere. I've read books on getting organized but obviously they haven't sunk in. I probably have a book on organizing your workspace somewhere in this room but I can't find it! Sad. But true.

Honeymoon Phase

I have a new home here now for my blog and so far, I like it! This has been a wild and crazy weekend -- I have the glimmer of a new idea for a pb and that's all I can think about! Ah, those glorious first few days are wonderful when the idea seems so perfect in my brain... just like a honeymoon. And then after I do some more research I'll put the amazing idea down on paper and it might not seem quite so perfect. Kind of like after the honeymoon when the bills start coming in or you realize your new husband snores. Loudly. Like a freight train. But until then, I am in LOVE!

I'm also in the dreaded waiting phase. As a writer this is the hardest thing I have to deal with. I sent my mg novel to my editor 9 weeks ago. Not that I'm keeping track. Who am I kidding? OF COURSE, I'm keeping track! I jump every time the phone rings and cross my fingers when I check my email. How long does it take to read a mg novel? That sounds like the beginning of a great joke. Too bad I don't have a punch line.

I'm also waiting for more sketches of my next pb. I have 3 pencil sketches so I know what my main character (Emma) looks like but I can't wait to see color artwork! The pub date is Spring '10 so it could still take awhile.