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PB learns to ride the unicycle!
UPDATE: my unicycle hangs from a hook in our garage. Sometimes I tell it: I'll be back.January 1, 2025-
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Tag Archives: children’s literature
Deep Summer Checkpoint
Two summers ago I wrote: I create escape beneath my yard’s wind- bent gazebo, books on spread gingham, the shrunk house I dragged into our shade, ticking stove, stranger’s voice in the toy wall phone he refuses. Create with a … Continue reading
Wrinkly Time, Melamine
I recently discovered that anything made of melamine, i.e., my preschooler’s plates and bowls, should not be tossed into the dishwasher. Ever. And if you make a knife cut in melamine? Chances are toxins will seep into your child’s food. … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, books, Children's Books, Fiction, Madonna, writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2012, children's literature, fencing, fiction, fiction writing, life, London, Marcel Proust, melamine, Molly Ringwold, preschoolers, Swann's Way, yoga
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Guest Blogging
Yesterday, which I thought was Sunday due to the 3 day weekend and synapses firing improperly or not at all after my husband and I watched a late-night Sunday (which I thought was Saturday) Mad Men marathon accompanied by intensely seasoned … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, writing, YA Novels
Tagged 2012, beach, children's literature, fiction writing, Santa Rosa Island, writing, YA Muses
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KNOCK IT OFF, CUCKOO
Please go to this wonderful post by Beth Hull and read—especially if you are a certain literary agent. Or any literary agent or critiquing-type who believes they are so busy and important it’s perfectly fine to be brusque and quippish instead of … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, writing
Tagged 2012, children's literature, critiquing, cuckoo, fiction writing, Literary Agents, middle grade writing, yoga
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Quote For The—Blrrrrrrrrrrgh
This is what I remember about Friday: feeding the boy, hug-sandwich as we said bye-bye to his dad, finally getting the boy to preschool (I thought I was a slow eater!), speeding to Starbucks as forgot to buy coffee for … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Writer quotes, writing
Tagged 2012, children's literature, fiction writing, middle grade writing, personal goals, writing
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Middle Grade Tidbit
In case you’re missing it, agent Michael Bourret from Dystel & Goderich and editor Molly O’Neill are conversing via their blogs about middle grade novels–what they look for, what they like, what middle grade is or might be or possibly isn’t but … Continue reading
And Now This
Remember in the movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs when Flynt pulls up that kitten bit on his computer screen and 3 hours fly by? Or maybe you don’t as, unlike me, you have not seen the movie 40,000 … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, To Explain
Tagged 2012, children's literature, fiction writing, personal goals, preschoolers, writing
6 Comments
Quote For The Weekend (Late Edition As Was OOT With Feet In Ocean, Wot!)
Most of us are called on to perform tasks far beyond what we can do. Our capabilities seldom match our aspirations, and we are often woefully unprepared. To this extent, we are all Assistant Pig-Keepers at heart. —Lloyd Alexander I … Continue reading
And Fire
Heretic? Yes. However, one thing is certain: having a Kindle Fire will not stop me from buying books. Ever. Actual books, not the virtual kind that pale and irritate on the screen when compared to the hearty, my precious, real deals … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, Poetry, writing
Tagged 2012, children's literature, Kindle Fire, personal goals, revision, The New Yorker, writing goals
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Quote For The Weekend (Pulled Muscle Edition)
“Writers are notorious for using any reason to keep from working: over-researching, retyping, going to meetings, waxing the floors–anything.” —Gloria Steinem I opened the door to my son’s classroom and an invisible claw grabbed the muscles in my right side and … Continue reading
Spring Spirit 2012
Recently writer Beth Hull turned me on to the Spring Spirit conference, an annual SCBWI California North/Central event held in Rocklin, CA. This year, I’m excited to say I will be attending. The lineup is top notch, including the YA Muses … Continue reading
Time Spent
Roaming the house looking for my reading glasses when on top of head entire time: a good 15 minutes (additional minutes tacked on when distracted by each room’s white elephant: mound of clean yet hopelessly wrinkled laundry on guest room bed, … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, Fiction, middle grade, Pets, To Explain, Writer's Angst, writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2012, children's literature, fiction writing, Llamas, Starry, starry night, tapas, Van Gogh, writer's angst, writing
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Quote For The Weekend (Christmas Edition)
The best sitting room at Manor Farm was a good, long, dark-panelled room with a high chimney-piece, and a capacious chimney, up which you could have driven one of the new patent cabs, wheels and all. At the upper end … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Quotes, writing
Tagged 2011, Charles Dickens, children's literature, fiction, writing
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Quote For The Weekend (TGIF Edition)
Gore Vidal on E. Nesbit (1858-1924): “I do not think it is putting the case too strongly to say that much of the poverty of our society’s intellectual life is directly due to the sort of books children are encouraged … Continue reading
Posted in books, Fiction, middle grade, Quotes
Tagged 2011, children's literature, E. Nesbit, Five Children And It, Gore Vidal
1 Comment
Quote For The Weekend (Late Edition As was Ocean-Distracted–Luckily It’s Never Too Late For Quotes)
“One of my favourite places to read was my elder brother’s bedroom. It was a tiny room with a bed, a chest-of-drawers, bookcases full of books, and shelves where he kept his seashells, butterflies, pressed wild flowers and microscope, because … Continue reading
Posted in Fiction, middle grade, Quotes, writing
Tagged 2011, beach, children's literature, fiction, Joan Aiken, middle grade writing, ocean, The Cuckoo Tree
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NBF Torture
I find this disturbing and wrong and a certain deeply suspicious/dark sunglasses wearing/fedora sporting/trenchcoat draped (except not in this heatwave)/notebook carrying (yeah, enough already) part of me wonders what the real story is. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD YOUNG ADULT NOMINEES ARE BACK … Continue reading
Posted in books, Fiction, Quotes, Writer's Angst, WTF
Tagged 2011, children's literature, Lauren Myracle, National Book Award 2011, Shine, writer's angst, writing
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See? Not So Proud
Tripping on stage at the very end of a performance, during the denoument, the final vital monologue. Tripping. So hard, so clumsily, there was no hiding it. Tripping. So that everyone in that theatre was yanked out of their suspension of … Continue reading
Not Avoiding My Writing
See previous post. Now read this: THE PASSAGE OF AT LEAST 2 UNINTERRUPTED HOURS There is no blogging when working. There is no Hulu and bad actors living with dinosaurs. No Elephant Man. No social network. No Internet. They just. … Continue reading
DUMMY
I have a new special writing/revising trick. Starting with the first three chapters of my novel, I copy and paste them into a brand new fresh document, print, then edit/revise/correct/read-aloud/enhance/make-marvelous, etc. I throw the hardcopy edits into the brand new … Continue reading
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