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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: middle grade writing
How It Is
There is only finishing my middle-grade novel. Getting my son to school, helping him finish his science project and get it to school; hurtling towards summer–school, science projects, math tests, helping at the school book fair, end-of-school-year requirements and the … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, writing
Tagged 2018, books, domestics, Family, Inspiration, life, Literature, middle grade writing, writing
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Writer’s Retreat: What Was It Like?
SCBWI Working Writer’s Retreat, September, 2017 The “working” aspect in Working Writer’s Retreat (for me)=the retreat provided printers, so there was no excuse (for me) for not sprinting to my sparse (sweetly existential) weekend bedroom after a workshop, whipping open … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, middle grade, writing
Tagged 2017, books, children's literature, Encino CA, Family, Holy Spirit Retreat Center, humanity, Karaoke, kittens, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, oak trees, SCBWI, SCBWI So Cal, Vegetarian, Working Writers' Retreat 2017, writing
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MAY DAY (BLOOMING LATE EDITION)
On May Day! May Day! May Day! (a few days late, but—-) 90+ degrees today, again. My Spring yard is shriveling. I thought this wouldn’t happen until next month. Silly me! When the Arctic is melting! Doh. The box turtle and the … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, Parakeet, Pets, writing
Tagged 2017, animals, books, California, deadlines, Family, life, Literature, May Day, middle grade writing, Muses, revision, Starbucks, writing
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Third Eye (April Edition w/Cat)
Woke up at 430am, pressed on with the last 40 pages of revision, my 3rd eye drowsy, but game. Now that I’m wide awake, overly caffeinated and the little boy is at school and the husband is off to heroic … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Fiction, Pets, Poetry, writing
Tagged 2017, books, cats, Critique, Family, Literature, middle grade writing, Muses, Pets, poetry, revision, The New Yorker, Third Eye, writing
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Coffee Kick & Go (Tremble Edition)
It may be poetry month in the USA, but here at PB Writes the author was up late revising her MG novel, prepping it for the agent requesting a read. This sweet, cool and sunny spring morning–after creating pancakes-secreted-with-carrot-puree for the boy, feeding … Continue reading
Posted in Children's Books, Fiction, Pets, Poetry, writing
Tagged 2017, books, cats, coffee, Dogs, Family, fiction, life, Literature, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, muse, Pets, poetry, Poetry Month, revision, spring
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SCBWI-LA Writers & Illustrators Day 2017 (Links Edition)
I was asked by SCBWI-LA to write about my experience at the recent WID. The piece is up on the Kite Tales blog. 1, 2, 3: LINK. Such a luxury for me to discard certain hats (taxi-mama, chef of sorts, … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Poetry, writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2017, books, Kate Messner, life, Lisa Cron, Literature, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, Picture Books, SCBWI, SCBWI Writers & Illustrators Day, Skirball Cultural Center, Wired for Story, Writers Conferences, writing
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SCBWI
Have you registered for the (Los Angeles chapter) SCBWI Writers & Illustrators Day 2017? It’s happening February 25th at the Skirball Cultural Center, a venue I once frequented in order to exercise my former toddler in the intriguingly lit Noah’s Ark … Continue reading
O Summer!
I’ve been quiet since May, after a brief, powerful writer’s retreat. I’ve been busy this summer with what the retreat inspired: Writing. Revising. Writing. Revising a new short story, one screaming for edits of late. It’s almost ready for submission. Compiling … Continue reading
Posted in writing
Tagged 2016, beach, fiction, Kauai, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, ocean, personal goals, poetry, writer, writer's angst, writing
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Screens
Staring at my writing, I heard what I thought was our younger cat pulverizing the bedroom window’s screen, as he does when he’d like to be let inside, despite the little Hobbiton upside-down-U’s we had cut in pertinent doors, just for … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Children's Books, dog, Faction, writing, WTF
Tagged children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, hobbits, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, writer's block, writing
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All Schedules Thrown
And, suddenly, for a week, until summer camp started, the newly ex-Kindergartner and I were face to face over our morning pancakes, not an elementary school deadline in sight. “Let’s go to the beach!” he suggested. We did. “Museums!” We went there, … Continue reading
Posted in Avoiding My Writing, Faction, Fiction, writing
Tagged 2014, Balboa Island, beach, children's literature, domestics, Hurricane Harbor, middle grade writing, personal goals, writing, Yelp
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Spring Break Snoozing (Wide Awake Edition)
During this luscious week of no school for the Kindergartner, we snooze well. Except when we are awakened from chasm-sleep somewhere between 2a.m. and maybe 4:30a.m.—after the bars have closed, but before the rooster across the alley busts its lungs—after we’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, Avoiding My Writing, books, Children's Books, dog, Faction, Fiction, Me and Us, middle grade, Pets, Poetry, Writer's Angst, writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2014, cats, children's literature, dog, domestic bliss, fiction writing, Kindergarten, Kindle Fire, labrador, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, writing
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Discoveries (Balancing Edition)
The huge benefit of being thrown by a horse and not being able to exercise for over a week or lie down on the bed without screaming in pain or do anything in between carrying on as a mother except … Continue reading
Article At ‘Through The Tollbooth’!!!
My writing mentor, Kathryn Fitzmaurice, was interviewed by Catherine Linka (I’ve heard Catherine speak at SCBWI events–she is positively famous in our SCBWI Los Angeles circles) over at Through The Tollbooth. The interview is about Kathryn’s mentoring experience–er, of me! … Continue reading
The Women’s National Book Association
I was made aware of the WNBA/LA thanks to my middle grade writing mentor, Kathryn Fitzmaurice (ask me if I am lucky to have her as my mentor and you will hear amplified hell yeah’s). She gave one of this … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, middle grade, writing, Writing Progress, Writing Tips
Tagged 2014, children's literature, Destiny Rewritten, fiction, fiction writing, Kathryn Fitzmaurice, middle grade writing, ocean, poetry, SCBWI, SCBWI CA/North Central, Women's National Book Association/LA, writing
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Staying The Course
Saturday morning I rose when our son (impossible to wake on a school day) woke at 5:30a.m. to begin a weekend of attending birthday parties, completing school projects, and constant verbalized hankering for Minecraft (it was Survivalcraft, until we realized the … Continue reading
Posted in Adult writing, books, Children's Books, Faction, writing, Writing Progress
Tagged 2014, children's literature, Dragons Love Tacos, faction, fiction writing, Iggy Peck Architect, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, personal goals, poetry, Quackenstein Hatches a Family, writer's angst, writing
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Double Rainbow (Rainy Day Edition)
Not long ago a man left a nasty little comment in my comments section calling my blog piece sophomoric and trite and something else I can’t remember and why this person was so unevolved as to blog-roam and drop his … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, dog, Fiction, Poetry, poetry reading, Writer's Angst, writing, Writing Progress, WTF
Tagged 2014, cats, children's literature, dog, double rainbow, fiction writing, Goodreads, life, Los Angeles, middle grade writing, poetry, Rhapsodomancy, writing
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Notes From The Retreat #2: Critiques
Yes, I am going to go here. Out of the 10 copies of the first 25 pages of my novel returned to me, scribbled on by the writers in my core group at the SCBWI retreat, I kept 4. Those 4 … Continue reading
2013 Middle Grade
Oh, productive, on-the-button-always (not the panic button), well-informed you—you’re already aware of this list. I’m just getting to it. I think I’m most excited about Holly Black’s book. Quite creepy! The Goodreads Best Middle Grade & Children’s Any flagrant omissions from … Continue reading
December Whinny
Sitting on the patio at Peddler’s Fork, alone out here as it’s a SoCal pre-Christmas bit of chilly, i.e., 60 degrees, way too cold for the cycling clan packing the tables indoors, brrr, but perfect for me as I’m the … Continue reading
Posted in books, Children's Books, Faction, Fiction, Poetry, writing
Tagged 2013, children's literature, fiction, middle grade writing, Old Town Calabasas, Peddler's Fork, personal goals, writing
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