Big News!

I'm super excited to announce that I've been accepted into the Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program!  

This program accepts 20-24 writers each year and pairs them with an established author or editor to work, one-on-one, through a revision to their novel.  This year's mentors include Ellen Hopkins, Harold Underdown, Terri Farley and my mentor, Susan Hart Lindquist!   

We'll be working on my newest piece, a middle-grade magical realism novel titled Gods & Vultures. 

Has anyone else been accepted?  Leave me a comment -- I'd love to connect before the October conference!

Crazy Stuff Man!

I had one thing on my to-do list for the week and so far I haven't had a chance to work on it at all!  Other stuff keeps popping up, which makes it hard to do my regular chores like blogging, cooking, picking The Boy up from camp.  Here's the drive-by version of today's highlights:

1. I'm waiting for the mail man to bring me a special 'official letter' so I can make an announcement. 

2.  My previous publisher has officially received the letter from my lawyer, reassuming the rights to The Iron Bodkin. 

3.  The architecture basket is overflowing this week with craziness and burocracy.

4.  Above is the 'in progress' back cover of The Iron Bodkin.  You'll notice I have a fantastic review from Lori Calabrese, Examiner.com's National Children's Book Reviewer.  **squee**

5.  I'm wearing a DRESS! today.  Don't know what got into me!  :)

Misc. Monday Things

   Pretty flowers

1. I have something kind of exciting to report toward the end of the week.  :)  (no, it's not a book or agent contract).
avatar, by The Boy
2. I played three hours of volleyball on Friday and two hours of soccer on Sunday.  Today, my knee is about the size of a grapefruit.  But it was really, really fun!
new book plot cards
3. I'm considering making a trip to Eastern Kentucky to research my new book.  Have any of you ever done a research trip?  Did you try to make contacts before you went?  How long did you stay?
Fierce dragon and wax man
4. I have a case going before the Historic Preservation Commission tonight.  Cross your fingers for me!

FREAKY FRIDAY FAVORITE: Fuzzy, Beery Friend

Scottish brewer BrewDog has created the world's "strongest, most expensive, most shocking beer in the world". 

It's called "The End of History" and it's 55% alcohol (over ten times that of a normal beer).  The cost?  $575 a bottle.  Only twelve bottles were made and all have been sold.  More impressive still -- the bottles are made from road kill.  Squirrels, weasels and one hare.  So you can drink happy, knowing that no animals were harmed in the making of your beer.  But at 55% alcohol, the animal you should most be concerned about is yourself.

Now, go forth for a happy weekend!

Pink or Red?

What color do you see on my new layout? 

It's supposed to be red, but I've had conflicting reports. 

Week on the Run

Handmade finger puppets from Ecuador

1.  I outlined thirty scenes for my new book yesterday.  I wrote each scene idea on a notecard, then put them in order.  I was amazed how clear it was - where more scenes were needed.  Today, I fill in the holes.

2.  The Boy is at Elmgrove Park this week for Playcamp.  He always likes going there, but every time I pick him up, he's all alone behind a tree.  I am beginning to worry. 

3.  In the next two weeks, I should be receiving responses on two projects I'm really excited about.  A third response is on the twelve-month plan, so I could get an answer on that as well.  Or not.  You know how that is.

g r i n

Some things that make me smile...

 The Boy's summertime knees

Silly cousins

Idaho Summer

Mostly what makes me grin is that I'm happy.  And I'm happy because...

shhh

don't tell but...

I'm working on a new book! 

:)

FRIDAY FAVORITE!

NO MORE TWITTER!!

Now that I no longer have a contract to uphold, I can be much more selective in which social media platforms I use.  So, bye-bye little twitter bird!  You make me crazy. 

In your nest, I see agents write vague posts about bad queries, and I wonder if they're mine.  Or post about great partials or fulls that they're loving, and wonder if they're mine. 

And then there are the (one or two) well-known children's lit personalities who make total asses of themselves on a regular basis which makes me sad.  Just because you're a big famous editor/agent/writer/etc, doesn't mean you can be rude and insulting to others! 

So adios, birdie.  And good riddance. 

I'll be at Facebook.

Changes

You might have noticed some changes around the blog.  Big changes have been taking place behind the scenes, too.  I'm sorry to say, The Invisible Sister won't be published by PM Moon.  (See related post here.)  I hope to have an explanation for you at some point, but in the meantime I'm stoked to announce The Invisible Sister is reverting to it's original title, The Iron Bodkin and I'll be publishing this book myself, through Createspace. 

It was a hard decision.  I'm not normally a proponent of self-publishing.  But I've been marketing for over a year and so many people keep asking me when the book is coming out, it will be easier, emotionally, to say "It's out.  You can get it here" than to explain the situation over and over and...  I hope you'll support me ... even though I'm sure a lot of you may disagree with my decision. 

With that said, I'd like to unveil my gorgeous cover for which all the credit goes to my rock-goddess of art, Heidi Schmidt.

*squee*  Isn't it divine?  Do you see the little girl in the photo?  Do you see her now?  Heidi rocks! 

I'm baaack!

We had a great July 4th Weekend -- possibly the best I've ever had!  Lots of sports and good food.  Last week was kind of crazy and this past weekend, we headed up toward McCall to camp with our neighbors.  The campsite was pretty, the food and company were great but the mosquitos were really bad.  The boy looks like he has a rash, instead of individual mosquito bites. 

Now, back to business.  I'm looking forward to catching up on all your blogs!  Hope you're all having a great summer with plenty of time for funny faces.

FRIDAY FAVORITE!

Gotta have strawberry shortcake for 4th of July!!

It's been a long week with LOTS of Architecture stuff going on.  I plan to take today off, but wanted to post my Friday Favorite first.  No, it's not strawberry shortcake. 

You know how, in the summer, when you walk out of a store or office that is so air-conditioned you have goosebumps?  And then you get in your car which has been sitting in the sunny parking lot for half an hour and the car feels so nice and warm.  Sure, the car is a hundred and thirty seven degrees and you'll die if you sit there too long.  But it's nice to sit for five seconds and just enjoy being warm.  I love that.

Have a great 4th of July everyone!  Next week, I'll be on a break but I'll see you all in the middle of July.  Happy reading and writing!