Tag Archives: writing
O First Pages (Retreat Edition)
The last event of the SCBWI Working Writer’s retreat consisted of 3 minutes allotted to each attendee to read aloud their first page of a manuscript. Professional critique was squeezed into that 3 minutes from a panel comprised of 4 … Continue reading
O JOKE! (Popsicle Stick Edition)
And here is a popsicle stick I recently uncovered. In all my many now-I’m-older-than-absolutely-everyone-even-Paul-Rudd years, I had no idea such joke sticks existed. Very nice! As long as it’s just a joke and not a fortune. 🙂
Death & Reckonings
I’m told change can’t arrive without grief. ‘Change’ was my middle name when I was a child. I begged for change. It fueled my drive for: self-preservation, better school grades, to hunt for goals my parents lectured me were good … Continue reading
Rain Or Shine: Strike On
A couple of weeks before the strike, I was John Snow: I knew nothing. There are always excuses I can credit a busy mother. But everyone is busy. I simply wish I had paid any attention to events leading up … Continue reading
~2019~
May the year be merry and bright and productive. And may I acquire a new laptop. And definitely completion of the current novel and definitely long before the end of this shiny new year. And may I continue to exercise … Continue reading
Hunting
230am, the dog’s nose a wet Q-tip on my ear, his drunk-carny’s breath. I rise, stumble to the patio door, let him out. Waiting, I realize my right foot is wet. I panic: blood? Cat vomit. I stumble to the … Continue reading
Dav Pilkey in Redondo Beach
Whenever it was tickets first went on sale for this event? Stayed up until 12:01a.m. so that I could be one of the first to nab them. Can I just say–I’m glad I was a night owl as the event … Continue reading
O Europa!
Volunteering at my son’s school library means I get to help kids discover books they didn’t even know they wanted to read–and also means I can check out books without exceeding my son’s 5th grade (3 books per student) limit. … Continue reading
The Sequel Begins
My novel is completed (as previously blog-blurted) and sent to the interested party. And now I wait. Sort of. I’m halfway through writing chapter two of the sequel. My husband read chapter one aloud to our son at bedtime the … Continue reading
REVISION
I finished my novel. All the writing, beach walks, and kitten-breaks seem to have paid off. I’m finished. Let the revising begin. Actually I’ve been revising all along. I adopted a habit of backing up a few chapters, reading/revising them … Continue reading
Lost Time
Yesterday I was driving home from Trader Joe’s, my mind deep in my novel. I am SO close to finishing it I can see the end and I was excited about what I was seeing. Then a street sign yanked … Continue reading
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
THIS HAPPENED
I won runner-up (there were only two of us who won in the Middle Grade category). SCBWI-LA Writer’s Day, Skirball Cultural Center . I pitched an agent, connected with a dream agent, dashed around assisting the totally-on-it RA’s, made new … Continue reading
SCBWI Los Angeles Writers Day 2018
I’m going. Are you? Gary D. Schmidt is giving the keynote. That’s right, author of one of my favorite YA books: ‘The Wednesday Wars’. You’ve probably already read it, but here’s the SCBWI GDS Interview from 2/16/18. I especially … Continue reading
Home
Usually I’m the one taking our kid on a road trip and usually during the summer, but this week my husband took our kid on a road trip for 2 days to visit family up north and I was suddenly: … Continue reading
Living The Good Old Days
“Hey, Mom?” my son said casually as he attached a Lego palm frond to a multi-colored Lego wall he was building on the coffee table as I ironed pertinent clothing near him and my husband raged in front of a … Continue reading
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
SCBWI WWR 9/2017
Me–prepping for the upcoming SCBWI Working Writer’s Retreat: Fortunately I got in, thanks to iphone alerts, Alexa/Echo alerts, the wall calendar with a particular date circled so thickly in red it could never become invisible, no matter the … Continue reading
116 Degrees (T-Rex & Gladioli Edition)
Early days of 4th grade for the boy coincide with consecutive days of triple digit heat for valley dwellers, a box turtle possibly on a hunger strike because I won’t put her in her outdoor arena in triple digit heat, … Continue reading
Summer Diary
Not my rash! Finally. Fire breath. Thank you, GOT. I see you, arm muscle. #workingout6weeksstraight Muscles missing. Hijacked in the night, IMO. So what? I have brie. Total eclipse of sun predicted. My prediction? Revision, revision, submissions, submissions….But only … Continue reading
Star Wars vs. Sports (Panic Attack Edition)
I received an email late yesterday afternoon from my son’s summer camp with this subject line: FRIDAY SPORTS DAY. Meaning, send him to camp in a jersey emblazoned in a sports decal. Last Friday was: STAR WARS DAY An easy … Continue reading
