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Showing posts from 2010

By the skin of my teeth...

Kind of a disgusting image, when you think about it. Makes me want to pull out the electric brush and scrub until my gums recede. Finished my 100th book of 2010 with twenty-five minutes to spare. Whew! Not a very thick coat of plaque between me and failure. How lame to finish the year one book short. I couldn't let myself. Now I'll have time for long books again. Happy New Year!

Still Counting...

Two more days, two more books. I'm rediscovering all the great short novels in my house. Who knew the shelves held so many? I might never have remembered them without this urgent need for short books. I reread Fahrenheit 451 last night for the first time since college, when Ray Bradbury came to speak and I soaked up every word. I still want to "graduate from the library" the way he claims to have done, but I fear I fall short. I am astonished to think that he wrote F. 451 in 1952, never having seen ear buds and ipods and large-screen TVs; and a whole generation of increasingly obese preteens (30%) who do little besides play Nintendo and Wii; and hoards of teens who sit  in rooms full of other kids and text as if no one else exists. And nobody reads. And picture books are dying a slow death. And literary fiction is dying a speedy one. And book stores have to sell movies and music and coffee to stay alive. And anti-racist books like To Kill a Mockingbird are banned be

Foot Odor Lingers...

I live with foot in mouth. When I speak, nothing comes out the way I meant. When I write, my words have a chance of approaching the outer rim of my intent. I write to make myself feel slightly less of an idiot. I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.   --Joan Didion

Countdown...

Two books today. Yeah, okay, they were only 130 pages each and written for twelve-year-olds, but I have a challenge to meet, dang it! Four books to go...

Countdown to New Year's Eve

Six more days and six books to go. It's 1:37 a.m. Christmas night. Just finished book number 94. Probably should read shorter books, but I'm hooked on this series, which is priming my brain to work on the boy story again.

This Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve and seven days to read seven books if I am to achieve my goal of reading 100 books in 2010. Tomorrow: the family skis, I curl up on the couch and read. I can't keep up with the slowest child on the ski runs anymore, so this works out nicely for all. My perfect idea of vacation. Theirs, too. Maybe I'll ski with them on New Year's Day, if global warming takes a break long enough to create some white powder at Sundance instead of the slush we've got now. Wish my missing family were all here instead of on the other side of earth. Thankful for a silly and also lovely Christmas Eve (braided beards and silky shepherd hats and four Wise Men who looked like a musketeer, a Greek warrior, and a couple of cross-dressers) with all my children under my roof again. Merry Christmas, all, especially my sisters in Fiji and Brazil, and to all a good night!

Trivial and Fickle

I'm tired of my old blog design, and on an unrelated note, here's some usage trivia for you. I just got back from Alabama, where they knock the hat off your head if you're rude enough to wear one indoors. No shirt, no shoes, no take-off-hat, no service. Also, people apparently don't do anything fun there. Us: What is there to see or do around here? Any good trails or museums or historical sites? Hotel concierge: I have no idea. Gas station guy: Well, you could look at that billboard over there.It might say something. That was all right, because we were too busy driving around getting lost to have time to do anything other than run, watch other people run, and take pictures of runners. Thank goodness for GPS. While there, I ate grits for the first time, and would have liked them, except for the artificial butter swimming all over the top. Also, I learned the correct way to use y'all. I think. Disclaimer: I heard this from someone who is not a southern

Quick Christmas Picks

This is the year I set a goal to read 100 books. By Christmas I was going to have all kinds of book recommendations. Which I do. I just don't have time to talk about them. I still have (ack!) eleven more books to read in the next three weeks. Plus Christmas stuff. No problem. But people have been asking what books to buy for Christmas, and there's not much time left, so, okay, here's the short version of my 2010 book recommendations (not all published in 2010, but all read by me this year). Keep in mind I have a literary bias. I mean, my true favorites are always the books I feel have a real sense of the beauty and wonder of language. They must tell a great story. I have to love the characters--or hate them and then grow to love them. The character progression has to interest me. The book has to have something worthwhile to say, but never, ever beats me over the head with its ideas. And in books for kids, they have to carry a sense of hope and possibility. Because

Blog-Blockage.

It has been so long since I blogged, I think I forgot how. I have writer's blog-block. Let me think of an excuse, quick. Um...huh. Maybe a top-ten list: 10. Didn't feel like it. 9. I was writing. As opposed to what is happening here. 8. Plans for my next post way too big. I was intimidated. 7. My house was dirty (not posting didn't change anything there). 6. Too busy being thankful. 5. Working on a freaking novel in verse. You think I have extra brain-waves left over? 4. My kids hog the internet. They claim it's homework. 3. It snowed. 2. It rained. 1. Uh....I went for a run? 10 REALLY good reasons. Actually, what I should be posting about are the good books I've read lately that I want you to read, too, but first I have to fly to Alabama and back to watch my daughter run a race. Newsflash: I am not worried about this trip. I am over my travel anxiety/panic/freak-out tendencies. I promise I'll be back soon. Unless my plane gets hijacked

I Thought of That While Riding My Bike, Again...

Albert Einstein on his Theory of Relativity: "I thought of that while riding my bicycle." It happened again. I didn't want to exercise because my head was in my book and I wanted to be writing, and...because I was feeling lazy. But when I finally forced myself to get on the bike,  and the canyon breeze was blowing through the hair on my legs (probably should have shaved),  and the smell of maple was in my nose,  something unjammed inside my head. The mind-wheels got turning and the story fires got burning and suddenly I knew what to do with that one character in my book that had been stuck.  I love my bicycle. :)

Book Drawing Winner

Ok, so only two people like free books. Or (more likely) only two people read my blog. That's ok. I'm not whining. Er, maybe I am. But what these two people have figured out that the rest of you haven't, is that when a few people enter my drawings frequently, those few frequently win free books. But I wax alliterative. And I will shut up now. So, the winner of September's book drawing is....are both of you ready? Alyosha! Congratulations, Alyosha. Send me your address and I'll send you a book.

Two More Days to Win a Free Book

I've decided to extend the deadline on my blog contest, since I only gave you two days to enter, which wasn't really fair. The new deadline to win Kristen Chandler's new book, Wolves, Boys, and Other Things That Might Kill Me, is Sunday, October 3rd , at midnight.To see contest rules, go here . It's a well-told story with a satisfying romance that teenage girls, especially, will love. And it has wolves. Real ones. Best of all, it's FREE. All you have to do is enter the drawing. Winner will be announced Monday morning, so be sure to check back.

Two Books, a Free Book, and Cheers to Some Friends

I walk into Borders one day and see stacks and stacks of a new book with a blue cover and a picture of a wolf. Not a werewolf. A real one. That gets my attention. I love wolves. Don't get me wrong: I have nothing against werewolves and vampires. But I'm a total sucker for real, live wolves. The other thing that catches my eye is the author's name: Kristen Chandler. Hey! I know her! We were in a workshop together three years ago. I remember her reading a scene from this very book. A very fine scene, as I recall. I grab my copy and head home, where I curl up on the couch and spend some really pleasant hours with the lovely wolves of Yellowstone Park, a thoroughly likable tom-boy main character, and a way hotter love-interest than either Jacob-the-Werewolf or Edward-the-Vampire. Way cuter. And he feels as real as the wolves. I finish, put down the book, and sigh in satisfaction. I know my next blog-giveaway book. What were in those snacks they served in that class?

Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak Poem

You've probably heard the controversy over Laurie Halse Anderson's beautiful book, Speak , which is being called "soft porn" because it deals with teen rape. I leave the discussion of book banning to other blogs , since that's being amply chewed over everywhere. But I had to share this video of a poem Ms. Anderson wrote, based on letters she has received from readers of Speak . As usual, poetry says it more powerfully than regular words could ever.

Love your helmet

My new favorite object: Ever since Monday, when it saved my husband's head. Here's a close-up: See the gouges that would have been in somebody's head? The helmet hit twice. Unfortunately, helmets don't cover arms. The left arm broke and was surgically repaired. That's ok. We're used to broken arms. We already had one of those this week when daughter #3 tripped at a football game. Just a little buckle fracture. Radius and Ulna. This is the bike that guys like to covet and wives and girlfriends love to hate. Yes, it was a beautiful machine. Even I can see that. See the twisted engine guard? It's my second favorite object this week, because it saved at least one leg from getting really smushed against a car. Moral of the story: WEAR YOUR HUGE, WAY-TOO-HOT, SUPER-ULTRA-GALACTIC-PADDED HELMET AND YOU PROBABLY WON'T END UP IN A COMA OR DIE WHEN YOU CRASH YOUR MOTORCYCLE. Love your helmet. It's a beautiful thing.

My Wilderness

Hiking in the high Uintas this July:  Mountain lakes. Backpacking in a downpour. Watching the sparks fly up in ribbons from a massive fire built on rock. Not sleeping the first night because there might be bears. And the ground is just so hard. Falling asleep the second night the instant we hit the therma-rests because we are just so tired. Freeze-dried food Zero time wasted on face and hair. A mountain silence bigger than space. A million flowers. A billion mosquitoes. Lying on our backs on a rock slab watching layers of cloud barely overhead. Sunset silhouettes. Life stripped down to the simple. We have our peace to carry back home. Time to get back to work.

Writerly Life: Yes, We are (All) Totally Mental

Are writers all crazy? Well...duh. I mean, we (some of us) work for free. And if we are honest with ourselves, we expect that to continue to happen for at least ten years (unless we are Stephanie Meyer). And we all know we may never get paid a single penny, even after twenty years. Honestly, what sane person would do that? Also, we live in imaginary worlds where dragons exist and eleven-year-olds can save the world from utter destruction; we do things like spend all day deciding in what order to arrange seven words; and then tomorrow we erase all seven because they were stupid. My theory: most (all?) writers suffer from ADD (what other job would zoned-out, dreamy, late, always-getting-lost people like us not get fired from?), OCD (how else could we spend twelve hours a day for months working and reworking scenes and sentences if we couldn't obsess...er...hyper-focus? And then act out our obsession..er...hyper-focus...through a compulsion to write? How many

We're Back...

I am back from Korea. Thank you all for your book suggestions. Unfortunately, I didn't read at all. I was too drugged out on motion-sickness medicine to read on the airplane. Or the bus. The rest of the time we spent running between subway stops and up and down flights of subway stairs. No wonder Koreans are so thin. They are ALWAYS walking. Also, they don't know how to make edible desserts (though they do make killer lettuce-wraps). I lost weight. And... ...my computer is back from the repair shop. It works (so far). It's a blooming miracle. It has only taken two months. MONTHS. Not weeks. Not days. Moral: do not drop off your machine to be fixed by a guy who works in a wire-filled dungeon in the basement of an acupuncture clinic. Anyway, I am writing again. At last. Vacations are nice. But getting back to work feels like putting my head back on again after airing it out for awhile. I knew I was missing something . Just couldn't think what.

Book Suggestions, Please

Help! I'm getting on a plane headed for Korea in one week. That means I have 28-plus hours of potential reading time to fill, not to mention down-time in hotels. That is a good thing. The trouble: I've finished everything I was reading, and I don't know what book/s to bring. My goal, as you can see if you look to the right, is to read 100 books this year anyway, so I need all the suggestions I can get, all the time. So, tell me--what would you read if you were me? What great books have you read lately? What are your favorite reads? Young adult, big-people, middle-grade books--I'm up for anything, as long as you loved it. Thank you! BTW, you can tell me what you think of my new blog design, if you want, which has nothing to do with fires, or books, exactly, but I liked it anyway.

Book Winner for June

Oops! I forgot about my own blog contest, which ended two days ago. Sad. Luckily I remembered today and pulled a name out of the hat. Winner of the book-drawing for June: Hoontah. Congratulations, Kristi! Send me your address and I'll send you a book. You know my email. :) Happy reading!

Last Day for Free Book

Just a reminder: tomorrow is the last day you can enter drawing for a free copy of Sid Fleischman's out-of-print marvelous little book, Jingo Django . Go here for contest rules and for more on why you don't want to miss this little-known book.  Also, Maria, you won a book a couple of months ago. Contact me at ejjube@gmail.com and let me know your address, if you still want it.

In Memorium: Sid Fleischman; and a Free Book

Sid Fleischman died in March this year. I just found out, and I am mourning. I loved his books when I was ten. Still do. He had a way with language that delighted me when I was young and awes me now as I write my own books. He wrote like a magician, which he was: with plot twists and surprises that felt like rabbits pulled out of hats and Houdini-style escapes. His characters were my friends. When I signed up for the summer SCBWI conference in L.A. last year, it was largely because Sid was supposed to be there. When he canceled last minute, I was seriously bummed. Most people are familiar with Fleischman's Newbery-winning book The Whipping Boy . Unfortunately, few seem know the fabulous Jim Ugly, or Ghost in the Noonday Sun, or Humbug Mountain. My ultimate favorite Sid Fleishman story is one that has been out of print for years, which I consider a horrible crime: it's called Jingo Django , and I've got a copy that I'll be giving away this month.    Jingo has a pe

Missing the Conferences

I love writing conferences. Like the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference that's happening next week. Like the SCBWI Summer Conference that's coming up in a couple of months.  Conferences are where you learn everything you didn't know you needed to learn about writing craft and the publishing world. They're where you get legitimate feedback on your writing and meet the writers you already admire--like Richard Peck and Karen Cushman--and the ones who are just starting out, like you. Conferences are where you find your writing group, your writing friends, your mentors, and even your agent or book deal sometimes. Writing conferences give you something to blog about. But there comes a time when you need to stop conferencing (like how I just made that a verb?) and just get to work and write your wretched books. That's me right now. I have a book that's almost done, but not quite, and never have enough hours in the day to spend on it. So I

Out of the Office

Taking a break this week on the blog to watch my daughter run steeple-chase in New Mexico for the weekend. I am being forced to extend my leave of absence from writing, as well. My computer is STILL being fixed. I am getting a little irritated about it. Except that it gives me an excuse to read more. How can I complain about that? Talk to y'all next week.

Book-Winner for May and I become a Woman of Steel

Winner of May's book give-away: Anthy. Congratulations, Anthy! You now own Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid . Send your address to me at ejjube at gmail dot com and I'll get your book in the mail right away. A bit of trivia: as of last Saturday, May 22, I am a Woman of Steel. I have a gray rubber wrist band to prove it. This was my second triathlon. It was an all-women race this time. 800 of us. I don't win, but I finish, and that's pretty good for someone like me. Let's just forget about all the women older than me who still beat me. The stinky parts: *It poured rain all during pre-race set-up and was so cold they canceled the swim and turned the tri into a bi (run-bike-run). I was mad about that. The swim was going to be my best leg and give me a head start. I am not a great runner. *I had killer cramps during that first mile run--probably because of all the meat and fat from the Poly Plate I ate the day before. Lau Lau and triathon don't mix w

Last Day to Win a Free Book

Just a reminder: tomorrow is the last day to enter my blog book-giveaway and possibly win Rick Riordan's new book, The Red Pyramid . Go here to find out more about the book and how to enter. Still don't have my computer back. Complications, apparently. ARGH! Don't mind me. I'm just freaking. I NEED to write.

Lost

My computer freaked out Thursday afternoon, and I had to take it to the computer doctor. The doctor happened to be one of two non-store-affiliated computer-repair places in the entire county (I hate Circuit City for shutting down and taking away my computer geeks). There weren't a lot of options. Even so, I had instant second thoughts about leaving my baby there as soon as I pulled up. My new geek is located in the downstairs of a former house converted into an acupuncture clinic in one of the sleaziest areas of town. I couldn't find it at all in the beginning, though I could see half of its sign sticking out of the juniper bushes. No door to be seen. Just the acupuncture clinic and a ramp leading pretty much nowhere into piles of junk. I wander around for awhile, then finally give up and ring the doorbell to ask the acupuncturist upstairs (apparently it was still a lived-in house, not just a converted one). After about five minutes an old Japanese man answers the door

Another Free Book and Two Excuses for Dropping Out of the Blogosphere

This has been a crazy month. One reason for this is that I signed up to become a Woman of Steel last December. It sounded like a good idea back then. The Woman of Steel Triathlon was months away. It would give me a training goal, help me get in shape, blah, blah blah. Now that the race is two days away, I'm thinking it was not such a good idea. I'm not feeling like a Woman of Steel. More like--I don't know--Woman of Silicone, maybe? I'm talking about muscles, of course, not...what you thought. Well, whatever. I blame those people who set New Year's resolutions to get in shape this year and hogged all the lanes at the pool. And the February smog that made me not want to run. And of course all the rain this spring that kept me off my bike. I've tried to make up for all that sloppy training in the last two weeks. Except I haven't been very good. And I'm going to sample my first Poly Platter the day before the race. This is strictly research for m

Audacious

I've been thinking about what it takes to be a writer. *Patience, everyone says. It's true the publishing world is a slow place. *Persistence, yes, because good writers don't ever just dash off a novel in a couple of weeks if they care about their creation. And because the publishing world is a slow place. *Perfectionism, too, because you have to want to get it right badly enough to keep working long past the point when a normal person would send the #$!%&*! book through the shredder--or it won't be any good. And maybe it won't be any good anyway. La dee da. Whatever. Mostly, I realized this week, being a writer takes audacity. It takes mental swaggering. To think your writing is good enough to deserve to be in print on the national market. To take a place in book store shelves next to writers like Natalie Babbit, Sid Fleischman, Karen Cushman, Lloyd Alexander. Really? You think so? Maybe it's true. Maybe it absolutely isn't. But to wri

April Give-Away Winners

Thanks to all who entered April's book give-away drawing. My heart felt cheered to discover a few kindred poetry-loving spirits out there. Carry-on, word-lovers! Winners (ahem...that does NOT make the rest of you losers): 1st place: Princesa 2nd place: L.T. 3rd place: Maria Congratulations! Winners, please email me at ejjube@gmail.com with your book preferences in order of most- to least-wanted. First place gets first pick, second gets second pick, etc.,  in case you all want the same one. Just to remind you, the book options are   Smiles to Go, by Jerry Spinelli ,   Savvy , by Ingrid Law , and   Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. 1 , by Diana Wynne Jones. This volume includes two books: Charmed Life , and The Lives of Christopher Chant . Go here if you can't remember what I said I liked about these books. If you didn't win, you still have lots more chances. I try to do a book-drawing every month. Happy May, everyone! Read like the wind!

Poem in Your Pocket Day

Welcome to my new followers (Thanks again, Alyosha)! If you haven't yet entered April's blog drawing, you have two more days to win free books. Go here for contest rules and to see the books I'm giving away. Today is National Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day , which means you carry around your favorite poem all day and inflict it upon everyone you meet. Which is what I intend to do here. I had a hard time choosing. Something modern and obscure? Something famous that everyone was forced to read and hated in school? Something funny and accessible? I don't have a single favorite. I chose this, just because I love it so much. And because it was Earth Day last week. And because it's Spring. And because Hopkins really is my favorite poet. I love the sounds. I love the images. It knocks me off my feet. God's Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins The world is charged with the grandeur of God.    It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;    It gathers to a greatn

Free books and why yesterday's poem was stupid

I almost let the month slip away without giving away free books . I like books. I also like giving books away. Especially really fine books, with good stories and beautiful sentences. I try not to give away crappy books on my blog. I try not to give away books I didn't enjoy myself. They aren't always hot sellers. They are always books I have read, books I know you'll like, if you love words as much as I do. This month's picks: 1. Smiles to Go , by Jerry Spinelli, who's one of my favorite authors. 2. Savvy , Ingrid Law, which I've offered before and nobody has snatched up yet, strangely. Probably because they don't know how great it is. (Newbery winner, folks!) 3. The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Vol. I , by Diana Wynne Jones. This is actually two books in one. It's also my new favorite fantasy series for kids. If you haven't discovered Jones yet, you must. Neil Gaiman is a fan, too. He says Jones is "...always per

What, you don't like poetry?

The blog response to National Poetry month has been a little tepid, to say the least. I don't blame you. Why read poetry if you aren't in school and (most of all) aren't being forced? Sigh. Because it's my blog and I like it. You only have to suffer through five more days and then National Poetry Month will be over. I've decided to post a poem a day for this last week of Na-Po-Mo, just to torture you, culminating in Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day, where you carry your favorite poem around with you all day and force other people to listen to it, like it or not. Ha! But even if you're not a poetry-lover like me, I think you'll like today's poem, which is by Aaron Belz from Lovely, Raspberry , published by Persea Books. It was sent to me by poets.org as a daily poem to share with others, so I assume it's ok to share here. If not, my apologies. The Love - Hat Relationship by Aaron Belz I have been thinking about the love - hat relationship . It

More Na-Po-Mo

A quote for National Poetry Month: "When in doubt there is always form for us to go on with...The background is hugeness and confusions shooting away from where we stand into black and utter chaos...To me, any form I assert upon it is...to be considered for how much more it is than nothing....The poem is a momentary stay against confusion."                                                         --Robert Frost And a poem, by Sylvia Plath: The Night Dances A smile fell in the grass. Irretrievable! And how will your night dances Lose themselves. In mathematics? Such pure leaps and spirals ---- Surely they travel The world forever, I shall not entirely Sit emptied of beauties, the gift Of your small breath, the drenched grass Smell of your sleeps, lilies, lilies. Their flesh bears no relation. Cold folds of ego, the calla, And the tiger, embellishing itself ---- Spots, and a spread of hot petals. The comets Have such a space to cross, Such coldness, forgetfulne

National Poetry Month and a poem

April is National Poetry Month .  This happens to be fitting because I happen to be writing a poetry novel--a story written almost entirely in verse. Why would anyone do such a thing? Besides the fact that April is National Poetry Month? (Which is sort of irrelevant, actually, since I wrote the first draft before I'd ever heard of Na. Po. Mo). First, because my agent thought I should. Second, because it's fun. Third, because I think a lot of teachers kill poetry for teenagers. I got lucky and had a teacher who showed me why I should love it. I'd like to pass that on, try to make poetry a little more accessible to kids. But that begs the question: WHY on earth would anyone want to read a poetry novel? I don't know. Because it's a good story, I hope. And it doesn't rhyme, mostly. And I've tried not to be obscure. Because it deals with real-life teenage issues and is sometimes romantic. And because I learned when I was seventeen th

Who's afraid of witches and dragons?

Sorry about the long gap between posts. I've been on vacation for a week. I traded 30-degree weather and avalanches for 75 degrees and earthquakes. I sat on the beach and watched waves, smelled salt, read four books and started a fifth. I went to an aquarium and saw sharks and sea-horses. I ran barefoot in the sand. I got wet in sea-water. And now I'm ready to get back to my Utah spring and back to my writing. Which reminds me of something: Fantasy-writers can't write, somebody once told me. They don't care about quality. "And, by the way," she said, "Harry Potter's crap." One guy I know snorted at the suggestion that Lord of the Rings books might be fine literature. Me: "Have you ever read them?" Him: "I can't remember." Me: "Really?" Him: "Um, probably not." Another guy: "They're just fantasy. Fantasy is escapism. People should face life, not run off and pretend to fight drag

Book-giveaway Winners and Some Thoughts on Art and Artists

We have three winners for this month's Neil Gaiman book-giveaway :  1st, Kim; 2nd, L.T., and third, SuperPi. Congratulations and thanks for following! Normally I'd let first place get first pick between The Graveyard Book Odd and the Frost Giants  And Coraline and then the second winner would get to pick between the two remaining books, and third place would get whatever hadn't been picked by #1 and #2. But since I'm behind the ball and haven't bought any of the books yet, I don't care if you all pick the same book. Winners please email me your choice of the above books and your address at ejjube@gmail.com and I'll send it to you this week, while I'm in my off-writing mode for a moment. Here are a couple of quotes for the last week of March, which happens to be the anniversary of the deaths of Ludwig Van Beethoven and Virginia Woolf , both of whom suffered from bouts of severe depression. I suppose it's the artist&

Free books for March because I finished my novel

I finished my book. Really, this time. All the way. I'm not revising anything on it anymore, until an editor buys it or my agent tells me to. I've emailed Agent Steve and will be pushing the "send" button as soon as he answers. Click. Hmm. Shouldn't there be fanfare or something? You used to have to walk down to the post office and pay for postage at least. It feels so anti-climactic this way. Click. All done. It's cheaper, I know. Fewer trees die. It's probably a good thing. I feel like I need ceremony. I guess I'm just going to have to celebrate by giving you Free Books . FREE BOOKS! Free Books ! I have three Neil Gaiman books this month, just because everybody likes him so much, and I'm drawing three winners, so your odds of winning have just improved over last time. Here are the prizes: 1)Graveyard Book (Newbery winner) 2)Coraline (if you've only seen the movie version, you haven't seen how Gaiman puts his words toget

Happy St. Paddy's Week

I am obsessed with things Celtic; therefore, I like St. Patrick's Day. This kind of thinking is typical of American descendants of Irish people. In Ireland, St. P's is a religious holiday. In America, it's a celebration of rockin' Irish roots and cheesy green decorations. My personal obsession with the Celts began around fifth grade with Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series and Lloyd Alexander's Book of Three , etc. Richard Llewellyn's How Green was my Valley helped the obsession right along. Those were Welsh Celts, and I wanted to be Welsh. I loved the sounds of those Celtic words (I studied Susan's pronunciation guide in the back of The Grey King ), the landscape, the names, the folklore, the musical/poetical traditions...blah, blah, blah. I wasn't excited about the coal mining. I fell in love with the name Bronwen. I wanted to be a bard: Me, in my fifth-grade dreams. Alas, no Welsh ancestry in these v

Writing Marathon

This has been a writing-marathon week, peaking yesterday and today, when I stayed in bed with my computer and only got out to do essential stuff like eat and read bedtime stories to my kid. Didn't even exercise or shower. I feel kind of disgusting. My daughter cooked dinner. I finished another round of revisions and my book is almost ready to go to my agent again. I've given myself a final deadline of March 20th. It's almost two am and I shouldn't be posting on my blog, but I had to record somewhere that I'm done with this piece of the process--that is, until I get my manuscript back again from a last critique or two. Now I can clean my house again, fix food again, pay my overdue bills, use soap, and put on a birthday party for my son without feeling like something's itchy in the back of my mind, undone, scratching for attention. A short respite from the crazy dogs behind the fence. They'll be back soon, I know they will.

Grammar Day Quiz Answer Key

Sorry this is late. I promised tomorrow; I lied. Correct the Celebrity Answer Key 1. Which album title has the spelling error? a. “Dutchess,” by Fergie b. “Growing Pains” by Mary J. Blige c. “Graduation” by Kanye West d. None of the above 2. What’s wrong with this lyric by Justin Timberlake? “When you cheated girl, My heart bleeded girl.” a. It’s perfect as it is. Leave Justin alone! b. “Bleeded” is not a word. “Bled” is. c. There should be commas before and after “girl.” d. Both b and c are correct. 3. Circle the errors Paris Hilton made blogging about her new shoe collection. (Hint: there are at least three!) “Don’t worry, [unnecessary comma] if you arent [aren't] in Orange County, [should be a semicolon] you can also get the shoes at Kitson, Zappos.com, Endless.com, Bakers, Lord & Taylor and select specialty boutiques across the counrty” [country, also needs a period]  [Alternative interpretation] “Don’t worry, [should be a semicolon] if you arent [ar

You know March is here because...

February brain-fog is lifting, even though the weather still kind of stinks. I had a good writing day. It's also NATIONAL GRAMMAR DAY, March forth, er, fourth. I know you're excited. Some Grammar Day comics for you: Take this quiz, courtesy of the Grammar Girl website. See how you do. Correct the Celebrity 1. Which album title has the spelling error?       a. “Dutchess,” by Fergie       b. “Growing Pains” by Mary J. Blige       c. “Graduation” by Kanye West       d. None of the above 2. What’s wrong with this lyric by Justin Timberlake? “When you cheated girl, My heart bleeded girl.”       a. It’s perfect as it is. Leave Justin alone!       b. “Bleeded” is not a word. “Bled” is.       c. There should be commas before and after “girl”       d. Both b and c are correct. 3. Circle the errors Paris Hilton made blogging about her new shoe collection. (Hint: there are at least three!) “Don’t worry, if you arent in Orange County, you can also get the shoes at

February Redeemed

The last week of February ends tomorrow and I admit, in spite of the rest of it, the month has redeemed itself: First, because the sun came out and there was light . And because snow fell all day one day and stuck to the trees and they stood around like bright-white elegant sculptures in the fog while I took the dog for a walk on the mountain twice. It looked like this: Magical.  Also, because then the sun came out again and shone so hard and warmed up the air so much I went on a bike ride . I don't have a picture of that. But, all that brightness turned on something in my brain, and I rewrote the beginning of Hepzibah again - and decided I have my final beginning . I've said that before, but I believe this time it's true. And then, because of " Bright Star ," which I watched tonight, about the poet John Keats. It was stunning. I love his poetry, loved the movie. I cried. And then I remembered that I got to hear Manachem Pressler play Ch