Monday, March 22, 2010

CONTEST!!!!!!!!!!!

Jen over at unedited is having a contest. Click over. You might be one of three lucky winners. =)http://jennifer-daiker.blogspot.com/2010/03/300-birthday-contest.html
I'm unplugging for a short time. There are (of course) hospital visits (starting tomorrow), and I want to ready everything for the day I start to query. So I am going over my baby one more time, writing my agent list, and checking it twice, cleaning the synopsis and query to make them sparkle. Uh, you get the pic. But it won't be too long, because I will miss you all so much. And I will pop in from time to time. To my place, and yours too.

So wish me luck and I wish you some too. I really want this. And so I am doing everything in my power to make it happen. And it will. For us all. Please be safe and know I love all of you.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Christopher. And Kate McRae is preparing for her move to Houston for the radiation. Her fever has come back. And that isn't good. Her pancreatic enzymes are climbing. Not good. On Wednesday she gets her MRI. To see if the cancerous tumor has shrunk. Or at least that it hasn't grown any bigger. Pray for her. And all of those like her. Thank you. So much.

Oh and Patti http://www.pattilacy.com/blog/ reports that Humbug Mountain by Sid Fleischman is selling on Amazon for $70.00! YIKES! Anyone have a copy so she can read this great book? I will look for mine. It's somewhere. Can you believe how the price tag went up after his death? 

I will talk to you all very soon. And post my awards and all of that stuff. Write on. (^_^)

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saying goodbye

Sid Fleischman died on Saint Paddy's Day. What a terrific author. Master of the tall tale. And if you read his books, you will learn about the craft. The way he weaved everything together. Have you ever read Humbug Mountain? In my opinion,  it is one of the best books ever written. Or the "McBroom" series about the family with 11 red-headed children set on their farm in Iowa, I think.

My favorite thing he ever taught me about writing is this; "Give weather reports. It helps the reality of a scene if foghorns are blowing or kites are in the sky on a windy afternoon or the day's so hot wallpaper is peeling off the walls."


So rest easy now Sid. And chat it up with Samuel and those prolific writers who have gone on before you. God bless.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Super contest over at Beth's place

Head on over to enter. I think I'll remind her that if I win one, she won't have to pay postage. She can just give it to me at our coffee shop.  Oh yeah, I'm getting smart. =) Here's the link: http://bethrevis.blogspot.com/ Good luck.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

It's St. Paddy's Day

St Patrick is known as the patron saint of Ireland. He was not born in Ireland. But he has become an integral part of the Irish heritage, mostly through his service across Ireland of the 5th century.

Patrick was born in the later half of the 4th century AD. There are differing views about the exact year and place of his birth. According to one school of opinion, he was born about 390 A.D., while the other school says it is about 373 AD. Again, his birth place is said to be in either Scotland or Roman England. His real name was probably Maewyn Succat. Though Patricius was his Romanicized name, he was later came to be familiar as Patrick.


Patrick was the son of Calpurnius, a Roman-British army officer. He was growing up as naturally as other kids in Britain. However, one day a band of pirates landed in south Wales and kidnapped this boy along with many others. Then they sold him into slavery in Ireland. He was there for 6 years, mostly imprisoned. This was when changes came to him. He dreamed of having seen God. Legend says, he was then dictated by God to escape with a getaway ship.

Finally, he did escape and went to Britain. And then to France. There he joined a monastery and studied under St. Germain, the bishop of Auxerre. He spent around 12 years in training. And when he became a bishop he dreamed that the Irish were calling him back to Ireland to tell them about God. The Confessio, Patrick's spiritual  autobiography, is the most important document regarding this. It tells of a dream after his return to Britain, in which one Victoricus delivered him a letter headed "The Voice of the Irish."

So he set out for Ireland with the Pope's blessings. There he converted the Gaelic Irish, who were then mostly Pagans, to Christianity. He was confident in the Lord, he journeyed far and wide, baptizing and confirming with untiring zeal. And, in a diplomatic fashion he brought gifts to a kinglet here and a lawgiver there,but accepted none from any.

Indeed, Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. Through active preaching, he made important converts even among the royal families. And this fact upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times,but escaped each time. For 20 years he had traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion. He developed a native clergy, fostered the growth of monasticism, established dioceses, and held church councils.


He died on March 17, AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's ever since. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday. Or, rather, 'be an Irish Day '. And the Irish has borne it as part of their national tradition in everywhere they populated and prospered. The Catholic feast day for this most loved of Irish saints has become a holiday in celebration of the Irish and Irish culture.


Even though I am of Irish heritage, and today we feast on corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew, Irish soda bread, and lots of other delicious foods (recipes sent down through the generations) I know that on this day, people from all over the world want to be Irish. And I still love hearing the story of this great man every year.


Happy St. Paddy's Day.



Monday, March 15, 2010

Congrats to my writing pardner. She signed with Razorbill. Her book is due out in spring 2011

                  Congrats Beth Revis!!!!  You're on your way.

Unplugged? Say what?

Uh, er, well, I came back to mention to you about Kristi's super cool kids contest. Get in on the action. The winner could be you. Or me. =)

Contest runs until April Fools Day. Which happens to be my dad's birthday.

Go on enter.  http://kristifaith.blogspot.com/2010/02/surprise-contest.html You know you wanna. Aren't contests cool? =)

See you the day after Easter which is my target date to start querying. Uh, yeah, I'm a little behind. As usual.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Am I a SLACKER?

Am I?  Doctor appointments, hospital visits, medicine, home-school, writing, preparing to query, driving to violin/guitar/horseback riding lessons, blogging/connecting with all of my blogging pals that I have truly come to love, housework, farm chores, (this morning I walked our creek bank cleaning debris that the husband had burned and all of it didn't burn. I mean really! Does he actually think ALUMINUM FOIL burns?) are all on my list of things to do. Well one of our boys is a master guitarist and teaches guitar, so I really don't have to drive for those lessons. =)

So am I a slacker? I ask this question, because I have slacked on blog posts this week. BIG TIME. Hmmmmm,

Slacker: somebody who avoids doing something, especially work or military service. Love, Webster. Uh, he didn't really sign his dictionary with love, but I thought that was a pretty good affect.

Ol' Webster was a good old guy. He wanted us to spell words write not rong. =) Uh, misspelling on purpose there. So he gave us a dictionary. So from his pen, he tells me that I am not really a slacker. I don't shirk work. I just have too many things going on right now.

Spring is coming. And spring on a farm is a big happening. Especially a farm with horses. They like to eat in the winter. Gotta get the spring cutting of hay. (It's the best.)  They told me so. So, fertilizing the pasture, putting lime out on the pasture, planting, hay gettin', cleaning, etc., etc..

Ahhh spring.

So I am NOT  a slacker. Thank you Noah. I am not lax, not avoiding work. Just have too much of it.

I still have lots and lots to say about James Scott Bell's lovely book, Revision & Self-Editing, so I will post more on that after unplug week. And during unplug week, I WILL get all agent blogs visited, decide on a few more agents and I WILL query shortly after that. GULP.  This brings both excitement and nervous tension. And a few headaches. Because I will ONLY query when SEVENTY TWO HOURS is ready.

How about you? Do you think you are slack if you miss a few blog posts?  Or if you don't get around to visit everyone? Oh Elana. HOW DO YOU DO IT? (^_^) I mean I know how she does it. But it doesn't work the same way for me as it does for her. All those tabs makes my dang computer freeze.

I'm unplugging next week. I will see you after that. Have a safe, happy, wonderful writing time. I truly love you all!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

CONTEST!!!!

I am here to tell you about a super cool, winningly wunnerful, excitingly extravagant, contest over at suzettesaxton.blogspot.com

CHECK IT OUT! Good luck to ME. Oh, and YOU too. *grin*

Monday, March 8, 2010

Belle of the Ball

I am the first Belle of the Ball over at YA writer Dani's house. Check out my sidebar. Yeah, that's my crown.  I'm loving that crown and all of the perks that go with it. Oh, and my dress is long, silky, and flowing. I always told the hubby I was queenly.*grin*

So check out her blog and follow her if you aren't already. She's always handing out fresh, virtual (better for my diet) cookies. Here's the link: http://danyelleleafty.com/?p=263 
 

Friday, March 5, 2010

Next week I will post more on Revision & Self Editing

Today I wanted to tell you about little Angelina. She was born with the same disorder that Christopher has. And she is going to have a hemispherectomy operation to remove or disconnect the outer layer of the affected half of the brain. Christopher was never a candidate for this particular surgery, because both sides of his brain are affected. I will leave a link and you can read up on her surgery if you'd like to. http://www.northnorfolknews.co.uk/content/northnorfolknews/news/story.aspx?brand=NNNOnline&category=news&tBrand=NNNonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED02%20Mar%202010%2018%3A54%3A24%3A163

Sturge-Weber affects the brain, skin, eyes and other parts of the body. It is super rare. It also causes stroke. And it seems that a lot of Sturge-weber patients get cancer. There are learning disabilities because of all the seizures and blindness too. Some have such pain in their eyes that they have to have the eye removed. Thankfully Christopher still has his sight. He is mildly learning disabled. But he reads, writes, and loves to sing. His reaction time is so very slow that he will never be able to drive.

Christopher use to have 35-40 seizures a day.  Christopher has the most rare form of the disorder. The port wine birthmark covers 85- 90% of his body. Most only have it on their head and face and some don't have the birthmark at all.

Please pray that the surgery goes well for this precious little girl.

Thank you for all the prayers for Christopher. Still no news, but no news is good news?? I love you all so very much. =)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

We're at the hospital today. I will get around later this evening to visit. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

WMD

Tomorrow, March 3rd is World Maths Day. We will be participating in our home-school. Wish us luck. Today is practice day. Fun! Here's the link if you want to sign up. I think you still can. http://www.worldmathsday.com/2010/Default.aspx?  It is for all ages. ;)

Another super cool contest people.

It's over at Dani's house. Go check it out. Go on. She's home and waiting for you. There's a 10 page critique at stake here. ;)

http://danyelleleafty.com/?p=173

And the winner of the copy of Prada & Prejudice is...

Random.org says the winner is # 5. Georgiana! Email me your contact info. My writing email has been out for a month. :(  I am switching domains, so just email me at my hubby's business email addy: generobyn(at)wildblue(dot)net

Congratulations. I hope you and your daughter enjoy the book.  :)

COOL CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT AT PUTTING PEN TO PAPER

Awesome contest happening over at Write Now. That's Karen's place. Go check it out. May I say the prizes are both yummy and readable. =)
http://karenelange.blogspot.com/ 

Monday, March 1, 2010




                                     
     Join me in welcoming Mandy Hubbard. YA author and agent for D4EO Literary Agency representing authors of young adult and middle grade fiction. http://www.mandyhubbard.com/ 

Leave a comment for Mandy and you will be entered in the give away for Mandy's book, Prada & Prejudice. And as always, you gotta be a follower. That's it, no other requirements. So without further ado, here's Mandy. (^_^)


 Mandy I want to thank you for popping in to visit with us today. 


As a child what was your most favorite book?
Are we talking when I was *really* little? I was obsessed with The Little Critter picture books. Would put an entire stack of 20 or so next to my bed and read them until I made it to the bottom. Then I went to sleep. 
 If someone told you that you could offer one morsel of writing advice to your fellow writers, what would that be?
Give yourself permission to write crap. Crap can be fixed. I think too many people want to write a book but never do, because they delete everything. Just get it written, don’t worry about getting it right. That’s what revisions are for!

 How long did it take you to write, revise, submit, and get published? How many rejections did you get?
The Short Version: Started writing in 2003, my debut novel hit shelves in 2009.
The Longer version: I dabbled for a few years. I started the first draft of Prada & Prejudice in 2006, the year I signed my agent. It took 9 drafts and 26 rejections before we received two offers in 2008. It took another round of revisions, plus line edits, before the book hit shelves in 2009.

Do you write every day?
I do something *publishing related* every day, whether it’s writing, revising, copy edits, reading queries, critiquing, etc. I’m aiming for a two-book-per-year schedule, which means I’m constantly juggling between projects at different stages.
Aside from that, I recently became a literary agent, so I’m constantly on the hunt for new and exciting projects. That means lots and lots of reading.

What’s the most amazing thing you have learned throughout this writing journey you are on?
Honestly, the most amazing thing to me isn’t a trade secret or tip for publication or a skill—it’s just realizing I’ve finally found my passion in life. The publishing industry has become my greatest love (after my family!), and I’m so glad I found it!

You have two books coming out in 2010. Tell us about them.
YOU WISH is my next release for teens—it features a cynical teen who gets everything she’s ever wished for—even that life-size My Little Pony she wanted when she was six, a lifetime supply of gumballs she wished for when she was eight, etc. The wishes MUST STOP before she get the last wish—for Ben Mackenzie to kiss her. Because Ben is her best friend’s boyfriend. 
Mandy, you recently joined D4EO Literary agency.  Which came first? The author or the agent?
 I've been a writer much longer than an agent. But even as a writer, I was fascinated by the business side of things. I think some writers hate the biz side of writing. I love it. I've spent the last several years devouring everything I could find-- publisher's marketplace deal listings, agent blogs, etc. Agenting is a natural fit for me and my interests.

What is the most important thing a writer needs to know about writing a query letter?
 I see a lot of queries where the writer seems to think it's necessary to "explain" their novel-- they list plot points, characters, etc. You do NOT have to give us a full picture of the novel. We just want you to hook us. Intrigue us by focusing in on the most interesting character or aspects of your story.

What is the most important question an unagented writer needs to ask an agent who is interested in their book?
I don't think there is any one question-- but it's important to talk to the agent on the phone and ask LOTS of questions. What are her plans for the book? Does she have ideas for where to send it? Does she want revisions? Who else does she represent? What is her style-- is she the hand-holding type or will she only relay information on a need-to-know basis?
Many websites have whole lists of questions to ask a prospective agent. I think Agentquery or querytracker.net has a good list.
 Chocolate or Peanut butter?  Both! Mixed together! But if I can only have one, I want chocolate. In the form of brownies. MMMM, brownies.

 Thank you so much  for agreeing to be interviewed. I love reading Prada and Prejudice and I look forward to reading Driven and You Wish too. 



 Okay, I will not be answering comments, because I don't want to mess up the numbers for Random.org .  (^_^) Thank you for stopping by.