Well,  the new year hasn't exactly gotten off to a rip-roaring start.   As usual,  I need to get it in gear.

However,  I did just read my first new book of the year.   I saw The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer,  a middle-grade novel,  at San Marino Toy and Book Shoppe (yes,  an indy!) and was attracted by the cute pink cover (which can be seen at ( Read more... )

You were a good year in some ways,  though you could've been better.   (Yes,  the same can be said about me....)

Hopefully,  2009 will be a more productive year for me.   I spent an embarrassing amount of time since my last rejection letter (which came on my birthday) trying to whip my novel and query into better shape.   If I can get the queries ( Read more... )

Warm holiday wishes to all my friends.

Hope Santa remembers everything on your list!                

Scholastic's having a Customer Appreciation Warehouse Sale at various locations this week.   It's supposed to be for school employees,  homeschoolers,  and book fair volunteers.   But at the warehouse I went to today,  in Anaheim,  nobody asked me anything.   And really,  how would they know if I wasn't a homeschooler?

It was fun and a bit ( Read more... )

1)  I'm not doing NaNoWriMo again this year...I wanted to,  but I'm still fine-tuning my rejected novel and query.   I did write page one of my baseball book,  at least.   And I read No Plot?  No Problem! by Chris Baty,  the guidebook for NaNo.   Actually,  the book I'm about to re-query on was written in a fast-draft style off the top of my head ( Read more... )

I know,  I've been a bad blogger lately.   Bad writer in general.   The revisions on my rejected novel took a bit longer than I expected,  and that's backed everything else up.   But,  hey,  at least it's Friday.

1)  The Reencuentro concert on October 5th was,  I told a friend,  "good,  but not great like the first time around ('98-'99)."   As she ( Read more... )

I meant to do a Friday Five yesterday,  but...well,  it was a tiring week.   So I'll try again today.

1)   After two days of working with severely disabled older teens (as helpless as babies or toddlers),  I thought going to a public high school yesterday might be a nice change.

2)   Now I remember why I was so eager to get out of high school.   (I ( Read more... )

Wow,  I wish I'd had a camera on Saturday afternoon.   My sister and I were in Monrovia,  a city near Pasadena.   We had some time to kill,  so I took a meandering drive up Myrtle Avenue toward the foothills.   We were looking at the nice big Victorian-style homes when I saw a pair of animals walking up ahead,  in the middle of the street.   At ( Read more... )

I had a day off from school district work today,  so where did I go?   To school ( Read more... )

I worked at two middle schools this week,  including the one I went to as a 7th-grader...yikes,  three decades ago.   I was nervous about having to work with older kids,  but so far it's gone okay.   And I've been soaking up info like a sponge,  hoping to fill the tank for my writing ( Read more... )