Update on our Kohl's situation (for those who saw the first post). After many phone calls (all of which were very polite but mostly didn't seem to change anything), we finally (apparently) talked to the right person in the fraud department and they FINALLY have taken the items we didn't order and didn't want and actually returned off our bill ( ( Read more... )

Argh. Around Christmas, someone hacked our Kohl's account and ordered 6 blindingly expensive mixers to be shipped to our house ('cause, like, everyone wants a nifty collection of blindingly expensive mixers.) My husband called right away to report that we made no such order and was assured the charges were handled. The guy in customer service said ( Read more... )

My trip to NESCBWI was brief this year as I really couldn't spare much more than the time for my workshops on Sunday. Still, I got to hear some fantastic stuff even so. I heard an amazing speech from Jo Knowles -- she's just always so moving to hear. Then I enjoyed the panel on Diversity because it's a subject I'm really interested in right now. ( Read more... )

I can't believe how little I post to this blog. Mostly it's because I do all my blathering on Facebook, but this blog was my first social networking and I am reluctant to let it fall by the wayside. So, once again, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. And to underline that -- here's my little give-away doll hiding in the daffys that have been ( Read more... )

With the re-release of my first book WELLSPRING OF MAGIC and the release of the second book THE EMERALD DRAGON, I'm giving away autographed books, a one-of-a-kind doll dressed as one of the characters, and a handmade wood-burned bookmark. These books are for girls and I've gotten fan mail from girls from 5-to-10, though I think my readership tends ( Read more... )

Without the power of story, you can only travel the roads you can reach. Without the power of story, you can only know the people you can meet. Without the power of story, you can only live a single human lifespan. Story allows us to see anything, meet anyone, do everything without exception. We can be young or old, good or evil, strong or weak. We ( Read more... )

It's easy to grow very negative about writing. Revision is time consuming and it's hard to know when you've done enough. Submission is just plain scary -- did you do enough research? Did you avoid doing anything really embarrassing? Then there's rejection -- we crushing part of the writing life. Sometimes I get so caught up in the bad stuff that I ( Read more... )

Thoughout the writing years of my life, I've gotten burnt out by publishing a time or two. The system of submission, hope, rejection, submission again...cha cha cha...can become truly exhausting. It doesn't grow less so just because you're published. It doesn't even become less so when you're making a living from writing. The process of submission ( Read more... )

Anyone in any area of the arts knows it’s difficult to separate yourself from your work. Your writing feels like an extension of who you are. That makes anything said about a piece you’ve written hurt. As long as you’re writing only for your own enjoyment - and not to be published - feeling totally bonded to each thing you produce is fine. But once ( Read more... )

Humans have always loved stories. Some of the earliest people used walls in caves, walls of buildings, and even rocks to tell their stories. When the bulk of the population in Europe couldn’t write, they gathered around oral storytellers with rapt attention. Stories offer us a window into an experience that is not our own. And if the storyteller ( Read more... )