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Happy Easter and Happy Passover! And something to keep in mind when gauging a reader's reaction...
As we watched the old Ten Commandments movie last night--so good, even the kids enjoyed it (though they laughed at the outdated special effects), it occurred to me how much history and cause for celebration we share as Christians and Jews. We tend to forget that and focus on the differences and think of Passover as a specifically Jewish holiday, ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
A couple weeks ago I hesitantly asked a writer friend (Jennifer Elvgren, www.jenniferelvgren.com) to read a draft of my YA w-i-p. At 360 pages, I felt it was too long, yet I'd been cutting back at it and didn't know how I could cut anymore and just really needed someone objective whose opinion I trusted to read it through and say, "This part is ( Read more... ) -
A break from Spring Break
Our oldest came home from college for spring break, bringing with her the four girls she'll be sharing a house with next year. Compared to the cold climate where they go to school, they thought Virginia would be tropical, and in this economy, it seemed like the perfect Poor Man's (woman's) Spring Break.
So four college freshman and a sophomore ( Read more... ) -
a certain sense of accomplishment
It's not much, but it's something; today I finished neatening up a draft of my latest YA novel and submitted it to a couple people who said they'd read a manuscript that's way too long and give me their thoughts on it ( Read more... ) -
Author
This afternoon my husband and I took our son to his basketball game at a neighboring high school. As we were walking through the lobby of the gym, I was aware of two boys looking at us, two boys I didn't recognize who looked to be a little older than our 6th grader. One of them leaned over to whisper to the other and pointed our way. Sure that they ( Read more... ) -
A thanks to Henley Middle School
Last night I did a presentation at J.T. Henley Middle School in Crozet, Va, the middle school my kids go/went to, and the turnout was amazing. Two teachers have their students read my book (Going for the Record) as a part of their classroom curriculum. They also ask the students' parents to read the book along with their kids, and then at the end ( Read more... ) -
smiles
annemariepace has tagged me in this meme. What are the last five things that made me smile?
1. Oldest daughter. We were at dinner and she said, "Wow, Mom cracked a funny!" I'd just made a comment everyone laughed at, something I'm not clever enough to do very often. Nice to be thought funny once in a while, intentionally funny, that is.
2. Several Christmas ( Read more... ) -
Thanksgiving continues...
...and I'm not just talking about leftovers. Yesterday, on my mom's 71st birthday, she found out the results of her MRI and the growths on her liver and pancreas are BENIGN!
Yea!
So we go forth into the holiday season with a new sort of glee...
Thanks for your prayers! -
Happy Thanksgiving
Our oldest daughter is coming home tomorrow and it will be the first time in over three months that we've seen her. How weird it's been, to go from having seen a child nearly everyday for 18 years and then--GONE. She does call home often, and happy, and she's going to the same college my husband and I went to, so we don't really feel that ( Read more... )