Five on Friday

1. I got a haircut. This is my userpic from 8/06.

Here I am now 8/08

Shorter is better for the heat. If you want the one with glasses, it’s my new userpic. I hope Katie C. likes the new and improved photo, she hated the last one.

2. For the last couple of months I’ve felt a little alone in my new development. Houses everwhere but no one in sight. Turns out that people were away or just hiding in their air conditioning. The school bus has brought out a swarm of parents and kids. We’ve taken to bringing a frisbee or football to the bus stop and everyone plays. This is quite different then the end of our little dirt road in Maine. Then it was just us.

3. We’ve been playing ultimate frisbee in the evenings after dinner. It’s great exercise and E, often frustrated by his brother’s excellent ball handling skills, has found a sport he can excel at. We come in sweaty and happy.

4. Conference planning is gearing up. Proposals for presenters are due on September 15th. I’d love to see proposals from LJer’s in the New England area. Travel costs are keeping us from recruiting far away folks. Here is the weblink to the CFP. (The on-line application link is on the CFP.)

5. My Maine friends got me a gift certificate to a great indy book store here. Bay books is just wonderful and what they don’t have in stock they’re happy to order. I recently got:
and

Thanks to

d_michiko_f

for the great tip on A Circle of Quiet and to

kellyrfineman

for the True Meaning of Smekday. I love Adam Rex’s illustration style and his “Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich…” poetry collection is a family favorite.

School Tomorrow

You may have noticed that I have been absent from the blogosphere for the last two weeks. Or you may not have missed me at all. (Read: shameless plug for pity and love.)

I have been writing diligently. Unfortunately, I’ve not been writing for my work in progress. I’ve been working on my freelance writing. This is fine because it brings me money, (must complete timesheet and turn it in) and experience writing to deadline, but it does not fulfill me in the way that working on my novel manuscript does. I’ve also been noticing an itchy feeling that starts where my neck and shoulder meet and tingles down my arms into my fingers. It is a feeling between longing and stress and usually happens when I think about how many months have past (4) since the Scholastic editor told me she wanted to see the completed manuscript. She was very kind and told me 6 mos to a year was fine and that she’d remember me and the manuscript but I fear that she will not remember me at all. Or that she will get a similar, better manuscript in that time. Or that she’ll come to her senses and realize that my manuscript sucks. (Read: shameless plug for pity and love.)

My kiddos go back to school tomorrow after a shortened vacation. They kind of got jipped when we moved from Maine to Maryland. (A late end date and an early start date.) So we will cut the summer short when it is still 90 degrees, they will return to the grind, NESCBWI Conference planning will ramp up (Call For Proposals anyone? They are due on September 15th.), and I will get my writing time back.

Moving has it’s ups and downs. While everyone is very kind in our development, I’m not really a development kind of girl. We have a year lease here and then I think we’ll make some other decision. I’m trying to keep an open mind. There are a lot of positives about being in this area, the most important is that I’m close to family and have been able to take advantage of this while hubby goes away on business, etc. Also, we took a spontaneous camping trip to Shenandoah National Park this past weekend which was just amazing. The mountain scenery made me think of Kerry Madden

mountainmist

and her lovely Gentle’s Holler series . Books 2 and 3 are on my TBR pile. I’m excited about getting back to that as well. Right now I have two kids itching for us to finish Chamber of Secrets and take them to meet their new teachers. I promise I won’t be a stranger.

Democracy

Leticia Plate is an awesome illustrator. She does sign creation for whole foods during the day then is Super Mommy/Super Illustrator at home. Take a look at this t-shirt entry for the theme Democracy. This is good design and illustration in one. What amazing problem solving!

Writer’s Craft Alphabet

If you’re anything like me, by the time you go to check in on your friend’s blogs you are so late that half of them are on the “Previous 20” page and you miss some news. Well for once, I’m checking early in the day and I got to see

carriejones

posting about her writing for Through the Tollbooth.

thru_the_booth

She has a hysterical alphabet that all writers should be familiar with in order to succeed in their craft. (Bwaa, not really but it will make you giggle.) Don’t miss it!

In other news, Sunday was very productive. I emptied five boxes in my office and there is a neat little space for a desk in there. I’ll be up and running in no time. I also made serious progress in the garage. Enough that I could sweep the floor! The birds have seed in their feeders now and the porch has basil, lavender, and geraniums. It’s coming along.

Mom’s Blog

I’m pleased to say that my mother has been bitten by the blogging bug. If you’d like to check it out, link to Art and Politics with Ruth Jordan. My Mom is an amazing woman. A long time writer, journalist, and public relations guru, she is also a print maker. I can promise you plenty of Democratic politics over there as November draws nigh. She is the President of the Greencastle-Antrim Democratic Club, part of the Franklin County Dems.

Ah-ha, you say. That is where Anna gets all of her organizational madness. Yes, my Mom was certainly a large part of it but both of my parents were union organizers so I think I got the gene double duty. I can say that my mother was my first editor. I’ve gotten a much thicker skin since then but her edits used to make me cry. Me: “But, Maaa-om, that’s not what I want to say!” Needless to say, she was right then and I’m finally experienced enough to admit it. Recently, my mother finished her SCUBA certification. Not bad, for a 69 year old lady. (Way to go, MOM!) So take a look at her blog if you get a chance.

Mom and Dad on the Peaks Island Ferry, Casco Bay, Maine.

Work

You know what is great? When you find what you love to do. I love to write and manage and plan. I love calendars and events. You know what else is great? When someone pays you to do what you love. I recently got a job as a writer for the website http://www.helmetstohardhats.org . I’m getting to manage the editorial calendar, interview cool people in the field, do research and write articles. This is what I was doing for the last many years as a writer for children, but it was all on speculation and I must say, the paycheck piece is a welcomed change.

The biggest issue has been my own writing. I’ve been juggling my kiddos, my house, my move, and my husband’s new work and travel schedule but throw in my SCBWI work and my novel and you’ve got a recipe for mental breakdown. So, if you are interested in conference updates I must apologize and tell you that on August 19th my kiddos go back to school and I will make the conference a bigger part of my life. Until then, get your presentation proposals in. The info is at http://www.nescbwi.org/about/conferences/

If you are a first reader waiting for the first complete draft of Jacob Jones… I’m setting September 15th as my deadline. Schmoozers, I’m looking for a plane ticket.

Slow Day

Freelance writing and laundry. That’s all nothing more to report. The children are vegging in front of the tube and I’m only feeling slightly guilty. At least they’re helping with the laundry. The AC repair folks are coming today. They said they’d be here between noon and 8 pm. It’s good to have a schedule, yes?

A Taste of Southern Maryland

By the time dinner rolls around, my Southern Maryland home, with an ineffective AC unit, is hot enough to drive this woman out of the house and into a restaurant. With my visiting parents, I took a suggestion from my new editor to go to Fitzy’s restaurant. Fitzy’s is perched on the end of Newtown Neck about 15 minutes from my home. I had the distinct feeling of deja vu’ as the setting was so similar to the Dolphin Marina in Harpswell, Maine. Water surrounds the little peninsula and the restaurant has windows all around to let you enjoy the islands that pillow the horizon and sailboats that skim along in the windy waves. I had the expectation that Fitzy’s, located in a working marina, would be a crabber’s bar. It is nothing of the sort.

Danny Fitzgerald, son of the original Fitzy, showed me around. Danny is an impressive man. Ruddy and white-blond from the sun, he stands about seven feet tall. Okay maybe not that tall, but I’m already 5 foot 10 and it takes a lot of height to impress me. He told me that the original building was destroyed during hurricane Isabel in 2003. Clean and newish with butter-yellow siding, the two-story building is large with two wings. One wing houses a dining room and the other a bar. The bar room is complete with two pinball machines and a 75 cent pool table that my kiddos loved. There is an outside tiki bar and tables in the sand for beach party nights when bands play. Upstairs, there is a room for private parties of as many as 50.

Fitzy’s isn’t cheap. The price of a dinner ranges from $15 to $30 but the food was delicious and the portions large. We started with a pound of steamed shrimp that were spiced with Old Bay and cloves. Each shrimp was huge and tasty. Things just kept getting better. The broiled crab cakes were big enough to share and I loved that you could really taste and appreciate the crab meat. (Not a single shell, by the way.) My Dad had a broiled cod and my husband had salmon. Both loved their meals. My favorite part of the meal were the hush puppies dipped in honey. They were moist and just a little spicy.

Heather, our waitress was chipper and attentive. She introduced herself and made a point of moving around the table to take orders and give specials so that even my father (83) could hear and be heard. I can’t say enough about her amazing service. She was so attentive that she literally offered her back as a place for my hubby to sign the credit receipt. (He declined.)

I hope that some of my Maine friends will come visit if they can stand the heat. If they can’t, we’ll get out of the kitchen and go to Fitzy’s for a game of pool, a drink and some hush puppies.

Boxes, boxes, boxes

This is the roving reporter live from the Boll garage in the Breton Bay neighborhood of Leonardtown, Maryland. You’ll see that all around me are boxes. Some full, some empty. The boxes are stacked as high as an adult in here and it is difficult to make it to the door. There is a small path that we can take. Okay, here is the door into the house. I’m pushing it open but it seems that the entry way is full of… yes, boxes. Okay. These are all empty and we can see that the living room is looking quite comfortable. There are plenty of toys for the children, (infact, what child really needs this many toys and art supplies?). The children have been bribed with trips to the pool to unpack boxes. It seems that they are filling the book cases with wonderful books. Look how many are signed by the artist or author. (Now this family knows what’s important.)

The kitchen and all the bedrooms are also still crowded with unpacked boxes. Here in the kitchen, the computer is unpacked, and set up. Good thing too, because the SCBWI New England Conference is getting closer with every passing day and Anna Boll better up her game. In addition to unpacking boxes and co-directing the conference, Anna just scored a freelance job writing newsletter content for the Helmets to Hardhats website. The money will be important to the family economy but will she be able to manage all this before the children head back to school? That August 19th date is only a month away, causing some to ask, “Where has the summer gone?” But in Leonardtown, we can feel summer everyday. Today’s forecast? 92 degrees and 96% humidity. Great weather for unpacking, BOXES.

My office. ACK!

Moving Day

Hello Friends,
The packers are here and I’m shutting down the computer for a week or so. I’m happy to email folks with our contact info. Just leave me a comment and I’ll write you a more private message with the address, phone, and my new email. (Hoping to cut down on spam.)