I resolve…

To be more organized. Now some of my on-line friends think that I am super organized. I organize conferences, send out submissions, search for agents, blog regularly (ahem). Okay maybe not I’m not a regular blogger. Maybe if I give Frank, the  LJ goat, some Metamucil, I’d be more regular. But I digress. The fact is that if you saw my studio/office in the last couple months you’d be shocked. Shocked that I dare to be so hypocritical as to tell my children to clean their rooms when mine is such a wreck. As my son E. says, “It looks like a junkyard.” Gotta love a kid who tells the truth. That’s a family value right there. So I’ve been slogging through piles, and recycling, and buying drawers for supplies, and reclaiming file cabinets, and vacuuming, and dusting and cleaning and…. I’m organized. There are a few more things to do. I need shelves for my  closet and Hubby is going to help me rearranging things and hang pictures. Then I’ll take a few photos and post them. I’m so excited to show you. When I was little, I’d finally clean my room and my Mom would make a big deal of coming upstairs and exclaiming her joy and pride. Today I marched everyone in the family through the room and they all had to make a big deal about it. Ahhh… now back to work. I’m sure that novel will be finished in no time.

The muddy middle

I’m working hard to break through the middle of my novel manuscript. It seems that the characters need me take a break so that they can reconvene and figure out where they’re going. I won’t let them rest for too long though. I’ll be plugging away again tomorrow. For now, a joke. Where do fish keep their money? Answer: In a river bank. I. told me this one but my answer was “In off shore accounts.” I laughed hysterically but he didn’t get it.  I need to make portfolio appointments in NY for the week before the national SCBWI conference. Anyone else going? Let’s meet!

10889 / 30000 words. 36% done!

Hello 2008

Dear Friends:
It seems that it is 2008. Funny that. I’m just going along, writing, mothering, and drawing… and planning conferences, submitting manuscripts, researching agents, job hunting, developing adult ed classes… that another year has come and gone. It is true that 2007 was a busy year and I’ve come a long way but it was not as fruitful as I’d hoped. Looking back on my 2007 journals it seems that some goals never seem to be complete. I keep saying I’ll write the first two chapters of my non-fiction but never do. My Roar book is a like a millstone around my neck. I keep revising and reworking getting farther from the original vision of the book.

What a downer. Who wants to read that? Okay… 10 highpoints of 2007!
1. The awesome feeling of possibilities when I started my novel for JoNoWriMo.
2. Fall Folio Feast 2007. Third time was a charm. Great speaker, great event and I was relaxed enough to enjoy it.
3. Volunteering for Meals on Wheels. I love what I do there and it makes me feel great.
4. New Friends and old. The schmoozes at Tami’s, the amazing LJ community, Botherhood 2.0, (The Project for Awesome was indeed awesome!)
5. Go SOX! Go Patriots!
6. Proposing classes for adult ed and being accepted.
7. Being asked to direct the NESCBWI conference and getting to know Janet and Francine.
8. My family is healthy and happy. My boys are growing into very nice people that I like to spend time with. My parents and siblings are well.
9. The satisfying feeling of doing interviews for various projects.
10. Travel up and down the east coast and through NY State that allowed me to see people and places I don’t usually see.
11. (Okay 11) I read A LOT this year and loved it.

Hope that is better reading for you. Finally, a question. What do you think of getting and MFA  in Writing for Children? Is it all for the experience? Do the contacts and crits help you get published? Or do you feel that the experience made you a better writer and THEN you got published?

Bad haircut

I got a bad haircut today. I’d been growing it for about six months and it had gotten quite long. Down to my shoulders or so. But it is very thick and coarse and looks like a big triangle on top of my head. Sort of like Rosana-dana. So I got it cut. I don’t really look like the userpic by this journal now. My hair was razor cut all over to thin it out but it is also cut sort of lopsided. It was suppose to look a little like posh spice. I know, I know, but I thought the haircut would be good. Kind of sexy and sporty. It doesn’t really look like anything. Just that it’s been hacked off. My response was to go out and purchase auburn hair dye in the hopes that at least the red would cover the grey bits that are poking out everywhere these days. I haven’t dyed it yet. Maybe tomorrow.

I’ve had two very lovely rejections recently. The kind that tell you how amazing your work is, your ideas are great, but they are going to have to pass. Must be hard. Too pass that is. On such amazing work. But they hope you have luck placing your work elsewhere. ACK!

So even though there are awful things like war, famine, a subprime mortgage crisis, and a campaign for the presidency I am sad a about a bad haircut and manuscript rejections.

I wish I had more to report but I just don’t. 

Six things on a Wednesday.

1. I am a master procrastinator.
2. The world is wintery white and cold as icicles.
3. I would like to curl up and crawl into the clothes dryer.
4. Chocolate brownies make me happy.
5. My husband makes awesome soup. Today is pumpkin soup.
6. I got a bike for Chanukah last night. How cool is that. I’m not too old to get a bike for a gift!

I’m writing, I’m writing.

3:00 Yeehaw!

7797 / 30000 words. 26% done!

Update 2007

1. Books I’ve read in the last month: An Abundance of Katherines (Green), Twisted(Halse-Anderson), A Drowned Maiden’s Hair (Schlitz), Lessons from a Dead Girl (Knowles), Diary of A Fairy Godmother (Raji-Codell), Mao’s Last Dancer (Li Cunxin), Goy Crazy (Schorr).
2. Books on my bedside table: Story of a Girl (Zarr), Shark Girl (Bingham), Catalyst (Halse-Anderson), Friction (Frank), The Sunita Experiment (Perkins), Writing Magic (Levine), Crafting Stories for Children (Lamb)
3. Ballet proposal is out at agents. Molli & Mati has been rejected twice (third time’s a charm), Environmental books out at Tilbury House.
4. Made significant progress on Jacob Jones manuscript this month. (Thanks Jo!) I’ve set a deadline for December 15th to have the first draft done. I’m hoping to bring it to NY SCBWI conference.
5. Illustration mailing needs to go out. ACK.
6. 2009 conference planning starting, 2008 looking on good. On track.
7. Am I really and author/illustrator or just a writer who likes to draw? (That is a much deeper discussion that shouldn’t be on this list but there it is. At least I’m honest.)
8. It is technically still 2007 so this might still be my year.

Picture Books Anyone?

From the “classes, retreats and workshops” file today… Jo Lloyd, the Program Assistant of the Highlights Foundation sent me this information to post. Also check out the other great Foundation workshops. The Highlights folks treat you like royalty so that all you have to think about is improving your art and craft.

I thought you might know some folks who might be interested in a picture
book workshop we just added to our lineup for fall 2008.  Dominic Catalano
is giving his workshop at that time, and has a few guest
illustrator/authors attending as well.  Here’s link to information below,
and would so appreciate you sharing it with others you know.

http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/pages/current/FWsched_artofPictureBooks_08.html