Resolutions and Good Reads...

It's that time again when you're supposed to look back and evaluate your progress on last year's New Year resolutions. I didn't make any resolutions last year. I don't remember why I didn't, except that at the time I was a bit overwhelmed with the change in my position at work. Making my to-do list longer wasn't exactly a priority.  Still, there's something to be said for writing down your goals. I didn't accomplish as much creatively last year as I would have liked. Maybe if I had written down my goals I would have been more diligent about the pursuit.

And so...
2013 New Year's Resolutions

1. Keep a healthy balance in life - work is work, home is home, family comes first. 
2. Eating right and daily exercise needs to become a bigger priority.
3. Take time to be creative daily - writing, quilting, singing, drawing.
4. Read at least two novels each month.
5. Write at least one blog post per month.

***Addendum... I was just reminded by my friend and critique partner that I forgot a goal:
     6.  Have an extended lunch with my friend and critique partner at least once a month.

As is the tradition of the final blogpost of the year, here is my 2012 Good Reads List:

• DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT, Laini Taylor
• THE GOLDEN COMPASS, Philip Pullman
• SUPERNATURALLY, Kiersten White
• FLIGHT, Alyssa Rose Ivy
• HUSH, HUSH, Becca Fitzpatrick
• THE CRIMSON CROWN, Cinda Williams Chima
• BLEAKER, Aimee Walker
• THIRD GRADE ANGELS, Jerry Spinelli
• A MOUSE CALLED WOLF, Dick King-Smith
• DEAD END IN NORVELT, Jack Gantos
• BITTERBLUE, Kristin Cashore
• CITY OF LOST SOULS, Cassandra Clare
• THE CAROUSEL GHOST, Andrea Pellecshi
• THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE, by Jeff Hirsch
• EAT, PRAY, LOVE, by Elizabeth Gilbert
• THE SCORPIO RACES, Maggie Stiefvater
• DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, Laini Taylor
• THE BOY PROJECT, Kami Kinard
• THE GOOSE GIRL, Shannon Hale
• LEGEND, Marie Lu
• CINDER, Marissa Meyer
• FIRE, Kristin Cashore

  2011 Good Reads

  2010 Good Reads

  2009 Good Reads 

  2008 Good Reads

  Happy New Year! May 2013 be a year of blessings and successes!

RIPPLE, by Mandy Hubbard

It's pub day for RIPPLE, a paranormal romance for teens by author/ agent @MandyHubbard! Win a critique! http://tinyurl.com/3sh3sy9 #Ripple


I read Prada and Prejudice by Mandy and loved it! RIPPLE is definitely on my short list. 


I'll have a longer blog post soon. Promise!

Tribute to a Master: Brian Jacques

We lost a wonderful, imaginative author this week. On February 5th, Brian Jacques passed away at age 71, from a heart attack. He was a British author who was best known for his fantasy series, Redwall.

I had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Jacques speak a few years ago at Northern Kentucky University. The auditorium was filled with a couple-hundred 10-14 year old boys and their parents, a few girls scattered here and there, and me.

The first thing he did was to school us in the correct pronunciation of his name (Jakes -with a long a). We listened to him talk about his life -which was quite an interesting adventure. His first story was written at age 10. When Mr. Jacques told us it was about a bird that cleaned a crocodile's teeth, his young audience laughed. They didn't think it so funny anymore when they learned Mr. Jacques' teacher called him a liar and caned him. His story was very good, and she didn't believe he wrote it. The punishment was given because he wouldn't admit that he copied it.

He talked briefly of becoming a sea merchant sailor at age 15, but what I remember most about his talk is why he started writing. He delivered milk to a school for the blind, and he began to spend time with the children. He starting writing stories for them, and because they were blind, he added lots of descriptive details.

I owe Brian Jacques a big thank you. I'm a teacher, and over the years I've had many boys who were reluctant readers. When they would come to me and say there wasn't anything interesting to read, I'd introduce them to Redwall. Inevitably, they would devour every book in the series I had on my shelves and ask for more.

Brian Jacques will certainly be missed. Rest in peace.

They Had Me With the Gift Bag... Chautauqua!

I'm HOME!  I wasn't sure I would make it back. Somewhere along the Pennsylvania/Ohio border my van began to hiccup and the engine light came on. Since the temperature light didn't show, I kept driving. Once I reached Columbus, the engine light started blinking, so I stopped and got some advice from a mechanic. He ran a diagnostic and announced that not all pistons were firing. That's not the first time someone has said that to me, although they weren't referring to my van...  He thought I could make it home to Cincinnati, but advised me to drive under the speed limit. I followed his advice -much to the annoyance of every trucker on I-71 South.

How do I explain the Chautauqua Writer's Workshop?

Generous - I was greeted at the Hall of Christ by friendly faces and a Highlight's tote bag full of FREE BOOKS. That alone was enough to make me a happy gal. Every member of the faculty was friendly and helpful. Each person willingly took the time to answer questions. Any question, whether it was about books, writing, or finding the post office. No one ever made me feel that I was keeping them from someplace else they'd rather be.

Fun - Throw roughly 120 creative thinkers together for a week, and how could you not have fun? Especially when there is good food, ice cream and chocolate involved.

HOT - Holy moly was it hot! And humid. I thought I would melt and become one, big puddle of Nora somewhere along the brick road to the Atheneum Hotel. There was no air-conditioning except in the Hall of Christ, and that was to protect the pipe organ. I think the guest rooms at the Atheneum had air, but ceiling fans were the norm everywhere else. Whew!

Thought-Provoking - Every speaker gave me something to chew on. No word was wasted. Each piece of advice was rich.

Friendly - I met some nice people this week. They came from all over the world - Hong Kong, Spain, Thailand, Africa, Canada, and of course, from every corner of the USA.  There are several people I know I'll keep in contact with. You can find two of them at Slushbusters. I'm sure Michelle and Sarah will also blog about their experiences. Hanna is another fun, new friend. You can find her at Luna the Typewriter. Yup. She named her typewriter after the moon.

I'm already packing for another workshop, so it might be another week before I return to the blog. I leave on Friday for George Washington's Mt. Vernon Teachers' Institute for one week of immersion in the life and times of George Washington. It should be interesting, and it will renew my teacher's license.

Before I go, I want to leave you with a list of some of the books the Highlight's presenters used as examples in their workshops. I know my to-be-read list has expanded. Hopefully you can find something helpful here too.

Patti Gauch - Conflict & Tension - turn the page power
*SPEAK, Laurie Halse-Anderson
*THE CHOCOLATE WAR, Robert Cormier
*THE HOBBIT, J. R. R. Tolkien

Patti Gauch - Books Examples With... 
Voice: SAVVY, Ingrid Law
Narrative catch: HIGHWAY CATS,  Janet Taylor Lisle
Transcendent moments: MOCKINGBIRD, Kathryn Erskine

Peter Jacobi - Beginnings 
THE BLACK CLOUD, Fred Hoyle
A SUMMER TO DIE, Lois Lowry
THE HIGH KING, Lloyd Alexander
WIND IN THE WILLOWS, Kenneth Grahame
THE 13 CLOCKS, James Thurber
THE BAD BEGINNING, Lemony Snickett
BACK WHEN WE WERE GROWNUPS, Anne Tyler
FINNEGANS WAKE, James Joyce

Peter Jacobi - Endings
CHILDREN OF SANCHEZ, Oscar Lewis

Kim Griswell - A Sense of Place
THE HIGHEST TIDE, Jim Lynch

Kim Griswell - Mining Your Memories
Emotional Mining: HARRY POTTER, J.K. Rowling
Anecdotes and Events: PERPETUAL CHECK, Rich Wallace
FIREFLY MOUNTAIN, Patricia Thomas
People: THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY of a PART-TIME INDIAN, Sherman Alexie
TELLING TIME: ANGELS, ANCESTORS, AND STORIES, Nancy Willard
Specificity: THINGS INVISIBLE TO SEE, Nancy Willard

Donna Jo Napoli - Tension techniques
THE LOVELY BONES, Alice Sebold
I AM THE CHEESE, Robert Cormier
ZEL, Donna Jo Napoli

Rebecca Kai Dotlich - Creativity
A CELEBRATION OF BEES: ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR INSPIRING CHILDREN TO WRITE POETRY, Barbara J. Esbensen
DONAVAN'S WORD JAR, Monalisa Degross and Cheryl Hanna
POEMCRAZY: FREEING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS, Susan Wooldridge
FOOLING WITH WORDS; A CELEBRATION OF POETS AND THEIR CRAFT, Bill Moyers
THE GLASS CASTLE: A MEMOIR, Jeanette Walls
PRINCE OF TIDES, Pat Conroy

Helen Hemphill - Writing for YA
HUNGER GAMES, Suzanne Collins
THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, Mary Pearson
SHARK GIRL, Kelly L. Bingham
GOING BOVINE, Libba Bray

Patti Gauch - Fantasy
THE BOOK OF THREE, Lloyd Alexander
THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES, Joseph Campbell
THE HOBBIT, J.R.R. Tolkien
HARRY POTTER, J.K. Rowling
WATERSHIP DOWN, Richard Adams
THE WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, Ursula K. Le Guin

There you have it. That should keep you busy. Happy reading!

Book Review: HARMONIC FEEDBACK, by Tara Kelly

I don't normally post book reviews. I don't have a degree in literature or journalism, and I usually don't dissect what I read. There's a list of "Books I've Read in 2010" on the sidebar of my blog. If a book is listed, I finished it. If I finished it, I liked it.  I read for interest, escape, or pleasure. Period.

When I ordered Harmonic Feedback, I didn't read the synopsis. Instead, I read the praise from Stephanie Keuhnert, "An impossible-to-put-down, must-read book. Brilliantly written and filled with music, but even more so with emotional truth." And I read the short bio: "Tara Kelly is a one-girl band, writer, filmmaker, video editor, and digital photographer. Harmonic Feedback is her first published book."

I liked that Tara had multiple creative outlets, and I do my best to support debut authors, especially those who frequent VerlaKay's Blueboards. So I purchased the book and began to read. I made it half-way through the first chapter and set it down. The main character had Asperger's Syndrome. I don't read about AS. I live with it, and it's been beyond difficult. Did I mention I read to escape?

I carried Tara's book in my purse for three weeks before pulling it out again. When I did, it was because I was stuck someplace with nothing to do, not because I made a conscious decision to finish the book.  I began reading, read for two hours, came home, and continued reading into the night until it was finished. It was beautiful, it was heartbreaking, and it wasn't about AS. It was about yearning to belong, the pain and joy of relationships with family and friends, and first love. It was Drea trying to understand the gray areas of life when her world was black and white.

Tara Kelly is an incredible talent who writes with an authentic voice. Harmonic Feedback IS brilliantly written and emotionally true. I highly recommend it, and I hope she publishes again soon.

Congratulations, Tara, on a fabulous debut!

Monday Montage

The end of the school year for teachers is a crazy busy time, especially if you travel and have more than one building to close. I have three to shut down this year, and I'm preparing to implement a brand new program for next year. It is a fabulous opportunity for the kids, and I'm excited! Don't tell anyone, but I've got the best job in the district.

I've neglected my blog in May. Sorry! But today I've some things to share. It's a bit of a hodgepodge. No real theme, just some catch up items.

Forty-Seven days until I leave for the Writer's Workshop at Chautauqua (dances with glee in between severe bouts of anxiety).

I'm now on Twitter! That's right, one more writing distraction has been added to my life. You can thank Alex, a former student and current Novel Workshop attendee. He informed me that I needed to join because of the contacts, the information, and the literature chats - specifically #YALitChat, every Wednesday night from 9PM - 10:15 PM. He then proceeded to sign me up, give me a username and password, and emailed the information to me. I asked him if that made us both twits. He laughed, kind of, then forwarded to me a list of Tweet vocabulary. I am now ready for Twitterland, and I promise not to call any fellow tweeters twits.

I am reading a new book called HARMONIC FEEDBACK, by debut author Tara Kelly. You can find out more about her at her website, and on Twitter @AuthorTaraKelly.

Here are some recent posts I've read with terrific writing advice:
Wordiness, Wordiness, Wordiness List
The Ten Best Things You Can Do For Your Manuscript
NaNoReVisMo #1: the electric kool-aid conflict test
Nine Questions & Answers, by Cheryl Klein

Kim Kasch posted a beautiful poem on her blog today: Memorial Day - Let's Take a Minute to Remember

Thanks to author Rena Jones who awarded me the Blogger Buddy Award. (Sorry it took me so long to post). I love this, because it came from Rena, and because I'm a sucker for blog bling...

My garden (aka. the jungle) is calling.  I must attempt to tame at least one area before dinner. The rest of the evening is slated for my WIP.  Have a wonderful and relaxing Memorial Day.

Library Bloat and E-Readers

It's true. My personal library is overflowing. The shelves are full both at home and school. I've books stacked on the floor by the bed. The top shelf in my closet is stuffed with beloved novels, and I have myriads of books out on loan to friends and students. I keep telling myself I need to downsize, but I find it hard to say goodbye to such good friends. When it comes to books, I'm a pack-rat.

The problem is my to-be-read list keeps growing, and I've nowhere put new books. I know, I know... go to the library, you say. I've tried that. I end up with monster fines because I forget to return them. Sometimes I forget they're not mine and loan them to a friend. Not a good thing, especially if they lose it. But mostly, I like knowing my favorites are available to read whenever I wish.

I've considered e-readers before, but not for long. I love the feel of a bound book in my hands, pages to turn, no back-lit technology burning holes in my eyes. Books aren't battery dependent or terribly fragile. If you drop one, you simply pick it up and find your page again. Drop an e-reader, and you might lose your library, or at the very least an expensive bookshelf. That's something to consider when you're a klutz like me.

My storage crisis has forced me to reconsider my stance on e-readers. I've started to investigate what's out there. Admittedly, I don't know much about them except the prices are a bit daunting. I need to change my mindset. It's a storage unit that doesn't take up wall and closet space. The books are priced more like a paperback. Most I saw were around $9.99. That's less expensive than a new hardback...

Do you use an e-reader? I'd love to know your pros and cons.

E-book Caper -- Front Street and namelos

Kent Brown, Executive Director of the Highlights Foundation, sent out this email offering free e-book downloads until April 1st. The message is as follows:

I normally trash any e-mail that includes the word free in it. And I often ignore any that mentions e-book, as I'm not up to date on that technology. But I concocted this experiment and egged on my friend Stephen Roxburgh, who is an early adopter of e-books and things high tech. I got used to seeing him in a rocking chair engrossed in his Kindle. Stephen has been a student of the book in whatever format most of his life and is articulate on the importance and magic of story, independent of platform.

Front Street, founded by Stephen and now part of Boyds Mills Press, has among its recent publications four great novels, which we selected for this experiment. They are characterized by the gentle hand of Stephen Roxburgh and the skills of colleagues he trained and inspired.

The novels are ACCORDING TO KIT by Eugenie Doyle (2ce4), CITY OF CANNIBALS by Ricki Thompson (d35f), THE DOG IN THE WOOD by Monika Schröder (3bd5), and WARRIORS IN THE CROSSFIRE by Nancy Bo Flood (2ac4).

To get your free electronic copies, go to www.namelos.com and locate the book by title or author by browsing or use the "search" option. When you get to the book page, enter the unique code provided for each book (shown in parentheses above) in the box in the lower-left corner of the page (under the list of prices) and click "submit." You will be asked to provide your name and e-mail address and to select the file format you want. You will receive an e-mail with a link that will download the file you selected to your hard drive, from where you can transfer it to your preferred reading device.

The code will allow you to download one file format per title. If you need a file format that is not provided, write directly to Stephen (roxburgh@namelos.com) and he'll provide it.

Frankly, it's an increasing challenge to get attention for novels, particularly first novels.

So, in cooperation with Stephen Roxburgh and his new venture, namelos llc, we are offering for a limited time downloads of the four novels. From now until April Fools' Day, you can put these on your e-reading device without charge. And since we are doing this to get the word out, we would be very happy if you shared the opportunity with your friends.

We want everyone to know about these books.

Boyds Mills Press has the hardback editions in stock, and they are available through all the places you buy books. Namelos llc will be selling the e-book versions of these titles in April and beyond. Almost all other Front Street novels are available now for purchase to download at www.namelos.com.

If you take advantage of this special offer, you can expect namelos to keep you up to date on the books they are offering in e-book format. If that's not to your liking, you will have a chance to opt out.

I cannot answer your technical questions—Stephen can do that—but I'd be happy to hear about your experience with this experiment.

Kent Brown, Executive Director, Highlights Foundation, Inc.
Former Publisher, Boyds Mills Press
KBrown@boydsmillspress.com

ALA Awards announced this Morning

FYI: ALA Awards were announced this morning. Here's the link: ALA AWARDS

Congrats to all the winners!

Book Give-Away!!!

FYI - Do you like free gifts? Tabitha Olsen has a fabulous book give-away contest happening on her blog. The titles are great. Check it out!

Playing Hooky

I've been playing hooky from my blog. Sorry, but there's so much good stuff to read right now. I just finished Suzanne Collin's Catching Fire. Awesome! I had to bump it out of the "On Deck" section ahead of Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, because I'd borrowed it, and there's a huge waiting list of people who want to read it. Thank you, Sep, for letting me read first.

I bought Demon King, by Cinda Chima, and Blue Moon, by Alyson Noel today with my coupons. As a book-a-holic with a habit to feed, I'm always looking for a deal.

Shiver calls, but so does my manuscript. What to do? Dwell in my own world, or someone else's... Tough decision.

A Book-a-holic Mantra

I'm not allowed to purchase The Last Olympian until I (start) finish reading Fablehaven. I'm not allowed to purchase The Last Olympian until I finish reading Fablehaven. I'm not allowed...

SAVE THE CAT!

I LOVE this title!

Helen Hemphill stated in her Nashville workshop this past weekend that studying screenwriting was one of the most constructive things she's done to learn about the craft of writing. She recommended reading SAVE THE CAT! The Last Book On Screenwriting That You'll Ever Need, by Blake Snyder. I've taken her advice to heart. My copy came in the mail today!

As I peruse the Table of Contents, the first thing that catches my attention is the title of chapter one: WHAT IS IT? It gives a short description: "The importance of 'the idea' - What is a 'logline' and what are the four requirements to creating a better one? - What is 'high concept' and why is it still relevant? - Test pitching your movie for fun and profit - Plus five games to jump-start your idea-creating skills." If I can come away with a better understanding of how to write my logline, the book purchase is justified.

One more resource before I sign off for the night. Check out the Tennessee Screen Writing Association website. Click on "Writer's Tips" on the toolbar at the top of the page. There are all kinds of worksheets to help you plot the perfect novel.

Keep Writing!

No Time to Blog...

No time to blog today. I'm buried in a REALLY good book! The City of Glass, by Cassandra Clare. Next up: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan.

Yes, I know I'm supposed to be writing, but it's Saturday...

Speak

I just finished reading SPEAK, by Laurie Halse Anderson.

One word: FABULOUS!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Free book contest!

If you like zombies, Carrie Ryan's debut book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, will be released this Tuesday, March 10th! If you would like an opportunity to win a free copy, hop on over to Tabitha Olson's blog. Leave a comment on her March 7th post, and you are entered for the March 28th drawing.

Good luck!