Happy New Year and my 2011 Good Reads List

Hello, and a happy belated New Year! Unless you're celebrating the Chinese New Year -then I'm right on time. It's the year of the dragon. A year meant for great deeds, big ideas and even bigger projects. My big project is on hold for the moment. School is fairly all consuming - there's not much time for anything else. But come June 2nd, my writing is back at the top of the project list.  I wish you all a wonderful new year full of successes and big surprises!

I'm going to leave you today with my 2011 Good Reads List:

• LIAR'S MOON, Elizabeth C. Bunce
• CLOCKWORK PRINCE, Cassandra Clare
• ASHFALL, Mike Mullin
• THE DRAGON HEIR, Cinda Chima
• THE WIZARD HEIR, Cinda Chima
• THE GRAY WOLF THRONE, Cinda Chima
• THE WARRIOR HEIR, Cinda Chima
• RIPPLE, Mandy Hubbard
• BUT I LOVE HIM, Amanda Grace
• OVERBITE, Meg Cabot
• SAVVY, Ingrid Law
• WILD MAGIC, Tamora Pierce
• RANGER'S APPRENTICE: THE RUINS OF GORLAN, John Flanagan
• THE UNDERNEATH, Kathi Appelt
• INSATIABLE, Meg Cabot
• CRYER'S CROSS, Lisa McMann
• SUGAR AND ICE, Kate Messner
• CITY OF FALLEN ANGELS, Cassandra Clare
• DON'T DIE DRAGONFLY, Linda Joy Singleton
• BEASTLY, Alex Finn
• GOING BOVINE, Libbra Bray
• SHIPBREAKER, Paolo Bacigalupi
• STAR GIRL, Jerry Spinelli
• MOON OVER MANIFEST, Clare Vanderpool
• THE REPLACEMENT, Brenna Yovanoff
• DARKEST MERCY, Melissa Marr
• FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS, Karen S. Wiesner
• WATER FOR ELEPHANTS, Sara Gruen
• THE DELTA ANOMALY, Rick Barba
• THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX, Mary E. Pearson
• THE GIVER, Lois Lowry
• PARANORMALCY, Kiersten White
• CLOCKWORK ANGEL, Cassandra Clare
• AS YOU WISH, Jackson Pearce

Books I've Read in 2010
Books I've Read in 2009
Books I've Read in 2008

Because It Is A Need

Carolina Valdez Miller, writer and contributor to the Bookanistas Blog, has an upcoming adventure that I feel is worth sharing. In January, she's volunteering to serve as part of Mission Haiti Medical, a work camp lasting 7-10 days. Three to five days are devoted to mobile clinics, in which the team travels to a rural area to provide a one-day clinic. Carolina says she'll be working with an orphanage in a remote village that might not otherwise ever receive medical care. You can learn more about her trip here: Carolina Valdez Miller: A NEED.

Mission work is hard work. And expensive. The team is allowed to bring as much over-the-counter medicine as they can carry. They must also pay for their required immunizations, plane tickets, the cost of their accommodations, and the little things we take for granted - like a piece of candy or small toy for a child.

Will you help? Carolina says no donation is too small. To prevent scams, she only accepts Paypal donations from her blog or Facebook for her medical mission. You can find her Palpal account on her blog through the link above.

I hope that you will consider donating. I know I am.

Good luck, Carolina!

Because It Made Me Laugh...

This is so true... :)

It's Not You, It's Me...

My manuscript and I aren't speaking.

It's a shame, because we have such a good thing going. It's a problem, because we've made a commitment to a complete draft in October. I don't know if we'll make it.

It all started with a hard drive crash. And now that I'm working full time, we don't see each other as often as I like -which is pretty much every night. I carry it over my heart in a travel drive, sneaking in moments here and there when opportunities arise. But it's awkward. In the moments we do have together, words pour onto the page for nearly thirty seconds, and then we stare at each other. In silence. Nothing to say at all.

I don't know if I can salvage the relationship. I hope I can, but it takes time, attention, and energy.  I don't seem to have much of any those things these days. Still, I have to set my priorities. I WANT to make it work -to rekindle the word love.

Maybe I can plan time for a date...

Lazy Summers and August Beginnings

The end of July is nearly here, and that means it's time to start preparing my classroom. For me, going back to work in August is a good thing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my summer break, but I never seem to accomplish much. I have grand plans to spend all morning or afternoon writing, knocking off one chapter after another, but I end up daydreaming at my computer instead. Or reading lots of novels. I've read thirteen so far this summer -- eight of them sitting in a beach chair with my toes in the surf. Ahhh!

That changes once school starts. My days are very, very busy, but oh so productive. I think I need the structure. I know my writing time is drastically reduced, but the quality and quantity is better. So bring on August! I've got things to get done.

I'll leave you with some pictures from our trip to Tybee Island and Savannah, Georgia. Beautiful area!
This was the view from our condo.

These would pass by occasionally as they headed into the Savannah River and on to port. They were huge!

This is the public beach by the pier on Tybee Island. There was a huge storm the night before, and the surf was up.

My daughter, Taylor, is in Captain Mike's boat waiting for the dolphin tour to start. Great tour! We saw lots of dolphins, and the 1st Mate shared lots of local history as well.

Blogger is acting up, so I'll share more pictures soon.  Keep writing!

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!

10 Things I've Learned So Far on Vacation...

1) Tennessee has lots of churches. In 90 minutes, we passed 1 Church of God, 1 Methodist church, 1 Lutheran, and 49 Baptist churches. All were along country roads. 

2) Eight lanes of bumper to bumper traffic and a sea of break lights on I-75 on a Friday evening rush hour through Atlanta is no where near as scary as I-75 through Cincinnati on any given day or time.

3) Sunny days and an ocean side condo with the beach right outside your window are not helpful when you are supposed to be writing.

4) Sunny days and an ocean side condo with the beach right outside your window is perfect for reading novels. Lots and lots of novels.

5) Always book the top floor of the condo. That way your upstairs neighbor who smokes and doesn’t use an ashtray won’t coat your deck with their cigarette ashes. Daily.

6) Dolphins are great fun to watch when the tide comes in.

7) Teenage daughters should always bring a friend on vacation.

8) Every meal in Georgia should include a Lipitor chaser.

9) The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is a wonderful place to visit, but very, very crowded. We were packed in like sardines…

10) I love the coast. I may have to retire ocean side!