Good Reads and Happy New Year!

It is once again time for my yearly reading post. I didn't read as many this year as I would have liked, but I liked what I read. I've placed an asterisk next to my very favorites (which tend to be fantasy), but if they are on the list I enjoyed the book.

There was a recent buzz on Facebook about The BBC Book List. Here is an interesting Post about the Facebook book list verses the original BBC list that was compiled in 2003. They are a bit different, as you will see. I was a little discouraged to find I'd only read 20 on the Facebook list, so this year one of my reading goals is to tackle the classics. I got a Kindle for Christmas *giggles with glee*. There are quite a few free downloads in the Classics choices. My first read will be EMMA, by Jane Austen. As for hard copies, I've a stack of ARCs hip deep that's been taunting me for a while. I have plenty of books to keep me occupied.

So here it is...

Books I've Read In 2010 List
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold*
Starcrossed, Elizabeth C. Bunce*
The Hobbit, J.T. Tolkien*
The Lost Hero, Rick Riordan
The Exiled Queen, Cinda Chima*
Illegally Blonde, Nelsa Roberto
Claire de lune, Christine Johnson
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins*
The Hero's Trail, T.A. Barron
Spells, Aprilynne Pike*
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Stephanie Meyer
Beast, Donna Jo Napoli*
His Excellency, George Washington, Joseph J. Ellis
The Smile, Donna Jo Napoli*
Sisters Red, Jackson Pearce
Harmonic Feedback, Tara Kelly*
Prada & Prejudice, Mandy Hubbard*
Radiant Shadows, Melissa Marr
Stories From the Nerd Herd, Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci
Eighth Grade Bites, Heather Brewer
The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great, Donald Mass*
Another Faust, Daniel & Dina Nayeri
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld
Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia, Cindy Pon*
Graceling, Kristen Cashore*
Wings, Aprilynne Pike*
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850, Bartoletti

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

Happy Reading and Happy New Year!

Resolutions, and Because it is Inspirational...

It's that time when we reflect on what we've accomplished and think about resolutions for the New Year. Most of us start out with good intentions, but we lose steam along the way and eventually give up. Why is that? Do we set unattainable goals? Do we have unrealistic expectations? Or do we simply not have the self-discipline to stick with something that requires effort?

I have one resolution this year. It's not original. I'm borrowing from Nike. "JUST DO IT!"  My mother used to say, "If you see it and it needs to be done, do it." And you'd better not turn a blind eye. If you did, you'd find yourself with assigned tasks.

And so...

Just write every day -even if it's awful.
Just finish the blasted novel.
Just submit. The worst they can do is say no.
Just exercise. It's good for you -whether you like it or not.
Just eat right. Treat yourself means every now and then, not every meal.
Just prioritize realistically. Understand what's truly important and what can go by the wayside.
Just enjoy the moment. It only comes once.
Just do it. No one else will do it for you.

And finally, because I found it inspirational:


EMBED-Inspiration - Watch more free videos

Happy New Year!

A YEAR OF POSSIBILITIES…

I sit here amazed at how fast this year passed. Never has a year blown by as speedy as this one. Sometimes I wish there was a button you could push that would slow life down and allow you to really savor the best parts of it all.

There are a number of things I would have slowed down – my experience at the Chautauqua Writer’s Workshop, for one. I reread my notes regularly, especially those from Patti Gauch’s sessions. What an incredible teacher she is! I hope that someday I will have another opportunity to work on my writing with her guidance. What a lady!

The George Washington Teacher’s Institute was another experience that needed more time. It was a whirlwind of a week, but I learned so much. I’d like to go back to Mount Vernon, not as a student this time, but as a visitor. Then I could spend as much time as I want on the parts that interest me the most.

My week in Fort Meyers with my husband and without the kids was definitely too short! We’ve never been very good about carving out time that’s just ours, but this year we made a point of it. Tuesdays have become “out to dinner” night. Daughter has a ride to and from gymnastics. Son is now an adult. No one needs us, so why not? It was odd at first. It took some getting used to being able to have an uninterrupted conversation, or to talk about something besides gymnastics, video games, movies, pets, and school friends. It’s been good, and we plan to take more kid-less mini-vacations throughout next year.

Next year… I have such high hopes! It hasn’t even begun, yet it feels like it’s going to be a year of opportunities on several fronts. My middle grade novel is nearly ready to begin the submission process, and I’ve several ideas for new novels. I’m applying for an incredible writer’s workshop. It’s a small group –only seven people, but the editor/facilitator is someone I’d love to work with. Hopefully I will be one of the seven who get to attend. 

Those of you who know me well know I love to sing. I’ve had very few opportunities to sing for nearly four years, but in the last six months, I’m suddenly getting requests to come perform again. I’ve got another invitation from a local orchestra for a concert this spring. It’s all fun, and I hope the opportunities keep coming.

Not everything in 2011 looks bright. The possibility is high that I might be a victim of a RIF (reduction in force) from my teaching position come June. The cuts in the budget are state wide, so there won’t be any teaching jobs anywhere else either. But I choose to look at this as another chance to turn lemons into lemonade. I’ll certainly have more time to devote to the creative endeavors in my life. It could be that a job loss is the button I long for that slows life down and allows me the time to savor the moments. I choose to make the most of whatever happens. 

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season. May the New Year bring to each of you the opportunities that satisfy your dreams!

Because it is Amazing!

For some reason only half of the picture shows when it plays. If you click on the video itself, you can watch it on YouTube and see the whole picture.

Does anyone know how old this boy is?

I'll Think About That Tomorrow...

This time of year is hectic. Parent/teacher conferences, end of quarter responsibilities, gymnastic meet season begins, inservice presentations, and holiday performances (I'm singing three this year) all seem to be scheduled at once. You think I would remember just how much of a catastrophe my house becomes, but every year I'm surprised.

Today is the first day after conferences, and it's also Veteran's Day (Thank you, dear Veterans!), so I'm off work. I was looking forward to a restful, lazy afternoon. I'd made myself promise that I would ignore the mountain of laundry, stacks of mail, and the myriad assortment of misplaced items on every surface. I refused to hunt down every missing sock behind couches, chairs and stacked in piles at the top of the stairs. Stealing socks is a fairly recent event that is a new hobby of my cat, Angel. Today was a day to relax. After all, as Scarlett would say, "I'll think about that tomorrow."

I was doing pretty well with my self-imposed mandate. I ignored the dust bunnies that shimmered in the sunbeam streaming through my open window. I turned a blind eye to the stack of boxes in the corner that needed to be unpacked and put away. And after a few deep breaths, I even kept my cool when I walked into the upstairs bathroom and every towel we own was wet and thrown on the floor. If I was taking a day off, my kids could too. Right?

But then I saw them. FIFTEEN spider nests. There's a cover to an old, whole-house fan on the ceiling at the top of the landing to the stairs. The nests were all along the same wall next to the cover. The creep factor was too much. Out came the vacuum. Out came the orders to the children... To oldest teenager: "Get the towels to the laundry and start a load. Clean the upstairs bath. Rake the leaves on the front lawn to the curb." To younger teenager: "Clean the family room then pick up, vacuum, and dust your room." I tackled the spider webs then decided I needed to mop the ceiling and the walls as well as vacuum and mop the stairs.

My sudden obsession with clean could very well keep me up until midnight. So I decided to enlist the help of FlyLady.net. That's right. FlyLady is a systematic cleaning process for those of us who are overwhelmed, overextended, and overdrawn. She's awesome! And it works. I know, I've used her in the past. Why I drifted away I'll never know. But I'm BACK!

So now that I've put FlyLady's cleaning system in place, I have NO excuses for not getting back into my writing routine. None.

Is it too late to join NaNoWriMo?

Because it Made Me Laugh!

I saw this today and it gave me a chuckle. Thought I'd share!

These are a Few of My Favorite Links...

Writing, writing, writing... I've been doing a lot of that lately. And that's a good thing, although I've not written one word in my WIP this weekend. That tends to happen when I have LOTs of school work hanging over my head. It's that inevitable end-of-the quarter teacher pile-up that includes report cards, back-logged grading, and getting ready for conferences. You notice I'm not working on that right now either.  No, I'll save that for later tonight, because you know, it's not due until tomorrow.

Instead, I'll share a few of my favorite links that I came across this week:


Marcia Hoehne, an Institute of Children's Literature Instructor, has a fabulous October critique giveaway. You can find out the details here!


Anna Staniszewski (say that name 10 times fast!) has posted another installment of "Letter to Myself." This time guest author Alisa Libby offers advice to herself as a writing major in college.


Nathan Bransford blogged "This Week in Publishing 10/22/10" -a list of happenings in the publishing world and more than a few chuckles. My favorites are the Nerd flowchart and the video from Sesame Street with Grover as the Old Spice Guy.  No... I think I like Bookmans Does Book Dominoes best...

National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, begins November 1st and ends November 30th. If you are a glutton for punishment, goal oriented, can stay awake for hours on end, and can silence your inner editor for 30 days, this is the writing challenge for you. The goal is to write 50,000 new words during the month of November. Just to clarify -that would be FIFTY THOUSAND.

Hanna Howard, a Chautauqua friend, has decided to honor NaNoWriMo by posting on her blog EVERY day during the month of November. If today's post on creativity is any indication, it should be well worth your time to visit. Also, take a moment and click on "Story Links." There you'll find three of her short stories (my favorite is "Ruby Riding Hood"). You can find Hanna at "Luna the Typewriter."

If you've ever had a brush with rejection this post by literary agent, Rachelle Gardner, will give you a chuckle.  Rants & Ramblings


Keep writing!
Nora