Quote of the week:

"Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized for it anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't" - Eleanor Roosevelt.

A late and double WOW!

I've been a little neglectful in my blogging duties these past 2 weeks. It's not necessarily from lack of wanting, it's been lack of time. I could go into it on here, but I'm not going to because . . . I'm just not.

Our school FINALLY started re-posting our WOW's on the marquee. I REALLY wanted to post the one from last week because it was just so perfect, but unfortunately I couldn't so instead I have a double WOW to share.

My first one is . . . (drum roll)

CHARACTER!

Now when I looked this word up, I was a little intimidated because there were some 14 different definitions! Yes, you heard me right . . . 14!! Given the way my past two weeks have been playing out, I could probably have used any number of them. But after long and deliberate consideration I decided to go with . . .

Character: n - Moral or ethical strength.

I could probably fill up this entire blog with my explanation as to why I picked this specific one, but let's just say I've had enough trying experiences and changes these past two weeks to make me think a lot about my own character and how it allows me to do what I do everyday. Both with my job, as well as with my family.

And I'd like to think it's what's helping me survive right now . . .

Okay, now for WOW #2 . . . it is . . .

EVIDENCE!

I know, I know . . . how did I go from CHARACTER to EVIDENCE? I had to ask myself that same question. Thankfully, evidence doesn't have nearly as many definitions (only 3) but the one I picked was . . .

Evidence: n - A thing or things that are helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment.

These past two weeks I have been given plenty of evidence to help support my feeling regarding my character. Whether I wanted that evidence or not.

So there you go, a double WOW for the weekend. Can't wait to see what's up on the marquee next week.

Have a great weekend!! :)

Why I feel like Ellen Tebbits . . .

I am a HUGE fan of Beverly Clearly. Apart from not reading Dear Mr. Henshaw, I've read nearly every book of hers out there (including her "teen" books - Fifteen, Sister of the Bride, etc.)

Some of my most vivid childhood memories involve her books . . . Like when I lost my 9th birthday party (don't ask why) but I still got a couple of presents and one of them was Ramona and her Mother. And then there was the time I cured myself of reading in the bathtub when I accidentally dropped my beloved copy of Ramona the Pest and made it 3 times its normal size.

I do have my favorites: Ramona the Pest, Socks, Fifteen, Emily's Runaway Imagination, Mitch and Amy, and my all time favorite . . . Ellen Tebbits.

Last week, during quiet reading time at school, I pulled out a copy of Ellen Tebbits from our class library and suddenly I was 9 years old again. And I realized that of all the Beverly Cleary books I have read, Ellen Tebbits is the only one I could probably recite, part and parcel, the entire story from beginning to end.

And that made me wonder . . . why is that?

After mulling this question over and over in my brain this past weekend, I figured out it probably has to do with how much I identify with Ellen. Then as much as now.

Ellen tries her best to be perfect . . . to do her best at everything. Obey her mother, desperately wants her teacher's approval and is devastated when things don't work out the way she plans.

For better or for worse, that was me as a kid. And to a certain extent, that's me now. The great thing about Ellen is that she does learn from her mistakes.

And just like Ellen, I like to think that I do too. :)

And now . . . WOW!

I'm getting into a routine that I don't like . . . only having one blog post a week.

I do enjoy putting out my WOW Fridays, but I admit I REALLY would like to spend more time posting on here. Which is a good opening to my WOW this week, which is . . .

WANTING

Wanting:
1. Absent; lacking.
2. Not measuring up to standards or expectations.

My reasoning for pick this particular word is two-fold. First, as a vent to the fact that I am very frustrated with myself for my lack of writing time . . . both on here and also on my stories. The other reason is because the word wanting is a good word to describe a character I've been trying to work on for the past several months.

I seem to go in this cyclical pattern where I work on a character I'm dedicated to, and working on getting to know, but then I have another character enter into my consciousness and they don't want to go away . . . regardless of how inconvenient their timing is!

For the past month or two, I've been avoiding working on this character, but she won't leave me alone! I even have her playlist on my iPod, and I've been listening to it over and over and over again. Much to the chagrin of my children (although not to much . . . they like the music).

However the thing about this character is that her life is very wanting . . . which makes her a very compelling girl. And I can't get her out of my mind.

So tonight, after avoiding her for too long, I finally sat down and worked on the list of this girl's character traits.

And reminding myself that I have a finish up with a different character before I can work on this one. Hopefully that will be just the push I need to get through my wanting writing life.

We'll see. Have a great Labor Day weekend! :)

Another WOW Saturday! Am I starting a new trend?

Okay, so it's another Saturday and I'm now getting around to my WOW . . . egads! Things have been quite crazy with my day job, so needless to say my 3 posts-a-week isn't quite happening right now. I'm still hoping once things calm down in the next week or two, I'll be back to normal.

Having said that, I need to get down to business . . .

The WOW for this week is:

IRIDESCENT!

Iridescent: 1. Producing a display of lustrous, rainbow-like colors.
2. Brilliant, lustrous or colorful in effect or appearance.

Iridescent is one of those special, unique words you don't see everyday. The kind you bring out during a special occasion . . . like when you bring out the fine china for an anniversary, or Thanksgiving.

In all the years I've been reading, it's one of the few words I rarely hear. However some 4 or 5 years ago, I was reading a Middle Grade novel that I had heard some good things about, and decided to give it a whirl. In the book, FLIPPED, by Wendelin Van Draanen, one of the main characters (Bryce) has a conversation with his grandpa regarding the other main character (Juli). The grandpa uses the word iridescent to describe Juli . . . saying how people like that are so incredibly colorful in their personality and beauty that nothing compares to knowing them.

The reason why I'm mentioning all this is because FLIPPED came out in the movie theaters earlier this month. Here's the trailer . . .



Sorry for the extended video border . . . having a hard time getting it to fit in my box.

I love this book so much . . . I hope everyone gets a chance to see just how iridescent all these characters are.

Have a great weekend! :)

WOW . . . a day late . . .

I can't believe it's been so long since I've done a WOW. Now I'm in a position to do it, and it's not even Friday!

Oh well . . .

Anyway, our school has begun, but the WOW has not. That means I'm still left to my own devices to get it done and I think I've got a very good one this week.

So without further ado, this week's WOW is . . .

PERSPECTIVE.

Now there are many, MANY different definitions of perspective, but in the interest of time and space I'm going to cut out any that involve the use of perspective in art. That leaves me with two options:

1. A way of regarding situations, facts, etc.; and judging their relative importance.

2. The proper or accurate point of view or the ability to see it; objectivity.

The idea for this word came to me during our opening meeting for the classified members of our school district (ie: teachers, aides, etc.). Our principal was talking about using perspective to see the good out of the difficult times our district has gone through this past year. The district had to make some hard decisions and we lost a number of wonderful people because of it (including my young son's kindergarten teacher who I love tremendously). He went on to speak candidly to us about his personal experiences growing up . . . using them as examples of how his life could have been so very different if he had looked at it in another perspective. Choosing a positive way instead of the alternative.

His words were encouraging and inspiring, and I'm so grateful he confided in us.

That got me to think about my own perspective about my life. It reminds me that ALL of us have the power to dictate which way our life goes. Making simple decisions such as whether or not you're going to be positive or negative about a situation that gets thrown in your lap . . . or even the tone of voice you use with your friends, your family, and your children.

I am in my writing life for the long haul . . . regardless of how frustrating or annoying it is because my writing time has been cut to nearly zero in the past couple of weeks . . . and will continue to be so at least for the time being. But I know things will calm down and eventually things will happen the way they are suppose to.

As long as I keep my perspective.

If I'm talking in circles, please forgive me . . . it's been a very long week.

Have a happy weekend. :)

Finally . . . an update!

Hi all!!

I can't believe the last time I posted I was in LA and getting prepared for the start of the LA SCBWI conference . . . and now here I am, nearly 3 weeks later, and SO much has happened since then.

To start, the conference was exhausting, exhilarating, and brought things that were incredibly comforting and amazingly unexpected. And in the end I received a rejection, an acceptance, and had a potentially life-altering meeting.

1. The rejection - Unfortunately the agent I had Cat with decided not to represent me. When I received this, I had very mixed feelings. Although I was disappointed the agent didn't accept or understand my style, ultimately I believe this happened for a reason (more explanation at point #3).

2. The acceptance - Ironically, on the heels of my rejection, I received word from a magazine I had submitted to in April, and the news was good! My short story, Watercolor Walls, will be published in the October issue of Sparkle magazine!! YAY!!

3. The life-altering meeting - On the first day of the conference, I found out my critique of Sophia was with another well-respected agent who I had heard wonderful things about. Our meeting was on Friday, and what an exciting meeting it was. Not just because she raved about Sophia and "got" her . . . but because for the first time, I met someone (whether agent, editor, etc.) who I felt truly comfortable with. She was enthusiastic, helpful and very classy. After I informed her about the other agent who had Cat, she wished me luck and told me she would love for me to submit Sophia to her. So . . . I emailed the other agent, received my rejection, and subsequently (with fingers crossed) submitted Sophia to the agent from the conference . . .

Did you catch all that? lol!

Couple that with the fact my day job started on Monday (in addition to all 3 of my kids starting school), which helped make the past 3 weeks just disappear completely.

However, now that life seems to calming down (or at least starting into a routine), I will be back on my schedule of updating 2 to 3 times a week - complete with my Friday WOW's. Thankfully!!

Hope all you have a great new school year, and I'll see you Friday!! :)