Birthday Wishes

My facebook wall in ON FIRE with birthday wishes which just reminds me that I am one year older and still "under-published." I have been writing for about two and a half years, which I know is a mere minute in the publishing world, but I would sure like to speed things up a bit. Each passing year moves me a little farther away from my teenage sensibilities and angst and moves me one year closer to having more to do. What if I run out of time to write? What if this dang book never comes together? What if I do get published and a bunch of teenagers keep wondering who the old lady is who is signing books? I know, I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but it just a reflective day. So for my birthday, I wish for these things for my writing life:

I wish to always love writing.

I wish to always love young adult books.

I wish to find time to write AND be a good mom.

I wish to write something that gets noticed.

I wish to create characters who mean as much to me as the teens I am writing for.

233 in the Library

I've been neglecting my blog. Sorry. The winter months are always hard for me. It is bitterly cold here in Texas, I am stuck in my house, my kids are stuck in the house, I am tired of wearing frumpy layers, yada, yada, yada . . .

So, I'm trying to snap out of my funk, and here goes.

I thought I would write about our recent trip to the school library. I try to take my classes every couple of weeks, but we hadn't been there in several weeks because of the Christmas break. I am happy to say that there were lots of books checked out that day.

Here are some of the more popular titles that students were asking about:

1. Hunger Games

2. Catching Fire

3. Mockingjay

4. Crank

5. Burned

6. A Child Called It

7. Dear John

8. Looking for Alaska

There were many other books that they talked about that day, but this is what I remember for now. I will get more info tomorrow to share. Happy reading.

I also opened a GoodReads account. Feel free to peruse my shelves!

It's almost time!

November is almost here and that means one thing--National Novel Writing Month! Let the madness begin!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/312950

Speaking up for SPEAK

Several years ago I did a unit of Literature Circles with a group of students. The process of Lit Circles has students choose novels and the students who read the same novel work their way through the book together. The few years that I have done this, I usually choose a book and read with a group as well.

One year, I chose to read the novel Speak with a group. That year the group happened to be all girls--there were three of them, and I made member number four.

I remember talking about how sassy Melinda was, how we loved how she nicknamed her teachers, and that we ached for her lonely situation. One of the girls in the group was very artistic and made wonderful art pieces to go along with the book.

I got to "the scene" before the girls did, so I knew what was coming, but I was unprepared for their reaction. They had read that part on their own, and then we were to have a discussion. I remember that day as the girls sat kind of quietly for a while, we didn't really know what to say. Then one of girls looked up at the rest of us and there were tears streaming down her face. We all froze; we all knew what she was trying to say. One of the other girls reached over and grabbed her hand. I knew if she wanted to talk, she would, and I did the only thing I could think of--I read the next part to them. I wanted desperately to show them that Melinda was okay, that she was able to overcome what happened to her. I remember looking up to see those hands clasped together as I read to them. It still chokes me up to this day. A few days later, the girl came up to my desk during class, her copy of Speak in her hands, and asked to go see the counselor. She seemed like a weight had been removed from her shoulders. She never told us her story, she didn't need to, Melinda told it for us.

The power of this novel speaks volumes. Students and teens must have a chance to read this book. Taking this book away from students or calling it "soft porn" is the same ignorance that took Melinda's voice away. We must continue letting this story get to students and the world.
I had the good fortune of meeting Laurie Halse Anderson a few years ago. I wanted to tell her this story of my student, but just got choked up instead. That's the power of this book. It speaks for us--for all of us.

For more information about Laurie Halse Anderson or the article that is misleading people about her book, please visit her blog and please SPEAK up for her book.

"The Twitter"

I know that I am years behind when it comes to this, but I finally got me a "Genu-wine" Twitter account. And now I am totally lost.

**Random Thought: I love the movie trailer where Betty White says, "I'm also on the Twitter." Adding the "the" just cracks me up.

So, I am asking for Twitter Tutorials. Can anyone help me out?

Like,
What does the # mean?
How do I find people to follow?
How do you make heads or tails of your homepage with all those random quotes?
How do you find stuff about writing?

I may be better off just reading Jane Friedman's Best Tweets for Writers once a week . . .

Nostalgia

It's fall in West Texas and that means that there is one thing on the minds of a lot of people--Football. We started school last week and already, here they come, young men in their ties and jerseys, ready for Friday Night Football.

We went to our first game Friday. The weather was perfect. The kiddos dressed in the school colors, Little Miss A even wore her tiny cheerleading uniform for her special half-time performance with the other 40-50 little girls from the summer camp. As I kneeled on the track snapping countless photos of my little girl dancing on that field, I was transported. Who wouldn't be? I love the lights shining down in a stadium, I love the cheering crowds, and I love hope that comes when those uniforms come out. I actually missed the first two touchdowns because I was just taking it all in.

I have been doing this all my life--going to football games. I can think of so many memories that started or ended at a football game.

And I know again why I write Young Adult books. Because for me, that the THE TIME. There were so many beginnings and endings, so many football games, so many memories that come out of those years, so many possibilities. It's worth writing down.

I can't say it all myself, but this video helps. Enjoy!

My New Best Friend

I have an aging, temperamental laptop. I am forever trying to prolong its life and double/triple back things up. My gmail account is becoming littered with files that I have sent and resent to myself just so that I have a backup copy somewhere.

Then I found a new site that is saving so much time and is literally saving my writing. Dropbox is awesome. It offers an easy way to backup files, sync files, and share files. And I love that I can save things on my laptop and still be able to get to them on other computers--like my reliable, tech supported school computer! Best part--it's free.

No more emailing files. No more worries. My new best friend.