Saying goodbye... for now.

I just deactivated my Twitter account.  It's been a few months since I've updated this blog.

I'm going to say goodbye... for now.

I'm taking a big break from writing and I've put the dream of publication on back burning. I'm going to write for me. 

Peace out.

And don't forget to be awesome.

stating the obvious

So clearly I've been off line for a little while.

I wish I had some incredible and insightful reason for it, but the truth be told, I haven't written anything in over three months.  I'm pretty sure this is my longest break from writing since I rediscovered my love of writing back in 2006.

I could go into so long rambling reasons for why I've been off line.  But I won't bore you with the reality of my life.

I have been filling my time with dancing... which is odd since the last time I danced in public I was ushered off the dance floor by host of the party.  He was afraid I would crush his grandmother, rightly so.

I've been taking classes and every time the instructor does something, I think, "There's no way I will EVER be any to do anything remotely close to that." Then I watch her do it two more times.  My eyes scan the rest of the class and a few people can do it with some form of success, most can't.

Then I try.

Crap, I can do it.  Just a little bit.  Just enough to let me know it's possible and it's really hard.

Same thing with writing, or getting back into writing.

It's hard, (See the title of this blog post) but it's not impossible.

I've seen my friends victories.  I know it's an achievable task.

I just need to get back into it.

And I will.
But first, I need to practice dancing for a competition.  No joke.

2012 is all about getting over my fears.

2013 will be about victories, no matter how small or humiliating.

Oh the irony....

Yesterday I posted about SPAM and how I was getting it on my blog.  I wrote an open letter asking people to stop because it's an ineffective form of communication. 


Two regular readers left a comment... but the third, well, you'll see.

Maybe you need a zoom in:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!  I GOT SPAM ON A POST WHERE I RANT ABOUT THE STUPIDITY OF SPAM!

Oh internet there's not enough John Green videos to off set your insanity from time to time.

Spam

I don't understand spam.  Not just the ham in a can but email spam.  I don't need a larger penis.. I'm a woman.  I'm not looking to meet singles in the area, regardless of their religion, I'm married. 

Who falls for this?

Seriously?

Maybe if you were a time traveler from the 1930's you MIGHT fall for it.  But if you've mastered time travel then you're smart enough not to give your money to some random prince who magically found you. 

I'm finding my blog, which admittedly has been pretty inactive, has been getting a lot of spam comments.

"I love your blog, check out my blog, iheartfakeblogs.blogspot."  Sigh.

Dear spammers, you're wasting EVERYONE'S time.  Yours, mine and my mom, because she still reads all the comments on my blog. 

Anyone else seeing this trend?  

Writer problems: Revisions

Revision is like doing an invisible puzzle that only you can see and no one else cares about.

Yep. That's my feeling about revision right now. 

But the best part... the very best part is when you know you NAILED it!  You fixed whatever problem was looming over your manuscript. 

Oh the feeling of success! 

Oh the joy!

Oh invisible puzzle for my enjoyment only, how I love and hate you. 


What's your metaphor about revision?   

Writer Problems: Not Trusting yourself

I will admit it, I don't trust myself at all.  Especially when it comes to project I've been trying to query. 

Just when I think it's perfect, it gets rejected-- that's cool.  Believe me this post isn't about rejection, it's about confusion.

Here's teh thing, every time it's rejected, it's for totally different reasons.  So every time I'm rejected I look at the feedback, read through it, mull it over in my brain and think, "yep that sounds about right."
Then I fix the problem... I send it off to again to a different agent and BOOM I'm rejected again for a TOTALLY DIFFERENT REASON.

I've done so many tweeks and changes, that I can't figure out what's right and what's wrong. 

And here's the thing, I totally 100% thankful EVERY piece of feedback I've gotten.  My feedback has been WONDERFUL.  It's just it's all different.  It feels like I'm getting shut at by an machine gun and not a sniper rifle. 

So now I don't trust myself.  I don't know which way is up.  I only know this--- At it's core... I've got an AWESOME book, it's just the details I keep screwing up.

At this point I know perfection is out of my reach...but trying should be.

I have no solutions to this problem.

Maybe walking away for a little while and coming back to it is something.  And the advice trusting yourself is easier said than done.

What about you? Does anyone else have this problem?

Writer Problems: forgetting to write.

This summer I was super busy.  My kid refused to leave me alone.  I traveled most of the month of July.  I read a lot.  I worked out a TON... like at least one hour a day.  I don't want to brag but my butt looks amazing.

We did a lot of home redecorating, my daughter is now in a big girl bed.

It's been really productive. 

But through all this busy time, I forgot something.... Something important. 

Then I read a tweet from someone and it said, "a real writer writes, everyday no matter what."

Then it hit me what I forgot to do.

I forgot to write.

It's the end of the summer and I'm only 130 pages into my new manuscript.  I didn't revise my old book and my book I'm querying still needs work.

HEADDESK.

To an average person 130 pages into a book sounds incredible.

But to a writer...  well, we all know that it's a massive fail.

The muddled middle is impossible to write, it's when it the easiest to quit.

And there's the other projects looming over my head.

It's not like I have a publisher demanding these books.

 But now I've missed a fictional deadline imposed by no one for a project no one cares about. 

And I feel like one massive failure.

Yes, I know you'll all try to give pep talk me about how my real life is important too and how it's all about balance.

I'm aware of this.

But alas blogging keeps me honest and I haven't been doing that either.

Really I'm worried that my priorities are changing.

What if I keep making excuses for not writing and I quit writing before I achieve my goals?

That's my big fear.

Thoughts?

When Magic Happens: Reflections from Warped Tour.

A few years ago I wrote a book about a group of boys who started a band.  I never got around to writing the sequel, the band's rise to fame.  But I had every page mapped out, every conflict and character fleshed out.

Now as a writer, everyone once in a while, you write something on the page and it happens in real life.

When my husband and I were walking around the Warped Tour, we passed by a small stage.  We I got there, a crowd of about twenty girls and one guy were enthralled with the band.  I paused because the music was cute and catchy.  But when I looked up at the stage, I realized exactly why these girls had stopped.  EVERY MEMBER OF THE BAND WAS HOT.

Seriously how was that possible?

  See the girl with the brown ponytale and glasses.  Every time the lead singer looked at her she swooned.  Literally.  In my 33 years I've never seen a swoon in real life and it happened two inches away from me.

About one song in, I decided I needed to know exactly who I was listening too.  So I checked the program the name of the band is Phone Calls from Home.

The lead singer kept looking out to the crowd and smiling, not this I'm a cool rocker and I'm smiling to get you to fall in love with me (because that would have worked too) But something was making him happy, like he was shocked it was really happening.

How freaking dreamy is this guy?  Seriously the only word in the English language that fits is dreamy.

I looked around and saw at least another thirty people had stopped what they were doing and stayed to listen to the band. 

Here's the thing... for me, this was EXACTLY what I wrote (or meant to write).  The thing that only happened in my head was happening in real life, right in front of me. 

By the middle of the set, I had stopped being a passer by and committed to being a FULL FAN...  and that was BEFORE the bass player did a super cute stage dive and the crowd caught him.   Which he seems genuinely surprised when it happened.

At the end of the set there were at least 200 people and the lead singer announced they were doing a signing and we should follow them.  And we did.  He lead us like a piper.  By the time I got there, the crowd looked like this:


I waited in line, and behind me was one of my former students, sort of my worst nightmare. 

Anyway I bought a tee shirt, a poster, a CD and a bracelet for $25.  The band signed my poster and I told them, "dudes, I wrote a book about  a band just like you guys... by the end of the book they were playing the Main Stage."

The lead singer looked at me ,right in the eye after taking a long drink of water and said, "let's hope your book is non fiction."

Then at the age of 33, I swooned.




They don't have a wikipedia page, only facebook and twitter pages.   But according to their bio on facebook:

"We are Phone Calls From Home. We play music with the intention of helping people. We have found that a lot of bands have hopes of being rich and famous, or hope that they can play their instrument as a career. We have higher hopes than that. We want to use any fame or success we get to influence people in a positive way. Teens today have a hard time growing up. They struggle with boredom, depression, peer pressure, their parents, and themselves. They look for happiness in any outlet they can find and try too hard to fit in. We want to make it easier for them by giving them someone they can relate to and understand. Through our music, our advice, and our lives, we want to teach our fans to be happier and help them find more purpose in life.

That’s Phone Calls From Home. That is what we are about. If you agree with what we are doing, support us: come to shows, and be a fan. If you don’t agree, be a fan of the music anyway. Either way, smile. It’s your life, be happy and be who you want to be."

Dave Place - Bass/Vox
Zack Gowan - Guitar
Danny Stockman - Drums
Jason Vieira - Guitar

Seriously, are you swooning yet?

Wanna see more pictures?  How about this one?

You're in love, are you?

Now hear their music:


Yes, you are in love with them now, aren't you?

GO FORTH MY READERS AND BUY THEIR MUSIC!
 You can get some of their albums on amazon.  ( But I had a hard time finding the most recent album Live. Love but you can get it on iTunes. 

Support smaller bands, like you would support a debut author.

Music is like writing a book that you can hear.   OK that's stupid, because a book you can hear is an audio book. But you get my point. 

Sometimes as a writer, magic happens.  Sometimes as a musician magic happens.   The best part of my summer was watching the magic happen before my eyes.

Warped Tour 2012- Living up to expectations

Living up to expectations

Warped tour had so many bands I loved bands I've blogged about.  I saw We Are The In Crowd first.  And I've got to say I love it when a band sounds like their cd but the best is when they sound like the recording and they add to it making the live experience familiar and new.  We are the in Crowd rocked it.

Then it was off to see Mayday Parade
 That band made it out to more writing mixes then another band.  
After we moved from stoner boys failed love connection there show was amazing.  The perfect blend of energy and connection with the audience.  


We bounce around from.  Three stages all day seeing bands if various degrees of fame...  But all equally skilled.  New found glory put it best wrapped tour mixes up their line up every day because it's not about ego but people who love a day live for music. How beautiful.
 

Yellow card wanted the crowd to make the mistake of the day and crowd surf to the stage.  As the day went on, the crowds got bigger and as you can see, I couldn't get a good shot of the band.  In fact, I couldn't see the band, just some guys with tattoos.

Bayside was mellow..  Because that's who Bayside are.  Emo rock and mosh pit but "guys let's keep it safe out there." 

But then it was time for All Time Low--- anyone who knows me, knows the story about how I yelled at a girl in a wheel chair at an All Time Low concert- (don't feel bad for her, she could walk the whole time)  

I've been a fan for a VERY long time. I've watched them grow from playing small venues to now main stage at warped tour.  

 

 Although I have to say, I didn't stay for the whole set.  Maybe it was because the entire day I was so close to the bands, maybe because I felt like they had matured more then stealing Blink 182 dick jokes, maybe because if I wanted to watch them on a screen I would watch their DVD (which I own).  

 

But at the end of a perfect day, they just didn't live up to my expectations. 

I still heart them, I'll still buy their new CD. (they played their new song and it sounded great) 

What about you?  Ever been let down my the main event before?  

Next post: Discovering something NEW.. and becoming a super fan girl over it.

 

Warped Tour- Tattoo Fail

Tats are for life.

When done right, they are works of art.  I love love love looking at tattoos. 

But I feel like size does matter.  Too big and it's tacky.  Too small and well....

When I first saw this, I thought it was a mole.  I think it might be a stick figure riding a bike.  I saw teenage girls with bigger and better tats.   See this makes me wonder, did he lose a bet?  Did he run out of money at the tattoo shop?  Does he even know it's there?   Whatever it is... it's a total fail.  

Here's a tattoo.  It's not pretty, but at least he committed to it.

I've been thinking about getting a tattoo, any thoughts? 

Warped tour 2012- failed pick up line

These next few posts will be Warped Tour 2012.

For ten years I've wanted to go to The Vans Warped Tour, for years it either came to town while I went one vacation, or all the bands I wasn't into.  But this year, after my experiment with Pink hair, I decided this was my year to go. 

For the next few days I will be blogging about the lessons I learned, and the bands I saw. 

Today's lesson: Failed pick up line


So during Mayday Parade (one of my all time favorite bands) I overhead this conversation.

Pretty Girl: I can't inhale
Stoner Boy:  Oh I can teach you---

Yes Stoner Boy, this is knowledge you need to pass on to other people.  (One a side note--- considering it was the WARPED TOUR... a concert event for Alt rock, metal and Skaters... you would think there would be a lot more illegal substances, but there wasn't any more or less then at any other concert experience.)

A few minutes later after she seemed not really interested in his lessons, Stoner  Boy has not given up on his quest to woo the Pretty Girl.

In his versions of a sexy voice he said, "You smell good."
Pretty Girl: what? (Unsure if she had heard him right)
Stoner boy:  You smell good.

Oh yes, the compliment every girl longs to hear from a guy who has smoked so much pot he's openly bragging about not returning to high school, from a guy who has lost all sense of smell himself.

Look I'm going to be honest with you, "you smell good," ONLY works in a compliment in a novel or a movie.  Mostly because the reader CAN'T SMELL the character.  But in REAL LIFE-- unless you're blind, it's impossible to tell someone--- ANYONE you smell good, without looking like a creeper.


And how did the pretty girl react?

EW! GROSS!

 I know, dear readers, you were SHOCKED by the outcome.

The band came on the stage and they all lit up.  Hubby and I left to watch the band in a less hazy area. 

WEENEND OF AWESOME 2.0

So I went traveling the last two weeks,  first to South Carolina for a lovely visit with my parents.  Then we did a family cruise for five days.  (Parents out there- cruising is the way to go.  My daughter loved the kids camp and I got plenty of time to read and write)

But the event that was most relevant to this blog was WEEKEND OF AWESOME 2.0 (insert dramatic music).

I'm sure if you've been reading the blogs you've heard it from a few people. 
This year it took place in Charlotte NC, a place that doesn't believe in road signs.

We stayed at cabin on Lake Norman.  There were eight of us, three from Florida, three from Virgina, one for New York and I was traveling from South Carolina.  Amazingly we all arrived within an hour of each other.

Friday we hung around, went food shopping and grossed over estimated how much food 8 women could eat.  After the lulls of awkward silence, which most came from me over sharing, by the end of the night, we were all pretty cool with one another. Which in itself is amazing considering most of us didn't know each other at all.

Saturday and Sunday we had word wars, talked craft and the industry and had gigglefests. I wrote over 5k in my new novel and revised 31 pages.  Of course the fact that we didn't have internet for two and half days helped with productivity.


I am snagging Holly's pictures and posting them on my blog, but I take ZERO credit for them, but I will take any money you're willing to offer me. :-)

Holly and I- the only two brave enough to go trespassing on near by property to go check out a weird indescribable structure- this was our victory picture.  We went in like ninjas. Ninjas wearing jeans.

Our view from the dock-- There were two VERY noisy ducks, but they were camera shy. You'll just have to take my word on it.

A peaceful morning before the party started.

The party was here, the WOA girls were NOT invited.  It could have ended badly, but thankfully our neighbors have the GREATEST Pandora stations EVER! 

So the whole event was awesome.  Next year we're going hang out in a blue castle with princesses and talking animals.  Because that's how the WOA girls like it.

Pink Hair and being you.

I was a teenager during the 90's grunge movement.  I wanted to dye my hair, pink, green, blue. Whatever.  I so desperately wanted to join the goth kids because I liked their views of the world.  I wanted to hang out with the kids who were in bands, because damn their clothes looked comfortable. 

But alas, I didn't have the confidence to switches peer groups, dye my hair and buy new clothes.  Mostly because I was too damn cheap and lazy to do any of that.  Do you have any idea HOW MUCH WORK is to required to switch cliques?  How much money I would have to spend going into New Hope and since my mom would be with me, how much time I'd have to spend in the Irish Heritage store? 
(That joke is only funny if you know that New Hope is a tiny town on the New Jersey/ Pennsylvania border where the 60's never died.  It's got like 5 tattoo shops, 4 thrift shows, a Theater that shows Rocky Horror every Halloween, tons of antique shops and of course an Irish Heritage store.  It's also were all the goth kids bought their clothes, or at least that's where they did back on the 90's, now they buy it at hot topic.)

Long rambling story short... I never dyed my hair.

Then I went to college... and still never got around to it.

Then I graduated and had to be a professional.  Sign.  It looked like I missed out on my opportunity for cool hair.

Then I started blogging and you know what I noticed, YA authors are SO STINKING CUTE... AND lots of them have fun hair: Stephen Perkins, Laini Taylor just to name two.

So I thought, maybe, just maybe I could pull it off.

Once again I talked myself out of it, I'm a mom, I'm a teacher, I'm 33 years old.  Ho hum, time to be boring OLD me.

Today my husband and I are celebrating our ninth wedding anniversary, and a few months ago I asked him what he liked in a woman. he said, "Pink hair."
"SERIOUSLY? I've always wanted pink hair." I yelled-- very loud.

FINALLY I HAD AN EXCUSE!  I would dye my hair PINK as an anniversary gift for my husband! 

I researched what pink hair would look like,  I googled pink hair, I over thought  how much I would dye--- I couldn't go TOTAL pink, after all I was a mom, 33 and a TEACHER--- who has SUMMERS OFF!!!  And hair dye only lasts 6 weeks.

I decided on all pink on the back of my head and pink highlights throughout.  I looked in the mirror and thought:  wow, this is me.  This is really what I'm supposed to look like.  Fun, quirky and yet sort of sensible.

I love it.  So here's pictures to prove the awesomeness:

Back of the head.

Pig tales and too much eye make up

Hair down-  it's the first time I feel pretty too!

So this got me thinking, it took me 20 years to work up the nerve to dye my hair, to finally feel 100% comfortable with who I am. And THAT'S why I write YA.  For twenty years I had ugly girl syndrome because I didn't have the courage to be myself, to let my outside reflect my inner awesomeness. 

For any teens out there reading, don't wait for an excuse to be you.  JUST BE YOU.
And I know it sounds super cheesy, and I know it sounds bad because I let a man change the way I look, and I'm well aware of how difficult it can be to be yourself.  But it's the most rewarding adventure you can take.

Good luck!

Next summer I'm going BLUE!

Yes because all kid lit is exactly the same.

So I was walking around my house of worship-- TARGET when I came across this. 

At first I laughed, immediately casting Dora as Kitnass and Elmo as Peeta and the hilarity  in my head ensued.  Oh I had jokes about how The Map would help Dora find the others kids from the other districts so she could murder them.  Cookie Monster seemed 100% appropriate in this story and Olivia was terrified she would be lunch.


But the more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

Basically in target's mind, all children's entertainment is exactly the same.  My four year old would equally enjoy Hunger Games because she likes Dora, right?  Under 16 is all the same demographic? Well, isn't it? 

Diary of a Wimpy Kids is totally geared to the same readers as Paper Towns.  Right?


And I feel like I'm stating the obvious by saying, Um no.

A part of me feels like it's stuff like that, preschool imagery next to YA literature that makes it so hard for YA to be taken more seriously. 

On the other hand, Target is marketing clear and recognizable brands.   No one is saying the YA doesn't make money.  Or that it's not entertaining. 

With established authors who tend to write for an adult audience now jumping over to YA side, does that mean that YA is now legit or just a cash cow?

I'm sure I'm not the only one pondering this.

What are your thoughts on the topic?  Leave them below

Arrested over Revising? Really?

So I saw this over on fail blog.

Then I decided to check out the whole article, which can be found here:
For those of you who didn't have the time to read the article and assumed I would summarize it, you are right.  Basically, the kid who didn't have a computer at home, showed up early to school to revise for a final exam.  According to the school he was causing a disturbance and the police were called.  No charged were filed.

So the teacher in me, sees a kid who is freaking out over his grades and has become obsessed and needs some sort of a wake up call. (hence the police) Simple fact is, the kid was going to get an A anyway.  Sometimes the most humane thing a teacher can to do for an over achieving kid is say, "relax." But we also know that's can be completely futile.  Once someone has something in his or her head, it's nearly impossible to change their mind. 

The writer in me says, "let the kid revise already.  He's right, it's got to be perfect.  Or as perfect as he can make it at that moment in time. " 
Man if I was arrested for every time I went OCD on a paragraph in one of my manuscripts, I'd have a life sentence... although, I would have a lot more time to write.

Thoughts on this case? 

The Mirror seems to be the Fox News of the UK, so I don't know how reliable it is.

And if anyone know what a "swot" is, that would greatly help me understand the meaning of the text.  Is it like the American SWAT team?

Gems of the internet

Oh Ad Choices--- I'm not sure what you are other then a pop up add, but you're awesome.
Every once in a while Ad Sense gives you a little gem. A picture next to an article that doesn't quite go together.  Behold what I discovered on Saturday:

Yep an article about child abuse with a picture of a man holding a small half naked boy...
Sometimes internet you're funny with your snarky use of brief language.  But it's your unintended humor that bring hilarity.

Yes, I'm aware I'm going to hell, you don't need to point it out.

How to live if you're a character in a bad book

So I was going to post about non-events and insignificant accomplishments but instead I stumbled on this and I thought I should share. 


It's from Cracked.com and if you haven't checked out this website you should.

Ask yourself, exactly how many of these mistakes have you made?  

How to Survive Life as a Character in a Bad Work of Fiction -- powered by Cracked.com

Off Line

Sorry, I've been off line for a while and I think I'll be off line for the next couple of weeks. 

My life has exploded in an array of both good and bad.

I've started a new novel, although admittedly it's taking a long to time get into it.  Hopeful my word war with Holly will keep me motivated.

I've also started taking dance classes, which are super fun but a time vampire. 

Happiest of all, I've completely fallen in love with my husband all over again.  After being together for over decade, I recently woke up and realized exactly why I love him.  So I've been trying to spend a lot more time with him instead of on the internet.

 On the more tragic side, my grandmother passed away a month ago.  It was a beautiful and peaceful death, but she was a private person and out of respect for her I've opted from blogging about it.

 Most recently, one of my students suddenly passed away.  He was an eighth grader and I taught him in seventh grade.  The unspoken rule of being a teacher is you will attend at least one funeral for a student within your career.  

Sometimes it feels like there aren't enough successes in my profession.  Sometimes it feels like there are so many changes coming from people who don't understand children at all.

Sometimes you have to bury the student who sat in the third row.

It's easy to get overwhelmed and depressed.

Despite all the "sometimes," I ALWAYS have amazing students.  I am constantly reminded that the world is a better place because my students will make the future better. 

My heart and prayers go out to the student's family and all my students' families who are facing this highly personal tragedy. 

With all the emotional stuff, I need a little blog break. 

But I'll be back with witty and snarky things to say.  Eventually.  I miss you guys.

Enjoy your summer.

What I learned about writing- a tale about travel

Every time I fly to Boston- it’s a total cluster.  

My first trip to Boston I was four hours late, because there was a cloud shaped like a bunny hovering somewhere over the Atlantic.
My return flight, my plane had issues and I decided to run for president of the plane since clearly, I was going to end up living on the plane.  My election didn’t go as planned, I blamed a the smear campaign by my rival who claimed I hogged the only plug at the gate charging my laptop when it was already at 87%. I didn’t win.

Long story short, eventually I got home.


I have to admit, I had reservations about traveling to Boston and then driving two hours to Springfield.  History tends to be repetitive and I had good reasons to be worried.   My flight to Boston was fine... there was a slight hiccup with my connecting flight to Newark but I boarded the plane with ten minutes before it was scheduled to leave.  We got the Springfield with very little traffic and no issues.  


But Sunday is when the weather changed.  Alicia and I left the conference early, mostly because I was worried I wouldn’t make my 6:50 flight if we left at 3.   So we left at 2 and I was at the airport by 4:45. I joked with Alicia- I’ll see you later.   I was through Airport security and at my gate by 5:15, with dinner in hand.  Perfect.  I surfed the net while I decompressed when I got a email, my connecting flight from Newark to BWI was delayed by 15 minutes.
Fine.
No big deal.
Seconds later I got another email.  My flight from Boston to Newark was delayed until 8:40... CRAP.
I saw the signs. I hopped up, got in line and changed my flight.
I called Alicia and ended up sleeping on her couch.
I apologize for being a needy guest, since not only would I need her to pick me up, but I would need a ride back, at 4:30 in the morning.

I also found out my grandmother passed away on the ride back to Alicia’s house. (More on that next blog post)

Monday morning I got to Boston Logan Airport at 5 am, the flight boarded and left on time.  YAY.  Just when it looked like I would be home exactly as scheduled... I would get home by 9:05 am!  

I got to Newark, found my gate, sat down, looked up at the board and POOF my flight was delayed.  The flight after mine was canceled and a terrifying word was spoken. SNOW.

SNOW! IN APRIL!!!  OH COME ON MOTHER NATURE.

The plane was delayed due to snow and if we didn’t leave soon, Newark had a chance of being snowed in.   Sigh

At 8:30 we heard the plane was being de-iced.  YAY.

It arrived at 9:58.

We boarded by 10:45.

I landed by 12:20.

At 1 pm I finally walked through my front door.  

I was smelly, cranky and exhausted.

Now what does this have to do with writing... well I think the metaphor is clear.

Don’t run for president of the plane if you’re paranoid whenever your laptop drops below 90% battery life.

No, really.  When it comes to writing there might be delays, lIfe might be in the way.  You might not be where you want to be, whether it be drafted, revised, edited, agented, or published, but as long as you have a laptop, a plug and an outlet, you’ll be fine.  Eventually it’s all out of your hands.  You have to put your trust in someone else.   But it will happen.  You’ll get home.  You’ll hit the final goal. 

NESCBWI Conference-

Over a week ago I went to the NESCBWI conference... wait a second, isn't that in NEW ENGLAND...
Yes, yes it was.
And don't you live in Maryland?
Yes, yes I do.
But Maryland isn't in New England.
Nope, that's what airplanes are for --- which for the record, I won't be traveling by again to Boston. 

Was it weird going to a conference where you didn't know anyone? 

Um no, because how it that different from any other conference? 

The whole time rocked. I could talk about the importance of the Keynote Speaker and all the break out sessions. (Which I will for some other blog) but what I walked out of that conference with was friends. 

I love kidlit writers, seriously.  We are the nicest people.  I was a stranger from a strange land and I was instantly welcomed. 

I shared a room with Heather and it could have gone terribly wrong, I'm shocking socially awkward for someone who likes to be the center of attention.   She's awesome... not a word I use lightly on this blog.   Over the course of the weekend, she triumphed and I cheered for her.  She's a mom, like me, she writes and blogs.  She's me, but a way more mellow and cooler version.

Then I met Jennifer Carlson, I'm pretty sure she's a robot with perfect hair, she's a mom and like a billion other things.  Seriously I was getting tired just listening to all the stuff she does.   To get a SMALL  glimpse of what she does, check out her website... and look at all the tabs.

Laura Pauling,  was a very cool and down to earth view of self publishing, one I hadn't heard before.   She's super cool and you should go check out her book and her info.

Then there's Kris Asselin who I might have bugged a whole bunch via email leading up to the conference.  She was insanely supportive. 

Ansha Kotya was another cool and level headed writer.   Funny and generally awesome. 

Nandini  Bajpai- everything about her was calm and soothing, she was funny and down to earth, she was handy with a camera and an iPhone.  She isn't made out of bones and blood but out of WIN and Awesome.


And as always I saved the best of last, my dear friend Alicia.  Not only did she drive in the rain for me, and introduce me to all her friends, but she kept me sane during an emotionally insane weekend.

So I left New England with new knowledge, witness a TED talk, a met and spoke with an agent, but most importantly I met a whole bunch of cool people.  I can't wait to go back next year.

I will be updated the blog with more information about the conference and my LONG adventures getting home.  But I really wanted to give shout outs to awesome people filled with awesomeness.