Jul
8
2014
Today I’m blogging over at YA Outside the Lines and this month we are taking about our hobbies and how they inform our writing. I’m spilling the beans on my secret hobby, so you might want to pop over there and check it out.
Here’s your teaser…
Do you have a secret hobby? If you do–I want to hear about it.
Apr
8
2014
Today I’m cross posting because I’m blogging over at YA Outside the Lines. Our topic for the month is our current reading list. Click here to find out about what I’m reading!
And just a reminder–I’m running a Library Giveaway! Enter to win one of six signed copies of TOUCHING THE SURFACE for the Library of your choice. All the details are HERE!
It’s easy-peasy to get your library’s name in the hat.
And I’m also taking random questions today. Anything you want to know about writing and publishing–I’ll do my best to answer.
Oct
8
2013
Today I’m cross posting over at YA Outside the Lines. This month we are talking about how we read. It’s a fascinating topic and you should check out all the posts this month. To see mine…click HERE.
And don’t forget to leave a blog post comment for the Literate Earth Project. All you have to do is say anything…I LOVE BOOKS or I LOVE KIDS will do the trick. You can even say LAUGH IT UP FUZZ BALL–it’s the 8yo’s favorite new Star Wars saying now that he’s become a HUGE Chewbacca fan. Your comment will put $1 in the hands of kids who are badly in need of books. It’s easy and it’s a fabulous thing to do. And of course I would appreciate it if you told friends and Wookies or Wookie friends to stop by and leave a comment too.
Feel free to hop on over to either of those posts ASAP, but if you’re dying to leave a comment here too–I’m taking questions on writing or author-ly things. Just shout it out.
Aug
8
2013
Today I’m cross-posting over at YA Outside the Lines and talking about The Truth About Sleep Away Camp. There may be 80’s permed hair for your amusement!
Just a reminder, you still have time to enter my write a review contest!
I also have some up and coming events…
*I’ll be at Oblong Books and Musics HVYAS Birthday Party!! More info HERE!
*Children’s Writer or Illustrator and located in the Hudson Valley? Join us for our local SCBWI Shop Talk Meeting in August. For more information, feel free to contact me directly.
*I’ll also be faculty at my very first conference, which is also the very same conference I first attended as a newbie. Yea, pretty WOW! Registration is still open for the SCBWI Eastern NY Conference on September 21-22nd. Lots of amazing speakers and opportunities.
*September 28th I’ll be part of a fantastic line-up at the Warwick Children’s Book Festival. Details Here
*October 17th I’m thrilled to be a part of the Ulster BOCES FALL INTO BOOKS CHILDREN’S & TEEN LITERATURE CONFERENCE in Kingston NY. I adore hanging out with librarians!!!
And good news…finding me is not nearly as hard as finding a little unidog. So, come hang out and we’ll squee and hug and talk about books and maybe eat some chocolate. I usually have some stored in a bag or pocket somewhere.
Jul
17
2013
Yesterday I was talking online to a bunch of my writer buddies and someone said…
The more I learn about publishing the more I realize the best promotional tool is to write the next book and the next and the next…
That makes a HUGE amount of sense. It resonates with me on more than just the promotional level. I also connect to it on a deeper, more personal level. I use writing as a way to make sense of the world. The less time I have to write, the less the world makes sense to me.
I love my social media, but ultimately it is the writing.
To me blogging isn’t just a publishing tool. It’s a kind of journaling that works really well for me BECAUSE it’s interactive. So I really do love doing it. A lot. But I’ve been toying with this for awhile and I’ve finally come to realized that it’s time for me to adjust my blogging schedule a little bit. I need to do this partly because I DO NOT want to give up my membership in either YA Outside the Lines or the Bookanistas. I love those groups. And partly it’s because I also like to do guest posts, interviews and judge writing events whenever possible. Between the blogs and the extra posts, too much of my writing time is being eaten up.
For example: July 2013’s Projected Blog Schedule
Post due for my own blog–14
Post for YAOTL–1
Posts for the Bookanistas–1 or 2
Guest posts for Blog Tour–5
Other Interviews for blogger events–2
Interviews I had to turn down because I was at risk for losing my mind–More than one 🙁
That’s a grand total of at least 23 posts and or interviews. And on average these take me 60 minutes or more to brainstorm, write and add links/graphics. (There have been days they’ve taken longer.) That’s a lot of time I could and should be using to write.
And on a personal front…I HAVE THREE BOYS!!!! Yeah, that. And I like them enough to want to spend quality time with them as often as I can. And I’m moving in the fall. So I’m staging and showing and pretending I’m organized on a regular basis. Remember me? The one who doesn’t get the laundry done on a good day.
So, I’ve decided that I’m going to take a small two-week blog hiatus while I’m traveling with the family over the end of July. (July 22-Aug. 2) and then I’ll be back on TUESDAY August 6th followed by THURSDAY August 8th. This will kick off my official move to a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. By doing this, I will drop down to 8-10 posts a month on average. Much more manageable.
If you think you’re going to have trouble remembering to stop by on the new dates, please sign up to have my blog posts sent right to you. On the right hand side of my blog I have an RSS feed sign up and and email sign up. I’ll also do my best to put up some reminders for the two weeks off and the new schedule. I love you for understanding why I need to make the change.
Do you blog? And if you do, do you have a schedule? I recommend having specific blogging times, so people do know when to show up to connect with you, but flexibility is important too. You never want to get so frustrated you squeeze an innocent hedge hog puppet. Totally not cool.
Any other blog tips you want to share with me? Any questions about blogs? Fire away!
*No hedge hog puppets were harmed in the making of this blog post.
Jul
8
2013
I posted over at the YA Outside the Lines Blog today. Want to find you what I was talking about? Here’s your hint…
You can check out the post HERE!
May
8
2013
I’m CROSS-POSTING at YA Outside the Lines Today.
Don’t be a turkey. Run on over and check out Kimberly Sabatini’s Guide to Social Media…
Apr
8
2013
I’m cross-posting about CHANGE over at the YA Outside the Lines Blog today.
For a change–stop on over there. *grin*
Oct
8
2012
Today I’m over at YA Outside the Lines with a blog post that explains why I haven’t written a second completely different blog post here.
It’s called Apocalyptic Scary Stuff and it made me do this…
If you click HERE you can catch my post over there. If you don’t want to travel because it’s a holiday–you can stay here and take a guess about what you think made me look like this LOL!
Feb
8
2012
Today is my very first blog post as a member of YA Outside the Lines. I am so excited to be a part of this group of amazing YA authors. I would absolutely love it if you stopped over there and checked out the blog and my inaugural post. Kim at YA Outside the Lines. But before you go, I thought I’d tell you what my Waiting on Wednesday book is…
Turns out that 13 year old, street smart Carley Connors is only afraid of one thing—Love. After a heart-breaking betrayal, Carley, a newly minted foster care child is placed with the Murphy family, who break down her walls. She learns the hard won lesson that she can love other people and, even more surprising, she can let them love her.
As if that wouldn’t have been enough to sell me on One for the Murphys, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Lynda Hunt Mullaly at the NY SCBWI Conference and she told me all about her book–the inside story to what she was thinking when she was writing it. I honestly can’t wait to read this book. <3
What book are you waiting impatiently for?
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