"Final" Revisions and A Quick Trip to Quebec

The "final" draft has been submitted and I'm now working on revising the author bio and other fun stuff.  It's all been a great learning experience so far, but the real work will start after Can You See Me Now? is release in May 2014. 

In the meantime, I'm back to revising my other work and squeezing in as much reading time as possible between all the other household tasks. 

Gene and I did manage to get away for a week to meet our German friends in Quebec City and then on to Montreal where we saw a tennis match (Raonic v. Youzny).  Unfortunately, we missed the second match (Del Potro v. Dodig) as it was postponed until the next day due to rain.

We saw a wonderful Chihuly exhibit at the local art museum and another amazing one at the botanical gardens (see attached photos).  Although not the most intricate one, the one of the dog at the train station was my favorite because of the story behind it (A faithful dog who waits at the train station for his master to come home from work.  Unfortunately, the master has died but the town's residents are so moved by the dog's devotion that they erect a memorial to him in some little town in Japan.)

Well, back to work.  Until next time, happy reading and writing.

Creating a Website

I'm working on my new website, learning as I go.  Every step is so exciting and the anticipation of seeing my book in print keeps building.

Also preparing for the second SCBWI-OR great critique coming up on Saturday.  Then back to work on revisions and more revisions. 

Now I need to figure out how to link my blog to my site.  More later.

Freedom Celebration

Two Fourth of July picnics in one day.  That's a lot of celebrating, but it was fun.  I'm so glad to live in this beautiful country where we enjoy such freedom, thanks to the many who have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to make it possible.  It's easy to take this for granted until we see and hear about what's going in other parts of the world.  I hope your poor pets survived the noise.  They've probably forgotten all about it and are making up for a sleepless night.

I continue to prepare for the upcoming publication of Can You See Me Now?  It's been a learning and very exciting experience: Photos, bios, jacket covers, etc.  May 2014 will be here before we know it and then the real work begins.

Thanks and congratulations to our new SCBWI-OR team who are working so hard to help all our members by arranging schmoozes that allow us to meet and get to know one another better while providing us a time and place for idea sharing.  I also find the critique events very useful  tools in polishing and refining our manuscripts and am looking forward to our next critique on July 20th at Tabor Space.

Happy reading, writing, and/or revising! 

SCBWI-OR Conference

I got back from my latest Texas trip just in time to attend the local writers' conference.  It was a packed house with many regulars plus new writers and illustrators who were attending for the first time. 

What a great opportunity to network and hear the latest happenings from agents, editors, and writers.  It's great to hear what they like to read and why.  I came away with a list of new titles of books that intrigued me.  To start off (because I'm currently working on my own historical fiction novel), I'll be reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and Dark Triumph by Robin LeFevers.  I'm also reading The Beginning of After by Jennifer Castle because its theme sounds similar to my own Can You See Me Now?  They should keep me busy for the next few weeks (when I'm not writing/revising my own work).

This year's keynote address by Karen Cushman really resonated with me not only because I am a big fan of hers, but because I could relate to her own writing experience.  It was good to hear that I'm not the only one who doesn't always follow the rule of writing for a certain length of time every day even if it's just completing an exercise.  I feel much better about spending my writing time working on my own projects rather than just writing for the sake of writing.  I also believe that reading as much as possible helps improve my own writing and that I shouldn't limit myself to writing only what I know but opening up my horizons by exploring new areas that challenge me to think, see, and write from a different perspective.

Great job Judi Gardiner and Sue Ford.

Hallelujah! Yippy Yay!

First, I apologize for my absence, but I've been a very busy girl these past few months.  I've been busy doing some of the things I love most:  reading, writing, and pursuing two of my consuming passions (education and animal welfare).

I am also thrilled to announce that my first novel, Can You See Me Now? (working title) is being published by the University of Houston's Arte Público Press.  It will be available in May 2014. I will now be more diligent in keeping my blog updated with new details as they develop.

In the meantime, I'll be working on my other works in progress as once the book is out, marketing it will take up a chunk of my time.  So, back to work for now.

Happy reading to all and happy writing to my fellow writers.

Happy 2013!

Time. Where does it go? So quickly. 

New Year. New challenges. New opportunities. 

More reading.  More writing. More travel.

Happy 2013!

Back to work.

Ah, yes!  Wordstock 2012 - my third visit to the event, my second as a volunteer.

As with travel, I find great literary events like Wordstock wonderful motivators.  It's like being a kid set loose in a magical toy store/candy shop.  At first it's a little overwhelming--which workshop, which presentation, which speakers panel should I attend?  As a writer of children's stories, I seem to eventually gravitate to the children's stage.

It's so easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all, to want to read every single book by every single author represented there.  So, newly-inspired, I go home and read as many of them as I can while still leaving time to write.  Read/Write, read/write until the next conference, the next workshop, the next reading by a favorite author, the next literary event for which Portland is so well known.

Of course, for the wonderful people behind the scenes, it's back to work on planning and preparing for the next Wordstock.  Thanks to all those who make it possible for writers and readers from all over to gather in Portland for such a beautiful event.