Monday, April 27, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Be Proud
I've been writing! {Beam, beam <---that's me, beaming with pride in myself :) }
I've put a fancy calendar on my laptop's background to remind me to write.
June 8th: First draft, DONE!
September 1st: Final draft, DONE!
YIPPEEEEEE!
I've put a fancy calendar on my laptop's background to remind me to write.
June 8th: First draft, DONE!
September 1st: Final draft, DONE!
YIPPEEEEEE!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Yay! Mickey Mouse, here we come!
Woohooo!What: Karen and David are gonna have a hunka fun!
When: After finals
Where: Disneyland, Anaheim, CA
I know, get excited! :)
It's my premier trip to Disneyland...I've never been. When I return, I will no longer be such a deprived, sad child. ;)
Monday, March 23, 2009
"Writing is a mental illness"
...According to Shannon Hale (Goose Girl, Princess Academy, Rapunzel's Revenge). So I figured I'd give an update on the UVU conference, even though it's been like a week and a half.
The best part of the conference was Shannon Hale. She's hilarious. She lives here in Utah, and there's a pretty tight knit group of authors in the area. She had a slide show of "stalker pictures" of her with all her Utah author friends. Her classes were fabulous. She made me feel better about being a writer and a mom. She had a lot of good things to say.
There was also an editor from Disney-Hyperion, Abby Ranger. She was fabulous too. She gave everyone at the conference a sticker to allow us to send in one unsolicited manuscript in the next 6 months. Usually, most big publishing houses require authors to have agents. The agents take the manuscripts to the editors they think will be the best. Hyperion's usual policy is absolutely NO manuscripts submitted except by an agent. So I need to have my book done and ready to send in by October if I want to take advantage of this. (As a side note: Hyperion is owned by Disney, but they don't print the "Disney" books. The just print children's/YA books.)
One of the biggest things I learned at the conference? I know just about all there is to know. Now I just need to write. I was bored in many of the classes because the things that were discussed were things I already know. While I still think it was a valuable experience, I know now that my next step is finish a manuscript so I can actually go out and do all these things I've been learning about! Yippee!
PS. No word about the editing job yet.
PPS. David has lots of fun news, so you should bug him to share it on the blog. :)
The best part of the conference was Shannon Hale. She's hilarious. She lives here in Utah, and there's a pretty tight knit group of authors in the area. She had a slide show of "stalker pictures" of her with all her Utah author friends. Her classes were fabulous. She made me feel better about being a writer and a mom. She had a lot of good things to say.
There was also an editor from Disney-Hyperion, Abby Ranger. She was fabulous too. She gave everyone at the conference a sticker to allow us to send in one unsolicited manuscript in the next 6 months. Usually, most big publishing houses require authors to have agents. The agents take the manuscripts to the editors they think will be the best. Hyperion's usual policy is absolutely NO manuscripts submitted except by an agent. So I need to have my book done and ready to send in by October if I want to take advantage of this. (As a side note: Hyperion is owned by Disney, but they don't print the "Disney" books. The just print children's/YA books.)
One of the biggest things I learned at the conference? I know just about all there is to know. Now I just need to write. I was bored in many of the classes because the things that were discussed were things I already know. While I still think it was a valuable experience, I know now that my next step is finish a manuscript so I can actually go out and do all these things I've been learning about! Yippee!
PS. No word about the editing job yet.
PPS. David has lots of fun news, so you should bug him to share it on the blog. :)
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Interview
Tomorrow I have an interview with Western Governors University for an editing position. It's something I could do from home, which would be so fabulous. WGU does online degree programs in teaching, business, and nursing. From what I understand, I would be editing the courses and assessments.
I've been practicing answering editing interview questions so I'm not caught so much in the headlights the way I was in my last editing interview.
Wish me luck!
I've been practicing answering editing interview questions so I'm not caught so much in the headlights the way I was in my last editing interview.
Wish me luck!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Boredom posting
Basically, I'm writing this because I'm bored. And I'm sure you're bored too because we don't update this nearly enough.
Must be because we don't have any cute little babies to post pictures of. Overwhelming trend says that babies = more posts. Funny how that works. :) Guess we'll just have to have a kid so we don't cause boredom-induced drooling when anyone visits our blog. (Yes, I guessed what you're thinking. And no, I'm not making an announcement.)
:)
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Renewed Resolve
This semester I'm taking a Children's Publishing class from a published picture book writer, Rick Walton. It's a fantastic class, especially for keeping me excited about getting published. On Tuesday we had a panel of authors to answer our questions about their experience, etc. One of them was Carol Lynch Williams, who I had a class from last semester. (She's also published middle grade novels and has a book coming out in May that you should get really excited about :) Anyway...
So I started a novel in her class that has fallen by the wayside since then. It's a fantasy novel about a girl who hikes up Stone Mountain, meets a boy named Coda, and gets transported to the world of Melisma where magic is done through music. Not to mention the fact that I have very little time to write this semester, I also think I got stuck and discouraged that this story was no good.
But on Tuesday night I got to talk to Carol, and she said a few times that it was a very good story and she hopes I keep writing it. I didn't know I needed the boost until I got it...Amazing what encouragement from a published author will do for your self-esteem. :)
Now I have a goal. I'm going to the BYU Young Readers and Illustrators Conference this summer; it's a week-long conference with writer's groups in the mornings and seminars in the afternoons. By then I WILL be finished with my novel. Done. Completed. Whew. And now it's official because I put it in writing.
So if ever you think of it, ask me how my book is going. Because then if I'm slacking, I'll feel really guilty. :)
So I started a novel in her class that has fallen by the wayside since then. It's a fantasy novel about a girl who hikes up Stone Mountain, meets a boy named Coda, and gets transported to the world of Melisma where magic is done through music. Not to mention the fact that I have very little time to write this semester, I also think I got stuck and discouraged that this story was no good.
But on Tuesday night I got to talk to Carol, and she said a few times that it was a very good story and she hopes I keep writing it. I didn't know I needed the boost until I got it...Amazing what encouragement from a published author will do for your self-esteem. :)
Now I have a goal. I'm going to the BYU Young Readers and Illustrators Conference this summer; it's a week-long conference with writer's groups in the mornings and seminars in the afternoons. By then I WILL be finished with my novel. Done. Completed. Whew. And now it's official because I put it in writing.
So if ever you think of it, ask me how my book is going. Because then if I'm slacking, I'll feel really guilty. :)
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