The Graveyard of Abandoned Handbags

I went shopping for a new handbag this weekend, my second new bag in 2 weeks. When I got home, I threw the previous new bag in the back of ...

Gina's Review: Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

As I expected, this week of Teacher Inservice was exhausting, and I haven’t even started teaching yet! Luckily, my wonderful daughter is co...

PRIZES!

The first annual PAYA Book Festival on Saturday was so many kinds of awesome, I could hardly contain myself! First of all, I was thrilled to...

Goals Assessment

Summer vacation is over. Kaput. Today is the last day, and tomorrow, I’ll have to shift my mental gears into teaching mode. Boy, are they...

Guess that Character Revealed

First of all, the setting for this scene is the sleepy mountain town of Catawissa, PA in 1867. So those of you who guessed it was historica...

Guess that Character Blogfest

Today is the Guess That Character Blogfest , sponsored by Jen at Unedited . Below you will find a scene from my current WIP -- The Caged Gra...

Making Pasta with a Guitar Pick

This past weekend, my husband’s family got together to try out the birthday present my husband received from his sister: a chitarra. Chitar...

Don't Wanna Go Back!

WAH! A week from tomorrow, the 2010-2011 school year starts for me. The kids have another week off, but teachers return next Tuesday. Here...

Bringing More YA to PA: PAYA 2010

The first annual PAYA Book Festival is only a week away! I am excited to have a small part in this event, taking place on Saturday, August ...

Aqua Seas Tour

Last week, my family took a unique and little-known excursion at Disney Epcot’s Living Seas Aquarium. The Aqua Seas Tour is a behind-the-sc...

Air Travel Kharma

We came pretty close to having a CNN-worthy incident on our Florida-bound plane last week. But let me back up and say that thanks to my husb...

Dialogue Tags and Door Hinges

I was recently part of a (heated) online discussion about dialogue tags. I am going to leave out all names and even the name of the discuss...

Confessions of a Compulsive Writer

Today, while the Salerni family enjoys their first day at Universal Studios, I bring you an unprecedented guest post from Dread Daughter #1 ...

Gina's Review: Notes From a Liar and Her Dog

By the time you read this post, I’ll be at Disney with the family – hopefully having a fabulous time! If this is Monday (and by this time I...