Hello, World!

Anybody feel a bit of shock and disorientation upon completion of a draft? As if you’d just emerged from some kind of cave – or more accura...

First Draft Complete -- Woo Hoo!

There were times I thought I would never get this far with this story, but I am happy to announce that the first draft of VOLTAGE is complet...

The Nerd and the Jock

Last week, I googled up the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome and was not happy to discover that it manifests as tingling sensations like n...

Teens Who Write and First Impressions

I guess it’s all about Gabbey on the blog this week! No sooner had summer vacation started, than Gabbey asked me to help her with one of h...

Mom Bragging Rights

After posting that picture of toddler-Gabbey last week, I owe her one! And besides, this is worth bragging about. Gone are the days when G...

Summer of 2011 Goals

I’m writing this on Sunday and scheduling it to post on Friday – which will be my first day of summer vacation. (Boy, I wish I could jump ah...

Stuck?

When my daughter Gabbey was little, she was prone to getting herself into awkward situations and then yelling STUCK! at the top of her lung...

I Like My Men in 19th Century-Wear

Lisa Brown (Picture the Dead, Vampire Boy’s Good Night) recently posted a link on Facebook to My Daguerreotype Boyfriend on Tumblir, and I...

Verse is Not a Verb

On our way to Field Day last Friday, one of my students asked me, “Are we going to verse the orange house classes, or just purple house?” (Y...

Back to the Classics

I know most (if not all) of you have read the article in The Wall Street Journal highlighting the dark and disturbing nature of today’s YA ...

First Impressions #12

Our final First Impression critique for the month of June is the first page of Foreshadow , a YA paranormal romance by Brea Essex . The flat...

Top 10 Reasons to Love Lenny

Yes, this is my 2nd post of the day! Please look below for First Impressions. This post is part of the Lenny-Lee-Fest, a shout out to a f...

First Impressions #11

Our second submission for First Impressions is Transforming Silence , a paranormal YA by Em Salgado. Chapter 1: Jackson I am no bird; and no...

First Impressions #10

Hello, June! Happy to see you! I’m also happy to introduce Brandy Hoskins of The Pen is My Sword and the first page of her fantasy work, So...