Thought for the Day:
“Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.”
~ Larry King ~
Gifts for My Writer Friends:
If you need some tips for writing superbad villains, HERE is the post for you from The Creative Pen.
Michelle Keller at Just Write… has a great post HERE that will help you make your dialog sections much more interesting.
The Writer Magazine has a terrific article HERE on rejecting rejection. It’s a good one.
I took the last two weeks off to spend some time traveling with my grandchildren. Gehrig, 15 and 11/12ths, just got his driver's permit and was thrilled to go with a grandma who wanted help with the driving. Gracie, who turned 12 while we were on the trip, was pretty content to watch scenery and supply us with her personal playlist for our listening pleasure. I'm happy to say she is heavy into 80s music. Great stuff.
We left early and drove to Salt Lake City the first day, then on to Denver to stay with my best friend from college, her wife, and their three odd little dogs. Using this as home base, Gehrig and I had tickets for a Rockies game. This is where blogging came to be a blessing. Through the years, I have faithfully read Greg Pattridge's wonderful blog, Always in the Middle, and he has faithfully read mine. We became blogging buddies, and he had asked me to get in touch if I made it to the Denver area. I did, and Greg got a ticket for the Rockies game near where we were sitting and graciously drove Gehrig and I to the game and back. The traffic in Denver is CRAZY and, if you don't know where you are going, pretty intimidating. What a gift! If that weren't enough, he hosted the kids and I for lunch at his home and gave us all books. Thanks, Greg! It was so much fun.
After a few days in Denver, we drove through the mountains to Montrose, Colorado, to visit with family. My son Mark and his wife, Cindy, hosted us and took Gehrig fishing every morning we were there. He was one happy guy.They also had a lovely birthday party for Gracie. Mark spent some time as a chef and is a great cook. Cindy is no slouch. We ate incredibly well (probably way too well), had a lot of fun, but after eight days away, we were ready to head home. Gehrig got over a thousand miles of driving under his belt and is well on his way to getting his license, and I had a simply wonderful time with my grandkids.
I will likely be gone again next week. I am going to be attending the Mendocino Coast Writer's Conference. I submitted a writing sample and won a scholarship for half the registration fee. I'm very excited. I will be attending a series of workshops led by Lewis Buzbee! I LOVED his book Steinbeck's Ghost and hope to read something else by him before I get there. Attendees were able to submit short pieces of fiction for a contest. I entered an adult short story and came in second in that category where they had 60 entries. Smiling here! I will get a check for that when I get there and the story will be considered for publication in the Noyo River Review. As a bonus, the temperature will be hovering around 100 degrees where I live next weekend, and it will be around 70 in Mendocino, a beautiful little artist's community on the northern coast of California. Still smiling!
When last we met here, I offered an ARC of Women Who Dared: 52 Fearless Daredevils, Adventurers, and Legends by Linda Skeers. Our winner this time is Joanne Roberts. Congratulations, Joanne! Joanne is a writer/illustrator from Pennsylvania. You can find out more about her and see some of her wonderful art HERE and read her blog, Bookish Ambition, HERE. Joanne, I will get your book out to you soon. For the rest of you, another give away, so please keep reading.
This post has gotten way too long, so just a quick few words about The Tapper Twins Tear Up New York. I have reviewed some of Geoff Rodkey's books, including an earlier Tapper Twins book HERE. I love his stuff. It is funny and smart and just the kind of thing that will get kids reading, no matter how reluctant they are. This is no exception. Claudia and Reese are back at their bickering best. Claudia decides a scavenger hunt is a great way to raise money for a charity and manages to get the whole school involved. What could go wrong? The words "just about anything" come to mind while reading this fast-paced, screwball comedy written in choppy tween-speak conversation and text messages. Lots of funny pictures add to this very quick, very fun read.
I have a gently-read ARC of this book to share with
one of you. To win, all you need do is have a US address, be a subscriber or follower, and tell me that in a comment you leave on this post. If you are reading this in your email, click HERE to go to the blog so you can leave a comment. If you would like extra chances, please spread the word by posting the link on a Tweet, blog post, Facebook, or any other way you like. Let me know what you have done in your comment, and I will put in extra chances for you for each that you do.
 |
| Geoff Rodkey |
Don't forget to check out Shannon Messenger's wonderful blog HERE for many more Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday reviews and giveaways.
