I can't believe it has been more than a year! What a year! After having moved to Charlotte, things have been crazy and my little family and I have been adjusting to life in the Carolinas. Missing family and friends and the old routine, we have been busy building a new world! Sadly, I have not written a thing since moving, it really has been all about Grace. We managed to fit into a great community of mommies, found an awesome little playgroup, got involved at church and preschool, spent time exploring Charlotte... I did a feeble attempt at namowrimo... maybe this year I will do better. I also scribbled some new adventures for Jack, but that's as far as I got and I think Grace has since used the notepad for a scribbling of her own! Ah well! I do know there is an SCBWI critique group here in Charlotte, I know where they meet and when, I just need to get motivated!

Brenda dropped a line and told me of all the triumphs in the Boca Critique group and I hope there will be many more! I miss all the stories and wish I knew their happy endings!

I am on facebook now...drop by and say hi!

Hey everyone,

Well, I am up in North Carolina. My little family is at the moment staying in a temporary apartment in Huntersville while all our stuff awaits the slightly more permanent confines of a two bedroom apartment townhome. Permanent, that is, until we sell our home in Boca Raton and find the home of our dreams up here. I am doing a lot of praying to St Joseph, though I heard that burying a statue of St. Joseph, upside down and facing the street will have our house sold in a matter of weeks. I felt a little weird about that, especially since our priest has rallied against those who bury Saints in their yards. "Just pray!" he says. Well, I will pray, but if that house doesn't get sold soon, St. Joe will find himself under some green turf.

So, having been up here for a total of four days, I find it to be very similar to South Florida, though not quite so hot and of course, not so tropical. The shops and malls are the same, and everyone appears to be from New York or Jersey. You are almost hard pressed to find a local.

Grace and I have joined a library story time, I was a bit disappointed in it however, having been used to the song and story times in Boca where dancing and fun were the rule. This was a quiet, three stories, a felt board rhyme and a song on a record player. Grace was confused and wanted to dance, no one else was. The librarian was very nice however and kept the children's attention well enough. The amazing thing about the whole experience was that the parents were attentive and quiet, no gossiping or carrying on while the little ones were trying to listen.

I am going to start looking for a critique group soon which I find depressing because I so enjoyed the one back home. The closest one with SCBWI looks to be in Charlotte, which is a thirty minute drive from me and on Saturday mornings. It looks like the library has a writer's group, but I could find little information on it. In the meantime, I am going to try to do some writing. I have not had the time to do any of it in so long.

Anyway, I miss everyone and hope that their stories are going well.

Ok, Ok, I know, anytime the computer asks if you would like to save changes, you say YES! Why did I press no? Was it from being overtired? Was I in a rush? Had Grace yelled that she needed to go potty? Was it complete stupidity? Anyway, I wrote some really brilliant stuff, at least I think it was brilliant. I found the key to get Maxwell Creeves to remain in the story, again, brilliant, and it's all gone. Well, it's still in my head I guess. Enough whining.

Back to it! Hope everyone is having better luck!

Hey it has been a long time! Well I tore apart my story and have not been able to put it back together yet. Lack of time you see. I have all these grand ideas running through my head. I think I need a secretary, ooh and a planner, and oh maybe a babysitter/nanny and if it's not asking too much, a housekeeper.

Wow. It came out of nowhere! Well maybe somewhere. I was picking at this idea I had for a picture book when suddenly the words kept coming! Alas, a picture book no more, at about 4,000 words in roughly the first four chapters, does that sound about right? One of the chapters is really short. My fear is that I am going to have to keep going with this because I myself would like to see how it ends!

Hello,
Home again! I survived a trip to the UK with a two year old! I will never do it again. Not until she and any others that may follow are:
1. Out of diapers and have complete bladder control
2. Able to amuse self for some decent amount of time
3. Feels comfortable eating in strange places
4. Appreciate a good night's sleep
5. Can sleep in bed
6. Does not need a car seat
7. Can speak in full sentences and can express self
8. Understand the importance of the phrase "stand still" and "stop kicking that seat"
9. Can drink out of regular cup
10.Can dress self

In actuality, things went better than I thought they would have been. We got to play "Pooh Sticks" at a small bridge in a forest with Welsh cousins. We got to see a castle and attend a fun wedding in Nottingham. We froze on mountainous cliffs in Wales. We attended a Christmas Mass at a a quaint village church where the priest handed out Christmas gifts to all children in attendance. We celebrated an English Christmas with Crackers, Crowns and a real Christmas Pudding. We saw family we have not seen in a long, long time. And driving on the on the wrong side of the road is always fun.

Glad to be home and getting Grace back on schedule, which is proving to be a lot easier than I thought it would be. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year and I will see you all at next critique!

Amy

Well I was pretty bummed not to be able to go to critique night. I wanted so much to fly my story past everyone's ears and hear the next chapters in so many great stories. I am currently looking for a good fit as to a publisher. I am confused and dragging my feet I guess. Not sure whether I should skip the literary agent or if I should put a valiant effort into finding one. It seems a lot of these publishing houses won't even look at unsolicited work. Am I looking in the wrong places? Oh well. I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday season. I am off to Wales for Christmas with a wedding to go to in Nottingham, England on New Year's. I am excited but also very anxious about the whole thing. Traveling for 9 hours with a near two year old who very much hates to sit still for more than a few seconds worries me. Especially during the two busiest traveling days ever. Wish me luck.

Amy

Hello,
Thought I would check in. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that everyone is filled with the holiday spirit. I have been terrible busy, and terrible lazy. I finished my preliminary pirate story revisions and though I think some bits are somewhat forced, it will all smooth out later. The critique I had done on it brought up such a true point, that I needed more visual details. Her suggestion was to envision my story being read by a blind child or to a child over the phone. So I added a stanza to each section of the story. What was amazing to me was how easy the first part came, but how the revisions are a bear! I hope to be able to make it to our critique group Wednesday, but I think my family is expecting me to take Grace to the Boca Christmas parade which in some ways screams MISTAKE! (She is a very spirited child) I may come late, but if I don't make it, I hope everyone enjoys their December, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

It was great to see everyone last night in critique group! Everyone had such great stories. Just an update on F1st Pages. When I got home last night my paid critique was waiting for me and it had a lot of great suggestions, mostly to add more details. The creative juices are pumping through me now and I have already started working on it. I am concerned about word count, knowing that 500 is usually the magic number in picture books. I fear that I may get carried away as my story already has 574 words. Anyway, Mrs. Robinson has offered to view my whole story upon revision to make up for the long wait with no added charge, she honestly was very good about the whole thing. So, if anyone out there has something to advise in the area of word count I would love to hear from you! Also, if anyone would like to see her comments on Pirate Vacation, let me know, I will get them to you somehow! I am excited to say that she thinks my story is very publishable and that I have what it takes to be an author, so yeah! Happy writing to all!
Amy

Wow it has been nearly a month since I last wrote. Things have been so crazy with Grace getting sick again. This time a double ear infection and I caught a pretty bad virus as well! Where does she get this stuff? We have been blaming teeth as her 2 year molars are trying to come through. Anyway, this month has been a creative wasteland. It may be lifting, however, as of yesterday when I thought up a sad, maybe young adult, short story. Maybe something good for a teen angst sort of publication. Anyone have any ideas of a good one? Maybe I will wrestle it out of my head and bring it next meeting as I really have nothing else. Hope everyone else is having a better time of it than me!

Wow, I have had so many story ideas this week, I had to start a notebook just to scribble down the basic plots and key phrases. Problem is, when I finally sit down to work with them, I have lost all the creative steam that originated with the story.
Grace had a violent fever most of last week and is, as of today, finally back to normal. I suspect the feral binky that managed to find it's way into her mouth at the playground did it. Of all the things that she could have put in her mouth, she had to find the one item infested with the plague. During her illness she learned the power of "no" and perfected a temper tantrum style all her own. I had to leave the grocery store early for the first time with a half cart of groceries due to my screaming child. Now that she is feeling better, she is a little more agreeable.
Hey does anyone else out there watch Most Haunted? I am addicted to this show though it spooks me out something terrible. I have not met anyone else who has seen it or finds the subject at all interesting.

Hello,
It has been a while. I have not had much to talk about lately so I thought I would come on and ramble a bit. I have been working out a story board for my Flying Cow story. I think it may work best as an interactive book and I think I have a plan in how to present it. I was referred to Salina Yoon, who has a guide on how to make the perfect dummy for these types of books, I sent away for it, I hope it comes soon. My only negative thought is that really all the action belongs to the cow, in all different ways mind you, flaps, pulls, spins, 3D... But how much of a cow can a kid really take? I think I may also work on a Pirate Vacation dummy as well. If anything I can add it to my portfolio which needs some serious work anyway. Too much to do and not enough hours in a day!

Well, my sheep are just not working for me. I have a plot and a cute ending but it is just not working. I guess it will just have to go back to my mental slush pile.
I do have two other good story ideas. I came up with one while giving Grace a bath. I had to hurry and put her to sleep before I could jot down all those little ideas. It's funny when the muse hits you. This is not the first time she has prodded my brain while I was busy bathing my daughter. Is it the bubbles I wonder?

Today Grace and I tried out a new park. Not a totally unfamiliar one, I used to play at it once upon a very long time ago. They have totally changed it and even though it is for the better, with new equipment and safe play areas, it made me sad nonetheless. While there, I ran into a few of my former students. They start school tomorrow and I felt a little left out of the excitement of a brand new school year. But then I kicked back and enjoyed the sound of an unseen loud buzzing insect (Cicada?)mingled with the whispering breeze through the ever tall pine trees and watched Gracie slide down the slide for the twentieth time.

Ah, finished in a nick of time! And a little richer as well! I finally completed the design for the T-shirt I have been dragging my feet on. I actually like this one! It turned out well but the best thing is getting paid for doing it!
For those interested, here it is!



I am terribly proud of it.

Anyway, now I am free to work on my story. Who am I kidding? The kitchen needs cleaning, the bathrooms need to be hosed down and the floors deserve a good scrubbing...and Grace afraid of the vacuum does not help!

I finally wrote to First Pages to see what was going on with my ms. I know they are frantically busy but since my husband recently updated all our software I was worried that it may have been lost. I received a very nice note back assuring me that it was not lost and I would hear from them very soon. So deep breath, ahh.
My next story, which I shall hereby dub "Sweaters" for the lack of a better title, has to do with the knitting of a great many items in a very short while. My dilemma is that the whole process of turning wool into colored knittable yarn is kind of boring. It has to happen. My story relies on this process, in fact, the sheep are crucial to the story. I could sum it up in a sentence or I could spend a great deal of time going step by step. Unfortunately, my only real knowledge of this comes from an episode of Reading Rainbow. I guess I will write out both ways and see what critique group has to say about it.

Well, while I await my critique from First Pages (now one and a half weeks overdue) I think I may begin toying with my next little story based on drawings I did long ago. It has to do with a very rare blizzard, some sheep, random farm animals and an eccentric lady, oh yeah, peacocks acting strangely... got it? I have the outline all together, now how do I begin?? Do I remain working in verse or should I try prose? Decisions decisions! I guess I could also work on my T shirt... maybe Sunday...evening...

Hello, Welcome to my first journal entry! A special thanks is in order to the ladies of SCBWI who introduced me to this site. At the moment, I am seriously procrastinating, which is one of my terrible character flaws. I do work best under pressure but honestly why put myself through such agony? I have been commissioned to design a shirt for a marching band, which I do every year and like every year before, I wait until the absolute last minute. It's a wonder that I even wrote my story though I had been sitting on it for five years. I have one in the works that has been on the drawing board even longer. Hopefully our critique group will get me moving!