Oh, Hey 2014!

*Blows dust off blog* Hello there!

It's been awhile since I posted anything here, and when I look at the date of my last entry (February 16), I remember that as far as excuses go, it's honestly not been a "the dog ate my homework" kind of year.

Around the time I last hit publish, I found out I was pregnant. Pregnant! As in, hey, you better dust the sour patch kids off your face because you are about to become a mom.

Two weeks later, my sweetheart and I closed on our first house. I've been an apartment dweller my entire life, so this was pretty huge. We found a sweet brick colonial in a writerly suburb of NYC that has an amazing library... and as an added bonus, the village is also haunted, at least in the literary sense.

We decided to do major renovations before moving in, which required a lot of time and energy, all while I was fantastically nauseous.

And since I hit two major life events, I decided to go for a hat trick and accepted a job offer a few months later. The week after moving into our half-renovated home, I started my first day, with a new role, new boss, new new new.

Home ownership. Renovations. Nine months of pregnancy. New desk at work. It's been a hell of a year for sure!

My son Max was born in late October, and now one month in, I'm finally getting the hang of infant care. Though every time I think that, the little monster throws me for a loop :)

Fox-themed story time on Max's first night home

And even though Max came early, even though we still need to hang curtains and paint some rooms, and even though I sometimes don't brush my teeth until after noon, this tornado of a year has given me so much to be thankful for. And a big fat one is the shiny love, support, motivation, and hope I find in my kidlit community.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my writer friends -- amidst the whirlwind this year has brought on, you've been my constant! I've loved reading your blogs, your books, finding out about your book deals, and typing alongside you whenever I've had a free moment!

Hope you have more than one slice of pie and a few days of holiday bliss.

Instagram #PhotoADay: October

Confession: I'm a bit of a social media lurker. By nature, I'm an undersharer -- so some social sites elude me completely (I'm looking at you, Facebook).

But I find Twitter and Instagram fun, and I love catching up on people's clever (or not) updates -- even though I rarely post tweets and photos myself.

But that's about to change on Instagram. This month I'm attempting to post one daily photo. And three days in, sharing random pictures has been much easier than I suspected. In fact, I think it's reminding me to appreciate some of the small things I'd pass by without thinking twice about.

Take yesterday, for instance. While walking down Lexington Avenue on my way to work, I encountered a film crew that spanned a block and a half. This is a fairly common sight in NYC, but instead of rolling my eyes at the detour to my subway stop, I snapped a photo:

They are filming parts of the new "Annie" movie starring Quvenzhané Wallis in Harlem, and I spied the adorable actress getting her nose powdered between shots.

I'm glad I stopped and checked out Lex with fresh eyes rather than raced by to catch a train. It's not every day the street's packed with expensive camera equipment and a busy crew. And now I'll definitely be looking out for this scene and my familiar neighborhood sites when I watch the movie.

Are you on Instagram? Let me know - I'd love to connect and check out your feed! And you can find my profile here. After four months, it's about to get a lot less boring -- I promise!

The Post-Conference Slump

At SCBWI LA with writing pals (left to right) Bridget,

Jodi, Pat, (me), Kathryn, Ghenet, & Edith

When I started writing fiction seriously about four years ago, I also began attending writer conferences. So far I've been to about six of them, and this August I made it over to the national SCBWI conference in LA for the first time.

Many of my writer friends consider this event one of the most special, motivating, and authentically fun weekend seminars for children's book writers. And I'm happy to report that the conference did not disappoint. The keynotes were delightful, particularly Laurie Halse Anderson, Matt de la Pena, and Jarrett Krosoczka. I had an amazing critique from an agent, and Richard Peck's first line workshop seriously inspired me to write more beautifully. I even got to meet a blogging pal - Cynthia from Read Is The New Black.

During the entire four-day event, I was pumped. The talks energized me to write the best book I can possible write -- to sharpen my prose, raise the stakes in my plot, liven up my characters. But when I got off the plane in NY, my brain remained in plan mode. Aaaand... I didn't write again for about three weeks.

This wasn't the first time I experienced a post-conference writing slump. In fact, it's happened to me after every single weekend-long conference I've attended. So what gives?

Last week at another SCBWI workshop (this one in New York) the words of a wise author hit home to me. And for the first time, I realized why conferences -- while stirring and enlightening -- have been so temporarily disruptive to my own writing.

Editor Wendy Lamb and Newbery winner Rebecca Stead at
SCBWI Metro NY's Professional Series

Rebecca Stead, along with her editor, Wendy Lamb, were special guests at my local Metro NY branch's monthly writing talk. If you read my MMGM features, then you know I'm a Fan of Stead. Yes, that's fan with a capital F. As far as middle grade goes, she's top notch, and I seriously wish I could have read her books in elementary school.

While describing her writing process, Stead mentioned how perfectionism can really get in the way of doing the work. And what writer can't relate to that? She said that sometimes, preparing to write is like setting up for a perfect dive. And if you're a good, dedicated diver, you'll stand on the edge of the pool and concentrate on the building blocks of that set up so you execute strongly.

But if you're too focused on setting up perfectly -- you might not dive at all.

Here is a tweet from another attendee that sums that up more concicely:

"Writing is like diving. U want 1st jump to be perfect...I've had to learn to throw myself off the board flailing." @rebstead @scbwimetroNY
— Ginny Poleman (@GinnyPoleman) September 11, 2013

Though I enjoy and learn a ton from conferences, the intense amount of information, feedback, and reflection put me in set up mode. I leave thinking of a million things I should change and improve. And for a small amount of time, I'm too intimidated to dive (ha) back into my writing. Because a piece of me wonders if I can ever live up to the renewed vision I have for my work.

That said, I seriously love attending writing conferences. This problem eventually solves itself, but next time, I might paste a few gentle reminders in my notebook to help bolster me from my own hyper criticism.

How about you? Do you ever psych yourself out when you're learning all the good stuff at writing conferences? Any tips on how to incorporate craft lessons without slipping into a slump?

Three Things I Meant To Blog About...

...but didn't quite get to.

So what have I been up to instead of blogging?

1.) Reading BEA Books.
Over the past few weeks, I devoured Counting By Sevens, Fangirl, and If You Could Be Mine (to name a few). So many amazing books will be hitting the shelves this fall/winter. Will post my favorite middle grade picks on upcoming Mondays. Pinky promise!

2.) Winning July's Camp Nano.
I've never participated in November's big NaNoWriMo kahuna before, but I liked the idea of setting a small goal this summer. And guess what? I won! I'm the proud owner of 25k words of a shiny new work-in-progress. The lighter version of NaNoWriMo happens twice a year, and I highly recommend trying it out!

3.) Learning At SCBWI LA.
So many writers rave about SCBWI's summer conference in LA, and I've wanted to attend for awhile now. Happy to say, it did not disappoint. Along with incredibly moving, motivating speakers like Richard Peck, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Matt de la Pena, I sat in on some great workshops that really got the wheels turning. Lots to say here, but I'll save that for another post.



While I was in LA, my blog turned two years old. Two?! Yup! Since this site is still a toddler, I'm figuring out how to balance writing and work with posting and other social media. But rather than submit to the terrible twos, I'm hoping to revitalize and keep chugging along. It's been so fun to meet other writers and connect over wonderful books here and on other blogs.

Will be back soon with some thoughts on LA and more marvelous middle grade recommendations. Xox!

Yup, A Writer Lives Here

Piles Of Post-Its

Happy holidays everyone! I'm taking off this weekend for a cozy New Year's cabin trip with my sweetheart (it's our 5-year anniversary!), where I plan on reading a ton, and also doing some outlining for future projects. I ran out to buy poster board yesterday (I know - nerd alert) and then ended up grabbing a few post-its in the paper supplies aisle, because... who can have enough post-its, right?

Since I have the whole week off, I've also been on a mad cleaning and organizing spree. And this morning I found, oh, about 20 pads of post-its around the house. Different colors, sizes, shapes... yet I still felt this major post-it gap in my life... so much so that I had to get a fresh pack for my projects. Crazy, or just writer crazy?

But there's no shame in obsessive love for office supplies around here, especially when they help with writing:

Exhibit A

What are some of your most-loved writing supplies? I'm also a sucker for index cards. And I've already confessed my notebook thing :)

What Day Is It Again?

Also, is it really October? Scratch that -- the MIDDLE of October?!?

Hey darlings! The loudest thing happening on my blog as of late has been the sound of crickets. Since I last posted, a new job opportunity pranced into my life out of nowhere (literally -- it was something I hadn't even applied for), and it has since taken over my life a bit. All that free writing and freelance time I had disappeared, so I've got my butt in the chair most nights after work and on weekends.

And now that I'm two months into my new job, I did what any good new employee would do and went on vacation. Well, not really. The Scientist and I planned on driving a car from California back to NYC for months now, and we're currently on the road. So far we've breezed through Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. We did a cross-country road trip back in 2008, and kept up our tradition of taking photos at each state sign.

I'll be pretty busy up until the elections. Wait... who am I kidding? I'll be pretty busy up until forever. But hopefully I'll be back up and blogging after we get our car back to Harlem. I've been stacking up my MMGM reads, and even went to a book blogging conference that got ideas whirling in my noggin.

See you back in NYC! And yes -- since we've been on the road, I really don't know what day it is... Let me go check now.

Back to School

Ten years is such a long time, yet I can still remember scrambling to get in my last Chaucer paper, scribbling pencil into those little blue final books till my hands ached, and the feeling of elation when it was all finally over.

At Smith, where I spent my college years, there's this fantastic tradition during the reading period before finals. Just around that point in studying when you feel like your head is about to fall off, each student abandons her books and computers, goes out into the quiet Northampton night, and screams her head off. The feeling of catharsis is unbelievable - something I wished to repeat after my last finals as a senior.

This weekend I'm going back to school for my ten-year reunion. I can't wait to see old friends, visit old haunts, remember all the quirky rituals, smell all those musky books in the library. There's a terrific literary tradition at Smith - with alumnae like Madeleine L'Engle, Sylvia Plath, Ann M Martin (of Baby Sitter's Club fame), and Jane Yolen. Knowing this as a student always inspired me to write. And now that I'm on the brink of submitting my first completed manuscript, the timing of going back feels oddly perfect.

Do you have a reunion or graduation to attend this year? Along with my own milestone, I have a niece graduating high school next month -which means she's quickly leaving her YA years behind! Unfortunate for me, since she is one of my informants for contemporary high school information!

This Is Me Right Now

No, seriously - here I am:

Which is why I went on an unexpected blogging break :)

Aside from being buried in books, writing, and freelance work, in the last two weeks I took a trip to visit our neighbors to the north. In Toronto, I gobbled up lots of confections of the strawberry-rhubarb sort at a favorite writing spot, Wanda's Pie in the Sky.

And then I took another trip south of the border to meet up with a pal in Tulum.

Luckily, my pending 100th blog post did not escape my attention amidst all this craziness. 100 posts! Hopefully I'm making up for the lameness of this entry with photos of pie and tropical locations. And since I'm on my way to blogging 100 times without getting into any trouble, I'm drumming up some kind of giveaway. Stay tuned!

Shhh... I'm Writing

Over the weekend, I had the chance to spend three yummy nights here:

With these  three  ladies. I somehow managed to bring my quiet productivity back from the cabin to bumping Harlem. Now that I'm on the verge of finishing up another draft, I am going to sneak away from the Internet again, and keep tapping away on my keyboard. Will be back soon!

Off to the Woods!

After work I'm going on my very first writer retreat just a couple hours away in the Poconos. There will be a cabin. There will be tea. There will be walks in the woods. And there will be four writers ready to put hours and hours into their manuscripts. I believe it will get goofy.

I plan on writing (something new) and revising (something old). Or, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that:

Let the muses loose, and see you on the other side.

Where She Went

Hello! I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus for several reasons, all that popped up in the span of a week.

First:

 

After six years, two promotions, and a zillion emails, I packed up my desk at my job. This was not an easy task - I pretty much needed a suitcase to clear out just my tea. Leaving was bittersweet, but there are many exciting things to come, including more time to write and work on my own projects. 

Second:

 

I took a small hiatus to Boston and New Hampshire to visit family and friends. That's my new teensy elf niece*, who is just over one month old.      
*Objects in photo are larger than they appear.

And Third:

I started up at my new fantastic job! We had a day-long shoot on my first day that ended with a Jersey 'poof.' Check out the video behind this photo here.


The dust has somewhat settled because I've been preparing for this transition for awhile. Hopefully I'll be a little more blogtastic in the coming days. What's been up with you all?

Gladiators and Tributes

What does it say about a person if one of her travel dream destinations is a place where people gathered to watch public executions in the form of charades, wild animals ripping each other apart, and fights to the death for entertainment? 

Don't get me wrong - I can barely sit through an episode of The Jersey Shore without feeling icky. Schadenfreude isn't really my thing. But the Colosseum has been an item of mystique for me since I was a youngin'. The size, the structure, the history… the way you can be walking down the street in a major modern city, and then boom, it's there.

Cleopatra: A Life, got me amped up to see some of Rome's ancient sites, especially the Forum. It also prepared me for the brutality of its stories. Whatever happened in the Colosseum was yawn-worthy compared to the carnage in the pharaoh's Ptolemaic family history. By the time I passed the gates into the great arena, I was rather freshened up on how sadistic we humans can be.

 

One thing I learned on the audio tour was how theatrical the events were. Many of the fights were staged as famous battles, and the arena was even flooded for mock sea combat. During the inaugural games, 9,000 exotic animals from around the kingdom - bears, ostriches, elephants, lions - were slaughtered. And one time, after a whale beached on a coastal town near Rome and became a national point of intrigue, organizers of the games constructed an enormous fake whale with a mechanical mouth. When the mouth opened, 50 ferocious bears poured out of it. Timely and fun!

Love those Roman bookshops!

Of course the extravagance mixed with bloodlust made me think about The Hunger Games - not surprising since Suzanne Collins cites ancient Rome's favorite pastime as a significant influence to the trilogy. From the stands where spectators sat to watch gladiators bludgeon each other for days, it wasn’t difficult to imagine that the people of Panem would tune in to see teens do the same. Unless they got mauled by a cheetah first.

On my last day in Rome, The Scientist and I happened to walk by the Colosseum again during sunset, when the light hits it in such a soft, magical way. I did a little digging, and found a fantastic Smithsonian article that makes my audio tour feel like a rip-off. Read it! All four pages, plus the photo gallery. If you liked The Hunger Games, it's pretty amazing/ insane stuff.

Italy by the Numbers

I'm back! And still glowing from a wonderful trip to Italia!!  Or is that just relief from not trudging around with a suitcase any longer?

Some sums from my vacation:

days in italy: 16
flavors of gelato tasted: 25
most miles walked in a single day: 12
major cities visited: 8
books read: 1 (hey, it was DENSE non-fiction!)
pictures taken: 500
miles driven: 495 (or 825 kilometers)
hotels: 4 (one was a farm that had 55 beehives and 7,000 olive trees)
train rides: 16
meals cooked: 3
trips to laundromat: 1
deceased writers' homes visited: 2
number of Galileo's fingers seen: 2 (plus one tooth)
visits to Pizzeria Da Michele in Naples: 2

Will post some highlights and writer-ly things of interest once I recover from jetlag, unpack, and sort through those 800+ work emails waiting for me ;)

Hey Venice, Where Are My Pants?

Because you seem to have charmed them right off of me...

Ciao from Italia!  I am smack in the middle of an amazing Italy trip. It's been fun and inspiring, as well as relaxing - the perfect kind of break for a hectic year. Internet has been scarce (hooray!), but I have some Wifi and will start dripping the posts I meant to plan out before I took off for Europe.

There seems to be two general views on Venice from travelers – heart-palpitating love and sour loathing. Before my trip to Italia, I heard passionate tales from both camps. I’m officially on team love. It took about 5 minutes of rolling my wheely suitcase to my hotel down the twisty streets to decide.

Sure, it’s pricy, and tourists are everywhere, and people are dying to rip you off, but that’s nothing new to a New Yorker. I'm enchanted by the windows. The windows! And the door knockers. And sitting by canals with gelato. And the sweet bridges. Even better, it's more magical at night.

And even better, better - it's the Biennale! Art and gelato posts coming up once I get back to the States.

See, I Helped

My boyfriend (also known as The Scientist, or The Sci), just shared a Google Doc to-do list with me. We are taking a pretty lengthy trip to Italy in two weeks (!!!), and he's making like a Boy Scout and being all prepared. See if you can find where I started adding to the list...

Things to do before Italy
Copy and scan passports
Call CC companies
Find Italy adapter
Take Euros from my desk
Make itineraries for all cities
Put CSA on hold
Put mail delivery on hold
Write vacation note on Gmail
Train a squirrel to do cartwheels
Paint the couch yellow
Eat 500 jelly beans
Have a pillow fight
Floss our books

He's a sport, so I predict he won't revoke my editing privileges. Off to find some jelly beans!

Cupcakes and Art on the Road: Tim Burton at LACMA

I was in San Diego over the weekend, so a trip to the MET wasn't in the stars. Instead I took a lovely Surfliner ride up the coast to see my bestie Jessica in LA before she took off for two months in Johannesburg. The majority of our four hours together was spent in traffic, but we did make it to the spectacular Tim Burton exhibit at Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Here's Jess, striking a pose outside the exhibition:

 They had unique movie props on display, like this topiary from Edward Scissorhands.

As well as almost 200 of Burton's private sketches, movie notes, and letters. I was really drawn to this character, who showed up a lot:

I've always appreciated the creativity, wit, and playful darkness in Tim Burton's oeuvre, but never with this much detail. Sure, I've seem Batman and Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas, but taking them in all together really connects the dots and showcases the color and vibe of his work.
--
There's quite a row of food trucks outside LACMA, but most were of the savory sort, and didn't sell cupcakes for a post-museum sweet. Maybe I'll grab two this Sunday when I return to Cake and Shake and my normal MET excursions :)