We took the boys to the movie theater the other day to see Disney’s Cars and they had a preview of an upcoming childrens’ movie about a boy, a dare, and fried worms. Even before the preview finished and the title was ‘announced’ I knew it was a movie based on the book:

I loved this book and it got me thinking about other books I’d read as a child that really stuck with me. So, I looked some of them up. This is the first one that popped in my mind:

 Blurb: Considered a modern-day children’s classic, Juster’s ingenious fantasy centers around a bored ten-year-old boy named Milo who travels to “The Lands Beyond” when he drives his miniature car through a mysterious tollbooth.

And then this one:

 Blurb: Everyone in town thinks Meg Murry is volatile and dull-witted, and that her younger brother, Charles Wallace, is dumb. People are also saying that their physicist father has run off and left their brilliant scientist mother. Spurred on by these rumors and an unearthly stranger, the tesseract-touting Mrs Whatsit, Meg and Charles Wallace and their new friend Calvin O’Keefe embark on a perilous quest through space to find their father. In doing so, they must travel behind the shadow of an evil power that is darkening the cosmos, one planet at a time.

And this story always stuck with me even though I’d forgotten the title and only recently “stumbled” upon it. Maybe it’s the writing element of the story, but I loved it as a young girl:

 Blurb: The Secret Everybody in Jessica’s English class makes fun of Daphne. She never says a word to anyone — just walks around with her nose in a book, with her long straggly hair hanging over her face. Now the worst thing has happened. The teacher has assigned Jessica to be partners with Daphne in the Write-A-Book contest! But being forced to work with the class “weirdo”, Jessica gets an even bigger surprise. Not only does Daphne talk to her, but she tells Jessica a terrible secret…one that Jessica knows could be very dangerous to keep.

And of course, there’s Little Women and the entire Anne of Green Gables series. Let’s face it, I was a bookworm, so I’ve read–and loved–many books. Which ones are your childhood/young adult favorites?

Yes, again. I know. But I can’t help it.

I’ve been unable to concentrate on my writing for weeks. I’m trying. Really. But it’s just not working. And I want–need–to finish the book. I need the accomplishment of getting it done and knowing that I’ve given it my all and produced the best story that I can. Even if, in the end, it gets rejected by every publisher out there.

My boys will be starting school again in two weeks. On the one hand, it’s a good thing because I’m  hoping to be able to concentrate better….but on the other hand, I’m feeling the same gut twisting anxiety and loss that I feel every year when school starts up again. Will my youngest be able to handle kindergarten after two horrendously difficult years in preschool? Will my sensitive oldest be happy with a new teacher and new classmates after last year’s fabulous teacher/class? And I know that even though they drove me crazy most of the summer, I’m going to really miss having them around.

This summer has been really tough for us. I’m so tired of living with the “one teeny step forward, two giant steps back” life. I want it to be better.

My oldest had a birthday yesterday. He turned seven! Wow, how time flies. It’s hard to believe that pretty soon he will be starting second grade, and becoming even more independent than he already is. Although that shouldn’t surprise me considering that he came up with a list of birthday rules:

1. Everyone MUST be happy.
2. No gamecube or gameboy during his party (not like I was going to play it, LOL, but, whatever …)
3. Presents, Games, then cake, in that order.
4. No one shall eat cake before he gets a bite. In fact, he will take the first bite, then his brother, then his mom and lastly his dad.
5. Let’s Party!

Artistically challenged as I am, I managed to make a cake, with my husband’s help. He drew on the chocolate frosting with a toothpick and then I spent two hours with a paintbrush painting frosting on the cake. It will never win any awards, but when I brought it out my son knew exactly what (who) it was, so I guess I did something right. :)

My son (youngest) has a thing. I call it a thing because I really don’t know what to call it. It starts with this: he does not like McDonald’s food. He loves to go to the playland, but refuses to eat, because according to him Burger King is the only place to eat chicken tenders and fries (and hamburgers are simply out of the question).

So, now, here’s where the thing comes in. My husband and I have affectionately dubbed it ‘The Hot Factor’. He will put his french fries on a napkin along with those little cups of ketchup. Then, he picks up a french fry, palms it in his hand and wraps his fingers around it (almost like he is squeezing it). The purpose of this is to check how hot it is. If it is not scalding to the perfect degree, he will put it down and never touch it again. Each fry goes through this careful inspection before it gets put in his mouth.

Strange. Weird. Silly. But it got me thinking….when it comes to books, how do you test their ‘hot factor’. And I don’t mean in terms of sexy. I mean in terms of absolutely, positively, captivating, must devour read. Do you stick to the tried and true authors that you love? Or, if you like to give new authors a shot, what draws you in, and what keeps you going back for more?

Oh! And, is there anything you do in your writing to ensure that your books will be someone’s ideal definition of ‘hot factor’?

This week Diana Peterfreund is giving a fabulous workshop over at Romance Divas about pitching your book to agents and editors. Go check it out!

Unfortunately, I won’t be attending nationals this year, but this is information that I KNOW I’ll need at some point, so I’m finding Diana’s information extremely vital (as well as valuable).

I finished my tough, tension filled chapter edits and am now ready to move on to another tension filled chapter. Yes, this book is going to kill me by the time I type ‘THE END’. I’m just hoping when it’s all said and done, I’ll be able to “knock one out of the park” and sell this baby!

Hope everyone had an awesome Independence Day!

We went to the local parade in the morning. My husband and I did a lot of eye rolling as we watched. Watching a small town parade can be like watching the twilight zone. But, the thing that irritated me the most? The marching band wasn’t freaking marching! The entire band was seated on a trailer that was pulled by a truck. What? A trailer? Come on, people, it’s a parade. You. Are. Supposed. To. Be. Marching.

Yes, you are all probably thinking “oookay, why is this bothering her?”. LOL. I just think that a marching (note the emphasis on marching) band is a huge, integral part of a parade experience, and since the rest of the parade was fairly lame, I looked forward to seeing the damn band march! And I was denied, dagnabit!

Later that night, we went to the highschool to see fireworks, but before the fireworks had started the local radio station was doing karioke. Never, never, never, have I experienced anything so, so…hideous and cringeworthy as this. And to compound matters they were brodcasting it on the radio. It was like we couldn’t escape. We finally had to go to the other end of the field (where the school playground was) to get away from it all.

But, once the fireworks started it was fun. My boys kept trying to predict which firework would go the highest. And then when they would pop and sizzle, they would shout, “Wow! That’s explostastic!” They were really in to it, so that was cute.

Nose to the grindstone tomorrow to finish working on a really tough chapter of my WIP. It’s a really important scene and I’m having a hard time getting the mood right.