happy fourth of july week
I thought this was a perfect picture for this week–a picture just rife with patrioticness (is that a word?). Back in April, the ladies of the SLTA book group invited me to come talk with them about writing and Freshman for President. They had decorated everything in red, white, and blue to match the book’s theme. I was so happy. Can you tell? Look at the grin on my face in this picture. I’d be embarrassed about how badly I’m cheesing it, but I really was that happy. They were so funny and I had such a good time. Thanks to Jenni from the group for sending me the photo!
I’ll announce the Fourth of July Contest winners on facebook on the 4th. (For details on how to enter, see the post below this one.) I hope everyone has a fantastic Fourth of July. I am extremely grateful to live in this beautiful country and to raise my children here.
June 30, 2009
It has come to my attention…
…that posting the link to the contest over on facebook might help. Click here.
June 25, 2009
today…
…I went for a morning run and Timp (the mountain near my house) was beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.
…I keep reading and re-reading an e-mail with good news from my publisher.
…my baby has croup and needed a steroid injection at the doctor’s office. Poor little fellow. He’s a sweetie all the time, but he’s also very sweet when he’s sick and is extra cuddly. How I love this little bug.
…is sunny and warm. Popsicle weather. It’s been rainy and cold weather, chocolate-chip-cookie-weather, for the past week or so. It was cozy and nice–and made my husband homesick for Seattle–but it’s fun to have the sun out now. Time for the sprinklers!
Hope everyone’s summers are going wonderfully!
June 23, 2009
don’t forget! and four books
Don’t forget the contest going on over on my facebook author page. All you have to do is comment or say that you like the post and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Freshman. I’m giving away four of them on the fourth of July.
And since I’m apparently in the mood for four, here are four books I’ve been dazzled by lately:
1. My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison
Sometimes, it is so nice to read a book that is just plain fun. That’s not to say that this is book is just fluff–there’s plenty to think about and the characters are real and interesting. The premise–a girl from our time gets stuck in the Middle Ages, thanks to a fairy godmother who makes plenty of mistakes–is clever, interesting, and downright hilarious at times. The perfect summer read.
2. Be Glad Your Nose Is on Your Face And Other Poems by Jack Prelutsky (illustrated by Brandon Dorman). Perfection. Hilarious and clever poems, gorgeous and child-friendly illustrations. My kids can’t get enough.
3. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams. This book grabbed me by the throat and would not let me go. Seriously. It was that scary and well-paced.
4. Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. Okay, so I haven’t finished reading this one yet. But I love it so far!
With the exception of the second book, all of these authors presented and taught at the BYU Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Conference last week, which I had the privilege to attend. I was blown away by the talent of Rallison, Williams, Leavitt, and others, and I was also impressed by the wonderful fellow writers I was able to meet and workshop with in the morning sessions. It was a great experience and I’m already looking forward to next year!
June 16, 2009
will and inspiration
I’m attending a writing conference this week and: wow. I have been learning a lot. One of the wonderful comments that I keep turning over and over in my mind was something that Louise Plummer said:
Finding time to write is an act of will. You spend most of your time responding to external pressures instead of your own internal vision.
I loved this. With small children and a lot to do, time to write does not just happen. I have to make it happen. And I’m definitely not the only one who has this challenge–finding time to respond to internal vision, whether it be in writing or in something else. We live in a busy world. So much of our time is spent responding to phones, e-mails, facebook, text messages, television, etc., etc., etc. We have to carve out our time and, as Louise Plummer said, turn off the phone for a while. Be faithful to your own internal vision. Let it have a chance to be heard.
That’s when the inspiration often comes.
June 9, 2009
facebook and guest blog
Two fun things this week…
I had the chance to write a guest post for the Segullah Blog. I adore this blog and was so excited to have a chance to contribute. I meant to write something very cerebral and spiritual, and somehow I ended up writing about my husband and my marriage and also the Backstreet Boys. Not quite sure how that happened…anyway, you can find the post here.
And, I’m giving away four copies of Freshman for President in honor of the 4th of July over on Facebook. So come on over and find my author page, become a fan, and enter the contest. The contest closes on July 4th and I’ll mail the copies out ASAP.
And, while I’m typing, I’ve just finished two very different and very good books. The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams is absolutely impossible to put down. I also just finished So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger and it was wonderful. I love that Enger can write intelligent, realistic, hilarious, heartbreaking prose that is also gorgeously clean. He can show light and dark and good and evil without resorting to cheap tricks, gore, and gratuitiousness (is that a word) to do it. Plus his writing is just achingly beautiful. Loved it.
Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and reading lots of wonderful books!
June 5, 2009
just to shake things up…
…I’m going to post on Friday this week instead of Tuesday. I know. My world is rocked too! 
June 2, 2009
ten books
Sometimes, for fun, I like to make lists. (I know. I’m kind of weird.) One of my favorite lists, and one that I’m constantly revisiting and changing, is my Top Ten Books of All Time List. That’s the list of the top ten books that have affected me most in my life. Currently, the list is as follows:
1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
2. Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler
3. Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
4. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
5. These is My Words by Nancy Turner
6. anything by Agatha Christie
7. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
8. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
9. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
10. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
And just for fun, here are the top ten young adult books I’ve loved over the past few years:
1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Wintergirls is also fantastic)
2. The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd (I am a sucker for British mysteries, and this is a great YA one)
3. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (love her!)
4. Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull (just plain fun)
5. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer (could not get this book off my mind after I finished it)
6. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing by M.T. Anderson (this book just blew me away)
7. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson (made me think, but also was a great story)
8. The Willoughbysby Lois Lowry (this satirical “orphan” book only takes a couple of hours to read but had me laughing out loud)
9. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (a perfect summer book for girls)
10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (could not put it down)
I really should have made that a top hundred list. There is so much good YA lit out there right now. I am in the middle of My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison and it is a lot of fun.
What are some of your favorite books? And, are there any teenagers out there who would like to do a guest post of their Top Ten Young Adult Books? E-mail me if so. I would love love love to post your list! Thanks to those who responded to the last post. It was so fun to read your replies.
May 26, 2009
dream jobs
There are four jobs that are my dream jobs: mother, teacher, writer, and bookstore employee.
I’m lucky, because I’ve had all of them. I worked in three bookstores when I was going through college, I taught high school for three years, and now I hang out with three little boys and write books during naptime and after they’ve gone to bed. I’m not a high school teacher or a bookseller right now, but I keep my teaching license current; I’m pretty sure I could still run a cash register and make book recommendations. I’ve always dreamed about going back to teaching someday when my kids are grown.
However, those are jobs that are part of my past and my future (and, of course, still part of my present, because they have made me who I am and because I still keep in touch with students and others from those times in my life). But, predominantly, the jobs of my present, my right-this-minute, are mother and, to a much lesser extent, writer.
Sometimes no one naps. Sometimes I don’t get much writing in–just a half an hour here or there, or maybe nothing at all. Sometimes, I listen to the full-time writers and I feel a twinge of something. Not exactly jealousy. Maybe just an I-want-that-too feeling. It would be great to have a couple of hours a day to write.
But that vanishes pretty quickly. Because the stories being told that are the most important right now are the stories that my three little boys are telling me, and that they are living. The stories of my boys. There will be time to write later. There will never be another time to have these little guys grow up. It’s hard sometimes, and I’m far from perfect at it, but it truly is my dream job. The best one of all.
What are your dream jobs? E-mail me and tell me. I’d love to know. And, someday, I swear we are going to get comments on here. If anyone is out there reading this, that is…;)
May 19, 2009
something about spring
I’ve always lived in places where there are all four seasons–both Utah and New York definitely have winter, summer, spring and fall. When I lived in NY, fall was my favorite season there. I still have this certain ache in my heart when fall rolls around and I’m not taking my kids to the Iron Kettle Pumpkin Patch or walking through the forest paths in Palmyra or Ithaca.
Now that I live in Utah Valley, I’ve decided that my favorite season here is spring. Spring in NY is gorgeous, too, don’t get me wrong–but there is something about pink flowers and green trees and blue and white mountains that speaks to my soul the way fall did in Ithaca. I feel alive and hopeful and I can’t get enough of the beauty around me.
Plus, wouldn’t you agree that there is just something about spring?