Poetry Friday - Mack and Cheese

So this week I made a discovery! There's a whole community of poets that blog about poetry on Fridays. And they call it...wait for it....Poetry Friday!

Seriously though, I have been searching high and low for some type of writing community. And I am so excited to start participating. Each week, a different blogger hosts a "round up" on their blog where you can go and easily access everyone's poetry contributions. This week it is over on Tabatha Yeatt's blog. Be sure to check it out.

This week had an optional theme of  mac-n-cheese since Friday is International Macaroni and Cheese Day. Who knew? Here is what I came up with:

Again, make sure to check out this week's round up here.

July Book Giveaway: Ninefox Gambit

**Update: Congratulations to Em S. for winning this month's book! Thank you to everyone who entered. Keep an eye on the blog in the coming weeks for August's book giveaway.**


It's July and it's time for my first book giveaway! As I explained in a previous post, I want to help bring new readers to some of my favorite authors. Hopefully this giveaway will do that.  The inaugural book in my book-giving giveaway is the sci-fi novel, Ninefox Gambit, by Yoon Ha Lee.


The plot: Heretics have taken over the Fortress of Scattered Needles and have begun to alter reality. They're creating crazy weapons never before seen and rendering normal weapons useless. A soldier named Cheris is chosen, in part because of her mathematical abilities, to help retake the fortress. She teams up with a brilliant general, Jedao, who has never lost a battle. The only catch? Jedao's been dead for centuries.

Oh my goodness, this book was fantastic. One of the things that makes it so unique and mind bendingly fun is how Lee plays with mathematics and belief systems. Don't worry--you don't need to 'get' math or even enjoy it to enjoy reading this book. One of the main characters, doesn't really get math--he has dyscalculia.

Anyways, the whole of society in the book works because of a rigid adherence to a belief system. And this system revolves around a calendar--a numerical system that can be used to manipulate reality. But it only works when the masses believe it will.

Your brain hurting at all? Mine did for the first 3-4 chapters. One catch with this book is that there is a fairly steep learning curve at the beginning. Lee doesn't hand the reader everything from the get go, which I found frustrating and refreshing at the same time. Lee throws words around as if the reader should already know what they are, but I promise, if you stick with the book, everything comes to light.

Pros:

• Excellent sci-fi with an original plot
• strong female main character
• there's a ghost in the story
• likable characters that make you feel something
• space weapons like you've never seen before

Cons:

• Steep learning curve (have to push through the first few chapters)
• I wished there was more description of what the main two characters looked like

Star Rating:

The second volume in the series, Raven Stratagem, just came out last month. I will be picking it up as soon as I'm through my current pile of books.

And now for the giveaway! If this seems like a book that you would be interested in reading, please enter the contest below. The contest will run until midnight Saturday, July 15th (eastern time). The lucky winner will be announced Saturday afternoon. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Supporting Authors

I love to read. Always have and hopefully always will. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to buy very many books (thank goodness for libraries). But this leaves me wondering: how I can support my favorite authors? I want them to be successful, so they can continue to feed my habit. 

I ran across this article a few weeks ago, and it got me thinking. I'm already doing quite a few of the things in the list to support my favorite authors, but I want to do a bit more. So, I've decided to do a regular book giveaway.

I want the giveaways to be fun and to happen fairly regularly (funds permitting). Hopefully, my reviews will steer a few more readers towards some pretty great books. Keep an eye out for upcoming giveaways!

Why I'm Glad I Attended the SCBWI Mid-Year Workshop

So the SCBWI 46th Annual Summer Conference kicks off this weekend and I thought it would be a great time to recap the regional conference John and I went to last month.

Let’s just say that we had such a blast in Orlando that we’ve now set a goal to attend the big conference in LA next summer.

For those who don’t know, SCBWI is the largest children’s writing organization in the world. Basically, it is a nonprofit that facilitates networking for people (writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, booksellers etc) involved in creating children’s literature. In my opinion, it is an amazing organization.

Anyways, back to the Florida Mid-Year Workshop. John and I decided to attend the humor track for the day, which means we got to spend the whole day with author Bruce Hale and editor Francesco Sedita. It was great.

I took a bunch of notes, which I considered taking a picture of and sharing here, but let’s be honest. I can barely read my chicken scratch. There’s no way they’d be readable in a photo. So I’ll just touch on a few highlights.

One of the first things we talked about was “why am I funny?” The best answer I came up with is that I’ve dealt with some fairly rough stuff early on in my life. (Haven’t we all?) I could have chosen to be angry, to cry, or to laugh. Now I’ve done my fair share of all three. But, overall, I feel like I chose laughing and trying to make others laugh. I don’t think it was a conscience decision, but there you have it. I think a lot of my humor comes from trying to make dark times lighter.

We talked about writing comedy from the set up—not the punch line. We’ve all screwed up a joke by giving away the punch line too early or in some other similar fashion. Most jokes fall flat because the set up—how they are delivered—isn’t done properly. Something to remember.

The cool thing about the workshop was that it wasn’t really about delivering one line zingers and whatnot. But how to make your writing humorous as a whole. How to interject a bit of humor during a dark moment for your main character. How to release tension through humor. It really was great.

While I learned a ton during workshop, some of the best value came while talking face-to-face with some of the professionals. John and I had an few minutes afterwords to talk one on one with Bruce and Francesco. The encouragement, suggestions, and feedback that we received were invaluable. Like I said in a previous post, John and I are collaborating again, and Francesco is interested in reading my manuscript for my Madam Fang picture book.

Its always fun to leave somewhere feeling invigorated, inspired and motivated.  What’s even better, (warning: mushy gushy stuff incoming) is sharing that experience with your best friend and amazing husband. I can’t wait to see where it leads us.

Exciting Times + July Goals

OK. So I’m actually really excited about a few things.

1. John and I are collaborating again
2. An editor is interested in seeing the completed manuscript for one of my picture books
3. I got 3 more rejections (totaling 8 for the year)
4. I’ve decided to do a semi-regular book giveaway (starting this month)

1. A few weeks ago, John and I attended an SCBWI workshop. It was great to get out together for the day sans children. Thank you in-laws! I will be writing a separate post specifically about the conference, but we learned a lot and were inspired. It’s been awhile since John and I have tried to work together on a project, but we received some positive feedback, and so we’re going to give it another go. Hooray!

2. At the conference, attendees had the option of having the 1st page of their manuscripts anonymously critiqued in front of the group. While there were a few things mentioned that could make my manuscript stronger, overall the feedback was good.

Afterwords, John and I were speaking with an editor and John mentioned that my manuscript was the dinosaur one. The editor said he thought it was great and to go ahead and send it his way. Now, I honestly do not think anything will come of it—the editor is mostly looking for chapter books, not picture books--but it was flattering all the same.

3. I got 3 more for the rejection pile. While it is always a tiny bit disappointing, I also take a lot of encouragement from them. I now have 8 rejections under my belt this year. That’s over 1 a month! And you know what that means? It means I am writing and I am submitting my work. I can’t control when something will be accepted, but by writing, submitting, and receiving feedback, I will get better.

4. I am a devout library patron. I love books, but I do not buy many books for two main reasons. 1. I read so much that I would be broke if I bought every book I read. 2. I rarely reread books so they would just line my walls. But I would love to show more support for the authors and books I enjoy. So, I have decided that I would like to do a regular book giveaway. I’ll pick a book that I have recently enjoyed, and then I’ll send it off to whoever wins the giveaway. Look for more details in the coming days. The inaugural book is a great one. I can’t wait to share it.

June Goals Review:

• Go to writing conference
• Get draft of picture book done before conference
• Have final draft done by end of month (nope)
• Write 3 poems for an instagram poetry competition (not even close)
• Get caught up on my reading goal (still happy-I read 6 books, taking the deficit from 4 to 2)

July Goals:

• Finish final draft of Madam Fang and submit it
• Write 2 instagram poems
• Write book review
• Run book giveaway
• Daydream more about potential story ideas
• Finish 5 books

Reset Refresh Rebound

2 months without a post. What have I been up to, you may ask?

Read 5 books. All were good. Really enjoyed What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by  Randall Munroe. It is basically the book version of Randall’s blog and is hilariously informative. I also enjoyed reading with my daughter Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa. I picked up Bird Box by Josh Malerman because I was nominated for a Bram Stoker award. It was entertaining and a bit creepy. I am actually excited that this one is being made into a movie because the book is very streamlined and adaptable, in my opinion.

I also went and saw Alien: Covenant. I know a lot of people are not happy with the direction that Ridley Scott has taken the prequels, but I am loving them. Watched Boss Baby with the family too. Enjoyable and funny.

Writing over the past few months has been hit or miss. I’ve submitted 4 pieces to various magazines over the past few weeks. And I have a writing conference coming up that I am excited about. I failed abysmally at my poem a day goal back in April and I don’t have any final book drafts completed. But at least I’ve been working.

Here are my June goals:

• Go to writing conference
• Get draft of picture book done before conference
• Have final draft done by end of month
• Write 3 poems for an instagram poetry competition
• Get caught up on my reading goal

April is National Poetry Month

Today starts National Poetry Month! To celebrate (and to keep the flame burning from Madness! Poetry) I am going to be writing a poem a day. Some will be short, and some will be long. Most will probably be bad. Maybe I'll have one or two that are publishable.

I won't be posting every poem on here, but I will try to put one or two up a week. Here is today's:

A Love Poem in April

Your eyes are like giant pools
Of brown sludge.

Your hair would make ghouls
Hold a grudge.

Your teeth look like small jewels
In a pig’s bed.

Your hands dainty molecules
Of heavy lead.

It seems a bit cruel.
Have you guessed?

Today is April Fools,
I just jest.