Hey! I know, I haven't been around. But honestly, I can't take the LJ DDoS attacks and spam anymore. So I've moved my blog. You can find the new one here : http://christinenorris.wordpress.com 

I would mirror it over here, but I can't figure out how to import from there to here. I am keeping this account to comment on other's blogs and to read. But if you follow me on Twitter or are a Facebook friend / follow my fan page, the new blog will be linked to both.

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I know, terrible. I am completely out of control with the lack of blogging. Every minute of every day the last few weeks has been sucked up by work, grad school, and/or football. I love being busy, but it's also meant I'm a little stressed out and there has been no writing time. I have gotten a couple of pages of rewriting done for the new edition of TALISMAN OF ZANDRIA,but that's about it. 

*I cannot wait for this semester to be over.  A ton of work and reading for 12 weeks. If I were still only subbing it would probably not be a problem. But she's killing me, this professor.

*I cannot wait for football to be over.

Well, that's not really true. My son is having an awesome time this year, after a bumpy start, and I'm happy to see him happy. He was getting a little stressed too, being at practice four nights a week, and once school started he was just worn out. But we've had some days off, he's adjusted to the schedule, and we're all happy again. But I have been skipping practices to get schoolwork done. Gotta do what I gotta do. The break from writing is nice on one hand, but on the other now I'm itching to work on something. I will miss football when it's over. And we move into basketball. Sigh.

*I cannot wait for the NJEA convention break.  I will catch up on a lot during that four-day weekend.

*Work is good - there's this weird thing going on that I'm not talking about. But it doesn't involve my actual job, which I love and look forward to every day.

*I got my bio questionnaire from my AGENT.  Squee!

* I am looking for some Steampunk stuff to wear for Philcon. Steampunk Emporium seems to have everything I need (I'm actually considering just wearing a pair of brown pants I already have in my closet), except a vest big enough to fit my, um, ample, chest. The measurements are all just a TAD too small. Still thinking, but I need to decide fast because I need to order ASAP. If you have any suggestion, I would be glad for them. 

Have a great day!

I know, been weeks since I posted. Sorry. Busy. 

Be back soon. Promise.

I can now let you all in on the Big Secret. Well, unofficially anyway. I've been keeping it to myself for nearly a week, and it's been hard! But I wanted until I had the paperwork in my hands. 

Let me 'splain. No, it is too long. Let me sum up. (sorry, I'm a little giddy and I can't help myself.)

I believe I've already stated that I started writing ten years ago. Ten years this month. Of the seven novels I've completed, I've sent three of those to look for agents. My first book went nowhere with agents, and probably rightly so. I mean, kids love it and it's all right, but I can see how it wasn't ready for prime time. The rewrites for the new edition are coming along fabulously. Anyway, then it was the first of the Library of Athena series, which got a better response but no takers. Hey, it went to Samhain and I'm still getting royalty checks. Didn't seem right to send the rest of the series to look for an agent when the first was already published somewhere. 

And so we come to my Steampunk Fairy Tale, SMOKE & MIRRORS. This was the one, I said. My best effort. I sent it out, oh, a year or so ago, and it's been doing the rounds ever since. Two years, and two nearly complete rewrites later, and here we are. 

And now, I'd like to introduce you to someone. Meet Terrie Wolf, of AKA Literary. She's an agent. 

As of today, she's MY agent. 

Yep. Took a decade, and seven books, and two rewrites of the one that finally landed her, but I have an agent. Terrie is AWESOME. We talked over an hour and a half last week, and we seem to be a perfect fit. I am completely confident in her ability to take SMOKE & MIRRORS to a great publisher and get us a great deal.

Here's an interview she did at Middle Grade Ninja just yesterday. Isn't she adorable??

While I am still a little in shock, and it doesn't seem real yet, I am really really really happy. 

I HAVE AN AGENT!!!!!

Big fat secret. Can't tell you. Next week. 

Stay tuned.

Yes, of course, since 9/11. Yes, I remember where I was and what I was doing. I remember my husband was at work and my dad was at work in a government building and they had NO IDEA what was going on until I called him on his cell. They were all in a meeting and no one had told them. I was calling to find out if they had closed his building and he had NO IDEA why. I was talking to him when the plane hit the Pentagon. No one had told them, these government employees. I just remember thinking how weird that was. I was on the phone with him again when they finally sent them all home, he was on the road and I was talking to him when the first tower fell. 

Some say that if you weren't in NYC or Washington D.C., you should't feel a certain way about today. Maybe that's true, maybe not. Now, besides gut-wrenching helplessness, we here in my area were afraid all day. NYC is about 95 miles North of me, Washington D.C is about 105  miles south. Philadelphia is 15 miles west and there was a lot of fear that an attack was also planned on Philly, because it was the founding city of the U.S.A. Apparently either the terrrorists don't know American history or just didn't think it was worth it, or maybe the plane that went down in Shenksville was headed our way (I don't know that's true at all) but we had real fear and there was this claustophobic feeling of being squeezed from both sides.  And I feel perfectly justified in feeling that way. 

But it's been 10 years and some say we're still feeling the aftershocks of that day. But it's been ten years since I worked at a High School as an athletic trainer. 10 years since I started writing, just a few weeks after this day. 10 years that has given me quite a lot. A pretty good 10 years.

While today is sad, I'm looking forward to the next 10 years. Today I won't attend any memorials or spend all day watching TV coverage, because I have so much work to get done. But I think that's kind of a way to honor this day--by going on and doing what I need to do despite the best efforts of some radical group to stop our country from doing what we do. 

Life goes on.

Am I the worst blogger in the world or what? I'm going to try and be better, but don't hold your breath. My birthday came and went, I survived turning 40. NYC was awesome and we had a fabulous time. Hubby and I will be going back next February for a day, since my sister gave me tickets to the NYC Ballet for my birthday. Squee! I am happy, hubby is incredulous about going to the ballet. He'll just have to suck it up.

It's the last day of August, the official last day of my summer vacation. Tomorrow is my first day of work/school for the new year, even though I spent two half-days up at the school this week, getting things in order. They're still NOT in order, but at least it looks sort of like it knows what it's doing. My office computer is up and running properly (thank you, tech department!) and I've been playing with the cataloging software. I entered a book and tried to print up sample spine labels, but for some reason they didn't print. I'll have to work on that, because I am NOT going back to cards and pockets if I can avoid it. The last big thing I need to do is put up the main bulletin board. I have everything out and ready to go, just need to get it done. 

Grad school also started this week. But, because of Hurricane Irene, campus was out of power until yesterday. So they pushed the first day of classes back to today. Fortunately one of my professors posted her stuff so I could get started, because I KNOW things are going to get crazy between work-school and school-school, and I'd rather NOT be running behind. So I'm spending this day, my last day of summer, getting a jump on projects, reading, and putting the finishing touches on the next Library of Athena book. 

Yes, that's right, it's done. Or at least I think it's done. It has been written and rewritten, except for the last chapter. Sometimes I leave that chapter until the end, after I've revamped the rest, because that last chapter hinges on everything else and there's no sense in rewriting it five times. I am very, VERY happy with this book, which is complete turnaround from how I felt about it a few months ago. I just have to write a couple more paragraphs and tie it up. Then I can send it off to the editor, and finish up the author forms and put it to bed until the publisher is ready to get moving on it. Which I kind of hope isn't until the semester is over. And then I can work on re-writing TALISMAN OF ZANDRIA, which will be easier to do than writing new material.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, I'm still waiting on the three agents that have SMOKE AND MIRRORS. There's one that I have a really good feeling about, but no definite responses yet. I'm wondering if I shouldn't send it out to one or two more, just in case. I have a couple on my list that I was waiting on until I got all the replies back. Maybe I'll add that to my list of stuff to-do today.  

Like I need that.

Yes, on Saturday I will be 40. It's been a crazy 4 decades, and sometimes I'm kind of sad that I didn't find certain things earlier in my life, like being a librarian or writing, but then I realize that those things happened in their own time, when I was ready for them and not before. I should enjoy them. I've been writing, this September, for 10 years. Ten years. There are things I still want to do, and things I've accomplished. 

Do I have an agent? Not yet, but this last book has gotten me more partial and full requests and more personal feedback than any other. I feel like this is the one. 

Do I have a big contract? Nope, but I've written six (almost 7, as soon as I finish this chapter) books and had five of them published. 7 books in 10 years isn't too shabby. If that big contract is coming, I've worked for it. I've worked really hard.

I have a new job that I love, and family, and all that other stuff people say is the most important. I'm healthy. The world is such a weird place now, I think I'm doing pretty well, better than I did in my 20's.

40 looks pretty good from here. 

 I learned to use Movie Maker in my Instructional Media class last semester. It really is pretty fun once you figure it out. I've been wanting to make a book trailer for awhile, but haven't been able to come up with a good idea. Finally I had one, and worked on it for about four hours. Here it is, tell me what you think!

 What's this? Two posts in the same week? The world's coming to an end!! No, not really. It's just SO HOT here, and though I have good AC in my house and I'm comfy, I think the weather just seeps into my brain and I get that heat-induced lethargy where I just want to sit around and watch TV and drink iced coffee. 

So anyway... let's say you want to find a literary agent.  *waits as you all reply "you want to find a literary agent" and I roll my eyes at you*. Got that out of your system? Good. Much like grieving, there are the Five Stages of submitting your work to an agent, in the time between your submission and their reply. They are as follows:

Giddiness: you're so excited. You've finished your manuscript, edited it to pieces, and either still love it or you're sick of looking at it. You've done your homework and made a list of agents that you think are a PERFECT fit for your Magnum Opus. You've worked on that query letter for weeks, fine tuning it until it's pitch perfect. You've poured over guidelines and put together your submission packets, made sure you have the correct email addresses (you DID do that, right?), and hit the send button. There's excitement coursing through your veins as you imagine the delight on the agent's faces when they read your material. You fantasize about getting multiple phone calls and having the tough decision of which agent you'll choose. There may also be some daydreaming about your book on the NYT list and what you'll wear as you accept your Newbery/Caldecott/Stoker/Nebula award, but that's optional. 

You click onto your email so often, even the gmail server starts telling you to Get A Life. 

 

Self-Doubt: "Oh my god, what have I done!!! " You look over your manuscript and suddenly all you see are mistakes. Typos, slow dialogue,  places where you could cut and tighten. A place where you dropped a comma. Suddenly you wish your submission got dropped into the deepest hole of cyberspace and you could start over. You dive into a quart of ice cream and get completely Chip-faced.

 

Desperation: After months of waiting, you're ready to offer your first born for a reply. Then the reply shows up in your mailbox, and you re-visit the Self-Doubt phase. You can't bear to open it, because as long as you don't know, you have hope. You wrestle with the decision, but finally click the button. And...

 

The next stage is either one of the following. Most likely the first.
 

Soul-crushing despair: You got a form rejection letter, 'not right for us', 'not a good fit', whatever. The high you felt when you sent the submission is deflated like a balloon at a five-year-old's birthday party. this is often followed by Denial (aka delusional), where you come to the realization that the agent doesn't have a clue what she or he is talking about and you'll remember to send them a copy of book when it's published and at the top of the NYT list. Yeah, don't do that. 

 

OR

Defeated but not broken: Maybe you still got a form rejection letter. Maybe you got a personalized rejection, in which case you're disappointed but you do a little happy dance because at least the agent thought enough of your work to tell you what they liked and what didn't work for them. That's REALLY REALLY good, because most writers NEVER get that far. So you let the feedback sit for awhile, decide if you should revi

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12. Why I don't have a critique group

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Posted on 7/19/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  life, writing, critiquing, Add a tag

 I know almost all writers have one. I SHOULD have one. I probably need one.  I'd love to meet once a month or a week at a coffee shop and chew the fat and critique work. I've had beta readers and critique partners over the years, but no one that's really hung around. It's not that I don't like to critique - and I'm pretty good at it, to be honest. I've had crit partners that went on to big, fancy MFA programs and they told me that those teachers were telling them all the same things I did. I know what I'm doing when it comes to critting.

There's just one problem: I don't have the time.

That sounds like a totally selfish cop-out, I know. And it's summer, so I probably COULD find the time now, but then I'd have to abandon the group in the Fall and that's not fair. But between grad school and now my full-time job, and my son's various extracurricular activities and my own writing, there's just NO time left to read other people's work and critique it. I WOULD like to find another partner, maybe two, because I might be able to handle one or two people's work, but I don't want to be that person who takes and doesn't give.  When I ask for someone to read for me, it's usually with the understanding that I will do what I can, but my time is extremely limited. And I hate doing that.  So I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up for another year.

There's only three more semesters of grad school, there's only three more semesters of grad school... Read the rest of this post

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13. Hey, there, how you doin'?

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Posted on 7/9/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  agent hunting, google +, life, teaching, stuff, working, Add a tag

 Hey all! Been a bit, sorry to not blog for awhile,hope you've been keeping yourselves out of trouble. I've been on summer vacation for two whole weeks now, and I'm just getting over the 'ahhh' of not working and into the 'I need to find something to do'. I have plenty to keep me busy: making Powerpoint slides for the Worldbuilding seminar I'm giving at a Teacher's workshop in August, trying to finish up the first draft of the next LoA book, which I'm pretty sure will keep the title THE SWORD OF DANU (Celtic mythology, in case you're wondering), and that's going well. Using Scrivener to work on new Steampunk book. I think I am in love with Scrivener. Their character sheets and the way they can keep everything together in one 'binder' is awesome. When my free trial is over I will pony up the money for it, I think. 

 

Soon I will have to start thinking about two other things: next semester in grad school, and lesson plans for next year. Fortunately one of the classes I have is Materials and Services for Children, and the other is School Media Center Management, so both will fit nicely with my job, and I have hopes that I can kill multiple birds with one stone in the Fall. As far as curriculum, I have big plans for Kindergarten, teaching them about proper book care, how the library is set up, and getting them reading. Even though the library isn't ready for them to check out books, I can still get them taking books off the shelves and reading in class. Doing poetry in April for National Poetry Month. Pre-K, I'm still working on, but there will be cross over, like book care, but the thing about Pre-K is I need to do a whole group lesson and then some small group activity in every class. It's the curriculum, and I have 45 minutes, per class, which is an eternity with 3 &4  year olds. There's lots of things to do: coloring, the SMART board, felt board. The small group activity should go with the whole group activity. If anyone has any websites with lesson plans I could borrow, that'd be great. 

 

And on the agent front... of the ten queries I sent in May, all but 2 have come back. Of those 8, 2 asked for fulls and 1 partial. One full already came back a R, which leaves 1 and 1. Plus the full that was requested if I didn't have an agent way back in March. I am following that agent on Twitter, and thank goodness because the full got lost in the internet, I found out through a DM,so I resent and she has it now. Crossing fingers. 
 

Oh, and I'm on Google + now, if any of you are. My picture is up, so you'll know it's me. 

Happy weekend!

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14. Podcast Fun

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Posted on 6/30/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  interviews, radio, blogtalk, edin road, Add a tag

 I did a podcast BlogTalk Radio interview on the Edin Road show, with my friend Jesse Coffey. I read an excerpt from THE MIRROR OF YU-HUANG, and we had a bit of a chat.  It was awesome and fun and if you want to hear it, you can: 

Listen to internet radio with EdinRoad on Blog Talk Radio

 

Enjoy!

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15. For those Playing along at Home

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Posted on 6/28/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  agent hunting, Add a tag

I had another full request and a partial request this week. Which means out of 10 queries plus the one rejection-because-I'm-swamped-send-it-back-if-you're-still-looking-in-two-months letter, I have had three rejections, 2 full requests, and one partial, plus the resubmit. 

For a grand total today of three fulls and one partial out in the world right now.

Not too shabby. They may all be rejections in the end, but this is the most requests for material I've ever gotten. Something's clicking somewhere. I hope.

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16. Catching my breath

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Posted on 6/22/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  bits and bobs, work, publishing, writing, Add a tag

*Pausing just long enough to catch my breath and wave to you all. Things are moving super fast here on the last few days of school. Things are almost ready for summer, though not anywhere near finished. I still don't have the computer with the cataloging software on it. I NEED IT. Hopefully it will be installed and I will have access to it in the fall, because my project for next year is to get the entire library up to speed and processed. It will take me all year. I will have that place humming by next summer. 

*The Goodreads giveaway went well -- over 500 entries! I wish I could do a multiple book giveaway there; tons of people put THE MIRROR OF YU-HUANG on their TBR list. Whether or not they read it... but it looks good. I shipped the book out to the winner on Monday.

 

*My query to request ratio is .500 for this round. Two rejections, two full requests. Not too shabby. We'll see where it goes, but it proves that publishing really IS subjective. Agents read what sounds good and not everyone loves the same things. 

 

*I think I said I had publishing news a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't want to say anything until I had everything signed and sealed. First, Zumaya Thresholds has contracted the last two books in the Library of Athena series! Now I have to, yanno, write them. One is 2/3 done and I am going to knock that sucker out this summer.  

 

AND... Zumaya has also agreed to publish new and revised editions of the Zandria duology! I'm really happy about that, because I didn't want to see them go totally out of print. I'm kind of excited to give them new life and apply the things I've learned since first writing them. And it will be nice to see them with matching covers ;). So yay!

 

A couple more days until summer break. When I can write, clean, update my portfolio website required for my Master's, write the workshop I'm teaching in early August... no rest for the wicked, I guess.

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17. Goodreads giveaway!

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Posted on 6/10/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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 I think I may have mentioned this before (life is busy and the book tour last month and the new job and my age, I forget who I tell what when), but I've got a giveaway going on at Goodreads. 

There's still six days left to enter!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Mirror of Yu-Huang

by Christine Norris

Giveaway ends June 17, 2011.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

 

Enter to win

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18. So what happened at NJSCBWI?

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Posted on 6/8/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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 I'll tell you, because I can tell you just can't go on until I do.

I met a ton of amazing people. Got to see friends I haven't seen in a year, and made new friends. My Facebook friends list has grown and I'm all the better for it. The workshops were mostly helpful, and I was especially happy about the historical fiction, voice, and Steampunk panels. Turns out that Smoke & Mirrors really is a Steampunk story after all. I have a list of agents and editors to submit to, once I get the time to sit down and actually do it.

 

My agent pitch was... well, it didn't go as well as I hoped. Let me explain. I kind of had a feeling it wasn't going to be good when I introduced myself to the agent on Friday night. Now, most of the pros that I've met at this event have been friendly and open. She seemed a little cold, all business. Which is OKAY for her to be; she's a young, junior agent and probably wants to make a good impression. No biggie. But we did not click. At all. 

 

So when Sunday came, I sat down, and completely forgot everything I was going to say. Maybe I planned to say too much, maybe I should have just gone for the hook, whatever. I babbled for four minutes, feeling like an idiot. She looked at me and said, "It's too long. It's too long for a first-time novelist."

 

Really? That's your only comment? I realize that it is kind of bulky, I'm not new at the rodeo, but not one thought about the concept? Probably my fault, I didn't explain it well perhaps. The fact I have written five other novels didn't seem to make an impression. I left when my time was up, and I cried. And then I got over it, because I've had agents bigger than this chippie look at it and see something worthwhile. They rejected it, but they SAW something and told me about it. Editors have asked to see it. Not ONCE has the length come up with any of them, though I', sure that there will be cutting happening when it is contracted. I'm not giving this agent's name because I think that's Terribly Bad Form. And in the end, I don't even think she'd really like S&M anyway. 

But that was the minor glitch in an otherwise fabulous weekend! I bought some books for me and my library, and came home thinking about a lot of things. I can't wait for summer vacation to start so I can spend hours writing!

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19. In which I ask my friends for help - Please boost the signal

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Posted on 6/1/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  library, books, help, Add a tag

 So I'm slowly putting the fiction collection back in proper order. I'm putting together an order for next year, to cover supplies and more books, but my budget is tiny, as are the budgets of most school libraries. There are definite gaps in the collection - not one copy of  If You Give A Mouse a Cookie, for example, except the big book edition with the little mouse and cookies, to use for lessons. It's on my purchase list.

But then, I think, I'm in the publishing world! I have friends who write picture books, who've PUBLISHED picture books. Who are publishers! Maybe, just MAYBE, my friends out there in the world can spare a copy of their books, to be put into a library where they will be loved and read and most definitely appreciated.

 

So I'm turning to you. My school is early childhood - 3,4, and 5 year olds. Pre-K and K. If you've written a book for that age and can spare a copy, that would be great. Likewise, if you have gently used picture books that are no longer being read that you'd like to donate, I'll take them. And if you aren't able to help with books, can you please boost this signal?

 

Any books can be send c/o Christine Norris, Early Childhood Development Center, 1602 Pine Street, Camden, NJ 08103

 

I have empty shelves and crying to be filled. An empty library is a sad library. 

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20. Book Tour is over

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Posted on 5/29/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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 The book tour is over! It was pretty fun, and in the end I hope I picked up a few new readers.  I left the contest open on kbaccellia 's blog, but there were no other entries, so... the winner is cleanwriter , aka Kai Strand! Kai, send me your address and I'll get your book and prizes out to you soon!

 

 

The weekend is going much too fast. I have to find time to do some writing. Next weekend is the annual NJSCBWI conference. I have signed up for a five-minute agent pitch. I'm going to pitch SMOKE & MIRRORS and have to figure out what to say about it. I also have to start packing, since I will have to leave Friday right after work. Fortunately I shouldn't need much, just a suitcase. 

 

And who turned on the summer?? We went from early Spring temperature to mid-July in like a minute. Ugh. I had to move Samwise the rabbit down into the cool basement this weekend; I went and bought him a better indoor cage since he's spending more time in there. And now that it's so hot I can't use my new writing loft except in the morning and evening when it's tolerable.I have three fans running non-stop and it's still too hot. I had to grab my computer and bring it so that it didn't cook. Hopefully I will have my A/C before school lets out so I can buckle down and get some serious work done.

 

I have other writing news to share, but I have to wait until that's official. Bye for now!

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21. Bits and Bobs, New Job Edition

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Posted on 5/27/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  new job, library job, Add a tag

** I finally started my new job on Wednesday. They told me at 3:50 pm on Tuesday (everyone at the offices goes home at 4:00).  Yay me!

*I really like the job. The traffic is mildly annoying in the morning, and the last two nights have been outrageously annoying with people leaving work for the holiday weekend and heading to the shore, but otherwise everything seems to be going well. I only have Pre-K and K students, so lesson planning is pretty simple. The school is nice and new, but we're still in a poverty-stricken city, and it shows in little ways.

*The other teachers are seemingly ecstatic that I'm there. They have not had a real librarian since the school opened about two years ago. They've had a parade of subs in the meantime, one or two perhaps seem to have had some idea of what a library is supposed to do, but those people were not recent. When I introduce myself, several teachers have greeted me with things like, "Thank God!", "You're kidding! Are you staying?", and "I should have known who you were, the kids are actually doing something." One teacher said she had stopped bringing her students up to library because the sub was not doing anything useful, but the teacher and aide in that class left very happy today. The gorgeous listening center we have, with four sets of headphones and about two dozen sets of books on CD to listen to, was going virtually unused. I opened it up and there were students in almost every class using it.  

 

*The library is beautiful. It has nice wooden shelves, a SMARTboard, listening center, great beanbag chairs, three Macs for the kids to use (I got a crash course in Apple technology this week), and an empty circulation desk with great chairs. 

 

*And it's a hot mess. The organization, what little there is, is ...odd. One shelf had the label, "Famous Authors, Eric Carle.", while another bore the title "Famous People", and a third "Miscellaneous Fiction."  That last shelf was just a jumble of books not in any kind of order. The back shelves were categorized by subject, sort of like nonfiction should be, but specific to the curriculum. I haven't decided if I will leave it or l redo it properly, where all the subjects will remain together anyway. I've started ripping out things, readjusted the shelves, and am doing a proper fiction organization. Which has revealed that there are multiple copies of the same titles spread all over the place. Grr. If any library school student ever wants to understand the need for an organizational system in a library, send 'em my way. This place is like a giant game of Marco Polo.

 

Half of the books have no spine labels, some have no cards, and I just can't wait to get into the computer so I can see the natural disaster that is the catalog. I may need FEMA  to come and help me,

 

*There are no library supplies. No book tape machine for repairs. The spine labels, what few there are, are mostly handwritten, and I have the small sheets that I'm not sure will work in a computer printer. I DO have spine label covers. No plastic covering for books either. No pens, pencils, paper. Some stuff I can bring from home, others I will be ordering. Much of the stuff that makes a library run is absent. I feel like Old Mother Hubbard; my cabinets are bare.

 

*The shelves are half bare as well. I can't be sure until  get the collection in order, but we are hurting for books. Since no one's been keeping track, books leave the library and never return. I like their system of bundling books to loan to classes, but they gotta come back. I will be working on a sign out system. Meanwhile I've burned through most of a surprise in the form of a Scholastic credit and ordered some books. It's a start, but we are seriously short on proper materials. I will be making another post about that, and asking my friends for help. It may not b

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22. Moving Forward

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Posted on 5/24/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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 Well, the holding pattern is breaking a little. My emergency School Media Specialist cert has been issued and should be here soon. I'm trying to find out definitely when I can start work. My guess is next week, right after the holiday. Which still gives me four weeks before school's out. Which is better than nothing. 

And...I received a letter yesterday from my first publisher, returning the rights to me for my first two books, Talisman of Zandria and Return to Zandria. 

I'm kind of sad about this. These were my first two novels, and my first publisher, and it feels like the end of an era, sort of. I learned a lot writing them, and since writing them. Kids still buy them, mostly from me at events, and they love them. So I'm wondering if I should let them go or try to find them a new home. I think I could do a lot to improve them, knowing what I know now, though the stories are good themselves. Hmm...I may be making some inquiries about re-prints... If not, I can always rewrite them myself and put them up for sale on Amazon or something. Though 

that's way more work than I have time for now, I think.

 

Things to think about... 

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23. Snoopy Who

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Posted on 5/24/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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 I totally want a t-shirt with this image: Snoopy Who.  Posted originally at The Angry Black Woman. Because the Beagle who Could totally rocks as the Doctor. And Woodstock as K-9 is brilliant.

I would change one thing, though.

Snoopy totally needs a fez

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24. Keeping Busy

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Posted on 5/22/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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As I said last time, I'm still in a holding pattern - waiting for paperwork to start my new job, waiting to hear from agents on the new project. Waiting, waiting, waiting. So I used my time to work more on my writing loft project. Now that the electric is finished, I was able to move my stuff up from downstairs.

This is what the space looked like before:

    
And then when I cleaned it: 



And now it looks like this: 

     

 

I really need to fill those shelves...

Pretty sweet, huh? Well, almost. It was very warm up here yesterday. I had the newly purchased oscillating tower fan on full blast, to pull some of the cooler air in from outside. And the attic fan. Maybe what I really need are some ceiling fans, but I plan on getting my uncle over here to run a duct from the basement so that the A/C and heat come up here too. Winter's not as bad as summer. This morning, though, it's pleasantly cool and quiet, and I am in love with it. 

Eventually I will be moving more stuff around the attic, clearing the arranged clutter left after the Great Attic Purge of '11 and pushing it under the eaves so that I can use the space for a comfy reading chair and other stuff. I have my rocking chair up here already, but I think a great squashy armchair is needed. Someday I may even have the whole thing finished. But this will do for now. It will do nicely. 

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25. Quick Update

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Posted on 5/20/2011
Blog: The Writer's Mind (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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 * I have STILL not started new job. State DoE and sundry other persons are being so slow it's almost painful. If it were up to me this would have been taken care of weeks ago. Alas, it's not as important to anyone else as it is to me (and possibly my school's principal), so I must wait, hopefully not much longer.

*Virtual Book Tour continues! I have posted daily links on Twitter and FB if you want to follow. I still have not chosen a winner from kbaccellia 's interview stop on the tour, and I will leave it open for a few more days in case you want to enter. Yesterday's stop at the Children and Teen Book Connection also includes a giveaway if you'd like to enter, and I have a giveaway going on at Goodreads. Lots of chances to win a copy of THE MIRROR OF YU-HUANG

*I am trying to get caught up on stuff, work on finishing the next LoA book. No replies to any agent queries send in the last month, and things are just kind of blah now, I'm in a holding pattern. 

*Hopefully I will get my stuff moved to the attic this weekend so that I can use the new writing loft space while we work on finishing the work, which will take some time. Eventually it will all be done. 

 

 

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