What’s one thing you want to do before the new year?

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Happy new year. The year of the tiger is about to begin and he is flying in arriving by balloon. This is also a change of medium for me this was done in the computer.

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Hi all!
Hope everyone had a good Christmas and a restful New Year’s day! Mine was pretty peaceful, and the kids & husband were happy with what they received (even though the budget was a little tight this year). I love giving & getting books as presents, so my oldest daughter, who’s 10, received Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (book 4 in the series—she’s absolutely hooked on this series & can’t wait to see the movie in April), and my youngest daughter, who’s 6, got a Princess & the Frog picture book.

Didn't 2009 go by FAST? There were so many things I planned on doing writing-wise that I just never got around to (okay, yes, I procrastinated A LOT). But this year I resolve to accomplish what I didn't in 2009. I must say, though, that my hands down BEST accomplishment writing-wise was the creation of this blog. With my 10-year-old's encouragement (she kept saying, "Mommy, just DO it!"), I took a leap of faith and created Crystal's Bookmark. And I AM SO HAPPY I DID! I have met so many aspiring (and a few published) writers this past year that have been such a wonderful source of encouragement & inspiration. THANK YOU ALL so much for stopping by in 2009 for my not-always-weekly sporadic posts on writing & publishing info, and the occasional teaser excerpt. I wish all of us the best of luck in accomplishing our writing goals for 2010! Here's to a FANTASTIC New Year!! :)

Coming soon: Some goals, some resolutions . . . and a few contests

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I hope the new year is finding everyone very well and I hope everyone had a very peaceful and relaxing holiday season. We had a good visit with Chris' family in Arizona. Our excitement for the trip was during our drive up from Phoenix to Winslow, when we hit impassable snow in Payson, AZ and ended up having to stay the night in a hotel. It was quite strange - there wasn't one bit of snow on the southern approach to Payson, but as we passed through the town (which really isn't very big), we came into steady snowfall and positioned at the northern departure of the town were several police who were discouraging drivers from continuing on. So, we stayed the night, bought chains for our rental car in the morning and made the very slow trek toward Winslow. It was a very beautiful, but somewhat nerve-wracking drive.

As with most gift-giving holidays, I usually receive a good number of children's/art books for my ever-expanding collection, but this year I was also able to add some original illustrations to my collection. My husband gave me two original paintings by Omar Rayyan, of whose work I'm a huge fan. You can see these paintings here and here. I think he is just brilliant with watercolor!

The new year also brings with it a new video game project (to be disclosed in the future) for my husband who spent the last several months of 2009 working long and hard on the environments for Darksiders which just came out in stores today! Tons of video clips here.

As for resolutions for the new year, I think I'm just going to recycle last year's resolutions and give them another shot considering the only one I can say I really succeeded at was gaining some weight. Maybe I should add to that list to try to update here more frequently!

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At what point is it too late for new year posts? You’re all still just settling back into work, right? Anyway, Christopher Harrup put together this swell animated new years card and you can find a short production journal over at his site.

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Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Animation, Christopher Harrup, new year, video

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I was sitting up last night, trying to write but instead procrastinating by thinking of resolutions. I realized I make the same ones every year and have for #$ years.

So I've decide to save some time and roll over my resolutions (and a few excuses) from last year.

This year, I am having a New Year's Revolution. That means, no more annual promises to make.

So...here are all the promises I promise to break this year.

1) No more eating chocolate. (I'm going to eat one piece of dark chocolate a day.)

2) Lose 5 pounds. (I think I'll try to gain 2 lbs. Oops - CHECK!)

3) Write 1000 words a day. (I'll never make it anyway. Just to prove it - today I'm going to write ZERO words.)

4) Going zen about the writing process. (Nah, I choose to freak out when I can. Its about choices people!!!)

5) No more damn cussing. (Shit, my potty mouth is here to stay - sorry!)

6) No plastic surgery. (Botox, a tummy tuck, and a butt lift are starting to look better and better. I'll take high eyebrows for a high tush.)

7) Saving money. (Impossible, I don't have any.)

8) Getting healthy. (Does a salad with fried chicken and spicy ranch dressing count?)

9) Reading adult literature and poetic essays. (Nope give me some more YA paranormal please.)

10) Go totally green. (I think lime-green count?)

11)Chill out on social networking. (Hi my name is Shelli. I am a social network alcoholic and LOVE IT!)

12) Get out more and lead an exciting life. (Forget it, I'm boring and fine with it. Give me TV, my bed, pizza, and a book any day. Lucky for me hubby feels the same :)

13) Dress for success. (What? Give up Target, jeans, and Uggs? Give me my brand Mossimo any day?)

14) Watch less trash TV........ (Yeah right. I'm going to add another show just to rebel.)

15) Be a better wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter. (I think I do a good job.)

16) Stop telling "Yo mamma" jokes. (But they're so funny. See I'll prove it. "Your mamma's so ugly...when she goes to the zoo, the animals point at her and laugh." See, now that's funny.)

17) Watch more news. (Why? When TMZ is so good?)

18) Cook more. (ie Get new microwave, learn to use a crock pot, and get a frozen box cutter. (the boxes are killing my nails)

19) Did I say write more? (I write as much as I can.)

20) Call family and friends more. (I say - get on Facebook!)

Happy New year!

What is your revolution for this year?

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Here's to a fantastic year ahead! I've written out my "tentative plans" for 2010. You can read them here.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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"I never look back, darling. It distracts from The Now."

 Happy looking forward to a great year!!

 

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Happy 2010 everybody! I finally made a list of 10 goals for 2010: 7 are writing-related, 2 for knitting, 1 for exercise. You can see where my focus is! My kids joined me in making a list of 2010 goals. Proud to say my 4-year-old already achieved his goal of eating mini hot dogs. Dream big, I always say!

I spent my Christmas vacation--discovering my inner elf:




Knitting another scarf (I swear I'm moving onto hats next):




And baking a brown blob for New Year's dessert, aka flourless chocolate cake:




How did you spend your Christmas vacation? And do you have 2010 goals? Dream big!

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Wishing all of you a wonderful start to 2010!

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Happy New Year! I'm not one to make resolutions, but set goals for myself throughout the year. Some I keep. Some I don't. And it's okay. I do, though, love the newness of a new year and anticipating all it might hold. It's also very satisfying to think back over the year just completed.

In my classroom, I displayed a quote by Confucius:  Learning without thinking is labor lost. Not wanting to lose out on all my hard work(!), I thought it would be fun to reflect on my four short months of blogging in 2009.

After leaving my teaching position in May, I knew I had to get serious about my approach to writing if I wanted to do this full time. That meant creating a schedule (I find a lot of freedom in knowing what I'll be doing with my time), stepping up the querying process, and jumping into the blogosphere.

For over a year, I had read a handful of blogs and commented sporadically. I read a couple of books that touched on blogging (HOW TO GET KNOWN BEFORE THE BOOK DEAL, for one, and a How To blogging guide from the library...I'm not super savvy on the computer). My idea was to blog along the lines of Lisa and Laura -- with a partner. I figured I'd have double the readers and half of the work.

I approached a friend to ask if she might be interested in blogging with me (hi, Anna, if you're reading!). Our story, I figured, was a natural draw: childhood friends who wanted to be authors agented in the same year. One writing for adults, one for children. One living in England, one in the US. See all the interesting things we could have discussed? Plus, imagine the pictures we could have unearthed of bookish girls in kilts and knee socks! In the end, the timing wasn't right for my friend, who sent me on my way with best wishes.

I decided to tackle the blogosphere alone. While reading blogs over the previous year, I found I was much more likely to click on a blog with a memorable/quirky name than I was others. Caroline by line came about because of three things:

• I knew I wanted to blog about writing, reading, and the slow, steady process both involve -- step by step, or in my case, line by line.
• I thought the byline pun too fun to pass up.
• I hate being Carolyn-ed. It's always been a mystery to me why CaroLINE, so obviously spelled, would be pronounced Carolyn.  Lyn is lyn and Line is line, right? If I called the blog Caroline by line, there was no way my name could ever be mispronounced again! (So far, this hasn't panned out).

One thing I read about blogging is to stay on topic. I figured my focus should be the things I know and love: writing, reading, mothering, and teaching. Another "must do" I heard was the importance of posting regularly, and along with many of you, started a five day a week goal. Against popular wisdom, I've taken blog vacations over holidays, loving the time away.

Here I am at the beginning of a new year, 103 Blogger followers and 111 followers through Feedburner. Amazing, really. Thank you, everyone, for playing a part.

As for looking forward, I'd love to start some good discussions around here. I'm planning on sharing some quotes from Jeff Vandermeer's BOOKLIFE: STRATEGIES AND SURVIVAL TIPS FOR THE 21ST-CENTURY WRITER and would love to hear what you think. I will continue with Fast Fives (mini lists of books I've loved, arranged by topic or genre) and information on my after-school book clubs. I'd love to be able to say I'll sell a book this year and will have loads of information to share on the process of publication. We'll see on that. I also realize I've neglected to talk about picture books here, a big part of my writing life.

I'd love any insight/suggestions about what any of you would like to read about here.

Here's to a great 2010! Display Comments Add a Comment

The month of December was filled with activity for me, so reading and writing slid down the priority ladder for a few weeks. I received a couple of books as gifts, however, and they are on my To Read list for January. I also received a gift card at a local Christian book store and I can hardly wait to go shopping. One book I HAVE been reading lately though is Isaiah in my Bible. I listen to the

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Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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You may have noticed that my blog posts are few and far between. So much so, that perhaps I am probably writing this only for myself as any audience I may have garnered in the past has probably disappeared. 

There are a couple of reasons that I've been posting less:

1. I am neck-deep in my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adult program with Vermont College of Fine Arts. The packets require a great deal of me in terms of time and emotion and reading and writing.
2. I am illustrating a lovely picture book manuscript for an organization called the Telling Room in Portland. The manuscript was written by two high school authors and tells the story of a Sudanese child who moves into a neighborhood filled with silent, disconnected residents. He and his new friend create community through gardening. The book will be released in May of 2010.
3. I am journaling for myself more in a paper and pen way. Most of my entries there are about my insecurities and my process as I go through the MFA program. Some of that will come up here too so don't feel that you are missing out on anything.
4. I'm also journaling for my main character in his own composition book. This helps me get to the voice and emotional core of my character in a messy, down and dirty way.
5. I'm using all the in-the-cracks time to read books for children and young adults and yes old adults as well.

So I have the following thought:

Since tonight is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah (The Jewish New Year) and I need to make a resolution, and also to make this blog relevant to the wider world, I will review some of the wonderful books that I've been reading. I know, this is not a new or unique idea and there are plenty of other blogs out there for this but I'm going to give it a try. I will attempt to post reviews each Wednesday and will review at least one Middle Grade book, and one Picture Book. These could be fiction or nonfiction, audio or traditional. I'm not going to venture into the YA realm here, there are so many other wonderful blogs out there for that.

So what will you get here that you won't get anywhere else? Me. I bring my experience as a writer but also as a parent of two boys, a teacher, a student of writing and an illustrator. I'm hoping that the reviews will help parents find books that their children will love. As my son's teacher said last night, "If your child doesn't like reading they just haven't found the right book for them." If you have titles that you'd like me to review, leave a note in the comments. If you'd like a fresh start to your year, you can also leave your New Year's Resolution in the comments. Happy Reading! See you on Wednesday.

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You all know that today is the first day of Spring, but did you know it's also Persian New Year (NoRooz)? In Iran it is the year 1388. The NoRooz (New Day) celebration is ancient and predates Islam. The year 1388 starts from the year that the Prophet Mohammed emigrated to Medina. 

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I realize I'm a bit late in wishing everybody a Happy New Year, but I do hope 2009 is off to a good start for everyone! It never occurred to me in the past to make resolutions, but this year I have a few, pretty ordinary ones:

- Get up in the morning at a reasonable time. I'm not at all a morning person and my hours tend to become more and more bizarre over the course of large projects. So I'm going to attempt to drag myself out of bed earlier than usual and get on a more 'normal' schedule.

- Get some regular exercise every day. I was doing pretty well with this until the holidays and then fell off the wagon and have yet to jump back on...

- Gain about seven pounds or so. That's right. I said gain.

- Art-wise, I'm still trying not to over-work paintings, painting too thickly and what-not. And trying to loosen up a bit.

So far, the first twelve days of 2009 find me failing miserably at the first three resolutions and showing spotty results with the fourth. But it's early still, plenty of time to right myself...

And I'm really late posting these pictures. These were taken on the side of the highway on my husband's drive to work:




Decorating this particular copse of trees along the 360 appears to be an annual tradition here in Austin.

Well, it's back to work for me now. A belated Happy Holidays to all!

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While I was expecting this to be a difficult year in terms of my dad's health, I don't think any of us expected for the end to happen as rapidly as it did.

I look forward to being with my family during this difficult time. I'll be away for several days, but will check back as soon as I can and see what everyone's been creating.

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My 2009 Word of the Year!

Breathe!

2008 was kind of a weird year for me. A year of change. A year of anxiety. A year of passion. A year of ups and downs.

My hubby was recuperating from major back surgery. He had to go to Germany for 6 weeks, when my son was 6 months old, and have 2 discs replaced. It has been a long recovery, financially, physically, and mentally.

In addition, my dog died. Which I am sure happens a lot. But it was the first death I have experienced close to e since my grandmother dies when I was 13ish. So it scared me. It scared me about losing those people close to me.

My parents. My hubby. My kids. My other dog.

We decided not to have any more kids. Which sounds normal but it was a very sad process for me to come to terms with. Not that I was positive I wanted another one, but just the chance or possibility was enough for me.

2008 was also the year I finished my YA novel as well as a few other projects. In 2007, My first MG Fantasy made it all the way to 2 Acquisitions meetings with 2 editors (I didn't try for agents). I was so frustrated with the process and getting so close, I became discouraged and stopped writing for a long time. Until I met Jessica Dehart and joined our critique group. It was then that I pushed forward and finished my YA book as well as wrote a Nonfiction book that made it to the top 2 in Acquisitions with American Girl. (Again, so close!)

I also began subbing my YA book to a carefully-selected agents (Stay tuned.)

Finally, I ended 2008 with 3 months of sickness including this dang inner ear infection that won't go away. One whose only side effect was a massive case of Vertigo. This ear infection has prevented me from doing a lot. Yoga, enjoying the holidays, writing, and more. Its been frustrating and given me a lot of time to lay and think about where I am in my life. And where I want to be.

I am one to believe that energy manifests itself in our bodies and spirit.

Therefore, I've decided I am in my head too much.

So this year is about healing, about hope, about being grateful, about living in the moment, about having faith in the process.

This year is simply about breathing.

I find even though I am a yoga girl, sometimes I hold my breath especially when I write.

So I need to breathe more.

Not the shallow chest breathing that we tend to do automatically.

I'm talking about the deep, meaningful breaths “belly breaths.”

Did you know that deep, rhythmic breathing expands your diaphragm which stimulates your lymphatic system and massages your organs.? This helps get rid itself of toxins and leaves more room for your body to take in oxygen which keeps your cells alive.

A bit scientific.

But interesting.

After not feeling my best lately and knowing I'm getting older, I realize I take my body for granted. I don't' feed my body the same way I try so hard to feed my soul with writing or whatever else makes me happy and content.

I realize I don't spend one moment of silence with myself the way I used to when I was single. before kids.

I'm always busy.

Busy working, writing, running around with kids, cooking dinner, playdates, doing laundry, cleaning, doing dishes, paying bills, driving, eating, drinking.

There does not seem to be one moment in the day where I just breathe. Meditate. Sit still.

That is one of my 2009 New Years Resolutions.

To breathe.

Sounds easy, right?

There's a saying: "I write for the same reason I breathe -- because if I didn't, I would die."

Last year, my word was write.

I'm writing more.

This year, I just need to breath.

For "every breathe I take" helps me live a little more.

(PS Stings hot! Can i get a woot woot!)

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I sincerely hope to make my life and the lives of others better by doing what I have suggested to myself.

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Ah! 2009 is finally here. Did you have an awesome New Year's Day? Guess what I did...rested. That's right. I slept late, then spent the rest of the day watching TV and reading. I loved it! I haven't taken enough "Me Days" in my life. One of my must-dos for 2009 is take more me-days...don't be afraid to not work every once in a while.

2008 was a pretty good year. I mean, nothing overly exciting happened - besides my 5 week trip to Cuernavaca (Mexico) in June/July...my 1st real summer vacation since I started working in 1992. Still, nothing horrible happened either. Now, it's time to leave 2008 where it belongs - in the past - and move forward. Every year, or almost every year, my family comes up with a motivational slogan to live by. This year's slogan is: It's Our Time in 2009! Why? Because we feel that God's about to do some awesome things for our family. He's already started putting things in place for us. And the best thing is we're doing it together (did I mention that we're a close-knit family).

About 5 years ago, my parents started a business called Weakly Family Ministries, that, as the name suggests, focuses on bettering the family. They started out with marriage counseling, pre-marital counseling, family counseling, mentoring, etc. Now, WeaFam is expanding. They're looking into officially moving into an office building (they'd been counseling in our garage-turned-office). Also, now, WeaFam includes the AYM Enrichment Program, which is my sister's & my business (also looking for our own space), along with the urban wear store my brother wants to open, my children & teens novels that will published, and my other brother's poetry/spoken word books that will also be published (if you're a Houstonian, check out Freez.Eturnal's performances at clubs around Houston...my brother is a talented spoken word artist). So you see, God has given each and every one of us a talent to use to help others (and glorify Him, of course) and we're about to do our thang in 2009. IT'S OUR TIME IN 2009!

I leave you with a few of my 2009 goals:

• Complete Who's Got Tha Moves
• Begin/Plan novel #3 (not sure of title, but I do know what it's about)
• Move into own home (my sis & I are starting our journey of becoming home-owning roomies)
• Start journey to become debt-free & financially stable
• Complete my dissertation by June 1st (which means, I'll become Dr. Weakly & have my degree by July/August if all goes well, but I won't actually walk across the stage til January 2010)
• Become more confident in my Spanish (I'm basically a chicken when it comes to speaking Spanish...I know it, just too scared to speak it. I'm getting better, though, thanks to my sis, who speaks fluent Spanish)
• Concentrate on making AYM my full time job
• Go to more conferences for writers and entrepreneur since I am both
• Travel more
• Work on crossing more things off my list of things to do by the time I'm 35 (I've only gotten a chance to cross one off, while I'm working on about 3 others...my list is about 60 items long)
• Take better care of myself physically, mentally, and spiritually

Also, I've added more to this blog:

• Inspirational Sundays: I'll post anything that can be seen as inspirational, whether it be my own inspirational writing (like what I do on my myspace blog) or inspirational stories I've read online or heard about.
• Tickle-Me Tuesdays: This day is reserved for stories, pictures, jokes, or comic strips that'll make you laugh. We all should enjoy a good laugh every once in a while, right?
• Random Thoughts Thursday: Same as last year
• Fitness Fridays: My sis and I have started our journey to a healthier us last month. On Fridays, I'll chronicle my journey by posting any weight loss success, success in lowering my high blood pressure, great workouts, trials, triumphs, etc.

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