How to use this Page

Well!

Add a Comment

My holiday season has never been easier. My kitchen was ripped out in September--and has only now been put back together--and my downstairs carpet will be ripped out a few days before Christmas to have new carpet reinstalled. This construction is due to a major leak discovered late summer.

Again, my holiday season has never been easier! I mean it! This year, I didn't--COULDN'T--cook for Thanksgiving. Christmas--I can't decorate downstairs because EVERYTHING has to be moved off the carpet a couple of days before Christmas. (There is a landing upstairs where I will put a small tree and the presents--a Christmas corner, if you will.)

No mess & no stress,
This season's a success!

Add a Comment

Hello all!

Somehow, my dot com domain name got swiped a few weeks ago. I'm trying to get the dot com address back, but now Danette Haworth is dot net website!

Yay! I'm back online!

Add a Comment

Hello all! It's another dreary day here in the Sunshine State. I like to tell people we have only two seasons: hot, and hot and rainy. Do not visit THE MOUSE in summer! You'll likely be drenched to the bone, then frozen by the AC. (That's when they swap you out for an aminatron, ala Stepford Wives). And when it's not raining, the heat and the humidity will press you right down to a smear on the concrete, which The Mouse's minions will wipe up and dispose of before anyone notices you're missing.

Now to the subject at hand: My website is down. This is a problem for me because I wanted to update my school visit schedule. Because I don't know how soon the site will be back up, I wanted to let you know I have begun to book visits for next school year. Twenty-minute Skype visits are free to groups who've read my work. If you'd like me to visit in person, I have a variety of presentations and I also provide writing workshops for students who want to polish or publish their work.

If you're interested in having me visit, send me a message! My email address is dhaworthbooks at yahoo dot com.

Add a Comment

You don't even have to be female to enter the WOW! Spring 2014 Flash Fiction Contest sponsored by WOW! Women on Writing--you just have to write your best 750 words or less and pay a ten dollar entry fee (additional ten dollars for critique).

I've entered several of their contests, placed and not placed, and I highly recommend not only the contest, but the website itself. When I started writing seriously in 2007, I discovered Wow! Women on Writing,and I felt I'd found friends, people to whom I could learn from and whose words encouraged me.

If you've never visited their site, you've got a lot of good stuff waiting for you. Check out current articles and contests, and don't forget to pore through the archives. This is the kind of website that makes you feel as though you are in the company of friends.

Good luck, and have a great day!

Add a Comment

Titles--heartache city! The title must do everything a synopsis or query does: grab the reader, provide a summary, and hint at the action yet to come. A lot of time goes into working up a good title, and it's not just the author's work, either. The editor, the editor's coworkers, and sales and marketing all have their say; everyone's input must be considered.

Titles cooked up and rejected for A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY:

• Two Flavors of Lucky
• The Year of My Magnificent Luckiness
• Three Million Dollar Girl
• The Duplicitous Luckiness of Hailee Richardson
• Serendippitydoo
• Lucky Me
• Impossibly Possibly Lucky
• Hailee Richardson, Girl Millionaire

My editor and I brainstormed pages of titles and promptly rejected most of them. The problem lies in the word "lucky:" phrases involving "getting lucky" are imbued with the wrong kind of nuance! Also, we wanted to avoid words like jackpot or other buzzwords that are too close too gambling. (This was hard, because even the buying of a lottery ticket is gambling.)

My sister suggested "A Whole Lotto Lucky," and the powers that be loved her suggestion! With a bit of morphing, my sister's words became A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY.

Now you can try your luck without all the heartache my editor and I went through! For a free, signed hardcover of A WHOLE LOT OF LUCKY, just enter the Goodreads contest!

Add a Comment

Kirkus Reviews pinned a nice, big, blue star on A Whole Lot of Lucky, so what are you waiting around here for? Enter now at Goodreads!

Add a Comment

I've read and reread the entries to my writing contest at least three times. The prompt was to describe what it's like to be a new kid or to encounter a new kid. I was surprised by the number of students who described themselves as quiet. Many spoke of not raising their hands or avoiding things that would cause them to get noticed. They worried people would think they were weird.

The honesty in some of these essays was heartbreaking. These students were so brave to share their true feelings in print, and I was impressed with their insights and observations. A few of the essays contained humor and melancholy in one fluid narrative--that's quite an achievement for young writers.

I'm proud of all the students who entered. It was hard to select winners with so many well-written essays to choose from. But choose I did. Tomorrow, I start my visits to morning announcement to award prizes.

Look for winning essays to be posted on my website in June! In the meantime, come to the Barnes & Noble Waterford on May 26th, 5:30-7:00 p.m., where I'll be signing copies of The Summer of Moonlight Secrets!

Display Comments Add a Comment

The Summer of Moonlight Secrets by Danette Haworth. Walker Books for Young Readers, Bloomsbury. Publication date June 2010. Review ARC from publisher. Middle Grade.

The Plot: Allie Jo, eleven, lives at The Meriwether, an old hotel in Florida that used to be five-star and is still pretty famous and interesting. Chase, thirteen, is visiting The Meriwether with his travel writer father. Tara is a girl with a secret -- what is her secret? And what can Allie Jo and Chase do to help?

The Good: The Meriwether is an old resort, a bit run down perhaps (some of the top floors are not just unused, windows are missing and rooms unusable), but still popular and still serves its Famous Blueberry Pancakes. Since Allie Jo lives at the hotel, it's her personal playground. While guest rooms and kitchens are off limits, she can eat as many Famous Blueberry Pancakes as she wants and take the secret hidden staircase up to the abandoned fifth floor. Haworth weaves interesting historical tidbits into her description of The Meriwether, such as secret staircases for nannys and porters and fainting couches.

Allie Jo's best friend is away for the summer. Soon she and Chase, as well as Sophie, twelve, another summer guest at the hotel, are friends. I love the easy friendship these three fall into. Chase and Sophie fall for each other, and there is a cute kiss and holding hands. What is great? Is that Allie Jo doesn't care. There is never a hint of jealousy on Allie Jo's part, and Chase and Sophie don't do anything to seriously exclude Allie Jo.

And then there is Tara. Tara, mysterious, nice, gracious, and a few years older than Allie Jo. Allie Jo, despite living in a hotel surrounded by people, is actually a pretty lonely child. She is friendly with the staff of the hotel; has great parents; at school, it is different. She is mocked as a "hotel rat" without money and has only one friend. Chase and Sophie become Allie Jo's friends, but Tara -- Tara is different. Tara is Allie Jo's secret; Tara is Allie Jo's puzzle; Tara is secrets; Tara is someone who trusts Allie Jo, and sees Allie Jo as a wonderful person and friend. Allie Jo begins to see Tara as not just a friend, but as something even more special. Knowing that Tara has run away -- not sure what parts of Tara's story to believe, Allie Jo, begins to see Tara as a potential sister. Allie Jo has a tape recording made by former guests at the hotel, two sisters, and she replays this tape recording of sisters over and over. A sister, who wouldn't go away, who would always be there. After all, Chase and Sophie are only at the hotel for the summer. Is Tara her answer?

I don't want to give too much of Tara's mystery away. She trusts only two people to see her -- Allie Jo and Chase. When she tells the story, her language is a bit off, her observations a bit odd. Where is her family? Is she a runaway? When she does reveal her secret, will Allie Jo and Chase believe her? Will they betray her?

Haworth does a terrific job of balancing Allie Jo's independence and autonomy with caring parents, inc

Display Comments Add a Comment

First off, what a wonderful, beautiful city!

My first view of it was from above, in my comfy Economy Plus seat I'd been bumped up to. Chicago is silver, just in case you didn't know. For all my worries about hailing a cab, all I had to do was enter a queue with an official taxi sign, and I was ushered to the next available cab. Whew!

The smoke-scented taxi whisked me away. I forget how pretty the northern landscape is until I see it again--the fir trees, red buds, tulips--TULIPS! You really don't see those in Florida unless it's Easter and they're on top of the dinner table.

Chicago's skyline is beautiful. And as we entered the downtown area, I felt like I was in a movie. Doormen stood in front of buildings and smartly dressed people pushed their way inside through revolving doors.

My room--oh my gosh--my room! Walker Books is a generous publisher! My suite YES THEY GAVE ME A SUITE! was on the twenty-second floor and I had a gorgeous view.

After I got settled in, I met up with the Walker group: Melanie Cecka (Thank you, Melanie, for assuring me that leafy green lettuce was not furrowing between my teeth!), Katie Fee (You are too funny!), Emily Easton (When I spotted you on the couch, I recognized you immediately as a fellow literary type), Beth Eller (You are a riot!), and my wonderful editor, Stacy Cantor (Thank you so much for the excellent conversation and breathless fun!)

And now some name dropping! Not only did we dine in an exquisitely decorated restaurant, I laughed and talked with the gracious and warm Kate Messner (right), funny and nice Kirby Larson, Matt McElligott, who had some good stories, Chris Kurtz, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Donna Knoell (educational consultant), Susan Boham (teacher), and Claudia Katz (professor of Children’s Literature). Excellent conversation and food!

The convention center was humongous. Al Gore was there! I didn't see him, but he was there, so I get to drop his name! Henry Winkler was there! THE FONZ and author of the Hank Zipzer books. I didn't see him either!