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Mmm-mm-mm! Check out Mary Ann Dames's blog. Today she's posted a very kid-friendly recipe, Bear's Crunchy Blackberry Treat, to go with Blackberry Banquet!

What a great way to start the summer~ reading and preparing food with kids!

It’s been said that getting an agent is as hard as getting a manuscript acceptance. I believe it. In fact, I’d say that it’s even harder. I’ve tried off and on for the past four years or so to acquire an agent, but haven’t had any success. I’ve sold many manuscripts though. And my writer colleagues tell me that once you have a few books out, it becomes much easier to acquire an agent. Hmm... Seventeen books later and still no agent. Yep, the agent quest is definitely more difficult for this little writer.

In the recent research of agents (by the way, if you know of any reputable agents who are just dying to acquire a contemporary adventure novel, you can give them my name ;-), I’ve come across a couple of things I’d like to share--in case you too are on the search.

First, is a fabulous article that Harold Underdown recently posted on his website, The Purple Crayon. Harold not only discusses agent basics (what they do for you, why you might need one, how to find one), he also helps writers to understand how to recognize good agents and avoid the “less scrupulous” ones; which is key. He’s even done a comparison on three different agent websites to help folks understand what to look for in researching agents online.

The other site I like is Chuck Sambuchino’s blog. Chuck is the editor for The Guide to Literary Agents (published by Writer’s Digest). His website is great, but I really like the blog too. He gives a lot of sound advice and interesting posts about this crazy business in which we work.

Happy searching~ may we all eventually find our perfect agent!

Okay, for a hilarious example of perfect wordplay, go to Mary Hershey’s blog. I never knew the Pillsbury Doughboy could be so funny, and leave it to Mary to show us just how much there is to poke fun at!

And for the second time in my blogging life, I’ve been tagged by a fellow writer, Patty Palmer. We bloggers are a playful bunch, aren’t we? And since my hubbie is teaching class right now and my cats are sleeping, I’ve got a few minutes to play along. So, here goes:

Rules for the game:
1. Put these rules at the beginning of your post.
2. Then answer each question (see below) in your post.
3. Tag five people at the end, then post a comment on each of their blogs letting them know you've tagged them, and ask them to check your blog for details.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, I had just received my 1st degree Black Belt in taekwondo so I was in much better physical condition than I am now! Professionally, I was in my 21st year of teaching at the Montessori pre-primary level and my first thoughts of writing for children were surfacing in my mind. Personally, my son was finishing with middle school so I was very involved with his life.

Five Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Fresh blackberries.
2. Freshly picked cherries from Hood River, Oregon.
3. Movie popcorn (which I only eat about once a year because it’s got like a bazillion calories and way too many grams of fat and salt).
4. Edamame beans.
5. Oatmeal chocolate-chip FiberOne bars.

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Well, if you’re going to fantasize, go big!
1. I’d buy a summer vacation home in Hood River, Oregon where I could eat fresh cherries every summer until my stomach would feel ready to explode.
2. I’d buy a winter condo in Mammoth so my hubbie could snowboard and not have to make the long day drive to do it.
3. I’d donate a large part of it to D & S Animal Rescue Center (in Ridgecrest) so they could build a full-service facility to house and adopt out the hundreds of animals that they save annually.
4. I’d surprise my husband with a trip to Palau so we could scuba dive and swim in Jellyfish Lake.
5. I’d hire Stacy and Clinton from TLC’s “What Not to Wear” to find me a pair of jeans that actually fit. Of course, that might take all of the money because it wouldn’t’ be an easy task for them and I’m sure they’re expensive.

Five jobs that I have had:
1. Counter girl at Jack in the Box.
2. Temp-clerk.
3. Substitute teacher (all grades).
4. College teacher.
5. Montessori pre-primary teacher.

Three of my habits:
1. Checking my email way too often—I’m obsessed, what can I say?
2. On-demand petting and playing with my two cats (and my cats are very demanding but since they’re the world’s cutest and sweetest cats they deserve it).
3. Writing with my blue Hello Kitty pencil. I’m a fanatic about it. Any writing I’ve done for younger children has always started out with this pencil and a notepad. I won’t write with anything else, unless I’m away from home and caught without it—and then my creativity is less than stellar. Hello Kitty really motivates me, I suppose.

Five places I have lived:
Just five??? Here are the main ones:
Fort Worth, Texas.
Rochester, New York.
Mercer Island, Washington
Manhattan Beach, California.
Ridgecrest, California.

Five people I want to get to know better (i.e) TAG!
Catherine Ipcizade at Fresh from the Oven (Catherine is a fellow Sylvan Dell author)
Barbara Bietz at Jewish Books for Children with Author Barbara Bietz (Barbara is from my SCBWI region and one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met).
Greg Pincus at Gottabook (Greg is a poet who invented a unique poetry form called, “The Fib.”)
Tina Nichols Coury at Tales from The Rushmore Kid (Tina is from my SCBWI region and has her first book coming out soon).
Greg Trine at Melvin Beederman Superhero (Greg is a softspoken superwriter with a sharp wit).

As you know, I LOVE IT when someone shares a great website or blog that helps authors. Today, Alexis O’Neill shared a cool website on our SCBWI listserve. It’s called Book Tour: Where Authors and Audiences Meet. For published authors, this site serves as another way to get the word out about you, your books and your appearances--and it's free! The site says it’s a Beta version, which means it’s in its trial stages, but it seems like a great idea and quite a few authors have already signed up. Click HERE to check it out! (click on "Kids" on the upper right hand box to see all of the wonderful children's authors listed).

Last night I discovered another terrific blog that I had to share. Author Kim Norman has created a blog that lists author who do school visits by state. It's a one-stop visit for educators who are looking for visiting authors. How cool is that? Check it out, "Author School Visits by State."

On her blog, “Fresh From the Oven” Catherine Ipcizade shared the ups and downs of her book launch at the Santa Ana Zoo, for her new book, ‘Twas the Day Before Zoo Day. What I really loved about this was that Catherine shared with readers what *didn’t* work, as well as what did. We’ve all had those events where things didn’t go as planned so her experiences were totally relatable!

Another mucho-generoso blog post I read this week came from the website of author Evelyn B. Christensen, where she posted a list of educational publishers and their submission information. This was a lot of research on her part, and to share it as she did deserves a round of applause!

by Jason Lutes illustrated by Nick Bertozzi with an introduction by Glen David Gold The Center for Cartoon Studies 2007 Right. This is how it's done. The life of Harry Houdini is great material for young readers, for all readers, and the perfect subject for a graphic novel. On the surface this may seem an obvious choice but with Houdini: The Handcuff King we have a single event in the early