How to use this Page

1.  Looking for something to read?  Go no further than this lovely little Literature Map highlighted by Flavorwire.  Just type in your favourite author and watch a series of names juggle to and fro in order to arrange a recommended reading list of authors.  Even better, young adult adults are in the mix including Sarah Lessen, Jennifer Echols, JK Rowling, Terry Pratchett and more.

Literature Map
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2.  Need proof that time allows you to be more creative?  Check out this two minute video out on youtube.
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3.  Do you know all the punctuation marks?  Buzzwire presents 13 that you might not know existed.  I am particular fond of the The Asterism  which they claim “…has an awesome name, a cool look, and a really lame usage.”  Agreed.

13 Punctuation Marks You Never Know Existed
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4.  The Amperstand Project is a brand new initiative at Hardie Grant Egmont to flush out those new, undiscovered Australian writing talents.  Targeted at writers of contemporary Australian young adult fiction they are hoping to discover the next Melina Marchetta.

HGE have a whole list of suggestions of what they are on the look for, which you can find here.  Submissions close on the 27th of February, 2012.
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5.  Readings has released their top young adult titles picks for 2011.  We were extremely excited to see Vikki Wakefield, Kelly Gardiner and Jane Higgins (among many other fabulous books) on the list as we’ve bee graced by their presence in our programming in 2011.

No, I'm not back, officially. I'm still taking a blog break.
But I just loved Maggie's post about butt kicking and had to share. Thanks Maggie!

Also, I ended up taking the cats to a shelter. I know. It was an agonizing decision, but it was the only way. You can't believe how stressful it was with them here. I was sad to give them up, but relieved to have them out of here at the same time.
I just pray they all get adopted by nice people.
And life goes on.

Its summer. Its hot. People are still doing fireworks. Nectarines are in the stores. The whir of air conditioning units is like white noise. There are dragonflies. We have a water shortage here but people are still watering their lawns like crazy (but not washing cars so much). The smoke in the air has finally cleared up (we had all those wildfires nearby-ish a while back.)

I'm working, and reworking some pieces I did while the cats were here that didn't turn out as well as I would have liked because I was so stressed. So I'm busy. I bought some new art supplies today (canvas!) so am looking forward to putting on my 'fine art' hat here pretty soon. Those Ampersand boards are too cool, check them out if you haven't already.

So back to the drawing board for me. After I feed one of the cats who's lurking about. Why can't their stomachs all be on the same schedule?

Later~