Just part of something I’ve been working on…
Just part of something I’ve been working on…
Here they are my friends…fresh from the reason I’ve been AWOL, graduation photos from the class of 2011! Congratulations to all the graduates.
Oh, yeah! She did it!
Love the mortar toss. All those head germs!
Somewhere in that sea of maroon is my graduate. Can you find her?
YUM!! I was on a diet, so I only ate the frosting that fell off the spatula after serving each piece:D.
A little tug of war with the honors cords. She thinks she won…I think we tied (get it? Sorry, I know that was really bad).
So that’s what we did this weekend. How about you??
First I want to give a shout out to my friend and critique partner Ian Kezsbom for signing with the amazing agent Jill Corcoran! Yay!!
A bright, cheerful text design. Hand drawn then digitally painted and cleaned up.
Happy For You cards and matching gifts at Floating Lemons Typography @Zazzle
Please welcome the 2nd and 3rd place winners in the Spilling Ink Writing Contest.The writers had a choice of two writing prompts taken from the book, Spilling Ink, co-authored by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter. They had to limit their stories to 250 words.
A Short Note about this contest: All through my school years, I never remember anyone teaching us anything about writing stories. We had to write spelling words in sentences and do book reports and essays. The essays always seemed to be connected to major tests or final exams. However, I did write poetry in high school, and because of that, I think, I received the Creative Writing Award at graduation. I never forgot. I still have the envelope that says Clara Gillow was the recipient. Over the years when the writing days were very hard and publication seemed out of my reach, I'd take out the envelope and read those words again.
I know how hard it is to be a writer and I also know how great it feels to hold a published book in your hands that has your very own name on it. One of the reasons I persisted through years of rejection came from the generosity of that giver who made a creative writing award possible. My hope is that this writing contest will do the same for all the talented young writers who shared their stories with Anne Mazer, Ellen Potter and me. Congratulations to all of you.
Without further ado, please welcome and applaud the Grand Prize Winner of the Spilling Ink Writing Contest, Marissa Simpson.
After a little tweaking for Ypulse readers, we're bringing back our Ypulse Youth Advisory Board music reviews. Today we have Chase on the latest release from indie darlings MGMT, Congratulations. As always, you can communicate directly with any... Read the rest of this post
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Yay!
Another blogger buddy is agented.
Congrads Elana Johnson - you deserve it!
I can't stand the excitement and have no idea how to put into words how rewarding and wonderful it is to watch writers I've been blogging with for the past year or so finally take another step towards their dream/.
I mean, it feels like it's happening to me all over again!
Cant wait til more book deals start coming through :)
Because I know the party's not over yet! I KNOW there are more of you out there getting ready to take your next step in this crazy journey. I can feel it! And if/when you do, PLEASE let me know when you do so I can do my dance for you too! :)
For now, here's to Corey, Lila, SF, Katie, and Elana! I'm so happy for you all and this dance is for you!
P.S. Congrads to LK Madigan, AprilLynne Pike, Cindy Pon, Maggie Stiefvater, Laini Taylor and more for being nominated for "Best Books for Young Adults (by YALSA)". Check out the rest.
Once again, it's been far far far too long since my last posting. I've been overwhelmed by 'real life', but things are slowly sorting themselves out and my never-ending to-do list seems to actually be filling itself up with more 'normal' items though there is still much to be done that concerns moving and settling in.
The good news is that I have finally found myself a more permanent home! The key above is the one to my cellar and isn't it a gorgeous old key? It's large and solid and rusty and slightly skewed but it lies heavy in my hand and I thought it the perfect symbol for the beginning of a new life here in France. It has a sense of solidity and permanence and is, I hope, a good omen for the future.
It's been 10 months since I first arrived in France, very wet behind the ears and, to be honest, quite terrified at the huge step I had taken. Well, it's been worth every moment and I count my blessings daily! I still have much to do but am hoping that the dust (literally, as there are builders in the house) will settle soon and I can get a little studio office set up and draw to my heart's content. Cheers! :)
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Pirate Day!
September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. I searched for Pirate Day in JacketFlap's blog reader, and I saw that the wonderful & talented Elizabeth O. Dulemba has graciously posted a pirate-themed coloring book page for all to download and color in her fabulous style. My kids will now have an after-school activity to do. Thanks Elizabeth!
And speaking of Pirate Day, I was browsing JacketFlap's Newly Published books section, and I noticed that Eloise's Pirate Adventure was published yesterday (Sept. 18th) by Aladdin Paperbacks. Great timing!
Congratulations to our members!
I'd like to send a big congratulations today to two JacketFlap members. Wendy Mass, author of such fabulous books as Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life and A Mango-Shaped Space emailed to say that her new book Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall is now available, written for seventh graders and up.
Also congratulations to Carrie Jones who sold two books to Bloomsbury. The first book is called NEED. Read her Super Great News post for the details. Great job!
Book Stores in the news
Jessica Stockton of The Written Nerd blog did a great job of summing up some recent news articles regarding independent book stores versus the big chains. It is quite interesting to take note that while big chains like Barnes and Nobles are closing shops the independent ma & pa shops might be making a come-back. Read her post here.
New Member Welcome
I always get a kick out of checking JacketFlap's New Members page to see the faces of the people that just joined the site. From time to time, I'm going to introduce some of our new members here in my blog. I'd like everyone to join me today in welcoming Marjorie van Heerden. Since the publication of her first children’s picture book in 1983 Marjorie has written and/or illustrated more than 80 children’s books and has been published in 33 languages in Africa, England, Europe, Canada and the USA. She was born in South Africa, lived in Stellenbosch near Cape Town for 20 years, in Linden, Johannesburg for a decade, travelled for eighteen months on honeymoon in a camper van around Europe, lived for a year on the banks of Lake Michigan in the USA and for four years in a forest on a mountain north of Athens in Greece. Now her studio overlooks False Bay, once again near Cape Town, South Africa. Please leave a comment on Marjorie's profile page to welcome her to JacketFlap!
Tracy
Coordinates: 22 40 S 45 13 E
Elevation: 2526 feet (770 m)
Perhaps best known for its abundance of arboreal, mainly nocturnal primates (in fact the only place in the wild where lemurs remain), Madagascar recently discovered another, more lucrative source of natural wealth: precious gems. (more…)
Shellie, my son, Brett is a 2011 Graduate as well. I find myself reflecting back to his babyhood and his childhood and as I watched him cross the stage so tall and proud I couldn’t help but feeling misty-eyed. Thank you for sharing!
Good job avoiding cake! And congratulations to your daughter.
My weekend was spent on VBS. Our church does VBS in four sessions between Friday night and Sunday morning and hubby and I are the directors–which mostly means I direct him when he needs to carry something Actually, he was in charge of games this year and did a great job. As did all our volunteers.
But I was so happy to see Monday this week