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If you see a strange sight on I-95 South today, it's probably me and my dog and pony show, heading to the VEMA Rappahannock Regional Conference. (That's where all the cool Media Specialists gather.)

Well, I WISH I had a dog and pony I could take along, but it's just going to be me and my laptop and several thousand of my well-rehearsed words.

Wish me luck.

Let's catch up when I get back...

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I'm at it again. Another presentation---filled with sight and sound---is being created on my laptop, and this one, I'm sure, will be seen in its full glory next week at the

VEMA Rappahannock Regional Conference

because this time, I have the correct connecting cord (mini-DVI to VGA, if you must know.) I will, however, again be backing up everything to a PowerPoint DVD, on the off-chance that this cord flunks as spectacularly as the last three. I feel simultaneously like the most careful and the most daring presenter in the world.

I'm also working (more slowly) on the YA poetry manuscript I burned through after the SCBWI NY conference. 40 poems! Yippee! On the other hand, I have only a vague idea of how they tell a story. Not-so-yippee. Must work on this. Actually, I love working on this.

And I have completed a pass at an outline of New Recruit that my editor requested. I need to clean it up a bit, and also scribble madly in my novel notebook everything that came to the surface as I did this. An outline is never simply an outline. An outline is like those x-rays they take at the dentist to detect hidden cavities. Yup, I see all my novel's flaws in stark contrast to what I had hoped it was. I knew this would happen, which is why I had to trick myself into doing it by importing the manuscript into Scrivener, and using the synopsis function, so I could have those cute little index cards to push around and play with. *

On the other hand, I had moments as I was re-reading my manuscript for the first time in two months, of not recognizing my own writing. Oh! That's good! Look how she did that! That's when I know the story is working---when I don't recognize the hand behind it.

*Anybody else out there use techno-gadgets, like presentation or writing software, to motivate themselves to tackle a task? I feel as if I might be a geek amongst Luddites.

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Well, I didn't have Biff to announce it as he did for George McFly in "Back to the Future," but there was indeed a box delivered to my house Thursday with, you guessed it, books! Copies of MY BOOK! The UPS guy must never have rung the doorbell and I only discovered the box when I went out for the mail. 

As Mal and the crew of Serenity would say, "Shiny!" (Can you tell we like movies in my house?)


 

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Yoohoo Debut Authors--Who Wants to Be in First Books?...

Since the 2008 CWIM just hit stores, it's the time of the year where I embark on the fun task of planning the lineup for the next CWIM. This includes the popular piece "First Books," our annual article featuring four or five debut authors talking about their paths to publication, their experience, and (of course) their books!

This post is my official call for potential First Books candidates. This is open to authors, illustrators and author/illustrators who have debut books coming out in late 2007 or early 2008 (or thereabouts). Cover art would need to be available to me by late January/early February 2008, and a copy of the book would need to be available by December. (I don't want to interview someone unless I can read their book first.)

If you're interested in being considered for First Books, email me at [email protected] and tell me a little about you and your book, including the publication date and publisher. If you have a website, include that as well.

If I don't choose you for First Books (and it's so hard to choose!) you may end up as a Debut Author of the Month in my CWIM newsletter and this blog. The deadline for contacting me is Friday August 31.

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