My Revision Process

As most of you know, I'm almost to the point where I'm ready to begin my agent search. I thought I was ready around Thanksgiving, but a dear writing friend advised me that I should have three perfect picture book manuscripts before I begin. Agents want to know you're not going to be a one hit wonder. With that in mind, I went back to my little writing pad and began scribbling away. (Yes, I write my first draft with pen and paper.) My latest story involving twins Jordan and Jeffrey is really coming out nicely. I'm in my revision process, and just thought I would share with you. After I write out my "shitty first draft," as the eloguent Anne Lamott calls it, I type it into my computer. Then I go through and clean up spelling and punctuation and all that. It might seem silly to do that first, but by doing that it makes the story easier to read and easier to find the big mistakes. After that I go through and change things that don't make sense or take out extra chunks that have no purpose. I tend to be super wordy when I write and when you are writing picture books, you gotta get in , say what ya want and get out! After that I begin isolating. I print a hard copy, I take my favorite pink pen and I circle all the verbs. This is usually where I notice I have used the same word fifteen times. Then I will go in and look at my dialogue to make sure it's true to each character. Around this time when it's beginning to make sense I read it out loud to my family. It's extremely helpful to hear how it sounds and to get feedback. My hubby actually pointed out a part where I talked about the peanut butter jar being empty and then had the kids still using the same jar. (See, hubbies are good for something besides bug killing and car repair.) Now I am working to make sure I have the five senses involved throughout the story. This step ensure that your setting comes to life for your reader.

I am having a lot of fun with this story. It turns out that my twins really love to bicker, and the girl twin is very bossy. (Hmm, sounds like someone I know. Hello daughter.) In January I'm coming into just a little bit of money (don't tell the hubby) so I plan to use that to send my story out for professional editing. Have I mentioned how much I love Eileen at F1rst Pages? She rocks. I learned so much from working with her on Color Me Cori that I was able to apply those same corrections to this story. I think she will be impressed with how much I have grown. I know I'm impressed with myself!! Until next time.

Amazing Discovery

Hope everyone had a great holiday. My family and I had a very quiet, stress free day. The kids played with their new toys, and I laid on the couch pretending I was in Aruba.

I bought my kids an amazing dvd for Christmas that anyone who has kids or works with kids should own. Stranger Safety is produced by John Walsh and the chick who created Baby Einstein. It teaches kids how to be safe without being scary. It is very funny and silly, but at the time has great information that was good for me as a parent to know. It equipped me with specific vocabulary to use when having conversations about safety with my children. They never use the word stranger which is important. They categorize people as "Safe Side Adults" "Kinda Knows" and "Don't Knows". They had about 6 tips that kids need to remember and my daughter totally got them. Of course we will practice to make sure, but at least she could verbalize them and tell me the reason behind the rule. Please get a copy for yourself or a friend. Let's empower our kids to stay on the Safe Side. Until next time.

PS: Sorry if you have tried to leave a comment and couldn't. It is fixed now.

Book Review: Shine Coconut Moon

Wrapping up 2009, with a great book by Neesha Meminger. Shine Coconut Moon follows seventeen-year-old Samar in a post 9/11 world. She is an Indian teen struggling to make sense of this new era that crashed down on the world as well as discover who she is as an Indian-American. When her Sikh uncle walks back into her life after a 15 year absence, the life her mother has so carefully crafted for the two of them begins to crumble.

Remember what it what like as a teen? I remember life already being confusing and scary. Can you imagine being a teen now? Ms. Meminger does a great job of capturing the many intricate aspects of teen life. Her characters want to be sexy adults but also want to snuggle up with mom. Samar and her best friend Molly discuss sex, experiment with alcohol and of course spend lots of time checking out boys. (I guess some things never change. ) There was one part in the book that did make me feel like an old lady. Samar and her boyfriend chat via text message. It took me at least a minute to decipher "l8r." What is up with all the code speak? Are we in the CIA or something? Darn whippersnappers!! Anywho, Shine Coconut Moon is a lovely book. If you have a teen in your life this would be a great last minute Christmas gift. It is a beautifully crafted story of family, friendship, tolerance and embracing your heritage. This was Ms.Meminger's first novel. I look forward to seeing what other tales she will come up with. Until next time.

Surviving the Holidays

Okay folks, here we go. Christmas is but a few anxiety filled days away. Do you have all your presents wrapped? Made your dinner menu? Yes? Good. Now for the next step. Preparing for the event. You know, the arrival of family. On Christmas day when Uncle Don comes over has too much to drink and picks a fight with his brother Ron and you need an escape, I got you covered. When your mother-in-law comes over and criticizes your turkey, I got you covered. When you kids complain because they didn't get the dog they asked Santa for, I got you covered. Here is your survival guide.

1) Get a glass of wine (or two or three, depending on how much family is in the house).

2) Grab your laptop and find a cozy, quiet place to hide(closets are always a good choice).

3) Click on one of these websites, drink, laugh and wish yourself a Merry Christmas. You deserve it.

amazingly weird handmade crafts

amazingly weird food creations

amazingly weird family photos

Enjoy my friends. Until next time.

Learning Curve

I love lists. I love making them, I love reading them, I just love lists. This time of year is great for me because every magazine and news show wants to do a retrospective of the year. 2009 is extra great because we even get lists covering the last ten years. Score for me!!! With that in mind, I decided to make my own list of 3 major things I have learned this year. There are more, but I will spare you.

1) Never say never - Before this year I was the girl that was really only using my computer to check my email, buy stuff on Craigslist and occasionally see what time a movie started. Now I have a blog, I am on facebook and just got on twitter. I never in a million years would have thought I would be so connected. Now I am so happy to be connected to all of you.**gently wipes eyes with hanky**

2) Control What You Can Control- This has kind of been a crazy year for me in my personal life. I would tell you all about it, cuz I am pretty much an open book, but I won't bore you with all that. Here are the things I can control: my attitude(how I approach things), my health (I can eat right, exercise and all that for maximum fighting power) my writing(it is up to me to write daily and invest in my own creativity). I can't control when I get published.(Please God let it be soon!) and I can't control other people. Essentially I am taking the advice I always gave my second graders when they would come tattling to me about someone else. " Just worry about yourself, because that is a full time job."

3) Remember me? It's me!- Rediscovering my creative self has been the best thing for my spirit. As a mom of little ones you tend to lose yourself. Before I had kids I was a dancer. I am not dancing anymore, but I have channeled that creativity into writing. I think it is just vital to have a dream and work towards it.

Those have been some great lessons for me this year. I love when the universe helps you sift through all your s#$^ I mean stuff to get to the pure gold. Until next time friends, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza and all that jazz!!!

Website Address

Okay I guess if I want you to look at my website I should at least tell you where to find it.

www.margiesrose.com

Busy Bee

I have been a busy little bee while I have been stuck at home with sick kids and a snow day. You can now find me on twitter and my website is up. Please be patient as I am still making some changes to my blog. Check out my website and tell me what you think.

margiesrose.com

Testing 1, 2, 3......

Hey! Testing my new twitter and facebook feeds!!! Can you hear me now?

Sorry

Will get back to posting soon. The whole family has been sick.

What The.....

Is today April Fools, because this is the craziest thing I have seen in a long time. I am shocked, offended, disturbed, saddened. I can't even believe this was actually printed. Check out this weeks Publisher's Weekly cover. Major controversy and discussion is happening out there in the blogosphere.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/toc-archive/2009/20091214.html

Cover Story:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6711430.html

What another blogger has to say:
http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/archives/2009/12/you_have_got_to.html

Comments from the editorial director

http://www.blogher.com/black-writers-fail-publishers-weeklys-afro-pick-cover#comments

They should really be ashamed of themselves. Until next time.

And the Verdict Is.....

The library said no to hosting my book club for African-American boys. I am really disappointed. They said they can't host things that are gender based or race based. I guess I understand in a way, but it is still a sad state of affairs. On the one hand we seem to talk a lot about how our boys are struggling and what can we do to save them, but then we don't put the effort in to saving them. Anyway, I am feisty and I am determined, so on to plan B. I have contacted an African-American church in the area to see if they will be able to provide a space for the group. I feel confident that they will say yes. I also have someone who is going to design flyers for me, I just need to be able to give him the specific details. I am excited. I know this has the potential to be really great. Wish me luck!!! Until next time.

Best Book of 2009

Everywhere you look someone is doing a retrospective of the year or decade. Over on the other side of the blogospere, Nathan Bransford has posed the question what is your vote for best book published in 2009? Well, if I could I would say Push, but it was published in the early 90's although I only discovered it this year. It was hard to remember which books I read this year that were actually published in 2009. Looking back over my book list, I actually read 16 Class of 2009 books. Hard to choose a favorite. I will choose my top 5.

1) Columbine
2) Hold Love Strong
3) Wintergirls
4) The Help
5) 13 Reasons Why

What were your favorites. Until next time.

R.A.D. Boyz Update

I have been trying to get my R.A.D. Boyz book club off the ground and it is harder than I thought. I finally (after much groaning and gnashing of teeth) was able to get an appointment with the head librarian of one of the local libraries. I had my stuff organized, had a great little presentation to show her why she needs to put us on the schedule. She was very excited and thought it was a great idea and something needed in the community but.... she is not too sure it will fly. Why you ask? Because I am targeting two groups: not just boys, but African-American boys. I explained to her that everyone is welcome to come but I will be focusing my book choices on books with African-American boys as the main characters. She said she would let me know but didn't sound very hopeful. (She had to consult the head, head librarian.) She wants to figure out a way to word it so it doesn't sound so exclusive. I don't know, I'm kind of bummed. I was hoping she would rush to get me on the schedule. Oh well, our boys are worth the fight. If the library says no, then I will try a church or maybe community center. Wish me luck. I will keep you posted. Until next time.

Dear Santa....

Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is a publishing contract (and maybe a pair of killer black boots). I have been really good this year. Well, I have been pretty good this year. Well, at least I have been better than Tiger Woods.

Love,
Jeannine

Backpack Buddies

I just read in the paper this morning about a community group that needs more volunteers to help stuff backpacks full of food so schoolkids won't go hungry on the weekends. The backpacks are for children on free or reduced lunch meaning they don't have the money to pay for school lunch, and that without the benefit of two meals a day provided by school might go hungry. Hmm, reminds me that I have a lot to be thankful for. What about you? Until next time.

P.S. I did email the group to see if I could help stuff backpacks.

I'm the Mother of Twins

Congratulate me everyone, I'm the proud Momma of twins Jordan and Jeffrey!! They are fraternal, eight maybe nine year old twins. I just finished a first draft of a new story I started over the weekend. I am very excited. I had to put my other story on ice for a bit. Some stories are harder to birth than others. This story poured out of me. It was awesome. I have been reading The Right to Write by Julia Cameron and it has really changed my approach to writing. She writes in such a soothing voice and her advice is basically to just write. Don't beat yourself up, don't make it this big deal, just write. She also says there is really no such thing as being in the mood to write. You just write whenever and wherever. So if you haven't read the book writer friends please do. Anyway, back to my twins. The idea just came to me and I started writing. Here are some clues to what is in the book. Twins, a dog, a clean kitchen, peanut-butter. Aren't you just intrigued?? It is five pages long which is over 1, 000 words, way too long for a picture book. Like I said it is just the first draft so it is pretty terrible and won't look anything like the final product, but it is nice to have something to work with. Now I can go in and clean it up, change things, delete things, have a friend read it for me. You can't do any of that when the idea is just floating around in your head. I really did not want to start a new work. As I mentioned in a previous post, I really had planned to just use December to find my creative mojo again. However, when my friend said I needed to have 3 polished manuscripts ready before I start my agent search, that kind of changed things. Everything is such a long process and I am just so anxious to be on the path. I know there is no hurry, but when you want something so badly it is hard to wait. (Just ask my daughter who keeps looking at the presents under the tree and asking is today Christmas? Yes, I am completely done with my Christmas shopping and wrapping of gifts cause that's how I roll!) I wanted to get my agent letter out at the beginning of January, but it will be awhile before this story is anywhere near ready. I also want to get it edited and first I have to hustle up the money, and secon once I send it to get edited that will take a month or more before I get it back and then if I have to make changes, even more time. So it is a long process and I am trying to honor the journey and be patient but....... Until next time.

Does Size Matter??

A question for the ages. So I am working on building my website. I have been checking out other folks sites just to get ideas and make sure I am on the right path. On the home page of one site, the author talks about her blog and how many followers she has. Does is matter how many followers she has? Will someone look at that and say oh she has 300 followers so it must be good. I only have 13 registered followers, but I think mine is pretty good. (This is were you reassure me of my brilliance.) So if you do believe size matters, please register as a follower. If you don't think size matters, sign on anyway. Until next time.

I'm Published!!! (sort of )

So the local newspaper has an open invitation for guest columns. I submitted my article and they published it 3 days later. They only caveat (cool word, hope I'm using it right) is that they published it in Letters to the Editor. @^%$*&* newspaper!! Not quite as prestigious as a column, but what's a girl to do. Now, riddle me this Batman. I figured if it was a guest column I could use it as a publishing credit. I doubt a letter to the editor counts as a publishing credit, or does it?? (she inquired, hands stroking chin, eyebrows going up and down in a curious manner) I know I have a few international visitors, so you might not be familiar with the story. A quick recap. My article is basically a small tribute to a little girl named Shania Davis who was killed a few weeks ago. It turns out her own mother sold her as a sex-slave. She was only 5 years old. Anyway, being a mom and a human being, I was pretty devastated, so I just wanted to be a voice for Shania and other children who are faced with monsters. Tell me what you think. Until next time.

http://www.thedurhamnews.com/viewpoints/story/200198.html