Perfect

Is there such a thing as a TOO-GOOD mother?

You know, the one who keeps an immaculate house.

Prepares an organic, unprocessed, home cooked, original meal every night of the week AND stays within the food budget.

Has the laundry done and folded and nicely placed in everyone's drawers. (No one need ever scour the dirty clothes hamper for not-too-filthy socks.)

Knits sweaters with certified organic alpaca yarn.

Never yells.

Never cries.

Wears high heels without falling.

Has perfect hair.

Is never sharp, prickly or selfish.

Is never late. 

Has a craft prepared for every holiday and for every holiday a craft.

Anticipates her child's every need. He need never ask for anything. He need never wait.

But best of all, she destroys any chance her children have of ever being happy with a spouse, because they'll always be comparing either themselves or their spouse to HER.

All my shortcomings as a parent are actually Gifts to my children, because there are more important personality traits than perfection.

Now, don't you feel better?

Where in the World...?

I know I've been MIA around here lately and I'm SORRRRRY!

I decided to take it easy during the month of April, and taking it easy somehow morphed into DON'T BLOG AT ALL.

I attended the Western Washington SCBWI conference in Seattle last weekend and it was fabulous! I learned so much at this conference, I'm still reeling and living off fumes. I'll probably be sharing little writing tip tidbits over the next few weeks (nothing copyrighted, I promise!).

I've also been writing a lot -- trying to get the first/second/third draft of my WiP finished. The reason it's a first/second/third draft is also something for another blog post. *rolls eyes*

And I've been reading. One book on top of another. In fact, the little table next to my bed is piled so high with books, I'm often afraid it will collapse in the middle of the night.

Here's what I'm reading:

Novel in verse! *swoon*  And I got to meet Author Stasia Kehoe at the conference AND Editor Kendra Levin.

My first Justina Chen novel! And the love interest is a Chinese American boy with a cleft lip! So cool.

Sara is an agent sister of mine; wonderful book so far! I love the concept.

What have you been up to in the month of April? Any good books you've read that I should know about?

Putting the Spring in Break

Last week was spring break for my dashingly handsome sidekick and kids. We stayed home and did ... not much of any particular note except:

• lots of weed pulling (dashingly handsome sidekick and small slaves)
• lots of essay writing (dashingly handsome sidekick who is working feverishly on his National Board certification)
• lots of gymnastics (six year old upped her hours over the break and hit some new milestones-- her first kip & cartwheel on the beam; she's getting ready for state testing this summer)
• lots of reading (especially my eleven year old -- pictured below)
• and I wrote more than 10,000 words on my YA contemporary WiP. (Yay!)

So it was a productive vaykay and I enjoyed the sleeping in a lot. It'll be tough to get everyone up early and back to school tomorrow, and I won't lie, I'll miss my crazy kids (even if they do fight a lot).

My daughter and her snuggly reading buddy

How about you? When was your spring break? Did you do anything fun?

Spring Blessings

 Spring has arrived!

 It's the time of year you can take a book and read anywhere.

Tomorrow is my favorite holiday. 

I love it for many reasons (including chocolate!), but this is the biggest one:

"While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.' ... Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, 'This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.'" 

~ Luke 24: 36-39, 45-47

Have a wonderful Easter!

My So-Called Teenage Life Blog Hop: Part Deux

I reached back even farther in time for this blog hop entry--all the way back to age thirteen, so hope you enjoy the ridiculousness! All grammar and spelling mistakes included, of course....

8th Jan, 1991

Dear Diary,

today Paul was sitting in English across the isle and one in front. He kept glancing back at me. I told Belinda that was looking at her, but I'm not sure if that's altogether true. I think that he was really looking at me ... Do you think it would be possible? I doubt that he likes me. He's a real nice guy and I like  being his friend, but I don't like him or anything. Am I making any sense at all?! I think I'm rambling on....

Anyway, Andrew Parker actually talked to me! He said, "Hello, Amy." in french and was making strange faces at me when I messed up. I really made a fool out of myself in french about markings. I feel really dumb.

I still think David Clark is cute, but I'm almost positive that he is a Brit. Why do all the really cute boys have to be Brit's here. Actually there aren't any American boys in the whole school, so I guess that explains it all. (I'm rambling again!)

Belinda still likes Fraser and Charlotte still likes Chris. They are both cute, but awfully old. They are both in lower six. Vangie Glass, the idiot, is Chris' girlfriend. It's disgusting! Fraser is really short.

Dominic Giles is so stupid. He asked me out today ... now don't flip! He asked everyone in my class (excluding boys, of course.) It was dumb because he goes, "Will you go out with me?" "No" , "Pleazzze", "Alright." "Good," "Nevermind, I dump you."

I know that is totally immature, but you know how childish things can be extremely fun.

Drama was fun. Our play kind of flopped. It's supposed to be a tragedy, but everyone was laughing. I was almost on the floor with laughing. We badly need to rehearse. I had awful cramps!

Jhalmar skived school today, I'm sure. He always does.

I'm sick, but I still want to go to school! Because I have to be with my family for 6 months! This is my last chance to b round people my age!

Luv Amy

9th Jan, 1991

Dear Diary,

First I said his name was Dominic, then I said his name was David Clark ... well, I've got it right this time, it's David Miller.

Claire is flirting like crazy. Andrew Parker is jealous. Why? Because he and Claire (Wilson) were really good friends, but now Claire is paying all her attention to David, Andrew is left out! It's hard to picture Parker being jealous. I know that Parker is jealous because he told me in French. I hope that we can get to know each other better (NOT in a boyfriend/girlfriend situation, but being friends.) HE NEEDS SOME HELP!! He's honestly grose. Today he spit a bit of gob-stopper onto my back by accident. It was green and really sticky!! YUCK!

It's only 20 more days until we got back to America. 12 more days of school. I'm excited, but mainly because I want to get my hair permed and get new clothes. I'm so material.

Anyway, my sister is a pain, as usual and she fell onto a fence and hurt her leg. She wants to stay home because of 2 scratches! How fake.

Anyway, have to go. I think Robert's friends think I love him!! Yuck! That's old.

But I can't wait for Disneyland.

Luv Amy

Have fun hopping!

WQI: Kelley Lynn, FRACTION OF STONE

Today is a great day because my bloggy buddy, Kelley Lynn, has her debut book birthday! To celebrate the release of FRACTION OF STONE (Sapphire Star Publishing), I'm pulling out all the stops and doing a World's Quickest Interview (WQI). Kelley has also sweetened the deal with a FRACTION OF STONE giveaway. (Check it out at the bottom of this post.)

You guys may remember the WQI drill. I ask a question and the featured author answers in Twitter style, preferably 40 characters or less. (Though I let them fudge sometimes and that's okay.)

Take it away, Kelley!

 




Describe your book in one sentence.  
One sentence?!?! Wait, that's not it. :) 

The greatest obstacle for saving mankind isn’t the bizarre creatures, extreme betrayals and magic-fearing men; it’s that the only one who can, doesn’t believe the world is worth saving.
 


How long have you been writing?

Since July 2011

Amy's note: Okay, that's not very long, Kelley. *bows head in awe*

Besides writing, what do you like to do most?

Sing. I used to be in a classic rock band. Due to time restraints I make guest appearances when area bands need help.

Amy's note: That is so cool. 

Who’s your favorite One Direction singer?

Okay, I know who these guys are, but I don't know their names :)

Amy's note: That's really okay.

What are three things you’d do on a perfect day?

Write, Sing, Hang out with friends/family/dog

All expenses paid vacation: where would you go?

Travel the world ;) Haha! I'd like to go to South America. Hike to Machu Pichu. Stuff like that.

 

Ice cream or cupcakes?

Ice Cream! It's like its own food group :)

Amy's note: Good answer. 

Early bird or night owl?

Both! 

Three words about what it feels like to reach your book birthday.

Finally! Exciting. Fulfilling.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Everyone can do this as long as they never give up.


Thank you so much for being here, Kelley! Kelley is so cool! Please check out her blog, buy her book (and/or enter the giveaway below), and say a big congratulations!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Love: Out of the Easy

My good bud, Melissa Sarno, recommended this book and had such wonderful things to say about it, I had to pick it up.

Melissa wasn't lying. This is an amazing read.

And this cover! *Swoon, gasp, die*

I love the textures and the colors, just everything about it. I could curl in a fetal position with this book close to my face and not need to surface for days.

Do you like it? Have you read it?

Blog Hopping Again!

You're invited to join the 

My So-Called Teenage Life Blog Hop

Part Deux 

March 25, 2013 

hosted by Andrea of Maybe It's Just Me, Christa Desir and Yours Truly

We couldn't get enough of this last time, so we're doing it again.

Here's how the blog hop works:

 

Step One: Sign up on the linky below

Step Two: Dust off those old sappy diaries bursting with teenage angst or high school notebooks filled with bad poetry*

Step Three: Skim through them until you find something share-worthy

Step Four: On Monday, March 25 POST IT on your blog

Optional: We all love seeing old photos, so if you have one lying around of you as a teen, post that, too.

If you'd like an example, >>here<< is my blog hop post from last year. 

We'll all be hopping around peeking into each other's private teenage lives on March 25. C'mon! What else do you have to do? (Definitely nothing this fun!)

*Didn't write in a journal or compose poetry as a teenager? Have no fear! Counterfeit entries are welcome. Pretend you're a teenager and write whatever you feel. Just make sure you're using your teenage voice.

And if you're still a teenager, hey, you're going to basically rock this blog hop.

Sign up here.

National Grammar Day

Today are National Grammar Day.

Which means we should all pay extra, attention to how and where, we punctuate and try our very best to avoid run-on seteneces, spelling mistakes and making sure our tenses were always consistent.

Because we need to be, clear, when we communicate right?! And if your going to call yourself a writer then you have to 2 B clear. YES?!?!?! Because its not really about rulez its about getting you're point across to you're audience. without Being DISTRACTING.

So please do yourself a favor today and have a blast on National Grammar Day today don't stay out too late get plenty of sleep. Because you never know when those Grammar police will knock on your door and give you a grammar pop quiz. Their mean like htat.
 

Photo credit: clarita from morguefile.com

The Next Big Thing Round 2

It's March! It's March!

To celebrate the first day of March, I'm finally going to post my second entry for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop. My lovely writing pals Myrna Foster, Christa Desir and SJ Kincaid all tagged me, and I agreed to play. Even though I've already done one of these for my contemporary YA Under Dark Water, I have another WiP, too. So ... round 2.



1. What is the working title of your book?
Red Butterfly

2: Where did the idea come from for the book?

A friend’s parents were having trouble adopting their two Chinese daughters and, since I’d been through the fire with our adoption, my friend asked for advice. Their story chipped away at my heart. I started thinking about all the children who are kept from fully belonging to people who love them because of red tape and restrictions. This book was born from that heart-heavy concern for my friend's family.

3: What genre does your book come under?
Middle grade verse

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Are verse novels ever made into movies? Name one that has been and I’ll answer this question. ;)

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Twelve-year-old Kara is Chinese, living in China with American parents; but when she discovers she was never legally adopted and that her parents face repatriation, her life goes through a drastic metamorphosis.

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?

My lovely agent will hopefully start submitting to editors sometime this month. (Eek!)

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

The very first draft? Oh man, this book has been through SO MANY DRAFTS, I can’t remember the first one. It started life as a YA over a year ago and has been completely rewritten four times, and then revised extensively after that. So yeah, no idea. Seriously.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I really hate doing this because people might think I’m saying my book is as good as these books. So, if I answer this question, please don’t think I’m cocky. The two books that come to mind are HOME OF THE BRAVE by Katherine Applegate and INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai. (Both amazing and I highly recommend them.)

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired by adopting families who so often have to face insane hardships to see their adoptions go through. This book is for them. I was also inspired by my Chinese daughter, Olivia. If this novel ever sees the light of publication day, I’m dedicating it to her.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s set mostly in Tianjin, China. If you like novels in verse, you might like it. And Kara has a minor disability—she has only one finger on her right hand. 

I'm not going to tag anyone this time (I know, I know -- hand slap!). But honestly, if you haven't done this yet and you'd like to, let me know in the comments and I'll do a separate post later to direct people to your blog. How's that for a great deal? 

And even if you don't feel like answering all ten questions, tell me in the comments what you're working on. I'd love to know!

Cover Love: With a Name Like Love

I'm finally sitting down to read Tess Hilmo's WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE.

It's taken me way too long to get to this book. I'm utterly ashamed.

But I wanted to pause before I start reading and give some cover love, because having this book in my hot little hands made me appreciate the beauty of the cover even more.

Isn't it lovely? I love the colors so much. The clouds are cool. The RV in the background gives us a hint as to the book's era. Just all around great middle grade cover.

Have you read a book with a pretty cover lately?