Gotta have my hiking buddies!
For Writing: It's always important to be surrounded by supportive people who believe in you. It takes a whole lotta faith to write a book, sometimes more that you can generate on your own. For me: friends, family and my peeps at Verlas keep me moving forward - with a special shout-out to Hubby: Your encouragement fuels this journey. Thanks for believing in me.
Always fun to watch the skydivers!
For Writing: Always be willing to take risks! Allow your characters to surprise you!
Making the best of getting caught in the rain.
For Writing: Make sure you remember to HAVE FUN along the way!
And don't forget about that lovely lovely ending!
Perfect finish for a memorable day!
Alone!
It was Glorious! The final Tally? Added over 4,000 words to the WIP
Plus about 30 miles on the mountain bike.
Don't 'cha just love her? 'specially the basket!
Trail was a little juicy
But I made it all the way to the end!
Now, if I could only get to the end of this draft...
Good stuff =
Mom, Sis and her fiance made my girl's grand dance performance!
The Girl totally rocked it! (Thank God she's got her Mama's dance skills)
I won the coolest stuff in a drawing at the Bridges Of New York fundraiser!
The Boy and I have already juiced everything in the house and I've been rubbing the bejeweled lips of my new Betsy Johnson bag for good publishing luck.
Then there was the not so good...
My poor baby fractured his thumb when he crushed it in an iron gate at Belmont Racetrack which is near our house.
He has to wear it in a splint for a month - even for swimming.
As you can see, he's taking it better than I am.
He even managed to take this picture of me a few days later.
And this guy kinda reminds me of how things are moving with my submissions right now!
That's my inbox.
How can I possibly get any writing done with all that racket?
1) Frolic in the sunshine
2) Read mountains of books to the 5-year-old:
His new favorite author = Mo Willems - How cool that we met Mo at Comic Con? (Not sure that entitles me to call him Mo tho) (hee hee - Mo tho)
3) Master the Wii Sing-It so 9-year-old stops crushing my lame scores with her superior vocal talent (My family is insanely competitive enjoys spirited competition)
4) Lots more frolicking
5) Finish first draft of WIP
So far:
As everyone knows, this past weekend was Book Expo America, marking one of those times I'm grateful to live close to Manhattan. I didn't actually go to Javits (just made nose-smears on the windows) but I did get to hang with a great group of authors in Chelsea on Saturday night. Here we are looking happy (and it wasn't just because the food at the Half-King was super-yummy topped with cheese) Thank you Toothpaste for sharing the great shot!
Back in my real life, the WIP has been going great, which means my laundry = fail
I'd start folding now, but I hate to wake the kitty
Nine-mile bikeride along the rail trail!
Hanging out and posing on the Walkill Bridge!
Water balloon fights!
And when it got dark? We took Vandura to the Drive-in!
This is what we went to see:
And THIS is Vandura!
Planted a garden, with flowers, corn, greenbeans and 'pickles'
Went bike riding
Spray-painted old wicker furniture
Made milkshakes!
Went on plenty of hikes
Ate at the Red Rooster Cafe - where he held my chair for me like a perfect gentleman
And more bike riding!
Instead of a bowling party with a bunch of other nine-year-olds this is what my girl picked for her birthday:
Hubby and I took her last night and seriously: Greatest Musical Experience Ever! The singing, dancing, set, costumes and humor were all amazing. More than that, I loved the fact that STORY truly drove the show. Plus...there were Flying Monkeys! I'm totally hooked and looking into the ticket lottery so I can justify going again! The night just blew us away:
Quick ride on the LIRR
She picked Applebees for dinner - yum! Note the tell-tale yellow cab outside
Posing in front of the theater
In the lobby - right before our minds were blown by WICKED!! Woo!!
I wish I'd been this cool when I was nine! Here she is this morning in her new 'I heart OZ' tee, Emerald City sunglasses and the confetti they shoot into the audience at the beginning of the show that All Landed on US! Oh, did I forget to mention that our seats were awesome?
This one!
And here's her little brother helping me make her birthday cake:
Woo Hoo! Tonight we're gonna party like our baby's turning nine! *sung to the tune of Prince's 1999*
I got a bit of writing done - YAY, but the main event was:
It's our family tradition to go to an action flick for Mom's day. Last year was Iron Man which ROCKED. And X-men: Origins was pretty darn great in my book too! I love my family. And Hugh Jackman (but only as Wolverine!)
Our beautiful weekend upstate in photos:
The orchard exploded in blossoms!
The words are flowing well - I'm predicting a great month ahead.
*sigh*
My five-year-old's response when we told him that Pop Pop went to heaven:
*thoughtful pause* "I wish that Pop Pop could come down from heaven for just one minute to tell us what God looks like."
As of Monday I'm officially back on submission. It's nice, but I'm pretty over the the whole drama of agonizing for news. I'm content with my writing life right now.
I'm also trying to apply BIC (Yolen's infamous 'Butt in Chair') to the WIP, but it is so beautiful and sunny out, I'm not very hopeful I'll succeed. My urge to get my BOT (butt on trail) is a little too strong to resist today. Maybe a nice long hike with the kiddies will somehow lead to BIC?
From the letter my eight-year-old daughter wrote to the Easter Bunny:
Dear Easter Bunny,
Do NOT worry this is NOT a trap, I just wanted to say some things and ask some things. 1st of all I DO believe in you. I mean why else would I be writing you a letter? Also I am inspired by you (making everyone happy) I wanted to know how tall are you? How old are you? How long does it take to give everyone presents? How many children do you give presents to? How do you get around the world? Lastly, are you friends with Santa Claus? Love, Trinity
P.S. Are you a boy? Please answer my questions in the space you have on this page.
The Bunny's reply:
Dear Trinity,
I hope you don't mind, but I'm using a piece of paper I found on the shelf to reply to your letter. It was so nice to get it, Santa is always bragging because everyone writes to him and I don't get many letters. So to answer that question, Yes, we are friends. Also, I am a male, about six feet tall, and I have been around for a very long time. As for your questions of how I do what I do... It's a big bunny secret!
Happy Easter! Love, The Easter Bunny
It's very difficult to get a picture with neither daschund moving... but we've brought a new member into our herd! Lilly is the blur on the right, and her little sister MILLIE is the newest addition to the Crompton Clan. She came back with us from PA, where she was run off by my mother's evil chihuahua, Zelda.
She is just as sweet and snuggly as Lilly, and now there's a daschund for each child! Harmony at last! Except for my daughter's tendency towards being a 'Daschund Hog'!
And I've found a new form of procrastination! Chasing daschunds around the house with my camera phone!
The other animals are not exactly thrilled...
Sammy keeps giving me his "Are you crazy woman?" look...
and the kitty is keeping his cool facade...
despite being stalked periodically by Millie.
And I've only just realized... I now have more dogs than children. Perhaps the big black dog has a point afterall.
1) On Wednesday I drove the kiddies 8 hours to visit their grandparents in Butler, PA - where I grew up. The drive = sucky. Seeing my son and daughter running through the field I ran in as a child = very cool.
2) I'm doing some research on my super-secret WIP as I'm here. It involves a totally awesome collection of old comics in the basement, but that's all I'm saying.
3) For Lent I'm 'fasting' from my hopes and dreams of getting published. But after Easter? It is ON!
4) We're having turkey for dinner tonight. The last time we were here we had turkey. My kids think it's always Thanksgiving at grandma and grandpa's. And that's kinda cool.
5) This is what the basement suite looked like, less than 16 hours after the grandkids descended:
Can you even see the big black dog?
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