The Library Blog challenge was fun!

THANK YOU to all who commentend on my blog about it and my childhood library

I'll post a list of the books I'm donating after I get them all sent.

I will be donating the books to this organization --

http://www.bridgeofbooksfoundation.org/giving.htm

because BooksFirst hasn't responded to my email
[- their website is dated 2007 - so maybe they aren't in existence anymore?

On some blogs the library challenge is still going on

check out http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/

for Jen -- who started it all -- she has a list of links to others participating in the challenge! !

And I love this challenge -- http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/tag/library+challenge

More about her challenge at the end of this post --

This is the library I walked to almost everyday, when I was growing up. The children's section had a separate stairway entrance to the basement. I loved taking out books and watching the librarian put my card with the metal plate in it, into her machine and it popped out the the marker listing when the book was due back. The metal plate impressed me as being special and permanent!






This is the marker outside the library






This is the Bergen County Historical Society Library -- I spent most of the day there yesterday - doing research and looking through old photos and postcards =)


http://www.bergencountyhistory.org/Pages/librarycollections.html







ABOUT THE CHALLENGE --


For every unique commenter on this post between now and Tuesday evening March 31st, I will donate a book to BooksFirst! or another organization that collects books for children & schools.

How easy could it be? You comment, I donate a book, & a child gets their own book.

[ I know- the idea is to donate to a library - but I already do that in a way by paying for a library card - I pay $100/year in order to use the services and take out books in the Monmouth County library system of libraries - my town's library isn't in it - so that's why I have to pay]


Note that my pledge is “per commenter”—so if a single person leaves 50 comments, that still only counts once! But you can do more by spreading the word ... please link to this post, and send your friends here so they can comment and raise more money. For a complete list of participating bloggers (and to visit other sites where you can help libraries just by leaving a comment!) visit the writerjenn blog at: http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/90430.html

I wonder what Walt would think!

I never had a Barbie doll --

My dolls were --

Tressy! with the hair that grows

I had the one where you could also change her haircolor with markers that you could wash out of it.





I had a Tammy Brite doll including that great carrying case =)





and Thunderbolt!






What dolls did you play with when you were young?

I just joined this week - during our snowstorm. It's kind of fun scanning through the messages from those I follow. I follow some agents, writers, online friends, and editors. I also get a kick out of following Jake Tapper,David Gregory and George Stephanopolous.

Still trying to figure out most of the gizmo - and trying not to spend too much [? ] time there =)

My name here is my name there

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!







My favorite is The Lorax

Enjoy

http://www.powerofattitudemovie.com/


Right now, I have to go out and shovel the slush before it has a chance to turn into inches of ice.

You can download it for free at Oprah.com

I've scheduled next week as a Novel Revision Retreat for myself =)

My goals the rest of this week are
to write a few pieces and get them ready to send to the critique groups I'm in
finish critiques I owe
gather up supplies - which means a trip to Staples and the bookstore
Put $$ aside for LUNCH OUT = Panera, a Mexican Restaurant and other places nearby
Pack some help for the revision process -- books & critiques on my last draft of YA


One of the books I'm going to use for this 'retreat'



I read through it and marked off the pages that have exercises and steps for the revision process
I'm looking forward to using it =)

Here's a soundtrack - for today

Feel free to add to it -- either in a comment below or on your own LJ


America, The Beautiful : Ray Charles





and for Pamela Ross----

Bruce Springsteen: THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND








MY COUNTRY TIS OF THEE





Lift Every Voice & Sing -- when I was a kid -- I was amazed that this was in the hymnal at our church =)

Watch this and see the portaits of the presidents up to & including Obama





here's Will i am -- It's a New Day





Yes We Can





And Still I Rise




I'm Proud to Be an American

http://www.mlkday.gov/


I HAVE A DREAM AUGUST 28, 1963

[entire speech ]




Obama Inuaguration Concert - Bruce Springsteen -Beyonce- Pete Seeger-01-18-09

Elizabeth Alexander
will read a poem at the Inauguration

I’m pondering that today as I go back into my YA and work on combining a couple characters and adding 2 more and bringing one more into focus


In WRITE AWAY Elizabeth George explains…

“Character is story
Dialogue is character.
Bringing a character to life depends on prior and complete knowledge of that character followed by an understanding of dialogue’s function and the select use of telling details.”



"Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences." --Anne McCaffrey

Friday 5 - a day late


Here's her website

http://www.louiseborden.com/index2.html


Five of my Favorites of the books I read this week


~ Fly High, Bessie!




~Off To First Grade




The Last Day of School



~ ACROSS THE BLUE PACIFIC




~ THE DAY EDDIE MET THE AUTHOR




QUOTE -- "Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.
We must not permit anything to stand between us and the book that
could change our lives." --Jim Rohn

My next mentor [ via her books] is Elizabeth George

right now I'm reading

Write Away: One Novelist's Approach to Fiction and the Writing Life
by Elizabeth George




– an interview with her [they don’t allow the embed feature for this one ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZGd3iDEsM

Some of her process and information gathering for her novels

Here’s a website that has webcasts of authors speaking at the National Book Festival


http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/2005/authors.html


I just had breakfast with Patricia Reilly Giff =)

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/2005/giff.html

Letting go can be difficult -- but I have to remember that by letting some thing or some one go - I'm making room for more!


I had to explain to a critique group member that she had to critique or leave the group. We take turns submitting = one person each week, and then everyone else critiques. She hadn't critiqued anything in 3 weeks and kept telling me -- "next week - I'll critique who's ever up"
Well, it was her turn and I didn't want her to take advantage and post her ms when she hadn't critiqued anything. I gave her another chance and she still didn't want to critique - so she's gone. I wish her well – but her weirdness in other things took up sooo much time and brainspace – away from my writing and life.

So-- Moving on, and making space for someone else there.

~ ~ After thinking hard about many valid points in a critique I rec’d on my YA – I had to let go of a few plotpoints/subplots

Now in my YA -- I have a new plot plan and after checking with the MC [ =) ] - I see that I need to get rid of a few characters and make room for others, or combine some into one.

I'm looking forward to see what develops =)


It's time to Move On --- [ this is a song from Sunday in the Park With George]




Here’s a longer version – an actual scene from the musical

I had some great little surprises for my YA yesterday =)

I went to Borders armed wih a coupon and $5 in Borders bucks to get a paperback. We were supposed to have a snowstorm yesterday - so I wanted to be ready with a YA and some hot chocolate.
They didn't have any of the books I was looking for - BUT there was a book NEXT to an author that I was considering. When I saw the cover and read the back of the book -- I knew I could use it to enhance my YA -- for research. I hadn't heard of the author or the book!

Before I even opened the book - I had a flash of of a better plot/ throughline for my YA
and I'm thrilled and have been hanging out with my characters to see what they think and where it's all going *\0/* YaY!

And I have a new title for it!! initials are YW

We didn't have much snow after all. bummer
But the book and the hot chocolotae mix I bought = great


Claire Cook says to stay open to surprises

I’m getting post-its and hi-liters ready to go through my YA one more time. I swapped manuscripts for critique with an author of a great unique middle grade and I learned a lot in the process.

Now that I have her critique of YCCBN – I’m ready to persevere and read through it with ‘new eyes’ and make it even better =)



"As Julie Andrews said, 'Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.' We've all heard the stories before. Dr. Seuss's first book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was said to have been rejected by 28 editors before finding a home at Random House. According to Internet sources, anywhere from 'several' to eight or twelve U.K. publishers turned down Harry Potter before Bloomsbury offered a contract. And Kate DiCamillo suffered through 470 rejection letters before Because of Winn-Dixie was published. What if any of these authors had stopped trying? If your goal is to be published, think of everything you do now as a step closer to your goal. If you write one book that doesn't seem to be working, move on to your next book—not every book you write will or should be published. Life is a journey, and so is your path to publication. Enjoy yourself along the way."

--Alvina Ling