Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Category: Travel (Page 6 of 14)

Event Announcements and Updates

I have my first book signing coming up in just over a week. If you live in Connecticut or southern New England, I’d love for you to come by. I’ll be at Bank Square Books in beautiful downtown Mystic, CT on April 5 from 2-4 pm. I’ll be signing copies of Elixir Bound, talking writing and books (or whatever topics may come up), and giving away my shiny new bookmarks.

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Mystic is awesome and I recommend making a day trip out of it (we vacationed there for a week last September). There’s a bunch of great shops and restaurants, the Mystic Seaport, Mystic Aquarium, and Olde Mystick Village.

Also, I’ve been invited to participate in the Milford Author Day at the Milford, CT Public Library on June 11 from 5-8 pm. This is incredibly close to my due date, so I’m a maybe, but there will be other great authors there and exciting presentations as well. I’ll have more details on this event as it approaches (and fingers crossed that I’ll be able to attend).

And finally, Amazon has been dropping the price of Elixir Bound in paperback. Currently it’s $6.83 ($4.12 off the cover price and only $1.33 more than the ebook). I’d be happy to send anyone who purchases (or has purchased) it a signed bookplate. Just use my contact me page to send me an email.

Okay, that’s all for my announcements. Have a great weekend, everyone!

Staying Grounded

Okay, some blog tour stuff first (because I know you all are dying to hear more about my blog tour–hey, quit the groaning!). I’m over at the blog of Stuart R. West (who you all met last month when he guest blogged about Females in YA and his Tex, The Witch Boy books) offering some sage (I hope!) advice about book openings, including my favorite ones.

Now for the actual intended blatherings of today’s post…staying grounded. Earlier this summer I embarked on a mission to ground myself every day. No, not I-stayed-out-past-my-curfew-and-got-grounded kind of grounded. A more literal kind of grounded, as in putting my feet on the earth kind of grounding.

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The hubby and I getting grounded in St. Lucia.

There seems to be some legitimate(?) health benefits to this and certain techniques that are supposed to work (here’s one article about grounding techniques and another with some supposed health benefits). It’s all bit new agey for my sensibilities, but try to stay with me here because I think it might be working.

I’m not doing anything crazy, but simply going outside and touching my feet to the actual earth (grass, dirt, sand, etc…) for a few seconds every day. (Admittedly I’ve already missed a day here or there, but it’s more the spirit of the idea than being super strict about it.) I’m going to try and do this for a whole year. That’s it!

And you know what? I have been feeling a bit more grounded lately. Less stressed, more even-keeled, even with a lot going on in my professional life, a toddler to take care of, renovations on our attic, and my allergies going a bit wonky with the change in weather.

If I think about some of the most relaxed people I have ever come across, I go back to Tahiti or St. Lucia and the people of islands. You know what they do? They walk around barefoot a lot (granted they also live in a less stressed environment in general)!

So the only problem is I live in New England. The weather is still pretty nice right now, so it’s not hard to get out there barefoot. But I’m a warm-weather kind of girl…some years I barely make it through the winter without falling into that sun-deprived kind of depression. I like to be warm and get cold pretty easily. So I’m not making any promises come January when the temperatures drop into the 20’s and snow is on the ground.

Though my husband (who has been oddly enthusiastic about this whole thing…probably because he’s not the one putting his bare feet on the grass everyday) says he won’t let me get away with NOT doing it this winter. He’s even offered to keep a little spot of grass in the yard free of snow this winter (how generous of him…notice he hasn’t offered to do this grounding thing with me!). I’m committed but not crazy, so we’ll see how it goes.

What’s the strangest, craziest, weirdest thing you’ve committed yourself to?

Spring 2013 in Pictures

As the unofficial start of summer kicked off this past weekend, I thought I’d take a look back at what I did this spring. As seems to be the usual lately in coastal CT March weather was crappy, May proved far rainier than April, and June looks to be starting out hot, hot, hot. But you know what they say about weather in New England…if you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes.

So what I have been up to lately (other than writing Elixir Saved and editing other poeple’s books)? Mostly hanging out with The Boy. Here’s a picture essay of my spring.

Our first trip to the zoo...checking out the wolves.

Our first trip to the zoo…checking out the wolves.

Now looking at The Boy's favorite animal...tiger!

Now looking at The Boy’s favorite animal…tiger!

Cousins hugging during out trip to the Poconos.

Cousins hugging during out trip to the Poconos.

Hiking to the waterfall in the Poconos.

Hiking to the waterfall in the Poconos.

More hiking, this time at Sleeping Giant.

More hiking, this time at Sleeping Giant.

Walking (mostly running) to the top of the castle at Sleeping Giant.

Walking (mostly running) to the top of the castle at Sleeping Giant.

One of many times climbing the dinosaur stairs at the park after library story time.

One of many times climbing the dinosaur stairs at the park after library story time.

Mother's Day tea tasting.

Mother’s Day tea tasting.

Our second trip to the zoo...this peacock may or may not have stolen my sweatshirt. It's still a bit of a mystery what happened to the sweatshirt.

Our second trip to the zoo…this peacock may or may not have stolen my sweatshirt. It’s still a bit of a mystery what happened to the sweatshirt.

Baby goat at the zoo (we also got to see baby hogs)...too cute!

Baby goat at the zoo (we also got to see baby hogs)…too cute!

Beach time!

Beach time!

Footsteps in the sand...Mommy's aren't that much bigger than The Boy's!

Footsteps in the sand…Mommy’s aren’t that much bigger than The Boy’s!

First backyard fire.

First backyard fire.

I’m sure summer will bring lots more zoo, park, beach time. Maybe some fireworks thrown in there. Perhaps a completed draft of Elixir Saved. A weekend trip to upstate New York for the end of the summer. The Boy’s 2nd birthday. I’m trying to plan a low key family trip for early September, but not making much progress on that. What are your plans for the summer?

 

New England SCBWI 2013 Conference Gems

The 2013 New England SCBWI conference was amazing (of course it was…these conference are always amazing)! Caught up with old friends, including the very talented Kimberly Sabatini and Jodi Moore, and met some new ones. Left feeling inspired and exhausted, and I’m still brimming with creative juices.

One of the highlights for me was seeing my book covers up on the screen in the ballroom during the downtime/announcements/mealtime in the ballroom!

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I’ve collected a few conference gems that resonated with me. A quick note about why I use italics instead of quotation marks…these are not necessarily direct quotes, some may be close to what the speaker actually said and others are my own rewording/interpretation as I scrambled to take notes during the speeches and presentations. So without further ado, here they are:

  • We should meet the world with all our senses. (Jeannine Atkins)
  • What’s outside in the setting can reflect what’s going on in the inside of a character, but it can also be in contrast to what’s being felt. (Jeannine Atkins)
  • How do we access that which we are trying to recreate when we’re sitting at our desks or computers? Sometimes we need a sensory kick in the pants. (Dawn Metcalf)
  • We work with art and it can evoke an objective response. (Ruben Pfeffer)
  • It was as if someone else’s words had opened up a whole host of words in me. (Sharon Creech)
  • As writers we want company; we need company. You come along too, please. (Sharon Creech)
  • Revision is finding and strengthening the heart of a story, and revision is messier than people want it to be. (Kate Messner)
  • Maybe I had to stop trying to prove to people I was good enough and just had to do the work I was passionate about. (Grace Lin)
  • Every story has a message, whether or not the writer was aware of it or intended it. (Chris Eboch)
  • I come to one little detail that sort of wakes up my mind and then start amassing details like constellations. (Jeannine Atkins)
  • Writers are somewhat schizophrenic; we hear voices in our heads; we listen instead of conversing. (Padma Venkatraman)
  • Go down the rabbit hole. (Greg Fishbone)

Personally, I feel like I stretched myself not only as a writer but as a person. I jumped headlong into any writing activities that came up in the workshops I attended, even braving to share some of my raw work in front of others. I dared to act out an emotion for others to write about (and I have terrible stage fright when it comes to acting anything). I drove to the train station by myself in a city I’d never been to and picked up another author. So all in all, a fantastic weekend!

Highlights from SCBWI Conferences

Tomorrow I’m off to the New England SCBWI conference! YAY! It’s my first conference in over a year, so I’m very much looking forward to it…but it is also my first weekend away from The Boy, so it’ll be hard to leave. We’ll both be fine, though. (That’s what I keep telling myself anyway!)

I’ve been going to SCBWI conferences for quite a few years now and have gathered a plethora of great tips. I’ll certainly be sharing my favorite nuggets about this conference, but in the meantime, here are some highlights from past conferences I’ve attended.

  • Take the time and make the space for your writing dreams. ~Laurie Halse Anderson
  • A vital aspect to nurturing talent is to accept and validate your need to create. Honor, cherish, and celebrate it. ~Laurie Halse Anderson
  • There are no secure boxes. Do whatever you want to do, and do it wildly, purely, uncensored, even regrettable. Do it as hard as you can. ~Donna Jo Napoli
  • Never give up because you might be on the one yard line, and you just don’t know it. ~Donna Gephart
  • Books take us away from home, so we can actually see our home. ~M.T. Anderson
  • Human beings need stories; we always have and we always will. ~Gennifer Choldenko
  • As artists, we need to fill ourselves up to flowing and give it all back. ~E.B. Lewis
  • In a roller-coaster ride you know exactly where you’re going, end up where you began, and you can a buy a ticket to go on again and have almost the same exact experience; it’s thrilling, but it’s not a journey. A journey takes you where you’ve never been before; it’s pretty scary and the dangers are real. ~Sandy Asher
  • All stories are based in truth somewhere. Pay attention to those stories and write them down. ~Judy Schachner
  • Use your very guts to spill out your very best. ~Susan Patron

Enjoy your weekend, everyone. With the likes of Nova Ren Suma, Kate Messner, Sharon Creech, and many other authors, agents, and editors presenting at the conference, I know I will have an awesome weekend.

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