Oh, What a Day!

Glass half-empty:

• My son and I locked ourselves out of the house an hour before his behind the wheel driving test.
• We surprised my friend during her shower to get our spare key, after calling another friend to drive us to her house to get said spare key.
• The brake lights shorted out as the DMV examiner was checking them, so my son couldn't take his driving test.
• It took two hours to get the short in the brake lights fixed at the car place.
• A spaced out lady almost backed into me in a parking lot.
• The DMV website would not let my son reschedule his test online.

Glass half-full:

• It's impossible to break into my house.
• My son's friends have their driver's licenses to rescue us.
• My friend showers.
• My son didn't get rear-ended while taking his driving test with faulty brake lights.
• I had time for a delicious veggie wrap while the car got fixed.
• I am alive to write this blog.
• Still working on a glass half-full/DMV line...

And then I starting my writing day...

• Birds chirped
• Cats purred
• Music played
• The outside world disappeared
• Bliss and Joy took my hands

How has diving into your writing reframed a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day for you?

What? An award? Me?

I have a confession.  Long ago in a galaxy far far away someone gave me a blogger award and I lost track of it.  My organizational skills are shady at best.  I apologize for not being able to thank you in person for that first award.  I was thrilled.  I skipped and sang a song.

The amazing Lisa Gail Green has given me a second chance despite my previous dimwitted slight, by honoring my blog with the Stylish Blogger Award.  Run, don't walk to check out her blog Paranormal Point of View.


Seven things about myself:
1. My greatest fear is that I will be eaten by a shark or a bear.
2. I was the assistant art director on IT'S GARRY SHANDLING'S SHOW, for three seasons.
3. My collection of STAR WARS memorabilia is the envy of every ten-year-old boy on the planet.
4. I changed my daughter's middle name from Colleen to Christine in labor.
5. I enter a Zen state when I go to a bookstore or an office supply store.  Pretty, pretty post-its.
6. I was Louisa in a national tour of SOUND OF MUSIC my freshman year of high school.  Yes, I wore the sailor suit.
7. Twitter overwhelms me, but I will persevere and figure it all out.


Here's a shout out to a few of the blogs I love and am honored to pass this award along to.  Check them out and enjoy.


Jess Falling Leaflets
Monica Love YA
Michelle L. Brown Brownie Points
Julie Musil Writing and Blogging Between Carpools
Dana Elmendorf A Squirrel Among Lions
Jessica Love Jessica Love Writes


I could go on, and on, and on, and on...  
Thanks to all you dedicated bloggers who teach me something new with every post and fill me with inspiration.

View From the 5th Grade Trenches - March 2011 - For Japan

Art is the heart beat for expressing emotion, be it through canvas, camera lens, music, or words.  As my class watched the cataclysm unfolding in Japan, they felt a need to send love to our brothers and sisters suffering across the sea.  Haiku, a poetic gift from that exquisite country, was the way they expressed their thoughts.

We are in much fear                                                    

God will find a way to help                                         

There are no tears left                                                

Lisa                                                                               

Just hope, don’t be sad                                            

No more tears, help will be there                              

Hope is there for you

Rian    

Days and days go by

Hope and sadness fill our hearts

Devastating news

Ashley S. & Kathleen

Sadness of Japan

Family's hearts are broken

Something good will come of this

Gage & Pratik

This link will take you to a list of official Red Cross donation sites supporting the relief efforts in Japan.    http://www.redcross.org/en/otherdonationsites/

Conflicted

Back in high school English we all learned about universal conflicts:

Man vs. Man

Man vs. Nature

Man vs. Himself

Man vs. Machine

It’s a blast to write YA because in the teen universe EVERYTHING is a conflict, spanning the spectrum from global to minutia.

Teen vs. Parents

Teen vs. Siblings

Teen vs. Friend today gone tomorrow

Teen vs. Teachers and School

Teen vs. Weather that makes your hair frizz

Teen vs. Their own reflection in the mirror

Teen vs. Trendy Outfits

Teen vs. The DMV

Teen vs. The Fast Food Job

Teen vs. Lack of Money

Teen vs. Social Status

Teen vs. Hair Product

Teen vs. Acne

Teen vs. Acceptance

Teen vs. Cell Phone Service

Teen vs. Who has a car?

Teen vs. the Internet

Teen vs. Curfew

Teen vs. Everyone is stupid except for me

Spy vs. Spy – Sorry, couldn’t resist giving a shout out to my old MAD MAGAZINE reading days.

I’ve only scratched the surface.   Dig out your own teen conflicts and share.

Show Me the Love

When I hop in my time machine and journey back to my YA years for material to pop into my writing, there is one word that flashes in neon above my head.

LOVE – LOVE – LOVE.

Ah, the many faces of love in those chaotic days of high school never disappoint in making our stories ring with truth.

FIRST LOVE: Sweet, delicate, and completely uninformed.

UNATTAINABLE LOVE: Aiming higher than your social sphere.

POWER PLAY LOVE: Dating the right person for social advancement.

TRUE LOVE: Shut up Mom, it is possible to find your soul mate in high school.

CONVENIENT LOVE:  Sticking together for social events especially in senior year.

FORBIDDEN LOVE: Your best friend’s boyfriend.

ON AGAIN – OFF AGAIN LOVE:  You’re my boyfriend THIS week. 

SLOPPY SECONDS LOVE: Next…

MY PARENTS DON’T WANT ME TO DATE YOU LOVE:  Rebellion.

SEXUAL-TENSION LOVE:  Combusting hormones blot out all logical brain function.

OMG LOVE: When you give a so-called “friend” a second look and voila…

Which face of love fits your favorite characters?   What new faces would you add to the list?

Shine

It’s conference week in the 5^th grade trenches.  Today I asked my students to list three things in the following categories to share with their parents during our meeting.

I shine at…

I need to improve in…

As my student’s were listing their positive attributes with no qualms about bragging, I realized that as writers we tend to dwell on the areas in our work that need improvement rather than celebrate our strengths.

So for today, let’s share the shine.  I’ll go first.

I shine at dialogue.  (That BA in acting finally paid off.)

I shine at settings.  (That MFA in design finally paid off.)

I shine at humor. (My irreverence and smart-alecky mouth finally paid off.)

Now blind me with your shine. 

View From the 5th Grade Trenches - February 2011 - Meeting Mark Hamill

A long time ago in a galaxy not so very far away, my boyfriend, dragged me to what I thought was going to be a stupid war movie.  By night's end I was bombing the Death Star with Luke Skywalker, using the imaginary firing button on the armrest of my seat.  I was smitten.  The boyfriend didn’t like STAR WARS, A NEW HOPE.  I dumped him.

Since that day I have dreamed of meeting Luke Skywalker, and last Thursday my wish came true.  The amazing Mark Hamill came to our school and spent time with our 5^th and 6^th grade students.  He answered what seemed like a thousand questions with generosity, humor, and graciousness.  The man is a genuine Jedi through and through.

Mark was a wonderful inspiration to the kids.  He told them to follow their hearts and they can achieve anything in this world.  Here here, Mark Hamill.

Here are a few wide-eyed revelations from the 5^th grade trenches about our awesome guest:

He does so many amazing different voices.  Robyn

He loves video games and is the voice on some of our favorites.  Jerry and Fernanda

He came from a big family that moved around a lot.  Lexi and Cade

He’s a regular dad with kids.  Gage

He wasn’t popular or an athlete in school. Rylee and Kayla

He was student council president. Hunter and Alex

He’s a writer and created the Black Pearl comic.  Tyler and Kyle

He is a director too.  Rylee

He says he’s a comic book geek.  Kait

He likes the weird/cool Star Wars characters like Yoda and Darth Vader. Rian

He was the last human filming on THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with puppets and snakes.  Ava

I had a tear in my eye when Mark shared that if he were to be anything besides an actor, he’d be a teacher.  I remain smitten.

The force was definitely with us.  Thank you, Mark Hamill for being our shining star.

Time to Go Greek with PLAYTHINGS OF THE GODS

I am honored today to have author Lisa Gail Green as a guess star.  She is one of several contributors to the anthology PLAYTHINGS OF THE GODS, which gives us a new twisty POV on the classic Greek myths.  Cue the spotlight…

Leslie: Lisa, tempt me with the anthology, especially your story.

Lisa:  PLAYTHINGS OF THE GODS includes retellings of Greek myths for a modern young adult audience.  Some of the stories are a bit edgy - which I love.  Mine is called CURSED, and is the story of Cassandra and Agamemnon, if Cassandra were a modern day teenager.  Not familiar with it?  Cassandra was cursed to see the future, but have no one believe her.  That's enough to drive anyone insane if you think about it.  

Leslie: What was your path to being included in this work?

Lisa:  Some writers don't try to go the short story route, but I've always been eager to publish in any form, and in fact my first publications were poems and short stories in E-zines.  It's a great outlet for writing, and I really do credit it with helping give me enough confidence to pursue writing as a profession.  This particular opportunity came via our critique partner, Julie Musil, who passes on any paranormal calls to me.  Thanks, Julie!!  I remember being really intrigued by the idea of retelling a Greek Myth, and didn't have a whole lot of time before the deadline.  But I work well under pressure, and saw it as a challenge.  It never hurts to try, if you don't you can't succeed.  I chose this particular story because it is one of the lesser-travelled stories lately, and I worked on the play Agamemnon in college, which really left an impression on me. 

Leslie:  How can we get our hands on the anthology?

Lisa:  Why through the amazing interweb of course! Here's the link:

http://drolleriepress.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=49&products_id=110

It will soon be available via Amazon, Apple, and B&N as well.  But if you want a chance at winning a free copy come visit my blog http://paranormalpointofview.blogspot.com/  and enter.  I'm throwing in a critique too, so it's a pretty good deal.  

Leslie:  What are you thoughts on the e-book format?

Lisa:  Good question!  E-books have taken off in an unbelievable way, so there is no longer any doubt as to their legitimacy.  Traditional bookstores are in danger, and Amazon has reported greater EBook sales than paperback sales.  I think it's fantastic that teens are discovering new ways to enjoy reading.  Whatever gets books into their hands I'm in favor of.  Heck - I LOVE my Kindle.  I still have a special spot in my heart for paper books, and collecting those that are my faves, but I also see E-books as an exciting step forward in the publishing industry.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Leslie!  Nice place...

THANK YOU, Lisa and congratulations.

Okay everyone, let’s hit that link and go Greek!  For another tasty treat go visit Lisa’s blog:  PARANORMAL POINT OF VIEW.

Doncha Hate...

We all have the dreaded “doncha hate…” moments.  I’m sure you are familiar with those Defcon 5 high blood pressure situations that make us shriek to the skies for someone else to blame, even though we know we are completely at fault. 

• ·      Doncha hate dropping your keys to the ground multiple times before you finally pick them up and unlock the door.
• ·      Doncha hate leaving slightly late for an appointment and hitting EVERY SINGLE RED LIGHT.
• ·      Doncha hate locking yourself out of the house – car – work.
• ·      Doncha hate dropping your clean pajamas on the dirtiest part of the bathroom floor before you have a chance to put them on.
• ·      Doncha hate totally blanking on your ATM pin code.
• ·      Doncha hate sticking your dirty dishes in the dishwasher with the clean ones.
• ·      Doncha hate putting on BLUE pants that you thought were BLACK.
• ·      Doncha hate leaving your lunch on the kitchen counter and knowing it will go bad by the time you can get home to rescue it.
• ·      Doncha hate walking downstairs without getting the thing you walked upstairs for in the first place.

These glitches in your otherwise perfect lives are not enemies, they’re friends.  Maddening moments are one hundred percent authentic.  Don’t let them win and claim your sanity. No, I say.  Sentence them to a place in your stories thereby adding a subtle dusting of realism to characters and actions.

Seriously, I’ll bet even vampires drop their keys.  What are some of your “Doncha hate…” moments?        

Writer's Rights

What is that you say?  Writers have rights?  Darn tootin’ they do.  Every artist has creative rights, except perhaps royal portrait painters of the past.  They had that sticky little beheading issue from time to time which put the kibosh on some of their creativity.  “The Queen does NOT have four chins, or a mole with a protruding hair on her left cheek.”

In my position as a teacher, I get to double-dip in my ongoing education as a writer.  Many books on methods for teaching writing are marvelous resources on the art of writing itself.

One such book is THE 9 RIGHTS OF EVERY WRITER, A GUIDE FOR TEACHERS by Vicki Spandel.  I had the privilege of attending a workshop presented by Vicki several years ago.  Not only did I walk away with fabulous lessons for my students, but thanks to her insights and love of the art of writing, I left the building a better writer.  I highly recommend this book. 

Vicki Spandel’s 9 Rights of Every Writer:

1. The Right to Be Reflective
2. The Right to Choose a Personally Important Topic
3. The Right to Go “Off Topic”
4. The Right to Personalize the Writing Process
5. The Right to Write Badly
6. The Right to See Others Write
7. The Right to Be Assessed Well
8. The Write to Go Beyond Formula
9. The Right to Find Your Own Voice

I’d like to add two more:

10.  The Right to Give Yourself Time to Write
11.  The Right to Rip Up What You’ve Started and Begin Again Without Feeling You’ve Wasted Time

What Rights would you add?

http://www.heinemann.com/authors/3545.aspx