Archive for April, 2012

Debauchery and/or rest…

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

Yeah, so…

I’m doing something I’ve never ever ever done before.  I’m GOING ON A RETREAT.

I’m told that a “retreat” is when people remove themselves from the world, in order to gain clarity, find peace, get work done, etc.  I’m not sure I believe in this mythological phenomenon. Maybe if it turns out to be real I’ll also get that unicorn I’ve always wanted.

And maybe it’s a trick, but I hope not, because IN THEORY I am leaving in the morning for the mountains, heading off into the wilderness with a slew of other children’s and YA authors. We intend to sit in a cabin and read and talk about books and writing, and eat yummy food and goodness knows whatall.

Hopefully I’ll learn a ton and sleep a lot and figure out how to fix my book. And maybe I’ll walk in the woods.  Probably there will also  be all sorts of absinthe and opium and unfiltered cigarettes and socialisms– us being writers and all.

Yes, it will be grand.

At some point we will resurface for this event, which is to be a “Southern Kidlit Writers’ Cabal.” At Malaprops, one of my very favorite bookstores of all time.  There we will say lots of witty, funny, life-changing things, of course. If we are not dead of all the  opium and socialisms.

YOU SHOULD COME.

I’m about to faint…

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

A few weeks ago I found myself with some real time to write, and I made a promise to myself… that I would NOT think about the business side of things. I wanted to focus all my energy on the words.  So I did just that. I wrote some different kinds of things.  I experimented. I played. I wrote poems.

And of course I wrote a lot of garbage.

But…

But I also did this…

“Laurel Snyder’s ONCE A SWAN, a biography of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, to Melissa Manlove at Chronicle Children’s, by Tina Wexler at ICM (World).”

I can’t quite express the excitement I have about this particular project. I was OBSESSED with Pavlova as a kid.  OBSESSED.

<falls over>

Hitting the road!!!

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

I’ll be heading out this week, for some fun travel. Maybe I’ll see YOU.

Stopping first in Bowling Green, for the Southern Kentucky Book Festival. It’s a great line-up. Especially excited to see Matt Holm do his thing, and to check out Helen Frost, and also Jennifer Trafton. If you’re in the area, please do come and say hello. I’ll be speaking on Friday and Saturday, and I can’t wait!

Then I’m home for a brief stop before I head for the hills of North Carolina. I’ll be in Asheville, at Malaprops, for the Southern Kidlit Writers’ Cabal (which is totally something we just made up). I expect it to be a superfun zany free-for-all. If you’re in the area, please don’t miss this!

Front page crazies!!!

Sunday, April 15th, 2012

Wow! I wrote this piece for CNN, and the comment thread is SOMETHING ELSE.

And then I did something else crazy with kids and the internet and book-making…

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

 

And we set up a crazy survey!

This never ever happens…

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

I have an EMPTY WEEK!

Through a strange series of accidents, my book is on hold for a moment, as I wait for notes from my editor.

But because I didn’t know that was happening, I didn’t fill my schedule with other sorts of freelance, etc.

And it just happens to be SPRING BREAK.

So the boys and I are having a full-on STAYCATION.

Thrift stores, swimming at the YMCA, popsicles, sprinklers, a visit to Avid in Athens, because I’ve been dying to go all year!  Maybe we’ll visit the Drive-in.  Maybe we’ll watch mindless hours of TV.

I figure as long as the house is a little cleaner each day, and not a little messier…

it’s cool.

And maybe, just maybe, I’ll go swing in the hammock and think about new picture book ideas.

But maybe I’ll watch Friday Night Lights instead.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!