12 Days of Christmas Blogging Challenge

Because I have been so completely delinquent when it comes to blogging on a consistent basis, I am giving myself a "12 Days of Christmas" blogging challenge for the month of December. The challenge is simple: I must blog at least 12 days this month. Anything less, and I'm a loser (OK, no comments on that one, please). Anyone else out there who would like to follow suit is more than welcome to join in the festivities.

I'm back at my old haunt--Panera Bread--tonight for a rare Internet surfing and blogging evening. I used to come here quite regularly to get out of the house and find some peace and quiet (and a bagel or bowl of soup, of course) while I worked on freelance projects. But there's one thing that's missing from the picture of those days gone by -- the freelance projects (I'd even settle for a singular "project" right now). Not that I have been pounding the pavement in search of projects, mind you, but I do fondly remember the day when the projects used to come to me. It was heavenly. Now, I sit staring at my inbox waiting for an e-mail from one of my contacts who's ready to assign a lucrative project. My eyes are getting tired.

Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas Blogging Challenge has been completed. Keep in mind, I never said that these had to consecutive days. Just 12 days during the month of December. Stay tuned for Days 2 through 12...

The Art of Procrastination

Once again, Debbie Ridpath Ohi at inkygirl has hit the nail on the head. How does she do it? Her comics all seem to be about my life as a writer. Does she have one of those hidden cameras mounted in my house somewhere?

I fear I am becoming a once-a-month blogger, but I'm just not ready to give up on the whole blogging thing just yet. We'll see what the New Year brings. Did I just say "New Year"? Freaky, isn't it, to think that 2009 is only a little over 2 months away? Whoa! I still remember all those nuts who were stocking up and getting ready for Y2K! (Forgive me if you were one of them.) Now we're sitting on the edge of Y2K+9! Crrraaaaaazy!

Blogger's Guilt

I'm feeling quite guilty for not having blogged in over a month. My poor blog. Just sitting here all alone with no one to update it. What's a blog to do? I'm surprised it hasn't left me in search of a more prolific blogger. Frankly, I've just been too busy dealing with LIFE to write. I haven't been writing anything other than lesson plans lately. And that's... OK (to steal a phrase from the early 90s Stuart Smalley SNL skit).

There's nothing like a Writer's Conference to get the juices flowing again. A good one is coming up in Indianapolis, but I'm not sure whether I'll be going or not. Depends on whether I can scrounge up $99 by Oct. 1. We'll see.

Well, there. I've blogged. Are you happy now? (That's a rhetorical question.) See you next month... :-)

The Power of Words

Until recently, I hadn't thought much about how important words -- both written and spoken -- are to God. Words are one of the most tangible ways He communicates with us (the Bible), and one of the most intimate ways we communicate with Him (through prayer). "Word" appears 962 times in the Bible (NIV version, at least).


The book of Proverbs likely has the most to say about our words and how we use them. For example:


Wise words are like deep waters. Prov. 18:4 (NLT)


Wise words are more valuable than much gold and many rubies. Prov. 20:15 (NLT)


In the book of John, God describes Jesus as "the Word."

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


But I think my favorite passage about the power of words is in 2 Corinthians 3:3 (NIV):


You are a letter from Christ ... written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

I pray that the letter I am displaying to others is one of compassion, hope, and faith in a God whose love for His children is not limited to words, but speaks volumes.

Hiatus or Facebook Addiction?

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

OK, I'll be honest. I've been on a hiatus from my blog recently for one reason -- Facebook. Who knew tracking down long lost friends and relatives could be so much fun? If I didn't police myself, I could probably spend 8 hours a day on Facebook, just looking at everyone's pictures and profiles. OK, maybe I need to get a life. No, actually, I probably need to spend more time writing than surfing Facebook. Now there's a novel idea! (Pun intended. :-)


Speaking of writing, my agent forwarded me a rejection letter from a large NYC publishing house. Keep in mind, the book my agent is representing is my humorous children's fiction picture book about a chicken who discovers he has artistic talent. Not exactly true-to-life stuff here. The editor wrote: "I don't understand why the pig can read but Chuck can't and where the pig gets the famous painting from." My clearly frustrated agent wrote a note to me on the forwarded letter: "Julie -- I'm concerned for this editor's career in publishing!" My sentiments exactly. This editor can "buy" the fact that a chicken talks and has artistic ability but can't quite "get" the other fictional points that move the plot along. Maybe she needs to change genres -- non-fiction might be a better fit for her. Ah, well, I'm learning to take rejection really well. Maybe the next letter will be a yes! :-)

A Must for Every Aspiring Children's Writer

This is one book that no children's writer (or aspiring children's writer) should be without. In addition to listing just about every children's publisher and magazine known to man, Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market (CWIM) also includes great articles by both famous and newbie authors. So, check it out at your local bookstore or library. Oh, and while you're at it, check out Alice Pope's blog. She's the editor of CWIM and has some great stuff every week, like interviews of top authors and publishers, news about the writing world, and other fun "insider" tidbits.

The 2009 edition of CWIM is coming out sometime in August, so don't rush out and buy the 2008 version. Better wait and get the most recent version.

Beach Reading

Last week at this time, I was lounging in a comfy chair on the beach in Destin, Florida (reading, of course) while my husband and kids played in the ocean. There's just something about reading on the beach that's so completely relaxing. I don't know whether it's the slight breeze off the ocean or the sound of the waves hitting the shore, or a combination of the two, but whatever it is, I wish I could bottle the feeling up and bring it home with me. For some reason, pouring sand onto my patio and sitting in it just doesn't seem to duplicate the experience.

The book I was reading was Susan Pfeffer's haunting YA novel The Dead and the Gone, which is the companion book to Life as We Knew It. Both books follow the events in two different teen-agers lives after the moon is knocked out of its orbit by an asteroid, catastrophically altering the earth's climate. The main character in The Dead and the Gone is Alex Morales, a 17-year-old New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent. When both of his parents disappear after the deadly tidal waves spawned by the asteroid crash, Alex is left to care for his two younger sisters as Manhattan becomes a deadly wasteland.

Once again, Pfeffer has produced a gripping page turner that not only makes the adrenalin pump but also makes the tears flow. On more than one occasion, I found myself thinking about the characters after I had finished the book and wishing I wasn't finished. Pfeffer's characters are so real and the emotions she harnesses are so raw that the reader just can't help but feel connected to them. This is a definite must-read for anyone who wants to write YA fiction or just loves to read YA material.