Writing Update:
Still making slow progress on In the Seventeenth Year. I've revised 11 chapters out of 71, with a goal of 1 chapter revision a day, which means another couple of months. But since it's summer and we have travel plans, family reunions, etc., I'm prepared for it to take longer than that. The good news is that after all my lovely bloggy friends voted on my titles in the Next Top Title Blogfest, I can keep calling it In the Seventeenth Year.
Free Conference News:
Head over to WriteOnCon for information about a FREE online writing conference for children's writers on August 10-12. Wow - you do NOT want to miss this!
Contest News:
Kimberly Franklin is giving away autographed copies of The Body Finder, and more.
Kelly Polark is giving away the first three books in the Sookie Stackhouse series. Each season of True Blood is based on a book in the series.
Carolina Valdez Miller, Sara McClung, and Alexandra Shostak are giving away four Barry Lyga books.
Blogfests in the Coming Week:
Shelley at Stories in the Ordinary hosts the "I Can't Say It" Blogfest on June 16.
Elizabeth Mueller hosts the Breaking the Rules Blogfest on June 18.
Tina Lynn at Sweet Niblets hosts the Bad Boy Blogfest on June 20.
Award:
A huge thanks to Julie Dao at Silver Lining for awarding me with the Happiness Award (isn't it lovely?) I'd like to bequeath this award to:
Margo Berendsen at Writing at High Altitude. Margo made a very insightful comment on my First Top Title Blogfest post which really reminded me that I have to dig deep to achieve excellence. Margo's comment will be the subject of Friday's post (so stay tuned!) Thanks Margo!
Catherine Winn at The Writing Room. Catherine was kind enough to mention my post on Picturing Your Characters on her blog not once, but twice! She commented to tell me how helpful that post was to her. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Thanks Catherine!
For this award, I'm supposed to list ten things that make my happy (I'll forego the obvious here, but never fear, my husband, kids, naps, and coffee do make me very happy!)
1. listening to my cat purr
2. vanilla-scented candles
3. summer thunderstorms
4. taking the dog for a walk in the park
5. having the windows in the house open
6. warm butterscotch pudding (I only like the cook-n-serve kind, that's what my mom always made)
7. baking cookies
8. getting blogger awards like this one :)
9. watching movies in a movie theater
10. when I actually get on the treadmill instead of just thinking about it
What makes you happy?
47 comments:
summer thunderstorms?? LOL Come live in Floria--you will be happy every day!
Congrats on your revision progress. I'm working away on mine too and loving it.
Terri - Here in Missouri, we're getting lots of thunderstorms right now, but come July or August we'll probably go weeks without a drop of rain...then I really miss it. I'd love to come live in Florida, if only I could convince my hubby. :)
Mmmmm...vanilla scented candles and baking cookies! I love baking anything. What makes me happy? blogging, shopping, cooking, reading.
Congrats on your award!
Lots of good stuff going on here, and congrats on your Award! Walking makes me happy, as does writing, and music always :)
Happy Wednesday to you ...
Congrats on the award.
I love vanilla scented candles and baking cookies. Yum.
What makes me happy? Seeing my friends little girls. They always make me smile.
Oops! Feel free to permanently remove the other comment.
Thanks for bequeathing me the Happiness Award, Susan, I love getting blogger awards! I also love having my windows open for fresh air. In early spring when the AC/Heating man was here to get it ready for the season he commented that he tells his wife over and over to open the windows but she won't go for it. He kept taking deep breaths. I felt sorry for him!
Awww reading your blogl makes me very happy!:-)
Well done with your WIP progress!!! Yay! In The Seventeenth Year it is then. Wonderful. Title make for finality - as in this is it - your novel and story - there's no turning back now.
thank you so much for the links - I'm still checking out your other ones from last week!! I hope to catch up!
And what lovely lovely things that make you happy. The mention of Warm butterscotch pudding is making me very hungry indeed. Thanks for sharing!
Take care
x
Congrats on the award. I love thunderstorms, but hate when they kill my power and I have no computer and internet, my lifeblood (aside from Chex Mix, of course).
Aubrie - You mentioned some good ones I forgot. I'm trying to be good, I haven't shopped in a while, but I'm getting antsy. :)
Joanne - Of course, how could I forget writing? That's definitely way up near the top of the list. Happy Wednesday to you, too!
Lindsay - You sound like a wonderful friend, I'm sure your friends' little girls love you, too!
Catherine - I know people who keep their windows closed because of their allergies. Even though I have allergies too, I just can't resist an open window. I'd rather sneeze all day then not have the window open when the temperature permits. If it were my kids being miserable, though, I'd probably relent - luckily none of them have allergies!
Cookies!! I love cookies!!!
Thanks for all the linkage ;-)
~JD
Old Kitty - Reading your blog makes me happy, too - I can never resist a smile at your Charlie pictures!
Christi - Thank goodness Chex Mix doesn't rely on electricity! The times we've lost power (so far) it's been back on quickly enough that the laptop battery could pick up the slack, but if it ever went out for a long time, I imagine that would change my opinion of thunderstorms. :)
Justine - I love cookies, too! My oven broke almost two weeks ago, and I usually bake at least one batch of cookies a week, so it's been tough. The cookies and the muffins are what I miss the most. Hopefully when the repair man comes this morning (for the third time!), he'll have the right part.
I gotta try that warm butterscotch pudding. Sounds yummy!!
You're doing awesome with all those revisions, I think a chapter a day is pretty dang good!
Crystal - A chapter a day is the goal, but it doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes life (or really bad writing) just gets in the way. :) You have to try to cook-n-serve butterscotch pudding and eat it while its warm - it's sooo good!
Congrats on the award! There´s another one waitng for you on my blog!
Margo is filled with brillance. Can't wait to read Friday's post. :D
Congrats on your award!
Clara - I went by your blog and picked up my award (See it on my sidebar? Isn't it pretty?) Thanks so much!
Stina - I couldn't agree more, Margo rocks!
Hearing the sound of laughter, especially when it is from my children.
~ Wendy
Susan, I added you to my blog award because I realized after reading all of your titles in your previous posts that you write fantasy as well! (epic fantasy, right?)
I'm super happy today because a blog-buddy of mine just sold her mg novel to Marshall Cavendish. We were both living in limbo with fulls in to them. Now, I'm alone in the waiting room...but all warm and fuzzy inside because I know she's made it!
Ah, vanilla scented candles! Yum!
I love sun. SUN makes me happy! Now if I could only get some...
Wendy - Absolutely! Children laughing is such a happy sound. :)
Aubrie - Thank you! I don't mind telling you, I had my eye on that award. ;) So far I have one epic fantasy ms and one paranormal romance ms - I'd definitely a fantasy girl!
Amy - Hooray for your friend! Maybe you won't be in the waiting room much longer! *fingers crossed*
Talli - I love sun, too, but we get more than our fair share during St. Louis summers. I'd be happy to share. :)
I knew we were "kindred spirits" of sorts when I first read your "about me" a couple months ago, it sounds a lot like me. Now reading your list... you thought of everything I forgot to put on my list, including the thunderstorms, making cookies, listening to my cat purr (I specifically picked her out at the pound because she had the loudest purr!), all the windows open... Okay I'll stop now because you may start to think I'm a stalker or some other weirdo. Really, I'm not!
I was my usual forgetful self and forgot to put the Beautiful award I got a few weeks ago on my sidebar... so I've already listed my favorite things on a post. But I think it's a sweet providence to have received it twice! thank you! A couple things from my list: sipping hot tea while reading a good book; fires crackling in fireplaces; listening to Handel's Hallelujah Chorus with the volume on 10.
Margo - You definitely deserve this award twice! I agree - we're kindred spirits, I love your list, too!
So much going on....
must keep up with it all *gurgling, sinking sounds*
Tess - Keep checking back on Wednesdays, I'll keep you up to date. :) Just kidding! I'm usually two steps behind myself.
Wow, a lot of contests and blogfests happening.
I love hearing children giggle. That deep belly laugh when they are really amused by something. That makes me happy instantly!
Thanks for the mention!
I love vanilla scented candles too. And vanilla flavored anything! ;)
Vicki - I love the sound of children laughing, too...good choice!
Kelly - Yum, vanilla. I feel so boring when there are so many choices out there, but it's still my favorite!
I love it when I have days that I don't have to run any errands or clean anything...LOL, doesn't happen much! I adore these kinds of awards...you feel like you et to know the blog author so much better (not that I don't know you well).
Have a great one!
What makes me happy is my dvd set of the original Bionic Woman series.
About Tonia Schmidt; I have asked about her to some of Myspace friends who went to Valley and some who are not friends yet, and most of them do not remember her one bit.
Susan,
If you have 71 chapters you have a lot of reading/revising! I'd say you're doing very well.
Thanks for the butterscotch pudding memory. I haven't had any in years. I love it the same way but am too lazy to make it. Oh, & it tastes even better w/ Reddi Whip!
Sharon - Those are my favorite kinds of days, too! I'm a homebody at heart. :)
Dean - I just can't get over that about Tonia, especially since you say your high school was small. Thanks for the update! And I remember Lindsay Wagner as the Bionic Woman - now there's a blast from the past. :)
Lisa - It's not so hard to made pudding, just grab a book so you have something to do while you're stirring! And don't even tell my kids about putting Reddi Whip on it - Reddi Whip is one of their favorite foods.
Congratulations on the award.
I love vanilla-scented candles too.
Thanks for the links. I'm excited about the conference.
Good luck with your WIP.
Susan you rock! Good Luck on your revising deadline... I'm nowhere near that organized, the re-writes must come first, pray for my sanity... please pray for my sanity!!
Awesome awards, congrats! Well deserved!
Congrats on the revision. Keep going. Writing makes me happy. I always smile when I finish a great writing session.
Theresa - This conference is going to be something else, isn't it? Those ladies are pretty amazing!
Jen - You rock, too! And I'm praying for your sanity, rewrites can be so tough!
Christine - You are so right, I can't believe I didn't think to put that on my list! A full pot of coffee, a quiet house, my laptop, and my wip - put bliss!
Congrats on your awards! And I agree with the exercise thing. It's so satisfying knowing your doing instead of thinking!
Lydia - Especially because I think about getting on the treadmill almost every day, but so few days do I actually do it! For some reason, when my life gets busy, exercise is the first thing to go.
Congrats to you winners.
Waking up to a beautiful day and not having to go to work makes me happy!
Hey! Love your blog. Just wanted to let you know that I have awarded you! :) God bless
Tessa
I have a few friends on myspace that went to Valley that tell me that they don't recall her, one graduated in 88, and one graduated in 86, but I never went to valley in 86 at the same time this person went. I contacted a lot more who went to Valley who are not added as friends yet who graduated at various years and they all replied that they don't recall Tonia either.
How many words is THE SEVENTEENTH YEAR?
Congrats on the award! Reading funny stuff to my kids makes me happy.
Betty - Sometimes I almost miss working just so I could appreciate the joy of a day off. But not enough to get a job. :)
Tessa - Thank you for the award - I love it!
Dean - This just gets weirder and weirder. I hope you figure out the mystery.
Myrna - It's about 98,000 words. Most chapters are a manageable size, but it's still a pretty optimistic goal to revise a chapter a day, especially in the summer. I usually set my goals a little higher than what I think I can achieve, but I don't beat myself up if I don't make it, I just try to work a little harder the next day.
I love to show my kids funny pictures, especially all the cute animal photos on emails and blogs.
Pssst, you have another award over at my blog...
~Olivia
Oh my gosh, you're full of awards today. Grace awarded me a new award for encouraging and supporting new bloggers. And I'm passing it on to you! It's over at my place!
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