It's February. I'm not sure how this happened because it seems like I just blogged about patience being my focus this year *. Hubby and I have done more adulting in the last two weeks than we've probably done in the 13 years we've been together, but it's all going to be worth it. Our cluttered apartment is becoming a pretty mature looking home bit by bit and hopefully it will clear out my brain enough to be able push through revisions, writing, and all things businessy. How I Did Last Week I rewrote the beginning of my new first chapter and then stopped again because the household stuff actually had to take precedence. Hopefully this week it will be different. Biggest Challenge I Faced This Week The adulting again. It really is a two-team effort. Plus, if we didn't continue with The Great Purge of 2016, we wouldn't have found a dozen cat toys hidden under the couch. My Goals For This Week Complete the new first chapter. Print out paperwork I ne...

It's kind of hard not to get good advice when you're at a conference for three days. Even at the crappiest of conferences, you should be able to take back one nugget of information. Since I'm an avid note-taker, I have pages of information. Unfortunately, I can't share everything with you. But I can share a few thoughts. After reviewing my notes* from the weekend, I found some of the most memorable bits of information could be broken down into three main groups. Plot and Subplot "When plotting, list all possible assets, obstacles, allies, and rivals as they relate to your protagonist--you never know what can be used." -- J.L.Bell "Subplots come from your primary characters' secondary wants or your secondary characters' primary wants." -- Sarah Aronson Critiquing, Rejection, and Distance "Listen with 'elephant ears' when being critiqued. This helps you be more open-minded." -- Lin Oliver "It's important...

It's Monday, Lurkdom, and after my truncated week last week, the day job exploded all over itself.* You know what that means... I'm still thinking about the 25th Annual NESCBWI Regional Conference I attended this weekend. I hung out with some fantastic people ( Kris Asselin , Laura Pauling , and Heather Kelly specifically) and learned a bunch of stuff. I come here to learn stuff. Care to share? It's nice to have a room to yourself. After the constant go, go, go of the conference, there was nothing better than heading back up to my hotel room and sitting in silence. Kidlit writers are some of the friendliest people on the planet. Networking doesn't have to be anxiety-ridden. When I checked in on Friday, I asked the lady at the registration desk what I needed to know. She said "say hello to at least five new people a day." What a great low-stress idea. We rarely look like our avatar. I had problems recognizing both Laura and Heather (neither of ...