My top 10 favorite writerly things of 2008

What makes all the seasonal CrAzInEsS worth it? Being able to get 3 active girls to hug, smile and look at the camera at the same time. (trust me! It's a Christmas miracle!)

Hot cocoa and new jamies and robes on Christmas eve.

Catching the joy of my 5 year old while she was in mid-run before the wrapping paper was off her gift and she was yelling "Spongebob! It's a Spongebob game!" As if she had just won a billion dollar lottery.













Catching my 7 year old in mid-jump so that I cut off half of her face from the excitement over her gift.

There was also an nerf gun fight that was wholly satisfying. And don't even get me started on warmed mulled cider and blueberry pie. It was a day of fun, relaxing and family. That's why I collapsed into bed every night feeling like my back was going to break in the month of December. That's why I didn't get any writing done. And that's why I'll do it all again next year.

And now, since it's the last day of 2008, I am going to post my top 10 favorite writerly things of 2008. (Insert "We Will Rock You" melody here)

10) Having my article on the Statue of Liberty published in an e-zine. (I'd post a link, but it's not available for viewing anymore. :0(
9) Re-doing the guest-bedroom so that it doubles as my writing space.
8) Reading a gob of great books
7) The SCBWI Schmooze, hosted by my critique group where Newberry Winner, Frances O'Roark Dowell was the guest speaker.
6) The SCBWI CArolina's Annual Conference
5) having a weeks worth of devotions published in the Good News Daily Devotional Guide. (also available online.)
4) Getting to know and interview some of my favorite authors such as

Kathleen Duey

and Tina Ferraro.
3) Attending the Chapel Hill retreat
2) My critique with editor Martha Mihalik from Greenwillow. Wow! What great insight and advice.
1) My critique with editor Krista Marino, Delecorte. Her advice transformed my entire MS.

Hey wait!!!! I didn't get to mention how I luv, luv, luv, getting to know my blogging friends. The ones who frequent my blog and the blogs I like to visit! Jacqui, Rena, Brenda, PJ, Kate, Kelly, Susan, Bish, Adrienne, Stephanie, Ian, Janelle, Kathy, Tabitha, Angela, Kim. . . Heck! (pardon my language) all the people listed under my 'Cool blog" section on my sidebar. I also luv, luv, luv, the people who take time to leave a comment. I luv, luv, luv and even LOVE comments from anybody and everybody. (even dear mom has left a comment or 2 thanks ma!)

OK. So, this makes my top 11 favorites. I've always been a little off the "norm" anyway. Just par for the course. And I like it. :0P

I'm looking forward to what 2009 has in store. hmmmmm . . . . maybe that will be the topic for my next post.

Shake my snow globe

Click on my snow globe to shake it. Shake it baby shake it!

Snow Globe Toy & MySpace Layouts at pYzam.com

My Supernatural encounter with poultry: Is there a Duck whisperer out there?

There's the Virgin Mary's image on a piece of toast,
Fecal matter in the shape of Abraham Lincoln . . . and now we have wax duck-bills . . .


Candles flickering, wax melting and spilling over the side of my silver decorative candle plate until a perfect waxen image gels on my ceramic cook-top stove. No human help is required. This form comes together on its own. A duck bill with a perfect crack down the center that puts me in mind of a smiling Donald Duck! It is true. I've been contacted by the great poultry of the beyond. But what are they trying to tell me? Is there a duck whisperer out there? Anyone who can make contact with dearly departed fowl?

How much do you think this supernatural phenomena will sell on e-bay? ;0D Baby wants a vacation.

My blogger friend Bish has nominated me for the Honest Scrap award! I am passing on what Bish posted on her blog regarding the meaning of the Scrap Award.

"Scrap means left over, fragments, discarded material. Many times truth and honesty are discarded material, considered fragments and left over. People like us need to tell it like it is, and let the scraps fall where they will. There are 2 guidelines for receiving this award. One, you are to list 10 honest things about yourself. Make them interesting, even if you have to dig deep. Two, present the award to 7 other bloggers."

Ten honest things about me are:

1) I was hit by a car when I was five years old. They didn't think I'd make it.
2) I got to travel around France for a month with my high school french class
3) I've had 3 miscarriages and a stillborn son
4) I once got a 100% on a college tax law class exam even though I'm horrible at math. Guess studying really does pay off.
5) I love being a mom, but my adventurous spirit makes it difficult to adjust to the confinement, of domestic life and the overwhelming amount of cleaning. I always have something to do, but it's usually so dang boring. I'm itching to get back to my old-adventurous, fun and active-self. I'm hoping that this will be a reality as the kids get older.
6) A friend of mine was murdered in Yemen because she was a Christian. She was working as a supply coordinator in a hospital a religious militant snuck into the building and opened fire in the middle of a hospital staff meeting.
7) I've broken every limb on my body except for my right leg.
8) My husband and I had only known each other for about 2 weeks before he proposed. We married young, I was 21. The odds were against us, but we've been married for 15 years.
9) My middle daughter has a chronic kidney disease that will most likely cause her kidneys to fail some day.
10) When I was a kid I wanted to be like Indiana Jones (and I still do)

The 7 friends that I am tagging are:

Susan
Tina
Kelly
Kate
Tara
Brenda

The Writers 12 Days of Christmas

Our collective genius has been compiled and it is now time for the unveiling!

I give to you . . .
THE WRITERS 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

(I'll start at the end . . . you know how it goes)

On the 12th day of Christmas my writing buddies gave to me

12 Chapters written
11 Movie deals
10 Newberry awards
9 Best Sellers
8 Partial Requests
7 Quiet hours
6 Starbucks cards
5 Cups of coffeeeeeeeeeee
4 Calling editors
3 Ink pens
2 Eager agents
and a Nobel Prize for all the world to seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Ta-dah!

I feel so freakin' festive now. :0)

Thanks to all who made this song possible. What a talented bunch we are! :0)

The 12 Days of Christmas Writers version: Let's write it together!

OK. So, let's work on this together. The 12 days of Christmas writers version. What should be included. Some of my thoughts . . . .


On the 1st day of Christmas my writing buddies gave to me . . .

A lattee that is sugar free . .. .

On the 2nd day of Christmas my writing buddies gave to me . . .

2 Sharpenend pencils
and a lattee that is sugar free . . . .


OK peeps. What else needs to go in the writers 12 days of Christmas? I'll post the final version when it's complete.

Confession time: My Life as a disco Elf

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Now you know the truth. I'm not busy because of gifts, cleaning, baking, school programs, Christmas cards or decorating. It's time that I come out of the closet. I'm a Disco Elf, and I'm proud of it. Check out my moves.

pleased as pie and a Mario Cart prodigy

Busy, busy, busy. I haven't had much time to blog, respond to blogs or anything else amid the Christmas frenzy.

Last Saturday we hosted a little Chirstmas party. I was rather pleased with my creative pie baking. I had this last minute idea to use a cookie cutter and arrange little tree's upon my homemade blueberry pie. I was so happy w/ how it turned out. And it was Yummmmy! (if I may say so myself)

The miniature person in the red skirt is my five year old. She smoked the adults in Mario Cart. I think she may be a Mario Cart prodigy.

Just a little update. Maybe I'll be able to get back to my usual blogging after the Holidays. Until then, this is as good as I can do.

The joy of an air-borne heiny: and other things that will help get me through this hectic season

I took a walk today. Needed to get away from the keyboard, the housework, Christmas preparations. This is one of the best Holidays of all. So why do I feel like I'm living in a tornado. Oh! Watch out for the flying cow! Ouch!

I had a good hour to walk around a nearby lake and the thought that kept playing through my mind was how it's the simple things that make me the happiest. Here were some of the things that gave me the warm fuzzies today:

*wind-blown waters dappled by dancing sunlight

*the one duck in the flock that had his head in the water and butt stuck up in the air. I don't care who you are. There's just something funny about an air-borne heiny.

*the sort of energy that can only be renewed by the kiss of crisp autumn air.

*The couple with their grandson, who held onto a string that was attached to a makeshift toy boat in the water. They made it out of a tinfoil roasting pan and a plastic bag for a sail.

*odd shaped and twisted trees. . . wondering how they got that way.

*a bush that looks like a gigantic bouquet of dandelions that have gone white, letting off hundreds of fluff balls that put me in mind of frost-work fairies coasting on the breeze

*sinus' that have finally cleared so that I can enjoy a good walk w/o feeling like a led-headed zombie. (No offense to zombies.)

*a winding path beneath a canopy of trees and padded with a carpet of leaves.

. . . . ahhhhhh! I may be able to survive the holidays after all.

So, how do you do it? What helps you survive the hectic tornado's of life?

And the winner of the Skin Hunger book giveaway is. . . .

Congratulations to

Cindy


You are the winner of a copy of Skin Hunger

contact me at

Bevers@ncc.rr.com with mailing info


Thanks to everybody who entered! There will be more book giveaways to come!

And Thank you Kathleen for taking the time to give us an insightful interview and great advice!