The Lost Critter Project

photo borrowed from the Ian's Blog

If you're in Downtown Apex NC this week, you can hunt for critters made by artist, Ian Sands and his crew of High school Students. Yes, this art teach actually inspires kids to volunteer for projects over the summer. (you can read the article by clicking here.)

They made 500 foam board critters, each hidden around town and carrying instructions regarding which Downtown business the critter should be returned. When returned, the founder is rewarded with a sucker, a kit-kat or various other treats. This is an interactive public art project intended to promote local business.

Isn't that the most creative and fun thing you've ever heard of?!?

Anyway, since Ian is a friend and Critique buddy of mine, I have an idea to bring this interactive art to our blogs. I have to work out the details, but keep your eyes peeled. I'm thinking of calling it "Critter Around the World" or "Critter's Adventure in Blogland" or something like that. (much akin to a Flat Stanley kind of thing) I would need you blog owners to participate, or it wouldn't be any good.

Details to come. . . .

Random title and plot generators

OK, here's a couple things for fun. Who knows, you might even get something good out of it.

First is the random title generator. When I tried it there were some rediculous titles (obviously) but there were actually a few that I liked too. One was "Waves in the Ashes" If you go to the link, let me know what good titles came up for you.

Here's the link to the Random Title Generator

The random plot generator is hillarious. I'd be surprised if you get a really good idea out of this one, but who knows, perhaps this could be good for a creative writing exercise or just something to get your creative juices flowing.

Here's the link to the Random Plot Generator

Enjoy! :0)

A peek into an editor's day

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. But you know how things get sometimes. Busy, busy, busy. The kids are back in school, which means I'm actually able to be more productive which means less computer/blogging time.

However, I came across a great blog that is maintained by seven Children's book professionals. The latest post is about what goes on in a editor's day. Don't we all wonder why it take so long for them to get back to us? Don't we wonder why a submission or a query must be perfect and why it must stand out from all the other submissions? Read this and you'll understand much better. Wow! I got tired just reading it.

http://bluerosegirls.blogspot.com/2009/08/day-in-life-of-editor.html

I've also added this blog to my side bar. FYI :0)

Have a great day!

beach books and getting conference ready

I'm back from the beach.

I read the main chunk of The Forrest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan while sitting on a beach chair by the ocean. Which is super cool, because a major thru-line is this book is the main characters desire to see the ocean. It's a driving motivational force for Mary and it makes it extra cool to read about Mary's burning desire to see the ocean. It makes you feel like you're really waiting for her on the other side, pulling her along in her quest. Because of this I nominate this book as the #1 best beach read of the year.

The other book I read was Red Riders Hood by Neal Shusterman. Yes. Another Shusterman book. I'm determined to read all his books. He's a brilliant story teller. Red Riders Hood is a dark Urban twist on the Little Red Riding Hood tale. As usual, Shusterman is clever, creative and pulls off a story that not every author could. It's a fun read!

I've been home for a few days, but I haven't blogged because, in addition to house and family stuff, I've been getting my critiques prepared to send out for the SCBWI Carolina's Fall Conference in Sept. I'm sending out two critiques this year. The deadline to get them in is the 31st, so I had to finish them up and send them out today so I could meet the deadline.

I miss the beach, but it's good to be back too. Now I have to go catch up on everyone elses blogs and see what ya'll have been up to.

Beach Reading

I'm leaving for the beach on Sunday, so I was hoping to find a book that I could read that would suck me in. I wasn't sure what to get.

I've been wanting to read The Forrest of Hands and Teeth, but my Library didn't have it yet. I had asked if they had it a couple of months ago and they didn't. So, when I saw this sitting out on the display shelf yesterday, I audibly ~gasped~ and did a head dive for the shelf, (the kind like tennis or volley ball players will do to make a good save) and snatched up the book before anyone else could. (not that there was anyone w/i 10 feet of me, but a girl can not be too careful you know.)

So, now I have a good beach read for my vacation. The only problem is that I'll be gone for a week and I'll probably finish this in one day (2 days tops.) Anyone have any page-turners to recommend for additional beach reading? My book list is on the side bar of this blog if you want to see what I've recently read.

Dimly Enlightened.

Today's blog is brought to you by The Training Institute for Flying Squirels

picture borrowed from www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/josephlister.aspx

Between the research I'm doing for my current WIP and my wonderful antique Children's Literature Text book, I've been thinking a lot about the past, the present and how generations change, how thinking and idea's morph over time.

Each generation thinks they have an enlightened view of the world. Each era has it's own sense of superiority.

It makes me wonder what we hold or reject in society today. What do we believe to be true, or how do we see ourselves as "enlightened" only generations from now we will be proven wrong?

For example: In my research of Medical History past, I've found that doctors were skeptical of the use of antiseptic. Here's a blurb from the Book "The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800's" by Marc McCutcheon. (a google search will also provide similar info)

This section of the book comes from a glossary of terms re: Health, Medicine and Hygiene in the 1800's:

carbolic spray: an antiseptic spray strongly recommended by Lister to disinfect operating rooms of germs but used only by a handful of surgeons even as late as the 1870's. Pysicians were ignorant of the importance of cleanliness for most of the century. Antiseptic practices were not widely adopted until the 1880's and consequently cases of septicemia were common.

Her's a bit from Samuel Gross, Professor of Surgery, Philadelphia, in a medical review:
"Little if any faith is placed by any enlightened surgeon on this side of the Atlantic in the so-called carbolic acid treatment of Professor Lister."


Does that hit you like it hits me? Kind of makes you wonder. . . . huh?
What thoughts or people are though of in a negative way that will one day be praised? What of these do we see as good, that will go on to be thought of as "bad?" What is absurd now that will be commonplace in the future? what is common now that will be absurd in the future? hmmmmm . . . . Dang. My thinker is set in overdrive.

Will Diet Coke one day be found to be as destructive to our health as smoking (I hope not.)?

Will the key to good health be found in chocolate?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?

A fly on the wall in the slush pile: Thoughts from agent, Elana Roth

Have you ever wished you could be a fly on the wall as a editor or agent goes through their query stash? Just to get a glimpse into what they are thinking . . . now that would be good info to possess. If only I had enough of this inside info I could be like . . . like a writing Jedi; enlightened, wise, and my likeness could be cloned into a pointy-eared action figure.

One nice thing about twitter is that you can "follow" agents and editors without looking like cRaZeD stalker. Sometimes you get a glimpse into what they are looking for or other nuggets of info that might make you a better writer or query-ster or you can get a better idea of what is going on in the world of publishing.

Yesterday Elana Roth, Agent at Caren Johnson Literary Agency, tweeted some of her "realizations" about her thoughts as she went through her query stash. I found them interesting, so I thought you might too. I've quoted a few of them, but you can head on over to the agency blog where she compiled her entire list. Click-ity, click right here to swoosh on over to Elana's post.

A few of Elana's Query Realization "Tweets"

• Slush Realization #1: I guess I'm just not a fan of non-human characters and narrators.
• Slush Realization #2: I really hate e-stationery.
• Slush Realization #3: If you hire someone to query on your behalf (don't), wouldn't you want them to have read my submission guidelines?
• Slush Realization #4: Sometimes people make up things so strange that classifying them as "fantasy" still doesn't help me understand them.
• Slush Realization #5: Apparently just saying "no thanks" can equal feeding the trolls. A rejection letter does not a dialogue opener make.
• Slush Realization #9: If an email doesn't LOOK cleanly formatted, I tend to think words-on-a-page might not be your thing.

A big thanks to Elana for allowing me to quote and link her tweets!