Kelly Polark

Top 7 of 2011

2012-01-10T06:45:00.000-06:00

Happy freaking new year. No, really, I hope it's a great one! :)

Today is a post of reflections on the past year. What did I read, watch, and listen to in 2011? Tell me your faves of 2011 in the comments!

Why Top 7 and not 11? Because I care about you and your time. I'm a giver, people.

Top 7 Songs of 2011

7. "Walk" by Foo Fighters

6. "The Sound of Winter" by Bush

5. "Buried Alive" by Avenged Sevenfold

4. "Race You to the Bottom" by New Medicine

3. "Planetary (Go!)" by My Chemical Romance

2. "Burn" by Papa Roach

1. "This is Gonna Hurt" by Sixx: A.M.

Bonus fave pop song "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO

Top 11 Books Read in 2011

(in no particular order, I couldn't stop at seven)

I was so happy to read many books by fellow bloggers/tweeters this year. And the best part? I loved them! Here are my top eleven faves in alphabetical order by author's last name.

The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger, Untraceable by Shelli Johannes, Possession by Elana Johnson, On Writing by Stephen King, A Scary Good Book by Anita Laydon Miller, The Liar Society by Lisa & Laura Roecker, The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan, The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander, Forever by Maggie Steifvator, When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner.

Top 7 Movies watched in 2011

Breaking Dawn Part One (I didn't love Eclipse movie, but this was better, especially ending)

Bridesmaids

The Change Up

Christmas Vacation with my kids for the first time

Elf for the umpteenth time

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 (sniff...)

Horrible Bosses

Can you tell I love comedies or book adaptations?!

Also, thank you to Sherrie Peterson for the A Great and Terrible Beauty book I won at her blog. Plus I won Wildefire at Literary Rambles from Natalie and Casey! Thanks, ladies! What a wonderful way to start the year.

What are your faves of 2011?

Here's one of my fave songs of 2011 by MCR (I've already posted my first two faves on the blog at some point). "If my velocity starts to make you sweat, then just don't let go..."

Ho, Ho, Ho, Gotta Go!

2011-12-15T06:45:00.000-06:00

Gotta prepare for the holidays, you know!

This will be my last post of 2011 since I will be busy with Christmas and family festivities for the remainder of the year. I want to thank you all for coming by the ole blog to say hi. Thank you to followers new and old for your wonderful support! I'll still be popping by blogland to say HEY this year, but just not posting here.

I will be posting a few more times at my other blog, Book Recs of the Rock & Famous this year. Find out what a witty TV host is reading today! Please stop on by!

Lastly, I am down to number 19 in the Meegenius Author Challenge. Not too bad considering there are almost 400 entries, but I'd love to get into the top 15! Thank you for all of your support voting and sharing my link on your facebook page or retweeting it! If by chance you haven't voted, here's the link! Thanks for your help! :)

Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends!

I have an eclectic Christmas carol playlist, but this one is my fave. Peace and love to you!

Gift for Teacher!

2011-12-08T06:45:00.003-06:00

Here's a rerun of a post I did a few years ago, but it is relevant every year!

It's that time of year again. Time for gifts for everyone, including your child's teacher. Most teachers seriously do not expect a holiday gift from their students, but it is a nice gesture. Your child's teacher spends the majority of the week with your child. What are some good ways to thank them for this?

One: Thank them! Yes, especially if money is tight this year, write a sincere thank you note to your child's teacher. Mention specific things on how he/she helped your child or lessons you or your child enjoyed. Your child can also make his/her own thank you or holiday card as well.

Two: Gift Card. Let them splurge a little or be practical. I know from experience that most teachers use their own money for some supplies in the classroom. They can spend the gift card on themselves or use it towards the classroom. Better yet, have a parent collect $5-10 from each student to buy one gift card or certificate from the class. If a class of 20 each gives $5, that's a nice $100 gift certificate for the teacher and a small price to pay for the students' families as well.

Three: You and your child can create something for your teacher. Every year when my children and I hang ornaments on our tree, I put up homemade ones from former students and tell my children about that student who made me the ornament. A parent also once made me a beautiful ceramic Christmas tree that adorns my house each year.

Four: Supplies for the classroom. Ask ahead of time if the teacher needs anything specific from extra pencils or paper to manipulatives or books (most likely he/she will have needs these days). Books are always a great gift for anyone!

I'm a former full time teacher, current teacher's aide who now buys gifts for my children's teachers. I usually give a gift card with a book or two for the classroom as a thank you.

So if you do decide to give a gift for your child's teacher, give it some thought, write a sincere sentiment to go along with it, and your child's teacher will appreciate it! Do you have any other good ideas for teacher gifts?

Here's a holiday tune from the Killers: A Great Big Sled. This tune was a charity single from 2006 aiding the (RED) campaign.

NanoUhOh! PBPick ME!

2011-11-29T06:45:00.003-06:00

Hello, friends! I've come up for a breath to say HEY and ask HOW THE HEY ARE YA?

NANO
For you crazy NaNoWriMo peeps, how was your month? (One more day!) I started out strong, but fizzled out as work and family obligations increased. Jon and I didn't finish our story, but I did get more writing than I would have if I didn't challenge myself with Nano. I think I'm like the turtle in the race. Slow and steady. I'm just not a fast and furious writer. My projects get done, but it may take a little while longer! (Unless I have a true deadline, then I can do it! Go figure.)

How did you do? I noticed that some of you made your 50,000 words, so big congrats to Jemi, Elana, and Lola! If you finished, tell me in the comments so I can congratulate you! (Tina, I know you were almost there!) That is a HUGE accomplishment!

To those of you not doing Nano, how was your month?

MEEGENIUS AUTHOR CHALLENGE

I am participating in the Meegenius Author Challenge. I'm very excited about my manuscript titled, "The First Time I Saw My Baby." I do need your help though. I need lots of LIKES on my entry to be considered a finalist. I would love my book to be published into a Meegenius picture book app.
Would you kindly follow the link to my page and press LIKE (only if you like it, of course)? THANK YOU! I very much appreciate it! I can't do it without you! Voting ends mid December.

CLICK HERE to vote for my story. :)

Lastly, I have the beautiful Angie Harmon at Book Recs of the Rock & Famous today. She tells me her fave books and what her three girls are reading!

Have a fabulous week!

Untraceable tour: The Beats of Writing

2011-11-15T06:45:00.002-06:00

Today is the second stop in the Untraceable blog tour! I am thrilled to be one of the first to read the YA thriller by Shelli Johannes-Wells. As you probably know, Shelli is the master marketer at the popular blog "Market My Words."

I give you unequivocal assurance that this book is a must read! My unbiased brief review is below.

Untraceable is unbelievably good. It's unbearable when the main character Grace's dad goes missing and totally unfair that the case might be closed. Grace's unadulterated love of nature is evident throughout the novel. The chemistry Grace has with another male character is undeniable. Yet, there's another boy who undoubtedly has her attention, too. There are plenty of unalienable characters that you will grow to despise them. The many twists and turns will keep you unhinged til the end. This book captured my undivided attention, and I read it in two days.

Untraceable comes out in 2 weeks!

Since you all know I love my tunes, I asked Shelli to share a little about her musical interests.

The Beats of Writing

1. What song can't you get out of your head this week?

I still have "Forget You" in my head. I don’t know why I still can't lose that song. It’s just fun to sing, and my kids love it.

2. What is your favorite band? (or bands)

Yikes. I love so many bands and songs. It really depends on my mood. This month, I love Coldplay, Adele, Rachel Yamagata, Jack Johnson.

3. What is the last concert you went to?

Oh gosh, I know the first. It was Dolly Parton's and Kenny Roger's Islands in the Stream tour. My mom took me with her. The last concert I went to was Black Eyes Peas and Pussycat Dolls. Or was it Rod Stewart? I did go to a KISS concert in an outdoor theatre - that was a fun experience. A little scary too.

4. Do you write to music? If so what types of songs do you listen to.

Once I plot out a story and know what is happening. Yes, I write to a scene. I have a different song for each chapter that puts me in the mood. For example, in Untraceable, the first scene is a chase scene in the woods. I listened to Muse’s "Time is Running Out." My character’s name is Grace so when I sit down to write I always play U2's "Grace." The lyrics are so perfect for my book.

5. If your life had a soundtrack, what would be your main song?

I actually posted about this along time ago, because my life is a soundtrack. (See post here.)
Right now? "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. No seriously – the songs that really touch me that I always go back to when I need to straighten out are "Live like We’re Dying" from Kris Allen, "Glitter in the Air" by Pink, or "Fix You" by Coldplay.

Great choices! Things are "Crazy" now I'm sure, and I hope you have some CRAZY awesome sales! Thank you, Shelli, for rockin' this interview!

Please visit Shelli at her blog or on Twitter. Also, check out her out at Goodreads!
You can sign up for Shelli's newsletter here. Anyone who is signed up for the newsletter will get a discount for the first 24 hours the books is released!
Untraceable will be available on November 29 in paperback and ebook at Amazon, B&N, iTunes, and other sellers.

Sssshhhhh. I'm Nanoing.

2011-11-03T06:45:00.002-05:00

Yes. I'm diving into NanoWriMo for the very first time. (That's National Novel Writing Month for the non-writers.) I'm a little frightened, but a lot excited about it. Jon and I are bending the rules a little to fit our needs. But that's okay, because we are going to finish our novel this month. Yes, I said it. We are FINISHING it. I won't be writing 50,000 words this month, but I will be writing a whole heck of a lot and accomplish something more important to me. So there. I'm going to kick some Nano butt!

Are you doing Nanowrimo this year? WHO'S WITH ME??!

If so, here are a few links for some great tips for a successful Nano month of November.

Gearing Up for Nano (which I guess you should have done last month, but it's still helpful!)

Nano Prep Tips Lola Style (okay, so use these tips to prep you for week two and to help you carve time for Nano; it's good stuff!)

Planning Your Novel's Beginning (Because we are in the first week of Nano!)

Nano for the New and Insane Author Lazette Gifford's FREE ebook ! (Ha! Love the title!)

21 Tips for NanoWriMo Success or Any 30 Day Project

Due to the furious nature of Nano, I will not be posting much at this blog in November (though look for a cool post on Nov. 15). Please, please, please visit my other blog, Book Recs of the Rock & Famous instead of here this month. I'm trying to gain more followers there. And you might find a great book that a rocker or cool celebrity recommended!

Thank you, and good luck to us all!

Oktober Blogfest & Halloween Hop!

2011-10-26T06:45:00.016-05:00

Bish is hosting a spooky Oktober blogfest today, and this weekend is the Halloween Hop at the blog of Jeremy Bates! I thought I'd combine these two fests in one post!

That's my sister and me in the top left picture. I'm a bunny; she's the clown. Aren't we sweet?

Here are a few fun fast Halloween favorites of mine.

Best Songs for Halloween: Thriller by MJ! Dragula by Rob Zombie! Psycho by Puddle of Mudd! Nightmare and Scream by Avenged Sevenfold! Vampires Will Never Hurt You by MCR!

(Yes, I have a Scary Song mix on my iPod.)

Best Halloween Joke: What do adult ghosts like to drink? BOOze.

Best Halloween candy: I love so many kinds of candy, but my fave are Reese's peanut butter cups.

Best Halloween costume: as a child - butterfly, as an adult- Wonder Woman

Best Vampire Show: True Blood of course!

Tell me your favorites in the comments!

And for the Oktober Blogfest:
MY SCARIEST HALLOWEEN EVER!

My family loves Halloween. Each Halloween we have more family over, and we go trick-or-treating with the kids. One Halloween morning, I ran to the grocery store to get things for our upcoming family party. My husband was incapacitated with a terrible flu so he was banished to the basement. I needed help so I called my dad to watch my three children (ages newborn, 2, and 5 at the time) while I did a quick trip to the store.

When I returned, my daughter was lying on the floor and holding her face. Apparently, right before I opened the door, my oldest son was having a pillow fight with my 2 yr old daughter, and she got hurt and fell to the floor. She was dazed, her eyes were open, and she was crying a little. After I inspected her, she became extremely dazed and absolutely not herself. She is one spunky child, and she was staring into space and not responding to me. I raced her to the emergency room, crying and praying the whole way. I pulled over at one point because she was falling asleep or passing out (even at 2 she rarely took naps) in her carseat, and I was fearful for her. My dad ran to the neighbor to watch my other two so he could follow in his car.

The ER took her after awhile and diagnosed her with a scratched cornea. I do believe she had a concussion, but they didn't diagnose her with that. We came home, let her rest, dressed her in her adorable bunny costume, and then put her in a wagon for trick or treating. This wasn't the scariest health incident regarding my daughter as she's had worse medical diagnoses, but thankfully she is now a healthy (and still quite spunky) nine year old.

The funny thing about this story is my daughter (now in fourth grade) just wrote an essay about her best Halloween. She wrote about the one when she was a bunny and 2 years old. She totally missed the part of her being in the ER that day. Totally forgotten. I'm just glad she remembered the best part of the day!

This is my favorite Halloween picture of my children from that day.

I am featuring a few horror movie actors at the Book Recs of the Rock and Famous tomorrow and Halloween Monday! Find out tomorrow what a major movie star who started in a horror film is reading and on Monday I have one of the most recognizable horror movie characters ever! Please stop by and see what they are reading!

Pay It Forward Blogfest

2011-10-14T06:45:00.000-05:00

Matthew McNish and Alex Cavanaugh (the King of Blogfests) are partying Pay It Forward style today. Click on their names to find almost 200 links to those participating. I'm looking forward to checking out some cool new blogs today.

So, which blogs do I want you to check out?

First, I want to give props a few rock star blogs that you probably know. If you don't, click and follow.

Elana Johnson - Informative, friendly posts. Elana is so generous with her time, and she is the Query Queen. And the author of Possession.

Literary Rambles - Major resource of agent info thanks to Casey and Natalie.

Here are some blogs you may or may not be following but absolutely should! Seriously. Follow them. Or I'll scream Motley Crue songs in your ear until you do.

1. CAROLINA VALDEZ MILLER - I have never read more exquisite book reviews than at her blog. She could sell a book about a wombat/laundry basket/Jared Leto love triangle with her perfectly worded, vivid reviews. She is very generous with book giveaways. And she's fun! She was my concert buddy to a 30 Seconds to Mars Blood Ball. Did you hear she's going to Haiti soon? What a woman!

2. CHRIS PHILLIPS - Funniest guy in the blogosphere. He makes me laugh every time. Unless he's making me tear up with his poetry. The man has talent, yo.

3. THE PRACTICE ROOM - Tina and crew set up times each week day to write and then reconvene in a chat room to discuss your writing progress or whatever else is on your mind. This is a great motivator, and also a great resource for moral support! (And of course some laughs are interspersed in between the encouraging words!)

Special Bonus Recommendation:

Author ADAM REX.

Did you know this talented artist had a blog? Adam shares sneak peeks of his illustrations or random photos of pigeons on his porch or even pictures of himself in a dress. Did you know he was my all time favorite author? The man writes picture books, poetry, middle grade AND young adult. And he's an extremely talented illustrator. And quite witty. So check it out. And tell him his number one fangirl, Kelly, sent you.

Lastly (shameless plug alert), check out my new blog Book Recs of the Rock & Famous! This week I have an alternative rocker and a funny lady sharing their current reads! Thanks, and have a most excellent weekend!

Kick Butt Debut Author Spotlight

2011-10-10T06:45:00.009-05:00

Welcome to a Kick Butt Debut Author Spotlight! Go to Christina Lee's blog to find links to other blogs who are celebrating favorite authors.

Today I am spotlighting one of my favorite middle grade authors, Anita Laydon Miller!
Not only can she dance and make me laugh, but she writes awesome middle grade e-books.
Just this year she has debuted her first middle grade novel in March and her second great kids' ebook in August.

EARTHLING HERO
11-year-old Mikey Murphy wakes to find a stranger in his room—a kid who looks exactly like him. Meeting his alien clone and his clone’s sister is just the start of Mikey’s adventures. Can he befriend the siblings, bust into a military installation, fight expert assassins, discover an evil alien’s lair and save the world?

A SCARY GOOD BOOK
Two words change 12-year-old Hannah Stone’s life forever: Help me. With her best friend Ollie at her side, she’ll do anything to save a life. But will she lose her own?

Both books are selling well, and it's no surprise. Earthling Hero is an exciting sci-fi adventure book, and A Scary Good Book is very suspenseful, and even a bit creepy. I highly recommend both! And best of all, both books sell for only 99 cents!

Check out the brand spanking new trailer of this mg mystery!

You can visit Anita at her two blogs, Anita Laydon Miller and Anita Laydon Miller's Middle Grade Blog.

Also, please visit my other blog, Book Recs of the Rock and Famous! Today an eccentric, alternative rocker shares what he is currently reading.

I'm Burnin' Up.

2011-10-03T06:45:00.001-05:00

The lovely Susan Fields tagged me a fun, random meme many moons ago. Thank you, Susan, for the opportunity for a random, quirky Q&A. I'm also combining this with the Blog on Fire Award that I received from Julie Fedderson, especially since the first question is hot, hot hot! Thanks, Julie!

Let's do this!

1. Do you think you're hot? (this question struck me as odd, but I'll answer it anyway!)

I do I have to admit, I do think I'm hot occasionally, but when I'm all dressed up (which isn't too often). Confidence is okay, right? But most of the time I feel like a regular middle-aged mom. Which I'm proud to be!

2. Upload a picture or wallpaper you are using at the moment.

I have a similar northern lights background on my computer. I've had it since I got the laptop 4-5 years ago. It's pretty! I have seen the northern lights. Beautiful!

3. When was the last time you ate chicken meat?

Last night I made a chicken recipe in the crockpot with Russian dressing and apricot preserves for my dad and stepmom. It was yummy!

4. The song(s) you listened to most recently?

Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO because it reminds me of my recent Florida trip with the girls.
And I do enjoy it even though it's not my usual hard rock. You can't help but dance to it!

5. What were you thinking as you were doing this?

My kids are SO loud!

6. Do you have nicknames?

Many call me Kel. When I was younger, my parents called me Smel. And a few friends call me Kmp!

I'm supposed to tag others for the meme, but I get uncomfortable doing that for some reason. I will, however, give the Blog on Fire award to Jimmy Garcia. Go to his blog to find out why. I've also won other awards in the past few months from awesome people, thank you! Forgive me for not writing them down when I read them! I'm an airhead that way! They are appreciated!!

If you'd really love to answer these randoms, please do and consider yourself tagged!

Also, I have a comedian up at the Book Recs of the Rock and Famous today! Check and see what inappropriate question I asked him!
Lastly, I'm going to ask you all the same question Susan did. Do you have any nicknames? Tell me in the comments!

F is for Florida, Fun, and Friends

2011-09-29T06:45:00.003-05:00

Many years ago there were three girls who grew up in the same neighborhood. They played Barbies. They had sleepovers. They all bought hermit crabs together (see picture...can you guess which one is me?). They went to the same grade school and high school. Two girls even roomed together in college. They stood up in each other's weddings. They held each other's babies. Thankfully they stayed best friends throughout their lives.

Fast forward to last week. These three girls took their first vacation together since spring break in high school (we sailed to the Virgin Islands our senior year). We added another high school friend to our vacation plans and a few more surprise family members. Two of us flew in from Illinois, one from Michigan, and one all the way from Spain.

We spent five nights in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We laughed. We giggled. One even giggled so hard she peed her pants. We cried a little. We danced a lot. We shopped. We enjoyed massages and facials. We sang karaoke. We ate together. And then we laughed some more. And forever this song will remind me of this trip.

We even reenacted the picture we took almost 30 years ago.

Here are a few pics from our vacation together.

Aren't friends grand?

I took everyone's advice and left my computer at home, too! I did absolutely no writing and read Elana Johnson's Possession on the plane to and from Florida. Awesome book. Awesome trip. Awesome friends.

My friend Becky also posted a blog about our trip today. See her post HERE.

Please check out this week's posts at Book Recs of the Rock and Famous! I have my kids' favorite Disney channel actor and a rocker with an amazing voice this week!

This and That Thursday

2011-09-15T06:45:00.000-05:00

Is it Thursday already? How can that be?

LIFE
1. I may be MIA from blogland next week. Three of my friends from high school and I are going to Florida for a girly getaway. We've never done anything like this before. I know it will be a blast! I will miss my kiddos though. It's hard to tear me away from them. But sun and fun with my girlies is going to be crazy fun! I'm debating whether or not to bring my computer though...

2. I am LOVING my mornings in the kindergarten class. It is so great to be back in the classroom and making a difference. The children are filled with such joy, I smile all morning long.

WRITING

My arm has been twisted, and I will be doing Nano for the first time this year. I'm slightly scared but mostly pumped, because I know our book's first draft will be finished by the end of November. Who's with me?!

BLOGGING

This week at Book Recs of the Rock & Famous I have a True Blood hunk and a fantastic, thorough interview about books with the Goo Goo dolls drummer, Mike Malinin. It's so interesting to see what actors and musicians read. It gives a different insight into their personalities. Check my new blog out HERE!

Thank you to Cori Jackson for the Amazon gift card I won on her blog! I promptly bought Possession by Elana Johnson and Forever by Maggie Stiefvator. My mom has already abducted Forever to read, and I will be reading Elana's book on the beach next week. If I can wait til then...

Have a fabulous weekend!

My Allegiance to Rock

2011-09-08T06:45:00.000-05:00

Last week I attended yet another concert. This Rock Allegiance tour consisted of seven killer bands, five of which we saw: RED, POD, Puddle of Mudd, Papa Roach, and Buckcherry.

Two of these bands I've seen multiple times (Papa Roach - 7, Buckcherry - 5), so when I heard they were in the general area, I HAD to go!

My mom and my friend Shanon accompanied me on this 90+ degree evening. We were pleasantly surprised that the festival venue was next to a river and had a friendly, casual atmosphere and best of all - the seats were awesome and we snuck even closer! We were happy, sweaty rock fans.

Here are a few pics. I've written a full review at a new ezine that goes live soon. I will link it when it does. Yep, I've got another writing gig!

My friend and I with Tobin Esperance, bassist of Papa Roach.

Puddle of Mudd

Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach

Josh Todd of Buckcherry

A quick snippet of 3 bands at the fest. Watch to the end to see Josh Todd of Buckcherry dance. He can move!

It was a great way to end summer! Did you do anything special to commemmorate the end of the summer season?

Don't forget to check out my other blog, Book Recs of the Rock and Famous. This week I have Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees and John Taylor of Duran Duran featured! Thanks!

This and That Thursday

2011-09-01T06:46:00.003-05:00

I like big books and I cannot lie
You other mothers can't deny
That when a man walks in with a beer belly waist
And a rectangle thing in your face
You feel young
Wanna pull up tough
Cuz you notice that book was stuffed
Deep in the jacket he's wearing
I'm hooked and I can't stop staring
Oh, baby I wanna read with ya
And take your picture!

1. One of my favorite things to do is take the kids to the book store when we are on vacation. This month we frequented a Barnes & Noble the same day I bought my big books tee at Hot Topic. Here's the Little Red Writing Book that I couldn't pass up.

Here's a peek inside.

2. Speaking of books, did you see Anita Laydon Miller's new cover for the middle grade ebook, Earthling Hero?

Beautiful, isn't it?? And speaking of Anita, I read A Scary Good Book last weekend in two sittings. I highly recommend this mg mystery! It's suspenseful, it's slightly creepy, and it has such likable characters. And I'm NOT just saying that because she was at the shooting range yesterday.

3. Thank you so much for showing your support on my new blog, "Book Recs of the Rock & Famous." If you haven't visited yet, click HERE to see what Kate Middleton and Leah Remini have been reading. Next week I have a True Blood hunk and a rockerboy on deck. Spread the word that reading ROCKS!

4. And a hello to all of you wonderful people stopping by from the campaign! I'll be bloghopping soon!

5. I almost forgot to mention that I just started my first Monday-Friday job in twelve years! I used to be a full time grade school teacher until I became a stay at home mom to my three kids. Now I'm a teacher's aide in a morning kindergarten class at my kids' school. I love it so far! It's wonderful to be able to be part of a regular classroom again. The pay is meh, but I figure it's a great way to ease myself back into the realm of education and have my afternoons free for errands and writing. So be careful while commenting. I may be correcting your punctuation! :)

Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend, all! Any plans?

Random Thoughts About the VMA's

2011-08-29T06:50:00.005-05:00

Last night was the Mtv Video Music Awards. Which shocks me every year as Mtv hardly airs many music videos anymore. And I LOVE music videos.

Here's my usual Random Thoughts While Watching the VMA's.

Click here for a complete list of winners (who do I look like, Riki Rachtman?).

1. Gaga totally reminds me of Ralph Macchio in the Outsiders. Do it for Johnny! (but lose the cigarette...)

2. The Biebs doesn't seem too thrilled in the audience...

3. Yay, Foo Fighters! They won best Rock Video for "Walk" which was based on the movie "Falling Down." Great tune. I heart Dave Grohl.

4. My fave quote of the night: "Never lose faith in real rock 'n' roll music." - Dave Grohl

5. Paul Rudd is all over the place lately. What a cutie. Slappin' da bass!

6. Whoa! Quick wardrobe change for Katy Perry! (which I should know from Jon Arntson's Katy Perry concert review.)

7. I just found out that my hubby is an Adele fan and has her CD in his truck. Who knew?!

8. Wow! Can't believe that Bieber beat out Eminem! The specs are kind of cute.

9. Surprised to see Chris Brown here. Doesn't anyone hold any grudges against woman beaters??? And how does Dave Grohl feel about Chris lipsyching to a Nirvana song??

10. Cute Britney montage!

11. Beyonce is an amazing performer as always. And if you haven't heard, she's preggers!

12. Is Jared Leto wearing a skirt? And a mini mullet? Take off those shades, Jared, and show us your baby blues!

13. And I wish Gaga would have done a wardrobe change. Enough with the Andrew Dice Clay/Macchio impression.

14. Hunger Games trailer! Man, I wish it was longer and showed more of the movie! Can't wait!

15. What the H does Katy have on her head??? And I love the "Firework" video. And song.

16. As always, not enough rock 'n' roll at this awards show.

Anyone else watch the VMA's? What did you think?

AND IN BLOGGING NEWS:
I've joined the Campaign! I feel all warrior-like saying that. I've seen the Campaign badge all over the blogs lately, so I decided to join forces with you all to build our platforms, support one another, meet new blog friends, and take over the blogging world!!! (cue maniacal laughter)

If you'd like to join forces with us, go to Racheal Harrie's blog and join in by August 31! Who's with me??

Book Recs That Rock

2011-08-24T07:25:00.001-05:00

Hello, friends!

I am starting a new blog next week to promote literacy. I will be compiling and posting book recommendations of different celebrities and posting them once or twice a week. We all know that reading is a very cool pasttime, but I want the starstruck world to know it, too. I want someone to google celebrities and see what they are READING, not what they are wearing, not who they are smooching, but what they are recommending. (To be fair, I read Us Weekly and read about that other stuff, too :).

Please click on BOOK RECS OF THE ROCK AND FAMOUS to go to my new blog. Please follow so everyone will know that reading is important to so many of us! I don't expect anyone to comment on every post, just do if you feel like it.
I appreciate your help and support! Spread the word if you can.

THANK YOU!!

Rockin' & Writin'

2011-08-22T07:30:00.002-05:00

What's better than a concert? A FREE concert! Last week my sister and I attended the SummerKrush concert in Chicago. It was seriously free for everyone and sponsored by Samsung. We saw Bush and Chevelle, two bands that are frequently played on my iPod. This is the third time I've seen Chevelle and first time for Bush (though I've seen Gavin Rossdale solo before). Even though the venue was packed and super sweaty, we jumped up and down and sang along to all the great Bush (like "Comedown" & "Glycerine") and Chevelle (my fave -"Send the Pain Below") hits plus some new songs.

Here's a few pics of Gavin, lead singer of Bush (also husband of Gwen Stefani).
He's British (and ripped) so he can wear this.

And I told you it was hot and sweaty in there!
The best part was that the bands gave us a few writing tips while we were there! Listen and learn...
(and speaking of writing tips, did WRITEONCON rock, or what?!)

Okay, I tried. I just wanted to show some cool clips from the concert. :)
And did you notice my new rockin' banner up top? A big thank you to Jon Arntson! He made it for me!!

Vacay Days

2011-08-15T07:55:00.000-05:00

Hello my dear blog friends!
My family and I have been traipsing all over the northern Midwest. My kids spent quality time with grandparents, caught lots of fish, and enjoyed nature at its best. My hubby and dad caught giant muskies. The kids also back to school shopped, rode amusement parks at the Mall of America, and clogged toilets everywhere they went (don't ask).

Here are a few vacation pics.

I kissed a fawn, and I liked it. Last vacation I kissed a dolphin. It seems I kiss animals everywhere I go. Kind of like college, but no beer goggles necessary for these kisses from me.

Hubs and I went to see one of our fave comedians, Daniel Tosh in Duluth. Hilarity ensued.

The Polark Five took a walk in the wilderness.

And we have added two cool new voices on our Garmin to guide us through the galaxy. Yes, the force is with us.

I hope you are all enjoying the last weeks of summer! School starts next week!

What can you get for a buck?

2011-08-08T07:48:00.005-05:00

A book for a buck, that's what! (Actually for less!) Congratulations to middle grade author, Anita Laydon Miller! Her newest release, A SCARY GOOD BOOK, is available today. Please go read a sample, and you will be sucked in and want more. Read that HERE. And read how you can purchase this kids ebook HERE! An awesome mystery for only 99 cents!!!

Twelve-year-old Hannah Stone tells everyone she’s “okay,” but that’s a total lie. Two years ago her dad was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The detective in charge of the case never found the driver, but he somehow managed to get Hannah’s mom to fall in love with him. The jerk. And speaking of love, Hannah’s developed a major crush on Ollie Ortega—he’s her best friend and the only one she can talk to—a crush on Ollie is so not a good idea.
Also not a good idea? Searching for a missing person with no help from the police. But that’s exactly what Hannah does when she finds messages in library books—underlined words that point her in the direction of someone who needs her.
And, suddenly, Hannah’s even further from okay. She breaks into a library, gets caught in a kidnapper’s web, and is stalked by her dad’s killer, all in an effort to save a life…but can she save herself, too?

CONGRATS, ANITA! This will be the first book I buy my daughter when she gets her ereader this month! I can't wait to read the rest of the book (and share it with her)!

Also, I've been a lucky blog winner this week. Thank you to Ellen Oh; I won Carrie Harris's BAD TASTE IN BOYS on her blog!! I know it's going to be a riot. Also I won Julie Fedderson's colloquialism contest. You won't believe what phrase won me a cool Honey Bee gift basket! Thank you, Julie!!

This and That Thursday

2011-07-21T07:30:00.001-05:00

MOVIES

I watched three movies in the theater last week. I do believe that is a record for me. I watched Zookeeper with the family when our power was out for two days. (It was okay, but kids liked it) Hubs and I saw Horrible Bosses. It amused me, but I thought it would be funnier. But still it was pretty funny, more of a dark comedy. Great actors in it. Then of course I had to see HP7. Hubs and I took our oldest. I was on the verge of tears from the beginning knowing what was going to happen and knowing this was the last movie of the series. My son begged me not to sob loudly during a certain scene that he knew I might (because I sobbed loudly when I read the scene to him). I sobbed, but quietly into my Coca Cola. The movie was absolutely amazing. AMAZING! The only thing that could have been improved was more Fred and George. I love Fred and George.

Did you see HP7? Any other movies you recommend?

BOOKS

I read through 3/4 of the Vampire Diaries books by LS Smith last week when my power was out. I liked them (I'm such a good reviewer, aren't I?). I saw the first two episodes on TV, but stopped because I decided I wanted to read the books first. So I will have to watch the Diaries on Netflix at some point. I am now reading Ditched by Robin Mellom which is very amusing. I enjoy Robin's humor, and I won the ARC on a blog contest at her blog! Thank you, Robin!

WRITING

I've been reading and writing poetry for the last few weeks. I missed it. I'd been concentrating on my middle grade novels, so it's been so refreshing to get back to what started me writing in the first place!

And you know that poem that I posted below? I made it to the final four in Shelly's Poetry contest! I actually didn't realize it was a contest when I entered the blogfest. So, it was a pleasant surprise! Today is the last day to vote for your fave of the four!

MUSIC

I enjoyed rocking to Poison and Motley Crue last month. It was super fun and even better, the tickets were free (and amazing seats!). My high school friend is good friends with Poison's drummer, Rikki Rockett (see below), and he gave us tickets! My friend Sue and I had a blast! We loved singing along with the classic hits. And Tommy Lee even had a drum coaster at the Crue set! At the end of the show, Nikki Sixx sprayed blood on the front row (see video). It seems I can't get away from bloody concerts! (See Blood Ball with 30stm!).

No other concerts planned yet, but I did just buy Daniel Tosh tickets for my hubs and I. That will be gigglicious I am sure!!

What summer fun are you up to?

Poetry Schmoetry Blogfest/Poetry Friday

2011-07-14T20:00:00.000-05:00

Today I'm doing double poetry duty! I'm joining in at the Poetry Schmoetry blogfest today at Shelley's blog. Check here to see more entries. I am also participating in Poetry Friday which is being hosted at A Year of Reading today. I used to do Poetry Friday a lot, but my middle grade writing took over. It's time to pay my respects to poetry again!

I'm sharing a poem today that I wrote after watching a preschooler reunite with his father when he returned from war. It was so incredibly touching. I was tearing up along with all the other moms watching the special moment.

HOME FROM AFGHANISTAN

Months of waiting.
Celebrating.
Daddy’s home.

Smiles beaming.
Tears are streaming.
Daddy’s home.

We are racing.
Warm embracing.
Daddy's home!

No more missing.
Hugs and kissing.
My daddy is home!

-Kelly Polark, all rights reserved

First 250+

2011-06-25T08:04:00.000-05:00

Today I'm participating in Shelly Watter's Birthday Blowout Contest!
And here I go. Any feedback is appreciated!

Title: Rock 'n' Roll Princesses Wear Black
Genre: Humorous Middle Grade
Wordcount: 26,000

My cousin Gina coined our place, The Loud House.

“Yes, I’m back in black!” blasted from the family room speakers. My little brother cried like a baby in his bedroom, because, well, he’s a baby. I stepped into my room and shut the door for some rare peace and quiet. Why couldn’t our place be The Occasionally Loud House?

Even with my door closed I could hear my dad listening to his AC/DC playlist on the iPod speakers. He always did that when he paid bills. AC/DC is a classic rock band. Which means they’re old. I like music and all; in fact, I love it. But there’s a time for rocking out, and there’s a time to get things done. I needed to find something to wear to Brooke’s birthday party right now. Stat. Immediately. Pronto. If only my brother would go back to sleep. He should be napping now. He usually can sleep through music playing, dogs barking, anything in The Loud House. Mom said that he’s teething. Another reason for my parents to smother him with attention. Another reason to say, “Stef, wait a minute. Stef, I can’t do this now. Stef, your brother is the only thing we care about.” Okay, maybe they’ve never said that last one, but they’ve probably thought it.

I rifled through the middle drawer of my white dresser and searched for something to wear. I couldn’t find one thing with pink on it. My mom was not going to like that I left the shirts in a rumple instead of neatly in a stack. She worked at the Gap in high school and learned how to perfectly fold clothes. Maybe I’ll let her redo my stacks, you know, to remind her of the good ole days of high school.

This and That Thursday

2011-06-23T07:00:00.001-05:00

BOOK SIGNING

Look who I got to meet this week! Shelley Moore Thomas had a wonderful and busy library book tour in Illinois recently, and lucky for me, one was about 30 minutes from my house! I took my younger two to listen to her tell stories and read A Good Knight's Rest. My children and the children attending all adored her. Shelley has such a way of entertaining the little ones with her fabulous voices, cute puppets, and interactive stories. I was so glad to not only meet her, but watch her do her magic! She isn't called the Storyqueen for nothin'!

LIFE

I apologize for not being around the blogosphere lately. I am taking two graduate courses in four weeks, and it is taking up the majority of my time. I have an Illinois teaching certificate, but I am applying for a Wisconsin one, too. I need 6 hours of graduate credit to get it since I've been out of the classroom for so long (it's been twelve years since I've been a full time teacher!). Even though it is a buttload of work (that's a new educational term I learned), I am finding the courses so interesting and informative. I'll be checking blogs more often in July!

GOOD NEWS

There is so much great news for my bloggy friends!

1. Congrats to Stephanie Blake. She recently signed with an agent! Go congratulate her and find out the deets!

2. Congrats to Donna Earnhardt! She recently signed a contract with Flashpoint Press for a picture book. Go say, "Way to Go!" here.

3. Congrats to Myra McEntire on her YA book release, Hourglass! Isn't the cover awesome?!

4. Have you seen Elana Johnson's fan website for Possession?! It is amazing. Check it out here.

5. It's summer! Have you downloaded PJ Hoover's newest book Solstice yet? Go to her blog to see how you can purchase her book for 99 cents!

Do you have any fun or good news to share?

MUSIC

Yes, I'm going to another concert on Saturday. Isn't that what summer is for? It will be a great break between assignments. I'm so excited to see Motley Crue, Poison and the New York Dolls. I've seen the Crue and Poison many times in my day; they always put on a kick butt show! Now where's the hairspray???

Possession

2011-06-07T07:00:00.005-05:00

Today I am participating in a Possession Celebration Blog Hop hosted by Nichole Giles !
First of all, congratulations to the wonderful, generous, talented Elana Johnson on her book birthday for her debut young adult novel POSSESSION! And another congratulations to Elana, because the companion novel to POSSESSION recently sold! What a fabulous June you are having, my dear!

To celebrate, I am supposed to tell about a time I broke the rules. This is hard for me as I am a strict rule follower, law abider. I was a good kid. I'm a good adult. So, I will tell you about the first time I got a speeding ticket. (I've only had a few!)

I was in college and driving my friend Becky home from our summer jobs as Human Resources interns. The sun was shining, we were giggling as always on our way home with the radio blasting. I sang along loudly to the chorus of Queensryche's "Jet City Woman" as it played on THE BLAZE hair band radio station. And then I looked in the rear view mirror at the lights flashing behind me. My heart sank.
I looked nervously at Becky and pulled over to the side of the road. I knew I had been speeding. I wasn't paying attention.
As the officer approached my car, I hiked up my mini skirt to show some more leg as a last minute attempt to bat my eyelashes out of the ticket. But the tired looking, older gentleman asked for my license and registration anyway. As I waited nervously in the car, he returned with my very first speeding ticket. Crap!
I'm pretty sure I cried when I told my mom when I got home. I paid for the ticket myself with my summer job money. But I did the crime, so I paid the fine.

So that is my rule breaking story that my long, tan legs didn't get me out of. Nothing exciting, but definitely a moment I'll always remember!!
Were you a troublemaker?? :)

I also want to give another book birthday shout out to Shelley Moore Thomas! Her picture book A Good Knight's Rest is released today, too!! Congrats, Shelley!

Today's Tune for Tuesday is "Breaking the Law" by Judas Priest. I loved when James sang with them on the Idol finale! Also random fact about me: I yell, "Judas Priest" like a curse word! (My grandma used to, too.)

Fun and Games Blogfest

2011-06-06T06:47:00.007-05:00

The king of blogfests, Alex Cavanaugh is hosting today's superdeeduper fun blogfest. Participants are to list their three favorite games.

Here are mine!

1. Scattergories - I love this, because you think it should be easy, but it isn't! I also love that it is fun for all ages so we can have family games.

2. You Don't Know Jack - My hubby and I used to play this game on the computer many years ago before kids. We are super competitive with one another, and this one was great because we were about even with wins. We are getting him the Wii or Xbox version for Father's Day! (shhhh, don't tell him! He's so busy with work this week; I know he won't read this!)

3. Apples To Apples - We have family games around the table. Even my kindergartener can play it! The only downside is no one likes it when I'm the judge. They think I'm a terrible judge! But it's so fun anyway!

Honorable mention - Pig or horse at the basketball hoop in the driveway with my son. Competitiveness runs in the fam.

What's your favorite game?? Find out what others have to say at Alex's blogfest headquarters! Join in on the fun!

Another favorite pasttime of mine? Concerts! I went to Q101 Jamboree with my mom and sister on Saturday. I even got to see Carolina Valdez Miller and Erica Chapman there (they had Pit tickets, brave girls). We ended up with fifth row seats, so we were pretty happy! We saw Sum 41, Papa Roach, Seether, and 30 Seconds to Mars! Papa Roach is now the band I've seen the most times live (this was my sixth!). And I even got a hug from Papa Roach's electrifying frontman, Jacoby Shaddix, when he came out into the crowd! Here he is right before he couldn't resist my charms.

And here's a pic of Jared Leto from 30 Seconds to Mars, another amazing frontman!

I hope the photo resizing and post formatting works. This Blogger is driving me nuts!
Have a great week, everyone!!

What up, bfro?

2011-06-01T06:46:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday night I did something that I am certain none of you were doing at 8:30pm on a Saturday. I attended a BFRO meeting. What does BFRO stand for? Bland Food Regurgitation Organization? Booming Fart Reverberation Outlet? Buckcherry Fanclub Reunion Outing?

Nope. Bigfoot Field Researcher's Organization.

Why would I go to a bfro presentation besides the fact I wear size ten shoes? (I really do, so shush your giggles now.) Jon Arntson and I are in the midst of writing our middle grade novel which involves the main character having an encounter with Bigfoot (or Sasquatch if you prefer). The research has been fun as has the chats, emails, & Skypes with Jon brainstorming, character building, plotting, and cheering one another on.

The meeting was conveniently held near where I was vacationing with my fam over the weekend. My mother-in-law was reading a newspaper Friday night and happened to show us the ad about the Bigfoot meeting. Coincidence or fate? My husband said, "We have to go!"

So go we did. My father-in-law, hubs and I went to a campground on the Mississippi River where the presentation was held. About 35 adults and 20 children (who probably had trouble getting to sleep in their tents that night) gathered to hear what the bfro member had to say.

Here's a teaser of what I learned. If you want to know more about Sasquatch, you'll have to read our book one day!

1. BFRO has received over 3,600 reports of Sasquatch encounters. Half the reports are goofballs just messing around. They publish only 10-15% of reports after a phone call to verify.

2. Not just one "Bigfoot." Could be from 500-2,000 of these creatures.

3. Signs of Sasquatch: stick structures, intense smell, twisted trees, branch breaking.

4. Best question of the night from a child: "Are they like Wookies?"

5. Lots of info plus read the actual reports at their site. Or you can stop by and read the four pages of notes I wrote.

Have you taken any research field trips? Anita Laydon Miller had to get security clearance to visit NORAD in Colorado to research for her middle grade book, Earthling Hero. I also had to attend many concerts for my finished middle grade manuscript Rock 'n' Roll Princesses Wear Black. I know, someone totally twisted my arm for me to attend those concerts. Spill about your research in the comments!

Lastly, click here for sounds of Sasquatch.

Dear Diary 6

2011-05-25T06:50:00.000-05:00

On to my next Dear Diary entry. If you missed the Diary of a With It Kid entries, see my aspirations here, puke entry here, and fourth grade entry here,how Anne Frank helped my love life here and the ups and downs of a short lived junior high romance.

Next is an excerpt from eighth grade. The top of the junior high food chain yet still in the throes of hormonal angst. Read on about the short (yet - omg - so important!) relationships of middle graders. Some names have been changed to protect the not so innocent. Middle grade writers take note.

November 17
Howdy! Apparently my diary was made in Texas. I just figured out how long I went out with people. Chase I went out with for 2 months and 2 days. Logan 2 months and 14 days. Mike 1 month 21 days. Todd 3-4 days. That was Dear Diary 5. And Aidan 6-7 days!
Oh yeah, from October 19 to October 25. At the dance I went out with Aidan. The following weekend we went bike riding around his dad's and my neighborhood. You know he could be really sweet. Well, that Thursday he broke up over the phone. Poor Kelly, third time in a row being the dumpee. But at least he had the gonads to break the news himself! He tried and tried to explain why. He said our relationship was like him holding a chocolate cake. He liked the cake, but he was always afraid he'd drop it and ruin it. I was crying when I was talking to him and you know what he said before I hung up - I love you! A couple of times! I go, Yeah, sure. How could he say that after he broke up! Even the next day I go to him - Do you still love me? BOLD girl! He goes, Yeah! We still talk a lot so we're still good friends. I guess I like Ryan or Todd again. I don't know though. I guess I miss liking Aidan or something. I think he likes Wendy now. 4th hour Mike said, "I wish Aidan still liked you instead of a slut like Winnie." I laughed. Mike is one of my good friends now. But I guess I still like Aidan. I guess I always will. Or not.

This post was way before Forrest Gump's "Life is like a box of chocolates." Aidan you were on to something! A relationship with Kelly is like a teetering chocolate cake!

Now tell me a funny or different way you were dumped, and we'll all compare notes!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

2011-05-16T06:42:00.003-05:00

Leigh T. Moore and Lydia Kang are hosting today's funtastical Laughter is the Best Medicine Blogfest. Check their blogs for a others participating, and your Monday is going to feel like a freakin' Saturday night!

Here are my attempts at humor for you today.

JOKE:
Have you seen the movie Constipated?
It never came out.
(My kids love that one!)

Fave funny books to check out: Picture Book - Guess Again by Mac Barnett Middle Grade: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger Adult: Any book by Chelsea Handler
What funny books do you recommend?

Today's Twitter Game is #quirksnperksofawriter Play along with us!

Tomorrow I'll be Chris Phillips' guest for Music to Make Write To. Be sure to check out my picks! One is the funniest music video by this band. Here is their second funniest video. (Sidenote: I own a lavender I heart Davey Grolton shirt that the screaming fans are wearing in the video. And my family likes to say Saul Goode for kicks. Plus if this song is on in the car, we all cross our hands in front of our face at the end like in the video...)
LONG ROAD to RUIN by Foo Fighters

Chelsea Lately

2011-05-12T07:59:00.000-05:00

Book signing + champagne + laughter + stand up = FUN

Yesterday my friend Sue and I went to Chicago to see the quick-witted Chelsea Handler. Chelsea has two shows on E! - Chelsea Lately and After Lately. If you haven't seen her on TV, she is blunt, inappropriate, but funny as heck! Chelsea is also a best-selling author, and we attended a book signing for her latest, Lies that Chelsea Handler Told Me which is cowritten by Chelsea's family and coworkers. I'm sure it will be filled with crazy stories about this crazy girl.

Here's Chelsea at Macy's signing. She signed 500 books including ours! She looks exactly like she does on TV and shares the same dry sense of humor with her fans.

After the signing, we went to her standup show which also featured comedians Brad Wollack, Heather McDonald, and Josh Wolf from Chelsea Lately. Sue and I laughed and laughed. We both decided Heather and Josh were the funniest of the night.

Here's a clip from her popular show on E! with the very funny Will Ferrell. And for Lola and Carol click here with her interview with Jared Leto. And speaking of Carol and Jared, I'll be seeing both (plus Erica) at another concert in a few weeks! No blood will be shed like last time.

My top five comedians are Joel McHale, Daniel Tosh, Chelsea Handler, Will Ferrell, and Tina Fey. Who makes you LOL? (Sidenote: My dad thought LOL was "Lots of Love" until recently...)

Want more laughs? Monday is Lydia and Leigh's Laughter is the Best Medicine blogfest! Don't be a fun hater -sign up here!

I Love You More Than...

2011-05-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. Mine was busy and wonderful! One of my gifts was a school-made booklet made by my daughter. The class read the book Moss Gown by William H. Hooks and then created their own "I Love You More Than" page. The pages were copied and brought together for a booklet for each mom. I love it!
At the end there is also a Top Ten List on Why I Love My Mom. My daughter's number ten? I love my mom because she is weird! She knows me so well. Do you see what her contribution to the Love book was at the top? I love you more than poetry loves its rhymes. Again, she knows me so well!

Check out these other fun, cute entries in the booklet:
Funny!

Sweet!

The Biebs is everywhere!

Hee!

And I love you more than a blogger loves comments. :)

Do you have any more writerly I love you more thans? Leave in the comments!

Today's Twitter Game hashtag is #badquerytips. See more about it at Laura's blog!

This and That Thursday

2011-05-05T06:43:00.001-05:00

BLOGGING

Thanks for all of your great comments on Monday's Dance Off post. It was close, but I beat Anita! I was worried, because I forgot to wear my white glove for the dance. More dance challenges September-December!

Have you seen Heather Kelly's new Twitter Game? She is posting fun writerly hashtags for us to tweet. Yesterday's was #dontwakemeamwriting . Looking forward to the next one! Watch for the next Twittergame hashtag posted on blogs and of course Twitter. If you can't find the game, seek these ladies on Twitter: Heather (@HeatherGKelly), Kris (@KristineAsselin), Laura (@laurapauling),me (@kellypolark), Tina (@tinalaurellee), and Anita (she needs to get her butt on Twitter soon)!

Come play with us!

Oh my heck! You can read the first two chapters of Possession by Elana Johnson on her website! Awesome! And now I'm really anxiously awaiting the book release!
And guess what? Carolina Valdez Miller has an ARC of Possession to give away on her blog! I'm entering by golly, are you? Go to http://www.carolinavaldezmiller.com/ to enter!

READING
I just started reading James Kennedy's The Order of Odd-Fish. Quirky and funny so far just as I figured because James is quite witty, too.

MUSIC
Have you heard of the band Sixx AM? Their hit "Life is Beautiful" was 2008's most played rock song. Motley Crue's bassist Nikki Sixx teamed up with guitarist DJ Ashba and lead singer James Michael for their second album, This is Gonna Hurt which released Tuesday. Nikki also released a book of "photography, music and life" with the same name last month. Singer James Michael had a Q&A on Facebook and I asked him what his favorite band to see live was. His answer: Papa Roach! One of my fave bands to see live! They are so energetic!
Here is Sixx AM's single "Lies of the Beautiful People." Photos from Nikki's book are featured in the video.

It's okay to be different.

Anita vs Kelly Dance Off For Charity!

2011-05-02T06:45:00.000-05:00

Today is the day! Earthling Hero author Anita Laydon Miller has challenged me, yes me, to a DANCE OFF! Silly girl. The not so silly part is that the person with the least number of comments that day will put $ away towards a charity! We will continue for five more months starting the first Monday in September (We need dance lessons in the summer...). Then in December, we will give that money to a wonderful charity (to be determined) for the holidays.

So, please make a comment, any comment (snarky is okay) on this post. Of course, please check out Anita's dance HERE
(You may comment on both. We play nice.)
Can you BEAT IT, Anita? :)

ANITA, ARE YOU OKAY? ARE YOU OKAY, ANITA?

This and That Thursday

2011-04-28T09:58:00.000-05:00

LIFE

My laundry pile is slowly getting back to normal after our great trip! If only the rain would stop and we could finally attend our boys' baseball games. So many have been cancelled!

BLOGGING
Monday is the Anita and Kelly Dance Challenge! I haven't taped mine yet.... I had better get my game on and DANCE! Person with the most comments wins (can comment on both) and Anita, I mean, the other person puts $ in the kitty for a charity! ;)

Also, a big thank you to those of you who have given me a blog award recently!! Your thoughtfulness is appreciated (even though I don't always follow the blog award rules!).

READING
I read three books in the last few weeks (fast for me!): The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan, The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker, and Earthling Hero by Anita Laydon Miller (only 99 cents at Amazon or Smashwords!). I highly recommend all three! They kept me turning the pages to see what the heck was going to happen next!

MUSIC
My sixth grader J-Man and I headbanged together at a concert last night. We headed to ROCKford to hear one of our favorite bands, Avenged Sevenfold, along with another great band - Three Days Grace. It was the fourth time I've seen Avenged and third time I've seen 3DG.
Picture me and a male mini-me with short hair screaming at the top of our lungs to metal songs and throwing our fists up to the beat. Yep, that's us.

A clip of my favorite song of all time - Unholy Confessions

Best guitar duo ever: Zacky Vengeance and Synyster Gates (no, those aren't their given names :) I think the biggest reason I love A7X so much is because of their unique, manic guitar solos.

I hope your day ROCKS!

Bahama Mama

2011-04-25T07:16:00.002-05:00

Aloha my friends! Okay, wrong tropical paradise, but hello all the same!
I recently returned from a fabulous family vacation to Paradise Island in the Bahamas. We stayed at the Atlantis resort that has everything an adult or child could wish for in a trip: several pools, ocean beaches, secluded lagoon beaches, variety of restaurants, kids club, dolphin encounters, shopping, casino, huge salt water fish tanks, snorkeling and other water sporty fun, water park & slides, and SUN! Needless to say (but I'm going to say it anyway), we loved it and had a fabulous time. My inlaws, hubby, three kids and I had great family fun in the warm Bahama sun! I even had time to read The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan and The Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker - both excellent page turners!

Here's a few fun pics from vacation, and this week I'm looking forward to catching up on your blogs!

I kissed a dolphin and I liked it. The seven of us loved our dolphin encounter. We all got to hug, kiss, and watch our dolphin, Missi, do tricks. She even headbanged with me! Not kidding!

My sweet kiddos at the beach.

I even went to an author signing! This is me and author/actress Carolyn Hennesy. She signed Pandora Gets Jealous for me from her popular Pandora middle grade series.

And another view from our room.

Have a fabulous week! I'll be applying and reapplying lotion to try and keep my tan as long as I can!

Jared Leto Gives Carol and Me a Bath

2011-04-15T12:05:00.004-05:00

A blood bath that is! Last night the wonderful Carolina Valdez Miller and I attended the 30 Seconds to Mars concert. The theme: BLOOD BALL! And bloody it was! Here's a clip of Jared Leto spraying the audience with blood.

Carol and I sang at the top our lungs, jumped up and down with thousands of people, and stayed up to the wee hours talking about writing.

Before the last song of the concert, Jared announced that anyone that crowdsurfed to the front could come onstage with them. We were right by the front barrier, so I swung my leg over but I couldn't climb over! Before I changed my mind, fans behind me heaved me over to the other side. I sang chorus to "Kings and Queens" with about 30 other rabid fans onstage with the band. Unfreakingbelievably fun!
Pics from onstage:

Tomo the guitarist

A short clip from onstage:

Thank you, Carol, for being my date to the Blood Ball! Carol is as sweet in person as she is on her blog! 30 Seconds to Mars was AMAZING, and so is Carol!

MCR and Neon Tree Me!

2011-04-14T09:26:00.001-05:00

Last night I went to a -yeah, you guessed it - a concert! I rocked it to My Chemical Romance and Neon Trees. It was the second time I've seen both of them in concert. My friend, Sue, and I arrived to the venue a little early and snagged a close spot to the stage. The crowd was 95% teens and also parents with their preteens. And then there was us (though my 6th grade son was mad I didn't take him! But I'm taking him to another concert in a few weeks).

Both Neon Trees and My Chemical Romance were amazing. Neon Trees played from their debut album, MCR mixed both old and new songs. My legs are killing me from dancing!

This is Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees. You've probably heard their song, "Animal."

Gerard's vocals were on, and I loved watching Frank Iero shred on the guitar right in front of us!Here's My Chemical Romance lead singer, Gerard Way. Many teens came to the concert with red hair like Gerard. He's a cutie, don'tcha think?!

Here's a short clip of Planetary Go! montage. It's a great dance song. Love these lyrics!

If my velocity starts to make you sweat, then just don't let go...I can't slow down; I won't be waiting for you. I can't stop now, because I'm dancin'!...Blast it to the back row!

Tonight I rock it with Carolina Valdez Miller! We're going to the 30 Seconds to Mars concert. Some guy named Jared Leto is lead singer. I heard he's kind of cute, too...and there's a theme night for this one: Blood Ball! There are going to be some crazy pics on the blog tomorrow!

Also, My Chemical Romance has created a web page at singitforjapan.com with this song below and ways to donate and help Japan. You can also buy this song on Itunes -proceeds go to relief for Japan. What nice, talented guys, huh?

A post about singing, an incredible dance off challenge, and a $0.99 ebook for kids!

2011-04-13T06:35:00.000-05:00

Anita Laydon Miller has one of my favorite author blogs. She usually writes short posts, but packs them with great information. She’s the book columnist for the COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE, so she’s always reading good books. And until recently, she was the client of a sought-after literary agency, so she’s got the inside scoop in publishing. A couple weeks ago, Anita switched gears and decided to epublish her middle grade science fiction on her own. So now she’s an epublishing expert, too.

According to Anita, EARTHLING HERO is an “inexpensive middle grade ebook”—at $.99, she’s right—that she’s hoping will appeal to kids and to families who read aloud together. Below is a short description of the book and then a short video of Anita singing.

Imagine waking one summer night to see someone standing beside your bed. The “someone” is a complete stranger, but looks exactly like you. That’s what happens to eleven-year-old Mikey Murphy. The next few days are filled with adventures—breaking into a high-security military installation, engaging expert assassins in hand-to-hand combat, searching for an evil alien’s hideout in the middle of a national landmark—all with two new alien friends at his side. Can Mikey and his friends survive their adventures and save the world?

That was Anita’s singing debut. Doesn't she look adorable in her cowboy boots?

Now are you ready to watch Anita and me dance? Because that brazen lady just challenged me to a dance-off! Here’s how it works: On May 2nd, Anita and I will each post one-minute videos on our respective blogs. Anita’s video will show her dancing, my video will show me dancing. We’ll count the number of comments we each get during the 24 hours after we post the videos. The person with the least number of comments (and you can comment on both blogs, everyone), will place $10.00 in a kitty. We’ll post new dance videos on the first Mondays of September, October, November and December and keep track of the comments each of those months, too, so that there will be $50.00 in the kitty in December. We’ll give that money away to a to-be-determined charity.

I accept your challenge, Anita. Let the dancing begin! It's ON!

We So Excited About the Library!

2011-04-11T06:47:00.004-05:00

This week is National Library Week! Do you love the library? I do! Our local library lends books and DVDs for free, gives access to computers, provides programs for kids and adults, and more. I frequent our local library about three times a month. My kids love to go to the library to check out books.

This week is the perfect time to show my appreciation to my local library. How will I do this? How else but with a music parody! Check out my very amateur video of "Library!" It's quite catchy, and you will be singing it all day!

*Note: I realize that Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris and Possession by Elana Johnson are not new releases yet. They will be new releases in the summer, and I can't wait! Earthling Hero by Anita Laydon Miller is indeed a new release now as are The Liar Society and Odd Girl In!

If you missed my last year's music parody for National Library Week. Here it is! It's a parody of "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance (and I also get to see MCR in concert this week. Woot!).

This and That Thursday

2011-04-07T06:45:00.001-05:00

LIFE Can you believe it's April already?! April is going to be an awesome month. I have three, yes, three concerts lined up (one with Carolina Valdez Miller! We are going to drool over Jared Leto together) and a trip to the Bahamas. Plus my boys' baseball season starts too. Definitely a fun, incredibly busy month! WRITING Jon and I have slacked a bit on our middle grade novel, Sasquatch Eleanor, in the last few weeks, but we are destined to keep at it. I've put some good time in this week. It's awesome, I tell you, awesome! Go us!

BLOGGING Next week is National Library Week! I'll be posting a parody of a song celebrating libraries again! I heart the library. Please check out the Bookanista's Give Back contest at Myra's blog HERE! Lots of great prizes including critiques and signed books! AUTHOR NEWS My dear friend Anita Laydon Miller has released her middle grade novel Earthling Hero! She is having a blog tour now and will stop by my blog next Wednesday. You don't want to miss it! Anita is one smart, beautiful, funny woman! You can buy her ebook at amazon.com or smashwords! Plus check out her new Middle Grade blog HERE! Read an interesting discussion about e-publishing and a schedule of Anita's blog tour at Matthew's blog here. MUSIC Speaking of songs, I cannot, cannot get Rebecca Black's "Friday" out of my head! Argh! But here's Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and long lost American Idol Taylor Hicks singing it!*Blogger formatting is wonky today; Sorry! I've tried to fix it (if it's not fixed when I post this!)

Dear Diary 5

2011-04-04T06:45:00.002-05:00

If you missed the Diary of a With It Kid entries, see my aspirations here, puke entry here, and fourth grade entry here, and how Anne Frank helped my love life here.

Next is the ups and downs of a short lived junior high romance. Here are true excerpts from my diary of a three day romance with a seventh grader when I began my eighth grade year. Middle grade authors take note for your stories. Except kids don't say babe anymore do they? List babelicious terms of 2011 in the comments. Hottie? Shawty? (and none of these terms can be applied to my dorky eighth grade basketball picture to the left. They didn't call me Too Tall Maple for nothin'!)

August 28

Hi! We started school yesterday. Yesterday was kind of boring. Today was better. I like Todd again (he's a 7th grader). I call him Toddy Woddy (I called him that on our school trip to Springfield in July). So he calls me Kelly Welly. I guess that's better than Smelly Kelly. I don't know if he likes me. I doubt it. We talked at the end of school (at 3:30) mostly about Springfield. When I had study hall (but I have to do math to get ready for my night classes at the high school). Yes, I was a brain. Mrs. Reynolds left the door open so I could see Todd (he was eating lunch). I waved. He waved back. After lunch they (his friends) stood around (in front of the door) & he goes, "Want this?" (he was holding his half eaten sandwich). I go, "No thanks." I should have taken the sandwich! It was probaby pb&j! Mr. Mills stood by them and came in and joked around and said, "I'm sorry are we bothering you?" He left. Then Todd waved bye and left. Todd is a babe!

August 29

Hi! Today we had our first student council meeting. I was Ms. President. We're having a dance Sept 14. I hope it's a good dance. Isn't any dance a good dance? Todd was kind of a jerk today - whenever he's with Ryan he's a jerk. Ryan's only nice when he's alone too. Toddy is a babe!

August 31

Hello! I can't see Todd for 3 whole days! Mike and Chad know I like Todd so he'll probably know by Tuesday. I talked to him pretty much at school. Usually about stuff like the Springfield trip. Can you please think of another topic to talk to him about, Kelly? Tonight Jon called (he sounded like Todd at first - my heart skipped a couple of beats). Drama! He liked Becky. He told me to call her and ask her out fo him. I called her and she felt bad because of this (and boy I did too) but she said no. We talked a long time to figure out a way to tell him. Finally I called him and told him the truth. That's all folks! Todd is a massive babe!

September 4

Guess what! I'm goin' with Todd! Isn't that super! He's such a babe! Mary Kate and Jenny ran up to me in the hall & said, "Will you go out with Todd?" I go, "ha ha!" cuz I thought they were joking but then they told me what they said to him. I go, "Yes, of course!" They ran to tell him & now I'm goin' with him. Mary Kate and Dawn won for 8th grade Student Council representatives. It was a spectacular day! Todd is a babe! Should I end all my blog posts with "My hubby is a babe?"

September 5

Todd was a babe as usual today. That's just funny! We talked in the halls pretty much. I wrote him a note he said he'd write me a note by 8th hour. He didn't he said he was sorry & promised me one tomorrow so I guess I'll get the note tomorrow.

September 7

Sorry I didn't write yesterday. I'm so polite to my diary. Todd finally wrote me a note yesterday. I was so happy yesterday. We didn't talk a whole lot but we talked. Well, anyway, here's the bad news. Today he broke up. Everything was going fine (well, at least I thought). I wrote him a note like every day Um, which means three whole days straight. I asked him "So do you wanna write back?" He said, "Yeah. I guess so." Then I saw him in the halls and say hi. He said hi. Riveting conversations! Dawn and I filled up the vending machine. He passed and I said "Hi." He said "Hi." I said, "Note?" Man, I put the pressure on writing notes! He shook his head and said "Well, not yet." Then 8th hour Dawn and I were by the L.C. Todd was talking to Mike and when Mike was leaving Todd said, "Don't say anything!" Then Matt and Todd were by the books and I heard Todd say, "Don't tell her yet!" So I kind of knew. Then Matt comes up to me and goes "Todd wants to break up." I go "OK." Then I thought he was going to leave but he said, "Because he doesn't know you that well" I guess I should have talked more than about the darn Springfield trip! I said, "Okay" again & Matt left. When Mike broke up with me in 7th grade I cried (well, tears came down). Not a tear this time. Well, I felt like I was going to when I told my friends. Well, I cried a little when I was listening to some music Which was probably Air Supply, Chicago or Duran Duran at the time. and looking through his picture and note. Way to torture yourself, Kelly. And the note! What is up with the significance of the notes?! I guess I still do like him, but I'll probably know for sure Monday.

Monday

Well, I definitely don't like Todd anymore. I like Allan again. HA! The fickle heart of a 13 year old.

Oops! I almost forgot! Chris is a babe! (Chris is my hubby). Like totally.

Quotable Books

2011-03-23T06:47:00.000-05:00

Many people quote movies, but do you quote books in normal conversation or in occasional outbursts? Yeah, I do, too.

Here are a few from our household.

"Silencio!" and "Expelliarmus!" from Harry Potter

"Do it for Johnny!" from The Outsiders

Let's sleep in a "real pile." from Where the Wild Things Are (maybe that one is from the movie, can't remember if it's in the book too.)

"You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may." from Green Eggs and Ham

"You've got the cheese touch!" from Diary of a Wimpy Kid

"Wanna see my secret freckle? It's got a hair in it!" Diary of a Wimpy Kid (okay, that is inspired by the movie, too)

"Who Pooped in the Park?" from Who Pooped in the Park? - a book about scat in various national parks!

Various Shel Silverstein poems like "Chester," "Two Tutors" and "Boa Constrictor." Yeah, I just say them occasionally out loud to the kids. They are funny! I've memorized so many Silverstein poems since my childhood.

WHAT BOOK QUOTES DO YOU USE IN YOUR DAILY CONVERSATIONS?

Speaking of Johnny, did anyone catch Ralph Macchio on Dancing with the Stars? I don't watch it, but I had to google him on Youtube to see how he did! Dance on, Dance off!

Is anyone else having trouble cutting and pasting into blogger or adding pictures? Every time I try to add a picture or video, it closes! Arrgh! It's so frustrating that I'm not blogging as much (that and I'm busy!!!). Have a great rest of your week, friends!

This and That Thursday

2011-03-17T06:47:00.001-05:00

WRITING
About three years ago I wrote a picture book called "Rockabet." It was an ABC book of rock 'n' roll. There was nothing like it anywhere in print. I submitted it to publishers, one being somewhat interested but passed, and then I moved on to writing two poetry collections and a middle grade novel. I was perusing Amazon.com yesterday and discovered an "ABC's of Rock 'n' Roll" picture book. ARRRRRGHHHH! It was written by someone in the music business and even had a blurb by Iggy Pop on its cover. I know the author didn't steal my idea; it's just frustrating when I knew I had a novel concept, and then I see it in print (and that publishers nixed my similar idea).
My book is slightly different as I had catchy couplets like

"A is for Aerosmith
Their first hit, "Dream On."

B is for the Beatles
George, Ringo, Paul, John." and so on.

Their book is the letter and the name of the band with a cool graphic on each page plus of course we have many different musicians listed. I wonder if mine is different enough to pursue sometime in the future... What do you think? And has this ever happened to you?

READING

I haven't had as much time to read as I'd liked, but I started reading Nightshade City by Hilary Wagner, and I'm amazed by her elegant, vivid, descriptive words.

What are you reading?

BLOGGING

Lots of huge news in blogland!

First, huge CONGRATS to Carolina Valdez Miller! She is now agented, and I am thrilled for her! Go to her blog and wish her congrats plus enter the amazing contest she is having. Win a Kindle, critique and books!

And yes there is more excellent news!
WriteOnCon 2011 is scheduled for August 16, 17,18! Woot!

I was a big winner in three blog contests in the last two weeks. First, thank you to Sherrie Peterson. I won Michael Spradlin's The Youngest Templar: KEEPER OF THE GRAIL on her blog . Also thanks to the fab WriteOnCon ladies, I won Lisa and Laura Roecker's book Liar Society plus yummy chocolate covered Twizzlers. Then I won Odd Girl In by Jo Whittemore at PJ Hoover's blog! I'm starting to feel guilty (but very appreciative) about all these wins. I think I'll stop entering blog contests for a few weeks and let new peeps win; I'll channel my luck to the agent world!

LIFE
I decided to join in on the Blueboarder Biggest Loser Challenge. My goal is to lose 8 pounds in 9 weeks. I'm in my second week. Last week I gained a pound, but lost 1/2 of that this week so I'm up 1/2 pound. Go Kelly! I'll track my progress here as I think it will give me motivation.
I exercise regularly anyway, but trying to do a little more. Plus drink more water. My biggest challenge is cutting down on sweets. I seriously eat like five desserts a day. So trying to cut down eventually to one a day. Anyone else doing the challenge?
It's a warm day in the Midwest. So happy to see the sun and feel the warmth. Happy St. Patty's Day to you all! I am a wee bit Irish, and I'll be enjoying some corned beef today! You?

MUSIC
This is for Carol.

Dear Diary 4

2011-03-07T06:45:00.001-06:00

Write what you know. You can dig down and remember feelings of teen angst by looking back to your own experiences. If you kept a diary like I did, you can see how you really felt about your parents, boys, sports, boys, school, and boys.

Here's another excerpt from the Diary of a With It Kid series. If you missed my last entries, see my aspirations as a youth here, puke entry here, and a fourth grade entry here.

Today's entry is how youth really can use classic literature to help their love life. Also how I had my eye on another seventh grader while "going with" another. (sorry, Logan) I was such a heartbreaker (NOT!). And I changed the boy's names to protect their fragile hearts.

Read on to see...

January 31

You know how I like Chase but I'm goin' with Logan. Well, only Sandy, Jenny, and Becky know - hopefully noone else because I didn't tell anyone else. Well, I don't know if I want anyone to know - I kinda wish Logan would break up with me because I hate breaking up with people. I knew, because I did it one whole other time. And it was Chase the summer before this school year of seventh grade. And I had my bff call him to do it. I hope Chase likes me.

February 3rd

Chase is a total babe. He's my "leifie" (that's German for little loved one. I got it out of Diary of Anne Frank). He knows what it means & he calls me "leifie" too. (It's pronounced leafye, but we just say leafy) Greg, Robert, Becky, Jenny and I were reading Diary of Anne Frank - this one book because we had already passed the eighth grade book. Chase was walking from Art (we were in the cafeteria for reading group) and "liefie" came along in the story & I called him that (Becky knew why!). So we told him what it meant! I'm so sneaky... Maybe he just thought I was flirting with him. But anyway, we call eachother "leafie" now. Notice how I change the spelling throughout the entry. I hope he likes me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See, I've always had an affinity for exclamation points. I was (or rather Becky was for me) my go to break up for me gal supposed to break up with Logan today after 4th hour, but he left early. I think Becky will call him and break up with him for me. I'm such a coward! When 4th hour was almost over, my stomach was doing flip flops because I thought I was going to break up with him soon. Then he left.

Chase is like a totally awesome, foxy, tubular, vicious for sure BABE all the way. Like freak me out! What a fox! Yes, I really wrote that.

February 6

I broke up with Logan today. Mary Kate told him 1st hour. Mary Kate is apparently my other go to gal for breaking up with guys for me. Chase is still a babe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mary Kate likes Don so she won't go to the dance with John. Becky is still madly in love with Ryan. Nothing real exciting happened today. Um, I'm single! I did my round off back in gym. Can you believe I could do that?! That's a back flip!

Though that was the end of my friends breaking up with guys for me. My next three junior high boyfriends broke up with me. Bastards.

February 7

It's all over the school that I like Chase. First only five people knew.Then Mary Kate told Jim, Jim told Scott. Logan and Chris knew too! Don't ask me how??! Because you told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on, dipwad.

February 8

You'll never guess what Tracy told me! That Chase was going to give up girls for two years! Like, I'm so sure. Everybody (and I mean everybody) knows I like Chase. Way to be mysterious, Kelly.

February 10

The dance was okay. Becky doesn't like Ryan anymore, he's goin' with Jodi. Becky likes Joel. Mary Kate now likes John. I danced with Chase four times. He picked me twice and I picked him twice. I thought he'd ask me out but nooooooo. When we were dancing, Vicky came up and said, "Why don't you ask her out?" He shook his head. I could've killed her. I really thought he liked me because when Mary Kate asked him to dance he said, "No because I want to dance with Kelly." But the last dance he picked Tracy!

February 15

Chase gave Tracy a note Valentine's Day. He said he liked me for a friend, only for a friend. But scribbled out, "She's not my type." Oh, well. I started laughing when I read that. You go, girl. I think I like Jon, too. He's pretty funny. Yes, go for the funny ones, Kel!

February 23

Here's a list of total babes - Chase, Mike, Ricky Shroeder, Tom Howell, and Michael Jackson.

Boy crazy, much?

And those were the days of my seventh grade life. Who did you think was a total babe when you were in seventh grade?

Super 8 Debut Albums Blog Hop Plus the Oscars!

2011-02-28T07:00:00.003-06:00

Well, hello! Thanks for stopping by for the Super 8 Debut Albums Blog Hop hosted by DiscConnected . Check other lists at DiscConnected's blog!

Since I also have the Oscars to talk about today, I'm going to jump right into the list!

Honorable Mention: Winger by (yes) Winger. I loved this album SO much! I played it over and over and I even had a poster of Kip Winger on my college dorm wall. Seriously. Who doesn't love "Headed for a Heartbreak?" Okay, well I do.

8. Habits by Neon Trees and Race You to the Bottom by New Medicine. (2010)They get a mention because both of these bands came out with debut albums just last year. Both have amazing tracks on their albums. I saw both of them live while attending concerts for other bands that I love, but they ended up being just as good! I'll see them both live again this year. I love when you can listen to the entire album without wanting to skip songs.

7. Infest by Papa Roach (2000) Triple platinum major label debut album by one of my favorite bands. "Last Resort" and "Between Angels and Insects" from this album are staples at live concerts. I've seen Papa Roach live five times because they are all energy and all over the place live.

6. Skid Row (1989) Sebastian Bach has killer vocals. Plus I had his Rolling Stone cover on my sorority house bedroom door. This album has rockin' songs as "Youth Gone Wild" and "I Remember You." They opened for GnR when I saw them live in the early 90's.

5. Rubberneck by The Toadies. (1994) The Toadies are pretty much known for their hit, "Possum Kingdom" but this whole album rocks. "Tyler" is one of my fave songs of all time. I haven't ever seen The Toadies live :(.

4. Foo Fighters. (1995) This album is amazing because Dave Grohl wrote and recorded this album all by himself. He did the writing, vocals, and instruments. He's so freaking talented! Great songs like "This is a Call," "Big Me," and "I'll Stick Around" are on this album. Plus the silly Foo Fighter music videos started with "Big Me." I've seen them live twice, and I'm looking forward to their next album that comes out this year!

3. Third Eye Blind. (1997)I wish 3EB would release another successful album like this. I love every single song on this album (faves: "SemiCharmed Life" and "Narcolepsy"). I played this CD and only this CD for months maybe years in the late 90's. I also saw them in concert in 1997 and 2009.

2. Hot Fuss by the Killers (2004). I heard "Somebody Told Me" on the radio, and I had to bought the CD right away. Along with great songs like "Mr. Brightside" and "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine ", this was an album my hubby loves too. We saw them in concert in 2009. They were awesome live, too. Love Brandon Flowers' quirky lyrics and smooth vocals (and okay, he's not bad on the eyes either).

1. Appetite for Destruction by Guns 'n' Roses. (1987) This album came out in the height of the hair bands, but it was true and dirty rock 'n' roll. I bought this cassette in high school and turned it up on my boom box in my room F bombs and all. I felt like such a rebel knowing my parents would be appalled at the language on this album. But um, they never said anything. So much for my big rebellion in high school. I was 13th row for a GnR concert in the early nineties. Pure awesome. I was screaming along to the words in my preppy white tee and ponytail with the metalheads (with my friend passed out from JD next to me). I've also seen Slash, one of the best guitarists ever, play live with Velvet Revolver and his last solo tour. If only Axl wasn't such an ass...

BRIEF OSCARS WRAP UP

See a complete list of winners here (who do I look like, Maria Menounos?).

RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING THE OSCARS

1. Cute beginning montage of the James, Anne, and Alec Baldwin within the nominated movies (and I just finally saw Inception the night before). James Franco and Anne Hathaway are an odd pick for hosts as cute as they are. I kind of feel bad for James that he can't just kick back and enjoy the night being nominated.

2. Do you think Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem planned their outfits? (don't love the cream suit...but I love the name Javier. Favorite Spanish name. JAVIER!)

3. Wow. Trent Reznor looks and sounds like a dignified businessman. I kind of want him to break out into "Head Like a Hole!" Seriously, he's a gifted musician. Congrats to him.

4. Matthew McConaughey should receive Excellence in Sound. Love his draawwwwl. (only his, though. Others remind me of Larry the Cable Guy.) Did they make him put on a shirt at the Oscars? Darn!

5. Ha! Which brings us to "Doesn't He Own a Shirt" ditty by Edward Cullen.

6. Fave James Franco quote of the night: "I'm a little offended by some of the movie titles this year. A little inappropriate for network tv. Winter's Bone. Rabbit Hole. How to Train Your Dragon. That's disgusting."

7. I'm kind of sick of seeing Gwyneth singing on these awards shows. (I'm sorry!) She doesn't seem as comfortable as a singer as she does as an actress.

8. Best moral of the night: "Listen to your mother." And who else thinks Tom Hooper looks a bit like James Cameron?

9. Colin Firth permeates class. Handsome, talented, and eloquent. And as Myra put: adorkable.

Best Dressed: Jennifer Hudson looked amazing. Love the bright color, and it fit perfectly on her (except in the chest area), I loved how it showed off her trim figure! I also loved Anne Hathaway's shiny, red dress.

Worst Dressed: Cate Blanchett. She's such a phenomenal actress, natural beauty, but that dress! Yikes.

Best Accessory: Nicole Kidman's choker necklace.

I'm White and Nerdy at the Book Brunch

2011-02-22T06:45:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, I was pleased to attend Anderson's Bookshop 9th Annual Children's Literature Breakfast. This breakfast included amazing keynote speakers like Mark Teague, Tim Green, and Weird Al Yankovic (yes, that Weird Al). Several Illinois authors also participated in this fabulous event.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Trent Reed wrote Words in the Dust about an Afghan girl after serving there in the U.S. Army. Best quote: "Literature is an essential part of life-not a luxury."

Tim Green was definitely the most vivacious speaker. Green is an ex-NFL player, earned his law degree, and now has written several books for adults and middle school readers like Football Genius. And yes, he's handsome too. He visits schools and tells the kids this: "Take your talent and work like a maniac! Work maniacally until you throw up! Also, you need to be lucky along the way, so you need a back up plan with education. Know what you want to be - what you CAN be!"
Mark Teague, the fabulous illustrator of my favorite Jane Yolen Dinosaur books, showed us illustrations of his book, Firehouse! I loved how the dog in his book is inspired by his own Boston terrier.

Kathryn Lasky's books such as the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series are centered around animals. She said, "For the past ten years, I have written about animals and to be truthful, I don't really care for animals." And she really doesn't! Funny!

The last speaker was Al Yankovic. Not only is he a genius of parodies (and yes, I've even seen him in concert once as a teen), but a picture book author, too. Al did a fun Q&A, and he really is witty in person. When asked does he want to remembered as an author or a singer or a poet or question mark, he replied, "A question mark. An enigma."

He signed this book for my kids who have seen his "White and Nerdy" video a hundred times!

I also enjoyed meeting and chatting with these wonderful ILLINOIS AUTHORS!

Next to me is Lori Degman, the author of 1 Zany Zoo which was also the winner in the Cheerio's Spoonful of Stories Contest. Next to her is Laura Ripes whose picture book, The Spaghetti Slurping Sewer Serpent is coming out next year! Both ladies attend the same local SCBWI chapter as I do!

After reading a week of James Kennedy on Murph's blog, I was excited to meet the very funny James Kennedy, author of The Order of Odd-Fish. James helped launch the 90 Second Newbery Film Festival. Check out details here. Film one yourself or watch the clips! Deadline is September. I also just realized that James kind of resembles James Spader in this pic...

Yes, Hilary Wagner is as sweet and beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. I was so glad to meet her in person. The sequel to her middle grade novel Nightshade City comes out in October!

Who writes funny stuff about kissing zombie and American history plus gives ghost tours in Chicago? Adam Selzer, that's who. I am looking forward to reading I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It. My children now like to sing that version of the Katy Perry song...

I also met the wonderful Cynthea Liu who signed Paris Pan Takes the Dare for my daughter. I wish I'd taken my picture with her! She was very helpful with a manuscript in one of her Red Light, Green Light critiques!

My Tune for Tuesday today is by of course, Weird Al Yankovic. Check out the hilarious "White and Nerdy."

This and That Thursday

2011-02-17T06:49:00.002-06:00

LIFE

Last week I met Sue Kirchner for coffee (okay, iced tea/lemonade) at a local Starbucks. Sue is the CFO (Chief Fun Officer) at Chocolate Cake Moments. Chocolate Cake Moments.com is a website for busy parents. It features lots of fun activities/crafts for kids and parents to do, movie reviews, party ideas, and more! On the site, there is even a Chocolate Cake Club online boutique with products that make parent's lives easier. Check it out!

Hubby and I are taking our three kids to a waterpark for a fun getaway one night soon. Splish! Splash! I hope I don't blind anyone with my pasty, winter white skin! And thank goodness for tankinis!

READING

I read two funny books this week. Guys Read Funny Business, edited by Jon Scieszka and The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. Both amused me. Funny Business is a collection of short stories by entertaining authors such as Adam Rex, Jeff Kinney and more smart aleck men (plus Kate Dicamillo!). Origami Yoda reminded me a bit of Diary of a Wimpy Kid with awesome Star Wars references and different viewpoints.

What are you reading right now?

BLOGGING

According to my statcounter, lately the majority of people coming to my blog through a google search has searched CRYING! Remember my post For Crying Out Loud? Seriously there are 20 "crying" searches in the last week for every other one. So I hope they come here and smile instead of cry. Chin up, people! Stop your blubbering! Life is beautiful!

Thank you to Adventures in Children's Publishing blog! I won Cloaked and Beastly by Alex Flinn in a recent contest!!!

Plus thank you to Teresa Milstein and Nicole Zoltack! I won a query critique from Nicole at Teresa's blog celebrating her 400 followers! Thanks, ladies!

TWITTER
I'm still very much a newbie at tweeting. I do though find it fun. I especially enjoy the kidlitchats on Tuesday nights. It's fun to chat with a bunch of writers (though I'm still a little intimidated to post too much during the chat).
I also bombard Daniel Tosh on Tuesdays with questions on Twitter. Daniel live tweets with fans during Tosh.0 (on Comedy Central) those nights. He still hasn't answered any of my questions yet (bastard), but I will keep them coming until he does. I mean he must only get a thousand or so during that night, right? Speaking of Tosh.0, if you love inappropriate humor, you will love this show. It may knock The Soup on E! to number two for my fave TV show. Heh, heh. I said number two.
Are you tweeting yet? Why or why not?

MUSIC

I put my car iPod on song shuffle so I could listen to songs I haven't heard in a while. I get into grooves of listening to the same band and ignore my other bands, so I thought I'd give them all a chance. My kids aren't loving it. On the way to basketball practice, they cringed at Adam Ant's "Beat My Guest." But they did enjoy the Beatles. I have mostly rock on my iPod but I do have other genres as well.

When I work out to my Sports Active Wii, I also have been listening to blocks of some of my well liked, yet ignored artists. Monday was Alien Ant Farm. Tuesday was Brides of Destruction. Wednesday was Justin Timberlake. Today? Maybe the Killers or Foo Fighters...or Duran Duran.

What bands do you like but have ignored lately?

Grammy Wrap Up

2011-02-14T07:30:00.000-06:00

I almost didn't watch the Grammy's last night. I just don't love any of the artists nominated, and there's not enough rock 'n' roll in the show anymore. But I figured "What the hey" and watched it anyway for the love of music.

Click here for a complete list of the winners (who do I look like, Lisa Rinna? Okay, besides the lips...)

RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING THE GRAMMYS

1. Nice Aretha (my hubby calls her Urethra, sorry Miss Franklin) tribute with an eclectic group of talented ladies. I hope Christina remembers the words... (I know, I know. She has one amazing voice!)

2. I just realized that this Aretha tribute was 12 minutes long. Whoa.

3. "Yeah!" yelled my 8 yr old daughter when Train won for Best Pop Duo or Group Performance for "Hey, Soul Sister," her fave song.

4. I need to get myself a pair of silver pants (like Ricky).

5. I think Lady Gaga "Hatched This Way."

6. I hope the Volturi don't take notice of the blatant vampire sparkles of Muse!

7. Awww, cute pep talk from Usher to the Biebs.

8. They found someone shorter than Bieber to sing with him! And speaking of Jaden Smith, I gotta wonder why Will and Jada let their kids enter the entertainment industry so young...

9. Best Rock Album nominees are a bunch of old guys (except for Muse). What about newer rock bands? They are good, too! Muse did win and frontman mentioned his "Beautiful, pregnant girlfriend" (Kate Hudson) then cackled nervously.

10. Lady Gaga has got herself some round, protruding leather boobies and bootay!

11. Lead singer of Mumford & Sons looks like a cross between Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) and Mario Lopez.

12. They bring muppets in for the F - U song?!

13. Did anyone else catch Katy Perry on one of my favorite shows last week? She was on How I Met Your Mother!

14. Who wants to bet that John Mayer hit on Norah Jones after the awards show? (Norah's hair looks adorable btw)

15. I think Shy Ronnie should have joined Eminem and Rihanna on stage. (Cool dress for Love the Way You Lie, and it's a cool song.)

16. In Memoriam left out the Rev of platinum selling rock band, Avenged Sevenfold, last year and left out Slipnot bassist, Paul Gray, this year. Slipknot even won a Grammy in 2006 for "Before I Forget!" Ticks me off that they left them out and didn't honor them.

16. Tik Tok! This guy looks like Mick Jagger. Oh, it is!

17. Did the audience give a standing ovation for Barbra because they didn't have to pay the usual $1000 like the attendees at her regular concerts? I know, she's a music legend!

18. Did they not show all the awards? Did I miss Them Crooked Vultures win Best Rock Performance? Speaking of awards, is it just me, or was it twenty minutes between each award?!

Best Dressed

Ladies: Selena Gomez in a beautiful metallic dress and Margaret Cho had a simple, but beautiful gray gown.

Men: This guy looked cute, especially the metallic nails.

Best Tweet about the Grammy Awards by @Lord Voldemort7 (yes, I follow the Dark Lord. He's actually quite funny). I also follow Darth Vader. Srsly.

"#grammyforbieber is trending. I'm concerned. Is this about the music award or has his fan base moved from tweens to the elderly"

Anyone else watch?

And by the way, I heart you for stopping by my blog today! Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day is filled with hugs and chocolate!

This and That Thursday

2011-02-10T06:46:00.000-06:00

WRITING
On chapter two of the new mg and writing some fun pbs for the Picture Book Marathon.

READING
I finished Charlaine Harris's Dead as a Doornail (book five of the dark and humorous Sookie Stackhouse/True Blood series) and started Head Games by Keri Mikulski. I saw her book at Borders, jumped up and down, and bought it! Her book is about a basketball player with a crush (like me in high school!!). Hurray for sporty girls and for books about sporty girls!

BLOGGING

The McVeigh Agency discontinued its blog this month. I was happy to be one of the blog's first followers and met Mark after he generously offered Skype book chats to some of his new followers. Though I'll miss his blog posts, I understand the time constraints of keeping up a blog along with everything else. You can visit The McVeigh Agency website here.

Here are Mark's parting words on his last blog post:

Anyone who has tried to follow this blog has likely been disappointed with my lack of posts over the last few months. Looking at what I have posted, the only things I ever really got excited about were when something good happened to a client and when someone tried to ban a book.

Since Twitter is far more effective for spreading good news, of which there has been quite a lot lately, and writing only about things that make me angry seems self-indulgent at best, I'm going to shut this blog down in a few days. There's too much work to be done at the agency as it grows (and much is left undone for too long) to turn out an intelligent post even once a week. There are so many blogs that offer great information about publishing, writing, books of note, and the people who make them that adding my own perspective to the mix seems inevitably redundant and a poor waste of my time.

Besides that, it occurred to me that from the start I had overlooked one very fundamental fact about myself. While I don't lack for opinions, I've never really liked sharing them with many people. Silence is an under-rated virtue in this social media age. The most interesting people, to me, have always been those who were highly circumspect in their availability.

Consider this anecdote from the sole authorized biography of one of the most famous, and famously silent, people of the 20th century, a woman who worked as an editor for many years. As a young bride, her rich, handsome, doomed husband asked her teasingly--challenged her, really--at table: "A penny for your thoughts?"

Before all their guests, she replied, "If I told you, then they wouldn't be mine any more, would they?" I tend to agree. I'll keep mine to myself.

Of course, the point of the story shifts 180 degrees when you learn one final fact about the book from which it is taken.

The subject, editing her life before it was halfway done, didn't think much of the author's first draft. So she wrote the biography (and likely invented the story) herself, myth making. An unreliable narrator: my favorite kind. I empathize.

Thank you to all who read this blog, thanks to all who've been so supportive in so many ways, and here's to continued good things--publicly acknowledged or not--for all of us, friends, clients, readers, creators, and myth makers as we head into 2011.

Thanks for your mindful, sincere words, Mark! You can follow Mark and The McVeigh Agency on Twitter @mcveighagency .

OTHER BLOG NEWS

Congrats to Hilary Wagner (author of Nightshade City) on her recent sale of City of Goblins to Holiday House through her agent, Marietta Zacker! City of Goblins is a middle grade adventure fantasy proposed to be released in the spring of 2012.

I found this fun post on the Verla Kay's blueboards. Ever secretly wonder about the Snooki book but didn't want to read it? Check out Lynne Kelly's hilarious wrap up here. Make sure you tell her that K-Woww sent ya.
Read and reflect on such literary gems as "But now, like a chronic STD, Gia was back!"

BLOG CONTESTS

Lola at Sharp Pen/Dull Sword is having a LOLApalooza! Win great prizes and do nice things for your fellow writers. Kindness is contagious!

Donna Earnhardt is having an awesome Picture Book contest! You can win Anastasia Suen's Picture Writing book and a critique! Contest ends tomorrow. Enter HERE!

Have a fabulous day!

UnBelieberable!

2011-02-08T06:45:00.000-06:00

What's a Bieber?
What was your favorite commercial of the Super Bowl? I only watched a little bit of the Super Bowl, and my fave commercial was the Best Buy one with Justin Bieber and Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne. Our home was fortunate enough to be Bieber fever free for a long time (except for a short lapse due to Murphblog's Bieber's Hair Attacked Me story last April - my then 5 year old was seriously scared that JB's hair was going to attack him in the night), but Bieber fever has officially hit this rock 'n' roll household. Even my 11 year old rocker son bought the song "Baby" on Itunes last week. I have heard that song so much that I was forced to institute a One Bieber Song Per Hour law in my home. My former house of rock...
"Like baby, baby, baby, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Of course, my children were familiar with Ozzy Osbourne way before Bieber fever. C'mon, I am their mother. So naturally we all enjoyed this ad (and watched it 10+ times). Can you believe that is JB with the mustache and crazy hair at the end? I like how Ozzy and Justin can make fun of themselves in this.

Bieber also made a cameo on SNL this weekend that made me laugh. Click here if you want to see him with the Church Lady and in a hilarious parody of The Roommate!
So, please stop here often for all of your Bieber needs! Just kidding, this blog will revert back to its rock 'n' roll format after this paragraph.
Speaking of SNL, I also loved seeing Wayne's World after all of these years! Click here to see the newest Wayne and Garth skit. I love silly, juvenile humor. Party on!

For my tune for Tuesday, here's a classic video of Ozzy Osbourne singing my fave Ozzy song, "I Don't Know." Even though Ozzy gets a bit confused at times, he is seriously talented. He exhibits an amazing, distinctive singing voice and some huge rock hits that span decades.

Do you have a favorite Bieber or Ozzy song?

Snow Way! It's This and That Thursday!

2011-02-03T08:37:00.000-06:00

LIFE

Like many of you, we got hit by a major blizzard this week. I have to say it was rather exciting! I videotaped it every few hours, and the next morning it was so fun watching the kids' reactions when they saw all the snow! We got maybe 18 inches or so. My husband was in Arizona for business and was so disappointed he missed all the snow! Seriously! The kids' school was closed yesterday and again today which they are quite happy about. My productivity went down, but my family fun meter went up!

WRITING

I'm on to writing my next middle grade. Jon and I are collaborating on this one. I like how we set a weekly goal and then Skype about our progress and ideas. It forces me to produce, and it also makes our story stronger when we discuss a story we both have vested interest in.

I'm also in the Picture Book Marathon: 26 pb rough drafts in 28 days. I knew I wouldn't produce that many, but I thought signing up would force me to do more than I would have normally. My goal is to do four rough drafts. I know, far from 26, but I'm being realistic and it will be four more than I would have done this month without the marathon!
What are you working on this week?

BLOGGING

Thank you to Kate Scott! I won Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer at her blog this week! I've wanted to try that series, so thank you, Kate!

Head on over to Roots In Myth blog, and enter the contest for a free query critique by PJ Hoover or Jessica Lee Anderson! They are such Texas Sweethearts!

MUSIC

Due to the blizzard, my Buckcherry concert was cancelled Tuesday night. It is supposed to be rescheduled, so I hope it is soon!!
Besides Buckcherry, I listen to my usual (yet, constantly changing) "Current Faves" mix when I exercise to my Sports Active Wii game. As of today, this consists of my 25 fave songs of the moment which today includes Avenged Sevenfold, MCR, 30STM, Papa Roach and more. My newest fave on this mix is "Bodies" by Drowning Pool seen below. It gets my body moving!

Keep your body warm this week! It's so freaking cold today!

Pay It Forward

2011-01-31T07:00:00.001-06:00

Shelli at Market My Words is having a Pay It Forward contest today! She is encouraging writers to acknowledge the writers that help them in their writer's journey. I'm more than happy to participate. I have found this writing community so supportive, and I have learned so much from so many of you.

So today I want to give a hug and a shout out to a select few who really make my writing adventure worthwhile.

Anita Laydon Miller - I can't remember how I found Anita's blog, but once I started following her, I found her posts to be so intelligent and funny, and now I consider her a good friend. Anita shares book reviews, funny anecdotes, her MFA journey, and more on her blog. She is represented by Sara Megibow of Nelson Literary Agency. Anita critiques my writing, leaves sarcastic comments, and brightens my day. Thank you, Anita!

Sharon Mayhew - Sharon is my behind the scenes cheerleader. I think we met during Mother Reader's Comment Challenge last year. Sharon is so generous with sharing writing information with her fellow writers through emails or on her blog. She was my first Skype partner. She sends me encouraging emails, helps critique my writing, and one day we are sure to meet in person as she lives one state away. Thank you, Sharon!

Tina Laurel Lee (along with Jon, Heather, Marisa and company at The Practice Room) - Tina created The Practice Room for writers to spend an hour writing and reconvene in a chat room to talk about what was accomplished. I love it! Not only does it help me set a goal for the day, but I love the support (and giggles) I get in the chat room. Check The Practice Room out sometime. It's a treat! Not only is she the boss lady at TPR, but she did a fab critique for me on my latest middle grade. Thank you, Tina!

There are so many more people that have helped me with their writing tips, encouragement, comments, prizes. I could seriously list 100. Who gives out more advice than Elana? Who has awesome agent contests but Shelli? Who gives out more books than anyone I know plus makes cool vlogs but Carol? Not to mention the WriteOnCon ladies who set up such informative chats and conferences. Angela at The Bookshelf Muse gives us a handy thesaurus. Casey at Literary Rambles makes it so much easier to research agents. Lola and Candyland share my love of rock 'n' roll (and now Candace has an agent! Woo Hoo!). Suzanne gives us a question each day to think about. There are my first friends in the blogging world: Rena, Kim, Sam, Christy. My best friend, Becky, who shares my love of writing, plus takes me to her lakehouse for writing retreats. My local critique group (Ann, Cathy, Angela) and Mark One Page At A Time online group (Hema, Sharon, Yaya, Laura ). I want to list so many more, but if you stopped by today to read this, please know that I am thankful for you. I sincerely am.

Yes, as goofy as it is, I found that you can develop true friendship on the internet. My blogger/writer friends ROCK!

Who helps you on your writing journey? Look for other Pay It Forward posts by other writers all week long!

This and That Thursday

2011-01-27T06:46:00.001-06:00

LIFE

Life is flying by way too fast. I swear I just wrote a This and That Thursday, and here it is again.

My sixth grade son was in the 6th-8th grade spelling bee last week. I'm so proud of him. He was knocked out with the word sashay. He spelled it sachet. Another friend's son at a junior high school in another town also missed sashay, too! Of course now that word is frequently used in this house.

My third grader won her class spelling bee and will be competing in her grade's spelling bee next month. She was so excited to tell us, especially after seeing her big brother compete.

So I will have my kids edit my manuscript for spelling errors. Cheap labor! I will pay them in Skittles! One candy per error. That's fair, right? And if I'm a good speller, not too many cavities will come from this.

I can't leave my little guy out. My kindergartener can spell fun. As in how do you spell Xbox Batman Lego game? F-U-N! Yes, he says this about everything...

WRITING
1. Just about done with the revisions of my middle grade. Almost there...

2. I've been to The Practice Room a few times in the last few weeks. You go to the blog at a scheduled time (see blog for the weekly schedule), set your goal, write (or revise or whatever), then meet up and chat about your writing (and other inane things). It's very motivating, and having writers that get you and support you makes it even more worthwhile and fun.

3. I also started a writing project with Jon Arntson that I'm excited about. It will be good to have someone to set goals and stay focused with.

4. I participated in another wonderful WriteOnCon chat on Monday with the lovely agents of Pippin. These chats are so informative! Follow the WriteOnCon blog so you know when the next event pops up!

5. I receive Possession author, Elana Johnson's email newsletter. (Do you? You should.) I discovered that she offers her fabulous From Query to the Call e-book for FREE on her website. It's so amazing and helpful just as Elana is so amazing and helpful. Thanks, Elana!

6. I recently signed up to participate in the the second annual PICTURE BOOK MARATHON—a sort of NaNoWriMo for picture book writers.

"Participants write 26 picture books during the month. Since February has 28 days, this leaves two well-deserved rest days. Marathon "training" emails will start in mid-January for those who sign up. There is no cost to join, your email won't be shared with anyone, and you don't post your work. The marathon is simply a motivational tool to jumpstart your writing. Visit www.picturebookmarathon.org for more details and to sign up. The deadline to join is January 30."

I realize I won't actually write 26. But it will motivate me to write several rough drafts. I miss writing picture books, so this will be a great jumpstart for me to brainstorm ideas and play with my long picture book idea list I already have.
Are any of you participating?

AWARDS

Thank you to Dezmond at Hollywood Spy for awarding me the Heart Award at his fabulous awards party. Dezz just had his 300,000th visitor!

Thank you to Patricia Timms for awarding me the Life Is Good award. Indeed it is.

Thank you to Christy at Christy's Creative Space for awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award! Which seems ironic as I type this in my mismatched jammies with a sweatshirt on top.

For both awards, I was supposed to write things about myself, but I think this post is already too long, so I will give you this 2008 post with random facts about me.

And a THANK YOU to Shelley at Storyqueen's Castle. I won her book Somewhere Today: A Book of Peace at her blog last week. I can't wait to read it!!

Also go to Candyland and check out her sidebar. Do it!

BLOG CONTESTS

1. Shelli at Market My Words is having a Pay It Forward contest. Check this post for details. Shelli is giving away query critiques plus a chance for her to recommend one lucky writer to her agent! Look for special Pay It Forward posts on Monday to celebrate writers who help fellow writers!

2. Carolina Valdez Miller is giving away a signed copy of XVI! Contest ends today!!! Carol is also giving away a signed copy of The Liar Society by the Roeker sisters!!!!!!!!!!!! That gal is sure generous! That giveaway ends Feb. 3.

3. Wendy at Musings from Down Under is having her first blog contest! Guess her middle name by tomorrow to win!

4. Lydia at The Word is My Oyster is giving away chicken pox or a gift card! Her contest ends February 4!

So, do you want some snoo?

What? What's snoo?

Nothin'. What's snoo with you? Seriously, tell me. What's new with you?

Top Ten Countdown Music Blogfest

2011-01-24T06:49:00.001-06:00

You all know how much I love music. Today Cassastar author Alex Cavanaugh is hosting a Top Ten Songs blogfest. Head to his blog to check out more lists! There are so many different genres of music, so many talented musicians, I am certain no list will be the same. I'm excited to check everyone's out.

I tell you, it was tough to choose only ten of my top ten songs of all time. They may not be the best songs ever written; most have not won Grammy awards, but these are songs that I can listen to over and over again without getting sick of them.

Honorable Mentions: Again, it was so hard to narrow these down so here are a few more: "Tyler" by The Toadies, "Black Heart Inertia" by Incubus, "Everything" by Buckcherry, "In My Life" by the Beatles, "Send the Pain Below" by Chevelle, "Careless Memories" by Duran Duran. C'mon this was tough for me!

Here are MY TOP TEN songs with a pic of the band taken by me (or of me) at a concert. I also added the first line of the song. Thanks for coming by and rockin' it with me!

"Semi Charmed Life" by Third Eye Blind - catchiest song ever
I'm packed and I'm holding,
I'm smiling, she's living, she's golden and
she lives for me, She says she lives for me,
Ovation

"Rest in Pieces" by Saliva - beautiful rock song
Look at me, my depth perception must be off again
Cause this hurts deeper than I thought it did
It has not healed with time

"Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns N Roses - great guitar riff, classic song of my youth
She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky

"Wild Side" by Motley Crue - torn between this and Crue's "Afraid", but this won because it's good ole classic rock 'n' roll
Kneel down ye sinners, to
Streetwise religion
Greed's been crowned the new King"

"The Kill" by 30 Seconds to Mars - Love Jared's vocals
What if I wanted to break
Laugh it all off in your face
What would you do?

"Somebody Told Me" by the Killers - Great danceable, catchy song
Breaking my back just to know your name
Seventeen tracks and I've had it with this game

"Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance - I just love it. Probably my favorite song to sing along to.
Now I know, that I can't make you stay.
But where's your heart?

"To Be Loved" by Papa Roach - My favorite song to scream to and jump up and down to at a concert
Listen up, turn it up and rock it out.
Party on, I wanna hear you scream and shout.

"All My Life" by Foo Fighters - Love the beginning and when it gets frantic
All my life I’ve been searching for something
Something never comes, never leads to nothing
Nothing satisfies, but I’m getting close
Closer to the prize at the end of the rope.

"Unholy Confessions" by Avenged Sevenfold - Best beginning guitar riff ever. Most excellent drums and guitar on any song.
"Why try," she said as she walked away.
Tried not to lose you.
Two vibrant hearts could change.

What is your favorite song of all time?

This and That Thursday

2011-01-20T08:25:00.001-06:00

LIFE
My family of five attended the Wisconsin/Illinois college basketball game last weekend. It was the first collegiate ball game for the kids. They were amazed at how big the Kohl Center was, plus they loved all the excitement (and snacks). I went to the University of Illinois, so I was a minority in the crowd in orange. I told the kids I didn't care if they rooted for the Badgers as we will be living in Wisconsin sometime this year. So my youngest stayed loyal to his mom in blue and orange, and the older two sported new red Badger wear for the game. We don't care if they wear red, but they will never wear green and yellow. Go Bears on Sunday!

WRITING

I'm happily in the final stages of revision of my middle grade. I had fabulous suggestions from my reader friends, and the manuscript is better than ever!

Congrats to my mystery friend from two weeks ago, Samantha Verant! Sam is now represented by Stephanie DeVita of Dystel & Goderich! Félicitations, Samantha! Please go congratulate her at her Life, Love, and Living in France blog!

C. Lee McKenzie's second book, The Princess of Las Pulgas was released in December. Congrats, Lee! If you are in Cali, she is having a book signing today at Books, Inc. in Palo Alto!

BLOG CONTESTS

Theresa at Substitute Teacher's Saga is having a Four Hundred Follower Fiesta! Fab prizes include a query critique and books! Check it out!

Larissa is giving away some amazing books including Carrie Ryan's newest! Stop by Larissa's World to enter!

Have a fabulous day!

Golden Globe Wrap Up

2011-01-17T08:00:00.004-06:00

Yes, it's that time again. Time for actors and actors to get dressed up, have a few cocktails, and pat each other on the back. Ricky Gervais served as the wickedly sarcastic and funny host of the glamorous evening.

For a complete list of last night's winners, check here (who do I look like, Ryan Seacrest? C'mon! I'm about one foot taller than him)

And my usual
RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING THE GLOBES

1. Was that a fake, angry smile from Johnny Depp after Ricky blasted The Tourist? But still a handsome, angry smile.

2. Not loving Scarlett Johannsen's odd hairdo...nor Christian Bale's long, shaggy do.

3. Katey Sagal so does not look like Peg Bundy anymore! (but Ed O'Neill kinda still looks like Al...still love him on Modern Family though!)

4. So sweet that Lea Michele is weeping for joy for Glee winner Chris Colfer.

5. Michelle Pfeiffer is a timeless beauty.

6. Whoops! Pretty dress, Eva, but looks hard to walk in.

7. Steve Buscemi is a darn good actor, but man he's kinda creeeeeepy.

8. Toy Story 3 FTW!

9. Who else thinks that Emma Stone is adorable? And she looks cute as a blonde or brunette.

10. Who's the cowgirl who won't let go of Claire Danes? And while I'm talking about Danes, Claire gets on my nerves.

11. Okay, now I feel bad. The cowgirl is amazing autistic scientist, Temple Grandin, who HBO created a movie about. Hey! I didn't know!

12. Steve Carell always cracks me up. So does Tina Fey who said when presenting awards to writers, "Screenplays we would have written...if we had the time."

13. I love that Sofia Vergara clapped excitedly when her name was called as a nominee for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy (for Modern Family, one of my fave shows!).

14. Love Vanessa William's earrings!

15. Awwww, Natalie Portman's sporting a baby bump...and a Bump-It in her hair?
And my 11 year old son says, "Glad someone from Star Wars won!" I told him that she was pregnant with Luke and Leia.

16. Michael Douglas looks great after his battle with cancer. He quipped,"There's gotta be an easier way to get a standing ovation."

BEST DRESSED
Olivia Wilde looked absolutely stunning in her sparkly dress. She makes me want to try wearing my hair in bangs yet again.
I also liked Susanne Bier's, director of Best Foreign Film, simple, yet lovely white dress. Her necklace was just the right accessory, too.

And winners of showing their Golden Globes at the Golden Globes: Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Love Hewitt and January Jones.

Did anyone else watch the show? Whaddya think?

Party at Dezz's!

2011-01-16T16:57:00.000-06:00

I'm fashionably late as usual. But please stop and visit Dezmond at his fabulous Hollywood Spy blog for the awards party! I'm heading there now! Should I start with a champagne or head straight for the hors doevres? Better get there soon, because Matthew is sure to be shirtless after a few brewskies.

Click HERE to PARTY!

What the Ophiuchus is Going on with the Zodiac?

2011-01-14T08:14:00.005-06:00

The internet is abuzz with the recent changes in the zodiac. According to the media, a 13th sign, Ophiuchus, has been added that changes the dates of the astrology signs. Read more here.

I don't read my horoscope anymore, but I do believe I share many traits of the general characteristics for Cancer the Crab. Homebody? Check. Emotional? Check. Nurturing? Check. Protective of family? Big check. Strong willed? Check. Persistent? Check. Romantic? Okay, not really...but the majority of the traits I do identify with.

When I was young, I was very into astrology. I bought mini monthly horoscopes that were wrapped in a tube for 50 cents at Zayre. In junior high, my two best friends and I bought baseball t-shirts with our astrology sign on the front and our name in fuzzy letters on the back (which resulted in a fight with them because they made fun of my growing assets which seemed to be accentuated by the two squares on each side of the central iron on. I ended up walking home from our sleepover very ticked off one evening - but no worries, we are all still best friends to this day). I also did a major 8th grade presentation and report on astrology (I got an A).

Here are the alleged new dates. Did yours change?

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces: March 11-April 18.
Aries: April 18-May 13.
Taurus: May 13-June 21.
Gemini: June 21-July 20.
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

So needless to say, I am interested in this new development. According to the new calendar, I am no longer a Cancer, but a Gemini. I seriously have a Cancer the crab Christmas ornament (I also bought my two besties a zodiac ornament as well) and two tshirts with the sign of the Crab on them. Do I need to donate them now? I also realized that all three of my children are now Leos. Should be get a pet lion? What about the poor blokes who have zodiac tattoos?! Now do I have to change my main character's sign in my manuscript? She was a Capricorn!

National and local news media are reporting about this new change, but Dailyhoroscope.com reports that it's hogwash.

What do you think about these reports? Me? I'm happy to remain a Cancer the crab. My "new" sign, Gemini says I'm adaptable. Apparently I don't want to adapt to my new sign. But does it really matter? No, I'm not going to lose sleep over this, but I am intrigued.

Did your sign change? What are your thoughts?

One more thing, if you visit any more blogs today, please visit Carol's. Watch her inspiring, creative video HERE on how to live a Kick Ass Life. Thanks, Carol. You make me want to be a better person, and you make me want to go to a 30 Seconds to Mars concert with you.
Have a fab weekend, all!

For Crying Out Loud!

2011-01-11T06:45:00.002-06:00

Are you a crybaby? Do you cry at Hallmark commercials? Love songs? Rom-com movies?

I'm usually not a sap. I did cry easily as a child (and was teased by my sister "B-A, B-A, B-A-B-Y!"). I cry when I'm stressed. I cry when I'm proud of my children. But it takes a lot to make me cry in a book or movie.

As a writer (or director or songwriter), you want the reader to connect emotionally with the characters. You want them to empathize with them, you want them to feel what they are feeling.

Let's explore what moments do make a reader snivel: death, the emotional bond between parent and child, heartbreak over a lost love, an important accomplished goal, a disappointment. Do you have any more to add?
Now let's explore specific movies, books, or songs that made us reach for the Kleenex and/or curl up in the fetal position.

I'll go first.

BOOKS
It takes a lot to make me cry in a book. Here's a few that I can remember. I probably have cried a few more times than this, but this is all I can remember!

1. The very end of the first chapter of Hunger Games when a certain someone was selected.

2. When my favorite character died in Harry Potter in the Deathly Hallows.

3. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein has gotten me emotional too thinking about the sacrifices a parent makes for each child. Okay, I'm sentimental sometimes!

MOVIES
I think I cry more easily in movies or TV than books because I'm a visual person. But even so, the book is always better than the movie.
My family teases my sister because she's cried at every Twilight movie. Every time we watch a movie with her, my kids ask her, "Are you crying, Denise?!"
Now that I'm making a list, I can't think of too many movies, probably because I usually watch comedies!

1. Despicable Me - yes, I teared up a little at the end.

2. The Blind Side - what a feel good movie mixed with a few tears

3. Marley and Me - I watched it about five months after my dog had died. :(

4. Saving Private Ryan - Just wow. How could you not feel something?

5. Steel Magnolias - And this was before I had my own daughter with kidney problems.

TV SHOWS

1. I just cried last week at the episode of How I Met Your Mother. I watch that show because it makes me laugh, but I definitely cried last Monday due to the unexpected death of a character.

2. I cried at an episode of Young and the Restless when a teenager that was a main character died in a car crash. I sobbed! It's every parent's worst nightmare.

3. When I was pregnant with each child, I'd watch A Baby Story on TLC. I bawled and bawled at the end of each show when the baby was born. Every time!

4. This probably doesn't count, but The Soup and Tosh.0 occasionally make me laugh so hard that I'm crying. Seriously!

SONGS
Hardly any songs make me cry, but these do.

1. "Tears from Heaven" by Eric Clapton. I even cried as a teenager hearing this song and realizing what it was about.

2. "Daniel" by Elton John. My husband's uncle Danny died trying to save a coworker's life. This beautiful song was played at his funeral. I tear up whenever I hear it. My youngest son's middle name is named after Uncle Danny.

3. "Fiction" by Avenged Sevenfold. I don't cry when I hear this song, but I feel like I want to. It has a beautiful, haunting piano introduction, and it is the last album that the Avenged drummer, The Rev, contributed to before he died. In this song, he eerily sings, "I know you'll find your own way, when I'm not with you." Every time I hear this, a wave of sadness comes over me.

What books, movies, or songs make you weepy?

This and That Thursday

2011-01-06T06:40:00.001-06:00

LIFE

I have had a sore throat and have been feeling blah the last couple of days so not as much productivity as I would have liked. Boo hoo. I hope to feel better soon because Friday night my family is celebrating! My sister, Denise, is being inducted into our high school's Sports Hall of Fame. Congrats, Denise! That girl is not only nice, smart, and beautiful, but a great athlete too! And while I'm talking about her, her company VaVaVroom is having a HUGE sale. Check it out here.

WRITING

I am revisiting the first chapter of Rock 'n' Roll Princesses Wear Black. I'm excited for my "Nailing Your First Chapter" webinar with agent Mark McVeigh through YALitChat on Saturday!

BIG NEWS

1. You all may know that Carrie Harris's debut novel, Bad Taste in Boys (I already have some signed bookmarks, yo) comes out this year. Well, this funny gal just sold TWO more books to Delacourte! Bad Hair Day comes out in 2012 and an undetermined (but I'm predicting hilarious and supernatural) book comes out the next year. CONGRATS, CARRIE!

2. Plus, another blogger that makes me giggle, Ellen Oh, snagged a three book deal with Prophecy: The Dragon King Chronicles. CONGRATS, ELLO!

3. Another friend has some fab news as well, but not official yet, so I'm saying a secret congrats to her!

BLOG HAPPENINGS

1. Stop by Heather Kelly's blog tomorrow for an interview with Terry Lynn Johnson and a chance to win her new book, Dogsled Dreams. Congrats, Terry!

2. Today starts Mother Reader's Comment Challenge. I met so many fab people through this challenge last year plus I won a prize. Go to Mother Reader's blog or Lee Wind's blog to join in on the fun! I'm looking forward to visiting some new blogs through this challenge.

3. Go to Keri Mikulski's blog and wish her a Happy Book Birthday! Her book, Head Games, was released this week! Hurray for sporty girls!

MUSIC
I've been listening to a lot of Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry lately. Next concert is Buckcherry next month!

And hey, you! Yeah, that fabulous person that stopped by my blog today. Yes, I am talking to you. You have yourself an amazing day!

2010 by the Numbers

2011-01-04T06:51:00.002-06:00

2010 was a great year for music, literature, and TV. Here's my take on the year.

28+ MG, YA or adult fiction books read:
BEST: Hunger Games trilogy (hard to choose; I read so many great books this year!)

Here is my incomplete list
(Note to self: start a word document in January and add books as you read them.)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Brixton Brothers The Case of the Case by Mac Barnett
Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvator
Beautiful Creatures
Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
Frindle, The Janitor's Boy, The Report Card, and Lost and Found by Andrew Clements
Linger by Maggie Stiefvator
The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton
Fat Vampire by Adam Rex
Scholastic Candy Apple middle grade series (Miss Popularity, How To Be a Girly Girl in Just Ten Days, The Boy Next Door, The Accidental Cheerleader)
Allie Finkle’s Rules For Girls: Moving Day and The New Girl by Meg Cabot
Late, Late at Night by Rick Springfield
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Navel of the World by PJ Hoover
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

17+ MOVIES WATCHED

4 In theater (Avatar, Despicable Me, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, Gulliver's Travels)

14+ on DVD
BEST: The Blind Side

8 TV SHOWS DVRed per week
BEST: True Blood
The Soup, True Blood, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives, Tosh.0, Community, The Young and the Restless (Though many of these I catch up on episodes in the summer, and I watch Y&R maybe once every few weeks)

8 CONCERTS ATTENDED

BEST: Rockstar Uproar (my son's first concert) and MCR and 30stm (actually all concerts were awesome, but most special is definitely the one with my son!)

JET, 30 Seconds to Mars/Neon Trees, Q101 Jamboree (Janus, Saliva, Puddle of Mudd, Papa Roach, Seether, Three Days Grace), Papa Roach, Rockstar Uproar (Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, New Medicine), Papa Roach, Billy Idol/Slash, My Chemical Romance

84 BLOG POSTS

Biggest number of hits: How Writing is Like Dancing and Top Ten TV Shows Blogfest

MY TOP TEN SONGS OF 2010

Honorable mention pop song: "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz

10. "Welcome to the Family" by Avenged Sevenfold

9. "All Night Long" by Buckcherry

8. "Your Betrayal" by Bullet for My Valentine

7. "Laid" by New Medicine

6. "Animal" by Neon Trees

5. "Nightmare" by Avenged Sevenfold

4. "Closer to the Edge" by 30 Seconds to Mars

3. "Say You'll Haunt Me" by Stone Sour

2. "Na Na Na" by My Chemical Romance

1. "Kick in the Teeth" by Papa Roach

What was your favorite book, TV show, movie, and song of the year?

Today's Tune for Tuesday, my number 5 pick for the year by A7X (PG13 vid):

Happy Cool Year!

2010-12-31T06:52:00.000-06:00

I hope you all have a fabulous New Year's weekend!
I watched part of the Kennedy Center Honors this week, and I wanted to share with you my favorite performances of the night.

Here's No Doubt honoring the great Paul McCartney with "Hello, Goodbye" and "Penny Lane."
I heart Gwen. I hope there is a new No Doubt album soon.

Next is one of my fave musicians, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters/Nirvana), and the beautiful Norah Jones singing the gorgeous song, "Maybe I'm Amazed.
Enjoy and happy new year! May 2011 be your best year yet!

I'm Quite Gifted

2010-12-28T07:08:00.000-06:00

Good day, peoples! And how was your holiday? Mine was wonderful. Fun times with family. Spoiled with too many great gifts. Cool new purse, leather coat that hubby and son picked out, clothes to keep me stylin', gift cards that will keep me shopping through springtime. I also received Stephen King's On Writing. I've been wanting to read that one for a while.

Also was gifted with this. What the? I can't wear the glove while dancing like MJ? How will I get a good grip when I do the grab the crotch move? This Wii game is pretty fun and a good workout too. I think I'll do a vlog of my sweet new moves. Or not.

What wise guy put this in my stocking? What the heck?

But then again, someone else in our household received this for Christmas... You strategically stick them in the back of your unders. Seriously.

We have a very classy family, you know.

And look what gift Sesame Street gave to the children of True Blood fans!

What fun gifts did you give or receive this season?

Be Jolly By Golly

2010-12-20T07:00:00.002-06:00

Today is the Be Jolly By Golly Blogfest, hosted by Jen and Melissa! Check here for more fabulously festive links!

This year my house isn't as decorated as ushe (how do you spell the short word for usual?!), because my house is for sale. But here's a peek at our tree!! You only get a peek, because I have a string of lights that are out. And because I've already been to the store twice to replace other LED strings this year, I refuse to go again! It's the principle (and it's cold outside)! My three kids love to help me decorate the tree each year. We put on the Christmas carols (My Chem, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, Elvis, and other rockin' tunes of course), trim the tree, and then have hot cocoa.
Our front lawn is sporting our Polar(k) bears, but no other lights outside this time.
For a giggle, check out these hilariously crazy nativity decorations at List of the Day blog.

For a special treat, I make these easy Holly Cookies that my kids love. You can also make them into the shape of wreaths, but glopping a spoonful on the wax paper for the holly is much easier than shaping a wreath. It's busy this time of year, you know!
Here's the recipe:

32 large marshmallows
1 stick butter or margarine
1 1/2 green food coloring
red cinnamon candies (my kids don't like those, so I use red sugar sprinkles)

Heat butter and marshmallows to melt. Pour over 3 1/2 cups cornflakes. Stir. Set on greased wax paper. Add red candy. Eat it up!

Here is my favorite holiday tune, "Do They Know It's Christmas?" My fave part is the Simon LeBon part. (I'm a rocker who loves Duran Duran you know!)

Have a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. See you next year!

My Concert Romance

2010-12-17T06:45:00.001-06:00

Yes, I have a love affair with concerts. It's one night where I'm not a mom;I'm not washing the dishes;I'm not worried about my word count;I'm not in my sweats. Concerts recharge me. I go nuts and sing as loud as I can. And guess what? I got to see a band that I've been dying to see live forever on Wednesday night: My Chemical Romance!
My sister and I went to the House of Blues
for the show. I've been there several times, and this is the most packed I've seen for a concert. I still managed to squeeze my way to front row - the best place to be!
The band started with "NaNaNaNa" from their latest album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys and ended with "Vampire Money," with favorites from all of their albums in between. Gerard Way's voice sounded awesome, the music was loud (could it be because I was right by the speaker, too?), and lots of crowd surfing going on (and no way was one of them me!). An amazing night!
Here's a clip of their second single from Danger Days, "Sing"

Here's Frank, who I think I look like with no makeup on (which is half the time). I glance at myself at the mirror and think, "I look like Frank!" One day I'm going to put red lipstick on him and see if he resembles me at all.

Here's my sister, Denise, and I from the free photo booth! We also got free tshirts for being registered organ donors!

And lastly, another pic of G, but you can't see his tight pants in this one...

Also, it was my lucky day for many reasons! I won a contest at Gayle Krause's blog. Thank you to Gayle as she'll be sending me her picture book, Rock Star Santa! Now does that sound like a perfect book for my rockin' kids or what? Thanks, Gayle!
Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

All Kinds of Critter News

2010-12-14T06:45:00.001-06:00

Okay, now can I have a book contract? See HERE for why I look so ridonkulous!

Fine, I'll spray tan myself orange for a contract, but I will not go in that nasty bacteria filled hot tub with The Situation or with any other of Snooki's sloppy seconds.

I'm just sayin'.

IN MORE IMPORTANT NEWS...

Critter is now up for auction! If you'd like this Ian Sands creation that has traveled the kidlitosphere (with multiple autographs), please bid! Proceeds go to St. Jude! Read more about Critter's travels at Christy's blog.

This and That Thursday

2010-12-09T06:47:00.001-06:00

WRITING
I printed my manuscript on Tuesday, and I'm tweaking it line by line. I used the word "looked" a few too many times. Yikes. But it's much better now, and I still love it!

READING

1. I finally read Mockingjay over the weekend. I could not put it down. I read it in two evenings. I was satisfied with how it ended thankfully. What an amazing series.

2. I just started reading PJ Hoover's, The Navel of the World. My 6th grader recently finished reading it and did a very cool reading project on it for school. J-Man created a sequencing game based on the book. He said the book was "awesome" and asked for the next book in the series, The Necropolis, for Christmas. I love when my kids get excited over books! (Thanks, PJ!)

LIFE

How is your holiday shopping going? I have two more gifts left to buy for Christmas. Most of my shopping was done online. I had a fun shopping (and champagne) day with some girlfriends yesterday in which we all bought the new Miraculous bras at Victoria's Secret and then changed into them so we were extra busty while shopping (it may or may not have been the champagne). We also got a glimpse of Victoria's Secret model, Adriana Lima, who is just as beautiful in person. We did not though wait in the neverending line to meet her, and Adriana may or may not have been bustier than us.

MUSIC
1. I hope to meet up with Candyland on Saturday (weather permitting, there is snow predicted) to see New Medicine in concert! I'll be bringing J-Man and my mom along as well. It will be J-Man's second concert. My 123rd (Just kidding, I have no idea).

2. And to close, here's "Little Drummer Boy" by Jason Segal (from one of my fave shows, How I Met Your Mother) and Jack Black. This song goes on sale on iTunes beginning Tuesday, with proceeds going to Blue Star Families, a nonprofit that connects, supports and empowers military families.

Search me

2010-12-07T06:43:00.000-06:00

I love hearing what search words bring people to their blog. Tell me what the funniest words that people googled and ended up at your blog.
And if you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine!
Fun Fact: I started this blog post almost a year ago and never posted it! I added a few more search words, but I will consider this a gift of Christmas Past.

Most common search words (besides my name) that lead people to this blog
How to Make Butterbeer (Thanks, Harry)
cinquain poem
Big Ticks
funny frog poems (you would not believe how many people search for this!)
cardinal poem (should I include in my query letter for my bird poetry collection that so many people search for this one?!)
I said Good Day!

Plus people search Mark McVeigh and Marietta Zacker and get to my blog interviews with them (yay!).

And of course searching names of rock bands also bring people to my blog (and then the teenager gasps at the picture of the somewhat middle aged lady on the right side of the blog and quickly exits).

Searches that made me laugh or cringe include
Addicted to Blood (and this search came from the Mayo Clinic!)
A Word that Rhymes with Saliva (ummmm, shmabiva?)
Spooky Rhyming Poems How to Cook a Teacher? (What?!)
Vampire Music (I do love music, and I do love vampires)
Kelly 14 Years Stripping (what kind of pervs am I attracting?)
Jacoby Shaddix's wife Kelly (No, I am not his wife, but I have seen him with his band Papa Roach in concert five times)
my wild and raunchy son (certainly not MY son!)
a cinquain poem that teachers don't know (somebody's trying to plagiarize?)
Son knaws on his arm (I'm not that bad of a cook)
"Heather Kelly" + dance (Heather are you holding out on us!?!)
few seconds of awesome (why yes, reading my blog would bring a few seconds of awesome to your day)
funny poems about Justin Beaver (so my hubby isn't the only one who thinks that's his name)
Jared Leto not aging (what is that guy's secret anyway?)

oldest person at a 30 Seconds to Mars concert (sheesh, don't everyone look at me at once!)

the family that headbangs together, stays together (yeah, baby!)

Okay, now your turn to share!

This and That Thursday

2010-12-02T06:38:00.003-06:00

WRITING

1. Have you checked to see if you were one of seventeen winners in the Critterpalooza contest? Check the winners here. Congrats to LadyJai who I will be sending a Poetry Pack of Poetrees by Douglas Florian and Stampede by Laura Salas. Douglas and Laura were kind enough to send signed nameplates to go with the book as well.

2. Now that I'm done with the first draft of my middle grade manuscript, I've been breaking it down chapter by chapter. Soon I'll send it to some readers. Maybe to a few agents come January.

3. Still getting the hang of Twitter. I participated (okay, lurked) at my first #yalitchat last night. I also tweeted Maggie Stiefvater about something and she replied back! That made my day! I've been enjoying following some fave rockers and comedians, too, and of course some of you fabulous people!

4. Another awesome webinar is being offered by agent Mark McVeigh! Check out the details HERE!

LIFE

Both of my boys started their basketball season recently. So if I'm not at home, I'll be at the gym cheering them on or chauffering them to and from practice. My daughter's cheer season ends this weekend. She is competing at the state competition. Before she joined this year, I had no idea how involved cheerleading was these days! It is definitely a sport now. I do have to admit they are darn good for seven and eight year olds. I just showed my kids a video of me cheering in high school. We thought we were hot stuff doing a simple stunt. It's nothing compared to what stunts they do now, even in grade school! I'm thankful that my daughter is tall like me and will never be a flyer!

MUSIC

I'm loving the holiday tunes about now. I received Monster Christmas Ballads last year for Christmas. Yes, 80's hair bands singin' the carols. I have been playing a Christmas mix of My Chemical Romance, Smashing Pumpkins, Jewel, Elvis, No Doubt, Chicago plus my new rockin' ballads. Buckcherry just came out with a new Christmas tune, "Christmas is Here," which I promptly bought, too. Just because it's a holiday tune, doesn't mean it can't rock! See the picture for their Christmas single above. I tell you it took me forever to get that paint off my arse!

Speaking of Christmas, Sharon Mayhew gave me a heads up on something I need to put on my wish list. Anyone want to join me?

Who is your favorite holiday warbler?

I'm a Twit!

2010-11-29T06:45:00.000-06:00

Oh, yes I am. I decided to join the timesucking world of Twitter last week! I am having fun with it so far. I have found some of you on Twitter, but if I haven't let me know in the comments and I'll follow you! (And if you want, you can, um, follow me @kellypolark!)

Because behind this glossy exterior, I am a bit of a geek (don't all nod your heads at once), I still don't know my way around Twitter. I need my dear blog friends to show me the way.

First, check out Laura Pauling's funny posts about Twitter here and here.

Also, Debbie Ridpath Ohi has very useful information about Writers who use Twitter. Check her site here if you are in the dark like me!

Second, my questions (there's no such thing as a dumb question, right? RIGHT?!).

1. Okay, what does RT stand for and when do you use it?

2. If you retweet, how do you write something with the retweet to post at the same time?

3. How do you post an http link but not make it so freaking long?

4. Hashtags. Can you just make them up? Are they real links to something?

Hi. I'm Kelly. #I don't know what the heck I'm doing.

5. Are there any Twitter etiquette tips I need to know?

6. How do you post a photo to Twitter and have a short link for it?

7. How do you put the retweet sign at the end of a post?

THANKS for your help, peoples! I think once I get this thing down, I'll be having me some fun times on Twitter!

No Need to Pelt Me

2010-11-23T06:45:00.000-06:00

with Smarties because I am done! I finished my middle grade manuscript! I knew if I proclaimed my goal on my blog, it would force me to finish. The power of peer pressure!
Thanks everyone for your support and encouragement!
I am going to take the rest of the week to revise a little bit and actually give Mr. He and Mrs. She real names. (I have trouble thinking of names sometimes.) Plus make a hard copy to fix those typos. Then off to some readers in December! Yay!

Don't forget to check out Kidlit Critterpalooza at The Bookshelf Muse! There are 17 amazing prizes to win! Contest ends on November 28!

I am thankful that I finished, and I am so very thankful for each and every one of you who comes by just to read or to read and comment. You make my day!
Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!!

My Tune for Tuesday is "All My Life" by Foo Fighters. One because my main character's dad kind of looks like Dave Grohl, but with a goatee. And I turned this up, danced, and sang,
"DONE! DONE! ON TO THE NEXT ONE! DONE, I'M DONE! I'M ONTO THE NEXT!" (Yes, I seriously did...)

Critterpalooza!

2010-11-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

Remember my lil buddy, Critter? I had him hang at my place in January. We had loads of fun and for over a year now, CRITTER, the creation of artist Ian Sands, has been travelling the world, meeting many talented writers and authors and exploring where they live. At each stop he learns more and more about KIDLIT and the importance of literacy and creativity. This journey was the brainchild of Christy Evers, who got her hands on Critter after an interactive art project of Ian’s, where 500 Critters were hidden all over her city for people to find.

Critter has visited PJ Hoover (and the Texas Sweethearts!) in Texas, Beth Revis in North Carolina, Christina Farley in Korea, New England with Nandini Bajpai, Illinois with little ole me, MG Higgins in California, Rena Jones in Montana, Cynthia Leitich Smith in Texas, Bish Denham in the Virgin Islands, Jacqui Robbins in Michigan, Tina Ferraro in California, Cynthia Chapman Willis in New Jersey, Jill S. Alexander in Texas, Ellen Oh in Virginia and finally, Alberta Canada with Angela Ackerman.

Critter has been to college, rock concerts (see him crowdsurfing in the above picture), national landmarks, a palace, attended his first SCBWI conference, walked among giant redwoods, and met the world famous artist, Robert Bateman. Now that his journey is coming to a close, it’s CRITTER’S hope that you will help him celebrate over at The Bookshelf Muse. His new hosts, together with old hosts, have teamed up to create the Kidlit-inspired event, Critterpalooza! and you’re invited! Party at the Muse! Party at the Muse!

There are many AMAZING prizes to be won, all in the spirit of helping Critter celebrate the wonderful creativity & support within out KIDLIT community, and to also raise awareness for his charity, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Seriously, great prizes! I'm offering a Poetry Pack with Poetrees by Douglas Florian and Stampede by Laura Purdie Salas. There are so many other fabulous prizes including a Skype chat, critiques, signed books, goodies and so much more!!! Don't miss it!

If you would like to donate a few dollars to Critter’s charity, just click on the I Love St. Jude button. Children’s lives are saved every day thanks to the support of people like you!

Isn't that awesome?! And here's another great contest in the wonderful world of blogs:

Carol's Dark and Twisty and Rule Breaky Giveaway! Carolina Valdez Miller is giving away two signed books! Plus lotsa cool arcs! Isn't she sweet? She's so not dark and twisty!

So, click those links and get on over to Angela's and Carol's blog. Do it!

So Close

2010-11-16T06:43:00.001-06:00

I'm so close I can taste it. And it tastes like Smarties and chocolate milk. Because those are my main character's fave treats (separately of course, you can't wash Smarties with chocolate milk! Well, you can, but you shan't). Did you just google if shan't is a word? Take my word for it, I have no idea.
I'm so close to finishing my middle grade manuscript. I had a month off while working on my house. Now I am using that energy towards my story. I have worked and reworked this manuscript since spring. I originally had written it as a chapter book the year before, but after some valuable advice, started rewriting it as a middle grade in April. So here I am working on the last chapter. I am almost there. I'm excited. I still love my story. Even after rereading it so many times.
You see when I add a chapter or scene to my story, I reread all the chapters I've written up to that point. I know it's slow going, but it just helps my writing flow into the next scene. And after all of this rereading, thankfully I still smile when I am reading it.
So, I am publicly putting it out there that I am going to finish it this week. I will send it out to beta readers (anyone want to read?) and critique groups soon after. How am I going to celebrate when I'm done? With a large glass of chocolate milk (hold the Smarties) of course! So please check in next Monday to see if I reached my goal. If I haven't, I give you permission to call me names, slap me silly, or even pelt me with Smarties.

Did anyone else catch the live author/agent chat on WriteOnCon last night? Make sure you follow their blog so you don't miss any of these awesome opportunities to pick the brains of cool, talented people in the publishing biz! Last night agent Stephen Barbara and author Leila Sales(Mostly Good Girls) chatted about the agent/author relationship. Fun and informative!

Since I'm Closer to the End, today's Tune for Tuesday is "Closer to the Edge" by 30 Seconds to Mars. Jared Leto of My So Called Life and movie fame is the lead singer. I saw them live in April (see picture of Jared's arm around me here), and they were amazing. You can see for yourself how a 30STM concert experience really is in the video. The venue is usually packed. The crowd knows all the words. You can see the crowd move three steps forward (which was impossible for me at my concert as I was about next to the stage which prompted me to swear at him (he didn't hear me ;) and have strangers be squished all around me). But the concert was awesome enough to let me forgive him for that. He also walked into the crowd, on top of the crowd just like in the video.
Watch and listen to CLOSER TO THE EDGE!

Block Writer's Block!: Guest Post by Stephen Tremp

2010-11-12T06:42:00.000-06:00

November is the month of Nanowrimo and PiBoIdMo as well. There is a lot of pressure to get words and ideas onto the paper. What do you do if just can't think of one more scene? What do you do if you can't think of any more picture book ideas? What do you do if you can't stop eating Halloween candy (okay, that is a topic for another discussion)?

Today I have author Stephen Tremp to help you work through Writer's Block. Stephen Tremp is author of the near future science fiction action thriller Breakthrough. Stop by and visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs where Breakthrough is available for purchase and download to all eReaders. Take it away, Steve!

I have blogged about Writer’s Block on and off for the past year. This heinous dark thief of creativity can affect a writer in trivial or monumental ways and often rears its head at the worst of times. Writers Block can frustrate a writer’s creativity and source of inspiration and thus impede their ability to translate mental concepts into written words.

But not to fear. There are numerous simple exercises one can use to slay this sinister villain of imaginativeness. Here is a comprehensive list of methods I use to fight off this evildoer. This is a great blog to save to your Favorites or Bookmarks. Okay, here we go:

“What if …” Scenarios These two words have inspired writers and poets to pen masterpieces that are now considered literary classics. Think of a “What if …” statement, then make a pot of coffee, sit down, and begin writing. Please take a moment to read this brief link, then try it your self.

What would you do if you were not a writer: Here's a little exercise I do to get the creative juices flowing. I ask myself a question, "What would I be if I could be anything in the world other than a writer?" Then I place myself in this situation and think, “What can I do with this?” Again, take a moment to read this brief link and you’ll be amazed at how such a simple exercise can open the door for multiple stories.

Ask other bloggers to help with a particular problem: This is a great exercise with a huge payoff. Example: I was struggling with a particular chapter. I needed a jailbreak. And not just any ol’ jailbreak. I needed to bust out someone from the center of a state-of-the-art facility. It had to be clever and high tech. The response was 40 terrific comments. Although I won’t use all of the ideas in the actual jailbreak, I can use them while the characters are brainstorming ideas to bust the professor out. So I ended up with two chapters, the jailbreak itself, and a chapter covering the planning stage. Two for the price of one!

Research the research: I don’t have a particle accelerator in my garage. Good thing I don’t need one in order to perform research in the area of physics. I can research the research. Make two lists: One of topics you would like to research and one people who have a deep understanding of such topics. Then, go to theoretical physics or the name of a respected expert in the respective field of your story. For example, type in “theoretical physics” and a multitude of clips will come up that you can watch. These are free, concise, and usually reliable sources.

Weekend Follies Captions: This is a great way to get the creativity moving forward. On weekends I often post my Weekend Follies, five pictures of cute animals doing silly things and ask people to write a clever or witty captions. This exercise quickly stimulates the mind (best to do with a cup of coffee) and helps the neurons in the brain make those all-important chemical synapses between the nerve cells in the brain.

Guest bloggers: I belong to a few Yahoo! Writers Groups and we each take turns hosting. These are talented people; writer, editors, poets, teachers, researchers, etc. with fresh ideas. I subscribe to all posts, quickly eliminate those that are not pertinent, then reading and sometime saving the relevant ones.

Finally, ask your editor: You do have an editor, don’t you? Think of an editor more as a mentor. A life coach. A friend in need. Your editor is one of the best sources to bounce ideas off. Just don’t call them in the middle of the night. They hate that.

Please join me Monday as I visit Jemi Fraser’s blog and we discuss an emerging genre: Modern Steampunk.

Thanks for stopping by on Stephen's blog tour. Great suggestions, and I just might have to ask my wonderful blogger friends for help with future scenes...For example, in one scene I have a character that wants to meet her favorite rock band. How should I (cough)- I mean she go about doing that ? :).

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone!

Spot the Blunder, Shawty!

2010-11-08T06:44:00.003-06:00

Last week our realtor sent a photographer to take pictures of our house to go on our brochures and online realty sites. Before this, she sent a stager to make sure our house would look as presentable as it could be. The stager was amazing. She told us the best way to position our couch. Which plant or what kind of centerpiece would look best on the table and so on. Have you ever watched HGTV's Get It Sold? Kind of like that.
So the photographer came and I had the place as clean and perfectly placed as possible. Which is a huge feat as I am not known as the world's most fabulous housekeeper. I checked and rechecked each room and I knew I was ready.
Or was I? Can you see what I forgot?

Yep, the bed's a mess. I'm a terrible bedmaker, I am. But you'd think my eyes would scan the foot of the bed to make sure the comforter was covering the sheet for crying out loud! Oi. But thankfully, my only blunder. But definitely a true Kelly blunder. Okay, I could have taken my TBR pile out of the nightstand too, but hey, I love my books. You'd think the photographer might have noticed the bed blunder, but maybe she didn't want to offend. Her pictures turned out awesome by the way. She made my wood floors look so shiny and the colors of the walls of the bedrooms pop.
Thankfully I am not a terrible writer (at least I hope not). But you'd think my eyes would scan my manuscript and catch every misspelled word or tweak each scene just right. But I can't. I'm only human. So use your critique group, use your family, win great blog contests like I did and get people (and by people, I mean definitely more than one person) to read your stuff. And your comforter, I mean, your manuscript won't be a mess.

One last thing.
Who the heck is Shawty?
This I wondered after I looked up the lyrics to Dynamite to make sure it was acceptable for my son to download on Itunes (it was fine...and catchy). Then I recalled the song from Fred the Movie (a Nickelodeon movie), "Call 9-1-1, Shawty burnin on the dance floor" and the Usher commercial singing "Happy Birthday" to Shawty.
Who is this mysterious Shawty that everyone and their mother is singing about?
So I googled "Who is Shawty?"
It turns out according to the Urban Dictionary, Shawty is used as a pronoun like man or dog or girl. It is also commonly used as a term for a hot female or girlfriend. So there you have it.

Am I geek for not knowing this or a bigger geek for googling it? You know it, Shawty!

This and That Thursday

2010-11-04T06:43:00.003-05:00

1. My house went on the market on Monday! The house is just about perfect, and the cleanest I've ever seen it. I even bought a St. Joseph statue to bury in the yard (thanks for the reminder, Anita!). I have to admit I cried when the sign went up. I love this home and area so much. But I know we will be happy in cheeseland once we sell this house and are settled there.

2. Thank you to Ishta Mercurio for an awesome critique of one of my picture book manuscripts! I won a critique at her blog, Musings of a Restless Mind. She gave me such valuable advice and suggestions!

3. I also won a critique from Marcia Hoehne. I'll be sending her the first 1000 words of my middle grade manuscript soon. Thanks, Marcia!

4. AWESOME CONTESTS!
*Jen Daiker at Unedited is having a superdeeduper contest on her blog! Enter to win a $65 CSN gift certificate!!

*Susan Fields is having a Back From Hiatus contest. Win your choice of a great non-fiction book that will help you write much gooder!
*Don't forget about Candyland's I Heart Joy Like Br80 contest! A fabulous cause with fabulous cash prizes and concert tix - yes, concert tix to a band I love, too (New Medicine, baby)!
*Marcia Hoehne is giving away Sara Pennypacker's Clementine, Friend of the Week!
*Kimberly Franklin is giving away a signed, yes, signed copy of The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney! Plus bookmarks!

5. Next Friday I will have a guest blogger. Breakthrough author Stephen Tremp will give tips on Writer's Block! Make sure to stop by to check it out!

6. Now that my house is ready, I can get back to my writing!!! I am finishing that middle grade manuscript once and for all! I even finally stopped by The Practice Room again for a session yesterday. Yay!

7. Remember a few weeks ago when I said I wanted to see a certain band? (Okay you don't, but I did, darn it.) Well, soon after I found out they would be playing nearby in December!! I finally get to see My Chemical Romance live for the first time!!! Yay! Here's a preview of their next single, "Sing." Did I mention that I named a character in my middle grade after the lead singer? Did I also mention that the lead singer is an author of a comic book series titled The Umbrella Academy? And I get to see him in concert!!!!!!

What are you excited about?

Ha Ha Halloween

2010-10-26T06:45:00.000-05:00

Are you dressing up for Halloween this year? This photo is of me and my two best friends in third grade. We are still besties today! See, I have always liked vampires. Somehow I don't look as hot as Eric Northman or Edward here though.... Everyone has an awkward stage, you know!

With all of my packing, organizing, and trips to Home Depot, and juggling the kids' schedules I do feel more like this lately:

Here are a few of my favorite Halloween funnies to join the silly pictures.

Why did the ghost do to the bar? For the booooo-ze.

Why do demons and ghouls hang out together? Because demons are a ghouls best friend!

Why doesn't anybody like Dracula? He has a bat temper.

Do you have any funny Halloween jokes to add?

I have two tunes for Tuesday for your Halloween listening pleasure, both zombie related.

Thuggish cartoon disco metal band, Uncle Rotter, joined up with fellow Manchester gothic industrial band, Resist, for a charity single for Zombie-Aid.
The Zombie-Aid single will be released on October 25th in the aim of reaching the No1spot in the charts for Halloween. The single will be available for download from major online stores such as Amazon, HMV, Play.com, iTunes and 7Digital.
All money made from the single will be going to UK charity, Make-A-Wish Foundation, who grant magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses.
Check it and you will be singing, "Zombie!" all day long!

My second tune today is by Rob Zombie. I just love this song, and the video is creepy, yet funny! Dig through the ditches and burn through the witches and
slam in the back of my DRAGULA!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Rick Springfield Book Signing

2010-10-21T08:24:00.001-05:00

And she's watching him with those eyes. And she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it. Yeah 'n' he's holding her in his arms late, late at night!

Yup. That pretty much sums up my night with Rick Springfield. Except for the lovin' him with that body....but he did hold me in his arms (okay, one arm) not so late in the night. But still...

My friend, Sue, and my new friend, Deb, and I had a fun girl's day out on an amazingly beautiful fall day yesterday. It was a much needed escape for me from my endless packing and cleaning.

We started the day doing a little shopping, that led to some champagne, giggling, and the tastiest salad I've ever eaten (Southern Chicken Salad at The White Chocolate Grill) with of course a white chocolate brownie dessert. We celebrated Suzy's birthday, too!

The yumminess didn't end there. We then went to the Rick Springfield book signing with 500 other crazed middle aged women! Actually most were pretty calm. The three of us tried singing Jessie's Girl outside the bookstore to see if we could rouse a Springfield singalong but unfortunately no one chimed in. Apparently Rick told them "Don't Talk to Strangers."

The line went pretty swiftly, and finally it was our turn to have a photo, a one armed hug (because we all need the Human Touch), and his signature (with a heart) on his new book, Late, Late at Night.

For me: Books + Musician +Friends + champagne + white chocolate + Coca Cola = An Affair of the Heart ;)

I'm not sure that last one made any sense, but the song titles just kept spilling out of me.

This and That Thursday

2010-10-07T06:37:00.001-05:00

LIFE

Hello, my dear blogging friends. As you may or may not have noticed, I have not been as present in the blogosphere lately. I have good reason for this. My husband and I are getting our house ready for sale. We are relocating to the state north of us due to my husband's new job. I'm so thankful for this really wonderful opportunity for my husband, but it will be hard to say goodbye to my home and family that live here. Luckily our new place will be less than two hours from where we live now.

So, I have been scrubbing and scrubbing some more. We have had handymen doing minor repairs and painting. We've donated fifty plus bags of clothing and household items to charities. My days and nights have been consumed by organizing, decluttering, and packing. I really do love that it is forcing me to get my things in order, even though I fall into bed sore and exhausted each night. This house will be perfect... right in time for us to move!

I love this home so much. It's a beautiful partly wooded lot with a big area for the kids to play. I love the autumn leaves surrounding us in the fall and when the forest POPS with green in the spring. I've rocked all my newborn babies and watched them go on the school bus for the first time here. We've had fun family parties and barbecues and just so many great memories. I will miss it so, but I am ready for the next adventure in my future community and home. Well, not quite ready yet. We have to sell this house first! ACK!

WRITING

Due to my days and nights being consumed by getting my house in order, my writing has stalled. And I am almost there. Almost to the end of my middle grade manuscript. I have one more chapter to finish (the second to last chapter) and then a few revisions before I send it to some critique partners. Then more revisions and hopefully off to agentland. It's been slow going as I reread my a few chapters or all of my manuscript almost every time I write. I like to feel the flow of the story and continue. Luckily, I still love my story. I do sincerely love it. Once my house is up for sale, I will be finishing that thing once and for all!

Where are you in your manuscript?

BLOGGING

Thank you so much to Carolyn Abiad and Patricia Timms for giving my the One Lovely Blogger Award! That was lovely of you ladies!!! Thank you also to Ishta Mercurio as well for awarding me The Versatile Blogger award. Check their wonderful blogs out!
And WOWZA! I surpassed 200 followers sometime in my cleaning hibernation. Hello to my new followers, thanks for coming by!

VaVaVroom, the company my sister owns, is having an amazing contest. If you ride or know someone who rides a motorcycle or scooter, check out her Are You One Of Those Girls? contest. Tell your story and you can win over $650 in motorcycle apparel and accessories!
Even though I don't ride, I wear her clothing, because it's so darn cute.

MUSIC

No more concerts on the horizon until probably 2011. Though just heard about a new album coming out soon and I'm psyched! My Chemical Romance's new album with a very long title drops November 22. I've never seen them live, so hope they'll tour the U.S. sooner than later! Here's a preview:

Tune for Tuesday

2010-09-28T06:44:00.000-05:00

Last week I saw one of the best live bands ever, Papa Roach, for the third time this summer! Seriously, I've seen many bands live and they are by far the best! Lead singer, Jacoby Shaddix, can get the crowd crazy! (In fact, I was bumped by moshers a few times during the concert). My mom, my hubby's aunt Beth, my friend Shanon and I went to the Congress Theatre in Chicago to rock it out.
Here's a super short clip of a song that may be about Paris or Lindsay...and it shows how pumped up Jacoby gets the crowd!

They started the concert with "Kick in the Teeth" from their just released album. I love it, especially when having a hard day. One time I played it 12 times in a row on our way home from Wisconsin (I wasn't having a bad day, I just love the song). Here's some lyrics to my Tune for Tuesday:

Don't fight, or it deny it, invite it cause when it ..
Feels like a kick in the teeth, I can take it.
Throw your stones and you won't see me break it.
Say what you want, take your shots.
You're setting me free with one more kick in the teeth !

So, next time you are feeling a little ticked off, put on this song and turn this mother up! Or you can check out this pick me up post from Sharon Mayhew, too!

Papa Roach - Kick in the Teeth (HD)
- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.

SOME WRITERLY STUFF:
*Don't forget: Tomorrow is the last day to enter Angela Ackerman at The Bookshelf Muse is celebrating 1000 followers (wow!) by having a fabulous contest that includes critiques and a mentorship! Check out details HERE quickly as the contest closes tomorrow!
* I was a contest winner again! Thank you to PJ Hoover for sending me Nerds by Michael Buckley. Also thanks to Candace Ganger and Elana Johnson for a beautiful homemade bookmark and Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I'm a lucky girl!

The Great Blogging Experiment: Quirky Characters

2010-09-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago my daughter brought home a writing exercise from school. She had drawn a picture of her little brother, JD, laughing in bed.

Underneath she wrote, "My brother is weird because he laughs in his sleep."

I giggled when I saw it, because my youngest son really does laugh in his sleep (it's adorable!). I asked Little Missy what the teacher asked the class to write about. Apparently the teacher told the students to write about a family member and what is weird about them. An interesting class discussion followed I am sure.

My daughter then piped in, "And I told the class that Dad swears in his sleep!"

Being a former teacher, students told me all kinds of things I'm sure their parents would be embarrassed about, and now it was our family's turn to be embarrassed. My husband really does occasionally swear in his sleep. Sometimes it's annoying;sometimes it's funny. My daughter witnessed it firsthand once while we were in a hotel. My husband yelled an expletive in the night, and my daughter turned to me and we both startled giggling.

Weird isn't a bad thing. My kids tell me I'm weird all the time, and I take it as a compliment. Normal is boring.

Take a look at your family, your friends. Is anybody truly normal? Aunt Betty doodles zombies and graveyards when she talks on the phone. Grandpa Teddy doesn't bother to put pants on when guests come over. Cousin Suzy hums while every time she texts. Your brother sniffs each bite of food before putting it in his mouth. What's my quirk? What makes me, me? I slouch. I sing loudly along with my rock music in my car. I look forward to tweezing my eyebrows every day. What is your quirk?

How about your characters? Is he a twitcher? Does she have a nasty ear picking habit? Does he hide Country Living magazines under his bed? Does he save tater tots in his pockets for later?

Make your characters odd, bizarre, peculiar, mysterious, outlandish, awe-inspiring. Because normal is boring and forgettable. To make your characters compelling, you need them to be multifaceted. Uniqueness is just one facet of your character that makes readers relate to her or care about him.

Now hop on over to Elana Johnson's blog to find out what over 170 others have to say about How to Write Compelling Characters in The Great Blogging Experiment!

Top Ten TV Shows Blogfest!

2010-09-20T06:43:00.000-05:00

Cassastar author Alex J. Cavanaugh is hosting this fun and fabulous TV themed blogfest today! Check his blog to go see what shows others have chosen. I bet there is not one list alike on all the blogs!

I watch TV to be entertained. I don't really watch many shows. I DVR so I can save time and fast forward through commercials. But a few times a week, it is so nice to lay on the couch and veg out. I don't want to cry. Sometimes I don't even want to learn. I want to laugh. So I do.

KELLY'S TOP TEN TV SHOWS

1. True Blood - Did you expect any other show at the top of my list? I'll say it again. It's sexy, shocking, suspenseful, and funny. Click here if you missed my True Blood Survival Guide.

2. The Soup - I like funny. I like sarcasm. I like when people make fun of reality shows, soap operas, entertainment shows, basically anything on TV. I like this show. It's on the E! channel, and I hope Joel McHale never stops hosting it. He's also on a sitcom called Community which also amuses me. I LOL every single episode of The Soup. Every one.

3. Friends - I loved this show. Yes, I once got "The Rachel" haircut. I even almost broke my nose running into a closed closet door while hanging up laundry during a commercial, because I heard the show come back on and ran BAM! into the door! My favorite character was Chandler. Could he be any funnier?

4. That 70's Show -Witty Eric. Dumbbunny Kelso. Great, great characters on this show, every single one of them. "I said Good day!"

5. Saturday Night Live - This show combines two of my favorite things: comedy and music. I have to admit I don't always watch it anymore, but I've watched so many episodes since I was a fifth grader on it's not funny. But it is. There's been great years, and not so great years, but so many comedians have shined here: Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferell, Chris Farley, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, and so many more.

6. Nip/Tuck - My mother-in-law turned me on to this show. My husband and I watched this insanely wicked show each week wondering what in the world Christian and Sean would get themselves into next. This show was not afraid of any subject. Even though I closed my eyes during the surgery scenes, my mouth dropped at other scenes that made me yell at the TV, "They did not just do that!" It was a drama, but funny scenes here and there as well.

7. Cheers - I remember watching this with my family once a week. And I do believe I watched the final episode in a bar. I'm not even going to tell you if I was 21 or not!

8. How I Met Your Mother - It's legen...wait for it...dary. Barney is awesome. Ted is cute. Everyone cracks me up.

9. Seinfeld - But of course it's here. It was amusing because they made fun of things everyone else wanted to but didn't. Or made ordinary things funny. It's not in my personal top five, but it is a great one. I'm sure most of you have quoted this show before.

10. The Cosby Show - I so wanted to live with the Huxtables! But not wear the loud sweaters. I thought Claire Huxtable was so gorgeous and smart, and there was a kid for every age group to relate to.

Honorable Mentions: Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family (this probably would make the list next year if this season is as fab as last season), and The Young and the Restless (I've been watching it on and off since I was eleven!)

What's your all time favorite TV show?

True Blood Loss

2010-09-14T06:38:00.000-05:00

It's over. What am I going to do now? The season finale of the third season of True Blood aired Sunday night. It was fantabulous, shocking, grotesque, and off the chain as usual. But now what will I do on Sunday nights? I contemplated with my husband what to do about this last episode. We thought maybe we'd watch two minutes a week to make the last episode last, but we couldn't hold out. We had to watch it! I seriously have not ever loved a TV show like I love this one. It's bordering obsession. Why?
I'll Tell You Why
1. Eric Northman (and no this isn't the last time you'll see that pic at the left).
2. It's a show my husband and I both love to watch together.
3. It's funny. Watch this funny scene of a vampire texting an expletive. (Franklin was one hilariously insane vampire!)
4. It's suspenseful, even if you've read the Sookie Stackhouse novels.
5. Eric Northman - not just because he's gorgeous, but the character is humorous, complex and unpredictable.
6. It's shocking. Have you ever seen vampire goo being carried around in a fancy jar?
7. I love Sookie's southern accent and the way Bill says, "Sookie."
8. Handsome hardbodies. (Not only Eric, but Jason, Alcide, Bill, Sam, heck, even Hoyt's kind of cute in his own way.)
9. I love the clicking sound when the vampire teeth retract and extend.
10. This character.

Here's my Survival Guide until Season 4 premieres next summer.

1. Read the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris (I just finished book four; there are currently eleven, and the books are funny and suspenseful, too).
2. Read and reread this issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

3. Drink True Blood beverage (I seriously have two in my kitchen pantry in case Eric stops by).

4. Dress like a Merlotte's waitress for Halloween this year.

5. Read the Vampire Diaries book and finally watch the eighteen episodes I have on my DVR.

6. Watch Zoolander (I have never seen it and I love funny movies. Oh, and Alexander Skarsgard is in it!)

7. Watch and groove to Snoop Dogg's music video titled, "Oh, Sookie."

8. Visit Bon Temps, Louisiana on Spring Break.

9. Rent Eclipse when it finally comes out on DVD (I haven't seen it yet!!).

10. Give blood at church preferably in the evening so I can scan the area for thirsty yet non violent vampires (I actually already do that - well, the first part anyway).

Any other suggestions for me to get me through this difficult time? ;)

With a Rebel Yell

2010-09-09T09:38:00.001-05:00

I cried, "Mo! Mo! Mo....concerts!"
Last night I enjoyed seeing two rock icons play live right in front of me. My friend Sue and I went to the Riviera Theatre to see Billy Idol and Slash rock it out. Of course we had to make our way close to the stage for an up close and personal (and LOUD) rock show.
Slash was first. Myles Kennedy (from the band Alter Bridge) was the powerful lead singer who sang songs from Slash's solo album plus Velvet Revolver and Guns N Roses tunes. So much fun! Todd Kerns was awesome on bass, too.
This was the third time I've seen Slash live. I saw him with GnR in the 90's and with Velvet Revolver about five years ago. He's such an amazing guitarist.
Here's one of the best guitar riffs ever!

Then came Mr. Idol. His lip was curled and his abs were six packed. This 54 year old can still rock it. He sang favorites like "Dancing with Myself," "White Wedding," "Flesh for Fantasy," and "Mony Mony" (Hey! Hey what!).

Rebel Yell!

These girls were grinning and rockin through the concert, and our ears are still ringing today!

What's your fave Billy Idol or Slash song?

Dear Diary 3

2010-09-07T06:43:00.002-05:00

I'm continuing my Dear Diary series just for kicks in case anyone wants to laugh at little Kelly or to gain some insight on a certain age group for their works in progress!

So far I have shared an entry about future occupations and vomit in my this series.

As I was perusing through my diary to decide which entry I'd put next, I discovered two things. One, I jumped around in my diary and it is not in chronological order which is currently not very helpful and two, I wrote about boys. A lot. I started writing about which boys were cute in third grade! Do girls already notice boys this young? My daughter had a "boyfriend" in first grade so I guess I unfortunately know the answer to that question. And she is her mother's daughter. My oldest son rarely mentions girls, but I have a feeling he notices them by now. Most of my diary entries from fifth grade through junior high are about, you guessed it, BOYS!

This is a peek at an entry from fourth grade, age nine. (Some names may or may not have been changed to protect the hotties, I mean innocent. My present day comments are in red.)

This is me from my fourth grade class picture. This fashionable fourth grader is wearing a velour top of her favorite shades of blue with light blue cordoroys. The Coke bottle glasses finish the look. Was I a babe magnet or what? HA!

Saturday, Feb 7

Dear Diary,

In school we are doing reports. I am doing it on rabbits. I HAD A BEAUTIFUL PET RABBIT NAMED ZIGGY. Lori already finished hers. My report is better though. DID I MENTION I WAS HUMBLE? I am almost finished. I'm still hoping that Les, Jon, and Brian like me. NOTICE I PUT AND - NOT OR. I SHOULD ALSO MENTION THAT LES WAS A 17 YEAR OLD BASKETBALL PLAYER ON MY DAD'S TEAM THAT I NEVER SPOKE TO ONCE. DID I REALLY THINK I HAD A CHANCE WITH HIM?! I want be a veterinarian, a teacher or something to do with animals when I grow up. GLAD I ENDED ON AN ASPIRATIONAL NOTE.

And what can we learn from this?

One, you are never too young to appreciate the opposite sex.

Two, sometimes a grade schooler's view can be totally out of whack (a high schooler?!).

Three, you can dream big and many do come true! (I did become a teacher and had a date with the Jon mentioned four years later.)

What childhood dreams of yours came true?

Three Things for Thursday

2010-09-02T06:33:00.000-05:00

1. Guess what my very thoughtful best friend gave me? A subscription to Writer's Digest! My friend, Becky, who is also a writer subscribes to it and thought I'd benefit from it, too. In the first issue that I received, I read a fabulous interview with Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, and read great articles on how to raise the stakes in your story. Thanks, Becky!

Do you subscribe to any writing magazines? Which ones do you find helpful?

2. Attention Teachers and Parents! SuperTeacherWorksheets.com offers a wonderful variety of supplemental educational worksheets including math facts, social studies, and reading comprehension. They even have fun puzzlers. Check it out! I recently sold a few to them. You can see one of mine about states here.

3. The kids are back to school. My baby is now in afternoon kindergarten, and I am facing long afternoons without him. For some reason, it's a difficult transition for me (luckily he is loving school), but I know I will be thankful for this extra time to concentrate on my writing without interruption once I stop moping. I am composing a daily schedule to help me not waste time and use the time productively. Any tips for me?

Emmy Award Wrap Up

2010-08-30T07:31:00.000-05:00

I don't watch a ton of TV, but I do have a handful of shows that I record on the DVR. In fact I have to still finish a few episodes of some before the new season starts in September! But I do DVR the Emmy's and do a quick fast forward run through each year. I love the dresses and love to see my favorite TV stars get nominated.

Click here to see a list of winners (who I do I look like, Ryan Seacrest?).

Here is my usual:

RANDOM THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING THE EMMY'S

1. Love the Born To Run/Glee opening! And Joel McHale was in it! Bonus! And Tina Fey! Double Bonus! I know I would love the show, Glee. I need to buy or rent the DVD set one day.

2. I adore Jimmy Fallon and his guitar! And Conan, what a good sport!

3. Ty Burrell (Modern Family) or Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) - both nominated for Supporting Actor in a Comedy. Both are hilarious. Either should win! Eric Stonestreet of Modern Family won, but that's great because Modern Family is awesome!

4. Love the Modern Family parody clip! Stewie! 3D Sofia! George Clooney! Always clever, that show. Love, love, love it!

5. Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory) has way too much blush on.

6. Musical Tribute to three shows (Lost, 24, Law & Order) was funny. Jimmy Fallon is so talented. He crooned about Lost to the tune of Green Day, "I didn't understand it, but I tried."

7. Yay! Joel McHale again! And he towers over Jeff Probst...

8. I have to admit I stopped fast forwarding through commercials during the Community/Infinity QX56 commercials. C'mon it's Joel McHale AND Chevy Chase!

9. Beautiful song by Jewel for the In Memoriam.

10. Woo hoo! Eric, Sookie and Bill presenting! Boo hoo! Only two more True Blood episodes left to watch this season.

11. Hmmmm, I thought Lawrence Fishburne would be presenting for adult TV films..(Sorry, Lawrence! Yikes...)

12. Mad Men wins for Best Drama instead of True Blood! Bastards!

Quote of the Night by Stephen Colbert: "Hello, ladies. Many of you look lovely tonight."

Best Dressed Male: TIE! Alexander Skarsgard and Joel McHale (They win no matter what they wore!)

Best Dressed Female: Navy was the big color this year and did look pretty. The dresses didn't wow me as a whole this year but I thought Rutina Wesley (Tara on True Blood) looked smokin' as did Nina Dobrev (of Vampire Diaries) - and no, not just because they are from shows about vampires! Claire Danes looked lovely as well, but I find it hard to compliment her as I still don't forgive her for having an affair with Billy Crudup while his longtime girlfriend, Mary-Louise Parker, was pregnant...

Amy Poehler also looked amazing for just giving birth three weeks ago!

Did you watch the Emmy's?

The Family That Rocks Together

2010-08-23T06:35:00.001-05:00

...stays together. Last Saturday was a momentous occasion in my oldest son's life. My mother-in-law and I took him to his very first rock concert. My first concert (REO Speedwagon and Survivor) was with my parents at age eleven. Now his first concert was at the age of four days shy of eleven. When I saw that 2/3 of his favorite bands (Disturbed and Avenged Sevenfold) were playing in the same festival, I knew I had to take him! The other main band playing (Stone Sour) also has the same lead singer and guitarist from another fave band of his, Slipknot, so that was an added plus.

The Rockstar Uproar Festival started at 3pm. We arrived at about 3:40 to make sure we received bracelets for the Stone Sour Meet and Greet. We also wanted to see one of the band playing on the side stage, New Medicine. This band I discovered on Candyland's blog recently!

We rocked out to New Medicine then waited in line in the hot sun for an hour to meet Stone Sour. It was so fun watching my son mingle with some of his fave musicians.
Here he is with Stone Sour/Slipknot guitarist, Jim Root

J-Man talking with Stone Sour/Slipknot lead singer, Corey Taylor

After the Stone Sour meeting, I ran to the New Medicine Meet and Greet and met the guys.

I said Hi to Brady, guitarist of New Medicine, for Candace Ganger! He was just as nice as Candace said he was. See here how Brady and Candyland raise money for women of Ghana.

After being out in the sun for a few hours, we were ready to get some food and eat at our seats in the main ampitheater. We enjoyed the band, Halestorm, while we had dinner.

Then Stone Sour came on and I got to see my son headbang for the first time! He can scream the lyrics and throw the horns just like his mum. My fave songs were their newest single, "Say You'll Haunt Me" and "Through the Glass."

Here's a short clip of "Say You'll Haunt Me."

Avenged Sevenfold was next, my son's favorite band. The set was spooky and the music LOUD (I made my son wear ear plugs at the concert). Lots of fire and energy! They played some new songs and old faves like my favorite song of all time, "Unholy Confessions." Can you see the man dangling in the air? He bungy jumped and hung there for the first song! Creepy!

Here's a short clip of a fiery "Buried Alive."

Remember when my son and I did a Rock Band tribute for Avenged Sevenfold's drummer who passed away in December? See it here. Avenged also sang a tribute song called "So Far Away" for him at the concert.

Disturbed, a Chicago band, was next. Excellent graphics in the background, and David has an amazing voice. My fave song of their set was "Inside the Fire." Their most popular song is "Down With the Sickness."

We left before Disturbed was done with their set since my son is a minor and we'd already had a long, fun day. Plus we could beat the crowd after the concert. We left exhausted and happy.

A day my son will remember for the rest of his life. His mom will, too.

Books! Glorious Books!

2010-08-16T06:37:00.001-05:00

Was WriteOnCon awesome or what? I was preparing for and having a garage sale during the days of the conference, but made sure I took the time to participate in most of the live panels and read most of the posts so far. I came away so informed and so inspired. I thought I was about done with my middle grade manuscript, but the conference (and critiques) taught me that there is still so much work to be done! I'm looking forward to using my new knowledge and energy to tackle it full force when the kids go back to school soon.

THANK YOU to all of the wonderful organizers and contributors. It was amazing.

See that pile of books in the left hand corner? I bought those this weekend! Most are gifts (some for my childrens' upcoming bdays, shhhh. Happy eighth birthday to my daughter today!), but I bought a few for myself and to pass along to my mom and sister. I have been dying to read Fat Vampire by Adam Rex and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater. And now I have them! Woo hoo!! I just started reading Fat Vampire and I already laughed out loud twice at the first page of the first chapter. I kid you not, people.

The best part about these books? I bought them with a gift card that I won!

When my mom, sister and I went to Printer's Row Fest in Chicago, I entered a contest. There was a Hyundai filled with paperbacks, and you wrote down your info and your estimate of how many books were in there. Guess who was closest in all of the Chicago participants??? Little ole me! I won a $100 gift card! The funny thing about it was that my original guess was 350 or something and my mom looked at it and said, "Kelly! There's more than that!" I looked at her guess and my sister's guess. Their guesses were over 700. I then entered a new guess, 692. So, thanks Mom! She's an avid reader and will definitely benefit from my winnings. I still have about $20 left that I'll save for future birthday gifts (or I should say gift, hardcover books are expensive!).

Speaking of awesome books, a big THANK YOU to Patricia at Simplicity in Volumes. I won third place in her Writing Triathlon and the upcoming release, The Duff. Another book I am looking forward to reading!

What new books are you excited about?

Three Things for Thursday

2010-08-05T06:26:00.002-05:00

1. I'm back from another family vacay to my dad's cabin in northern Wisconsin. I love to watch my children catch (and release) frogs and fish at the same place I did as a kid. Good old fashioned family fun (but now with internet access!). We also saw Despicable Me while we were there- cute movie, it made me tear up at the end!

2. Thank you so much to my critique buddy Sharon Mayhew! I received some fun, random goodies in the mail after entering her (and Jackee's)Random Contest last week!
Thank you also to Lisa and Laura at Lisa and Laura Write! I won a query critique at their blog, and they gave me a rockin' critique! Great advice, ladies!

More crazy cool contests!
*Lovely Lola is having a contest that includes perfume, Stephen King and surprises! Enter at her Sharp Pen/Dull Sword blog!

*Win Rena Jones' third picture book The Marshmallow Man at her blog! Contest ends tomorrow!

*Win a copy of Alex Cavanaugh's upcoming sci-fi book CassaStar at his blog! Enter by August 8!

*Sara McClung is giving away lots of cool ARCs at her blog Babbling Flow. Check 'em out!

*Have you heard about Holly Cupala's book Tell Me a Secret?! Join her at her launch party and win cool TMAS stuff! First, check out the trailer...and enter to win, it ends today!

3. Thank you to all of you who are posting your stories and expertise from last weekend's SCBWI LA conference! I'm so jealous of all of you, but I am glad you are sharing your experiences with us! Suzanne Casamento emailed me after she spotted Anna Paquin (Sookie!) in LA (and I totally appreciated living vicariously through her!). I hope to attend the conference one day!!
I'm sad I didn't go to LA, but I am super excited about attending WriteOnCon next week! Click here to see what is ahead for the registrants. Day One is posted and looks packed with awesome agent/author/editor panels and workshops. The day starts with author Josh Berk and ends with agent Mark McVeigh! I can't wait!