Tuesday, December 22, 2009

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU...


May your holidays be happy
May your family stay safe

May your new year be prosperous.
May your new year be filled with joy.

Thank you for reading my words.
Thank you for joining in conversation with me.

I'll be unplugged (to the best of my ability) until after the holiday.    Be safe and be happy!

Friday, December 18, 2009

EXTINCT...



I had the great pleasure of visiting the Peterson Institute a  year and a half ago.  Our group had a private tour of the facility and even  viewed their collection of extinct birds.  The large bird is the Ivory Billed Woodpecker.  Several years ago there were sightings of it near Des Arc, Arkansas.  The sightings were not verified by professionals, so it's still up in the air (I think).

I wanted to share an article about writing picture books.  I thought it was helpful.  Perhaps, it will help one of you to not become an extinct writer.

What do you do each day to ensure you will not become extinct?   

Thursday, December 17, 2009

MY HEART...

Who truly knows you? 


My heart belongs to these two people.  They are my everything.  They truly know me.   They laugh at my made up songs.  They encourage me to write.  They accept my flaws.  They make me smile.


On a lighter note...check out Ann's contest.  She lives in South Africa and writes beautifully.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?


This piece of art has hung in every home we have ever lived in (except the studio apartment we lived in our first summer) for almost 24 years.  Funnily, it has been perfect in every place we have ever lived.  It was painted in 1959 by some guy named Bob Johnson.  He traded it for food in Eureka Springs,  Arkansas at a grocery store. 

We had been married a few months and had moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas.  We took a drive to the "artsy" community of Eureka Springs.  We were poor college students, so we browsed the galleries, ate at pizza hut and went to a garage sale of sorts.  The local grocery store was celebrating its 100th year in business.  It was selling everything it had taken in trade for food over the last 100 years.  We paid a whopping big fifteen bucks for this piece of art.  The canvas is aging, and probably needs to be seen by a specialist.  (I guess I should ask at the art center I volunteer at once a week.)  I would be devistated if something went wrong with the needed repairs...

What do you see in this painting?  I have studied it for years....I'd like to know what you see.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

BARN QUILTS...







Barn quilts....Have you heard of them?  Do they have the where you live?  I don't know much about them.   They certainly brighten up the countryside.  I don't go anywhere without my camera...getting my husband to stop every time I want to stop is a whole different story.

Do you have a barn quilt or a special memory involving your family hanging one on the family farm?

Monday, December 14, 2009

FROZEN FINGERS...FROZEN TOES...OH WAIT, I CAN'T FEEL MY NOSE...


It is so cold today.  My post tonight is very very very brief because my fingers are still trying to recover from my afternoon snow blowing adventure.  A thin coat of ice is under the snow....So if you try to drive your snow blower up the driveway, it will NOT move.  It sits and spins...I finally got it up to the top, parked it and hand shoveled the rest of the drive.  To say the least ,my hands are still stinging and its been several hours...So I'm going to have a cup of hot chocolate (or something) and try to warm up.

I hope all is well where you live. 

Do you have any good warming up after snow blowing/removal ideas?  I think I need a little file of them. 

Friday, December 11, 2009

AND THE WINNER IS...

Good luck to all twenty-three entrants!



Yes, I used the backs of old drafts (RRR).  I cut them into sixths and wrote a name on each square.  Then folded them into fourth.  Of course, I had to do something a little creative to make up for my lack of widget knowledge...


The number ten for the two $10 Barnes & Noble gift cards.






My hand model (daughter) drew the first winning name.



The first winner is: Karen...



And the second winner is Falen...  (Falen doesn't have a blog...yet, but hopefully with some encouragement she'll start one.  Her profile is hilarious!)

A special thank you to everyone that entered.  I loved reading your wishes and I hope they all come true, both the ones you shared with me and the ones you shared with Buffy.  Karen and Falen please send me your snail mail addresses.  skmayh(at)q(dot)com.

Have a wonderful an exceptional weekend!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

THREE WISHES CONTEST ENDS AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!



DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE....Oh wait... GOOSE, GOOSE, GOOSE...That changes the game doesn't it?

Follow the link to enter my Three Wishes Contest.  The deadline is tonight at midnight (CST).  Good luck to all!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

THE GREAT PYRAMIDS...(and one more day to enter the three wishes contest)


As you travel across this great country, do you ever see things that surprise you?


Last weekend I discovered the Great Pyramids of Iowa. These massive mounds were right out in the open. There were no national park signs to recognize these amazing monuments. Who built these pyramids, I asked myself. Did immigrants from Egypt build them to honor of their homeland? Did aliens from the future build them? I scanned the parking lot looking for a tour guide. I had so many questions…

Apparently, the National Park Service is falling down on the job. I couldn't find the park ranger or the gift store.  Each year, thousands of people flock to The Field of Dreams in Eastern Iowa. Imagine the volume of tourists who would flock here to see the Great Pyramids, if they knew they were here. I was shocked to find there wasn’t even a self-pay box with a self-guided tour brochure at this great monument.




 
Slowly, I put two and two together and realized, this must not be a National Park…it must be a State Park. That would explain everything.


The lack of a park ranger was not going to inhibit my excitment.  I (cautiously) got out of the car and approached the pyramids. I didn’t want to disturb any wildlife that might have relocated to the pyramids for the winter.  As I neared the pyramids; I noticed the grains of sand used to build these particular pyramids were HUGE. I’ve been on lots of beaches and played in my share of sandboxes, but this was a very different type of sand.






Tomorrow is the last day to enter my three wishes contest. Follow the link and perhaps you’ll be one of the winners.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

PERFECT WRITING WEATHER...A BLIZZARD...AND A CONTEST


What are the perfect weather conditions for writing?

For me there are two perfect forecasts…sunny with a light breeze and a high in the low eighties OR a blizzard. The whole state is under a blizzard warning! It’s so exciting… I’m sure you’d rather hear about writing techniques that'll help you develop your next manuscript into the greatest thing since vegetarian vampires….but instead I’m talking about snow. Not just regular snow. I’m talking about the kind of snow that comes down sideways, blows big wet chunks into your ears and flies up your pant legs. You know what I’m talking about... By the time you've finished blowing your driveway, finger drifts have begun forming a wavy design across your almost clean drive. Yes, tomorrow's going to be an all out stay home, eat chili, work on writing projects, make the daughter wrap presents kind of day…


What are my blizzard day goals (you ask)?

1. Review folktale one and two

2. Submit folktale one or two to at least one agent (yes, I have one in mind)

3. Find a home for three poems

4. Write directions for two craft activities

5. Frame my A ROOM OF HER OWN tea towel (purple and cream)

6. Frame a clay relief tile my daughter made (it's purple...my office accent color)

7. Blog

8. Make daughter wrap all the Christmas presents I’ve purchased so far

9. Call my trainer and tell her the snow is too deep and I must write….

10. Do a mini workout (so I'm not in trouble with Val)

What are you going to do tomorrow?


The Contest...

You only have two more days to enter.  Please follow the link if you'd like to enter and win one of two B & N gift cards.

Monday, December 7, 2009

11.7 inches...Are You Ready For It?


ARE YOU READY FOR IT???


Weathermen are predicting 11.7 inches of snow here by Friday. You should, probably, rush to the grocery store and buy as much food as you can possibly fit into your freezer. Once you've done that, zoom to your favorite general merchandise store and purchase all the toilet paper and dog food you can carry. After all, the ten o’clock news is predicting some roads won’t be plowed until Thursday. (Funnily, no one is suggesting you to fill up your gas tank or buy salt for your drive way.)  I’m starting to think it’s some sort of conspiracy endorsed by your local grocery and general merchandise stores.

Could you possibly run out of milk? Could you manage for a couple days without milk? Of course if you have small children requiring milk, I expect, you probably keep more than a day’s supply in your fridge. BTW, the lumber industry isn’t running spots on the news that your need to purchase extra wood in case we have a blizzard/snowstorm.

ARE YOU PANICING? ARE YOU RUSHING TO THE SHOPS TONIGHT?  DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH FOOD ON HAND FOR A COUPLE WEEKS? (Or at least until Saturday?)

STAY WARM AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE SUPPLIES YOU NEED TO SURVIVE THE UPCOMING SNOWSTORM…



P.S. If you haven't entered my contest, please follow the link and join in.

Friday, December 4, 2009

What P.O.V. Works For You?...(and a contest)



The photo… My last few trips to England have given me the opportunity to use a variety of toilets. This one by far was the coldest! LOL



What point of view (POV) do you enjoy writing the most? Does the way you write change with what type of story you are working on? I’m just curious. I just started a YA and it came out in third person, but I got stuck.  So I did a first person version and gave them both to my (YA) daughter. She liked the first person version much more than the third person. I agreed, it was easier to put myself in Marissa’s place (mc) when I changed to first person and I think the story will flow out of me more easily.



The Contest… If you haven’t entered my three wishes contest and would like to, please follow the link to enter.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Good Friends...Great Writing... and...A Contest








These are my girls…


We met in July of 2008 at the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua. We spent seven days learning and interacting with an awesome faculty which included writers, magazine editors, publishing company editors, and the awesome Kent Brown and Clay Winters. I can’t even begin to tell you the value of attending this week long event. I left with a wealth of knowledge, life-long friendships, committed mentors and a huge number of connections in the writing world. It was well worth every penny spent. If you are on the ball and apply early you might even get a scholarship.

Yesterday I introduced you to three of my girls; Amy, Heidi and Tess (Hopefully you checked them out through the links.). Today I’d like to introduce you to our newest blogger and my oldest friend out of the group. Susan and I went to Chautauqua together. She has two completed novels, one of which I had the privilege of reading in its entirety after final revisions: In the Seventeenth Year is a timeless fantasy.



17-year-old Keenan Beckett isn’t interested in rescuing the father he never knew. He isn’t interested in meeting the mother who abandoned him at birth. He’s not even all that interested in saving his homeland from the evil King Xavier. But thanks to a momentous prophecy and a shocking revelation, he will do all of these things as he embarks on a remarkable journey that will turn him from a boy into a man.



I hope you will hop over to Susan’s blog and welcome her to the blogging world.

If you haven’t had a chance to join my three wishes contest follow the link and share your wishes…

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Something Special...Something to Ponder and a Contest



Something Special


Every year I save some of my daughter’s art work. The above photo is one from last year. They were studying positive and negative space. I loved the colors…the design…the shapes… It was worthy of framing and hanging.

Two of my critique group members have exciting news. Tess Hilmo just signed her first book contract; her book should come out in 2011! Check out her awesome blog. Amy Allgeyer Cook’s first book is coming out in 2010. Amy is deep in revisions. Amy has a super whimsical blog. To add to the coolness of our critique group, Heidi Schmidt is doing the illustrations for Amy’s book. You can find Heidi on Flicker. I hope you will check out my friends.

Something to Ponder

As you write do you find yourself lost in another world? Escaping from your reality into your characters’ realities? Are you an observer of their lives or do you insert yourself into them and their lives? When I write, particularly the MG Historical Fiction novel I’m working on, I am so there! I hear the bombs whizzing through the sky, the silence that occurs right before they drop and the explosions as they hit the ground. I smell the smoke and dust that fill the air. I hear the neighbors calling out to see who is still alive. I hear people walking through the rubble, kicking it out of the way and cursing Hitler. Please share…

The Contest

Follow this link to my December 1, 2009 post. Follow the directions and best wishes to all! I will announce the results on December 10th.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Three Wishes and a Contest...



Today is your lucky day…The sun is shining. A cool spray of mist splashes your face as the waves roll in. You’ve had an exceptional day. You hiked in the rain forest, swam in the ocean and ate lunch on a yacht that housed four servants. As you and your significant other walk down the Costa Rican Coast you notice something wedged between some rocks on the rocky shore. You bend over and pick it up. It appears to be an old bottle of some sort. You gently rub the sand and muck off of it. You can see there is something inside. You carefully pop the cork and what do you find? A genie pops out and graciously bows before you.


“I’ve been trapped in that bottle for over a hundred years,” he says. “You will be greatly rewarded for releasing me. I will give you three wishes, but none of the wishes can have anything to do with writing. (If you want to wish about writing you must go to Buffy’s Blog and wish there.)”

The contest rules:

1. You must become a follower of Random Thoughts.

2. You must leave three non-writing wishes.

3. You must check out Buffy’s blog.

The Prize:

I will randomly select, from a bowl (as I’m technologically not as advanced as some bloggers), two winners on December 10th. Each winner will receive a $10 Barnes and Nobles gift card.