A Desperate Plea...

Yesterday my daughter and I took a shopping trip to our "old" mall and visited with a bunch of "old" friends.  On the way to lunch and the mall we saw this desperate plea in someones back yard...Although it looks small (cause it's a photograph) that's a larger than life size cow!  (I had to loop around a couple times to find a spot to park on the side of the road. Then walked about a quarter mile so I could take this photo, but it was sooo worth it!) So If this is your back yard and you really want to be my facebook friend.  I'll friend you.  

In other news...Lenny did an awesome job critiquing my picture book, A CAKE I WILL BAKE!  I sure appreciated his help.  His big brother offered some advice too, which was awful sweet.  (Lenny, I just moved you to the critique buddy section on my side bar!)

Have you seen anything on the side of the road that made you stop and take a picture?  I hope so, it sure makes life more interesting...and it can be great for character development.

WHO DO YOU SHARE WITH?

Who do you share your work with? Who are your readers?  Do you limit yourself to your critique buddies?  Have you found some Beta Readers via your blog?   My daughter is my first reader, then my critique buddies  (listed on the my side bar) are next.   Once I get my critiques back (usually about 4 or 5 people are available to critique)  I make revisions and start the process again.  I haven't  shared my work with very many people.   Today I got an exciting email from my sweet blog friend Lenny.  He said he would like to read A CAKE I WILL BAKE  before I go to the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) next month.  :)  HUGS to Lenny!!!

What about you?  Who do you share your work with? Do you share it with non-writing friends?  You know...readers?

(This is Bill.  Bill is a reader.)

We took some new Iowa friends to the lake with us on our last trip.  We swam, ate, played games, tubed, skied, watched movies and read.  Yep, that's right we read.  Nothing says friends like walking in a room and everyone has a book or a kindle or an ipad in front of them and they are reading.  :)   

We talked about books and ebooks.  They have a kindle and an ipad!  We have books, lots of books.  I bit the bullet and asked Bill if he would be interested in reading one of my picture book stories.  He said sure.  Then he got real serious.  "I read for two purposes," he says. "To be entertained or to improve myself or myself at work.  I'm not easy to impress."  "No worries," I say.  "I want honest feedback."  (Holy cow, this guy is going to make me run and hide in the closet!) I hand him my computer and walk in the kitchen to do the dishes.

Then he said those magical words.  "I liked it.  I really liked it.  I could feel the emotion in the characters.  I could feel the anxiety in the two little girls...their fear."  (I was so relieved!) Then he teared up and continued to tell me how he could feel the story deep inside him.

I thanked him and had to walk away.  I was in tears.  I'm still overwhelmed that my words gave someone this reaction.  (smile)

Letting someone new read my words was scary...

I have a challenge for you...Let someone new read a piece  or a segment of your work.

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…