RIPPLE and an Agent Critique

Agent and Author Mandy Hubbard’s book RIPPLE comes out today . . .

RIPPLE is the story of Lexi, a girl with a dark secret-- she's cursed to spend her nights swimming, singing her deadly song and luring in unsuspecting vicitims. To keep everyone around her safe, she has no friends, and no boyfriend-- becuase the last time she fell in love, he ended up dead. But of course, there's a new boy....

To celebrate, she’s having a contest . . .

“There are two places to win, and TWELVE prizes!”  More info on her blog.

In my quest to read fun Middle Grade books with a magical twist, I recently read her book You Wish,   It was quirky and funny and even managed to bring back childhood memories.  I’m sure Ripple will deliver as well!

Thanks to Ms. Hubbard for offering such a great prize on her big day.

It closes at midnight tonight PST, so hurry. 

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Filter Words

It’s amazing how much better a piece of writing can be without these little words called filter words.  Take them out, change them a bit, and instantly you have a tighter piece that puts the reader directly in your character’s shoes. 

Here’s a list to get you started.  And a little trick- use the F5 key to search for them in your writing.

see
hear
think
touch
wonder
realize
watch
look
seem
feel
decide
sounds like

With filter words:

It seemed to be getting colder each time I stepped outside.  I looked up and saw beautiful, white snowflakes falling from the sky and the only sound I heard was the crunch of the ground.  I felt a chill in the air and then a shiver.  I touched my scarf and wrapped it tighter.  It was then that I realized, there are some things we can always count on.

Bye, bye filter words:

Each time I stepped outside it was a little bit colder.  Beautiful, white snowflakes fell from the sky as the frozen ground crunched beneath my feet. A chill shot through me, making me shiver from head to toe.  I wrapped my scarf tighter.  Yes, there are some things we can always count on.

A few helpful links . . .

Filter Words and Distancing POV

Mental Signposts that Tell, Not Show

Are These Filter Words Weakening Your Fiction?

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Home of the 30 Second Story

What is a 30 Second Story?

Witty and clever Jotter Girl takes an old photograph and creates an interesting (and funny!) little story. 

Start your day with a smile . . .

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Happy Independence Day!

My friends tease me because, yes, I admit it, the Star Spangled Banner brings tears to my eyes.  Because every time I hear it, I picture Francis Scott Key, on that British Ship, watching Fort McHenry being bombed during the War of 1812.  And that American flag, still flying above the fort, was a sign that we had won the battle.

I’m sure it’s fairly easy to listen to the national anthem and think about other things, like the hockey game or the fireworks, but not for me.  I picture being on that ship, watching my country fight for its life,  waiting to to see that flag still flying.  (For the whole story click here.)

“And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Come on, shed a tear with me . . .

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The Simple Things

It really is the simple things in life that are so special. 

After breakfast this morning, my little sweetheart decided to balance her sippy cup on her head.  She had the biggest smile on her face when she accomplished this amazing feat. 

Sometimes, we have to take a step back and remember that our successes don’t always have to be big ones.  Me, hey, I’m just happy when I get through a whole day without spilling anything or without smashing a leg into something that will surely leave a bruise.

Have a great day.

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If You Love Photography, You HAVE to See This!

I buy cameras like other people buy cereal.  Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I absolutely love photography.  I kid you not, I have never seen a camera like this.  And I have to wait for it to come out?!  Keep reading to see why it’s so amazing.

Lytro will be introducing a light field camera that allows you to change the focus after you’ve taken the picture.  Click anywhere in the photos to change the focus and visit their picture gallery to play some more! 

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Teacher Quotes

Some of these apply even if you’re not a teacher.  Enjoy!

To love what you do and feel that it matters- how could anything be more fun? ~ Katherine Graham

You make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. ~Unknown Author

Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.  ~ Theodore Roosevelt

You know how to tell if the teacher is hung over?  Movie Day.
~ Jay Mohr

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.  ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job.  ~Donald D. Quinn

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.  ~Horace Mann

The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.  ~William Arthur Ward

To teach is to learn twice.  ~Joseph Joubert, Pensées, 1842

The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your life what you just learned this morning.  ~Author Unknown

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.  ~Mark Van Doren

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Happy Father’s Day!

My dad always told me and my brother, “You don’t love anything like you love your kids.”  It wasn’t until I became a parent that I truly understood those words. 

So here’s to my dad, one of the most wonderful people I know. 

A few of my favorite things about my dad-

He was involved in every aspect of parenting. You don't always see that.

He taught me what it means to be accepting of others and that having an education also means learning about the world around you.

Watching him with friends he has known his whole life, made me realize the importance of strong friendships and being a good friend.

He got me started on my love of travel and went along with it as I dragged him around the globe in my teenage years.

London as an 18th birthday present, yeah, that was my favorite. (Alright, I saved up for the ticket and begged and begged, but still.)

And as an adult, I love watching him be a grandfather to my kids. :)

I have realized something else along the way- When I hug my kids before bedtime and start to put them down, they just squeeze harder.  Because the love children have for their parents is a pretty special thing too.

**And also a very Happy Father’s Day to my husband, and amazing father too!

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I Love My Office

I worked very briefly in an office setting as a travel agent, but apparently not enough to get the humor of shows like The Office.  Most of my time has been spent in a classroom, either as a student or a teacher.

Now that I’m doing more writing, my office is wherever my laptop can go.  Sometimes it’s on my comfy couch, with a cat snuggled on my lap.  Yesterday it was on the back deck, watching my kids play in the sandbox.  Today, it’s with a good friend at Tim Horton’s. 

Some of the writing I do is paid, and some is just for me, with the dream of someday holding a book in my hands with my name on the cover.  I’d say it’s also to read it to my kids, but they already love listening to my stories. Whether or not Mommy is published isn’t an issue.

So whatever it is that you do, take a few moments to yourself, find a place to sit and do what you love.  Just be ready when the kids, or the pets, or the husband need something!

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Travel Quotes

I love this one, since London is one of my favorite places in the world . . .

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford”
- Samuel Johnson

Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living." – Miriam Beard

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." – Henry Miller

"Let your memory be your travel bag." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." - St. Augustine

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."  - Jawaharal Nehru

"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled." — Mohammed

"Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else."
— Lawrence Block

The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are. 
- Samuel Johnson

If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.
-Henry Miller

"...I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world..." 
-Made famous by Louis Armstrong

"because the world is greater - far greater - than what we can ever see, than what we can ever know."
-Michael Crichton

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