Spoonfuls of Stories Competition

If you're a picture book author and are interested in seeing your work reach children throughout the world, the Cheerios' Spoonfuls of Stories competition might be right for you. Click on the link below for more details.

http://www.spoonfulsofstoriescontest.com/

1 More Query Left

Want to read advice on how to make your query and cover letters better? Over at Writeoncon, the lovely Mrs. Fischer of The Bradford Literary Agency is accepting 50 query and cover letters, LIVE. And when the magic number is reached, she will give all kinds of feedback.

The way see it, even if you don't make the cut, you'll still get some really valuable insight from an industry insider. So get over there, people! MOVE IT. MOVE IT. MOVE IT.

As for me, I am number 49. How awesome is that? I feel like a character from a Pittacus Lore novel. So please insert ominous, robotic voice as you say my name...I Am Number 49. Because that's how I say it.

Mom Tip of The Week: Saving The Environment, One Fork At A Time

If you make your kids a waffle sandwich (two waffles with syrup or honey in the center), you don't have to wash a fork. I'm just sayin'. I'd like to think that I'm environmentally conscious rather than lazy about doing the dishes. I mean, I am using less water and chemicals, people. It's definitely something to consider.Think of it as saving the environment, one fork at a time. I know I do.

Celebrate National Library Week

Love the libary? Wanna tweet about it and win a 50$ gift certificate to Amazon? Click on the link listed below for the details.

Also, don't forget that I'm holding the 'Dumb Bunny Hop-Hop', in which I'm giving away the book 'Junie B. Jones is a Dumb Bunny'. Details are listed in an earlier post. And so far, no one has joined. So, mathematically speaking, that only adds to your odds of winning. I don't wanna go all teacher on you or anything and preach to you about the rules of probability, but you do realize that that increases your odds of winning, right? And friends, the book is super cute. Even if you're not into kidlit, you're bound to have a child, niece, or nephew who most certainly is into it. So hop on over to March 27th's blog post and click 'Click here to enter', and maybe win a book for your favorite kiddo.

http://atyourlibrary.org/share-your-library-story-17-syllables-and-140-characters


My Twaiku for the Contest
Fictional Haven
Imagination Station
Intellectual mecca

What's new with me?

Well, to start, I promised to keep to a writing schedule, and I very nearly broke the promise on the very first week. To be honest, I really wanted to go to bed right now. Tomorrow I have 5 LONG meetings in a row. And today, I had to do a lot of paperwork to prepare for those meetings. Add a sick kiddo to that mix, and that pretty much describes my week. TERRIBLE! But I strive to be a gal who keeps her word, so here I am telling you about what's new with me.

So what is up?

Firstly, I am still on the hunt for an agent. So this weekend-barring meetings and childhood illnesses-I will start to sub my two rhyming picture book manuscripts to various agents. Originally, I had submitted the stories to one agent, exclusively. My call, not hers. But unforunately, the time for that exclusivity has run out, and I haven't had an offer yet. So honestly, I'm a little bummed.

And then there's the other terrible thing this week, the diet. Or as I like to call it so I don't feel completely crazy, healthy eating. For some reason, that makes it feel more acceptable to me to call it that. Because when I think of diets, I think of the crazy fads: turnips, only yogurt, no carbs, only proteins, etc. But in the end, healthy eating feels the same to me. I'm still depriving myself of the things I truly want to eat: Mike and Ikes, Swedish fish, bread, non diet soda, and pasta. ( Yes. I am an adult. I promise.) And I've been exchanging them for Yogurt. Bluck! And Lean Cuisines. Double Bluck! And just for fun, I've thrown in some Zumba dancing, just in case the diet doesn't torture me enough.

But there is a silver lining to this long and strenuous week, people.....The Vampire Diaries. After several weeks of no new episodes, Elana's vampire birth mother will be sailing in to town tomorrow night.

I know, right? Awesome.

And after that, it'll be the weekend. And we all know what happens on the weekend, dont we?.....Writing.

So even though this week has been long and I really didn't want to keep up the writing schedule, I think I can muddle through. Because in the end, I get to relax on the weekend, write, and rewatch The Vampire Diaries. Not to mention, I can splurge on those days. So Mama's got a date with Mike and Ike this weekend, peeps. Or perhaps it'll be Ben and Jerry. Either way it's double the pleasure, double the fun. And Mr. Stanford isn't the least bit jealous.

Bloggers Block-Do you have it?

Everyone talks about writers block. But seldom do they mention a lesser known block that plagues writers and bloggers around the world-bloggers block.

Well, today I read a really great blog post by Jody Hedlund about 'Perserving Through Blogging'. And two tips that I'm thinking about trying are, setting a schedule to blog and sticking to it, and writing in advance. I've tried these things in the past, but I wasn't able to keep up with the schedule. So I think I'm going to start with baby steps.

So here's the new schedule, folks.

What's Up Wednesdays-(What I'm up to personally and professionally with writing)
Saturdays & Sundays-(Writing or Teaching Tips/articles/videos Or Book reviews)

jodyhedlund.blogspot.com/2011/04/5-ways-to-persevere-through-blogging.html