Rules for Writing

Wow.
Here's a link being passed around on Facebook:
Rules for Writing by the award-winning author, Neil Gaiman,
8 Rules for Writing
A Path to Publishing.

Time to make the pumpkin pie ---

Publishing Trends

Check out Sarah's Blog at the Greenhouse Literary site where she talks about publishing trends today.

Ha!
Just what I predicted.  (and about time, too)
I've been very annoyed at the emphasis on Young Adult with very few good new Middle Grade and Young Middle Grade books being published.
And what she says about Picture Books?
Great!
(Digging through my file, checking over which picture book to send to who.)

More KidLitCon goodies

Lee Wind has collected   

The Top 7 Lessons I Learned About Blogging Children's and Teen Literature From #KidLitCon13

Good advice for bloggers.  Go check it out.

Happy Birthday Dr. Who

Happy Dr. Who -- 50 years strong.
Were you one of the millions who watched the WORLD-WIDE showing of the DAY OF THE DOCTOR, to help celebrate that the TV program, Dr. Who, began 50 years ago?

 My granddaughter and I watched -- at home.  We were not one of the millions who watched this on the big screens in movie theatres.  It was shown at 11:50 in San Diego.  What time was it in your part of the world when this simulcast international show came on?
(I'm also wondering if they issued it in the native languages of non-English speaking countries. hmmm?)

I remember when my youngest child insisted we stay up late and watch this amazing new program on PBS about this crazy guy who travels around the universe in a blue box, saving the worlds.  She super impressed her Astronomy teacher in high school because she already knew most of the space terms the teacher was presenting.  (the teacher bragged about this amazing girl during Parent Visitation night and was surprised when we told her that our child had learned all this stuff from watching Dr. Who.)

Here's Everything You Need to Know About the Doctor.  Well, not really, because the person who wrote this never saw the original 7 Doctors, but fun information anyway.

(also, check out GOOGLE today. It features all 11 of the Doctors.)

Planning Thanksgiving Dinner

Is it that time of year again?
Oh no!
Time to plan Thanksgiving Dinner.
Let's see…

  I grew tired of turkey long ago.
On the other hand, a nice ham?
easy-peezy. out of fridge, unwrap, peal fell off (that's skin and fat to non farmers) score, cloves, and pop into oven for an hour or two.

The heck with getting up at 5 in the morning to begin the stuffing and prepare the turkey and giblets and getting sick, sick, sick of the smell of turkey as it cooks for 6 hours or more.

and preparing all the vegetables.  2 like succotash, 3 like string beans, a different 3 like creamed onions, most everyone likes mashed potatoes, not enough like sweet potatoes to make it worth while cooking, who the heck liked sauerkraut?  oh yes, he's long dead now -- forget it. How many people like gravy? Nevermind -- I like gravy, so making gravy has to be juggled at the same time as I time the various pots of veggies so that they all are ready at the same moment.

Make the orange cranberry relish or buy? gotta have cranberry sauce without lumps for 3 of them and another tray of sauce with lumpy cranberries Fix the relish tray.

And is it any wonder I buy pies? (except I have to make 4 pumpkin pies and then 4 more for the weekend because we will be OUT of pie.)

Look at the DATE

Hmm.

It's   11 / 12 / 13

That'll never happen again.