DFW Writing Conference

I'm thrilled to be at the DFW Writing Conference with my friends Lisa Marotta and Sonia Gensler.  What a lovely experience to be immersed in writing business for an entire weekend!

The organization of the conference leading up to this weekend has impressed me.  Can you believe that the conference has its own blog? Many of the speakers, including agents and editors, have posted blog entries, which offers a nice glimpse into their personalities. In the last week, we've had daily emails and links to the blog.  The countdown has done its publicity trick on me. I'm excited.

Super Glee Bowl Sunday

Most of America is hyped about the Superbowl tonight. Others want to see the commercials. Not I.

I'm one of those people who has eagerly anticipated the return of Glee.  Should I be embarrassed how much I love this show? Even with my limited viewing time, I've seen certain episodes at least four times. Two long months (okay, a month and a half) have made me wonder what sort of antics those crazy kids have been up to--and what sort of musical mash-ups they've concocted.

Glee has pulled me singing and dancing into the modern era.  Because of Glee, I know how to download iTunes.  In the past, I've always requested--and then nagged--my sweet husband to add songs to my playlist. Now, I can do it all by my little ol' self. I owe it to Glee. Some of those songs are just too awesome to wait for someone else to load.

Also because of Glee, I've entered the world of YouTube.  Sure, I'd open the occasional link friends emailed, but I'd never searched for anything.  Until this one.  And this one. And this one.  See? Aren't you wanting to search for more Glee-ful scenes? Be careful about YouTube, though. I spent entirely too long one night watching various Ellen Degeneres interviews of Justin Bieber.

So, even though I've had a fever for days (and no, it's not Bieber Fever), I'm going to stay up and watch Glee. Because I'm a Gleek. And that's okay. Go Team Gleek!

Happy New Year!

I don't make resolutions, but I do make goals.  This year, I've made a concession. For myself.

I'm not offering Friday journal prompts anymore.  Although I believe writing in a journal is helpful in storing fodder for fabulous stories, I no longer feel the desire to provide the prompts.  If you are new to the blog, please click on the journal tags and go at it. If you have been using the prompts, then you've probably picked up by now that anything can inspire an entry.  As far as creative journaling is concerned, it's not really what gets you started.  It's what you have to say.

So, have a happy new year, find inspiration, and keep writing.

Look what the dog dragged in!

My parents live in a log cabin on the edge of a small wooded area. Deer linger beneath their fruit trees. A fawn settled on their front steps once.

We dropped by to see their new furniture and rug. The evening was picaresque. Everything was perfectly arranged. The Christmas tree twinkled. Picture windows offered a view of the woods. Sadie-dog lay at my father's feet on the floor--chewing on a bone.

No, check that. She was chewing on a bone---covered in fur---with a hoof!

That Bambi was fresh, too.

I don't know where she found it, but I heard that antlers are on the porch today.

Journal: superhero

Journal: Create a new superhero. Check out this link for ideas.

Happy Halloween!

Zap!Pow!
Bam!Happy Halloween from Spiderman.

Halloween at School

I wasn't able to convince our son to wear his Elmo costume for school, but Miss Emily sure did. Here he is posing sweetly for her. He had a blast that day. The kids wore costumes, and they had a pumpkin hunt and ate candy. I'm not sure if there was a beanbag toss or not, but he sure talked about one a lot! He claimed he didn't participate, though. Hmmm.

Our little Elmo didn't want to leave. His teachers are great.

Here he is showing off his pumpkin to his Papa.
He told us it took him a long time to find his pumpkin. It was "hard" because it was "hidden in leaves."