still here

still revising, almost done
still horrified by condition of my office
still running
still gearing up for new books coming out
still excited to see all our kids this weekend
still grateful for this week’s interview (thank you, kelly!)
still in need of sleep
still hungry for barbecue
still loving my life
still revising…

Bouncing on toes

I am standing at the mouth of the Cave of Revision, impatiently waiting for the coffee pot to finish making coffee. I think I have a few more long days on this revision before I turn it in.

So. Here are my rambling, hurry-up-coffee-pot notes:

1. Yesterday, I corresponded with readers in Brazil and Norway. How cool is that?

2. My latest obsession is worm castings. Yes, that is a polite word for worm poop. I am gardening organically this year and worms are my new best friends. I am looking for a source in Central New York, if anyone knows of one. So far, I’ve been ordering them from Vermont, and am having a friend’s family (who are in the business of producing worm poop, don’t ask) bring me some on their next visit to the area.

Go ahead, laugh, but you should see what it is doing to my broccoli plants.

3. If you live in Michigan, please vote for the Thumbs Up! Award by May 30th! (twistedtwistedtwistedtwisted)

4. Little birds have been reporting that the TWISTED paperback version is turning up in stores in one of those cardboard stands. (Those are called dumps, but after my discussion of worm poop, I am not going there.) Have you seen one?

5. When you are in the bookstore, be sure to buy Tanya Lee Stone’s newest wonderful picture book: Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote. It has been named a Book Links Best New Books of 2008, and a Booklist Top Ten Youth Biography, and is sure to garner more awards soon.

Not only is it a wonderful book, but Tanya just made a generous contribution that brought my Beloved Husband’s fund raising efforts to his goal of $2,500!!! ALL HAIL TANYA! (Please give her some love on her blog!)

The fund raising is done! The fund raising is done! Our nice friends chipped in $5000 for cancer research! ::dances around the cave!!

Now all we have to do is run 13.1 miles on June 15th! ::sits down on cave floor::

No, really, our training has been going very well, so it shouldn’t be a problem. We ran 13.3 miles two weeks ago, and had a hilly 10.5 mile run on Sunday. That one aggravated some tendon issues, but everything will heal in time because I said it would.

6. INDEPENDENT DAMES received another awesome blog review. This one is of particular interest to middle school teachers.

7. CHAINS has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild selection!

8. Did I mention how great my broccoli looks?

The coffee is done and my characters are whining for me to hurry up because they have a lot to do today. See ya!

Summer Blog Blast Tour – in which I am interviewed!

There are a lot of terrific bloggers in the kidlit corner of the blogosphere. This week they have coordinated their efforts into the Summer Blog Blast Tour 2008. Little Willow has the entire schedule.

Kelly Fineman was kind enough to ask me to take part. So… warm up your linkety-link finger, because:

Step One – Kelly has posted an extensive review of INDEPENDENT DAMES.

Step Two – Yesterday she gave a preview of all the folks she’s interviewing this week.

Step Three! Today (drum roll, please) you can read her interview with me; in which I ponder writing history and historical fiction for kids, spill the secrets about the writing process of DAMES, and answer the age-old question: “cheese or chocolate?”.

Thank you very much, Kelly and organizers of SBBT!

Where is my list?

Thank you to everyone who came out to the bookstore in Oswego last night! (I also snuck into Oswego High School yesterday, courtesy of English teacher Heidi Sheffield, and surprised several classes of students who have been reading SPEAK. Thanks, Heidi and kids!)

River’s End Bookstore celebrates its 10th anniversary on Sunday. If you’re in the area, stop by for cake and to congratulate them. Few people would have had the vision and determination to open a bookstore in Oswego. It’s a small town, surrounded by beautiful countryside that is rife with poverty and struggles. But Bill and Mindy saw the potential. They took the plunge and changed their community for the better. The bookstore has been a significant part of Oswego’s renaissance and is now the heart of downtown. Huzzah for brave booksellers!

Instead of a Friday Five, I need to write up my Friday & weekend to-do list:

1. Work on revision until eyeballs roll up into skull.
2. Mail the ARCs of CHAINS to the people who donated to Scot’s race (he’s almost to his goal!).
3. Pay bills.
4. Celebrate Daughter #2’s graduation from SUNY Cortland. Yay Jessica!
5. Move wheelbarrows of dirt and mulch until arms give out.
6. Sow carrots and eggplant and squash.
7. Remind readers that PROM will be the featured title on Readergirlz next month and that will be a blast.
8. Attend to various publicity things for CHAINS release in October.
9. Run.
10. More revision work…. the next deadline looms!

What’s on your list?