Shannon Sinanian

FWA Conference–Day 2

2011-10-22T23:25:00.000-04:00

*Woke up at 5:00am. Again. 6:47am: Double checked for wallet before leaving the house. 7:10am: Arrived at the conference and had more eggs. Yum. 8:30am - 4:00pm: Attended break-out sessions, took tons of notes and learned a lot. 4:23pm: Was asked by the President of FWA if I would be interested working at the conference next year, helping with agent interviews. 4:24pm: Like any

On being prepared

2011-10-21T20:23:00.001-04:00

I decided to buy a drink for one of the agents I had spoken with earlier in the day, only to find out I had left my wallet at home. She graciously paid (because we had already ordered) and then offered me a seat at the faculty table during dinner. I am an idiot. A very lucky idiot. Sent from my iPhone

How to promote your blog

2011-10-21T09:40:00.000-04:00

Here is a great link with tips on how to promote your blog: http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=42377&ctx=go I've pasted the text below: Promoting Your Blog This is in no way a science or guarantee; it's simply a few suggestions with which many bloggers have found success. Set your blog to Send Pings. When this setting is activated, your blog will be

Live Blogging from the FWA Conference

2011-10-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

The Florida's Writers Association Conference is in full-swing and the excitement is contagious!I will live blog throughout the conference to allow my hoards of fans to follow my progress. Networking and negotiating moves fast! Refresh often! *Woke up at 5:20am 7:03am: Arrived at the hotel and received my name tag and goody bag. 7:08am: Found a seat next to a Senior Exhibitor and Publisher at

2011 Florida Writers Conference – Part 1

2011-10-20T14:24:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow I am attending my first writers conference, namely the FWA Annual Conference. It is held in my home town, literally minutes from my house which means I don’t get to stay in a nice hotel and have people make my bed for me every day have to incur the costs of lodging or pack, well, anything at all! The lack of packing has thrown me WAY off my game. I’ve not made lists of items to pack

Unimaginable Idiocy

2011-10-12T15:34:00.000-04:00

When I was 15 years old, my boyfriend lavished me with gifts for Christmas. I got perfume by Guess, CDs by Erasure and Wilson Phillips, and my first pair of Dr. Martens. Lastly was a fragrance set from Victoria’s Secret, nestled in adorable container that resembled a mini hat box. I loved that little box – almost as much as much as I loved my own. I was prudish and virginal, but my

Book review: Be Mine

2011-10-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

Be Mine by Laura Kasischke Harvest, Orlando 2007 Be Moved Be Mine by Laura Kasischke is a story about Sherry Seymour: a middle-aged English professor, a wife of twenty years and a mother-turned-empty nester. Sherry is content in her average, middle-aged life. But this is not an average, middle-age story. On Valentine’s Day, Sherry finds a note in her inbox scrawled with the words,

So “F-ing” cute

2011-10-06T11:33:00.001-04:00

In his preschool class, Max is working his way through the alphabet, one letter each week. We have such fun finding words each week, ya know words like “eradicate” and “elusive.” Max’s favorite was “epithelial.” I think I see a future in the medical field! Especially after he stuck out his tongue and showed me his Ebner glands and drew a picture of the Ebola virus! “Mommy! Look!

Six

2011-10-05T10:19:00.001-04:00

Dear Sam, Happy birthday, Bananas! What a whirlwind year five was, and here we are celebrating your 6th birthday. Looking back over the last year I think of all the things you did and the things that happened to you and I’m glad to have a new year, a fresh start. You started your fifth year with a selfless deed – you donated all your birthday gifts to a local ministry to help kids in need.

Time management and priorities

2011-09-30T00:20:00.001-04:00

I finally decided after five weeks (FIVE WEEKS) that it was time to go see the doctor about my sinuses. This whole kids-in-school thing has thrown me off my game because I usually only wait a good month before remembering to take care of myself. What? I thought my nose was stuffy for 35 days because getting up at 6am is not humane, at least not for this girl. I swear, were it not for Pledge

First Day of Kindergarten

2011-09-25T19:49:00.001-04:00

My baby got out of the car today and walked away from me. I sat behind the wheel and watched his diapered bottom toddle down the breezeway, watched as he stumbled and caught himself with palms flat on the sidewalk. Tears filled my eyes as he straightened himself, as much as he could with the wide stance and sway-back swagger of a toddler. I was in disbelief the elementary school allowed my

Lady Gaga - Wake up!

2011-04-06T16:14:00.000-04:00

My two little boys love to tell jokes. Most of them go something like this: "Hey Mom! Why did the chicken cross the road?" "I don't know, why?" "Because he's a party coconut-head!" Knee-slapping, belly laughter ensues and then my two-year old repeats the same joke verbatim. I crack up right along with them, and when I'm feeling especially charitable I will throw in a knee slap of my own.

The Lovely Bones: A review

2011-04-01T11:00:00.000-04:00

A haunting tale of a young girl who was brutally raped and murdered by her neighbor, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold chilled me to mine. The story hooked me immediately when Susie Salmon, the main character, states, "I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Susie took a shortcut while walking home from school when she was lured into an underground hideaway kept by her neighbor.

Barry

2011-03-31T13:05:00.001-04:00

I am really looking forward to seeing Jennifer tonight. Working with her for the past two years has been torture. Seeing her sit at her desk with those tight sweaters hugging her tits would give me a stiffy when I’d walk by with the mail cart. She always had a boyfriend – some prick sending her flowers or calling her on the phone. I’d overhear Jennifer tell her fat friend in the next cube about

Book review: I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood

2011-03-29T19:49:00.000-04:00

The title of this book caught my eye as I was wandering slowly and kid-less through Target. I picked it up and read the first paragraph and cried. I'd had *that* day as a stay-at-home mom and even a few sentences of understanding were enough to reduce me to tears. Well, that and I was 6 months pregnant. I loved this book for the refreshing honesty the writers used. As a former career

How to be your own boss

2011-03-28T21:12:00.000-04:00

I once had a career. I was in software quality assurance, which is to say that I found bugs in software. I was paid to be an anal-retentive nitpick. I wrote reports on the work software developers labored over and detailed step-by-step how to recreate the problem they created when writing their code. An editor, of sorts. I am a likable person, but my job was not a likable position, for when one

Herb gardens and lizard eggs

2010-06-28T22:46:00.000-04:00

The following is in response to my Bestie's drunk emailing; I am giving her the run-down of my day.I'm so glad. I have to tell you of the grossest day I've ever had. Ever.I decided that with my 4 child-free hours, I was going to plant an herb garden. I bought a few potted herbs and went to town in the back patio. I had Bob Marley serenading me and my bikini top on and I was happy. I planted

Your first year

2009-06-04T11:27:00.000-04:00

Dear Maxwell,I sit here with my fingers poised over the keys, waiting. Waiting for the right words to come to express the way that I'm feeling. The best way to describe the overwhelming gratitude I feel for being blessed with you and the sadness that plagues me because you're no longer an infant and it went by so fast. You're growing up in a blur! Despite my best effort to slow time and burn your

Maxwell Joseph

2008-08-22T21:53:00.001-04:00

Maxwell Joseph was born on June 6, 2008 at 11:29 a.m. He weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 21 inches long. He is a happy and healthy baby. More pictures and the story of his birth to come. I haven't had time to breathe much less blog!

The last month

2008-05-06T19:42:00.000-04:00

Thirty days reads the Countdown-to-baby Clock. I had a regularly scheduled appointment with my OB today for which I was tested for Group B strep. I also scheduled the remainder of my appointments until the conclusion of my pregnancy, which signals to me that the end is near. The baby is head down, my weight is within reasonable margins, my blood pressure is stable - all systems are GO! Other

The road to labor is paved with false contractions

2008-04-29T16:16:00.000-04:00

Last night I was kept awake from annoying and ineffective contractions. I lost count after 19 of them, having gotten up to pee four times. The contractions seemed to keep Max up as well. He is such an active little guy. It makes me wonder what I have in store when he is born. Here is a small clip of my abdominal morphing from the Bebe in me bele.

Why at the Y

2008-04-28T22:34:00.000-04:00

Last week I had to get in the pool during swim lessons for Sam. Essentially, the instructor shows me how to do what she does so that I don't swim with Sam and un-do what he has learned. I plopped my pregnant self in the pool and we had a great lesson. At the end, I lifted Sam up out of the pool and was about to attempt climbing out of the side myself when I realized that I am 8 1/2 months

Service check

2008-04-23T19:10:00.000-04:00

I had an ultrasound yesterday to have my "fluids checked." At the end of my pregnancy with Sam, my amniotic fluid ran a bit low so the doctor wanted to check things out. I guess I was due for a service anyway, and I'm very thankful that I didn't need a radiator flush. Come to think of it, I don't think they even do that before giving birth these days. The docs let the whole fam damily in to

Motherhood: A healthy dose of guilt sprinkled with some insecurity

2008-04-15T16:32:00.000-04:00

There are days, more often than not recently, that I feel like I’m falling apart as a mother. I look around and realize that I’m not living up to the insane expectations I set for myself when I became pregnant with Sam. Now that I’m pregnant with Max, I have a whole new set of expectation that go along with that and I’m sinking while trying to stay afloat in the sea of motherhood. I have 7

Sneak preview

2008-03-28T16:48:00.000-04:00

We saw Maxwell today in 3D. Does that make him an I-Max? (rimshot!) For the first part of the ultrasound, he had his arms crossed over his face and his legs up in front of his arms. After some deft maneuvering and LOTS of prodding by the ultrasound tech, he moved and gave us a small glimpse of his adorable face. I absolutely can't wait to meet this little man. Makes 10 weeks seem like an