Theresa's Tales of Teaching Tribulations and Typing Teen Texts

Perspective on Aspects

2012-01-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

"You can't sit around and wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

- Jack London

I officially began the Write On to Build on Group on 01/10/12.

I wrote a POST about it on my blog.

I began my night class on 01/23/12.

It’s 22 days since we formed our group. I thought I’d give my progress.

I owe $1 to our chosen charity Build On

I’ve written 11,354 new words in my WIP and short story. 9,000 of these words are from my newly completed short story! YaY!

I edited 4 chapters of my WIP.

I’ve edited the rough draft of my short story twice.

So, yeah, I’m writing.

I’ve also been working on my writing “career”:

I’ve gutted and rebuilt my query for Naked Eye. (Thanks, Judy and Samantha! )

I’ve registered for NE-SCBWI conference in May.

I’ve entered The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest (ABNA).

I’m busy with family, school, and writing. But I will no longer let it be an excuse. Writing is one of my jobs. I’m a writer. It’s who I am. When I let it languish, a part of me languishes.

This is my new schedule:

In the mornings, I may check Facebook or blog or answer e-mail, but sometimes I write a little to. When I take my lunch, I write or edit for nearly the entire 30 minutes. If I’ve been productive with my writing for both morning and lunch, I focus on schoolwork or lighter stuff later in the day. If I haven’t, I try to write more in the late afternoon of evening.

For one day on each weekend, I must devote at least a couple of hours to writing. This will be my first weekend with homework, so this will become a challenge. But it’s in the schedule. I’m flexible about when it happens during the weekend, but it must happen.

Now that I have a brand spankin’ new query, I’d better start submitting Naked Eye again.

It just feels good to be doing something.

I’m not Super Woman (though I used to be Substitute Teacher Woman, which is a whole other post), so I’ve had to let a few things slide.

Facebook gets less attention (except for my writing groups).

Blogging time has been diminished.

I’m sleeping more; most nights I’m in by 9:30 or 10:00. Even 9:00 pm. Sometimes I lay down for fifteen minutes when I get home from work, time permitting.

My pathetic exercise routine of sit ups, pushups and leg exercises is now being enhanced with a stationary bicycle 2 days a week and yoga 1 day a week.

I’ve upped my intake of fruits and vegetables. I’ve shrunk my portions. (My wine consumption, however, remains steady.)

Whether I can keep these changes in the long term, I don’t know. I’m tired. I get cranky. I never feel like I have enough time with my kids (more because of their afterschool activities than all my stuff.) I need to make sure I take care of every part of me—

my:

career (work and school)

body (exercise and rest)

family (heart)

writing (soul)

I can make excuses that my career means I don’t have time for other important aspects of my life. Usually what happens is body and soul are cast aside. Those are big parts of me. In the past 15 months, I’ve gained 10 pounds. If I’ve made that big of a difference in my physical appearance, what does my soul resemble after not writing?

"Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise the muscles seize up."

- Jane Yolen, Merlin

What aspects of you do you let fall by the wayside?

Or how do you make sure to cultivate all aspects of you?

Droughts and Deluges

2012-01-17T13:37:00.000-08:00

“Was a long and dark December

From the rooftops I remember

There was snow

White snow”

- “Violet Hill” by Coldplay

Dianne K. Salerni of “In High Spirits” wrote a post entitled, Resolutions and Revelations

The post was a revelation for me. She wrote:

Last year, I joined a number of writers in Resolution 2011 – Write Every Day or Pay. For every day I didn’t write in the year of 2011, I would donate $1 to the charity of my choice.

When I first wrote seriously, I wrote more than I do now. Part of it was because my rough drafts were a BIG mess, so they took me forever-and-a-half to edit them. As time went on, there were a few droughts, but I always found water again. In October 2010, I began working full time AND taking a night class. Then I had a huge drought. I feared the drought would never leave. Would I be like the Anasazi—the author me would disappear forever?

But in 2011 from February to March, I found my groove. I finished in April. I edited. I submitted. At the end of the summer, I began something new. I also began working full time again. Another drought. More doubt. I wrote a trickle in November. I wrote a little stream near the end of December. Work would begin in days. My grad class would begin in a few weeks. Would I ever finish this draft?

Then I read Dianne’s post and decided I had to do something DRASTIC. I belong to a group called “Writers Support 4 U”. I wrote:

Anyone interested in having a writing challenge with me? For any day we don't write, we'll owe $1 to a charity. We see how we do after 3 months and make the total donation at that time. If it's motivated us, we can continue.

A few other writers were up to the challenge. Lydia Kang found the education and literacy

Build On

Ann joined too.

Robyn Campbell joined as well.

Susan Oloier is also part of the group.

Crystal Collier signed up too!

Our group is called “Write On to Build On”.

This is our mission:

This group was founded on 01/10/2012 to motivate us to write. Any day we don't write, we'll owe $1 to the charity Build On. We can check our totals every three months to see how we've done and make our donation. Besides posting here, we should keep a personal account of the days we don't write. Writing a rough draft or editing counts, as does working on short stories, vignettes, and flash fiction. Let's post and make a comment thread of our daily progress at the end of each day.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

I learned a lot about myself last year. When I present myself with a challenge, I MUST DO IT. When I decided to read 100 books last year, I read more than 100 books. Since I started the group, I’ve been writing up a snowstorm. Only 1 writing-free day. And now those 1-day dry spells will go to a good cause. I have a feeling I won’t have any more droughts.

I’ve become so prolific, when Old Kitty let me know about a Flash Fiction submissions being accepted for an upcoming eBook anthology to raise $ for victims of sexual assault/abuse (One in Four ), I was up for the challenge.

The flash fiction piece needed to be inspired by a song. I chose “Violet Hill” by Coldplay.

More about Caroline Smailes’s challenge is HERE

The authors who will be included in the anthology are HERE

Please visit Old Kitty and wish her hearty congratulations HERE

May your days be filled with a flurry of words!

Nicki Elson and Celery Tree

2012-01-13T02:22:00.001-08:00

Nicki Elson is taking over my blog today.

That’s less scary than it sounds. Probably.

Celery Tree is now open! If you've been blog hopping recently, chances are you've already heard this news, but you may be asking---why Celery Tree? We've got Amazon, Goodreads, etc., etc.

Well, the cool thing about Celery Tree is that it's a more intimate alternative that showcases independent authors who often get lost in the fray at the mammoth-sized sites. In other words, Celery Tree aims to be the internet's answer to a small, cozy bookstore.

In the spirit of community, all the site's authors have agreed to purchase at least six titles from the Celery Tree collection throughout the year. As you know from the supportive blogging community, it's something a lot of us are doing anyhow, and ensures that Celery Tree will be an encouraging, friendly e-neighborhood---a welcoming place to hang out, which is exactly why I decided to join.

From the Celery Tree Blog :

The book world needs a vehicle to help overlooked but talented authors get discovered. The real judge of a book's worth should be made by the readers, not by the marketing dollars behind it. But how can readers find those books that don't have the big bucks behind them?

That's where celerytree.com comes in. It's like a cozy neighborhood bookstore where you can feel comfortable browsing for hours and discover some hidden gems of your own.

Authors helping authors, in an environment of books, blogs and reader reviews--similar to Goodreads but without the annoying side ads. The only ads on Celery Tree will consist of our members' book covers posted in strategic locations.

Hope to see you there! And when you're in the area, please come visit me at my: Hope to see you there! And when you're in the area, please come visit me at my

Celery Tree Author Page cel

erytree.com/component/mtree/authors/nickielson

Something of Importance

2012-01-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

My school

Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.

~Aristotle

Those of you ~~bored by~~ following my “career” know all my valiant attempts have not led to a full time teaching position. Last summer, after having no interviews for any jobs I applied for, I started looking for full time instructional aide position.

The upside: stability

The downside: low pay

I received interview requests. When I went to these interviews I found out that I was competing with other teachers. Several years ago, people without college degrees were aides. Today they are certified teachers with Master’s Degrees.

Stupid economy.

By the end of August, I had two job offers—one for an extended term sub for a special education teacher on maternity leave and the other for a professional aide job. I took the latter.

It was hard to be back in a position without control of my own classroom. But the last few years have been all about hard.

I’m lucky. A wonderful teacher runs the classroom I work in. She treats me like a teacher instead of sending me to make photocopies all day. Based on her lead, the students accept me as an authority as well. I’m the only aide in my grade with my name next to the teacher’s on the door.

If I don’t find a job next year, I’ll be doing this again (as long as there’s $ for me in this district. Let’s hope there is). I could be placed in any classroom, with any teacher. Knowing this makes me appreciate my current situation even more.

My official ‘boss’ is the special education teacher. She has me busy. Because one student in the class has behavior/socialization issues, I follow the students to all specialists (music, art, language) and lunch/recess. The other class periods, I help the inclusion students who need academic support. I wear many hats. Sometimes I rotate around the room, helping anyone who needs it. Other times I work with a group of low performers. There are times I help just one or two students. Because I need to watch the student at recess, it means I squeeze in lunch alone during an academic period. This makes me feel guilty because there are kids who need help, but I’m not there. And sometimes I have to wait for the verdict while special ed. and general ed. figure out what I’ll be doing next.

When I decided to return to school to get a Master’s in Special Education, I did so with reluctance. I wanted to be a Social Studies teacher. What if getting this degree meant I wound up as a different kind of teacher?

But now that I’m helping children on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) I realize I’m good at this. Instinctually, I get how to reach them during reading group. Even better, I struggled in math, so when I teach them, I have strategies that WORK. I can REACH THEM.

One example was teaching long division. If the students had to divide 42 into 225, they didn’t know whether to put the 42 into 2, 25, or 225. How could I make it obvious to them? I said, “If I’m a size 42, can I squeeze into a little size 2 pair of pants?” They shook their heads. “If I’m a size 42, can I squeeze into a size 22 pair of pants?” They shook their heads again. “If I’m a size 42, can I fit into a roomy pair of 225 pants?” They agreed.

Just so you know, I do this complete with body movements.

From that moment on, they used the pants trick to figure out the answer.

Another example is when I read The Witches by Roald Dahl with struggling readers. Two students read with no inflection, made every sentence run into the next without pause and spoke so quietly I could barely hear them. When we got to the part with the Grand High Witch, I hammed up that Eastern European accent. When it was the students’ turn to read, I insisted on them exaggerating the voice loudly. Those two students’ fluencies and volume have improved ever since.

My favorite example is a student who always wears a vacant expression during math. If she’s in my group, I catch her staring into space. After a few absences, they had me work one on one with her to catch her up on fractions. That special attention transformed her. A few days later when she joined my group, she was engaged, the first to raise her hand, and KNEW WHAT SHE WAS DOING.

She beamed. I beamed.

I revel in those moments. Their successes are my successes. Even if they forget half of it the next day (because they have problems with memory retention) I reached them in the moment. They felt proud when it made sense. And I’m proud of them.

I’m not making a lot of money (sorry, husband). But I am doing something important.

Reflections and Dreams

2011-12-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

- Langston Hughes

I’m in a good place. Having several days with no family obligations, school, work, and afterschool activities has given me time to relax and write. When I do a big bout of writing after barely writing, it’s like I’ve finally inhaled a big gulp of air after holding my breath too long. How did I live?

I’m a good frame of mind to reflect on the year. Instead of dwelling on the near misses, rejections, disappointments, and pity parties, I want focus on:

What was Good – 11 from 2011:

1. My children, my husband, and many other members of my family whom I’m close to are in good health.

2. When my husband and children have successes, they lift me the same as my own success.

3. I’m older and doughier, but I’m younger today than I will be in the future.

4. I like my new job as a professional aide, and although it’s not exactly what I want, it’s become more rewarding than I could’ve imagined. (I’ll write a post about it soon.)

5. Graduate school, which is expensive and a big commitment, but has been a better experience than I thought it would be. I received a 4.0 in my first class and I’m already a better teacher as a result.

6. I completed a manuscript, polished it up, and began querying. I sent out 4 more queries this week. I keep trying no matter the odds.

7. I’ve written 4 chapters of my WIP. I’m inspired to write regularly again so those next chapters will go faster.

8. I’ve had 3 short stories accepted this year. 2 are in published - 1 is coming out in 2012.

9. I read 128 books in 2011, exceeding my goal for the 100 Book Challenge 100 Book Challenge. Here’s my LIST

10. Many of my writing friends have had successes this year. Whether it’s an accepted short story or agent snag or book contract or contest win, they are all part of our journey. Just typing “the end” or sending a query is a step forward.

11. My friends, especially the writer ones, who keep me going and inspire me. Thank you.

I wish you a happy and healthy 2012. Thank you for being a part of my life, no matter what form it takes. While I don’t make resolutions, I do have dreams. May your dreams come true.

What was good for you in 2011?

What are your dreams for 2012?

Honorable Mention II

2011-12-15T05:13:00.000-08:00

Going through the archives was scary business. Back in 2009, I mostly wrote about subbing. *shudder*

I originally posted this on 12/01/09. It had 6 comments. (It’s actually a comment thread between Alesa Warcan and me a year later.) Poor me, writing those early posts with no readers. I’m reposting this piece (with a smaller word count) because I wrote it from the heart.

The mother-women seemed to prevail that summer at Grand Isle. It was easy to know them, fluttering about with extended, protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their precious brood. They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels."

- Kate Chopin, The Awakening 

As a rule, I try not to shove my children down people’s throats. Besides, I pride myself on being woman-mother, instead of a mother-woman. But my children are still a large part of my identity, and there are moments when something they say or do stops me in my tracks. I've compiled a few highlights:

1. My daughter periodically and sincerely tells me that I’m beautiful.

2. My son is a gourmet, so if I make an effort with plating, it never goes unappreciated.

3. When my daughter was a baby, if she was hysterical, my humming would be enough to soothe her.

4. When my son was just out of babyhood, he was struggling to attach two Little People farm fence pieces. Determined, he kept at it, until he exclaimed, “I did it,” which demonstrated his perseverity, dexterity, and first three-word sentence.

5. When my daughter was two, she idolized and tried to keep up with her big brother. He was a in big Star Wars phase at the time, so she’d circle the house with him, toting a play gun and squeaking, “Byoom, byoom, Storm Troopers.”

6. My son is a voracious reader, which makes it hard to believe that he ever went through a long and painful period of insecurity about learning to read. When he’s excited about something he's learned, he has to tell everyone about it in vivid detail. I'm not the only one to call him a walking encyclopedia.

7. Until my daughter turned five, any time I checked on her while she was sleeping, she would instinctively turn towards me, and try to burrow into me without waking up.

8. My son has a strong sense of fairness, is kind to his friends, and avoids troublemakers. Because of his “calming influence”, he won Class Peacemaker at the end of fourth-grade.

9. My daughter dives into everything with enthusiasm. She has passion for anything that she does. An aura seems to radiate from her, and her eyes sparkle when she's excited.

10. One evening, my son to watched my daughter for a couple of hours. When I returned, he had cleaned the dinner table (okay, coffee table, where they ate dinner and watched television - I'm a bad mother), washed the dishes, and was in the midst of microwaving apples that he and his sister had cored and spiced. Even though they sometimes fight, she adores him, and anytime he’s in charge of her, he takes the responsibility very seriously.

I love My son is stubborn and bossy (like me), but can be so thoughtful that my heart swells. My daughter is easy-going (except when she’s not), and possesses an intuition to gauge people’s moods, and responds accordingly. My son screams like a banshee when he’s angry, and my daughter has a gift of throwing herself on the ground when she’s furious. Sometimes I’m enraged when they behave this way, and work on teaching them self-control, but other times, I have to smother a smile.

Before I had children, I was sure that differences in gender were nurture, rather than nature. Then my son turned one, and everything that had wheels and could move, became sources of fascination: police, fire trucks, construction vehicles, guns, Star Wars, army, and World War II. When he turned two, I bought him a doll and carriage, which he had zero interest in. When my baby daughter had only begun sitting, she’d gravitate towards baby dolls and pretend to be their mother. As soon as she turned two, her favorite color became pink, which lasted five years. Although she’d play war with her brother, she used her pastel dolls and animals alongside his army guys. In other words, they've learned to compromise in unique ways.

I learn something from my own children every day. Raising them is a privilege. And having the luxury of time to do so is an honor.

For other blogfest entries starting 12/16, click HERE!

Open Letter to Cambridge, MA

2011-12-08T04:40:00.000-08:00

Mural in Central Square.

Dear Cambridge,

My husband and I have enjoyed living in your city for 10 years. My son took a little while (8 years) to come around, but he now likes it, too. My daughter was born here, so this is home to her.

We want to thank you for your efforts to keep us here when we thought we couldn’t afford it. The last few years, we’ve been looking for a bigger place. We thought a multi-family dwelling was the solution, but it turns out to have snags we hadn’t realized.

Last summer, we toyed with moving in or near Salem. We decided to give in one more year. To squeeze in a 2 bedroom condo with a porch, but no property. (Why are there nearly no 3-bedroom places in Cambridge? WHY?)

Our needs have been modest: 300-400 more square feet, 3 bedrooms, 1 ½ baths, a little property, and a driveway.

An extra bedroom? A full bath instead of a half? Garage? All of that would be beyond our wildest dreams in Cambridge.

Two weeks ago, we saw a house in our price range. On a main road and not beautiful from the outside, but still… Hopeful, we entered its halls to discover an inside dated from the middle of the last century. After we climbed the stairs, we were woeful when we eyed the ancient stove in the dining room. Set diagonally. The crumbling walls and ceilings all needed replacing. Our heart disintegrated like the plumbing within the walls.

We decided to look in Arlington, MA (one town over) the next day.

There were actually HOUSES in our price range. Not just 1, but also several. And these houses were by big parks and preserves. Some had 4 bedrooms. Some had big yards. Some were updated. Some were near town and transportation. 1 was in a ritzy part of town near golf courses.

It’s not Cambridge.

But we can see us making a life there.

With your big changes in the school system, this might be the right time to go.

We want to thank you for all that you stand for and all you try to do. Your museums are wonderful. Harvard and MIT are involved in our schools. School choice and good funding means stronger schools than in a typical city (though poverty poses many challenges, especially in the classroom). You have a liberal recycling program. I like that when I bring my compost to the recycling center, I can also swap books. You have good public transportation. (And you’re next door to Boston!) I can keep my kids entertained all summer between the libraries and summer park programs. Best of all, you don’t just accept different cultures, families, and religions, but embrace them. Sometimes you fall short of what you’re trying to achieve, but you try.

Famous authors and scientists walk around this town, along with people whose families have lived here for generations, along with immigrant families and students from all over the world.

While Arlington will offer some of this, it won’t offer all of it. But it will probably offer things I can’t imagine, and I will sing their praises once I know them.

Moving a few miles away won’t change who we are. We lived in Cambridge, which shared many of our values. But it doesn’t mean Arlington won’t. When I look at city data, it’s not all that different. Why does it feel a world away?

We’ll be here all the time, anyway. My kids will still keep their after school lessons and friends. My college is here. My husband still works here.

Besides, the coveted parking permit is still good for another year.

Sincerely,

Theresa Milstein xo

Our Cambridge place (for now).

Barnes Blogs about Blogs

2011-12-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

Look familiar?

Laura Barnes has critiqued my blog.

Please VISIT!

If you don’t care about what’s good and bad about my blog, that’s fine. But I recommend going over so you can ask her and Joe LaRue to do the same for your blog. She covers overall design and readability, post readability, content on blog, and so on. You’ll be glad you did!

And if you haven’t seen my previous post, please VISIT so you can find out about Heather McCorkle raising $ for charity with her new book!

How was your weekend?

Heather's Generosity

2011-12-02T02:37:00.000-08:00

This is a special cover. Find out why below.

“There was a sensual feel to the way Aiden's eyes traveled over her, leaving her tingling without even a touch.”

― Heather McCorkle, The Secret Of Spruce Knoll

1. Heather McCorkle has a debut novel

2. The book sounds amazing. Read about it HERE.

3. She’s gotten her publisher to agree to use sales of her books to raise $ for CHARITY!

A special edition of Heather McCorkle’s The Secret Of Spruce Knoll is releasing from Compass Press this month and she’s doing a special tour to go along with it. The special part, a percentage of the proceeds from every special edition sold (in every format) between its release date and 12-12-2012, will go toward Heather’s favorite charity that protects endangered species. Her goal is to make at least $10,000 for the charity.

Of course there are prizes during the tour, which is from December 1^st through the 17^th. Prizes include a symbolic endangered species adoption of the winner’s choice (a $50 donation by Heather to the charity for the endangered species of the winner’s choice, and cute stuffed animal for the winner!), signed copies of her novels and great swag. For full details, and to enter, go HERE .

For the tour Heather has asked each blog host to pick their favorite endangered species and she will tell us a fun or interesting fact about that animal. My daughter chose the panda.

Heather: While a Giant Panda’s diet consists mostly of bamboo, they are actually classified as a carnivore. That isn’t the only thing that separates them from other bears though. Panda’s have thumbs! Sadly, there are only 1600 left in the wild.

Buy links for the eBooks:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Paperback copies of the special edition coming soon!

Please consider buying and/or

giving this book as a gift.

Let Heather's generosity be your generosity.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-21T14:35:00.000-08:00

My son wants to succeed on his own.

I ask questions:

Is your homework done?

Do you need me to look it over?

Do you have any questions?

Did you call your partner about completing that social studies project?

I receive responses:

Yes.

No.

We can’t do it now because we didn’t bring home the instructions and the textbook, but I’ll talk to him tomorrow.

Seventh-grade. 13-years-old. 4 classes. 4 teachers. Transition.

He wants to attend Harvard. He plans to volunteer because it’s not just about grades, but also being well rounded.

Should I hover, interfere? When I push, he pulls. I was a seventh-grade teacher, so I know how to help. But I need to let him make his mistakes, right? I fret.

He comes home, telling me about students who don’t care, don’t work well in groups, bringing his grade down, while he takes over parts that aren’t his or gives up.

What do I do now?

Math test. Mediocre grade. My husband helps him understand the material.

I ask about that social studies project. Is his response a real answer or an excuse?

New rules: No video games or You Tube until homework is done. Don’t save your work until nighttime. Make sure you write your assignments down.

I spy a Halloween worksheet. Not done. A week after Halloween.

Am I nagging or helping?

Progress report. I unfold the paper with trepidation.

His grades are lower than last year’s.

I’ve failed.

Do I yell? Say how disappointed I am? Have the teachers e-mail me weekly with updates? Make him show me his agenda? Demand he go over each and every assignment with me?

I thought we were past this type of intervention after fifth-grade.

Before I say anything, he says, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I’m so disappointed in myself. I’m going to do better.”

He means it. I can’t say anything to make him feel any worse than he does.

My son, my husband, and me - we talk strategies, priorities.

We buy another agenda. A blank slate.

The three of us head to parent-teacher conferences. I brace for what I’ll hear. I’ve prepared what I’ll say. He’s better than this. I’m better than this. How did we all let this happen?

Teachers offer suggestions. They’re upbeat about him as a student. They remind me that other seventh-graders are struggling with the transition too. This is a progress report – not a final grade.

I know all this. It’s easier for me assure my students’ parents. It’s harder to be a parent and let your child flail.

These teachers say something else…

My son greets them each time he comes into the room. He asks about their weekends. He says goodbye at the end of the class and at the end of the day. Sometimes he thanks them at the end of a lesson.

One teacher said, “I don’t know if I should say this, but I look forward to speaking with him. He makes my day.”

My son reddened to the tip of his ears.

I went to the parent-teacher conference thinking I was going to hear certain things about my son. I left proud of him, but not for the reasons I expected.

Rockin' Robyn

2011-11-17T04:44:00.000-08:00

Robyn, always cheering me on!

Robyn Campbell has interviewed ME!

She is the last stop on my Blog Tour .

Please visit.

Thank you Robyn and everyone else who hosted me on my Fangtales short story blog tour.

I hope everyone in the US has a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I hope those of you in the throes of NaNo are surviving.

Love, Theresa xo

Interview with Kimberley Griffiths Little

2011-11-14T02:35:00.001-08:00

I’ve posted about Kimberley Griffiths Little and The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets before, but now I have her in (virtual) person. Read and be inspired:

What made you pick the bayou for the location of two of your books? Did you previously live there?

Answer: I live there in my dreams! :-) Our family drove through Louisiana about 13 years ago and I fell in love. Hard. We went out with a Cajun fisherman and pulled up his crawfish traps and explored the swamps and bayous and fed chicken to the alligators. Now I'm *officially* adopted by several Louisiana families.

If you didn’t ever live on the bayou, how did you research the location?

Answer: I return to Louisiana often and stay with friends or we rent cabins on the bayous, go canoeing, dancing, etc. I read everything I could get my hands on, did University Special Collections research in Lafayette, speak French with the older people, visit every museum, small town and graveyard, and chat up everybody I meet.

Both books have healers/traiteurs. How did you research for those characters?

Answer: I've met 7 different traiteurs and talked with dozens more people who are related to one, or been healed by a traiteur. I first read a tiny snippet about traiteurs in a book about the history of the Cajun people by a State University professor which greatly intrigued me and the hunt was on to find out more about them. I love unusual places and people and history and Louisiana has that in spades. (I also found out through genealogy research that my husband's family originally came from France into Quebec about the same time (1650s) as the Cajun people who went to Nova Scotia. And that our original surname is actually Monpetit - NOT Little! It was changed after the Civil War when the family left Quebec and came into St Paul Minnesota. I tease my hubby with, "I could have been Kimberley Monpetit!" Maybe I'll use it if I ever need a pen name in the future!

Both novels have fractured mother-daughter relationships (which I can relate to). Did you borrow from real life to make the dynamics between the characters authentic?

I have two sisters and some of the dynamics are probably sub-consciously taken from our relationships when we were growing up, although we're very close now. I tried to make it feel real and authentic as far as emotions and family dynamics. I also have three brothers so we had a wild and crazy household. As far as mother/daughter relationships, I think I drew on those same emotions as I was growing up and the sort of love/hate relationship girls and moms often have as our relationships grow and change over the years. At its very basics though: No girl wants her mother reading her diary!

How many books have you published?

Answer: The Healing Spell and Circle of Secrets are my 4th and 5th novels, but my first books published by Scholastic - and my first books after an 8 year *famine* when I published three novels with Avon and Knopf. I changed agents, kept writing despite all those years of no sales and rejection letters, but I strived to become a better writer and it's paying off. Guess I'm a slow learner!

What has been the easiest novel to write and why?

Answer: NO book is easy! Most of mine took many years of rewriting. And I have about 10 practice novels that are sitting in my files. After so much writing now, I am getting faster though, and my first drafts are better - but I think I've put in about 10,000 writing hours over the last twenty years!

When did you first begin writing?

Answer: I was a Book Addict as a kid and started writing stories back in elementary school and just never stopped.

When did you begin writing seriously?

Answer: When I took the Institute of Children's Literature Course. I had never met another writer or author in my life, knew nobody in publishing, and had no idea the basics of crafting and submitting a story for publication. ICL Courses teach you all those vital skills so it was invaluable and some of my first sold magazine pieces came from that course.

How long did it take to obtain an agent?

Answer: Tracey Adams is my second agent and took nearly three years of querying, although that time frame is a little deceiving. I spent months and months researching agents and making sure I queried the ones who would be the very best match for me. I'd heard fantastic things about Tracey Adams from other writer friends, but at the time she was closed to queries so I had to wait to meet her at a conference. I followed her to SCBWI LA! She was so inundated with submissions it was many months later (and after sending her two full manuscripts) that we finally signed each other up! Six weeks later we had a 3-book deal with Scholastic. But I did query about 50 other agents!

Any advice you can give to us writers?

READ tons of books to figure out what kind you want to write. WRITE thousands of pages. GET a critique group for professional feedback. RESEARCH agents and publishing houses and editors. SUBMIT, submit, submit, until you hit pay dirt! But a word of caution: Don't submit too early! Make sure it sparkles! But do jump into the online writing world because it's fantastic and fun and you will make life-long friends.

Quick writing questions:

Plotter or panster? Combination Plotter/Panster

Quiet or music? Mostly quiet, but I do love music sometimes, too, for inspiration.

Laptop or desktop? Laptop with attached ergonomic keyboard and mouse.

Mac or PC? PC - but I've always wanted to try a Mac because everybody I know raves about their Macs!

Coffee or tea? Dr Pepper all the way!

Wine or other? Go DP - or Crystal Lite lemonade!

Day or night? Day, usually afternoon.

Circle of Secrets Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiTQhFXi0uo

http://youtu.be/xiTQhFXi0uo

Interview Madness

2011-11-06T14:40:00.000-08:00

Deniz, wondering how many followers I'll lose.

Sweet Deniz Bevaz

Has interviewed ME

Where I spill

Many embarrassing details about the Bad TV Shows

I’ve watched.

I also discuss writing

And reveal whether or not I’ve ever been Haunted .

Please VISIT !

P.S. You're not going to believe this, but I just used randomizer to choose a Halloween Haunting winner. It's DENIZ BEVAN! Congratulations, Deniz!

Jessica Bell on Living in Australia

2011-11-03T02:22:00.000-07:00

I know you were born in Australia, and now live in Greece. What was the reason for moving?

Well, my step father is Greek and my parents and I had traveled from Australia to Greece for holiday every two or three years since I was two years old. It really became like a second home to me. Just before I graduated from university, I decided I wanted an adventure and resolved to move to Greece for a year or two to teach English. (I completed the last semester of my degree via correspondence, because I was impatient.) I guess that year or two has now turned into almost ten. Funny that.

How long did you live in Australia?

For the first 20 years of my life.

What was the hardest part about adapting to another culture?

Oh, don’t get me started. Let me just say that the bureaucracy here makes life more complicated than it should be. Let me give you an example. I don’t have any Greek blood, and for me to live here legally and obtain a residency permit, my step father had to adopt me. So that he did. But because I was no longer a dependent when it happened (over 18), I had to prove that I could pay my own way. So I needed to find a job in order to stay. But guess what? I couldn’t get a job without health insurance. And I couldn’t get health insurance without a residency permit. And I couldn’t get a residency permit without a job … erm, so what happened, you ask? I think it involved some sort of bribe … . Only problem now is, I have to renew it every two years for quite an expensive fee. And after ten years, I still can not get used to the fact that the people in the public sector, that deal with immigrants, constantly get their facts wrong and send us running round in never-ending circles. I could go on and on, but I think I’ll stop now before I say something that gets me kicked me out of the country for slander.

What do you like best about living in Greece?

This:

and this:

Do you think you’ll live there for the rest of your life? Why or why not?

I truly don’t know. I’d love to go back home to Melbourne, Australia. I miss my friends and family there a lot. But it’s a long way to go for many reasons I won’t get into here. Greece is suffering a pretty hard recession at the moment. The country announced selective default back in July (bankruptcy). We’re thinking of moving elsewhere in Europe to get back on our feet financially. Who knows what the future entails. I think I just have to go with the flow. Otherwise it stresses me out.

Did you begin writing before or after you moved?

I began writing novels after I moved, but I’ve been writing poetry and lyrics since I was twelve and short stories since university.

How has being an expatriate influenced your writing?

In every single way possible! I don’t think I can answer this without writing a book, but I will say that body language is very interesting to me. It varies so much from culture to culture.

In your writing, where do your settings take place?

String Bridge is set in Athens, Greece and Melbourne, Australia. My second novel, Bitter Like Orange Peel, is set in Melbourne, Australia and Seattle, USA. And my work in progress, Muted, is set in Arles, France. All realistic settings.

Quick writing questions:

Plotter or panster? Both. Depends on my mood.

Quiet or music? Funnily enough, quiet. Being a musician makes it difficult to allow music to linger in the background or set a tone. When I hear music my brain switches into a totally different mode.

Laptop or desktop? Both.

Mac or PC? PC

Coffee or tea? Both. Depends on the time of day.

Wine or other? Wine and Martini Bianco and Campari.

Day or night? Night.

Thank you so much for having me, Theresa! J

Connect with Jessica:

String Bridge: http://www.stringbridge.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jessica_bell

Website: http://www.jessicacbell.com/

Blog: http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/author.jessica.bell

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MsBessieBell

Publisher: http://www.luckypress.com

Available as e-book and paperback:

Buy String Bridge for the UK HERE

Buy String Bridge for the US HERE

Please TWEET and/or FACEBOOK this post using #StringBridge!

Halloween Haunting and Contest!

2011-10-31T02:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

I want to thank all of you who have read and commented on my blog. I especially want to thank the many of you have supported me in little and big ways.

Last year, I hosted a Halloween Haunting .

This is how it works:

From 10/31-11/02, leave a comment:

1) Tell us about your blog.

2) If you’re a writer, what genre(s) do you write?

3) Are you looking for a critique partner(s)?

4) Please advertise the Halloween Haunting. (*See below.)

Then haunt at least 3 other the blogs from the comments section.

*Advertise my HALLOWEEN HAUNTING on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or your blog, and you could win a copy of FANGTALES!

If Book Depository delivers to you, you are eligible to win.

I’ll choose a winner on 11/07.

Happy Haunting!

Setting Influences

2011-10-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

The lovely Len Lambert is hosting me on her BLOG where I talk about hometowns and inspiration for settings.

Please visit LEN as part of my Fangtales tour.

Thanks, LEN!

P.S. I'm sorry I've been posting and commenting less. Papers have been due. I spilled tea on my internal mouse, so using my computer brings new challenges. And so on. I'll try to be a better blogging buddy. xo

Greg's Galaxy Games

2011-10-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

Greg Fishbone has been a fixture at the New England SCBWI conferences since I began attending in 2007. In addition, my daughter giggled when reading his Penguins of Doom book. When I heard he'd gotten the go-ahead for a new series, I cheered him on. And when he asked for people to guest host Greg for his blog tour, I signed up.

I signed up when my blog was still called "Substitute Teacher's Saga". Although I no longer sub (thank goodness) I still recall subbing gym fondly. In fact, I filled in for one P.E. class with 7th-graders last week. It was fun. I swear.

So here's Greg on using his Galaxy Games ideas on unsuspecting students:

Thanks to Theresa for giving me space on Substitute Teacher's Saga to discuss my new sports and science fiction series, Galaxy Games! Substitute teaching is a great way for children's authors to get a close-up view of how kids today act and talk, what interests them, what worries them, and what they like to read. While I was writing Galaxy Games, I actually spent two weeks as a substitute gym teacher and came up with a kid-playable version of Galaxy Games that proved very popular with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.

In my books, the Galaxy Games are played between teams from different planets. For our school games, I set up half of each class as Ossmendians and the other half as Mrendarians, to reenact a famous game that leads up to the events in the series. The Ossmendians are blocks of living stone with metallic legs, whle the Mrendarians are squishy squidlike creatures with slime-coated tentacles. Each team had fun picking a planetary slogan, cheer, and color.

The game board we used was a tic-tac-toe grid made from duct tape on the floor. The goal is to be the first team to earn three squares in a row. Everyone in the galaxy already knows how to play tic-tac-toe, which is why the Galaxy Games Commissioners chose it as the basis for a galaxy-spanning game. Of course, most people have never played a team version, which makes our version new and familiar at the same time.

Our Ossmendians and Mrendarians lined up on either side of the game board. In the books, each team was represented by a captain who makes all strategic decisions and team members who carry them out. Players in our version rotated positions so that everyone got a turn at being a captain. There were some captains who chose to consult with advisors during their turn, but I insisted that a captain's decision was final.

Captains decided which square they were playing for and what contest they would compete in. The fact that teams could flip each other's squares back into play added to the need for strategic thinking. In theory, any game or contest can be incorporated into the Galaxy Games, but regulation sessions of soccer, baseball, football, or basketball would be a bit time consuming. Instead, I offered a menu of possibilities that includes hula-hoops, relay races, beanbag toss, charades, and even
stand-up comedy.

Everyone had fun with the games, especially me. It was fun for me to see at least one aspect of my book brought to life, and I even got an idea or two for future stories in the series.

Greg R. Fishbone, Author - gfishbone.com - Twitter @tem2

The Challengers - Book #1 in the Galaxy Games Series

Follow the Galaxy Games Blog Tour, all October long!

News and Muse

2011-10-20T03:38:00.000-07:00

“Give me a word – give me a sign

Show me where to look – tell me what will I find?

Lay me on the ground and fly me in the sky

Show me where to look – tell me what will I find?

Oh - Heaven, let your light shine down”

- Taylor, Steve; Furler, Peter. Song “Shine” by Collective Soul

I have news about one of my favorite writer friends:

Shannon O'Donnell

She’s a hard-working teacher who squeezes in writing time when she can. She’s queried. She’s received rejections. She’s received requests for partials and fulls. She’s been rejected again. Then she had an almost.

But now she an AGENT! YaY!

Go over and congratulate her HERE .

While you’re there, you can read my musings on submitting short stories for publication. Shannon is a stop on my Fangtales tour.

But Shannon is the actual STAR.

Shine on, Shannon.

Rose Cooper's Balancing Act

2011-10-17T02:40:00.000-07:00

I'm interviewing the ultra-talented Rose Cooper on my blog today:

I’ve heard a few rumors about you. Is it true that you have three children, a full-time job, a publisher, an Etsy business, and a Doodle Diva card line?

If it’s true, I’d like to talk to you about balance.

How do you carve out time to write and illustrate?

It wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for my husband. He takes care of the kids when I’m on a deadline. I usually start working in the early evening once I get home from work. On the weekends my husband and I work in shifts.

Do you work when the kids are awake or asleep?

My husband watches them during the day. But if I have extra work to do or it’s close to the end of my deadline, I’ll continue working into the night after the kids are asleep. Extra stuff I do on the side, like The Doodle Divas or Etsy, I do it while the kids are asleep.

Do you have a routine?

When I sit down to write or draw, I always have to have my cup of coffee (flavored) next to me and music cranked up. I always have to check Facebook first to see what’s going on, then my emails. Oh, and sometimes Twitter. Then I get down to business!

Do you receive support from your family in order to make time to write?

My husband is the absolute best. I don’t know what I’d do without him. My kids love to support me by making the most noise possible during a deadline.

What do you prefer to do, write or illustrate?

My first love is, and always will be, writing. I’ve been writing my entire life. Well, okay, since 6^th grade. I started drawing at a young age too, but stopped after a certain period of time while I continued my writing.

Did you go to school for writing or illustrating?

I went to school for medical assisting and took many accounting classes. If I could do one thing over, it would be that. Those courses were so boring for me and I would spend time writing when I wasn’t studying. That should’ve told me something, I know.

When did you begin writing and illustrating seriously?

Well, with writing I was submitting to publishers when I was 12yrs old. So back then, I thought I was pretty serious about it! It wasn’t until about ten years ago when I really started thinking about it as a career and decided to query agents. I only started back up with the drawing after I got my first book deal.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find it everywhere! In dreams, talking with my kids, people watching, or even random moments when I least expect. For instance, the inspiration for Gossip from the Girls Room hit me when I was at Starbucks doing homework for my business law class. Totally unexpected.

Your first book was Gossip from the Girl’s Room: A Blogtastic Novel, which my daughter LOVED. Your next book is Rumors from the Boy’s Room: A Blogtastic Novel, which came out on 10/11. Do you have other Blogtastic Novels in the works?

The third Blogtastic Novel in the series, Secrets from the Sleeping Bag will be out Summer 2012. I’m working on the revisions for this now, I’m super excited!

Quick writing questions:

Plotter or panster? Panster

Quiet or music? Music. Loud!

Laptop or desktop? Laptop for writing, desktop when doing illus.

Mac or PC? PC, baby.

Coffee or tea? Coffee!

Wine or other? White wine.

Day or night? Definitely night.

Rose is EVERYWHERE:

Gossip from the Girls' Room

Rumors from the Boys' Room

Doodle Divas (She's got Halloween cards for sale now.)

Blogtastic Blog!

Whimsical Artwork

How Do Famous Authors Define Success?

2011-10-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

Me and Jacqueline Davies (of The Lemonade War series)

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children…to leave the world a better place…to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Michael Offutt is hosting me TODAY .

If you don’t read Michael’s BLOG , you might want to fix that and quick. His posts are humorous, informative, and sincere. They’re sometimes longer than your average post, but I hardly notice it.

He took my guest post, which asks “How Do You Define Success?” and made it way cooler with excellent quotes and visuals.

Please VISIT and find out what I learned from Lois Lowry, Kathryn Lasky, Jacqueline Davies, and Bill Thomson about success.

Thanks for being part of my Fangtales blog tour, Michael!

Delving into Divergent

2011-10-10T04:43:00.000-07:00

“Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”

- Divergent by Veronica Roth

Christina Lee at Write-Brained is hosting a 2011 Debut Author Spotlight .

Since I have a short story ("Allured" in Fangtales) bloggers are helping me promote, I should help new authors, right? Besides, I’ve read over 90 books so far this year. I had plenty of books to choose from! I chose:

Divergent by Veronica Roth.

I read 487 pages in less than 48 hours - it was that good.

Here’s the description on Goodreads:

Beatrice "Tris" Prior has reached the fateful age of sixteen, the stage at which teenagers in Veronica Roth's dystopian Chicago must select which of five factions to join for life. Each faction represents a virtue: Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity, and Erudite. To the surprise of herself and her selfless Abnegation family, she chooses Dauntless, the path of courage. Her choice exposes her to the demanding, violent initiation rites of this group, but it also threatens to expose a personal secret that could place in mortal danger. Veronica Roth's young adult Divergent trilogy launches with a captivating adventure about love and loyalty playing out under most extreme circumstances.

Here’s my review:

At first I wasn't sure how I felt about Beatrice. First I thought she was too secretive, then too cold, but she grew on me as she grew as a person.

Beatrice lives in a world of factions. When you turn 16, you join one. If you chose a faction other than the one you're born into, it's scandalous. Beatrice doesn't feel comfortable in the ones she's in where's she's expected to be selfless. Once she decides, her allegiance should be faction over blood.

Then she trains.

In her training, she must figure out who she is, what she fears and how to deal with them, whom to trust, and how to survive. At the same time, she has to wrestle with feelings she has for one of her trainers. If this all weren't enough, when Beatrice realizes there are secrets that may jeopardize those she loves, she must figure out what to do to protect them.

It's got a lot of action, reminding me of second half of The Hunger Games. I thought the characters and scenario were realistic. The less we know of one another, the easier it is to demonize the other. That's an important theme of this book. I couldn't put it down and I can't wait for the next one to come out.

My biggest gripe was the level of violence in training. It didn't seem realistic or everyone would be walking around with rearranged faces and useless bodies. But it made more sense near the end. Sort of.

I like Tris’s strength as well as her realizations of her own flaws. The romance is realistic.

I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

Acceptance, Press, and Winners

2011-10-08T04:47:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, besides my very own shiny copy of Fangtales, this also arrived in the mail from Lesley University:

Dear Theresa,

Congratulations! It is my pleasure to accept you as a new student in the Moderate Disabilities leading to Initial License in grades 5-12 Master's degree program for the Spring 2012 Semester.

YaY!

Now I'd better pass this semester's class...

In Fangtales Tour related news:

Aubrie Dionne has posted press release up about Fangtales today. You'll learn more about the anthology.

PLEASE VISIT!

In contest-related news, I've been remiss in announcing the winners:

Jess - Abandoned (signed!)

Medeia Sharif – Red Glove

Robyn Campbell - Bestest. Ramadan. Ever.

Sharon Mayhew - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (signed!)

Congratulations, winners! Please e-mail me at tmilstein at gmail dot com and tell me your mailing address.

Americans, I wish you a wonderful 3-day weekend.

Non-Americans, I wish you a wonderful 2-day weekend.

Love, Theresa

Tales with Bite and a Tour

2011-10-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

“An anthology of vampire tales specifically with teen readers in mind, this gripping read has both new and established authors who will take readers on a mind-bending adventure of dark horror.”

- Description of Fangtales

I’m going a blog tour.

I know what you’re thinking.

You?

Yes, me.

My short story “Allured” is featured in Fangtales, which just came out from Wyvern Publications.

yay!

I figured, why not? I’m proud of my story. When I see the list of other authors in the anthology, I know I’m in good company.

Fangtales is a book for teens that features scary stories about vampires. Who wouldn’t want to read it?

It’s a short story, so it’s going to be a short tour.

Here are the dates and hosts:

10/06 – Nicole Zoltack! She’s first. Please visit TODAY!

10/08 - Aubrie Dionne!

10/12 – Michael Offutt!

10/20- Shannon O'Donnell!

10/27 – Len Lambert!

10/31 – Theresa Milstein! hosts a Halloween Haunting!

11/06 – Deniz Bevan!

11/17 - Robyn Campbell!

I’ll be doing interviews and do guest posts. I hope you stop by their blogs and comment. Details for each stop on the blog tour (including the Halloween Haunting) is on my sidebar.

“Tales of blood, revenge, and vampires...”

Fangtales is the perfect book for the spooky month of October.

And a good gift for the December holidays.

Lois Lowry and Literature

2011-10-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

Me and Lois Lowry at the SCBWI “Overcoming Challenges” Program,

10/01/11

“Literature can change the lives of children.”

- Lois Lowry

You’re not going to believe it.

Lois Lowry originally had no plans to write for children. The author who is writing her 40th children’s book (she writes about 1 per year) attended Brown University and planned to write, “The Great American Novel”.

After two years, Lowry dropped out of Brown, got married, and had 4 children. She returned to school later and wrote in her spare time. Lowry attended the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference in the early 1970s.

She skipped the children’s book workshop.

Later, Lois wrote a letter to a writer friend, sharing a childhood memory that was triggered by scent. Her friend encouraged her to turn it into a story.

She did. It was published in "Redbook".

(This next part never happens to mere mortals.)

An editor at Houghton Mifflin had read her Redbook story and contacted her, asking her if she could write a children’s book. She decided to try.

A Summer to Die was published in 1977.

It received awards in 1978.

The story was about the death of her sister. She received letters from girls who had lost someone or worried about losing someone. They saw Lois Lowry as a kindred spirit.

By the time her 1^st book was published, she was divorced, living in a one-bedroom apartment. She had to decide whether to continue to write children’s books or pursue that Great American Novel. She had to support herself.

Back then, it became about making a living. Now it’s not just about making a living. She became aware of how books can change children and how these children change her.

Lois Lowry said adults are never transformed by a book the way children are.

Lois Lowry, I have to respectfully disagree. I attended the program just to meet you. I was first on line to get (many) books signed. Because I didn’t to gush and ramble (and there was a line behind me), I didn’t tell you how your book changed me.

When my daughter was 1, and I was working as an assistant in the 7^th-grade, I picked up The Giver, which was required reading for the students. It was my first YA book since I was a teen. In fact, when I was a teen, I hardly read YA, moving from middle grade to adult novels. I wish there had been more books like The Giver. Soon after, I’d discover Harry Potter by reading the books to my child. And after that, I’d meet an author who sparked me to write the books I’d been burning to put on paper. But it was The Giver that had changed my perspective on what children’s literature could be.

The Giver is still one of my favorite all-time books.

Lois Lowry, you can transform adults too.

P.S. By the way, The Giver came out in 1993, many years before dystopian took off. Kathryn Lasky credited you for writing the first dystopian novel. I agree. Of all the dystopian I’ve read, yours is still the best.

10 Reasons I'm Freaking Out

2011-09-22T06:06:00.000-07:00

Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life.

- Lawrence Kasdan

10 Reasons I’m Freaking Out

1. I’m sleepier after a day at work as a paraprofessional than I thought I’d be. Too tired to read or do projects for school. How will I be a graduate student and a Social Studies teacher at some point? Will this get easier?

2. Being a student again after an 11-year break is daunting. When I left, PowerPoint was just becoming something. Now the only “Blackboard” in sight is an on-line service that has all my coursework and messages from the professor.

3. My first day of class, I left my kids at the bakery across the street, where they were to sit for 15 minutes, and then go next door to do homework in the lobby of my daughter’s ballet class. Then my daughter would take ballet while my son would play videogames. 5 minutes into my class, I received a call from an unknown #. It was my son using the bakery phone. Turns out the ballet fall season began the next day. They were stuck in a dim waiting area with locked bathrooms. (My husband took the subway to rescue them.)

4. I have to take 36 credits to receive my M.A. in Special Education. Taking 1 class at a time means I’m going to be a student for a really loooooong time.

5. I have little time to blog or check Facebook.

6. Most of my energy is left for cooking, cleaning, ironing, and taking kids to afterschool activities.

7. I received edit suggestions for my short story in the upcoming Tiny Dancers anthology. I have no time/energy to work on them.

8. I received edit suggestions from my critique partner for my Muriel and the Misfits manuscript, but have no time/energy to incorporate them.

9. I have no time/energy to send out queries for Naked Eye.

10. I have no time/energy to write my new WIP.

I don’t want to give the impression that it’s all gloom and doom. After all, my family is helping. My husband is doing more. And the kids are doing more (though part of it is a behavior experiment from my class they don’t know they’re taking part in).

From kindergarten until age 30, I was a student nearly continuously. But I’m rusty, and my schedule, responsibilities, and interests (WRITING) have changed. Having it all seems harder to attain.

Is there room for writing in my new life?

Those of you working full-time

(especially if you’re a student and/or have kids)

how do you find time to write?

FYI: I have a guest post at BlogHer . Please VISIT and leave a comment, letting BlogHer know that I’m worth guest-hosting. Thank you! xo

Don’t forget to enter my CoNtEsT .

Ends at midnight 09/27!