Getting Out and About

I am having the busiest school presentation season ever. I did two days at one school along with a one-shot presentation at a second school last month. And a bookstore appearance that went quite well, if I haven't mentioned it before. I have two days of work lined up for this month, one of which involves three different presentations. One of those presentations I still have to plan and the third one I've done before but not recently. And I have a store appearance this Saturday. Then today I got another request for another school for this month.

Why is all this sudden popularity a problem? Because I still haven't finished writing that book!!

Sorry About That

This is day two of We have DSL on the second best computer and I can do all kinds of things when the family is hogging the good one! I was going to do another update, but I got distracted when I read in Newsweek about these cool sites to visit. So I did that instead. I would do an update now, but I have to A. Read Virginia Wolfe's To the Lighthouse B. Watch American Idol Try to choose the correct answer.

Think Geek!

Oh, brave new world! We have DSL! It's not as fast as I'd hoped, but I'm connected all the time. And, what is better, the second best, so-called "Doom Computer" (don't ask) has been networked to the good one so we can go on-line from both of them! That means I can spend a couple of evening hours each week while other family members are hogging the good computer updating my blog, ordering things, ego surfing, and generally doing all the things I waste time doing during the day. This should change my life. I should now be able to work harder and faster and do wonderful things.

Yeah. Right.

I finished Postcards From No Man's Land by Aidan Chambers. I found the book disappointing. I loved the idea of a boy "finding" his grandfather who had died in another country during World War II. Family members meeting across generations and particularly from beyond the grave always grabs me. But I didn't really feel Jacob II found Jacob I. He found out something he did, but not the man. Was he funny? Serious? Business-like? I didn't feel any of that. The World War II part of the story seemed extremely traditional. And the modern portion of the book seemed an excuse for the author to air his views on sexuality and euthanasia. I also felt the dialogue was stilted and unrealistic.


I know. I'm a witch.

Good Times

I am still swamped with this manuscript I'm working on. Yes, I am very slow. No apologies. I have accepted this about myself.

I am doing a few other things, though. Last week I spent two days at an elementary school. Two days in a row, which was a first. Almost like working, for real. Over the course of the two days I gave presentations for every kid in the school. I also got to hang out in the cafeteria during lunch.

And then, on the following Saturday, I did a bookstore appearance in the same town--the most successful I've ever had.

Next week I'll be in another school talking about how writers use reading in their work. Which I've never done before so I'll be spending part of this weekend planning it. Yup, that's time I could have been writing in my blog.