Project Mayhem: Why We Do What We Do

I'm over at Project Middle Grade Mayhem today, blogging about and asking: Why?

Happy Birthday, Eldest!

Today is my eldest, my heart's, seventeenth birthday. Here is a conversation we had yesterday, via text:

I love this kid so much. Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

Surprise! Kids are Reading (Duh)

Just something quick for you today. All you authors out there, but especially we kidlit authors, will be glad to hear: kids read.

Haha, I know. Obvious right? But according to this story, on NPR's Morning Edition today, kids are reading more than adults. And that's great news, isn't it?

Seriously, check the story out. It's not even a full story, really, just a quick bit about books and readers. The audio won't be available until 9 AM, but you can read the transcript at that link, above.

Prezi.com

Today will be a very short post. I just want to turn you all on to something my kids have been obsessed with lately. Have you ever had to make a presentation for work or school? Have you felt limited or even bored by Microsoft's PowerPoint or Apple's Keynote?

If you have, check out Prezi.com's flash-based presentation software. It's, in a word, impressive:



My kids use it for school all the time. They even make presentations for fun in their free time. Anything that inspires kids to think, read, and research is pretty cool as far as I'm concerned. Check it out!

Optimism

First off - how bout them Seahawks?

Now, anyway, we took the kidlets to the Braves vs. Nationals on Saturday afternoon, and in spite of a dismal beginning, it turned out to be the best baseball game I've ever seen live.

We'd originally planned on going on Sunday, because it was a one o'clock game, and kids are allowed to run the bases after. My nephew, Bryce, started playing baseball this year, and would have loved to run the bases. But that was a big game, so MLB moved it to 8PM, and we had to change our plans.

We got a great deal on club level seats, which is pretty awesome, because they're great seats, but in spite of that, the game looked like it would be pretty disappointing at first. The main reason I wanted to go was to have one final chance to see Chipper Jones play at Turner Field. If you know anything about baseball, you know that Chipper is a first-ballot hall of famer, and possibly the best switch-hitter to ever play the game. So when we got to our seats, and I saw that not only was Tommy Hanson pitching, but Chipper wasn't starting, I was prepared to be furious.

Then, things got worse when we went down 4-0 by the top of the second. It looked like it was going to be a long, hard day. But I stayed optimistic, and kept an open mind, knowing the kids would enjoy themselves regardless, as long as they got cotton candy and ice cream (which they did), so I was pleasantly surprised when Freddy Freeman and Jason Heyward tied the game up by the sixth, and then Chipper came into the game.

The stands went wild as he stepped to the plate:

And my nephew started choppin':

Sadly, no hit for Chipper, but he did walk, and was on base as a hit batsman (Andrelton Simmons - welcome back!) drove in the eventual winning run. Here is in a powwow at third, while the Washington manager was getting tossed from the game at first:

Then, eventually, it was 5-4 in the top of the ninth, and we got to see my favorite Brave come in for the save:

I wish I could've gotten a better photo, but I only had my phone, so in case you cant' tell, that's Craig Kimbrel, the best young closer in the game.

He let one hitter on base with a single to left, but otherwise struck out the side, and put a perfect ending on what turned out to be a great day.

Here are a few other photos:

Mom and the kids.

That's how I wanna spend my 95th birthday.

Club-level seats, even the kids love em!

So that's it. How was your weekend? I've got some queries coming up soon, and then some tours and guest posts, so hopefully I'm going to be able to get back into the swing of blogging. I hope you all will start coming back to read. Anyway, have as good a Monday as you can!

Middle Grade Madi

So, I'm still struggling to get back into the rhythm of blogging, but apparently, ever since Natalie Aguirre interviewed her at Literary Rambles yesterday, my daughter has caught the bug. She's got another post up, and would love it if you would stop by and say hi.

Now, I do need to work with her on what constitutes a proper book review, and what is just kind of a plot summary/short synopsis, but that's okay. She's just getting started.

A First Impression at MGM

We interrupt this program to point you to a new post from my daughter. She's super excited to be reading the ARC of Shannon Messenger's debut MG novel, Keeper of the Lost Cities.

Please visit, make sure you're already following, read, and comment. Thanks!

The Kindness Project: Prayers and Apologies

Too often kindness is relegated to a random act performed only when we’re feeling good. But an even greater kindness (to ourselves and others) occurs when we reach out even when we aren't feeling entirely whole . It’s not easy, and no one is perfect. But we’ve decided it’s not impossible to brighten the world one smile, one kind word, one blog post at a time. To that end, a few of us writers have established The Kindness Project, starting with a series of inspirational posts.

I have to apologize. I had something really special planned for today, but it fell through, because I didn't plan it far enough ahead. But that's not really why I didn't post until so late in the day.

Last night we had a family medical emergency. My ten-year-old, Madi, went to the doctor yesterday afternoon. They diagnosed her with severe strep throat, and mononucleosis at the same time. But it didn't seem that serious, so they sent her home with a prescription for antobiotics, and orders to rest and hydrate. Then, last night, her throat swelled up so badly she couldn't swallow.

We took her to the hospital, and she got some shots and an IV to re-hydrate, and now she's okay. Still in a lot of pain, and still running a high fever, but okay. So it was a rough night last night, and I stayed home from work today, just in case, and all my plans for an awesome Kindness Project post were shot.

I'm sure you all will understand.

But it did bring something to mind. I have some friends whose kids are struggling with their health as well. In fact, I have two in particular whose health is worse than Madison's. SH and LBM could both use our prayers and positive energy. And for that matter, I'm sure Lenny Lee's health probably isn't out of the woods yet.

So let's do this: if you're religious, say a prayer and ask God to help these kids, or help all sick kids, really. If you're a Buddhist, when next you meditate, send some healthy Oms their way. If you're neither, maybe you could just send some positive vibes their way? I know these poor kids sure deserve to feel better.

And the meantime, please visit these other Kindness Project blogs, the ones who actually did their job today:

Elizabeth Davis

Christa Desir

Sarah Fine

Elana Johnson

Liza Kane

Amie Kaufman

Alina Klein

Sara Larson

Jessica Corra

Sara McClung

Gretchen McNeil

Tracey Neithercott

Lola Sharp

Michele Shaw

Meagan Spooner

Carolina Valdez Miller
Sophia Chang
Erica Chapman
Leigh Moore
Claire Hennessy
Katharine Owen
Elizabeth Poole

I promise to have something more concrete for you next month. 

Mixed Metaphors

I'm taking tomorrow off, because my baby is graduating from Elementary school (congraduations, Madi!) so today is my Friday. Therefore, I'm just going to hook you up with a little fun.

Mixed Metaphors are something to be avoided, of course, in writing. Unless you're going for camp on purpose. But outside of writing, they're a lot of fun to think about, and besides mixed metaphor is a damned fun phrase to say.

So here you have it, the internet's best mixed metaphors:

• We could stand here and talk until the cows turn blue.
• I wouldn’t eat that with a ten-foot pole.
• He’s not the one with his ass in a noose.
• I can read him like the back of my book.
• From now on, I’m watching everything you do with a fine-tuned comb.
• It’s as easy as falling off a piece of cake.
• He’s like a duck out of water.
• He’s burning the midnight oil from both ends.
• It sticks out like a sore throat.
• People are dying like hotcakes.
• He’s a little green behind the ears.
• We have to get all our ducks on the same page.
• I have a lot of black sheep in my closet.
• I'm sweating like a bullet.
• A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.
• It's as American as killing two love birds with one apple.

Anyway, I'm sure you guys get the point. Have a great weekend!

Another PM Post

I'm writing over at Project Mayhem again today. It's kind of a highly personal topic for me, so please stop by my post, and recommend some books!

Part One

Sorry for the double post today, guys. If you're just arriving now, see right below this post, for the first place I would love it if you would visit. If you're coming back, because you saw I double posted, then please go visit YA Confidential, where I was only barely involved in something very cool my friend Sara McClung put together.

My Very Un-Fairy Tale Life, by Anna Staniszewski

A few weeks ago writer blogger Heather Kelly asked me to participate in an ARC blog tour for Anna Staniszewski's debut novel, My Very Un-Fairy Tale Life.

When I first saw the cover, I thought to myself: this looks pretty funny, but probably not the kind of book I would run out to buy on release day (being a dude, I like explosions, sword-fights, car-chases, lightsabers, that kind of thing). But also being a writer, and a writer who blogs, I really do care a lot about helping each other out, so I figured what's the worst that could happen?

Sure I could have received the book, read it, hated it, and then felt really awkward about telling Anna and Heather that I just couldn't take part in the tour. But I should have known I wouldn't have to worry about any of that.

The day the package showed up at my house (we get a lot of books sent to us) my 10 year old daughter, Madison, wanted to know what was in it. When I opened it, and saw what it was, I told her the story of the ARC tour, and explained how such things work.

When she saw the cover she started freaking out. "Daddy, daddy, please let me read it? Please, please, please?" I may be paraphrasing here, but the point is my kid was not going to let me end the conversation without agreeing to let her read the book first.

So I did. It was clear that the cover was doing its job, and I figured if the book was marketed toward this kind of audience, why not let Madison in on the tour? The book is about 12-year-old Jenny, anyway, so it's a MG novel that is just right for my daughter's reading level.

I could go on about how exciting this all was, but I should probably get to the interview I conducted with Madison before this post goes on any longer.

When we first opened the package the book came in, you saw the cover, and immediately asked me if you could read it first. What was it about the cover that made you want to read the book?

It was the opposite of a fairytale (which are usually pretty boring, snore).

Did the book live up to what you expected it would be like, based on what you liked about the cover?

Yes, it was funny, and not as old fashioned as normal fairytales.

Who was your favorite character, and what did you like best about them?

Jenny, because she says the funny (and cheesy) things that could come out of a movie.

Without giving away any spoilers, what was your favorite part of the book?

Where the friends figured out Jenny was lying.

Have you read any books that were similar to this book? If so which ones, and how would you compare them?

Not really, I can’t think of any books like this one.

I saw you doing some writing in your notebook the day you finished this book. Did it inspire you to write a story of your own?

Yes, because it was fun to read.

Do you notice any themes in this story? If so, what did you think of them?

No I didn’t notice any themes in this story. [Editor's note: that's a tough question for a 10-year-old without giving her a chance to discuss the book with other readers, come on, dad]

Regarding the main character, what did she stand for, what was she trying to accomplish? And did you find yourself rooting for her?

She wanted to get being an adventurer over with, but once she did she wanted to get it back. And yes, I found myself rooting for her.

Old picture, I know, but too adorable not to use.

Finally, would you recommend this book to your friends, and what kinds of kids do you think would like it?

Yes, fiction-liking kids of any grade, up to like 8th.

Okay, so that's it for the interview. Brief, I know, but she's only ten.

Now, I will add that I haven't read the book myself yet (Madison just finished it on Sunday), but I have read the first chapter, which you can read too, here, and while it's still not really a book for overweight, hairy dads in their mid 30s, it is really hilarious.

I suggest you give it a look yourself. You can find Anna's blog here, and her website, here. Here are some other places you can find Anna and her book:

Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads
RSS
Watch the trailer

And that's it for today. Any questions?

iPad and the Young Mind

So I went and bought an iPad on Monday night. We'd been saving for it for a few weeks, and I decided I needed one when I finalized my plans to visit WFC in San Diego next month, and meet up with wonderful writers and author friends like Simon C. Larter, Shannon Whitney Messenger, Carolina Valdez Miller, Sara Ann McClung, and Andrew Smith.

I won't get into the things that are cool about it, or the things that it ought to be able to do, but can't, because those would be long posts all on their own. I will, hopefully briefly, discuss how cool this thing is for kids.

My daughter Madison and I played a game of scrabble on it against each other last night. She has an iPod touch she's had for a while, that she paid for by saving up her allowance, and that allowed us each to play our tiles from our own device, so that we weren't too obviously revealing our letters to each other.

Now, I have to say, in some ways I'm a bit of a Luddite. I don't believe in kids walking around with headphones constantly in their ears, shutting out the world around them, eyes glued to the screen of some device like little LCD versions of The Mirror of Erised, but the potential for interesting educational opportunities with a device like the iPad is off the charts.

The coolest thing about it is how it excites my child. When she came into my room last night (I didn't have time to set it up after buying it on Monday) and saw me installing some apps on it, her eyes lit up, and she bounded onto the bed with me.

My kid never hangs out with me in my room. She's 10. I had the horrible Braves game on the TV, which she would normally never suffer through. But she spent the next few hours hanging out with me, talking to me about the iPad, and showing me cool things like how to organize my apps into folders so I don't have 5 pages of apps. Then we played some games. Like Scrabble, pictured above.

I'm not going to go on about this any longer, but I see a very high cool factor when it comes to technology and young minds. I think if we leverage these devices properly to our children, we can help them focus on the benefits, without turning them into backlit LCD zombies.

What do you guys think? Do your kids have e-readers? Smart Phones? Other tech?

A First PROPER DragonCon Post

I know. I wrote about it yesterday, but that was just a segue into trying to trick you people into reading my Project Mayhem post. Not that you should need to be tricked, it's an awesome blog.

I only say tricked because I was chomping at the bit to post these photos, but I couldn't because I'd agreed to cover for a friend, and PM is a FAR more professionally slated blog than this dirty little corner of the World (US) Wide (Thin) Web (Net).

Anyway. Here's a tease. This is the worst photo my shitty camera captured at the Dragon-Non-Con (maybe):

Admittedly, this photo does have one thing going for it: The LOVELY Cole Gibsen taking up the spotlight. Also, it has an excuse: My oldest, Kylie, hit the button on my POS camera.

To be noted: That's my littlest, Madison, on my right (your left) with the panda hat/robe/hakama, and that's Kylie's BFF, Michaela, on my left (your right). I have no idea what I'm looking at, but I promise it's not a passing Princess Leia's cleavage. At least not at this particular moment.

One more thing: God I'm a huge human being. I know the evidence from my meeting with Joe may have suggested otherwise, but it was obviously false.

NOTE TO SELF: Don't write posts the night before anymore. You were probably drunk.

Okay, now it's morning, so hopefully I'll leave all that surliness and poor humor behind. Here's a better picture of a similar situation:

I don't know what has Madison grinning so broadly, but at least it's obvious she's having a blast.

Here's one I took:

Boy, my camera sucks. Oh well. You probably can't tell, but Kylie is wearing her cat eye/demon eye colored contacts. That was her way of dressing up. You can see what I'm talking about in this post.

That's it for photos for today. I'll share some of the awesome costumes with you guys tomorrow and maybe Thursday.

I talked a little bit more about Cole, what a great friend she is, and how nice it was to meet her in my Project Mayhem post yesterday, and I linked you to all her important stuff, but there was one more thing I forgot to mention that I wanted you guys to read, if you have time.

I used to do these successful query letter guest posts on my blog when I was first getting started, and Cole was one of my very first guests. You can read that post, here: KATANA.

I'm SO Proud of my Young Readers

My daughter Madison is 9 years old. She is just about the most adorable, well behaved, and loving little girl in the world.

I wake up at 5AM every day and leave for work by 5:30 (I'm really not a morning person, so I usually shower the night before). It's a bit depressing sometimes, especially during the winter, how little sunlight I actually bear witness to.

Anyway the other day Madison asked me if I would please wake her up when I leave for work. Needless to say I was pretty surprised. When I asked her why she said that she wanted to get up early, before she had to start getting ready for school, because she wanted to have a little more time to read. Of course I quickly swallowed the lump in my throat and blinked away the tears that were threatening to well up behind my eyelids, but I told her of course I would.

She explained that her recent increase in her passion for reading was because she wants to finish the Harry Potter series before the final film is released. She said she wants to be able to compare the movies to the books the way her older sister, Kylie, and I do.

I can certainly relate to that.

Harry Potter was introduced to our family by my oldest daughter, Kylie. I mean I originally bought the books for her, but I assumed they were "kid's books" at the time and so I dismissed them as beneath me. Kylie showed me the error of my ways a few years later.

I'm not sure why it took so long to get Madison interested. Kylie had read all 7 books at least 3 times by the time she was Madison's age, but I think Madison having seen all the movies first reduced her curiosity about the books. That's a little sad, but no big deal now that she's getting into them. She was more of a Rick Riordan/Percy Jackson gal for years, and has read just about every book that man has ever written.

Kylie is even more out of control with her reading. She reads 2 or 3 books a week, can never get enough, and even gets a lot of free ARCs from her friends, The Bookanistas, because they love to hear what an actual young adult thinks about YA lit.

Point is I'm one damn proud father.

Personally I'm reading a lot more lately too. I'm actually currently reading 5 books. I'm reading Matched, by Allie Condie, during my lunch breaks at work. I'm reading a novel by a friend that has not been named yet but will be released this year (don't ask, because it's a seekrit) while I sit on hold on the phone at work (which is often). I'm listening to the audio book of A Song of Ice and Fire, A Game of Thrones, book one, by George R.R. Martin while in the car and while I do the mundane part of my job. I'm technically reading The Shard, by my critique partner, Ted Cross, but we're actually taking a break right now because he is on vacation. Then finally, when I lie in bed at night, I'm reading No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy.

I've always loved to read, but I've never been the fastest reader (unlike my kids). I usually only read around 30 books a year, on a good year, so this is actually a lot of reading for me, but I'm enjoying it immensely nonetheless. And the best part? So far this year I have worked on my the re-write of my novel every single week day. With the NFL playoffs looming there won't be much weekend writing for a few weeks, but so far it's looking like 2011 is going to be a great year in our house.

What are you all reading right now?