Sunday, November 28, 2010

"Happy Crappy Draft Day!"

The Natural Habitat of 'The Mamzo' (that's me!)
On this Sunday November 28th, I have officially won something. This is unusual for me, as I don't play the lottery or team sports, as a rule. But I do write, and according to The Office of Letters and Light, anyone who writes 50,000 or more words of a novel in the month of November is a winner.

This is the first year I've accepted the challenge and I am indeed a Nanowrimo winner- yippee!

I couldn't have done it without support from home. The minute I put down my pen and uttered the words, "I won," my husband cranked up "Paperback Writer" on the iPod and the four of us danced around together like Peanuts characters. Then my children lavished me with home made cards of congratulation. My daughter drew the above picture of my natural habitat, complete with couch, table, composition notebook and reading glasses. Here's her message of encouragement:



I DO feel like a 'real writer' now!

My son drew a picture of my yet-unpublished work, bound with an aquamarine cover:


Again, he hits home with that fundamental message:


And my husband made me a flourless chocolate ganache cake for the post-50K party! I am a lucky writer, indeed. Happy Crappy Draft Day, folks! Writers: what kinds of encouragement have you received from your 'fan base' of loved ones? Please share them with me.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

"Bridget Kicks Cancer: Season of Love and Hope" Auction

Note: In an effort to spread the word quickly, I've taken this info verbatim from Cynthia Leitich Smith's fabulous blog Cynsations. Thanks, Cynthia, for posting this. And thanks to Jone MacCulloch and all the other great people for organizing this auction.

Please donate and bid!

Bridget Zinn, is a librarian, fellow kidlitophile, and talented author. Her debut YA novel Poison (Disney Hyperion) will hit the shelves in 2012. Bridget was diagnosed in 2009 with Stage IV colon cancer. Last year, a bunch of generous folks donated and bid on items in an online auction to raise money to help Bridget and her husband Barrett with their medical expenses. Learn more about Bridget, her writing, and her great sense of humor here.

Bridget is still fighting, so this year there will be another auction, “Bridget Kicks Cancer: Season of Love and Hope.” Bidding will take place from Nov. 22 to Dec. 4.

Please consider donating an item or service by Nov. 19.

- To donate, go to http://bit.ly/bridgetkickscancer to fill out and submit the Item Donation Form.

- If you have more than one item to donate fill out a separate form for each item.

- For each item you submit, send images to accompany the item listing--up to four images per item! Please email images to: bridgetkickscancer@gmail.com.

- Get your donations in by Nov. 19!

Items that have been popular and successful in previous auctions include:

- Author and writer services: critiques, help with social networking

- Autographed books

- Handcrafted jewelry or greeting cards

- Local services: wine tours, house rentals, consulting work

- Original Artwork: perhaps design an 8 x 10 -12 x 24 around the theme of “Season of Love” (paying homage to Bridget’s “Summer of Love”), offer to commission a piece of art, or donate an existing piece

- Gift items

The Auction:

- The auction will begin at 8 a.m. Nov. 22 and conclude at 7 p.m. Pacific / 9 p.m. Central Dec. 4.

- To bid on items, visit the auction site at http://bit.ly/bridgetauction and follow the instructions for bidding.

- Winners will be notified by Dec. and sent instructions for payment at that time.

- As soon as payment is received, donors will ship or otherwise provide the item won to the winning bidder. Since this is around the holidays, send items as soon as possible after notification that payment has been received.

Questions? Email bridgetkickscancer@gmail.com!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Write on Track.

If you're wondering why I've been slow to post of late, all you need do is click here for the answer.

Ah, the pure joy and adrenaline of it. I've got blisters on my fingers- for reals.

Happy November, everyone!