Just say no

How do I get myself so overcommitted?  I don't understand.  I hate being in leadership roles, I'm not overly interested in being part of the team, I really don't even want to get involved.  And yet, here I am, "Scholastic Liason" for the elementary school book fair.  I was told it would be simple, placing orders and checking the boxes when they arrive.  I pictured myself with a clipboard checking off the books and that was the end of it.  But no...they lied to hook me and now I'm stuck.  Next week, I have to be at the elementary school every day at 8 am to set up the books, stay through the day to see what the big sellers are and to rearrange the shelves if necessary, and stay until 5 or 6 to place reorders for the next day.  How did this happen?  In the meantime, my 2 boys are both playing soccer AND baseball, and my oldest daughter is playing softball.  Can I tell you how crazy my schedule is?!  The highlight of next week, aside from the obvious-bedtime-is that I'm showing an author around our school for the day on Wednesday.  Author, and former teacher, Laurie Krebs is visiting our school for the day.  That part at least should be fun!  I fully intend to pick her brain.

So, how do you organize your life so you can be an involved parent without being psycho?  And, by the way, still get some writing done?

I've been tagged!

So, I've been tagged by Sheri (sheriperloshins.blogspot.com).  Here are the rules:

Grab the nearest book.

Open to page 123.

Find the fifth sentence.

Post the next three sentences.

Tag five people

However, Sheri has suggested a twist on the game.  She suggested we post the sentences mentioned above from our own WIP, page 30, or page 3 for picture books.  So here is mine, from my middle grade novel.

“Really?” She looked so happy at that moment, I almost felt guilty for the trouble I planned to cause her.  Almost. 

“Thank you for your help, Lena.”

“It’s my pleasure.”  I pointed to the problems and explained how to do them.  She nodded in all the right places and continued working on the page.

“That’s right,” I encouraged.  Then I watched her spend the next half hour doing her homework all wrong.

So now I need to tag some people:

Sarah-Create.livejournal.com (Sarah)

wordbinder.wordpress.com (Rebecca)

kidswriterjfox.blogspot.com (Janet)

iowakid.blogspot.com (Michele)

shopoftheheart.blogspot.com (Lyz)

Okay, Ladies-get to it!

New Ideas

Now that I've finished my novel, except for the dreaded revisions, of course, I need to come up with a new idea to work on.  So I started thinking, how can I come up with an idea?  

I've been jotting down ideas in a notebook for a few months now, sometimes a whole thought, sometimes just a name.  These are fragments, at best, but they could trigger a new story.  Many of them came from dreams.

How do you get your ideas?  Do you keep a running list of thoughts, do you journal every day, do you have a brainstorming session, do you keep a dream log, diary, thought book?  What do you do when you need to start something new?

Finished!

Well, after a few roadblocks and smaller obstacles, I have finished the first draft of my middle grade novel.  While I know it will go through many revisions (and desperately needs those revisions), I am so proud of it.  It is the longest thing I've ever written (28,574 words), and the story is wonderful (if I do say so myself).  I am planning to do as many revisions as I can before I have to send it off to Vermont College to be workshopped at my first residency.  Then I will put it away, to save for after I finish school.  I can't wait to see how much I can improve it after studying the craft for two years.

Speaking of my residency, I'm getting really excited about it.  I've been reading books by the faculty, and gathering ideas of what I might work on during the first semester.  Summer can't come soon enough!