Monday Moment #92: a writing prompt for you work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my character(s) better just by answering the question. I hope you do too. )

It's still Monday, right? I'm still getting this posted on Monday. Just. In. Time.

It's been a bit nutty for me lately and the things that are burning hottest are the ones getting the water. It's that time year, and I'm guessing it's not just me feeling the heat. Your feeling it too?

We're less than a week out from Halloween and my kids still don't have their costumes. We finally know what they are going to be, but given where we live, I'm wondering when in the world (and where) I'm going to get the stuff to transform them. (The Halloween Fairy will come to save the day, right?)

Me, on the other hand. My costume is all ready to go. The funny thing is, that's not a joke. My costume: done. My kids: not. (Sorry, girlies.) But it's all for good reason and part of what's keeping me sane at a crazy time.

My gym launches all their new fitness classes (we do this quarterly) and we celebrating Halloween in the process. That means I've been 1) getting my workouts in, and 2) I have a costume ready to go. I'll be teaching my two classes (along with my teammates) as...

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WONDER WOMAN!!!

It's fun and hilarious and I think our members are going to get a huge kick out of it, or should I say, kick out of us. (And let me just note, we have skirts instead of little briefs.)

But here's the thing, I feel brave enough to wear that costume in the gym with my teammates (who are wearing the same costume), but the thought of wearing it out to the Halloween party the next day makes me a cringe a little. I don't know that I'm brave enough to go out. In that.

What do you think? Should I?

I think this leads to a good question when thinking about our characters.

What is your main character brave enough to do in certain situations, but not in others?

Monday Moment #91: a writing prompt for you work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my character(s) better just by answering the question. I hope you do too. )

CAKE!

I'm a sucker for cake. Actually anything with frosting. Cookie, cupcake, cake...if it's covered in frosting, I can't resist.

That's said, not so much if it's chocolate. I know, all you many chocolate lovers out there, you think I'm nuts!  I too like chocolate, but not quite like you. And not in my frosting.

Fresh off my birthday has me thinking about cake. About how as we get older we settle into our favorite and tend to have a certain "kind" for our special day. I'm fairly certainly this doesn't just apply to my family and friends. You too, right?

Me? I'm Angel Food with Seven-minute (never-fail frosting).

My hubby: Carrot Cake
My dad: Cheese Cake
My mom: Chocolate on Chocolate
My brother: Chocolate with Brown Sugar frosting
My daughers: still working it out

I'm sure each of those cakes speaks a bit about who we are (each certainly would in a novel, right?). I'm mean, I'm Angel Food with seven-minute frosting, angelic and sweet at to my core.  :)

How about your main character? What's their favorite cake and what does it say about who they are?

Monday Moment #90: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my character(s) better just by answering the question. I hope you do too. )

What makes a birthday memorable?

A flood of gifts. A mailbox full of cards. A Facebook wall inundated with well-wishes. A day of pampering? Phone calls from friends and relatives?

Or maybe...

Feeling all alone? Having a loved one forget? Someone else ruining the day that is supposed to be special for you?

Certainly birthdays can be memorable for both the good and the bad.

Why do I bring up birthdays today?

'Cause...

It's my birthday! It's my birthday! It's my birthday!

I thought it might be kind of odd to do a birthday post, but then I thought, Why not! Today's the day. And what I love most about birthdays is hearing from family and friends, or even better spending time with them. So I might as well share it here and celebrate with all my blogosphere friends, too.

Some memorable birthdays from my past:

• I don't remember the age, but I do remember a particular cake. It was an Orange Blossom (one of Strawberry Shortcakes friends) doll cake. I thought it was sooo pretty.
• My fifteenth birthday, when I was new to the Seattle area, when I had no friends and bangs that had just been cut up to here! *holds fingers just below my widows peak* Yes, that short!
• For my sixteenth birthday, my parents gave me a hot air balloon ride to take with a friend. How cool is that? (Yes, I had finally made a friend.)
• And for my 30th, I threw myself a party! Because I wanted to.

So, I have to say, thanks for stopping by here today! It feels like you're part of my celebration. I just wish we could share a piece of cake together.

What is your main character's most memorable birthday (for either good or bad reasons)?

And if you have your own particularly memorable b-day (again good or bad), please share!

SCBWI 2011 Winter Conference in NYC

I feel like I was just in LA with all of you (literally or on the blog) but it's already time to start thinking about the winter conference. In NYC. Yeah, Baby!

Here's the thing: REGISTRATION OPENS TODAY at 10 am Pacific Time. Like really soon!

So, set your alarms and ready your fingers, especially if you're interested in participating in the Intensives on Friday before the conference begins.  The Intensives are HUGELY popular, as well as successful. I consider myself as a success story and I know of so many more. If you're interested, register before they sell out.

Then there's the conference. Want a little peek of who will be there?

You do, don't you!?!

Ladies first...

LOIS LOWRY... I know. How unbelievable cool.

SARA ZARR... Love her!

JULES FEIFFER...Seriously!

R.L. STINE... I mean, come ON!

MO WILLEMS...Going boneless here!

Don't know about you, but I'm already sold.

And I really hope I see you there.

I'll be typing away, live blogging from the conference floor, with my peeps on Team Blog.

Here's where we blog and tweet:

Team Captain - Alice Pope (Twitter @alicepope)

Jaime Temairik (Twitter @jaimetem)

Lee Wind (Twitter @leewind)

Martha Brockenbrough (Twitter @mbrockenbrough)

Suzanne Young (Twitter @suzanne_young)

...then there's me! (Twitter @cuppajolie)

The twitter hashtag will be:

#NY11SCBWI

Monday Moment #89: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my character(s) better just by answering the question. I hope you do too. )


I read it for the articles. And the interviews!

Seriously. It's true. It wasn't always that way, but it is today.

Now get your mind out of the gutters.

I'm talking about the Children's Writer's & Illustrators Market Guide or the CWIM. I love the CWIM and have for 10 years, back when I bought my first copy in 2001 ( I still have all of them). I remember looking for it at a Barnes and Noble and asking a salesperson to help me find it. I specifically remember looking for the name Alice Pope. So funny to think about that now, because, at the time, Alice was this stranger-of-a-person who I thought was probably a blue-haired lady (in a lunch-lady way, not a cute Stephanie Perkins way). Clearly that was before I really got to know the industry. And Alice.

Last week my door bell rang and it was the UPS truck with a package.  For me. And I knew what it was the second I saw it. My CWIM. Not just my latest CWIM, but MY CWIM; the one I have a byline in. Also extra special since it was Alice's last.

So, do you have your 2011 CWIM yet? If you do (and haven't yet read all the articles and interviews), opening up to page 81 right now. If you don't, order it right now.

Whee!!! THAT'S MY INTERVIEW WITH LIBBA BRAY. Yes, that Libba Bray.

Such a wonderful experience to have the opportunity to interview her, and I promise you'll enjoy the read. Not because my interviewing skills are spot on, but because ANY question Libba answers is entertaining, at the very least.

Back in 2001, I never would have guessed/dreamed/thought that I would know Alice personally and be working with her on Team Blog, or that I'd have an interveiw featured in the 2011 CWIM. It's been a pure treat, I must say.

What experience has your character had that they never would have guessed would happen or be possible a short or long time ago?

Monday Moment #88: a writing prompt for your work-in-progress

(If you’ve already read this then skip past all the italicized blah-di-blah and start writing.) Monday Moments are writing prompts for your work-in-progress. They are questions that come from my experiences and are my favorite way to find out more about my characters. I find I learn a lot. Some of it I use. Some of it I don’t. But I always, always get to know my character(s) better just by answering the question. I hope you do too. )

Cleaning up my girlies' room has sort of been an all summer task; a frustrating and unending (we're still working on it) task. The girlies seem to be in the mood for a change, and have also been ready to make room for new things by getting rid of the old. Or, truth be told, they wanted to sell some of their things to make some cash. The making-room-for-the-new was secondary.

Well, many things slowed us down over the summer, but we FINALLY had that garage sale and took care of the getting-rid-of. (Although, all you moms out there know it's not really over. The stuffs out of their room, but I still need to be rid of all that didn't sell.)

But now we're cleaning up and organizing in attempt to get ready for some rearranging, and possibly a bit of repainting. You see, my ten-year-old girlie seems to think she's got to be the ONLY fifth grade girl who still has flowers on her walls. (Does that seem oh-so flowery to you? The other two walls are striped. Well, I guess it does to her.) They also want to redecorate and move furniture to create more personal space for themselves (Hey, I get that!). And the other biggie? They want posters. Cool posters. (I'm clueless here.)

So, we we're working on it.

But I think it's something true of all of us and our spaces. We come to a point where we'd like or need a change, which must (especially in the youth years) say much about how we change as people. And our space (or what we'd like for our space) speaks volumes about who we are.

If your character could redecorate their bedroom or space, what would they do?

Weekend on the Water, SCBWI WWA's Fall Retreat

Maybe you've already heard about it. Perhaps you've already applied. But if you haven't, time is running out.

SCBWI Western Washington's 4th annual fall retreat (November 5-7) is on its way and the deadline to apply and get your materials in is this September 27th.

I organize and run this event for our amazing Western Washington region and this year is sure to be great. The wonderful thing about this retreat is that it's small and intimate (with no more than 50 attendees), and this year we welcome two executive editors: Nancy Mercardo, Roaring Brook Press and Jill Santopolo, Philomel Books. Between the both of them they are a mass of experience, knowledge, and expertise. (Many of you know Nancy as @editorgurl on Twitter.) Personally, I can't wait to soak up as much as I can from them.
So much to look forward to:

• amazing knowledge shared in a small group setting with our talented editors
• beautiful location at the Alderbrook Resort and Spa (check it out)
• delicious food
• awesome people

Go HERE to register.