Thought for the day No. 3

When my sons were young, I’d sing made-up songs to them. Well, it wasn’t really singing, more like squeaking and squawking. But I tried. I really tried. I remember this one song, perhaps because it plucked my heartstrings. The chorus went something like this: My, how times flies, how it really, really flies. My little babe is now a little boy. As they grew, “boy” became “young man.” I don’t sing that song anymore, but sometimes I want to. Sometimes, I wish I could cuddle them in the rocker, their head against my heart, and softly sing that sweet song. But they’re 20 and 16 now, much too old to sit on my lap and rock away the hours just because.
Time really does fly and before you know it the little hand you held is the big hand helping you.
Don’t wish away todays for tomorrows. Todays fade fast enough.

Salute to Dr. Seuss

Some quotes of his:

• "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose."
• "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you."
  
• "Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... get on your way." 
  
• "And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed."
  
• "Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." 
  
• "If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good."

I have always loved Dr. Seuss. His books were full of wisdom and just plain fun to read. What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book and why is it your favorite? 

Why do you write what you write?

Sometimes, I’m really tired of being a grown-up (Actually, make that most of the time). Why do we spend our childhood wishing to grow up and our adulthood wishing to be younger? Maybe that’s why I love writing for children. It allows me to be a kid again.

Why do you write what you write? I’ve always been curious about this. There are some people who write something and I read it and I would never have imagined them writing that particular piece. It’s not that the piece is bad, it’s just not what I pictured them writing. Whether it’s middle grade or young adult, fiction or non-fiction, why do you write what you write? I’m looking for the audience you feel most comfortable writing for, the genre and the reasons.

Please share:)

YA novel discovery contest

Hey fellow writers, this sounds like a great opportunity. Serendipity Literary Agency, in collaboration with Sourcebooks and Gotham Writers' Workshop, is hosting its first Young Adult Novel Discovery Competition. Get all the details here. And good luck!

http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php

Fun on the stairs

Really cool:) Imagine if we could make more things fun.

Hearing voices

Here’s a fun exercise. Rewrite the following sentence in a different voice. I will do two to start us off. Let’s have fun with this.
Starter sentence: I cannot believe you expect me to help you after what you’ve done.
My first voice: Freakin’ unbelievable! You’re crazy, dude, if you think I’m going to help you with anything after that screw-up.
My second voice: Oh. My. Gawd. Like you can’t be serious. Like you really think I’m going to help you after what you did. Like give me a break. Really.

Thought for the day No. 2

Life is too short to:
Wish away today.
Stay angry.
Put dreams off.
Hold back on love.
Not forgive.
Say there’s always tomorrow, because tomorrows turn into yesterdays and yesterdays into years and then we look back on our lives and think, where did the time go? It went while we were waiting for it to come.
What would you add to this list?

Sometimes we need to be pushed

I think this is a beautiful video. A friend shared it with me (Thanks Jenny). It reminded me of a discussion I had with my son recently. As parents, it's easy for us to hold our child's hand. It's the letting go part that's hard. But we push because we love them and we let them fail because we love them. Like the eagle, we know that in order for them to fly they need to find their wings.

Thought for the day No. 1

I picked my son up after he took the PSAT. It was raw and raining and dreary and damp. To say that I was miserable is an understatement. When I blurted out what I thought of the wacky weather and dumpy day, he told me how much he enjoyed this kind of weather and why. I love how we all look at things differently. It makes the world an exciting place. Imagine if we all felt the same way about everything. B-O-R-I-N-G. It reminded me that we should embrace our differences instead of trying to convert others to think and feel the way we think they should. After all, it’s the differences among us that when woven into the fabric of life creates richness in texture and color not found when all of the threads are the same.

Kidlit query contest

Check out Mary Kole's query letter contest. She is an associate agent at the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Entries due by Oct. 31.

http://kidlit.com/kidlit-contest/

Moments that matter columns

Here are the links to some of my Moments that Matter columns that some of you have asked about. I hope you enjoy reading.

http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-special-moment-can-reveal-life.html

http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/2009/08/dont-be-afraid-to-show-love.html

http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/2009/08/seeds-of-healing-fall-from-sky.html

http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/2009/08/we-learn-from-our-failures.html

http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/2009/08/our-choices-determine-impact.html

http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/2009/08/tapestry-shift-of-view.html

http://buffyswritezone.blogspot.com/2009/08/celebrating-strands-that-bind-us.html

Confessions of an obsessaholic No. 13: Hootsuite

I’m in love with HootSuite. What’s hot about Hoot? Glad you asked. HootSuite allows Twitter users to manage multiple Twitter profiles (I have seven) from one easy-to-use interface. You guys know how I love being able to organize and plan things. Hoot allows me to do this. I can send tweets, retweet, schedule tweets, direct message, and set up searches (and believe me I have many) for all kinds of things.

For example, I have my personal accounts (@Buffy_Andrews, @Grandma_Dorothy), my work related accounts (@Ydrbooks, @Smartmamapa; @Flipside, @YDR, @Letseatpa). I can tweet from one account and then retweet that tweet from other accounts all without having to log out and in.

I also love the ability to search for specific things. For example, I have a tab set up for Writing, under which are numerous columns each for a separate search that has to do with writing (ie. #pubtips, #Yalitchat; #Litchat; #Kidlitchat, etc.).

I have a tab for brands (with columns of different brands I follow, like Harley Davidson), a tab for people (separated by group, such as work friends, publishing friends, etc.), a tab for sports, fun stuff, publishing, news media and journalism all of which have their own columns for very specific searches.

As I said, I’m in love with this application because it allows me to organize and compartmentalize and keep everything in order. Just another example of my crazy self, I know.

A special card

I have a card from one of my best friends that I keep by my laptop. There is a picture of two young girls on the front, one with her arm around the other.

The card reads:
(Front) I’m here for you – to hold your hand, offers words of hope, and when those don’t work…
(Inside) to binge on chocolate, or share a gallon of ice cream – whatever it takes.

Whenever I get a rejection or am feeling low or the words are just not coming easily to me, I read this card and it makes me smile and remember that the most important things in life are family and friends.

First paragraph challenge

Check out Nathan Bransford's First Paragraph Challenge. Details here:

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/10/3rd-sort-of-annual-stupendously.html

When you feel like giving up