art for sale!

Hello all,

I am in dire need of money right now. Things are very ugly. Although I've had offers to purchase my art I never intended to sell any of it. But now I think I must.

So... art for sale. If any of you have any interest in any illustrations from my book then please let me know. I may also be selling smaller B&W pieces and sketches. I haven't decided what the price range will be yet but I'll decide soon.

More info to come...

can I be called professor?

I just finished teaching my section of the Solstice low-residency MFA program in YA/Children's lit and I can't say enough good things about it. I wish I had gone to a program like this before publishing, it's such a smart group of people--students and staff (including the very sharp and funny co-teacher Laban Hill), all passionate about writing.

They were especially kind to green-horned teachers, such as myself. I caught myself telling stories like an old grandfather ("I remember when I learned there was no such thing as a brontosaurus...") and their eyes did not glaze over once--true signs of real writers, who know that they can find something interesting in the most mundane of incidents.

If you are at all serious about writing for children, get thee to a program such as this!

small graces: NOW!

Oops, forgot to send the notice for this earlier but the small graces auction is happening NOW!!

Bid Here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ORIGINAL-PAINTING-by-Childrens-Book-Author-GRACE-LIN_W0QQitemZ220451246067QQcmdZViewItemQQptZArt_Paintings?hash=item3353eb0ff3&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A4|39%3A1|72%3A1205|293%3A1|294%3A200

Married!

Our wedding was perfect, I am still reeling from the experience of it all. We were surrounded by the most loving, generous people who made the weekend so special for both of us. Unfortunately I have very few pictures yet (hurry up photographer!), but I do have this one taken by my mom. I just couldn't stop dancing...

Chautauqua, Part One

First things first: Anna is now married! Her wedding on Saturday was absolutely beautiful, so touching, perfect. She and Bruno wrote their own vows, and I swear--there wasn't a dry eye in the place. So romantic and joyous. I'm sure there will be pictures later...(I have yet to upload mine).

I apologize for the late post, but after a travel day on Sunday that started at 2:30 in the morning and ended with a 12:30 pm arrival (10 hours!), I'm now in Chautauqua, NY for the Highlights Writers Workshop. It's a week-long program at the Chautauqua Institute, and even though I've only been here a day an a half so far, I absolutely love it. It's such a idyllic setting. My hotel room overlooks the lake, and this morning I woke up early enough to see the sun rising over the water. It's a gated, walking community with lots of amphitheaters and parks and gardens. There are little brown bats flying around eating all the bugs (as opposed to Little, Brown editors), and most of all, there are passionate, friendly, and excited children's book enthusiasts.

Sunday afternoon Jerry and Eileen Spinelli gave a fun, playful talk at a chicken cook-out--they basically interviewed each other. Some little tidbits I learned was that Eileen consistently beats Jerry in Scrabble, and that Jerry's slippers at home are 20-years-old. These are things about authors that we need to know!

This morning Peter Jacobi gave a detailed informative speech about how our work need to soar. His mantra that we repeated after him at the end:

Fly, Oh Thought of Mine, on Golden Wings.

I met with four authors one-on-one for 30 minutes, going over pages I had read and critiqued ahead of time, and in the afternoon, after sitting in on Patricia Lee Gauch's workshop on Conflict and Tension, and then Stephen Roxburgh's on Plot, I gave my first of two talks, From Slush to Contract. It's a talk I've given several times before, but as usual I tweaked and specialized it for the audience. I think it was well-received...

And tonight I've just returned from a lovely dinner where Candace Fleming told her own Chautauqua success story. She first came as an attendee 16 years ago, and has now published 22 books with more on the way.

I'm absolutely loving this conference, and so far, would highly recommend it to authors. I believe it's pricey, but they do offer scholarships and grants. And people come from all over the world--so far I've met writers from Ecuador, Turkey, Japan, and Israel.

Tomorrow morning the legendary Patricia Lee Gauch is giving a keynote, and then I meet with my remaining three authors. Everyone meets with their faculty member twice during the week, which I think is a great format.

And so, with that, I bid you all good night. More next week!

POETRY FRIDAY: Anniversary by Cecilia Woloch

On July 19th, my husband and I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. I was a lucky girl. I met my husband in high school. We started dating when we were fifteen. My Mike is a great husband and father, a wonderful friend and brother, and a fabulous cook. We’ve been together for nearly fifty years!

I’ll be away in Maine next Friday—so I thought I’d post a special anniversary poem this week.


Anniversary
by Cecilia Woloch

Didn’t I stand there once,
white-knuckled, gripping the just-lit taper,
swearing I’d never go back?
And hadn’t you kissed the rain from my mouth?
And weren’t we gentle and awed and afraid…

You can read the rest of the poem here.

Here is a picture of Mike and me that was taken recently at the wedding

of the son of two of our best friends.

At Wild Rose Reader, I have two original acrostics: CRAB and CRICKETS. I also have a recommendation for a book of summer acrostics by Steven Schnur.

At Political Verses, I have a poem about the resignation speech of Alaska’s Governor entitled Sarah Palin’s Swan/Duck/Goose Song.

Jama Rattigan has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

Chinasprout Promotion

Did you miss the free bookplate offer from my online booklaunch? Don't worry! You can still get an autographed book!


Chinasprout is offering 10% off copies of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon which will include this special bookplate that I made & autographed for them:



So get a book while supplies last. And don't forget to take a photo with it! Remember:
Go and post your photos!

final fish?

Long-time readers of my blog posts may remember when I was tormented by fish (from this post and this post)--images of fish seemed to swimming in my subconscious, popping up at me randomly and incessantly, as if reminding me that I needed to make a fish book. I thought I had exorcised them when I wrote Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, where a goldfish's voice is finally heard. That, I thought, would be the end of my bizarre fish sightings.

But I was wrong. Today, in the mail, I received this mysterious package:
Strangely, it seemed to be for no one and from myself (but I didn't send it, at least I don't think I did).

Inside is a small white box that contains a....


What?

Yes, it's some kind of fish pin--a real fish encased in resin, then made into a pin.

Accompanying this box is a card that is addressed to "Megan" from "Judith." I don't know a Megan (spelled this way) or a Judith. And who is Andrew? A husband? Son? Boyfriend?



Very curious! Very mysterious! It's like a beginning of a novel! Perhaps it is some sort of sign, a message that there are more fish wanting to be set free from my subconscious. That another fish book is in my destiny.

Or that I just opened Megan's birthday gift from Judith. Sorry, Megan!