It was a good ALA (Midwinter 2011)

Yes, it was a good ALA:

Jen and I celebrate with the honored books*

But let me back up. Midwinter was held in beautiful San Diego this year. ALA Midwinter is generally quieter than other conferences--we don't usually bring authors to the conference, because many librarians are busy meeting with their committees to decide the Youth Media Awards. No authors means no "author care" for editors. So, what do editors do at Midwinter? We work at the booth, we meet with agents, we walk the floor and check out our competition, and we sit in on open committee meetings. I sat in on a few sessions of the Best Fiction for Young Adults (BFYA--formerly known as BBYA--Best Books for Young Adults. They changed the committee to only consider fiction, as the list was unwieldy when it included nonfiction. There is a separate YA nonfiction award and list now), and a bit of the Notables committee meeting, too. It's fascinating to hear the members talk about the books, and I especially love it when they get really passionate or emotional about the books. Although, it can also be nerve-wracking when they talk about books that I've edited!

This year, since I was already in Southern California for the holidays, I arrived in San Diego early to help a little with setup:

boxes everywhere

Zoe and I are proud of our tower of power. And no, we did not match on purpose.

enjoying our post set-up treat at Ghirardelli

The food eating and tower of ARC building continued throughout the show:

fish tacos!

Malinda Lo's HUNTRESS

13 CURSES by Michelle Harrison

FALLING FOR HAMLET by Michelle Ray
(the original pile was bigger, but these piles are prettier.)

chocolate souffle

tater tot nachos!

bouillabaisse

But it wasn't all food and building. We also hosted a preview breakfast bright and early Saturday morning (7:30 am!) where we highlighted around 25 of our upcoming titles for 2011. This is what the room looked like:

Our special guest star was debut author Holly Goldberg Sloan. Her YA novel I'll Be There is due out this May. Holly was so lovely and funny and her publishing story was captivating.

And now, on to the awards. ALA Midwinter is always buzzing all weekend with people speculating on and trying to predict the winners of the Caldecott, Newbery, Printz, and more. To be perfectly honest, aside from having fairly high hopes for a Geisel medal of some color for Grace's Ling & Ting, we weren't expecting anything else this year. Not that we ever expect awards, but we've had a little more buzz going into a conference in prior years. (Well, make that last year, and no other year before that....)

A few weeks prior, the Morris finalists (for debut YA) had been announced, so we knew going in that we would have at least one medal for Karen Healey's Guardian of the Dead (yay Karen!).

We found out Sunday morning that we had won the Printz Medal for Ship Breaker. Amazing. Well, I didn't find out till a little later, but suspected when our library marketing director Victoria Stapleton and the editor of Ship Breaker, Editorial Director Jennifer Hunt ran out of the booth together...

We heard about Grace's silver Geisel honor later that afternoon evening. Happy, good news. Of course, we were not to reveal any of this news before the press conference on Monday, so we had to keep poker faces at the booth and not look too happy. But it was a good day, and my colleagues and I celebrated with champagne and Karaoke later that night (speaking of poker faces, I sang Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" up on a stage. Thankfully, there is no video or photo evidence, to my knowledge.)

On Monday morning, as per tradition, we were to gather in Victoria's hotel room at 6:30 am to see if we were getting any additional calls. At 6 am, as I was getting ready, I received a call from Victoria.

"You should sit down" she said. For some reason, I thought this meant there was bad news of some sort, although what kind of bad news she could share with me at that day and hour is beyond me.

"Dave the Potter has just won the Caldecott Honor," she tells me.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the first words out of my mouth were "Holy f*ck" which is saying a lot because I really hardly ever curse. But I think that wrapped up what I was feeling at that moment. For whatever reason, that possibility hadn't been on my radar, not because I didn't think Bryan Collier's absolutely breathtaking art wasn't deserving, but because there had been very little buzz on the book. But...wow.

"Get here as soon as you can!" she said. I hurried to get ready, and while I was in the elevator, she called again. "Dave the Potter has also won the Coretta Scott King Medal for illustration," she informed me. I wasn't alone in the elevator, and in the off chance the woman was a librarian or in publishing, I couldn't give anything away. "That's very interesting. I'm in the elevator. I'll be there in a minute." and then I went to the hotel room and proceeded to jump up and down in glee.

We also found out that Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes had won a Coretta Scott King honor for text. Woo-hoo! Room service delivered bagels, pastries, coffee, juice, and champagne, and we toasted our wonderful books with mimosas.

And then it was on to the press conference for the announcements of the awards. We actually got lost trying to find the ballroom in the conference center and missed the very beginning, but we soon settled in. One of the first awards announced was the Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award. And SURPRISE! Freaks and Revelations by Davida Wills Hurwin won an Honor! The committee hadn't informed us in advance. And, as I found out later when I called Davida, they hadn't called her, either. I was double surprised because the book was published in 2009--but it had published in November, so was eligible. I love this special book so much--read more in my Beyond the Book post. It hasn't seemed to find its audience, so I hope this award will bring a new readership to this powerful book.

Our other winners, adorned with their fancy medals:

For a complete list of the winners, go here.

To be honest, I'm still in shock. After the amazing conference we had last year, this feels a little bit...greedy, somehow. I also can't believe that I've almost achieved my pie-in-the sky goal for 2011 that I posted two weeks ago:

-Win an award for books I've edited in every category: picture book, early reader, MG, and YA

With Dave the Potter, Ling & Ting, Freaks and Revelations, and Guardian of the Dead all winning honors, I "only" have a MG award left to attain. That doesn't seem as daunting a goal as when I first stated it! I can't help but wonder if this is a case of me throwing a wish out into the universe and having it answered.

I do want to say that these awards really are a crap shoot, or, as another editor said, winning is like winning the lottery--who knows what each committee is going to think about any book. There are so many deserving and wonderful books out there, and authors and illustrators who weren't honored last Monday shouldn't feel disappointed. As one author on Facebook said, "we're in good company!" So true. But for those books that do win, it's wonderful when the hard work of the authors, illustrators, editors, designers, production people, copyeditors, proofreaders, marketers, publicists, etc. etc. is rewarded.

And of course winning is happy and giddy--all in all, not a bad start to the year!


*As Freaks and Revelations was published in 2009, we did not have a copy in the booth to display

it worked for Betty White

Someone has started a Campaign to bring the 2011 Newbery and Caldecott winners to the Today Show on FB after the show's decision to break the 11 year tradition of featuring the winners to showcase Snooki!

Maybe if enough people hop on board, the Today Show will reconsider. Or at least not make the same choice next year.

A NEW BLOG FOR THE NEW YEAR

I had to work yesterday so I'm posting today:

I'm starting a new blog:

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY
http://childrensbooks-goodbadugly.blogspot.com/

I DON'T wish for it to compete with this blog in any way. I felt that I had to compartmentalize myself because some of my posts didn't fit here. Perhaps I'm too opinionated or whatnot what but the BRG are a peaceful lot and the blog is peaceful - like snow - if you want to run with the metaphor theme. I love all of the ladies and don't want to ever cause any hurt feelings because of anything I post. SO my solution? A new blog. There were also some things that I started a long, long time ago on my website. You can take a peek for yourself - http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/articles.html - that I abandoned--author and publishing folk interviews and that sort of thing and I'd really like to start doing them again (I believe that Grace is even interviewed from way back when!) Why not give myself that kick in the pants?

So check it out and let me know what you think! I'm very open to opinions and new ideas for the blog right now. And if you're an author, illustrator, editor, designer, bookseller, teacher, librarian, or other children's publishing industry person and would like to be interviewed, let me know!

One topic for next week will be e-books. I'm just itching to say a few new things that I've found out about them.

Winter Wonderland: Original Snow Poems & Pictures

As Grace wrote in her post yesterday—it’s a winter wonderland here! I thought I’d post some of my original snow poems and pictures that I took yesterday.


A SNOW QUATRAIN

Snow dropped by…
and here am I
catching flakes
of falling sky!

SNOW HAIKU

After the blizzard
snowmen are sprouting up
like winter wildflowers

Like stars shaken from
The sky, snowflakes whirling down
In white galaxies

A snowman shadow
paints himself in blue upon
a cold white canvas

WINTER BALLET

It’s white snow,
Bright snow,
Soft-as-feathers light snow…
Tiny ballerinas there
Pirouetting through the air
With their shiny crystal shoes
In their winter dance debuts.

UNTITLED

(I have written many different versions of this poem over the years. I'm not sure I've got it right yet.)

Snow whispered down so soft and light
I didn't hear it come last night.
A white coat covers everything--
The porch, the walk, my tire swing.

My yard looks like a polar bear
Wrapped up in her creamy hair...
All snuggled warm inside her skin
That will not let the winter in.

WINTER WHITE
(Inspired by Joyce Sidman's Red Sings from Treetops.)

Winter White
whirls in the wind,
waltzes down from clouds,
alights with feathered feet.
It pillows the ground,
muffling the sound of footsteps
on the walk.
Winter White
wraps the rhododendron
in a fluffy shawl,
lays a feathered quilt
over the frozen pond.
Winter White
etches windowpanes with frosty fingertips.
It whispers through icy lips,
sounds like a ghost
shivering in cold blue shadows.

You can read more of my color poems here.

********************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have Jack Attack: An Original Fairy Tale Poem.

Laura Salas has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Writing the World for Kids.

gathering snow

It's a winter wonderland here in New England and I love it. For traveling and all practical things it is a pain, but the sheer beauty of it is breathtaking.

I guess one of the reasons that I like it is because I've always kind of seen it similar to the writing process. Tiny snowflakes falling everywhere are like the ideas and experiences all around you. And when it comes time to write, you gather the snow and build.

So to me, it seems fitting that the snow is falling now because presently I am in the "gathering snow" phase of my work. Right now I am just trying to experience things that may inspire something in my writing later. Like seeing Cirque Du Soleil's Dralion:

And visiting the Peabody Essex Museum's exhibit on the Forbidden City's Treasures:
Next on my list is a Shen Yun Performance and then the Met's Special Exhibit on Chinese Art (though I have to figure out when I can get down to NYC). I don't know how exactly any these things will help with my work but if they do, I hope they help me create something beautiful.

avoiding the pressure

I was just scanning through the posts when I came across mine, and thought, "I didn't write that!" I got a little weirded out. Then I realized that it was the me in a time machine, going way back to 2006! Can you believe that? 5 years ago! Damn. Time is flying by and I'm aging rapidly. Or something like that. But anyway, if you look a few posts down you will see one about me talking about a bunch of different things, but on the list is what I would do if I won the Caldecott. I haven't had that Caldecott thought in a long, long time. Does that mean that I'm not a dreamer anymore? I don't know. I still dream, but not about that one. I have other dreams.

I just want to give a shout out to all of the youngins out there: don't put too much pressure on yourself! Do what you do best. Don't think about that top award. Chances are (and I don't say this to get you down or make you depressed) you won't win it. Yes, someone has to win it, but statistically speaking, you won't win. And yes, in my post way back in 2006 I said that I didn't expect to win and I really didn't but there was still that little glimmer of something. I don't know what. But you know what? Things come along when you don't expect them to. I got what I wanted for the most part. I have been recommended by the NYT, I've had my starred reviews, my ALA whatever it's called (I'm sorry, I really can't remember - brain drain), and so on. My point is that I think when you just DO then it will come. When you PUSH it might not. You might bomb. Or you might stress too much and end up DISAPPOINTED. I was just talking about this with my mom. I was talking about my latest book and the author's note and how much trouble I was having and she asked me why I was adding so much stuff and making it sound so boring to the ordinary person. I explained that I wanted to win a certain award and to do that I thought I should change the way I make books. I said "Well, the nonfiction books that win awards put more of this and that in and my books are very simple and..." She said that I was being ridiculous. She said if I wrote books for that purpose then I'll sound false. And you know what? She's right. So I started over. I'm never going to try go do that again. I promise! So what if I never win that award. And this year I didn't even realize when the award day had popped up... and I didn't care! I'm proud of what I've accomplished. I need to be happy with that.

I will continue to make books that I think (hope) kids will love. I will do the very best that I can and will push myself to find new subjects and improve, learn and grow on my own terms. I'm not going to add in this or that so that I can win an award or make my book seem more appealing to a librarian on a committee. I'm ashamed that I was even going to attempt it. That's all I can do. And for all you new people out there (and more experienced) don't fall pray to what I have. You will be a fool if you do.

meghan

Tradition and 2011

When Alvina’s entry last week mentioned the tradition of BRG’s to post their New Year’s resolutions, it got me thinking about tradition.

Every New Year’s Day since that day in 1995, I have placed a new, daily Disney calendar on my nightstand and ripped off the cover so January 1st showed. Why my mother decided I needed or wanted a Disney calendar for Hanukkah at 16 years old, I can’t say. I also can’t explain why it became clear that she should buy me another the following year. In 1996, the calendar came with me to overnight camp and that summer while she was becoming my best friend, my co-counselor and I would turn the page together at midnight. Starting that summer, the calendar became a sort of horoscope; it was always easy to start the day with the image of Cinderella’s fairy godmother, but when Queen Maleficent greeted me, I approached the day with trepidation. Through the years the calendars have followed me…to college, to my first apartment, to New York.

(Please still take me seriously as a professional literary agent)

In December, my mother called and said she had bad news, “Rebecc, I can’t find the Disney calendar. “ Still on the phone, we went online together and confirmed—there is not a 2011 daily Disney calendar. Now I know that so many have faced much greater losses. Still, without a choice, a tradition that I’ve maintained for half my life ended.

When I was at my mother’s house between Christmas and New Year’s she had the local news on TV (for some reason she still doesn’t believe me that the Daily Show provides more news that he local NBC). There was a “man on the street” segment in which people were asked what their New Year’s resolutions were. One woman exclaimed, “If I tell you it won’t come true!” and the newscaster responded, “No! That’s a wish!”

It was a funny moment, but it also made me think. While it’s pretty obvious, I had what my 2010 gift bestower, Oprah, would call “an ah-ha moment.” A wish is hoped for and beyond one’s control. (I realize Alvina and Grace also mentioned this in their 2011 posts, but I needed to realize it for myself and in my own way). A resolution is an achievable goal that can only be reached by the efforts of the list maker herself. So here are my resolutions…*

1. By the end of each business day, respond or have my assistant respond to every email or call from a client, a publisher’s office, or within Writers House.

Now it may seem a given that I would do this, but days are quickly filled with the most urgent matters and on projects that were already on the calendar for the day. At times, the emails I receive between the time I leave the office and enter the next morning could fill my entire day. My goal is not to answer every inquiry posed to me daily, because it would be impossible. I will respond and give a realistic timeline for when their email or call will be addressed or who I need to be in touch with to provide a complete response.

2. To have bi-monthly meetings with my assistant dedicated to discussion of submissions and queries from potential clients.

3. Be more consistent about announcing clients’ achievements on Twitter and Facebook.

4. Check in more (whether over lunch, drinks, or just by picking up the phone) with editors and other agents to see what is new, talk about the industry, or to pick their brains about something instead of just calling when there is a particular matter regarding one of my clients that needs to be discussed.

5. Be a better Book Club hostess. I started an industry book club in 2005 that meets monthly at Writers House. I love having to opportunity to read published middle grade and YA books with other adults who read and love these books. However, in 2010, we most definitely did not meet 12 times…and that is admittedly my fault. I will make sure our record is better in 2011.

6. Check in with clients who don’t call or email as often to provide the opportunity for discussion about what has happened since we last spoke and get updates on how their writing or art is going even if I know that they are making progress and are sure to deliver on time.

7. Make sure clients 2011 needs are met. As an agent, especially one who represents so many picture book clients, it’s easy to live two or more years ahead (I have already sold books on schedule for 2014). While keeping a close eye on selling books for the future, I can always do more to attend to the books published this year and the promotion that goes along with those books.



There are a couple more resolutions (8 &9), but I am going to discuss them in greater detail in a post to come.

10. And though it may seem vague, my big resolution is to look carefully at my work- related traditions. There are many that are in place because they serve my clients and me well. I certainly am not going to rid myself of those simply for the sake of change. However, I resolve to challenge my own traditions when they can be improved upon or should be ended (to save time, open my mind in some way, allow for new connections to be made, etc).

Of course, all my resolutions for 2011 are not business related, and I won’t enumerate them here, but I do want to touch on them. I would guess many of you readers have personal as well as professional resolutions for the New Year and they can definitely effect each other, no? Anyway…

I was part of the beginning of BRG resolution-making in December of 2008.


If you notice, there is silverware carefully placed over some of my resolutions, theoretically so that BRG readers wouldn’t see them. However, the real reason was probably that I didn’t want everyone to see goals that I might not really expect myself to achieve. They were resolutions not wishes. They were in my control, not left up to chance. They wouldn’t be easy and would require change. So, in terms of personal resolutions, I resolve not to keep with tradition, to not have the need to put those resolutions on my list in 2012.

I could tell you what my wishes are for 2011 too…but if I told you, they wouldn’t come true!

p.s. It seems to be a new tradition of mine to write blogs that are one week late. I will write about the ALA awards next week, but can’t end this entry without saying how proud I am of my client David Ezra Stein who received a Caldecott Honor for his picture book, INTERRUPTING CHICKEN, and our Grace who received a Geisel Honor for LING & TING: Not Exactly the Same!

*I have decided that action taken to meet these resolutions did not begin on the stroke of midnight January 1st, but the day this blog posted. My resolutions. My rules.

Rebecca Sherman is a fabulous agent with over 9 years of experience at Writer's House. Her clients include Lunch Lady author/illustrator Jarrett Krosoczka, the Scott O'Dell Award Winner Matt Phelan, Caldecott Honor Illustrator Brian Pinkney, recent Caldecott Honor Illustrator David Ezra Stein and Blue Rose Girls Anna Alter and Grace Lin. You can follow Rebecca on twitter @rebeccagent.

Ling & Ting Receives 2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award!

I listened to the ALA Youth Media Awards podcast earlier today. I was SOOOOOO happy when I heard that Grace had won a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award for her first early reader—Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same!. Grace is way too modest to make the announcement on Blue Rose Girls—so I decided to do it myself. I’m one of Grace’s biggest fans and admirers.

From ALA: Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for the most distinguished beginning reader book “Bink and Gollie,” written by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee and illustrated by Tony Fucile is the 2011 Seuss Award winner. The book is published by Candlewick Press.

Two Geisel Honor Books were named: “Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same!” written and illustrated by Grace Lin and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.; and “We Are in a Book!” written and illustrated by Mo Willems and published by Hyperion Books for Children, an imprint of Disney Book Group.

Congratulations, Grace!!!

Other Awards and Starred Reviews for Ling & Ting
•Junior Library Guild Selection
•starred Booklist review
•starred Kirkus review
•starred Horn Book review
•starred School Library Journal review
•NY Times Sunday Book Review
•2010 Kirkus Best Children's Books
•2010 Booklist Editor's Choice
•PW's Best of Books of 2010

Ling & Ting Book Trailer


Ling & Ting Paper Dolls

Ling & Ting Educator’s Guide

look how pretty Alvina looks!

of course, I'm biased and think she looks nicer here:

from the BRG archive: success and the road to publication

It’s my turn to post and just as suspected, I can’t come up with a thing to say. Certainly nothing insightful like the previous posts by the wonderful and talented others. I’m going to take this opportunity to throw some random thoughts and questions your way. Consider this sort of a free association.

My first question is––if you are a writer, what would you do if you won the Newbery? If you are an illustrator, what about the Caldecott? I’m afraid, sadly, that I’m the type of person who can never truly enjoy things for what they are. This is a conversation I posted on my personal blog––

What would I do if I became successful?
On Monday, while at work, a coworker asked what I would do if I ever won the Caldecott.
"Yeah, like that would happened," I said.
She said "You'd pass out, wouldn't you?"
I said "I would never win. It's like winning the lottery. It's not gonna happen."
"But you'd pass out."
"No, I wouldn't."
"Yes, you would."
"No, that wouldn't happen. This is a silly conversation."
"You'd pass out. I would."
"IF that happened, and I got the phone call, then I'd think someone was prank calling me. I'd tell the caller they were mean and that it's not cool to do something like that. Tricking people is not nice"
"Well, once you realized that it was for real, you'd pass out."
I thought for a moment. "No, I'd worry about giving a speech. I'd worry about what I was supposed to wear. I'd worry that I wouldn't be able to get up early enough to make it onto the Today Show."

My second random thought is I guess more of a complaint––I can’t stand that 3 out of the 4 publishers I’ve worked with want the cover before any interiors. Obviously you want the cover to reflect the book as a whole… but how can you do that if you don’t know what the rest of the book will look like! This is a constant problem. It is also a problem when you’re not quite sure what you want your characters to look like and keep changing your mind. Okay, the “you” in this rant is obviously a fill in for “me.” If there are others out there who feel the same way, speak up! It’s time we illustrators take a stand!

Here’s another random thought––I often forget how large my desire and desperation was to be published. At the tender age of 22, fresh out of RISD, ALL I wanted was to be published! I didn’t care if I was successful or had money or anything else. That was my one goal. I remember when I got the “phone call.” Actually, it was a phone message. I had just moved to NYC and was not mature enough to leave normal voice mail messages. Instead, I did accents. One week it sounded like a southern belle lived in the little Williamsburg ghetto-style apartment while the next week one could swear it was someone from Englad. Confusing? Yes. Funny? I thought so! I think my editor-to-be called back three times before leaving a very discombobulated message. She said something like “Um…I don’t know... um... I don't know if I have the right phone number… this is…um…I’m looking for Meghan McCarthy. This is so-and-so from Viking Children’s Books and I’m calling with good news…” I remember leaping out of the shower with no towel on (feel free to imagine whatever you’d like there!) and jumping up and down. I knew what this meant! I took a moment…more like 15 min…to collect myself, then called my mom and a few friends…THEN called the editor back. After I got the official offer I thought I would be set for life! I told my friend “I’m going to be an author and I will never have to worry about money or holding down a crappy job again!” Okay, I was WRONG WRONG WRONG but that’s the way the story goes.

What was your first offer like? Editors––what’s it like from the other end? Let me and all of us know!

I have now rambled on for a VERY long time. It’s funny how “nothing to say” turns into a LOT to say.

Farewell,
Meghan
(soon I will come up with my own amazing tagline! Or perhaps you can help me decide what it shall me. Yes, that will be grand)

Originally published Aug. 6, 2006

Well begun is half done

Usually, I have a long list of resolutions and accomplish very few of them. Last year, though, I did achieve the main thing -- earn enough money to live on without worrying. That is harder to do if you're a freelancer than I ever thought it would be when I left my last real job: writing about finance for the Fidelity Web site.

Me doing this was always fairly ridiculous -- though I really loved the group I worked with, especially the designers (we were called the "Creative Group" by the rest of the company and had our own litttle clubhouse). But every time I wrote an article, I'd have to look up words in Barron's or some such -- a blue book that defines financial terms like "put" and "call." Each time, I'd vow to remember what they meant, but it was so foreign to me that I never could.

Now that my income for the next 6 months at least is assured, achieving other goals feels within my control. It may be uphill work



but I'll make it. I've whittled my goals down to three -- though each has specifics (how to do it, milestones, subgoals).

GET MY ENERGY BACK
*chakra chanting and yoga, bouncing (I got a mini-trampoline: bouncing on it is really good for your lymph system), vigorous exercise--walk, swim, ski, ride a horse or bicycle every day.
*stick with the Fat Flush diet -- this means planning out meals and having good vegetables around and even, for busy days, cooked and waiting to be eaten...and NOT having things like chocolate, nuts, and wine in the house
*take vitamins, drink water every day
*no sugar
*in bed by 10pm -- NO STAYING UP ALL NIGHT reading or, worse, watching addictive series from Netflix (most of the old Masterpiece Theatres are there for instant download! Very tempting), or worst of all, worrying.

WRITE, TRYING MY HARDEST
*start at 7.30 every morning
*finish a chapter a week -- it doesn't have to be perfect, but it does have to be Good Enough, with THINGS HAPPENING, not just conversation and descriptions.....



DON'T WAIT
*wear cute clothes and look nice (as Grace said, what am I saving them for?) every day.
*see the people I love MUCH more often
*go ski-ing, take riding lessons
(*go to England)
*feel grateful for what I have NOW -- stop living in the future

"Happy is he, and he alone,
the man who can call today his own.
He who looking back can say,
Tomorrow do your worst for I have lived today!"

Underlying attittude: COMMIT/DO THINGS WHOLEHEARTEDLY OR NOT AT ALL
--this is a little harder to explain, but I'll try. It means: when I'm working, really work. When I'm relaxing,really relax. When I'm having fun, revel in it, enjoy it -- don't ruin it by thinking I should be working. Minimize activities that are neither work nor play; just being HONEST can make things one or the other. For example, if I'm writing email to friends, admit that it's Just for Fun, don't pretend I'm writing!

Similarly, eliminate activities that I don't really enjoy but find myself doing out of habit or boredom or indecision or lack of energy. Asking myself,
"Is this productive? Is this fun? If not -- do I have to do it?"
If the answer to all three is no, don't do it. Well....there are SOME things that are niether productive nor fun that you do have to do, but not that many. Some can be skipped, some can be off-loaded onto others-- and the ones I have to do, I will do quickly, and without procrastinating.

Procrastinating just prolongs the energy spent on something -- or, more poetically,
"Procrastination is the thief of time."
So, just do the boring things and get them over with -- and NOT first thing in the morning. Save the times with the best energy for the most important activities.

I'm happy to report that eight days into the new year, I'm on my way! I already have more energy, have lost a little weight, and am making progress on my novel.

I love new years and new starts. We used to sing this at school in, I think, second grade (imagine a bouncy tune and seven year olds singing it while the teacher played the piano):

"JANUARY DAYS ARE SHORT!
JANUARY NIGHTS ARE LONG!
A HAPPY NEW YEAR HAS JUST BEGUN
SO SING THIS JANUARY SONG."

I do.

my video in B&W

Not All Princes Are Cut from the Same Cloth: An Original Fairy Tale Poem

A few weeks ago I posted Fairy for Hire, an original poem from my unpublished collection Excerpts from the Fairy Tale Files. Today, I have another poem from the same collection.

NOT ALL PRINCES ARE CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH

“Yoohoo, Rapunzel! It’s your prince
With a gallon of Supreme Crème Rinse…
A gift for you, my lady fair,
To bring out highlights in you hair.
Oh hark! Rapunzel, listen, dear.
There’s something urgent you must hear.
I cannot climb your golden braid.
I’ve vertigo and I’m afraid
Of falling from the tower top—
At least a fifty-five-foot drop!
I just might break my royal bones.”

Rapunzel, in the tower, groans.
“Alas, I’ll live here all my life.
How will I marry? Be your wife?
You’re just a chicken! How did I
Get stuck with such a coward? WHY?
Sleeping Beauty’s prince is brave,
Prevails through hazards just to save
His dozing damsel in distress.
YOU give me crème rinse? I’m depressed.
Now show some gumption or I’ll be
A prisoner for eternity.
Unless you free me from this jail,
No one will write our fairy tale.”

***************

At Wild Rose Reader, I have an original fairy tale letter poem titled My Dear Little Red.

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Live. Love. Explore! this week.

And as for 2011 goals...

I don't have any. When you get sick, as I am, you realize that there's no point in having goals because you never know what's going to happen to you. All I can do is take one day at a time. ONE DAY. That is all. I don't even want to see beyond a week. I used to be a workaholic and in a lot of ways I miss that. I had a lot of drive. I hope to get that back when I get things under control but I don't think I can ever have large goals again. I had a dream last night and my grandmother was in it. She died when I was a teenager. She was going to my funeral. I really miss her a lot. I'm not saying I'm going to die. All I'm saying is that goals would only make my situation worse. I feel like I can be a better person each day without them. I go to the gym regularly, I try to get my protein in, I try to update my website and be creative... and I'm getting myself out there. I feel that that's enough.

this and that

I'm STILL working on my author's note. Wah. Really. Wah. I hope it will be done soon. After that i need to move on quickly to my next project with S&S. It's about how the current flag got all its stars. It sounds boring but I promise it's not!

So the storm was crazy here in NYC. Now plowed streets. No garbage pick-up. Lots of slushing through the snow and getting your pants and shoes wet.

If you know about the crazy stories of birds falling from the sky you'll find my video interesting:

http://www.meghan-mccarthy.com/the_birds.html

While I was at my parents house all of these birds gathered. More than we'd ever seen before. It was crazy! Maybe there really is something happening with birds. I caught it with my ipod--what a great little device!

So I don't have anything special to talk about. I'm all over the place with this and that. I just have a lot of different things do deal with and I feel kind of nuts. For example: I got a speeding ticket and they couldn't print the thing out so they said they'd put it in the mail. Well the ticket took a month to come. I paid it. But apparently I paid it too late (not my fault - it's because it took a month for them to put the thing in the mail!) so now I'm going to lose my license if I don't pay a much bigger fine unless I answer a letter - but I only had a week to answer it and because of the holidays it didn't come in time! Everything is just crazy. And meanwhile I'm supposed to get the author's note done and be PAINTING a new book! PAINTING! i haven't even done the sketches!

LIFE JUST GETS IN THE WAY. It's not like going to work and then coming home. Freelance life is different.

meghan

It's not an easy reader!

I was honored to be this month's guest blogger for TeachingBooks.net! Here's a snippet:

I admit I gave a little sigh of relief when I saw that my publisher classified my book Ling & Ting (Little Brown, 2010) as an early reader. So many times titles for this level are referred to as easy readers. I know I am biased, but to me there is nothing easy about a successful book for beginning readers...read the rest at the Teaching Books blog