Thing 1 and Thing 2- Big Book Plans

The other day, we saw hundreds of birds flying and had the following conversation:

JOSH: Those birds are flying to Florida
ME: You're probably right sweetie. A lot of birds fly south for the winter.
JOSH: They fly faster than we drive.
ME: Well, not too sure about that. We'd have to Google and see just how fast birds can fly. But my guess is they couldn't keep up a rate of 60 miles per hour.
JORDAN: Well, they'll get there faster than us if we took a plane.
ME: Nope, quite certain that airplanes move WAY faster than birds.
JORDAN: But, Mommy, we'd have to go to the airport and WAIT for the plane. They could just go...

This got us thinking...

JOSH: Let's write a book. WHO WOULD WIN THE RACE?
A bird or a car?

JORDAN: Or... a car or a plane?

ME: Or... a bird or a tiger?" A shark or a whale? A bird or a dolphin?

The possibilities are endless.

My kids are now wondering if Kendra will rep them. Ha!

Creativity- It's in the Genes

How can there be only three posts for October? I wrote tons more than that... or was that all just in my head?

This was a crazy busy month. We had a surprise party for my dad's 70th and most of my creative energy went into creating the content for his birthday video titled "70 Things We Love About Pa!" (Feel free to steal the idea... it makes an amazing gift!)

The party wasn't a total surprise though. Josh whispered something to Jordan and my dad her reply "Joshy, not until the guests arrive. " Then she spotted my dad a few feet away and said, "No guests. There are no guests."

Jordan got the "spill the beans" gene from me for sure. I am TERRIBLE at keeping secrets. That's because I am an ENFP on the Myers-Briggs scale, and we're notorious for "speaking before we think."

Fortunately, Jordan got some good genes from me as well.

The other night she wrote her first poem in bed, and I am proud to say, the meter gene lives on!

Sally's Pearl

Sally is a little girl,
and Sally has a little pearl.
She loves her pearl very much.
And Sally loves to touch, touch, touch.
When Sally goes to bed at night,
her pearl gives her a little fright.
Boo!

Every Word Matters

Sometimes my husband comes home and asks me, "How was your meeting with your writing partner, Becky?"

And I say, "We spent like an hour arguing over one word."

That may seem insane.

But Janet Reid has an amazing post about how the placement of one word can make all the difference in the world.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Okay, so... I am a very blunt critiquer. I try to warn people ahead of time, don't ask me for my opinion unless you can take it. Ha! I mean what is the point in asking for criticism unless you want honest feedback.

So, when Becky and I finished a draft of our new story BW, of course, I wanted to hear what people really thought.

THE GOOD
M- I like the concept and you should keep playing with it.
J- I like the idea of the story (just nothing that you've done with it)
B- It's a good premise and it is worth pursuing

THE BAD
M- Too similar in style to How I Became a Pirate, voice is too old
J- There is no voice (Yikes! But doesn't that contradict M?)
B- The ending doesn't work for me

THE UGLY
J- I hate it. It's BORING. This story should be hilarious, but there was NOTHING funny in it. I would never want to read it a second time.

Ouch!

(Okay, in J's defense, she was talking to her own mom, so she shouldn't have to worry about tact.)

Ha.

I think I'll go crawl under a rock now.

The Joy of Reading

My son read his first book this week. I use the term "read" loosely. He did a tiny bit of decoding but relied heavily on pictorial and context cues. (The book had a simple repetitive pattern which would allow even a toddler to pretty much recite it from memory.)

I'll never forget the look on his face when he was done. Such a sense of accomplishment!

ME: Joshy, I am so proud of you!!!
JOSH: Can you tell all your friends on Facebook?

Ha! Not sure if that line says more about him... or more about me?

(But if you were ever confused about the difference between showing and telling, there is some excellent showing for you!)

I Have to Draw the Line Somewhere

Okay, so Friday night I took the folding chairs out of the garage. I opened one up to sit on it, and Oh. My. God.

Inside were four tiny newborn mice! (Maybe five... I didn't stick around long enough to get a good count)

I ran off screaming.

My kids stared in complete fascination. They tried to guess how old the mice were. A few days? A few hours? Their eyes were not even open yet.

We discussed what to do with the babies.

I was not about to go anywhere near the little guys, so we waited for David to come home and we agreed that he would fold the chair back up and put it exactly where we had found it.

Yup. Dumb and dumber here. We're supposed to get mice out of our homes, not bring them in.

But I was worried the mom wouldn't be able to find her babies to nurse them.

I may be a plant murderer. But I cannot have a whole family of mammals on my conscience.

Finishing Touches

I bought a plant at Ikea today. Not sure why, since the one plant that I already own is always in a state of near-dead. I guess I just felt the kitchen was missing something. When we bought our house four years ago, we completely renovated it. Everything is brand new... cabinets, appliance, counter-tops, everything! It's gorgeous. But yet, we never put the little finishing touches on it. To give it that warmth. Like a manuscript- when the plot arc is totally in place, but it still needs a little something to make it feel complete.

Gosh is there anything that can't be used as a writing analogy?

Becky and I are are at that point right now in a our new picture book manuscript. We have a draft finished, but we can't agree on how to wrap it up in a way that feels entirely satisfying to the reader. Sometimes it's those little threads that weave through a story and give it that feeling of perfection. A short line that repeats. A minor theme that recurs. We'll get it eventually.

Now, if I can just keep this plant alive.