'Twas the Morning of Christmas

My writer friend, Susanna Leonard Hill, is hosting a contest on her blog - sorry, the deadline is 11:59 EST tomorrow night, so that doesn't give you much time to write a story and enter! Here's the link if you want to enter or if you just want to read the amazing versions of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas! 

Susanna will choose three finalists and, on December 26th, she'll post them on her blog where her blog-followers can vote for their favorite. The winner will receive their choice of either a $15 Amazon gift card or the 2012 Children's Writers and Illustrators Market!

So, I wrote my own version of the story and have posted it below. Even if I don't make it to the finals, it was a lot of fun writing it!

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah or Happy Kwanzaa!

'Twas the Morning of Christmas

'Twas the morning of Christmas with nothing much newish,

No stockings, no presents, no tree - 'cause we're Jewish

But still, Christmas day is a very big deal
    We have our traditions and big family meal.

    We lounge ‘round the house since we're not in a hurry,
    We stay in our jammies and mukluks, so furry.

    For breakfast we toast up some bagels to eat,
    With layers of cream cheese and lox - what a treat!

    We talk and tell stories and play a few games,
    We light a nice fire and we gaze at the flames.

    We eat Chinese dinner; they serve up big portions
    and then, for dessert, we have cookies with fortunes.

    We finish our feast, then we're off to the show,
    ‘Cause Jews go to movies on Christmas, you know.

    And on our drive home, we admire all the lights,
    Merry Christmas to all and - OY, what a night!

      

2011 Illinois School Library Media Association Conference

Yesterday, I participated in the Illinois School Library Media Association's annual Author Breakfast & Showcase - it was a lot of fun!  During the breakfast, I sat with a wonderful group of librarians and teachers and we talked about children's books, libraries and schools.   After we ate, we heard from Jan Thomas, author of the 2011 Monarch Award winner - Rhyming Dust Bunnies and Leslea Newman, author of the 2011 Bluestem Award winner - Hachiko Waits.


After the breakfast, there was an author showcase where the Illinois authors sat at tables around the perimeter of the room and spoke to conference attendees and signed copies of their books.

If this were a video, you'd hear the crickets chirping :-)

November 2011 - PiBoIdMo

Attention all picture book writers!!!  

2011 PiBoIdMo begins in just two days, on November 1st!  I participated last year and created a fabulous file of story ideas.  Admittedly, not all are gems but there were a bunch with a lot of potential!  

Last year I was a guest poster but Tara is full-up this year (which is awesome) so I'm just a participant.

There's a Preview Day 1 post by Mindy Alyse Weiss up right now to get you started - check it out!

All registered writers will be entered into a drawing for wonderful prizes - one of which is an autographed copy of 1 Zany Zoo and a rhyming picture book critique by yours truly.  Head over to the site and sign up - what are you waiting for?!!

Comedy of Errors #4

It's time to share another faux pas.  Here we go . . .


I wanted to get a manicure and pedicure before my LA conference in August, so I called a place my friend, Jan, suggested.  I made an appointment and a couple of weeks later, I went for my mani/pedi (see how quickly I picked up the lingo?).  


When I walked in, they asked if I was the Living Social client.  I said, no I wasn't but I could be if they wanted me to - they didn't.  During my pedicure, Jen (the woman doing my nails) tried to think of how this mistake could have been made.  I suggested the receptionist wrote it on the wrong day.  They checked - nope.  Someone had another idea - nope . . . and another - no again.  It was really bothering them.


After my pedicure, while Jen was doing my manicure, she said, "It's so strange - the four-digit Living Social number is right next to your name."  Then it hit me - I knew exactly what happened!  When I had called to make my appointment, I thought the receptionist asked for the last four digits of my social security number - apparently she asked for my 4-digit Living Social number.  I thought, "Wow, they are really cautious!"  and, even though I thought it was odd, I gave it to her.  I explained this to Jen and told her the last four digits of my SS number; she checked the book and, sure enough, they were the same - mystery solved! MORON!

(These are not my feet)  :-)

Comedy of Errors # 3 - parts 1 & 2

It's been a while since I've written about something stupid I've done - here's my latest.

Part 1: I was making my way down the aisle of the airplane, on my way home from the LA conference.  I was behind this really tall guy and, when we got to my row, he stopped and I said to him, "Oh good, I hoped you were sitting near me."  It was all over his face - "this lady is trying to pick me up!"  I quickly told him I just wanted him to put my bag in the overhead bin - that's it!  It was awkward, but at least I didn't have to talk to him anymore.

Part 2:  Wrong!  As luck would have it, his seat was next to mine and, after a few uneasy minutes, we began talking.   As a matter of fact, my friend Meg and I talked to him during the whole flight.  It turned out he was a semi-pro hockey player who was born in Spain, grew up in Canada, played hockey in France and currently lives in LA.  He was very knowledgeable, sweet and funny - plus he was really cute!  During our conversation, he mentioned how Meg's green eyes reminded him of his mother's and how rare green eyes are.  Then I butted in with, "My eyes were green until my late twenties, when they miraculously turned blue."  As soon as the words left my mouth, I wished I could have taken them back!  I sounded just like Kristen Wiig's character, Penelope, on Saturday Night Live!  Then I tried to add more details so it didn't sound like I was lying just to get attention.  The guy, Sergio, said, "Yea, I can see how they could have been green - they're pretty."  He was clearly afraid I'd have some sort of psychotic episode!  I stopped trying to convince them - I was only making things worse.  I was SO embarrassed, mostly because Meg and Sergio were trying so hard to make it seem as if it was a normal thing to say!

In case you don't know who Penelope is, or if you just want to see a hilarious skit, here's an example:



And, just to prove I am not a Penelope - here's a picture of me in 7th grade and you can clearly see my eyes are green!  You know I must be desperate to prove I'm not a psychotic one-upper, if I'm willing to share this picture :-)

Anyone else want to confess a Penelope moment?  Please!!