Random writing related stuff:
My guest blog was posted over at Witchy Chicks.  I rambled on the process of a book going from my mind to a bookstore/library shelf.

Harper did this video thing, & they posted it.  It's already been on Amazon for a while & on my website under media.

Booksigning Today
Today I had a signing at Borders Woodbridge (in Northern VA, abt 30 minutes south of DC at the giant shopping area off the interstate) which was just good fun. 


Random Thoughts on book signings:

 Jury Duty, Motorcycle Attire, & the Library of Congress
I'm in a mood tonight. . .  I've hit restless this evening, but there's no solution just now.   The book-currently-without-a-name (previously Enthralled) will be returned to the editors again by close of business Monday.  . . which is good bc I'm to report for jury duty on Wednesday.  Of course, as much as I want to be a responsible citizen . . . I'm really hoping to be sent back home bc I wanna go play.  Yes, I know that's horrible of me.  Being a Responsible Adult means I'll go & do my part, but it doesn't mean that the urge not to is gone.  Submitting book=treat time and somehow sitting at a courthouse doesn't feel like a treat.

Alas. 

OTOH, the week after this one I have my Library of Congress talk & Spouse is off that day so . . . umm, unless it rains, we're taking the new motorcycle so we can ride a bit before & after :)   The challenge of this plan is finding clothes that are appropriate for a) back of bike & b) professional thing.  I could be slightly less than responsible & wear a skirt on the bike. . . which wouldn't be the least responsible garb I've worn to ride, but isn't quite the thing I know I should wear. ("It's not that I wanted to be that comfortable. I had a thing at a library!")  Ahem. Or I could wear something practical. . . or yanno, stop & change. I suspect that this third plan is the best option.

I'm starting to feel excited about my WIP. The last book I wrote was so hard and the rivision was so traumatic that I kind of forgot how to love the process. This is the PERFECT book to rekindle the love.

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wish I could go to Indiana to do reasearch, but it is not in the cards right now. With Tyler working two jobs and me jaunting off to MA in two weeks to meet with family there, it is just not practical. We just don't have the money. I'm sure everyone reading this is in the same boat, so I can't complain. It is just part of life. In the mean time, I am beginning to enjoy writing again. I hope it continues.

Today was warm. It has been such a chilly Spring. It keeps snowing and just when we think it is going to warm up, it snows again. I don't mind, I love snow, but today is really nice. It is in the 80s. Tyler hooked up the evaporative cooler and it feels delightfully humid and cool inside. Outside it is absolutely beautiful!

Today Simon went to the temple for the first time. Kids need to be at least 12 years old to go. The other day, he reminded me that Saturday was our ward temple day and asked if he might go. I was delighted that he would ask. Today, I stayed home with the girls and Tyler took Simon. They had a nice time.

What?! There is a strange guy playing basketball in our driveway. Hold on. Okay, he's gone. that was weird.

Well, I better go, I have to switch the laundry and work on my WIP. Have a great weekend, all!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago, I was working with people with disabilities.  Had our first foster child.  And had just learned I was expecting my first birth child. 

2. What are 5 things you need to do today?
Today our family already walked a 5K.
We watched my son's soccer game.  Go, J!  He won.
Portraits for said son.  Adorable.
Deep clean for an hour or two, because Saturdays are always dedicated to that.  UGH!
Grill some hot dogs and maybe run through the sprinklers because I'm sunburned and it's HOT!

3. What are some snacks you enjoy?
Dried cranberries, dark chocolate, and puerquitos.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Haa haa haa.  Obviously, I'd be dreaming.

5. What are 3 bad habits?
Mine, or other people's?  Hee hee.  Okay, fine.
I hate to do laundry, so it piles up until Saturdays.
I can make terrible faces.  Not on purpose, but I'm very expressive.  
I put myself down too much.

6. Name 5 places you have lived.
Rexburg, Idaho
Provo, Utah
St. George, Utah
Vilonia, Arkansas
Idaho Falls, Idaho

7. What are 5 jobs have you had?
How do I make my jobs sound the best, you know resume-ish?
Cleaning Goddess for an Elementary School AKA Custodian while putting myself through college.
Fashion Goddess at a retail chain.  AKA Clothing Manager.
Developmental Specialist for Persons with Disabilities.  AKA Case manager.
Rehabilitation Specialist for Dept. of Human Services.  AKA Court appointed by judge to help birth parents regain custody of children.
Domestic Goddess, Foster Parent, and Mother Extrodinaire.  AKA  The best job in the world for me right now.

8. And now tag 5 people 1 person:
elizabethcbunce!  I haven't seen you play yet. 

I wrote and wrote yesterday, breaking through more tough spots.   Laura's in the mood to chatter.  Yay!  I shared more half-baked ideas with fandoria this morning,  who is wonderful to brainstorm with, btw.   With her directing me through questions I managed to get one aspect cleared up that was holding me back from moving forward. 

I think I'm going to go ahead and write that scene as soon as I can.  It's fresh in my  mind and I don't want to lose it.

So nothing exciting to report, well, not for others.  That my story's unfolding so well has me all giddy!  I can't wait for Teaser Tuesday!  'Cause I sure do have a tease to tease with. lol

So here we have what most closely would correspond to America's idea of the county fair, minus the animals. Lots of towns have a "Kirchweih" (Bayern) or "Kermes" (Nordrhein-Westfalen) every year where you have rides and food booths and if the town stores beer in hobbit-like holes in the hills, they open the beer cellars and set up tables and serve the stuff. It is a huge family-friendly local event. You have probably heard of Oktoberfest; that is the best known, but there are hundreds of smaller ones.

Anyway, one of the big elements of this event is that it is one of the times when it is perfectly normal for people to dress up in Tracht, or traditional outfits. I think there is only one age where it is not cool to wear Tracht, ie teen. People in their 20s until death can wear it, and children can wear it, but about 12-19 or so it is not so cool.

There is no one Tracht for Germany, by the way. "Germany" is an invention of 1870; before that it was a region of small, German-speaking kingdoms. And each town within those kingdoms will have its own variation of Tracht. There are whole clubs dedicated to people wearing their local Tracht and doing dances and singing traditional songs. But I think you will recognize all of these variants as German.

Here we have the kind of Biermadchen sort of Tracht:

Which of course you can feel free to skip.

There are many street musicians in Germany; they're a part of the landscape. I've seen this guy a number of times in Nurnberg. I have no idea what you call his instrument, other than "interesting."



You can see them bigger at my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55411057@N00/

Watching the Subway Series game with the daughter....Bobby Abreu hit a HR and Jeter hit a double off Santana to make it 6-4 Mets....she threw up! That's my girl!

 nancy_v is having a contest check it out!!!

My elementary school science teacher taught me there's more than one way to make a volcano blow.

 

Move over, Ramona Quimby…
Samantha Hansen is ready to ROCK! 
Look for Nancy Viau’s middle-grade novel, Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head, this September. Get your signed ARC at BEA or ALA this summer!  http://www.nancyviau.com 
http://www.classof2k8.com 

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Ten years ago I was a mom to a two-year-old, and having the best time of my life!

2. What are 5 things you need to do today?
Well, at our house, today is Sister's Day. This is the day we adopted Little A and she and J became sisters. So, I have to:
- prepare some kind of sweet treat
- Mike and I will take them shopping for a gift to buy for each other (we meant to do it last week)
- sing "Happy Sister's Day"
- get a little weepy
- give and get lots of hugs

3. What are some snacks you enjoy?
I love Skittles.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Whoa! A billion dollars! I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the hundred dollars I got for Christmas one year.

5. What are 3 bad habits?
- I slouch when I'm at the computer
- I'm obsessive about brushing my teeth
- I put my feet on furniture, even if I'm wearing shoes, even if I'm at your house!

6. Name 5 places you have lived.
- San Diego, CA
- Coulilbistrie, Dominica (West Indies)
- Barcelona, Spain
- Kibbutz Be'eri, Israel
- Portolon, Costa Rica

7. What are 5 jobs have you had?
- Lifeguard and swim instructor
- organic agriculture teacher
- ESL teacher
- wilderness instructor (rock climbing, hiking, canoing, etc.)
- social worker/family counselor

8. And now tag 5 people:
I'm only going to tag one person, for emphasis: Max Meredith Vasilatos

Here's a link to my French trip on my web site if you'd like to take a peek. There are too many to post here.

Near the bottom is an example of the fabulous French pastries we ate every day.

The awesome thing was, we walked so much for those two weeks I didn't gain a single pound even though I ate these every day.

http://kimberleygriffithslittle.com/content/blogcategory/18/17/

Au revoir and have a great weekend!

And I really did try to read all of the backlog of entries, but um...I don't think I can catch up on that volume. So if anything really exciting happened in the last week that you want me to know, you'll have to tell me again.

The short of it: teenagers are great, Germany is gorgeous, I wish I spoke better German, since the American kids came mostly at the end and instead of translating, as I'd expected, I ended up massacring the language. Seeing teenagers really committed to doing something good, and seeing how brothers and sisters who are close to each other really make a difference in helping and supporting each other, was really good. I also ran into a number of people I knew from past stays in Germany, which was really cool. A kid I was primary teacher to when he was seven is now a missionary in Belgium (so, he's 19 now--do I feel old or what???).

And now since I'm massacring the English language as well, I will stop to do a meme that at least two people tagged me for.

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing ten years ago?

Hm, in 1998 I was finishing my masters degree in ESL at the University of Illinois. We lived in a miniscule apartment owned by the university and I still had a year to go. That was also the summer we drove to New York, NJ, and MA with our oldest, who was around 6 months.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

1  Hug my family
2. Lie down.
3. Read a book.
4. Brush my teeth.
5. Completely space out and empty my brain and enjoy having the youth trip behind me!

What are some snacks you enjoy?

Any kind of German chocolate (especially if it's Lindt's Weihnachtsschokolade, and yes, I know it's Swiss, not German)
pistacios (and yes, I know it's misspelled)
corn chips (I notice my body craves corn and misses it whenever I'm in Germany for a long time--they don't each much corn here.)

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Pay off all debts.

Help out my family with financial matters.

Find a way to fund education in Afghanistan. I can read. It's not fair that they can't.

Donate to the Perpetual Education Fund (a fund in places like South American where otherwise smart people who don't have money can get loans to study, and then replenish the loan as they are able so others can study.)

Go visit Britain

Do lots of genealogy.

Buy lots of books!

What are three of your bad habits?

Jumping to conclusions
Not being patient enough
Not liking housework (I would rather read!)
And, no doubt in someone's eyes, not dressing my kids in Strumpfhose all the time.

What are five places where you have lived?

Bonn, Germany
Olmue, Chile (thus my screen name)
Arkansas Ozarks
Charleston, SC
New Jersey

What are five jobs you have had?

Fast food slave
illustrator (university press, educational materials)
editor (university press, educational materials)
writer, of course! (even if I'm still working on the financial renumeration part...)
MOM :)

What six people do you want to tag?

Um...I have no idea how many people have done this so if you want to do it and haven't been tagged, go right ahead!

"Part of creating is letting go. I remember very vividly when writing The Land of Laughs that I reached the part in the story where the dog speaks for the first time. I wrote the passage and stopped. I thought-- the *dog* just spoke-- that's crazy. But a moment later I said okay, let's just see where that goes. In an essential way it was the turning point of all writing I have done since then. My paradigm moment came about because I simply let go, accepted the nutty for fact, and kept moving. The Germans have a nice phrase about trust in romance-- 'fall back and I'll catch you.' The same could be applied to writing or any art, as far as I can see: If you believe you have it in you, write whatever it is you want and stop thinking about approaches or limitations or or or... Just *write* it. Clear your mind of hesitation and everything other than the sentence you are trying to write and do it. Then write the next one. The more you think about it, the less well you do it. Start with a phrase or a character you like or who intrigues you. Then begin to spin a spider's web out from that center point. But don't *think* about it. Very often when I begin a book or story, I only have a single line or image which I put down and then think--who is this? What are they like? 'Haden was in trouble again' is the beginning of GLASS SOUP only because I liked that line. After writing it I thought-- who's this Haden? He's a handsome asshole. Okay, what does he do? Where is he? Etcetera. Don't think about it-- just be a spider and spin the web only you can design."

Read more of Jonathan's thoughts here.

First, congratulations to Melissa Marr--WICKED LOVELY and INK EXCHANGE are both on the NYT bestseller list. Congratulations too to Jeaniene Frost--ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE debuted on the NYT list and the USA Today bestseller list!

Second, our Folio blog continues with Scott Hoffman's post on conferences: http://foliolit.blogspot.com/

On to queries, because I am buried in them right now. I answered well over a hundred in the past 3 days, and new ones poured in almost as fast as I answered. I'm catching up on my reading and queries this weekend as best I can but I fear at most I'm just going to put a little dent in the stack. But I'll keep carving away at the stack, looking for gold.

I thought I would share this response to a rejection, since it amused me the most:

"Unless you have ESP how would you know what my novels
are about?

Thanks for nothing."

Okay, it's YOUR job to tell me what your novel is about in a query letter. I ask for a synopsis and the first 2 pages, which this writer did not include, so whose fault is that? I did get the idea that it was a space opera and I'm not really looking for that right now. And no, I don't have ESP. I could tell that much at least from the query letter. And if the writer didn't bother to look up my query guidelines... well... I have 100 more queries in my inbox where the writers followed directions. I'm not going to cry over missing information, I'm just going to send a form rejection.

While I'm musing on query letters... what I seem to be getting a lot of are queries for books that are already self published. Here's the thing: I absolutely do not hold it against a writer if he/she chooses to publish some books with a small press or even chooses to work with a vanity press. What frustrates me is when the writer has written NOTHING ELSE. Nothing. That seems to be their ONE idea/book/series and now they're sort of kind of wondering if they were a little hasty getting it self published, and maybe a big publisher might be interested... well... it's a lot harder to sell a book that's already been published. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's harder. And I'm MUCH happier if the author has other material so I know they aren't just pinning all their hopes and dreams of huge success to that one novel/memoir/whatever. Because a writer's career is usually not comprised of just one book.

Other things I seem to be seeing a lot of lately: A main character who has amnesia, a main character who is dead, and characters who are family and hate each other but find a way to love each other (or at least not kill each other) by the end of the story.

(I'm not saying any of these are bad elements, just funny that there seem to be little trends in my queries I notice when I do 100 at a time.)

Also, I find myself rejecting things that I might have requested a year ago when I had fewer queries and more time to read. (Which is why it's a GREAT idea to include some new young agents in your agent search!) Now I'm looking for pretty specific things in a query letter and I've HAD to get more selective in requesting submissions. Why? I have more clients now, and I have a lot of reading to do for them as a first priority. Also, I'm just getting MORE queries than ever before. I wish I could add a note to all the queries that I think show promise, to say, "This really does look good, but I just can't request it. I'm sure someone else will jump on it!" But that takes time and it sometimes turns into an extra dialogue with the author. I hope every time I hit Send for a form response letter that the author realizes that this is a numbers game, an odds game, and it isn't personal. If I had infinite amounts of time, I would probably request about 10% of the manuscripts pitched to me in query letters. As it is... well, it isn't even close to 10%.

But all this is to say, I am not caught up on my reading yet. Some of my queries are pretty old, and I apologize for that. But I'll be working on catching up as quickly as I can. To any of you who have queries with me, thanks for your patience.

Yesterday and today I redesigned my blog and made a bunch of new icons. It was fun! Feel free to take a look.

 This month's issue of The Edge of the Forest features:

Two great columns this month: Candice
Ransom considers Magic Elizabeth for A Backward Glance
and teacher Sarah Mulhern tells us what her students
are reading in our Backpacks column.

Little Willow takes us to the Prom.

Rebecca Laney's interview with Brandon Mull. 

My interview with Elizabeth C. Bunce.

Linda Urban is this month's Blogging Writer. 
 
Reviews in all categories—from Picture book to Young Adult.

Submissions are being accepted for future issues, and letters to the editor are always appreciated!

Hooray for motels w/free wireless!

All I want to say is this: if you have a chance to read or listen to The Death Collector by Justin Richards, do it *immediately*. Esp. if you love YA Victorian thrillers on the order of Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke. The Death Collector is rich, vivid, and stuffed to the gills w/fascinating, fully-realized characters, history, and science. The action is intense, the humor perfectly placed. I haven't so thoroughly loved and cheered for a book in a long time, and I'm only jealous that the book didn't occur to me first. :)

Hooray again for audiobooks!

Also, I always enjoy keeping track of bizarre items, signs, etc., on the road. So, for today, we have:

-A woman both signing and singing "Once in a Lifetime" quite loudly in the middle of Cracker Barrel. It didn't seem that anyone in her family was hearing-impaired but maybe she was practicing for something? Talking Heads jarred oddly w/the downhome atmosphere, and now I definitely have TH earworms.

-A sign that said: "We give you the meat your family deserves." I am worthy of my meatz!

2skippingstones and I are busy primping before heading off to see my friends perform Spring Awakening downtown, but I wanted to let you know that, if you like vampires, Carey Grant, love stories, all of the above, or if you just want to learn more about Claudia Gray (author of the upcoming Evernight), please stop by on Monday, May 19th, to read my interview with her!

Now, we're (almost) off to the ball play!