Panic and the Pareto Principle

With just a little over three months remaining in the year, I decided to check my career progress. My 2009 goals included:
1) Writing instead of whining. Check! I’ve definitely done a lot more actual writing this year.
2) Generating more freelance. Check. I worked with new people this year and a good thing too because only 1 company [...]

Get close to an author

When I was a kid reading every book I could get my hands on, I never imagined that one day I might meet an author of those books, or that they would be interested in meeting a kid like me. And it’s probably the reason I walk around conferences completely starstruck at rooms chuck-full of writers. [...]

Alyssa, Alisha, Alicia and Alisa

This morning, my brother added yet another tongue-tangler to the list of women in my life whose names I regularly mix up. My first niece, Alisha was born this morning, one day ahead of my daughter Alyssa’s 7th birthday. But wouldn’t it have been cool if she was born yesterday on 9.9.09?
My best friend from Trinidad, [...]

Nearly perfect 10

Ten years ago  today, I was sitting in my mother’s apartment hot and bothered. No one was dressed except for me and the flower girls. My best friend and maid of honor decided to get her nails done mid-morning instead of helping me get dressed. I called her boyfriend and ordered him to tell her [...]

Your name here

In Angel’s Grace I used the names of friends and family for the characters in the book. Little did I know I could auction off the honor of having me use a person’s name in the pages of my book! Too late for that now! If you’ve read Angel’s Grace, here’s a rundown of who [...]

zooey. ZOOEY!

My new computer didn’t like being a reprise of Original Lola. She demanded a new name. I suggested Zooey, as in Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger. She seems to like it. Done and done.
I should get started with revisions to novel #2 today, but I am not motivated at all. My life is wearing [...]

A personal note

It has been a tough couple of weeks for me. Re-working my latest manuscript has been stressful and emotionally taxing and has left me feeling fragile. Add to that a couple of personal setbacks, and I was at a pretty heightened emotional state about three weeks ago. Then my mother called to say that she [...]

Is it summer?

It’s officially summer, but the sky is still alternately grey and blue and the breeze is quite chilly. There have been so many rainy days this year. It’s good for my grass and plants, but it would also be nice to get outside with the kids.
I suppose since the weather is still a bit on [...]

FVT III: Kin of Fatty

So a few years ago we planted a vegetable garden, and then a groundhog moved into our yard. We named her Fatty von TomatoStealer. Well, I did. She ate our tomatoes and everything else we’d planted and since then, we tried everything to get rid of her. She was huge. She scared the bejeeses out [...]

Brenda Bowen leads writing workshop

Brenda Bowen leads a picture book writer’s workshop at BEA.