One day I will learn that when the story turns to cold molasses and I have to spend hours juggling my outline and turning the plot over and over in my head to try to make it click, the problem always ends up being this: the protag is not protagging and/or is not staying true to character and goals.
One day (I hope) the world will recognize the great gift of service dedicated librarians and teachers give us all. It was great fun to hang out with a bunch of them last week at the Maine Library Association Reading Round-up!
One day I will look back and remember how my dog can lie utterly motionless except for his thumping tail, and the sound of Bob’s voice when he’s trying to sound serious but is actually about to make some outrageous statement, and I will be glad that those are the things I paid attention to, not my Amazon ranking.
One day I will learn that making chocolate chip cookie dough and sticking it in the back of the freezer doesn’t actually stop me from eating it. It just means I eat it raw and partly unfrozen (even better than hot from the oven!)
Actually, I think that last one might be a lost cause…
It was great having you at the Reading RoundUp! So glad your book is on next year”s Maine Student Book Awards list as well. It”s so nice to have a chapter book that has appeal to the older students as well as to some of the younger ones who really want to participate.
I am sure you will work through your sticky spot soon!
Hi Nina! Thanks for finding my blog! And I am really honored that my book is on the MSBA list — I hope the kids will enjoy it!
And yay, I did get through that sticky spot, thanks to perseverance, inspiration, and, um, plenty of cookie dough…
Wow, loved this post a LOT. Especially items 3 and 4. Although my cookie dough never gets as far as the freezer. :-/
Robin – I am not even going to admit how many batches of cookie dough I have made in the past three weeks. I blame it on the book I am drafting!