UPDATE: This bill is on hold for now.

No Comments | Tags: GAG, legislation, Orphan Works Bill, SCBWI

Not sure if I should be happy or sad about this one. I have a google alert on my book titles, and this popped into my in box a few days ago Ax Murderers at the Library. The blog is talking about the controversy surrounding another book, Uncle Bobby’s Wedding and goes on to discuss whether a Fundamentalist’s list of books that shouldn’t be in the library actually are.

In the section where the blogger names books for the “Devil Worshipers” portion of the list, two of my books are named. Granted the blogger states that athiests and Wiccans wouldn’t consider themselves devil worshipers, but the other guy might.

Since one of the reasons I wrote the books was to educate the general public that we are NOT devil worshipers, I a bit perturbed to have my children’s books listed in such a place, even with the disclaimer.

I honestly don’t know what to say.

No Comments | Tags: banned books, children's books, devil worship, library

July is half way through. Time just seems to go faster and faster as I get older. To the left is a portion of the newest installment for the free coloring pages at Magical Child News. This month features the letter J and the Goddess is Jerah, a Semetic Goddess. Sign up for the yahoo group mailing list to download this and previous free coloring pages.

I joined a new blog group this week called Watercolor Wednesdays. The members have to be watercolor artists doing children’s book illustration. Every Wednesday we receive a prompt for a new painting. This week’s prompt is “this little piggy.” We are to let our imaginations run wild, and mine is working over time. So much so I haven’t been able to decide what to do yet.

Work on Rabbit’s Song is moving along smoothly. The rough layout for the cover has received approval and I am busy finalizing all the changes and tiny details. The publisher will be making the book available for pre-order as soon as the cover receives final approval. The authors and I will all be appearing together in Tennessee for a pre-release party. All the books pre-ordered before the mid October event will be signed by all three of us. I am very excited about this.

I’ve decided that watching the scale inch up over the summer has got to end. I got my bike out of the basement and dusted off the cobwebs yesterday morning. I rode out to the post office and back in the morning. It actually felt kind of good to be doing something just for me. In fact it felt so good that I decided to ride the bike down to A Visual Impact in the afternoon to get my hair cut. (Check out the logo — I designed it for them.) I arrived at the shop without incident, got my hair cut and started on my way home. I took the main drag home (fewer hills) instead of taking the side streets I traveled on my way downtown. That was a mistake. Not only was the traffic heavier, the folks in the cars seemed to think they needed to honk their horns at me as they drove past. The side of the rode is not in good repair, so it was tough going. I gritted my teeth and struggled on until I cam to the rail road tracks. The tracks cut across the road at an angle. I was attempting to pedal my sorry self across them and avoid the worst of the potholes and road debris when a car swooshed by rather closely with horn blaring. It startled me and I took my eyes off the road momentarily to see the car rush past only to have the front tire of the bike catch in the track and get stuck. Needless to say, I kept going and my bike didn’t. OW! I now have a nice pair of matching road rash on my right knee and left leg. I wear leather biking gloves, so my hands are undamaged. A good thing because I used them to stop my face from landing in the gravel by the side of the road.

Suffice it to say, I won’t be traveling that section of road again!

No Comments | Tags: art nouveau, free coloring page, girl, Goddess, line art, semitic

Lerner Publishing Group is teaming with USA TODAY to produce a program of new educational books for children and young adults. The first series being released is USA TODAY Lifeline Biographies, which will feature titles about some of the world’s most compelling people—both historical and popular. Four new titles aimed at middle school, high school, and public libraries will be available in Fall 2008 under Lerner’s Twenty-First Century Books division, with an additional four titles scheduled to be released in 2009. Other new series are under development.

The first four titles being released include Bill Gates: Entrepreneur and Philanthropist, Oprah Winfrey: Global Media Leader, Tiger Woods: Golf’s Master, and Vera Wang: Enduring Style. Additional offerings planned for future seasons include biographies of presidents, Hollywood stars, and more.   A number of other series are planned for upcoming years.

http://www.lernerbooks.com

No Comments | Tags: biography, children's books, Lerner, USA Today

@#$$#%$%@#@#CATS!!!! I am ready to banish mine from the house forever!

One is howling like a banshee every time I am out of site. And I can’t yell at her or call her to me or anything because she’s an elderly 15 years old and now totally deaf. I doubt she can hear herself. Oh and she has taken to yacking in the corners. Not nice to find with your bare feet. Trust me on this one. Bleh.

The other one, the 4 year old get the stupidest cat alive award today.

I have been slowly renovating the house. It’s taking forever because the house is so small I can only work at a tiny section at a time by pushing the furniture from one side of the room to the other. The Rabbit’s room was on the plan for the day to finish putting the trim around the bottom of the walls. I was measuring and cutting, and she was painting. We were moving onto the third wall when the phone rang. I had to take the call, and the Rabbit being 14 finished painting the piece of trim she was working on and went off to do something else. I don’t know what.

I’m on the phone and I notice the cat is limping. I call Rabbit in to check him out. Seem she had some paint on his paw. I instructed the kid to take him into the bathroom and wash his paw off. I continued my phone call and wandered down into the basement to repaint the trim I assumed he had manage to step on. There was green paint <b>EVERYWHERE</b>. The #@%^$%#$%# cat hadn’t stepped on a piece of freshly painted trim, he had <i>reached into the paint can with his bloomin’ paw</i>!!!!!! And decided he didn’t like it. He’d raced around the basement with his paint soaked paw trying to get it off. Then not succeeding in making enough of a mess there ran up into the living room to smear green paint all over the tan rug. Which is Where I saw him limping.

To make a long story short, I ended up scrubbing green paint off of much of the basement floor and the tan rug. And not measuring, cutting and installing the trim into the Rabbit’s room. By the time I had tracked down all the green paw prints and splatter marks from foot shakes, I had worn myself out. The floor is now tinged green in the basement. The cat is damp with spots of green and the tan rug has a green cast to it in places.

Now the older cat is howling again and I can’t hear myself think.

Used cats – very cheap – will entertain best offer.

No Comments | Tags: cats, green, home renovation, paint

It’s been a full week and I’ve finally been able to fully unpack. I won’t be leaving town again until August. I’ll fly off to Tucson then to have my Crone Initiation.

Most of the week was spent catching up on paperwork, updating web sites and doing research for the new book. Tuesday, I drove into the city for my face to face interview with the woman from Voices for Children. It went well and I was able to surprise her with my answer to one of the questions. She asked me what I expected to gain from the experience. I told her what I might gain had never even crossed my mind. It hadn’t. I suppose some folks do have ulterior motives for volunteering, but I just want to help.

Thursday, I had to roust the teenager out of bed before noon so we could head into the city to have her braces removed. I strongly recommended she sit down and actually eat something. While we were sitting at the dining room table eating our cereal, the younger cat came into the room. Now you have to understand, this is one really vocal cat. He has been dubbed musical by a friend. He is frequently so talkative that it becomes quite annoying. We often tell him to shut up. He walked up to me and stated MEOWWWWOW! I looked at him and said – Shut up! He looked right back at me and asked Moi? It was quite funny. The Rabbit giggled through the rest of breakfast.

After she had her braces removed we killed time at the mall and did some girl shopping. Had a bite to eat and got her retainer. So the braces are gone. She has now slimmed down even further and a size zero is too large. I have no clue how I am going to cloth her come school. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

This evening, the entire family was home. My hubby decided we needed to take advantage of the situation and do something all together. We went to the movies. We saw Wanted. I must be turning into a real fluff bunny, I found the gratuitous violence and constant use of the “f” word a bit much for me. It must be all the time I spend focused on picture books. In any case, it was a very well done movie, and if you aren’t opposed to lots of splattering blood, I suggest you go see it. Don’t take the little kids though. It was nice to spend time with the hubby and the kid without having to rush off somewhere or do something other than enjoy ourselves.

No Comments | Tags: braces, CASA, family, pets

A new review for both Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle and for Watchers by W. Lyon Martin have been posted to the internet by Michael Gleason. Thank you for the wonderful words, Michael!

Aidan’s First Full Moon Circle by W. Lyon Martin (© 2008 Magical Child Books, ISBN:978-0979683442, 32 pages, Hardbound, $16.95 U.S.)

This is going to be a short review, simply because the book itself is very short. Ms. Martin has created a book which fulfills multiple purposes in spite of the shortness of the story. She has captured, in easily understandable form, the feelings that everyone – child or adult – has when they finally celebrate a ritual with more than just their family.

The illustrations are soft and pretty. Little ones will enjoy looking at them as they read this story.

As well as learning a few simple ritual terms and actions there is a simple mystery. Seamus the squirrel needs to find his acorns in order to survive the winter. There are different numbers of them in each picture and they will inspire those too young to read on their own to find them.

The story is simple but the lessons are important – accept responsibility, take help if you need it, open yourself to new experiences, and act responsibly. This is a wonderful introduction to group workings and interactions.

And…

Watchers by W. Lyon Martin (© 2008, Magical Child Books, ISBN:978-0979683459, 32 pages, Hardbound, $16.95 U.S.)

Lyon Martin met a lady who shared a poem she learned from her grandmother. That poem inspired this book.

Thomas is being stalked by monsters at night. He can’t see them, but he can see their eyes in the dark. A plan is made to catch them. A trap is set – and triggered. Then the “monsters” are revealed as…Nope, I’m not telling. You need to get this book and share it with your little ones. It is a positive approach to childhood anxieties, as well as a fun story.

The illustrations, although some of them are dark (hey, it’s bedtime and lights out) are not in the least threatening, and because of their softness and depth of detail, will entertain your child almost as much as the story itself.

I highly recommend this book, as well as others by the same author. Her books are fun, the bindings are library reinforced (so they will hold up for the long run), and are printed on recycled paper.

No Comments | Tags: bedtime story, children's books, Wiccan celebration

“You must keep sending work out;
you must never let a manuscript
do nothing but eat its head off in
a drawer. You send that work out
again and again, while you’re
working on another one. If you
have talent, you will receive
some measure of success -
but only if you persist.”
~ Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992)

No Comments | Tags: Isaac Asimov, quotes

If it’s been a while since you’ve been by, you’ll notice the web site has a completely new look. Things have finally slowed down enough for me (or maybe I am getting more organized?) to spend some time updating and redecorating the place. I could be in nesting mode or something, I have been renovating and painting the real life house as well.

Since I am an artist and not a programmer, some of the things I still want to do are really giving the old brain pan a work out. I will get them figured out eventually. After all, other people have managed to get such things done on their sites, it’ll just take me while to get that light bulb going off over my head. Now that’s an image.

I am so thrilled with my progress through my to-do list for this week. I have managed to cross off nearly all the items I needed to get done. The last item on the list is the pencil rough for Rabbit’s Song. When I finish it up it will be scanned into the computer and sent to the people who need to approve it. I am half way there, so getting it out by Thursday should be no trouble.

On Friday I head out to Ozark Avalon for a very full 4th of July weekend. The land’s wardens are being handfasted on the 4th. On Saturday I will be giving a craft workshop of Sparkling Spiral Mobiles. On Sunday morning the very popular Family Story time is to occur. I have been rereading and memorizing some of my favorite childhood animal myths and adding the re-tellings to my line up of picture books. The kids love to be read to. I am just amazed at their faces when they hear new stories. I am reminded why I became a picture book author in the first place.

The only thing I didn’t do this week was check my calendar for appointments on Monday. So, all things being equal, I forgot about an appointment yesterday. Der. My daughter was scheduled to have her braces removed. You think she might have remembered as it was her mouth. Oh well, I was able to reschedule for next week. I had better NOT forget again.

Also next week, I have an appointment for an interview. I will be heading into the city to have my entrance interview for Voices for Children to be a child’s advocate in the court system. I’ve spoken to the director several times on the phone, she said I most likely will be accepted into the program. Training starts in August.

No Comments | Tags: CASA, children's books, organization