YA Book Panel in Portland - June 4th at 6:30

Next Wednesday, June 4, at 6:30 pm, Cat Winters will be on a YA panel with fellow Portland-area novelists Paula Stokes, Miriam Forster, and Tara Kelly. They'll be talking about their books and writing in general, answering questions, signing copies of their novels, and mingling with readers amid coffee and desserts.

The event will be held at Manaia Coffee House & Grill, 203 E. Main St., Hillsboro, OR, and it's being presented by Jacobsen's Books.

Here's a website listing more info: http://www.jacobsensbooks.com/event/spring-summer-great-ya-reads.

And here's a copy of the flyer for the event.

August 2-4 Willamette Writers Conference

The Pacific Northwest is known for creative people, we have Portlandia, Grimm and Leverage all right here in little 'ole Portland, Oregon not to mention tons of independent productions taking place all over the city. So, I guess it comes as no surprise that we have a lot of writers living in this beautiful part of the country.

And with writers comes writers' conferences and one that is well known in these parts is Willamette Writers.  Their big event is coming August 2-4 to the Portland Airport Sheraton Hotel.

There will be writers, agents and editors galore. So, if you're a writer or even a wannabe, you might want to make plans now to attend this conference. So, hop on over to the website and check it out here.

Submission Block

I once wrote an article for Writer's Journal called Submission Block because I knew a gal who had written over twelve complete manuscripts, meaning she'd written them, revised them, been critiqued on them and then re-revised them, and she'd never submitted one.

But, if you don't submit, you'll never get published...

And today I was reading an Awesome blog post about the same thing...sort of. It talks about how we, writers, sometimes end up counting the wrong things--like rejections. Instead, I think we need to think of those rejections as proof that we putting our words out there. We're taking the chance, a leap of faith that someone out there will understand us. And that is success within itself. We are living the dream or daring to "just do it" whether or not anyone ever puts our words to press, we have done all that we can do to make the dream a reality. And, what more can a person (or writer) do?

One of my favorite sayings is "I'd rather fail at doing something, than succeed at doing nothing."

And if you want to read writerly words of encouragement, hop over to Operation Awesome...because it will definitely make you feel inspired.  And, remember to count your submissions - not your rejections.

It was a weekend of projects

My hubby and his brother finished the beams in the main part of the remodeled bedroom

Then my husband decided the room gets too hot on warm days. So he climbed up on the roof to add a few more vents to get rid of the hot air.

And not feeling like he'd done enough on a long holiday weekend, he decided to work on my little library (behind the chimney). He was trying to find the right placement for the chandelier.

And it wasn't so easy, because he wants it to be just "write" for me - so I'll have enough lighting for reading...and writing up there.

He's hoping to get the little nook sheetrocked before next weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Rose Festival Fireworks - Opening Night

Friday May 23rd is opening night of the Rose Festival - now called City Fair - fireworks start at 9:45 p.m. at Tom McCall Park.

The fireworks will be choreographed to music provided by 101.9 KINK FM.

Enjoy a FREE concert by Hit Machine at 8:30pm and an encore immediately following the fireworks display.

It will be a weekend filled with amusement rides and fun. 

The History of Memorial Day

A friend at work today told me about how Memorial Day first started and I thought it was interesting enough to do a post about. So I came home to look it up and the first thing that popped up was Snopes.


My friend said that Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC when they honored 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. 

She told me that the 257 bodies were reburied to give them a decent burial and that it took the former slaves 2 weeks.

Afterwards they had a parade to celebrate and in gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice the people had given in fighting for their freedom.

Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp#6guYoy6Qt2s4zvsF.99

Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/memorialday.asp#6guYoy6Qt2s4zvsF.99

WORD FOR WEDNESDAY - A WRITER'S GAME

Guess what the word means...


WORD FOR WEDNESDAY:

Persnickety


Do you know what it means?


Can you guess?


If you have no idea, scroll down for the meaning...




Further....


FURTHER.....


persnickity means a person who is fussy about small details

SCBWI Spring Conference 2014

It was a weekend filled with fun and inspiration. Judi and Sue worked really hard to put it all together and make it a fun weekend.

There were plenty of local authors who shared their words of wisdom:

And agents and editors shared information about the wonderful world of writing and publishing.

The SCBWI has plenty of events all year long, including the Great Critique Session that is scheduled for July 26th. There is also a fall retreat that's already planned.

I would recommend any of these great events for any writers.

On this Day in History

On this day in 1536 - Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII, was beheaded after she was convicted of adultery.

Maybe that doesn't seem so interesting to you. But, Anne Boleyn looks a lot like my niece. Yep, it's true.

My hubby and I went to her castle over in England a few years ago and we walking through the stairwell when we came upon a painting and my husband turned to me and said, "Who does that look like?"

I looked up and started to laugh. It was like one of those scenes out of a vampire movie where you see your relative in an old (and I mean VERY old) painting, hanging on the wall.

Yes, she looked so much like my niece that I had to show her when I came back home.

Of course my niece didn't say much but I could see it in her eyes that she saw the resemblance...whether she wanted to admit it or not.

So, when I saw that this day in history was the day that Anne was beheaded, it made me think of my niece.

I'm Listed

I'm on the website...on Crimson Frost Books.

Listed as an "author". It makes me feel like it's really real. I can hardly wait to see the cover art. And, I'm told The Viking Princess will be out in late fall or early winter. So, a short time, at least in the world of publishing.

This is a fun story of warriors, women and the world back in the days of King Arthur. My main character is a strong female warrior, who rides on the front lines into battle. She is no sissy Princess. This is a warrior woman whose willing to fight for what she believes in.

I'll keep y'all posted as the publication date comes closer. But I wanted to share my excitement. 

Mother's Day Dinner

We celebrated Mother's Day by hanging the Danish Flag out on the house in honor of my hubby's mother and her homeland.

And then we made a traditional Danish dinner of smorrebord or open faced sandwiches

There are certain traditional foods that go together like liver pate and pickled beets. And the Danes like to keep their traditions in place.

And then we all gathered around the two tables and ate our fill.

The next day my daughter brought me my presents.

Which included a hummingbird feeder, hummingbird food, a couple of monsters ;D and a pink piggie cup. I don't know what that says about me...but that's what my gifts were, along with lunch :D

It was a wonderful way to spend a weekend.

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

This is an educational story about a family in Denmark that helps to hide a young Jewish girl from the Nazis during the occupation.

It is a dramatic story of how the Germans occupied Denmark and the fear they inspired during this time.

In the end, the family helped more than this one little girl. They helped a group of Jewish people escape into Sweden but it wasn't without drama. And even though this one particular story is a true life reenactment, it represented many true-life events.

Reading this story was even more interesting because of the location. I'd been to all the locations mentioned in the book. And my husband's father had been alive and living in these locations during the Nazi occupation. His uncle has shared stories with him about how they were young men during this page in history.

Remembering Mom - and Wishing all Mom's a Happy Day

Earth-friendly Friday

What a clever way to reuse old broken glasses. I would never have thought to use old arms from eyeglasses to make a chandelier...but this is kind of pretty - in a weird sort of way.

But, it really goes to show a person that when you think outside the box (or glasses) you can really come up with some interesting ideas and ways to reuse something in a totally different way.

This was at an antique store. I think it would have been even better at an art exhibit.

Reusing, Recycling and Re...doing

This past weekend I was in Corvallis for Mom's weekend. Hanging out with my niece and sis. We went to a street fair and this was one of the items we found on display. This artist had taken an old cigar box and remade it into a handy-dandy purse by decorating it and putting a handle on the top.

If only I could have made something so pretty . . . but then again, Marilyn helps in that department.

So, when you're getting ready to throw something out or thinking some old container is trash...think again. You might be able to turn it into something as pretty as a picture...of Marilyn Monroe.

Tapioca....

What is it?

This is almost a word for Wednesday.

We've probably all eaten tapioca pudding but do you know what it is? Where it comes from...?

My hubby thought it might just be gelatin, like a jello mixture. But no, that's not what it is.

Tapioca comes from the root of a plant. It makes a starchy substance that can be used in different formats and one of those formats in round little balls of the starchy substance, or Tapioca balls.

And it makes wonderful pudding.

So there you have it. That's what tapioca is.

Technology Smooze

Don't forget - Saturday from 10 to noon is a technology smooze at TaborSpace on 54th and Belmont.

It's free and you'll learn a thing or two about blogs, websites, and maybe even a little bit about Twitter.

So, if you're thinking about starting a blog or a website, come join us at TaborSpace.

OSU Mother's Weekend

It was a busy weekend of yoga,

fun runs,

art festivals with jewelry-making classes, animal exhibitions

and lots of food.

What a way to spend a few days...

Working with Lace

I have lots of scraps of old lace that I'm saving for . . . a rainy day...I guess.

So I pulled out a tea bag...

Nope not for that rainy day but for today.

I brewed up a batch of tea. . . and soaked the lace inside.

This a work still in progress. So I will have to post another progress report...

After tea dying the lace, I stuck it in a bowl of Stiffy...tomorrow I'll have the next installment.