Magazine Market Monday

Boy’s Life

The Magazine for the Boy Scouts of America age of readers: 6-18. This magazine is looking for how-to photo features, general interest, hobby and craft ideas.

Word Length: 500-1500. Pays $400-$1,500

Query by mail with SASE: Boys’ Life PO Box 152079, Irving, TX 75015

Web: www.boyslife.org

(Hope this helps some of you writers out there :)

ECO AWESOME-Earth Friendly Friday

We all have to wash our hair so why not love the planet and our hair at the same time? It's easy and organic! Going green doesn't mean giving up style. You can get gorgeous with a shampoo that has 71% organic content, no parabans, no artificial colors, no synthetic fragrances, and no sodium laureth sulfates. Plus, the tube is 50% post consumer recycled material. So check out Bed Head's Eco Awesome Shampoo and Conditioner.

Sometimes all it takes is looking a little to find healthy, earth-friendly options.

And here's one review of these particular products from a college kid who tried it for me and then let me know what she thought of it:

About the shampoo:

I really love the scent!!! The mint kind of wakes me up in the morning. It's kinda like aroma therapy in your shower :D and I love that it's mostly organic!

The only downside is that after I'm done rising, my hair doesn't feel as slick right out of the shower as I'm used to, but I think it's because I'm going really lightly on the conditioner.

(Thanks Mackenzie)

Dieting is a Lot Like Writing

Okay, so I think everything is a lot like writing. Maybe because I write and I diet – I can see the correlations.

But, we all just want to be loved. . .for who we are, how we look and what we write—right?

Well, maybe not all of us, but I sure do. I hate rejection. Who doesn’t? But I can’t let a little ego-deflation limit what I do. I just have to work harder…on my story and my fitness level.

I don’t want my body to be out of shape and I don’t want my story to be flabby either. That’s the reason I’m taking a lot of time to write and work out. So it’s hard when someone rejects me…for how I look or how my story sounds.

Maybe the problem is I’m too boring. Not enough conflict or adventure in my life…I mean manuscript. And maybe I’m still out of shape, too many pages and too many pounds. That’s why I’m trying to take off the excess. Reading through my story one more time and hitting the delete button on extraneous words (“like”, “really”, and “said”), believe me there are lots of those tricky little buggers in my babies. And that’s why I’m working toward that half-marathon like there’s no tomorrow and writing every night. I’m hoping to increase my cardio and self-critiquing abilities.

I’m sure I’ll still come across some rejection in my life…I mean writing. But, at least if I’m doing everything I can do to be in the best shape possible, maybe my stories will be loved and me too.

Answer to Word for Wedneday

Answer to what the word riparian means: of, pertaining to, or situated or dwelling on the bank of a river or other body of water: riparian villas.

If you want to double check, look here. And, thanks for playing :)

Word for Wednesday - a game for Writers

Word: riparian

Guess what it means. Put your guess in the "comments" section then come back around 3:00 to see if you were write ;)

Getting Ready

I love decorating
but sometimes the decorations sit around a little too long - like these Valentine's Day flowers.

I needed to replace the worn out, wilted, bouquet
but I didn't want to spend much money so I picked up some silk flowers at a local craft shop on clearance for .25 per stem.Then I put them into the floral foam I want to add some green carnations and a couple more white ones and then it will be ready to herald in the Lucky Season!

How 'bout you - are you getting ready for the Shamrock Day?

Happy President's Day or Presidents' Day

Whether you want to think of it as President's Day or Presidents' Day, I hope you all have the day off to rest, relax and recuperate. I know I'm going to be trying to recover from my weekend warrior workout.

The holiday was originated in 1880 to celebrate the first President's Birthday and was the first Federal holiday to honor an American Citizen. So, we're all celebrating Washington's Birthday or at least that's how it started out. Originally it was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. But it was changed to Presidents' Day or President's Day. The first attempt to create a Presidents Day occurred in 1951, but it took a while to work out the kinks. Still it's a day off to spend with family and friends. So, I'm ready to toast P-Day whether it's in honor of Washington or all the men who have served as President over the years.