My Two Blessings

Getting all my tools together to start NaNoWriMo .  A fresh, clean notebook, sharpened pencils and a fat pen.  A new laptop computer arriving this week that hopefully won't totally distract me with wanting to explore all the new widgets the very minute it arrives.  The house is clean, the bills are paid, laundry is done, lessons have been planned. The decks have been cleared.  The family warned. Now if I can just psych myself out to getting up a couple hours earlier.  Wondering if the time change is going to help at all.  Hmmm! James has chosen not to participate this year, but I can see those wheels turning and I'm sure he'll be disappearing into his room every night after dinner to write.  Father's been complaining about not having enough time to work on his mic preamp design and he really, really, really wants to finish it.  I've suggested he do his own version of nano.  What shall we call it?  NaMiPreDeMo - National Mic Preamp Des...

I'm in the midst of planning, plotting and pondering and thought I'd share a few posts discovered in my meanderings about the blogosphere.  Yep, we'll just call it research.  *grin*   From my favorite group mystery author blog - Murderati, J.T. Elison's  If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It. Which is a lovely reminder I need right now, because my new laptop is about to arrive which has Windows 7 and lovely new widgets to explore. I'll have to restrain myself from playing and exploring until after I gotten my 1600 words written for the day. Thanks to K.M Weiland, I found The Heart and Craft of Life Writing with Sharon Lippincott.   She has this nifty widget, Life Writing Tip of the Day that I've added to my sidebar.  But most of all,  many posts that make you think.   And also Amber Starfire (don't you love her name) Writing Through Life. Both well worth checking out. Allison Brennan, you gotta love her.   As we al...

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway for Christine Fonseca's Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students .   I plugged all the names into Random.org and the winner is. John Ross   Congratulations, John.  Please email me your address and Christine will personally send you a copy of her book.   For those who would like a copy of the book, you can order it directly from Prufrock Press.

"I know. I'm just like a chair you stumble over in the dark." Elizabeth said. "It isn't the chair's fault, but you kick it anyhow." Nat blinked.  "What are you talking about?" "Your brain. It's too fast.  So you stumble on other people's dumbness.  And - you want to kick something."  Nat felt his face get hot.  "But I shouldn't." Elizabeth agreed.  "No you shouldn't, because even if people are dumb, they aren't chairs, are they?  They do have feelings." Carry On Mr. Bowditch - Jean Lee Latham (pg 82-83)

One of the major highlights of Bouchercon 2010 was the reading of Irish Playwright and mystery writer Declan Hughes play " I Can't Get Started   by Hughes and an all star cast of authors.   The cast included Declan Hughes, Martyn Waites, Alison Gaylin, Brett Battles, Megan Abbott, Christa Faust and Mark Billingham.  I wish I could have recorded the whole thing because found out later that they didn't arrange to have the reading recorded.  And it was a memorable event.  All the authors put their hearts and souls into the reading.   It was touching, hilarious, entertaining, and educational.  I managed to catch a few snippets with my digital camera Martyn Waite and Alison Gaylin Brett Battles and Declan Hughes Mark Billingham Mark Billingham, Christa Faust, Martyn Waite and Alison Gaylin Brett Battles and Megan Abbott The reading was the brain child of writer Ellen Clair Lamb and you can see the whole story here on how it...

View from the window at the end of the hallway from the 11th floor After a completely filling breakfast down in the Eclipse restaurant where they served cowboy proportions of delicious food, headed over to Grand Ballroom Foyer.   I had volunteered to work for two hours in the Registration area.   Turned into more of an information, pointing out where to go person than registration, since most folks had registered by Saturday. However they did end having over 100 walk-in's come in for day passes.  According to Karen, a most wonderful hard working volunteer, there were over 1400 people pre-signed for the conference, 200 walk-in's on Friday and 100 on Saturday.  Lots of people.  Had a blast helping folks out, and if I ever do another conference will volunteer more time.  Walked down to the Port of San Francisco with Laura of I'm Booking It where we feasted on taco's from Mijita Cocina Mexicana and then wandering through Ferry Building Marketplac...

I was awakened by room service delivering my breakfast which is better than a wake up call any day. The first night, Hyatt had a neat door hanger thing you could circle what you wanted for breakfast and what time you wanted it delivered, hang it outside your door before midnight and wallah, breakfast delivered.  Plus, when I looked out the window  I was treated to this beautiful sight.  What a way to start the day.  My first panel of the day with one of my favorite authors - Michelle Gagnon . I've been wanting to know what happened to Kelly ever since I read her last book "Gatekeeper ."  Her newest book "Kidnap and Ransom" answers that which is coming out November 1st.   But guess what, I got a copy. Yeah!  The panel Runaway discussed the use of horror and violence as plot points with authors April Smith moderating and Michael Ayoob, Jonathan Woods, Michelle and Shane Gericke.  I unfortunately forgot my pen so don't remember a whole lo...

I just spent the past three days geeking out at my first ever mystery writers convention "Bouchercon By The Bay" in San Francisco.   I enjoyed getting to meet my favorite authors, new to me authors and readers from all over the world.   I arrived Thursday afternoon, registered and headed over to my first panel.    Commitment Panel: Conversation with William Link and Lee Goldberg Lee Goldberg , producer of diagnosis murder, writer for Monk and author of several Monk books interviewed William Link who is the creator of multiple movies and tv shows such as Columbo, Mannix, Murder She Wrote, et al.   After the panel, I explored the hotel for a bit, then meet Maria Alexander , an old friend and roommate who I haven't seen in 20 years.  We had a wonderful time catching up over dinner and she is trying her hand at writing mysteries, rather than the horror fiction and poetry she is known for.   She introduced me to her good friend,  C...

Swag bag contained:  Graham Moore's ARC of The Sherlockian , Laurie R. King's Locked Rooms , Rita Lakin's Getting Old is Tres Dangereux and Meg Gardiner's The Memory Collector.   Plus magazines - RT Book Review, Mystery Scene, The Strand, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery magazine, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, and the Baker Street Journal.  And oodles of bookmarks.  And volunteers (worked a couple hours in registration and had a blast) received an ARC of Dennis Lehane's Moonlight Mile . After attending panels with some of these authors, headed right down to the book room and purchased their books.   Sasscer Hill walked up while I was looking at books, fixed a book so it displayed better on the shelf and handed me her card.  Of course, I just had to buy her book.  :)   I picked up Cara Black's first novel "Murder in the Marais" while exploring Book Passages at the Port of San Francisco. 

Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students by Christine Fonseca Back cover:   Designed to provide support for the difficult job of parenting and teaching gifted children, Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings provides the resource parents and teachers need to not only understand why gifted children are so extreme in their behavior, but also learn specific strategies to teach gifted children how to live with their intensity. Presented in a an easy-to-read, conversational style, Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students uses real world examples through case studies and role plays that show parents and teachers how to interact with gifted children in a way that teaches them how to recognize, monitor, and adjust their behavior.  Worksheets, tips sheets, and checklists are included to help parents, teachers, and the students themselves learn to cope with the explosive feelings that often accompany giftedness.  Specific strategies ...

The day has finally arrived.  Tomorrow I'm off to San Francisco for 3 days to attend the Bouchercon World Mystery Writers convention where I'll get to meet some favorite authors and get to know some new to me authors.   So be on the look out for pictures, recap of panels and possibly some books to giveaway when I return.  In the meantime, here are a few posts to ponder. National Novel Writing Month is quickly approaching.  I've been thinking a lot about my story, writing it in my head.  Somehow I started in the middle and been thinking my way back to the start of the story and think I've just about discovered the beginning.   Jodi Cleghorn of Write anything has a wonderful post - Thinking as writing . Alexandra Sokoloff, whom I'm hoping to meet at Bcon has deemed October to be Nano prep month and has been posting a series of articles to prepare yourself and your story to begin writing in November. Check out the blog of The Office of Light an...

Life has returned to normal (as we know it) and we finally started 5th grade lessons this week.   James has fully recovered and is back to being talkative, inquisitive and feisty.   We've been reading " Carry On Mr. Bowditch " for English and the story is giving both James and I much to think about.  In the story, Nathaniel enjoys learning and is curious about everything. When he wants to know something, such as astronomy or math, he picks up a book, studies it and writes down everything he learns in a notebook.   So lately, when James starts asking me his various questions as he does, I refer back to the book (nudge nudge wink wink) that he needs to start searching for the answers himself and not use me exclusively as his encyclopedia.   I've been pushing him to be more involved in his studies and be a bit more independent.   In that vein, I realized some of the curriculum I had chosen was too teacher intensive, which allowed him to sit ...

I am so excited to welcome Christine Fonseca today to My Two Blessings.   Christine's book Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students:  Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings was released on October 1st. Her Epic Blog tour runs through October 15th and will end with a multiple blogger review, including mine, on the 15th along with a special giveaway.  I am particularly happy to get a chance to review Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students since we are always looking for ways to deal with, teach and help James how to handle his intense emotions.  Loving what I've read so far, so be sure to check back on the 15th for my review.  ***************************************************** Helping Gifted Kids deal with Stress and Anxiety. First off, I’d like to thank Robin for hosting this stop on my blog tour. Be sure to check out the great contest at the end of the post for a chance to win a signed copy of EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS. Now, on to the po...

  I have something special for you today.   My brother is Baron of Erud Sul in the Kingdom of Atenveldt for the Society of Creative Anachronism.  The kingdom recently had it's first Arts and Science Competition.  He won in the Novice Division for Performing Arts and for Writing.   Below is the poem he wrote for the competition. A Nocturnal Upon Autumn By  Baron Christopher Fitzarthur Aka Chris Walsh Picture courtesy Bies Photostream On the first of Autumn, in fading light, I gazed upon one tree in a wood, Pondering seasons it withstood, Before we both succumbed to night. Inside it, is Spring; The sap of youth marked in concentric rings. The precious fruits borne of blossoms past cling To boughs which remember stretching forth, Seeking possibilities of endless worth. In the trees deep roots and branches strong, I see the growth of a good Summer spent. Still in the air, a clinging scent Of those days nurturing and long. Beneath its wide crow...

Our cats like to bring us gifts - rats, dragonflies, praying mantis, pieces of paper found wherever, and birds.  Usually the rats are dead, but we've managed to save most of the rest. Some days we're too late.  This morning, I glance up and look out the patio window and see Gracie. She's playing with something and figure I better get out there and save whatever it is.  It turned out to be a hummingbird.  They are real teases, flying down and around the cats heads, chirping at them.  They've come and hovered in front of me a few times for a chat when I've been sitting out on the patio.  Friendly little buggers, but not too terribly bright.   Surprisingly, Gracie manages to catch them.  This time, I caught her before she did any harm.    Unique experience, getting to hold and sooth a hummingbird.  Beautiful shiny green feathers that sparkled in the sunlight.  I've discovered birds are trusting souls, especially when you've save...