Tuesday, April 21, 2009

My YA Pre-schooler

Yesterday, I took E and H to the library. After running amok in the children's section, E made her way to the Young Adult section and nestled in, right away.



She's nearly through with potty training now, so she's move on. No more Mo Willems, I guess. Now she's reading...what book is that in the pic? SHELF LIFE, by Robert Corbet. I've never read it, but she really really wanted to check it out*. And she had to check it out by herself. (Of course.)

My little girl is growing up so fast! She hasn't had an accident in two days (she's in pull-ups at night time, though). So no more poopy awards for us, I hope. At least, not for two years or so.

On a completely unrelated topic, we have figured out where we'll be moving to this summer: Syracuse, NY. Anyone from Syracuse? We'll be going up in June to find a place to live, and then actually moving there at the start of August. (Sadly, no SCBWI LA for me this year.) My husband will be starting his PhD program in Physics, which will take FIVE YEARS. Yes, FIVE years. We'll be poor grad students for FIVE YEARS. (No, really, I'm fine.) So, for FIVE YEARS, we'll be living off of his TA pay, unless I get another job or somehow learn to write more books at a faster pace. Ones that sell would be nice, too. (I'm trying to be patient. I really am.) So, long snowy winters, here we come.

And on yet another unrelated topic, I'm doing something rather exciting this weekend: I'm locking myself in the guest room and writing fifty pages. I'm calling it my "50-page sprint." I told my husband he's responsible for both kids all weekend long, with the exception of feedings and night-time. Hopefully, it'll work out, he won't knock down the door, and I'll end up late Sunday night with fifty reasonably well-written first-draft pages. I'm a reviser and not a sprinter, so this is like taking a person who does long, casual, perfect-form runs and placing them in front of a ravenous T-Rex on the edge of the Grand Canyon.** Hmm. That's an idea. I shall print off a pic of a T-Rex and tape it to the wall.

* We did not check it out. Instead, I hid it and we got KNUFFLE BUNNY TOO, by Mo Willems. And we love it!!

** Not that my books are "perfect" in any way.

10 comments:

Jacqui said...

Ha! Tinkerbell loves to sneak into my room and read what I'm reading. The problem is she can read it, and then later she asks questions. Do I have to start hiding the books?

Syracuse is lucky to get you.

Kelly Polark said...

Girls love their YA!:)
My 9 yr old son wanted to read Twilight after I did.....I told him that nine is not the acceptable age to start reading that series, and it was more girly. I steered him toward The Graveyard Book instead!
Good luck with your big move and enjoy your writing time this weekend!

Paul Michael Murphy said...

Good move, Kelly. Oblique sexual situations involving high schoolers are far more objectionable than oblique murder scenes.

Corey Schwartz said...

Hi Amber,

First time here. Funny blog!

Corey

Vikki said...

I used to live in Hyde Park, NY, which is no where NEAR Syracuse, so that's probably not much help! But, yes, looooong snowy winters await you. But so do nice, hot summers! And you'll be close to Niagara Falls/Canada. Niagara on the Lake in Canada is the most quant little town I've ever been to in my life. You must go there!

Good luck with the sprint this weekend. I, too, am a reviser and sprinting often gives me hot flashes. The T-Rex pic is a good idea!

Stephanie J. Blake said...

Good luck with the 50 pages! I really need to get one of my books done, too. No motivation.

Corey Schwartz said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. Knuffle Bunny (1 and too) are favorites at our house! Mo's a genius!

Elise Murphy said...

Obviously, my problem is that I don't have a T-Rex! Why didn't I think of that???

Unknown said...

My little one loves Knuffle Bunny, and she has a bunny that looks exactly like Knuffle but hasn't realized it yet (thought I've pointed it out a few times). Anyway, nice blog, love the WIP bar. Cool feature, might steal that one if I can find it.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

Aw my daughter is 5 and she still loves Moe so dont worry :)