UPCOMING WRITING EVENTS!

On the writing front, my ten minute play, "Oh, Baby", will be produced at Mendocino Community College as part of their annual New Play Festival. Performance dates are Fri., May 18 and Sat., May 19, at 8 pm. For more information, contact Reid Edelman at 468-3172 or redelman@mendocino.edu, or check back later on my website for any updates. My last ten minute play, "Flavor of the Month", was performed at Mendocino College's 3rd Annual New Play Festival in May 2005.

On Sat., June 2, from 3 pm. - 4 pm., I will be co-teaching a workshop, "Discovering the Children's Writer in You -- from Idea to Submission" with my writers' group pal, Gretchen Maurer, at the Mendocino Litfest, a free event held at Mendocino Community College. I'll also be reading from my picture book, "Otto's Rainy Day' during the Kids in the Quad session, sometime between 10:30 am. and 3:00 pm. For more info., click on the Mendocino Lit. Fest link. I hope to meet some of you there. There will also be a wonderful keynote speaker -- multiple award-winning author, Gary Soto -- who will sign his latest books, "A Simple Plan", a compilation of poetry for adults, and "Mercy on These Teenage Chimps", a young adult novel. You can find out more about Gary on his website, just click on the Gary Soto link.

Hope to meet some of you there!

FROM THE MIND OF THE SLEEP-DEPRIVED

Aaaah, the joys of motherhood. This morning, my five year old dumped half a 2 quart bottle of apple juice on the kitchen floor right when we were leaving for school, and my 16 month old decided that, well, this was as good a time as any to soil his diaper. There must be a Murphy's Law for moms somewhere that ensures that we are NEVER on time for anything -- EVER! The business of writing and publishing is a long enough process, but when you throw kids in the mix, it's a wonder I'm able to complete two sentences, much less a manuscript. I'm happy to report though that I do have a picture book manuscript floating around the publishing world. And now, the waiting game begins ...

So after all the time I spend whining about not having enough time to write, I've entered the world of blogging. Crazy, right? Call it cathartic. Call it procrastination/avoidance. After all, if I'm blogging, I'm not working on getting the voice of my YA character just right, which is often equivalent to pounding my head on the keyboard. Call it a desperate plea to other writing moms -- tell me I'm not the only one whose house looks like a tornado whirled through it one hour after I just spent four hours cleaning. Or whose muse thinks it's creative, funny even, to energize my brain at 4 am. so that I can't get back to sleep until I jot down those brilliant thoughts on dialogue or character development. My muse has little tolerance for the sleep-deprived. "You've already had 3 hours of sleep. Get up!! Only 4 hours of writing time left before the next round of making school lunches, carpools, and play dates."

I have now also joined the cyber-elite. If you're reading this blog on my website, well ... you've found it. If you're reading this on blogspot.com, go to my website link, and check it out. Many thanks to my wonderful graphic designer, Karen Adair of Designer Graphics, (707) 391-5273, and programmer Marc Carson, www.friendlyskies.net, who also gave me some useful tips on the art of blogging. So, if you don't like my blog entries, it's all his fault! Just kidding, Marc.

Till next time, writer friends. And May the Muse be with You.