An Early Harvest

This morning turned into a lesson on how to harvest granite. I have three young fruit trees (2 apple, 1 pear) that need to be planted. I picked the perfect spot, measured the distance between each, and aligned them. All was perfect!

I began to dig!

And dig.
Then, CRACK!

Rock, Kennie yelled!
DUH! I thought.

So I widened the hole, and wider, and wide... until finally, I harvested this bad boy.

What are we going to do with it, you might be asking?

We need to replace the wooded step that leads into the mudroom. I always wanted granite!

From my yard!

I love living in New Hampshire. The mountains, lakes and wildlife calm me and keep me grounded.  Everyday, I discover hidden beauty in my yard, yesterday was no different. I went to burn the brush pile. Just as I was about to toss the match in, I look down and saw.

The brush pile will look like this for a while longer.

I decided to walk the property to see what else I had been overlooking lately. This is what I found on the pond.

In the garden.

I looked along the pond and took in the texture of the trees. I love how the birches bend over the water and the lilac bushes throw purple in amongst the fresh new greens.

But what I saw today was my dream of turning my 205 year-old barn into my writing studio/retreat edging closer to the top of my wish list.

Someday soon!

Tell me, what do you wish for?

NESCBWI 2010 - Thank You everyone!

This year’s conference was incredible. Cynthia Leitich Smith said so much and even included tidbits on her man. Marla Frazee and Allyn Johnston showed me what Santa looks like naked, rear and front. ☺

Sudipta Quallen is my girl. She just keeps knocking out some the most creative and fun picture books ever. Sudipta’s hands-on sessions shows what it takes to write incredible picture books and how to amp of your chances of writing and selling great books.

Super Kudos to Lisa Papademetriou, for jumping in and getting me all Unstuck!

I loved Erin Dionne's Hysterical Epiphanies session. On the ride home, I found myself thinking about ways to make my characters laugh for just a second in some of their darkest moments.

John Bell’s So You Want to Write a Graphic Novel? Was really just perfect! I arrived knowing nothing about this genre and left enlightened.

But most of all, the Agent Quick Query Session was a complete success all because of Sarah Davies of The Greenhouse, Lauren Macleod of The Strothman Agency, Jennifer Laughran of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, Leslie Kaufmann of Kneerim & Williams, Edward Necarsulmer IV of McIntosh & Otis, and Ammi-Joan Paquette of Erin Murphy Literary Agency, because it was so apparent how much time and effort each put into the queries. Thank you!