Congratulations!

It is very bittersweet when my students pass the GED test.  Some students are ready after a month of class, but others are here for much longer.  There is no set schedule for how long a student must stay with us.  When they are ready, they are ready.  There aren't semesters, trimesters, or vacations.  We work year round with all levels of students.

When my students walk out of my door for the last time, before taking the test, I think to myself, "I hope I don't have to see you again!"  (And not because I'm a mean, horrible teacher).  If I don't see them again, it means they've passed.  If they come back, it means we have more to work on.

Rometta just called to say thank you for my help (she passed the test a couple weeks ago).  I don't often hear back from students, but when I do, it makes my heart glow :)

Query

Alright, it's time I stop protrastinating with posting my query.  Here it is, please feel free to critique in any way you would like.

Twelve year old Rupert lives with stern Aunt Miriam, while his parents sail around the world.  At school, he is tortured by Bobby the Bully and his pet rat, Scamper.  Rupert survives his aunt's controlling ways and Bobby’s freaky gray rat by escaping into the imaginary worlds of books and his favorite sport, baseball.

A simple errand to his neighbor’s house reveals the very thing he hasn't dreamed up is exactly what is true: make-believe creatures come to life in his next door neighbor's house.  With the help of a new friend, Petra, Rupert uncovers the secrets of Mr. Applebee’s mysterious house.  The only problem is that Mr. Applebee refuses to let Rupert help, even when an evil pirate sneaks out of Imagination World with the goal of escaping the house.

Pi-Rat threatens to unleash all imaginary creatures into the real world.  Rupert knows if he can’t stop Pi-Rat the world will forever be changed.  In his quest, Rupert learns to trust friends, keep secrets, uncover the truth, and become the confident adventurer of which he had only previously dreamed.

RUPERT REGINALD ROBINSON THE NINTH & THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE NEXT DOOR is complete at 23k words.  It is a short, middle-grade chapter book that could be expanded into a series, but does stand alone.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Pitch Contest with Natalie Fischer

I've entered the pitch contest with Natalie Fischer on YAtopia and thought you all might be interested in my two sentence pitch.  I highly suggest for every one of you to join the contest!


Story Name: RUPERT REGINALD ROBINSON, THE NINTH & THE MYSTERIOUS HOUSE NEXT DOOR


Genre: middle-grade


2 Sentence Pitch:  Rupert lives in his imagination to escape his stern Aunt Miriam and the bully who tortures him at school.  A simple errand to his neighbor’s house reveals the very thing he hasn't dreamed up is exactly what is true: make-believe creatures come to life in his next door neighbor's house. 


Opening sentence:  Rupert Reginald Robinson clutched a thick book to his chest; his forehead rested against the glass of the backseat car window. 




I'm going to post my query here in the next couple days.  I would love it if you all would come back and tear it to pieces...by that, I mean give me amazing constructive critiques that will make it amazing!

Secrets We Tell

I've heard many times, that we need to write what we know, not what we think we should write about.  This usually means we end up writing about personal experiences, people in our lives, and our dreams.  And this means we constantly tell secrets about ourselves, even if we don't know it or intend to.

Rupert and Petra are complete opposites just like Cale and me.  Ann's anxiety was birthed after my car accident.  She also runs because of the joy I felt when I was finally able to run a mile again.  Farrah is confident and outspoken because I was very shy and introverted in middle school.  In 'Taught by Sister' the older sister pushes the younger sister up a hill, saves her from drowning and a tornado, because I wouldn't have any clue what to do in life without my sister.  Samantha refuses to be called Sam because I hate it when people call me Julia instead of Juliana.

I often wonder how many secrets writers give away knowingly, and unknowingly, in their writing.

I am 20k into my new WIP while I work on the last edits for Rupert (I know, I know- there is no such thing as last edits).  I have the goal to write 2k words a day and am very excited to see what I discover about myself while I write.

The Writing Community

Sophia's post has inspired me, particularly her comments about how welcoming and supportive the writing community is.  I had written a first novel and knew writing was something I wanted to pursue and decided to take the leap into blogging and joining twitter.  At some point in those months (I say that like I don't remember the exact moment, which in fact I do.  Here's the blog post: The First Paragraph), Sophia commented on my post.  It was a huge turning point for me, some random stranger had commented on my blog and ended up wanting to be critique partners.

I am not a naturally competitive person.  I feel bad when sports teams lose, even when I'm cheering for a particular team.  I love games but constantly wish everyone could tie.  And I really dislike working really hard for something and still not winning or doing well, especially when there are other people I am competing against.  Those reasons must be why I quit sports after 7th grade and joined choir and did musicals instead.  I adore the writing community for some of these exact same reasons, everyone is so darn welcoming and supportive.  Strangers comment on blog posts and offer what help then can.  Big shot writers add you on twitter and offer advise.  Some may give you harsh critiques, but I haven't yet encountered anyone who tells others to quit writing entirely, they always say to keep learning and work hard.

How often do we have the chance to belong to a community as wonderful as this?