Can I just say that the only thing wrong with this book is that I'm done reading it already? It's not a very long book, so I sort of dragged it out. It lends itself to that anyway because it's got a nice, slow, hot-summer pace.I LOVED this book. It's not often that...

I am absolutely loving The Summer of the Skunks...

Introducing.... THE REALITY CHICK BUZZ THE BOOK contest! The PRIZES: (1) Your choice of either an iPod Shuffle, OR a fifty dollar Amazon.com gift certificate (2) An autographed copy of REALITY CHICK by Lauren Barnholdt (3) A copy of the August issue of Teen People,...

Hey, All.I am back from Darcy Pattison's novel revision workshop. There will be thoughts and comments on need_to_write sometime in the next day or two, if you're interested. While I was there I read Kieran Scott's BRUNETTES STRIKE BACK, which is the sequel to I WAS A...

In between all my reading and prep work for Darcy's workshop, I managed to sneak in some recreational reading. I'd allowed myself the luxury of reading one YA over several days, instead of my usual 1.5-2 days, but in the end, I've read two YAs in 2.5 days....

Yeah...I meant "its" not "it's". It's easier to add a disclaimer than figure out how to go back and fix the entry!

Well, I've made a plan for the week so I will be ready for Darcy's workshop, and because I could see that I would get it all done, I allowed myself to pick up a YA last night. I was afraid of getting sucked in and not finishing all the reading and exercises I need to...

Good morning (for eleven more minutes).We've been away, traveling the west coast...very fun...a fair amount of reading. I may or may not comment more on it later, but what I read while I was gone was:Nevil Shute's The Rainbow and the Rose - an absolutely...

Well! The Cubs game sucked for the Cubbies, but it was really, really, really cool if you were me. Hearing my husband's song, having them introduce it and then say it was sent to them by "Joelle Anthony, a big Cubs fan" was sooooooo cool! I am a 25 year Cub fan which...

This post is Cubbie Blue because I've got cool news! If you get the cable channel WGN and you're around today, tune in to the Chicago Cubs baseball game (starts at 1:20pm central time) and you will hear my husband's song! They are going to play his song Dear Old Dad...

I remember reading a long time ago, when I first started writing, that you should use names for your characters that are either very, very common or made up because if you use an ususual name, and the reader is named that, it takes them out of the book, but if the...

Hello, All.Well, mostly I've been writing. I managed to cut 20,000 words from my manuscript and I'm going to meet my workshop deadline a couple of days in advance. Because of writing 6-10 hours per day, I've had to curb my reading a bit. I finally finished SEVENTEENTH...

Okay...this is making me crazy!Although I'm still reading manuscripts from my group, I'm also reading a YA (you can't carry loose manuscripts from bed to the table to the glider to your desk...you just need a book for that). I picked up a book at the library called...

Hello. I'm still reading, but I'm reading other people's manuscripts for now. I'm going to be taking Darcy Pattison's novel revision workshop in July, and part of it is sending out your manuscript to three other people (in your assigned group, not just random...

Well, it took me a while to finish CROSSING JORDAN, even though it's not a very long book. I was mostly just busy, but I think that although I was way into it, the subject matter was a bit touchy, so it was hard to keep going in case something bad happened. I won't...

Hello. I'm back...I got lost in a book! I even skipped baseball games on TV to read...not that the Cubbies are really playing baseball...but they're standing out there on the field some. <g> I digress. Anyway, I got lost in HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD...

Hello. I was thinking about HP and how it's almost summer and to me, nothing says summer like reading about HP and his friends. No new book out, so I'm going to get my fix rereading last year's book. When I sat down with it last night, I realized that...

Good morning, all...or one or two...or me...I started reading a book last night that I know got good reviews. At least, people who've read it have said good things about it to me. The author (who shall remain nameless) also has won a spattering of awards for this, and...