It’s the most wonderful time of the year! There are so many traditions this time of year, and as I go through them, I often think of ideas for stories. But, I get so busy that I never write them. So, I decided to challenge myself this year to write “12 stories of Christmas”. Between now and December 24th I plan to post 12 holiday themed stories. To make this more fun, I’m sending the challenge to any writers to participate. Here’s how it works:
On the mornings of December 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 22nd, and 24th I will post my story for the day. The goal is to keep writing and enjoy the holidays, so these will be flash fiction, with limited time for revision, so there’s no pressure for “professional polish”.
Anyone who wishes to participate just needs to visit Nicole’s Nook and click on the day’s story. Then, in the comments post your own story or a link to it. The only requirements are that the stories have some holiday connection (whatever holiday you celebrate- it doesn’t have to be Christmas). It can be any genre or format (short story, poem, memoir…). You can participate in as many or few days as you wish, but please only submit one story per day.
This weekend was the Rochester Children’s Book Festival was this weekend. I’ve attended in the past, but this was my first year as a volunteer. My job was to be an “author escort”, which means I got to take authors from their table to presentations. It was so much fun getting to meet the authors. It did cut back on my shopping time, which is why this is only a mini book haul.
Book Haul
These are the books I picked up at the festival:
The Lovely War by Julie Berry
It’s 1917, and World War I is at its zenith when Hazel and James first catch sight of each other at a London party. She’s a shy and talented pianist; he’s a newly minted soldier with dreams of becoming an architect. When they fall in love, it’s immediate and deep–and cut short when James is shipped off to the killing fields.
Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who’s played Carnegie Hall, he’s a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment being sent to Europe to help end the Great War. Love is the last thing on his mind. But that’s before he meets Colette Fournier, a Belgian chanteuse who’s already survived unspeakable tragedy at the hands of the Germans.
Thirty years after these four lovers’ fates collide, the Greek goddess Aphrodite tells their stories to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another? But her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music and reveals that War is no match for the power of Love.
This isn’t one of her children’s books, but it’s been on my wish list. I love WWII books or any book with a connection to Greek Mythology. So, I’m going into this one with very high expectations.
For the Birds The Life of Rober Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas Ilustrated by Laura Jacques
Roger Tory Peterson revolutionized the way we look at and appreciate birds, animals, and plants. Some kids called him “Professor Nuts Peterson” because of his dedication to his craft; yet he went on to create the immensely popular Peterson Guides, which have sold more than seven million copies, and which birders everywhere appreciate for their simple text and exquisite illustrations. Working closely with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, New York, author Peggy Thomas and artist Laura Jacques have created a fascinating portrait of a global environmentalist with this very first children’s biography of Peterson, a winner of the John Burroughs Nature Books for Young Readers Award.
Any book with penguins on the cover calls to me. I kept walking past this one and finally couldn’t resist any longer. It wasn’t until I was writing this that I remembered that as a kid I had field guide of birds that I would look through all the time.
Fifth period is hands down the best time of day in Connor U. Eubanks Middle School, because that’s when Mr. Lewis teaches Jazz Lab. So his students are devastated when their beloved teacher quits abruptly. Once they make a connection between budget cuts and Mr. Lewis’s disappearance, they hatch a plan: stop the cuts, save their class.
Soon, they become an unlikely band of crusaders, and their quest quickly snowballs into something much bigger–a movement involving the whole middle school. But the adults in charge seem determined to ignore their every protest. How can the kids make themselves heard?
This book was published less than a month ago, and people were already buzzing about it. Can’t wait to get it in the hands of my middle schoolers.
Writing update
As I mentioned in a previous post, my goal for November is to write every day. I alsomade aacalendar forrmyselfincludingg individual plans for each day. I have stuck to my overall goal of writing every day, but I am a little behind on my individual goals. This is mainly because I’ve gone into a rabbit hole of revisions. It may be taking longer but, I think I will be much happier with the end products of my writing.
November means NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). For those unfamiliar, NaNoWriMo is an event where writers commit to writing 1,667 words daily, resulting in completing a 50,000-word novel in a month. I am not writing a book this month. I have participated in the July challenge before, but it’s not very practical while teaching full-time. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t have other writing goals. My intent is to dedicate time every day to writing in November. To keep myself accountable, I will post blog updates.
I didn’t set any specific reading goals for 2022. I don’t need the motivation to keep up with my reading. I did decide to focus on writing consistently. I started the new yearout by putting specific writing goals in my calendar for each day of January. So far, this is proving to be more effective for me than just planning on a set amount of time or number of words. I did not get to poetry writing on Saturday, so I decided to incorporate it into today’s blog post, which was going to be about the trials of completing daily tasks when you really just want to read your book.
