GREETINGS, DEMMITT ELEMENTARY

Hello students of Vandalia, Ohio! I'm so excited about skyping with all of you this month and visiting you in person next month. Your fabulous Beth Green has been planning and emailing with me for weeks. We will have lots of fun writing, imagining, and creating.

I have fun planned for you already. First of all, I'd like you to look at my March 7th entry "please choose your favorite story idea". Then choose. My children are grown-up, so it helps me to know what kids your age are thinking and what you like.

Secondly, I'd like you to think about two things: your dreams and doing what you love. These two actually go hand in hand.

Have you read my book, Heart of a Tiger? In it the kitten Four has a big dream. On his Naming Day, he wants to give himself a name like that of the magnificent Bengal Tiger. But if he chooses such a name, he can only keep it if all the other animals agree it's a fair and honest name. The name he gives himself is the name he'll live with for the rest of his life.

If you could choose your name on Naming Day, what would your name be? Think about it. It's a big decision.

Have you read my book, The Pumpkin Runner? In it, Joshua Summerhayes runs a 500 mile race, just for the love of it.

Think about what you do, just for the love of it. What do you love doing?

What would your name be? What do you love doing? Both of these relate to your dreams, what you want to do in life and what you want to be in life. These are big questions. We'll talk more about them when I see you in Ohio.

In the meantime, keep reading, keep writing, and keep doing what you love!

GREETINGS, DEMMITT ELEMENTARY

A Literary Yellow Brick Road

I am going to be learning Youtube. This is my first little venture, thanks to www.youtube.com/searchstories. Try it. It's fun.

A Literary Yellow Brick Road

Readers, please choose your favorite story idea

On March 5th, I had great fun visiting Sunset Ridge Elementary. I asked the 4th and 5th graders to check my blog March 8th. That's today!
I'm sharing short descriptions and a few sentences from several of my story ideas here. I've started each of these stories, but only just.

All of my blog readers are invited to choose the one that sounds like the story you'd most like to read. Thanks to all for your thoughts!

Drum Roll here................

Your choices are:

1) Wu Lan and the Dancing Horses
A story based on the dancing horses of the Tang Dynasty in China. It will be from the point of view of a stable boy or girl whose father is in charge of caring for the horses.

"Wu Lan's heart pounded like a thousand drums. On his right pranced Water Spirit, draped in rubies and emeralds. To his left was Sky Climber, black mane tied in gold and silver ropes. And before him, in red silk dragon robes, sat the Emperor of all China."

2) Radical

Jazz Sullivan likes life well-measured and safe, just like her cooking. But when her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, life turns experimental. Her mom has no hair, her little brother believes he's a superhero, her new neighbor's a punk rocker, and the new puppy Radical is chewing at her heart as well as her shoes.

"My dad says there are some things in life that can fix anything. For Dad, it's the Acme ten-in-one wrench. For my little brother Stryker, it's his superhero cape. For me, it's Magnum Opus Chocolate cookies. I guess for Mom it was a dog, because one week after the doctor told her she had breast cancer, she decided we needed a dog."

3) Noah and the Secret of the Yellow Dragon

Hundreds of years ago, an evil sorcerer, jealous of the yellow dragons' powers, conjured an evil spell to trap the dragons. There is just one way to break the spell. Only a person with a True Heart will be able to discover that secret. Can timid Noah set the dragons free?

"Sarban was smiling. 'The dragons keep me company,' he explained. ' Sometimes in this house it is lonely'.
'If it's company you want, why do you stay behind the iron gate?' asked Noah.
'If I could go beyond the gate, I would,' replied Sarban. 'It is not within my power.'

4) Mugwart and Abigail

Abigail Eliza Bingle thinks her dreams of going on a dinosaur dig are crushed when her Dad, professor of paleontology in New York City, goes on sabbatical, moving the family to a small town in Connecticut. But her new friend, Mugwart, rescued from the Mosstown Humane Society, leads her to not only new friends and adventures, but a dinosaur dig in her own backyard.

" 'Dinosaur, Dad, you've done it again!'
Abigail Eliza Bingle had on her favorite baseball hat, backwards, her favorite polka-dog dress, frontwards, and her favorite Halloween socks, one up and one down. But even her favorite clothes couldn't cheer her up."

Readers, please choose your favorite story idea

nathaliemvondo.wordpress interview

Nathalie Mvondo rocks, as does her Multiculturalism Rocks blog. She just put up a wonderful interview of moi. http://bit.ly/aivCCv

nathaliemvondo.wordpress interview

More NYC pics

Simply can't forget the laugh-producing doggies at Madison Square Park. If you're ever in the Big Apple, stop at this great little burger place. Really yummy malts. I have a great affinity for all animals and especially dogs. They often appear in my stories.

More NYC pics

NYC in January

NYC in January

A New Year begins in NYC

NYC is the most. Just the most. I loved visiting in late January/early February. I loved seeing snow flurries, my son who lives just a few blocks from Grand Central Station, my two gracious editors, squirrels and doggies in Madison Square Park, and all the wonderful writers and illustrators at the SCBWI Winter Conference.

A New Year begins in NYC