Book Sites

You may have noticed that I am doing a lot of posting this month about internet resources. This is because I am working on a novel for National Novel Writing Month. Hope you are finding some good links and things while I am working away at this story!

Here are some of my favorite websites about books for kids/reading:

Boys Rule Boys Read!
I linked to this last week, too. I think linking boys to books is an important task and am happy to link to this site again.

A Year of Reading
This is probably my favorite of the ones I am posting today. This site builds my list of books I want to read faster than any other.

MotherReader
Check out her header on the blog: "The heart of a Mother. The soul of a Reader. The mouth of a smart***." Hilarious! I really enjoy her blog and her comments about the value of books/reading.

Kidsreads
Another good resource of books for kids.

The Graphic Classroom
A blog about graphic novels. I enjoy graphic novels - the Lunch Lady series, the Dodgeball Chronicles, Babymouse, and The Secret Science Alliance are some of the ones I follow. Check this site out for more about graphic novels.

NaNoWriMo Update

To stay on track with my goal of writing a 50,000 word novel by the end of November, I should be at approximately 25,000 words by the end of today. Wow, that is a lot of words! Let's see how I am doing. Drum roll, please....

As of this morning, I am at 18,914 words.

That is 6,000 words short - a lot of words to write in one day to get to 25,000. Probably not going to make it by the end of today. But here are my thoughts so far about this endeavor.

1) I don't think I have ever written this many words in one creative project before. One unit of curriculum has four or five lessons in it. A four-lesson unit I wrote for 2007 came to almost 11,000 words. Maybe a policy manual that I wrote in my last full time job might have come close, but I don't think so. And 18,000 words of fiction? I am feeling pretty empowered by the effort and my progress so far.

2) I saw an email about a short story contest this week, and for the first time ever, I didn't delete it outright. Why? Because I am actually writing a story. It is no where near ready for submission, but I am 18,000+ words closer than I was 2 weeks ago.

3) The idea of NaNoWriMo is to just write. To save editing and revising and research for December. Even if I have to write three pages describing the room the character is in - or make things up about something I need to research later, just to keep the pen (yes, pen - but that is a topic for another blog entry) moving while my brain catches up is okay, even though I know those pages will never survive a round of editing. I write things and think, "That's lame" or "This is so dull, no publisher would ever want to publish this." But those things aren't the point. The point is the word count. The point is setting a goal and finishing it. The point is to just write and write and write.

And that's what I am doing.

Author websites

I was scrolling through my internet bookmarks the other day and noticed that I have a lot of author websites bookmarked, but I can't remember the last time I visited any of them. I find out about new books through Amazon or one of the book-related magazines I read. I rarely go to an author's site to find out about materials unless they are offering something unique (like a giveaway).

But there are a few author sites that I check out regularly:

Mo Willems Doodles
I think Mo Willems is a genius. His blog is simple and funny, which means I can swing by for a minute, chuckle at the latest posting, and move on. I learn about upcoming materials, but I am entertained, too, even if there is nothing "new" coming out.

Guys with Books
Four authors on tour together post pictures of their presentations, themselves in crazy costumes, and other news from the road.

WWdN:In Exile
This is the blog for Wil Wheaton, author and actor, "geek" extraordinaire. This blog has no clear emphasis - some entries are behind the scenes information on shows he is taping or conventions he is attending, some entries are about his family and some are about his books. Sensitive readers should be warned that Wil doesn't hold back about what he thinks about religion or politics, and he uses colorful language to state his opinions. I don't always agree with him, but his transparency and honesty about the writing process, the business of writing, the business of acting, and the business of every day life inspire me.

Joanna Campbell Slan
This is an author who seems to "get" how to use the internet - at least she gets readers like me. Her blog talks not only about her family and her books, but she also talks honestly about writing. As a writer who aspires to publish a book (or two, or twelve) someday, the entries about writing are invaluable.

Just for the boys

Found some things online recently at my favorite websites that might appeal to the boys in your life. I am always looking for things for my favorite little boy!

Boys Tool Belt
This is a tool belt you can make, if you are so inclined. I think it is pretty cute. Younger boys would definitely love it (6 and under), and so might older boys who want to work with Dad on a project or who like to imagine being a builder.

Argyle Tee
Cute little do-it-yourself idea for adding argyle to a plain tee or onesie. Very cute. Could be fun to do for kids in a family to have matching shirts for portraits.

Boys Rule Boys Read!
I may post this link again when I talk about favorite book sites, but since this one is targeted especially to boys, I thought I would post it here, too. Great book recommendations for the boys in your life! Another site about books for boys is here.

NaNoWriMo Update

To stay on track with my goal of writing a 50,000 word novel by the end of November, I should be at approximately 12,500 words by the end of today.

Drum roll, please....

As of this morning, I am at 10,384 words.

I can't believe it. I don't think of myself as a fiction writer. Non-fiction comes more naturally to me. But I am enjoying this process. I struggle at times with the idea of not fixing the things I don't like. I keep telling myself "December is for revising and editing. December is for revising and editing." I don't like some of my character names and I realize I am leaving out some details that would round out scenes. I try to just make notes and move forward. I know I am going to hit a wall some time soon and I want to have as many words as possible written before that happens. I may or may not make it to 50,000 by November 30th, but one week in I feel like the effort has been a great learning and growing experience so far!

For today, though, we are visiting with family and I have 2200 words to finish to hit my goal by bed time tonight. I don't think I can top Friday's word count of 4,325 (thanks to the three hours my husband gave me to write at Panera while he did the parenting), but I at least want to get to that 12,500 mark. Here's hoping for a productive writing day for all the NaNos out there!

NaNoWriMo

I am taking the plunge this year. I thought about doing it last year and then determined I was too busy. But this is the year I try National Novel Writing Month. Crazy, huh? The idea is to compose a 50,000 word novel - from start to finish - in the month of November. Over 100,000 people are signed up to give it a try this year, and I am one of them. I started writing on Sunday and plan to put an update here every Saturday to track how it is going. If I am staying on track, I should be at around 12,500 words by Saturday. We shall see....

Make your own Mitts

Found a tutorial here for making your own oven mitts (thanks to U Create for highlighting this one). This is one of those crafts that looks fairly easy... if only I had a sewing machine. I like the design. Rather than a large, bulky mitten, this is like a hot pad with pockets for your fingers and for your thumb. Great idea! Check it out.