Conferences, Conferences!

What a busy week+ coming up.
The American Jewish Libraries conference and the American Library Association conference are both in Chicago. I am very much looking forward to attending both of them. (Though I've never been to either before and so, truly, have no idea what to expect.)

The AJL conference will be the first time I, publically, start telling people about my next book, QUEEN OF SECRETS. This book is a modern retelling of The Book of Esther and I am starting to get really excited about it. Even though its pub date is still nearly a year away.

But a year can go very quickly, as we all know.

AT ALA I will be manning the SCBWI booth on Monday afternoon, from 1-3 p.m. Stop by and say hello!

New and Shiny

I suppose you know you are a writer when it's hard for you to think of anything quite as much fun as starting a new book. In a lot of ways it's like the giddy headrush you get when you first meet a someone you are attracted to and you can tell they are attracted to you too.

Oh, I know there'll come a point when we can't stand eachother and if I have to look at it's face one more time I'll pull my eyeballs out. (Which thankfully doesn't happen much in my people relationships.)

But right now, I just want to call in sick and hang out all day!

I'm totally in new book love.

Twitter

I consider myself an intelligent person, but sometimes it feels like the world of technology is just moving too fast for me to catch up. And I don't have time to spend playing around with each new networking site that pops up teaching myself how to use it, because by the time I've figured it out, everyone will be over on the next one. :)

The allure of twitter was hard to resist. I got myself an account and before long I had myself some followers, but I still hadn't tweeted. I was tweet-shy. What if I tweeted wrong?

Then I heard about Tweet Camp. (It's like a web-based version of Twitter for Dummies.) But now I feel as though I can tweet with confidence.

I'm @jennymeyerhoff if anyone wants to follow me.

And now I'm off to tweet my first tweet.

Nearing the N*

I'm so close to finishing the latest revision of the mg I'm currently working on. It's been very slow going, like pulling teeth. I remember reading somewhere of a writer who talked about that phenomenon. They way writing sometimes pours out of your pen almost effortlessly, and then other times the process is so slow and painful you can hardly bear it. The writer's point (and I wish I could remember who made it so I could credit him/her)was that in the finished product it was impossible to tell which was which. The slow and painful parts could be just as good (or not good) as the quick and easy parts.

Which means...
you have to keep writing, even when it feels impossible. What it feels like often bears no relation to what it is.

Only now I'm at the impatient part. The end is in sight and I want to sprint to the finish line, but with three kids beginning summer vacation, I don't think sprinting is going to happen.

Slow and steady wins the race?

(Does anyone remember that song? C is the way it begins. H is the next letter in. I is the middle of the word and C, well you already heard. K is a kind of a hen. E now we're nearing the N. C-H-I-C-K-E-N, that's the way you spell Chicken.)

A Writing Trainer

Recently I've started doing pilates with a personal trainer. (After having three kids, I had no ab strength left.) What I've discovered is how much nicer it is to work out with a trainer than by myself. She plans the workout I do. She cheers me on or tells me to push myself a little harder. She also tells me when I should stop, when she sees that my muscles are just too fatigued to continue. It's taken away all the stress of overanalyzing my workouts. Did I push myself hard enough? Did I overdo it? (Or maybe I'm the only one who does this.)

It's gotten me thinking, too. How nice would it be to have a writing trainer?

Everyday when I sat down at my computer she'd tell me exactly what I was going to work on during that writing session. She'd cheer me on whenever I started to flag. "Come on. One more paragraph! You're almost at the end of the page." She'd push me when I started to slack. "Close your inbox! Turn off your wireless connection. No stopping until the chapter is finished!"

And the best part, at the end of every session she'd give me a nice shoulder rub to prevent cramping!

I know I'm joking, but seriously? There are days where I really might consider paying for such a person. :)

How to Write a Children's Book

It's been a long time since I've posted, and I'm a bit rusty.
Not rusty enough to think that I could tackle the whole "How to write a children's book" in one post though. If you really want to know, you'll have to show up at 1788 Second St. in Highland Park, IL on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30 beginning June 30.

Why? you ask.
I'll tell you.

The amazingly talented Brenda Ferber and I are teaming up to lead a six week facilitated critique group for children's book writers of all levels and genres.

If you are interested shoot us an email at northshorewriters@gmail.com or learn more by visiting the North Shore Writers Studio website.

How Do You Start a Novel?

The answer is not "It was a dark and stormy night."

The answer is also not on my blog. But the answer will be discussed at the SCBWI-Illinois Far North Suburbs network meeting on Wednesday, April 1.

Join me at the Hawthorne mall Barnes and Noble at 7 p.m.

Hope to see you there!