Yay! Back to Novel Push 2007

All the books are turned in! Yay!

Now it's time to get serious about the novel. I'm going to work on the current novel until I get another gig. Back to Novel Push 2007. I'm going for a page count goal right now: 5 pages a day. My new book is set in the magical Big Thicket of Texas; I mean magical. Sometimes it would "snow" spiderwebs. Orchids, baygalls, pitcher planets, palmetto, bromeliads, woodpeckers, Loblollys, Sweet Gum, I felt so connected to the natural world. I believed fully that angels, aliens and ghosts were all in that tangle of woods. I also believed it was a place you could hide and only be found if you wanted to. I remember plotting, when school was being particularly nightmarish, to hide out in the Thicket and live in a blackberry patch. These patches formed these awesome caves that made great hideouts. I'm totally working on writing what I know.

I'm gearing up for the Western Washington SCBWI conference. This upcoming week, I'm going to go read something of Bruce Coville's that I haven't read before. He's actually the co-author of one my favorite books, Armageddon Summer. He's awesome but like a polar opposite to me. I'm a Mole type; he's a Frog type. Think Wind in the Willows. I was in my son's school library the other day and eavesdropped on a group of students. The librarian asked the students who their favorite author was. Hands shot up and Bruce Coville was the first name flung out. Cool. There will be editors and agents and lots of friends. Should be an happy weekend.