Fun on a Friday

Does this thing come with a user's manual?



Have a fun, fabulous weekend,
Donna

Do You Know Leo?

My neighbor did something yesterday that reminded me of Leo Buscaglia.

Leo Buscaglia was a warm, wonderful man who spoke passionately about living well and loving one another. After watching him on PBS, I felt inspired to live my best life.

Here's one of Leo's videos about love:




Leo once told a story about how some of his college-aged students came over to his home for a meeting, and while they were admiring the beautiful fall leaves in his yard, a blustery neighbor marched over and said, "Leo, this is unsightly. You'd better get rid of all these leaves. Rake 'em and bag 'em like the rest of us."

Leo didn't rake 'em nor did he bag 'em. He and his students carried them all into his living room and dropped them. There, among the colorful, crunchy leaves, they continued their meeting.

That's how Leo lived. That's how I want to live.

Last night, my neighbor, Pam, knocked on my door. She handed me something wrapped in paper towels. "Leaves," she said, smiling. "And a couple acorns from our trip to New Jersey."

Autumn leaves! Pam knew how much I missed the lovely leaves of autumn, so she brought the leaves to me.

What else could I do with them? I spread them on the living room carpet.




Thank you, Pam. Thank you, Leo.

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” -- Leo Buscaglia

How to Write a Novel

Want to write a novel?
Hmm. Me, too.
It's got to be easy, right? Just string a few thousand words together and . . . ta dah . . . you become the next J. K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or Stephen King.
Small problem: They have to be the right few thousand words in the right order.
Hmm. I think we need some help.
Let's turn to prolific writing guru Meg Cabot.
She's got this awesome video to tell YOU how to write a novel.
Stephenie Meyer, look out!

12 3/4 Ways to Have a Successful Author Visit and Book Signing

Step 1: Work with a talented, dedicated media specialist like Lisa Petroccia, for example, who may or may not be mentioned in my next novel. :)



Step 2: Show up at the school's cafetorium and discover someone's forgotten lunch on the stage, along with a table displaying your books and a lovely purple orchid.




Step 3: Talk to 400 6th graders about the embarrassing things you did when you were their age. Throw in a story or two about how you sold your book. (Be sure to include all the hard parts like the, er, 9,756,832 rejections you've received.)

Step 4: Read the part of your book that includes Arnold Schwarzenegger. If your book doesn't include parts with the California governor, why not? Stop reading because the bell rings. Leave all the kids wondering what happens next so they HAVE to buy your book.

Step 5: Show up at Barnes & Noble approximately on time. Sit at a table piled high with your books. Direct people to the bathroom when they ask.

Step 7: Act a little bit like an idiot when your son's kindergarten teacher shows up.



Step 8: And when one of your besties comes to support you.



Step 9: And your husband . . . because he has to, plus he's really nice and likes hanging out in bookstores.

Step 10: Sign books for approximately 5,293,285 girls and one boy. The girls will want you to sign their books with a purple pen, if you have one. Have one. Sign the boy's book with black ink. Trust me on this.




Step 11: Have a great time talking with the kids and their parents, especially the parents who happen to be high school reading teachers or come from Philadelphia, like you. "Go, Eagles!"



Step 12: While chatting with the children, remember why you love doing this so much.

Step 12 3/4: When the books are gone, go home.

Check Out the Sunday L.A. Times

I didn't realize how excited I would be to see my story in the Los Angeles Times newspaper this morning. But I was!
You can read my short story here.
Big thanks to my editor, Jennifer James, for the great lay-out and nice bio.
Hugs to my friend, Marjorie Flathers, who told me about the opportunity when we met at the 2005 SCBWI conference in L.A. Marjorie has sold oodles of stories to the Times.
And I love Patricia Cantor's illustration.
If you're a writer and would like to try your hand at a story for the L.A. Times, here's the info:

SPECIFICATIONS FOR KIDS’ READING ROOM STORIES

Main Stories

One 600-700-word story
Submission via e-mail is preferred
Payment is $250 per story, if and when it is published

The target audience for these stories is six-years to nine-years old. We are primarily interested in fiction, but if you submit an interesting nonfiction story with at least three references to each fact, we will take a look at it.

In order to get an idea of what kind of stories we like we advise you to study the Kids’ Reading Room page. It appears in the Sunday comics part I.

If you are out-of-state you can access the stories online at www.latimes.com/kids

Please send submissions to: jennifer.james@latimes.com

Best of luck!
Donna

Philly Phamily . . .

Last weekend, we had the pleasure of spending time with family and friends in PA and NJ. It was fantastic to reconnect, but went way too fast.

Here are some happy snaps from the weekend . . .

Bro-in-law, Mike's 60th birthday celebration
(I swear it was just yesterday we were celebrating his 40th!)

Gypsy and Rose, hoping someone throws them pizza crust

Leigh and Denny

"The Guys" in religious observance of THE EAGLES. They must have prayed extra hard because their team won. Hallelujah!

Leigh, learning all about dinosaurs from the adorable and brilliant Matt

Baby Charlie, with proud mama, Susan

Someone poked this Eagles guy cake in the eye. Okay, okay. It was me!

Baby Charlie, with Proud Papa, Steve

Nick, Kim and a stowaway -- Baby Samantha is due this January. Hooray!!!

The apt bumper sticker on my dad's wife's car

Dad, 82, with his very own copy of an ARC of my new novel.

Dad and the dudes

Man, it's tough to live 1,200 miles away from such an awesome family!

William Safire (December 19, 1929 - September 27, 2009)

I was at a bat mitzvah this weekend. The rabbi said that when a person dies, the most important part of the birth and death dates is the hyphen between the dates, because that represents what the person accomplished during his lifetime.

William Safire accomplished much. Among other things, he was a political columnist for the New York Times. And he contributed to "On Language," a New York Times Magazine column about words and language.

Two things he wrote that I'd like to share are:

1. His "Rules for Writers."

2. His column, "Never Retire."

Need a Laugh?

This shouldn't be funny, but it is. And the cute little fellow makes me think of the hamster in my upcoming novel.