Hammy Hamster vs. Sammy Sumo

Hammy Hamster was minding his own business on his lined hamster wheel when his agent called.


"Good news, Hammy," she said. "Your video is on Amazon. You're famous!"

Hammy couldn't believe it. He was so much better than all the other hamsters now.

He wore movie star glasses . . .



He nibbled chocolates . . .



Mostly, he napped while waiting for Oprah to call . . .



Until . . .

Sammy Sumo came to town. Sammy wanted to be a star, too!



"Sorry," Hammy said. "This town isn't big enough for both of us. Go make your own video!"

Sammy didn't take kindly to those words. He pushed his stomach out -- oh, nevermind -- his stomach was already pushed out -- and he bellowed, "Them's fightin' words, Hamster!"

Sammy jumped on Hammy. "Oomph!"



He pounded Hammy. "Ouch!"



Hammy needed to do something quickly.

"I've got to get in shape!"

So he lifted weight . . .



. . . until he was strong enough to fight back. "Whomp!"



Come on, Hammy and Sammy! Can't we all just get along?



APPARENTLY NOT . . .



Uh-oh! Was Hammy doomed?

He had no choice but to use his secret, super power -- something so secret it was to be used only in case of dire emergency -- HAMSTER FARTS!



It worked!

Will Sammy Sumo ever wake? Will Hammy Hamster triumph and return to his life of big-headed leisure? Or will Sammy Sumo get up and take over this town?

YOU DECIDE!!!

Vote for the outcome in the comment section below, then follow the blog or check back soon . . . to find out if Hammy Hamster wins or Sammy Sumo is the victor.

Guess Who's on Oprah?

Not me.

This amazing, local music/voice teacher, Jamie Perez, gathered an entire middle school together to create a music video that celebrates READING! It's so much fun.

The folks at Oprah discovered it and are airing the video on today's show.

As a children's book author, I couldn't be more excited to see so many middle school kids having a blast promoting one of my favorite activities -- READING!

Incidentally, Jamie is wearing the red shirt and white vest. Enjoy the video:

Busy or Bored?

Our boys went back to school Tuesday. The house was supposed to be a peaceful mecca so I could work, right? Wrong!

Guess which of these actually happened this week:

1. Brad Pitt stopped by for, ahem, coffee.
2. I was called to jury duty.
3. I won a lifetime supply of Brussels sprouts and Twinkies.
4. The electricity went out while I was cooking dinner.
5. I was voted Queen of Absolutely Everything.
6. Made an emergency run to Target for school supplies that didn't actually exist.
7. Squeezed in a quick lunch with Oprah to talk books.
8. Dog-sitting a sweet pea named Clover.
9. Flew to Washington, D.C. to offer my two cents to President Obama about health care.
10. Sister visiting from CA. Sister's rental car battery died. Twice.
11. Hubby whisked me off to Hawaii for a quick getaway.
12. Serious computer problems.
12 3/4. I wrote anyway!

I'm one of those people who gets more done the more I have to get done. Give me an impossible list of things to accomplish and I'm on my A game. Long, languishing days dull my mental spark.

And I'm not the only one.

After being widowed with five children, Mary Higgins Clark woke three hours before her day job to write. It was several years before she wrote and sold Where are the Children?

John Grisham wrote on the train to and from his job as a very busy attorney.

After a long day of work, Jerry Spinelli stuffed cotton in his ears so he could concentrate on writing with his six children in the house.

How do you work best? Amidst chaos or in peace? Do you prefer busy or bored? I love busy with a bit of bored thrown in for good measure.

Happy weekend,
Donna