My Thoughts, but Somewhere Else

Or, I'm Being Interviewed!

The lovely (and funny) Bru has interviewed me on her blog, Pitch Slapped. (Isn't that a great blog title? See, I told you she was funny!) Needless to say, I am flattered and thrilled and all sorts of happy that she wanted to do this. Yay, Bru! So hop on down there, and check it (and her blog) out!

See you there, and thanks for stopping by.

FREE WRITERS' CONFERENCE!

That's such an overused ploy, isn't it? Dangling a carrot like that just to get your attention? So mean and shallow of me.

But it's TRUE!

WriteOnCon is a free, online childrens' writers' conference from August 10-12, 2010. It's scheduled to take place outside normal working hours, so it's even do-able for the nine-to-fivers among us, and it boasts an agent and editor line-up that has me breaking out in cold sweats of excitement and fear. Most boards are closed until the conference opens, but there is a critique board that is absolutely humming for those of us who want to polish up our work a bit ahead of time.

Did I mention that it's free?

So go register, already!

Close Encounters of the Literary Kind

I popped into my local Chapters bookstore yesterday, (that's the Canadian version of Borders or Barnes and Noble), and had the pleasure of running into Rich Meyrick, there to promote his new book JASPA'S JOURNEY: THE GREAT MIGRATION.

Rich was friendly and enthusiastic, and his book - an adventure set in the serengeti - sounds like a lot of fun for middle-grade-level readers. Apart from the obvious writer-chat (I blog! Do you? Have you been to such-and-such conference? Etc.), Rich was gracious enough to congratulate me on my recent magazine publication, and to sign my brand-spanking-new copy of his book, which I can't wait to read!

It served as a good reminder for me of how hard authors need to work to promote their books. Before I started writing, I only thought of marketing in terms of the really big-sellers, with their dolls and their movies and their posters and what-have-you. I thought marketing was something the publisher did for you. But I was wrong. Being a writer is not just about writing; it is also about self-promotion.

Thanks to Rich for helping me remember that, and more importantly:

Congratulations, Rich, on the publication of your first fiction novel. May there be many more to come!

Thanks for stopping by.

My Latest Procrastination Tool

I thought I'd share this little piece of fun, for which I am indebted to Phyllis over in the comments section at Nathan Bransford's blog.

As for who I write like, move over J. K. Rowling and Stephen King! Ishta's coming to a bookstore near you! (In about 2-5 years' time, but that's a minor detail.) BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!

ANNOUNCING...

My rhyming story "Desert Treasure", in which two children find a tube of sand in the desert and fantasize about what it could be, is appearing in the July/August 2010 issue of KNOW: the Science Magazine for Curious Kids!

So, go out to your local bookstore or library and buy or borrow a copy. KNOW is a great magazine, and I'm proud that one of my stories has been chosen to be a part of it.

And thanks for stopping by.