Got Plans This Saturday?

My camera has died.  So, no photos today.  I'm sad, too.  Hopefully, I'll have some for you on Thursday.  In the meantime, you'll just have to keep guessing about what I did this past Saturday.  (I know.  I'm evil.  You'll adjust.)

Instead, I wanted to share the news of a really cool event that some Canadian authors I know (and others I don't know) are participating in this week.  It's called "Airlift to L.A.", and it's the brainchild of children's author Helaine Becker, who is working in conjunction with Access Books and four other authors (Rob Weston, Kari-Lynn Winters, Jill Murray, and Wendy Kitts - who has a picture book coming out soon with Nimbus Press) to bring hundreds of books to Bunche Elementary in the Compton Unified School District on October 2nd, 2010.  (That's this Saturday, guys!  And click those links back there to check out their author blogs and websites - pretty great stuff!)

Why Bunche Elementary?  Because their library has about 3 books for every kid who attends the school.  3.  A tiny fraction of what they should have.  And 90 % of the kids who go to this school live at or below the poverty line, which means school is probably the only place they have access to books at all.  Their library shelves are practically empty.  Not only that, but these kids, who have so little and whose lives are so challenging, need books more than anyone - to escape the daily hardship they endure, to know that they are not alone, and to see that the world can hold more for them than this.  I know this need.  We can't ignore it.

So, what can you do?  If you live in the L.A.area, you can volunteer to help paint the refurbished library and stack their new books on the shelves.  Remember, that's THIS SATURDAY, October 2nd, at 9 AM.

If you're busy this weekend but live in the L.A. area, you can volunteer with Access Books (who provide books for dozens of impoverished schools in Southern California) and help with marketing, publicity, or a myriad of other things.

If you're nowhere near the L.A. area (like me), you can hold a book drive, donate books, or simply help out by donating some cash.

Just do something.  Then, leave a comment about it.  And spread the word!

Wisdom on Wednesdays: Prioritization

First: Bryan Russell over at The Alchemy of Writing is participating in the Terry Fox Run, an annual event to honor an extraordinary Canadian while raising money for cancer research.  Go here to learn how you can help.

And now on to the subject of today's post: prioritization.  I posted a couple of weeks ago on making a schedule, and how well it works for me (really well when I stick to it, not at all when I don't).  One person commented that her life had been thrown off-balance by various new concerns, and that she had way too much on her plate.

Can I share a personal story here?

I used to be one of those "Save the World" types of people.  I was always the provider of a sturdy shoulder to cry on and sympathetic ears for listening and a font of knowledge for anyone who cared to ask and I was on a bajillion committees and I generally looked after everybody in my life as well as I could, on top of getting top grades and having lots of interests and causes and things.  I was on the debate team and the eco club and in the musicals and I was class secretary and a candy striper and I babysat and tutored andandandandand.

None of it was fake or done out of a sense of obligation or to get something out of it; it was just who I was.  I wanted to help.  I liked to help, and I still do.  But by the time I got to college, all this helping while maintaining top grades and three part-time jobs (hey, I went to a small liberal arts college; those places are EXPEN$IVE) and taking mostly arts- and literature-based courses (read: lots of work) was getting to me.  The pressure just built and built and built, and I cracked.  In a breaking-down-in-tears over my oatmeal, everyone staring at me, my advisor telling me to take a few days off from classes kind of way.

And in that moment, when I was sitting across the table from my wonderful advisor with tears spilling into my oatmeal (Wendy, I am still grateful for having you in my life), she said exactly the words I needed to hear: "You can't save the world, you know.  And you don't have to."

And that was it.  I cut back on my extracurriculars, I decided what was most important to me, and I focused on doing the things that would get me there.

And this is what I want to share with you.  You don't have to do everything. You don't have to knit your kids' clothes from scratch and make gourmet meals and have a house worthy of Martha Stewart and have perfect kids and follow the blog of every agent and every author and every editor in the English speaking world and be in 10 critique groups.

Take an hour, or an afternoon, or even a week or a month, and really think about what things in your life are the most important to you right now.  Is it having kids who know that they are loved?  Growing your internet presence?  Finishing two novels this year?  Finishing one novel this year?  Having a neat and tidy house?  Rank things in order of how important they are to you.  Prioritize them.  And then focus on the most important things.

As for me, I still struggle with this sometimes.  Should I really be blogging right now, or should I have spent that time on one of my WIPs?  I've decided to let this week be a week of flux, where I let the heavy writing go a bit (but I'm still revising things I've already written, and outlining my current projects) while my kids settle in at school and my family settles into a new routine.  Next Monday marks the beginning of a new schedule.

My house is a mess, but my WIPs get nearer to completion every day and my kids know that they are loved. For me, those are the most important things.

How about you?

Did You Skip Your Starbucks Today?

Because of writer and blogger C. J. Redwine's quest to adopt a baby girl from China, I did.

You should, too.

Do it for the contests. Do it because it's a good thing. It doesn't matter.

Just do it.

I Heart Mondays

If you still haven't had a chance to check out the auction to raise money for flood relief for the city of Nashville, please do so - this is your last day to bid.

Aaannnnnnnd, literary agent and Uber-Blogger Nathan Bransford of Curtis Brown Literary Agency has added a new Page Critique feature to his blog - EVERY MONDAY! I know! If I were a "squee"-er, this would definitely be a "squee" moment. It's truly fantastic, and I really appreciate the opportunity to see his point of view on other people's (and maybe one day, my) first pages. So, fellow writers, don't miss this. Every Monday. Be there.

Thanks for stopping by.

Do the Write Thing for Nashville

Hello, blog-lovers. I've been gone for a few weeks now, entertaining visiting family members, eliminating weeds, grooming lilacs, and shoveling coal raking gravel, but I'm back, and I'm back with a mission. (Or maybe that should be, back on a mission? No, that's not right either... Whatever. You get my point.)

My mission is to direct you to a wonderful place where three talented authors (Victoria Schwab, Amanda Morgan, and Myra McEntire) have teamed up to host an auction to raise money for the people of Nashville, who are really suffering right now after severe flooding has killed dozens, left many homeless and put the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame - among other city landmarks - underwater. The mayor estimates that damage from the flooding will top $1 billion, so they could really use some help. All sorts of great stuff has been donated by hundreds of agents, editors, and authors, from movie scripts to query and manuscript critiques to signed books, and whether you're an author or just a book or movie lover there's bound to be something for you.

So, get on down there and get bidding!

Library Fundraising Wrap-up

In our Library-loving Blog Challenge last week, we managed to raise $62 for local libraries. Yay us!

In other news, I have had family staying since last Thursday, and will continue to do so until Next Saturday, so while I'll try to post a few times between now and then, I'll be around a little less than my usual 2-3 times per week. My apologies.

Thanks for stopping by.

Library Fundraising Challenge: GO!

Hey all,

I'm taking part in my first library-loving blog challenge!

Who doesn't know a library that can use a few extra dollars here and there? Probably nobody. Who wants to help a library (or a lot of libraries) raise some extra dosh, at no cost to you, with just a few clicks? Everyone? Great!

Here's the skinny: for every commenter who comments on this blog between now and midnight on March 27th, with something you like about libraries, I will donate one dollar to my local library, The Brampton Public Library.

How easy could it be? You comment, I cough up the money, the library gets a gift! It doesn't get much easier than that.

Note that my pledge is “per commenter”—so if a single person leaves 50 comments, that still only counts once! But you can do more by spreading the word ... So, LINK! TWEET! SEND PEOPLE HERE! More people = more comments = more cash for libraries.

If you want to make a flat-fee donation to your library, or to start your own challenge, you are quite welcome to do so; please leave that information in the comments, with a link to your own blog if that's how you are going to do it.

For a complete list of participating bloggers (and to visit other sites where you can help libraries just by leaving a comment!) visit the writerjenn blog at http://writerjenn.livejournal.com/

And thanks for taking part!

P.S. I've had a thought: I'll only give the first $50 to my local library. The rest will go to my old High School, Walnut Hills High School. They run a great program there - especially the English program - and they could always use some extra cash.