tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81602736539335622812024-03-13T13:41:52.343-06:00Science Fiction MommyWelcome to my blog, where the life of a science fiction writer and the life of a Mommy collide! I hope you'll stay to watch the results, and don't worry if the resulting black hole traps you in its gravitational pull. The more the merrier!Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.comBlogger306125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-55684731475554462422015-01-27T10:18:00.001-07:002015-01-27T10:18:49.648-07:00Peanut Allergy Slap BraceletsOur first product is available at Allergy Superheroes, the Peanut Allergy Slap Bracelet!<br />
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Introducing a fun new twist on medical alert jewelry! Available <a href="http://www.allergysuperheroes.com/by-product/peanut-allergy-slap-bracelet">here</a>!<br />
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This colorful wrist band is sure to get the attention of any caregiver about your child's allergy. The "angry peanut" tells them not to mess around with food allergies, but it's no match for your Superhero!</div>
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<ul>
<li>Measures 1" x 9"</li>
<li>Bands are made with a flexible metal insert covered with 100% medical-grade silicone</li>
<li>Ink is lead-free and environmentally friendly</li>
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While the slap bracelet is not a good idea for a young child who will take it off and lose it, these work great for school-age children. The design makes them easy to grab--off of a backpack, for example--when presented with a new situation such as a substitute teacher. Food Allergy Awareness has never been more fun!</div>
Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-55159746053473346822015-01-26T12:01:00.000-07:002015-01-26T12:05:16.056-07:00How to Write when you have a 5-year-old and a 2-year-oldI popped over to this blog to copy something to the <a href="http://2ndgenallergymom.blogspot.com/">2nd Generation Allergy Mom</a> one, and discovered that this blog post was sitting there as a draft. It's over a year old now and unfinished, but I found it amusing and thought I would post it for the benefit of anyone still reading.<br />
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How to Write when you have a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old<br />
<ul>
<li>Wake up, get children ready for the day, feed them</li>
<li>Decide to enjoy your children for the morning. They're only this little for a short time, and you can write later</li>
<li>Play with children</li>
<li>Think about your work-in-progress. Get lost in the memories of what you've already written</li>
<li>Come back to reality with a start, to the sound of your youngest screaming</li>
<li>Find children, mediate conflict, return loveys, recite apologies</li>
<li>Go back to playing with children</li>
<li>Daydream again of WIP</li>
<li>Realize your eldest is saying your name over and over. He probably has for the last two minutes</li>
<li>Attend to child's requests</li>
<li>Play with children</li>
<li>Think of amazingly awesome new plot element for WIP. Race to write it down</li>
<li>Trip over toys on the way. Insist your children clean up the toys they aren't playing with anymore. Agree to help them clean up.</li>
<li>Continue playing, until you realize you never wrote your awesome idea down. Head, more slowly this time, to the nearest piece of paper</li>
<li>Hear your five-year-old scream because you're writing on his drawing</li>
<li>Apologize to five-year-old. Find another piece of paper. Begin writing idea down.</li>
<li>Hear a thunk, followed by a wail. Realize two-year-old has banged his head into a piece of furniture. Offer comfort.</li>
<li>Realize it's time to make lunch. Head to kitchen, begin pulling out food</li>
<li>Remember your idea. Go back to paper to continue writing it down</li>
<li>Explain to your children that yes, you know they're hungry and yes, you're working on making lunch, you just need one minute to write something down</li>
<li>Try to concentrate on idea despite the wailing in the background</li>
<li>Finally get all ideas on paper</li>
<li>Go back to kitchen, continue making food</li>
<li>While there is time-sensitive food on the stove, your youngest insists he has to use the toilet. Glance at timer, glance at child, and attempt to hurry him to the bathroom</li>
<li>Finally arrive in bathroom, assist child onto toilet, hear timer in kitchen</li>
<li>Tell child to stay put and you'll be right back</li>
<li>Take care of time-sensitive food in the kitchen. Race back to bathroom</li>
<li>Clean pee off floor and/or child. Finish up in bathroom. Get new clothes for youngest.</li>
<li>Return to kitchen. Finish making lunch.</li>
<li>Feed children and self.</li>
<li>Begin cleaning up kitchen, realize it's time for two-year-old to take a nap.</li>
<li>Ask two-year-old to try to use the toilet again.</li>
<li>Shake head to rid it of ringing in ears.</li>
<li>Decide the pull-up will hold, even if he needs to pee now.</li>
<li>Chase child, coax him into a pull-up for his nap</li>
<li>Place child in bed and begin to sing</li>
<li>Child announces he needs to poop.</li>
<li>Bite tongue lest you voice the frustration that he takes too long to get ready for his nap. Take him back to bathroom</li>
<li>Undress child. Leave him alone in bathroom.</li>
<li>Try to clean up kitchen.</li>
<li>Listen to older child beg you to play with him. Assure him you'll do an activity of his choosing as soon as the kitchen is clean and his brother is in bed.</li>
<li>See a streaking two-year-old run through the house. Chase streaker, fearing for your carpet.</li>
<li>Clean up child.</li>
<li>Finally put two-year-old in bed. Sing. Leave room.</li>
<li>Clean up kitchen, to the accompaniment of "Mama, will you play with me?"</li>
<li>Finish cleaning kitchen.</li>
<li>Realize there are only ten more minutes before five-year-old should be in his room for quiet time. Grumble.</li>
<li>Ask five-year-old what he wants to do</li>
<li>Spend five minutes getting set up for an activity.</li>
<li>Play with child.</li>
<li>Realize twenty minutes have passed. Tell child it's time for quiet time.</li>
<li>Listen to child try to negotiate for more time. Tell him 'no.' Listen to whines.</li>
<li>Get child situated in room. Read bedtime stories. Make sure he has the toys he wants. Leave room.</li>
<li>Realize that the hour-and-a-half you're supposed to have to write was reduced to an hour because of the late start. Grumble.</li>
<li>Tidy up the house, just a little</li>
<li>Realize another fifteen minutes just went kaput. Grumble.</li>
<li>Get situated in favorite chair with water/tea and netbook. Turn netbook on, open applicable files.</li>
<li>Hear a door open. Grumble. Put netbook down, check on child.</li>
<li>Inform five-year-old that using the toilet is the only valid "reason" to leave his room during quiet time. Discuss semantics of valid reasons. Address (or deny) child's request. Remind child to be quiet because his brother is napping. Set child's nap clock to ring five or ten minutes later than normal because of the infraction. Leave room again.</li>
<li>Sit back down with netbook. Re-read the last few paragraphs of yesterday's writing to orient self. Prepare to type.</li>
<li>Remember idea you wrote down earlier. Get up to find it. Sit back down, type idea into appropriate computer file.</li>
<li>Commence writing.</li>
<li>Feel sense of writers block. Putz around, one painful paragraph at a time.</li>
<li>Finally hit stride, type like a maniac.</li>
<li>Hear beeping from the other room. Look at clock, and see that it is time for quiet time to end. Grumble. Keep typing, hoping child is engrossed in another activity and won't bug you.</li>
<li>Five-year-old emerges, leans in front of your screen, and asks what you're doing. Tell him you're busy writing, and to please not block your screen. Continue typing.</li>
<li>Child watches for all of ten seconds. Child asks if you'll play with him.</li>
<li>Tell child you will play when you finish up what you're working on, and ask him to give you ten minutes.</li>
<li>Child is quiet for twenty seconds, then leans over your keyboard and asks what a button does. Remind child that if he's talking to you, you can't get your work done, and that giving you ten minutes means ten minutes of quiet.</li>
<li>Child leans over your arm for two minutes, then slumps to the floor for the third. Continue writing to the best of your ability. Child finally thinks of something to do and races out of the room.</li>
<li>Breathe a sigh, type like a maniac.</li>
<li>Realize fifteen minutes have passed and you're still not quite done. Weigh guilt over broken promise to child against the desire to finish getting your chapter written.</li>
<li>Type one more sentence. Realize five-year-old has been too quiet. Set netbook aside to check on him.</li>
<li>Find child writing his own book. Discover pencil marks on wall.</li>
<li>Scold child, clean up mess.</li>
<li><br /></li>
</ul>
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Yes, I remember those days. They still continue, just in a different fashion nowadays. There are no more naps, but instead we have school. But it's amazing how quickly those fleeting four hours of preschool disappear.</div>
Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-74564041252468584252014-11-12T14:42:00.001-07:002014-11-12T14:52:11.088-07:00Allergy Superheroes!!!Knock, knock. Hello? Is anybody still reading this? I suppose it may still show up in somebody's reader, even if no one stumbles across the actual blog.<br />
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Hi! I haven't blogged about writing in a year, and that's likely to continue. My writing has continued, regardless. I <i>do</i> still write every day. I've taken some time to write/perfect queries for a few projects, and am flooding the world with submissions. I'm continuing to work on new material as well. Steadily plugging away.<br />
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Today's post is not to bore you about the unexciting aspects of my writing life. No, I wanted anyone who sees this to know that I am blogging again! Just not here.<br />
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My husband and I are starting a company:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Allergy Superheroes, LLC</span><br />
Empowering and protecting allergic kids!<br />
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We will be launching an exciting line of products to do just that!<br />
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Somebody you know is affected by food allergies. Very possibly more people than you are aware of! So please share the following links. Share them far and wide (we love likes and followers!) You never know when you will be helping someone out!<br />
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2nd Generation Allergy Mom (my new blog)<br />
<a href="http://2ndgenallergymom.blogspot.com/">http://2ndgenallergymom.blogspot.com/</a><br />
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Allergy Superheroes on Facebook<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/allergysuperheroes">https://www.facebook.com/allergysuperheroes</a><br />
Allergy Superheroes on Pinterest<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/allergyheroes">www.pinterest.com/allergyheroes</a></span><br />
Allergy Superheroes on Instagram<br />
<a href="http://instagram.com/allergysuperheroes/">http://instagram.com/allergysuperheroes</a><br />
Allergy Superheroes on Twitter<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/allergyheroes">https://twitter.com/allergyheroes</a><br />
Allergy Superheroes on Google+ (yes, we know it's cumbersome. for now.)<br />
<a href="https://plus.google.com/b/105048131773286535054/105048131773286535054/about">https://plus.google.com/b/105048131773286535054/105048131773286535054/about</a><br />
Allergy Superheroes on YouTube<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/allergysuperheroes">http://www.youtube.com/user/allergysuperheroes</a><br />
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I hope all of you are still doing well with your writing. Come say "hi" at the new blog, if you can!Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-8167783420125583452013-11-30T17:22:00.000-07:002013-11-30T17:22:52.754-07:00A beginningSeven moments of terror<br />
Seven internal screams<br />
Seven query letters emailed off into the ether<br />
Two confirmation emails received<br />
Many weeks and months of waiting ahead<br />
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Moonfall is off on submission!!!<br />
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!!!Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-11901981310417760162013-11-26T16:23:00.001-07:002013-11-26T16:23:09.426-07:00Losing my headThat moment you realize you've been so focused on getting your queries ready that you haven't researched, visited, or interviewed any elementary schools for your prospective kindergartener... and enrollment deadlines are looming.<br />
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And it doesn't help that schedules are reduced and wacky because of the upcoming holidays. I'm going to have to get this ball rolling next week!<br />
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But I can't! He isn't ready! He's just my little baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
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Yeah right, Mom<br />
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<br />Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-53609375897020454412013-11-21T12:43:00.000-07:002013-11-21T12:43:00.579-07:00Wink, wink, nudge, nudgeSix words:<br />
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My two-year-old can wink!<br />
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That is allEileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-35531914907459050662013-11-19T23:39:00.000-07:002013-11-20T16:46:09.415-07:00We're Off to See the Agent...Just a note to say that hunting for literary agents is taking MUCH longer than I had anticipated it would. My rookie status in the publishing industry wasn't clear to me until just a few weeks ago. I created a l-o-o-o-n-g list of agents from Agent Query, and then began ranking them in order of preference. After getting about 8 that I felt really good about, I thought that I would send out my first wave and then keep building the list while I waited. (Technically I found 10, but I want to save two of them for round 2, in case my query is universally crappy and I decide to re-work it. If, on the other hand, fate smiles at me and I get several requests in round 1, I'll send it quickly off to the remaining 2 agents in the hopes that they'll join the game.)<br />
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With list in hand, I thought it would be relatively quick work of personalizing query letters and sending everything off.<br />
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Not. So. Fast.<br />
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As I began personalizing, I did quite a bit more reading (and I didn't shirk this to begin with) and learned what signs of success and red flags to watch for. More digging and research was required on each agent. I've already found that one of them has a questionably small level of sales and has a potential conflict of interest. It's not an outright scam by any means, but I'm planning to email Writer Beware to see if they have any dirt. Even if it turns out to be fine, I will probably bump them toward the bottom of the list pending more verified sales to big publishers.<br />
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Having not bothered to do industry research in favor of using my limited time to actually finish the novel, I now have a lot to learn in a short time. I'm glad I'm doing all this, even though I'd hoped to get wave 1 out already. Still, it's still frustrating to think of how little I'm getting done. I'm also sweating the query letter, even though I think it's pretty polished, but...<br />
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Breathe, writer. Just breathe.Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-15992348219935448212013-11-03T17:33:00.000-07:002013-11-19T23:03:41.150-07:00Synopsis Writing - An Exercise in BrevityLately, I've been working hard on preparing Moonfall for submission which has included, among other things, writing the synopsis. I've never written a synopsis before, so I scoured the internet looking for advice. It's amazing how many different suggested tactics and lengths there are out on the web, including one site that made writing a synopsis sound like writing a term paper on my novel. Bleach! I finally decided to start by writing a no-holds-barred synopsis, chapter by chapter, in order to get all the main points down on paper. By the time I was halfway through, I was already condensing chapters and plot points, grouping things together and deciding what to omit. Signs that I was already learning what I was doing.<br />
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That first, barfing-on-the-page draft clocked in at 2,756 words. Now, I'm fully aware that my writing is puffy in first drafts, and this was no exception. After editing, I got it down to 2,234 words, which was about seven pages, double-spaced.<br />
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I'd already learned, during my excessive researching of synopsis writing, that a lot of places will want things shorter than that. <em>Much</em> shorter. The thought of getting it under 1,000 words made me want to cry, but instead I decided to approach it incrementally. I figured that different agents would ask for different lengths, if they specified length at all, so it wouldn't hurt to have three different synopses in my arsenal that I could whip out as the situation warranted.<br />
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So I made some edits, removing the most obvious elements and condensing things down. That mid-length draft came in at 1,567 words.<br />
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So far, so good. My next goal was to get a third draft at 1,000 words or under, but I started running into trouble. After around 1,200 words, I found that I had to cut things that felt essential to the plot. So I decided that instead of three synopses, I'd have four. The 1,190 word draft was the shortest I'd use by choice, and the shortest draft, painfully edited to 986 words, would be used only when an agent specifically requested something that short.<br />
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The interesting thing, though, is that after painstakingly summarizing my 99,000 word novel into 986 words, I realized there were nonessential things still in my longer synopses. I decided to go back and work on them again. The results surprised me.<br />
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The longest synopsis I edited down from 2,234 words to 1,845<br />
The mid-length synopsis went from 1,567 to 1,372<br />
The shorter synopsis went from 1,190 to 1,181<br />
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I meant to write this post a few weeks ago and didn't get around to it, so I have a little distance from my synopses now. In penning this post, I went back and read them all again. I still don't like the 986 word query--it feels rushed, though it isn't as horrible as I remember it being. It tells a complete story, it just doesn't feel like it does my novel as much justice as I'd like. To my surprise, my favorite versions are the 1,181 and 1,372 word drafts. Being more concise than the longest one, I think they pack a greater punch.<br />
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The moral of the story is that writing the synopsis helped me to strengthen my writing all the way across the board. It was still an arduous, nineteen-day process from start to finish, and I can't say I really enjoyed doing it, but I think it was a useful exercise.<br />
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Have you written a synopsis, or many synopses? What did you think about the process?Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-82005426481127486692013-09-17T00:22:00.000-06:002013-09-17T00:22:45.011-06:00That's a wrap, folks!I just have this to say:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: red;">I'</span><span style="color: orange;">M D</span><span style="color: lime;">ON</span><span style="color: blue;">E!!!!!</span><span style="color: purple;">!!!!!!!!!!!</span></b></span><br />
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That's right, I finished my final readthru of Moonfall today, and it is complete so far as I can make it. Whoo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
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I'll be spending the next week (at least) working out a synopsis and query, not to mention doing all the market research I've completely neglected to do until now. And soon it will be out under the eyes of agents, who will hopefully recognize its brilliance and offer to represent me immediately!<br />
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Some useless numbers, since I just noticed that word has these stats:<br />
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<ul>
<li>words: 98,921</li>
<li>pages: 173 (Times New Roman, single spaced)</li>
<li>Total editing time (for draft 4, the final draft): 4113 minutes. That's 68.55 hours. I've been working on this final draft for the last 53 days, which means an average of 1.3 hours per day--which I suppose might be accurate. I wonder if they count total open time, or just active writing time?</li>
<li>first draft created: July 20, 2010. That was 1,158 days ago, minus 92 for maternity leave is 1,066 days. Of course, there were a lot of days when I let this chill to work on other projects. But regardless, I've been working on this monstrosity for just over three years!</li>
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Here's a word cloud of the novel:<br />
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I want a Monster House "Done Stamp" to place on this thing. Woot!<br />
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Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-41114713676251740552013-09-08T23:03:00.000-06:002013-09-08T23:03:33.576-06:00Kal'El's crafts!!Zaxxon started preschool this week, which gave me uninterrupted time with Kal'El for a few hours each morning. On the first day, Kal'El missed his brother, but after that he was fine, and I really began to enjoy our time together. Zaxxon went to preschool three mornings per week last year, but this year it's all five mornings, and Kal'El is older and capable of doing much more. Zaxxon is also very overpowering right now, so it's hard to get much of a chance to interact just with Kal'El. Having Zaxxon occupied elsewhere is really giving me a chance to focus on my second-born, and to give him the attention and interaction he was otherwise lacking.<br />
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Zaxxon was about Kal'El's age when I first started doing crafts with him, so I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to get started with Kal'El. We're arbitrarily starting through the alphabet when it comes to our themes, but we'll focus a lot on holidays as we come to them, and we'll follow Kal'El's interest.<br />
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On our first day of crafting, we started with an apple tree. I prefabbed the tree and apples, and just had Kal'El place them on the tree. <br />
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I started out by adding the glue myself, but after about three apples he wanted to do the glue, so I let him.<br />
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He said he wanted to draw after we were done, so I pulled out some big paper and handed over the crayons. He scribbled a bit, but mostly he wanted me to trace his hand over and over.<br />
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After it was all over, we went for a bike ride. He's really doing quite well on his balance bike, and picks his feet up to coast for short distances. He travels between 3-3.5 mph until he gets tired, and can go between 1-2 miles before getting there. I'm hoping to build his endurance more on these rides with just him, because I'm always walking a fine line between letting him go as long as he wants, but having to go at two-year-old speed, and putting him in the trailer so Zaxxon can go faster on his pedal bike.<br />
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Due to other conflicts, Kal'El and I only got one other crafting day during Zaxxon's first week. We continued with letter "A" items, making an alligator out of the letter "A."<br />
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Chomp chomp!<br />
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I love this pic<br />
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Next I rubberbanded bubble wrap around a cup, gave him a dish of green paint, and tried to get him to "stamp" scales on an alligator. <br />
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He mostly just swirled it around, but he still loved doing it.<br />
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(Btw, does anyone know if children's tempura paint can contain formaldehyde? Because it smelled like it did. I haven't used this paint much, so it surprised me.)<br />
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Kal'El really enjoyed all these activities. Week one of crafts was a success!<br />
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Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-83597863349037126462013-09-04T22:38:00.000-06:002013-09-04T22:38:17.900-06:00Summer Stat CheckHi, is anybody still reading? Here's the breakdown of my summer, since I haven't been doing the monthly stat checks<br />
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<ul>
<li>Between June and August, I wrote every day (that's 92 days)</li>
<li>I finished editing 3 stories for submission, wrote the first draft of 1 new story, did edits on one of my kids' books and sent it to Beta readers, did final edits on a screenplay hubby and I wrote together, did some worldbuilding for a new novel, and edited the heck out of my current novel, Moonfall.</li>
<li>I am now doing a final readthru (out loud) of Moonfall, which I see to be the last step before it's ready for query!</li>
<li>Submissions.... yeah, maybe 5? I've been very lax in this department this year. Not having duotrope regularly available has messed up my system, and I haven't figured out a way to make it work yet.</li>
<li>Rejections... haven't really been keeping track. I haven't even printed some rejection letters yet, since I'm not resubbing at the moment. Maybe 8-10?</li>
<li>Acceptances... I wish. But then, not much is still out there to be accepted, since I'm slacking</li>
<li>I have 15 stories ready for slush pile circulation, but not all are out right now</li>
<li>I made 8 blog posts</li>
<li>I took no days off</li>
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Analysis:<br />
I had a very productive summer when it comes to progress on my writing. June and July, in particular, were whirlwinds where I jumped from one project to another. So many things just needed polishing that I really felt like I was making a lot of progress. I reached a reasonable stopping point on other projects and then plunged back into the novel, analyzing the reader comments and strengthening the story. It's almost time to submit, and I'm both excited and scared. Scared, because I've never queried agents before, and it's time to jump in with both feet. Excited because hey, I might actually land an agent and get published in the foreseeable future. I'm liking this feeling. It'll be weird to start over from square one, and work on new, rough, unpolished stuff again after so long focusing on my recent projects. It'll be exciting.<br />
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Plan:<br />
I intend to finish up Moonfall, then (provided I get reader comments back) polish up my picture book manuscript, and get queries written for both. While doing market research and all that, I intend to either a) revisit my most-recently-written story, b) work on another picture book idea I recently came up with, or c) start the new novel. It'll be some combination of the three, I'm just not sure in what order.<br />
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Happy writing!Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-74846818406626244162013-09-01T11:01:00.000-06:002013-09-04T17:23:07.796-06:00A few more crafts from Zaxxon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Zaxxon has expressed a <i>lot</i> more interest in coloring books lately, perhaps because he's honed the ability to stay within the lines better. To that end, I purchased a couple of activity books from the dollar section for him. This one shows him how to color by number (or symbol, or outline.)<br />
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I helped Zaxxon create a superhero logo for himself (for a project I'm hoping to do for his birthday,) and doing so inspired him to create an entire superhero costume for himself. <br />
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He's got the emblem on his chest, a cape on his back, and a cowl sort of thing over his shoulders.<br />
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This is a mural of the Batcave that has replaced the map of where Mickey lives on his wall<br />
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Zaxxon and Dada are working on a picture book together, one that they are meticulously writing and illustrating. It's cute to see them working on it.<br />
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Zaxxon and I also worked on a book together. We took our copy of "Goodnight Zoo" to the real zoo, snapped pictures of the animals in the book, pasted it onto paper, and wrote our own words. Then I bound it using a needle and thread, because I thought it would work better (at least without bending the paper) than a stapler.<br />
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Preschool starts next week! I have ambitious plans to do craft projects with Kal'El while Zaxxon is gone, although I've only got one prepped as of this writing. We'll see how--and frequently--it goes!<br />
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Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-35669512317624492782013-08-28T00:15:00.000-06:002013-08-28T00:15:36.529-06:00Return of the Sensory BinOur sensory bin has been sitting with St. Patrick's Day stuff inside, just wasting space behind the chair. Every now and then Kal'El wants to play with it, but he hasn't been very good about keeping the items inside it lately, so I haven't been too keen. But with my renewed interest in doing kid crafts, I decided to fill it up with something new.<br />
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A few months back, when I'd been hoping to do monthly, or at least seasonal, bins, I purchased two packets of water beads (or water gems, or aqua gems.)<br />
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The time seemed ripe, so while Kal'El was napping, I had Zaxxon help me remove the old items and hydrate the water beads.<br />
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He's not the most obedient child these days, but he did a very good job of following directions on this project, and he refrained from splashing or spilling the water.<br />
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These things are strangely mesmerizing, and very pretty, even when still tiny<br />
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He had to wait a long time--the beads took 4-6 hours to hydrate, and by the time he might have played with them, we were off at his final t-ball practice of the summer, so he had to wait until the next day before he could play with what he had created.<br />
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It took about 30 seconds of having the bin on the table before I realized that the boys were <i>not</i> going to follow the "don't knock the beads out of the bin" rule. Kal'El proved my point by sticking his hand all the way in and rapidly waving it back and forth, sending them all over the table and floor.<br />
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At that point I put the lid back on, made them pick up the scattered beads, and then moved the whole operation to the bathtub.<br />
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Since they were inside another enclosed space, they went nuts dumping the beads all over. (I love the way they iridesce by the flash when spread out thin in the tub.)<br />
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They also stood inside the bin, and laughed at the way the beads felt on their toes.<br />
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They absolutely <i>loved </i>this!<br />
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Another day of play. <br />
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Unfortunately, these didn't last too long. They're already slimy-feeling on the outside, and I will probably only pull them out once more before tossing them (after our trash service resumes, we switched companies and foolishly gave ourselves a couple-week break in service, oops.)<br />
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I can't say I'm too keen on using water beads again as a sensory bin filler. They're a ton of fun, but I wasn't prepared for this level of breakage. There were scraps and fragments of beads everywhere when it was time to clean up--helped along, I'm sure, by their standing in the bin. I didn't want to just wash the stuff down the tub drain since the package said they can clog drains, so I had to scoop most of it out and toss in the trash. Also, the round, wet, slippery, squishy nature of the beads means it's really easy to send them shooting across the room, and they're hard to pick up. Lastly, they go a bit nuts with them, quickly forgetting rules about where they're supposed to stay, so it's not a safe bin to turn my back on for even a short time. So while they're fun (and strangely mesmerizing, I could run my hands through them for hours) I probably won't get them very often. But despite that, we all enjoyed this short-lived bin!<br />
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Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-24975636649101571102013-08-27T16:44:00.001-06:002013-08-27T16:44:23.792-06:00Resume - The Movie!I know this blog's audience is pretty small these days, but regardless I wanted to share my husband's resume--because it's done as a movie trailer! Please watch this action-packed clip, like it on you tube, and most importantly, share it, because you never know if you know someone who could use his services.<br />
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<br />Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-5387067144431516462013-08-18T11:25:00.000-06:002013-08-18T11:25:00.619-06:00Counting down to preschoolI have felt a resurgence in crafting and kid projects in the last few weeks. Not only have I done a few projects to get Zaxxon ready for preschool, and just some fun stuff to do in general, but I've found myself making plans for Kal'El once Zaxxon is out of the house for a few hours every morning. I've already done some prep work for the first few crafts I'll do with Kal'El alone, and I'm looking forward to it. Zaxxon was right around Kal'El's age when I started crafting with him, and Kal'El always wants to join in when Zaxxon initiates a project, so he's definitely ready. I'm excited!<br />
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But first, we have to follow along with Zaxxon for a bit longer.<br />
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Zaxxon is off to pre-K this year, which will be five mornings a week. He only barely misses the cutoff to start kindergarten (by three weeks) but I think the extra year of preschool will work wonders for his social skills.<br />
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Just like last summer, I helped prepare Zaxxon for the start of preschool by making a visual calendar.<br />
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We drew a school bus, which Zaxxon decorated and cut out. <br />
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Then we made a paper chain, with one link for every day remaining before the start of preschool. This time around, Zaxxon didn't need any help with the scissors.<br />
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He <i>did</i> ask for help with the stapler, and I think he was losing interest by that point.<br />
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But we <i>had</i> to finish the chain, because only once it was done could we tear off a link for the first day! <br />
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He is now tearing off a link every morning, so he can watch the chain get shorter and know when preschool is coming!</div>
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Soon to be tot school with my little tot!</div>
Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-65328956688074225832013-08-11T10:24:00.000-06:002013-08-11T10:24:00.414-06:00Red, White, and Blue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In early July, I decided that Zaxxon and I ought to do a craft. I didn't have anything specific in mind, I just intended to go down to the office, grab whatever supplies struck our fancy, and do something free-form. Zaxxon came down to help me gather stuff, and when I went to cut off a piece of paper from the roll, he wanted it longer. And longer. When he finally said it was okay, its shape reminded me of a flag. It being only a few days until Independence Day, I decided that a flag was a fantastic idea.<br />
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I drew up the basic outline and indicated which color items should go in which area. Then Zaxxon took off, filling in the spaces.<br />
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He started to get a little bored after a while, particularly with the long pieces of string, so I participated a lot, too. I also added all the stars. There are exactly fifty, like there should be.<br />
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After this project, Zaxxon was inspired. He asked for more papers (smaller this time, but still the right shape) and he drew a good dozen flags all on his own.<br />
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This is one of my favorites<br />
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Even Kal'El joined in a little. We made him a flag full of red and blue handprints.<br />
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Zaxxon made so many flags, he papered his bed with them. Our house was quite patriotic for the 4th!<br />
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<a href="http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotSchool.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Tot School" border="0" src="http://i688.photobucket.com/albums/vv250/carisafrank/Blog%20Buttons/totschool150.jpg" /></a>Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-21997900736711879022013-08-07T22:39:00.003-06:002013-08-07T22:39:45.280-06:00Kids craftingI've fallen desolately behind on kid craft posts. However, I haven't done all that much with the boys lately, so there isn't <i>too</i> much that I missed. Here are some highlights of kiddie crafts, as I try to catch up on my photos in general.<br />
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Making birthday cards for Grammy (which was in March--you can see how far behind I am)<br />
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I even let Kal'El paint now and then, these days<br />
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This wasn't a craft, but a "life school" moment. We discovered a really awesome sledding hill near us when there was still barely enough snow to use it. In this pic, Zaxxon is the farthest away orange spot. He had no hesitation to sled down this very steep and long hill by himself. And see the closer orange spot? That's a somewhat bigger girl who ran right over him at the bottom.<br />
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I hate it when things like that happen, because Zaxxon will be gung-ho about trying something new and fun, then he'll get hurt, and he'll clam up and not want to do it again. The same happened here, but after much coaxing, discussing of safety and paying attention to the people around you, and a few rides with Mama or Dada, we convinced him to go by himself again.<br />
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Whee!<br />
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Kal'El sledded too, but only with one of us, because he's still too little to steer.<br />
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There's a cake recipe at the back of this book, and Zaxxon requested that we bake it.<br />
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Me and two kids baking at the same time was quite chaotic. This is the first time I've done so, and I will have more advance prep work done next time. They had fun though, and that's what matters.<br />
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Zaxxon made cards for his preschool teachers at the end of May<br />
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Kal'El, playing around with a really BIG piece of paper<br />
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I had the boys decorate baseball caps for their Dada for Father's Day.<br />
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They had a blast (albeit a messy one) doing it<br />
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The finished products<br />
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And making cards, also for Dada<br />
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Ah, two-year-olds and paint!<br />
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Dada wore both at once for a while on Father's Day<br />
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Okay, so we're basically caught up until about a month ago. Hoping to be more consistent again in the near future!Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-83485064920363792122013-06-26T00:13:00.000-06:002013-06-26T00:13:19.974-06:00Easter Eggs (yes, in June)This is extraordinarily belated, but I wanted to post about how we decorated our Easter Eggs this year. We used Kool Aid packets!<br />
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I saw the idea on Facebook and then searched online for more information. It was very simple, we just emptied the packets of powder into a cup and added 1/2 cup cold water. There was no need to add vinegar or anything else, because the packets contain citric acid, which is already an acid (or so it said online.)<br />
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An added bonus of this method was that the house smelled really good while we dipped our eggs<br />
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Another added bonus was that the color didn't come off on my hands later on, when peeling the eggs. That, in itself, made this experiment worthwhile.<br />
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And with the very cheap cost of Kool Aid packets, especially the store brand, this was actually cheaper than buying a dye kit<br />
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Our eggs. Notice the duck photobombing it</div>
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Most of the colors turned out really nice. I had to make my own green by mixing lemonade and the blue one (blue raspberry? I can't remember anymore and the flavor is cut off) and it wasn't particularly vibrant, but that's okay. Grape didn't make for very purple eggs either, they came out closer to black. And lastly, my online source said to add a bit of orange or red to your lemonade because yellow isn't very strong. I used food coloring for that instead of another portion of a packet, and accidentally added way too much--so no yellow this year.Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-34275405362916997772013-06-09T11:06:00.000-06:002013-06-09T11:06:01.244-06:00Bean Soup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, I'm gonna be a foodie today. I actually boiled a ham bone into soup recently. (And by recently, I mean a few months ago, when it was still cold.)<br />
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I've kept the ham bone after every ham we've ever eaten, and usually forget to use it. When I go to put a fresh one in the freezer, I pull out the old one and throw it away. This year, I decided, would be different.<br />
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I loosely followed <a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Ham-Stock-230791">this recipe</a> for the stock:<br />
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<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal">1 ham bone</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">1
large onion, chopped (2 cups)</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">2
carrots, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">2
celery ribs, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">3
large garlic cloves, crushed</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">1 bay leaf</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">2
teaspoons dried thyme, crumbled</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">3
whole cloves</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">1/4
teaspoon black peppercorns</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">water to cover</li>
</ul>
I let it boil for a few hours, and the house smelled really nice. I liked using whole spices in it. I've never done that with a soup before.<br />
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</ul>
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My bone still had a substantial amount of meat on it, and since I added beans to the actual soup, it packed a wallop of protein. Here's what I did with my homemade stock:<br />
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<b>Black Bean Soup </b>(from McCall's Cooking School)<br />
2 cups (1 lb) dried black beans<br />
Cold water<br />
1 leek<br />
2 tbsp vegetable oil<br />
1 cup chopped onion<br />
1 clove garlic, crushed<br />
2 cans condensed beef broth (this is where I used my ham stock instead)<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
1 tbsp brown sugar, firmly packed<br />
2 tbsp butter or margarine<br />
Chopped red, yellow and green onions (optional)<br />
Tortilla chips (optional)<br />
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Soak the beans (overnight or quick-soak.)<br />
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Drain the soaked beans; discard soaking water. Return drained beans to a Dutch oven and add fresh cold water to cover beans. Bring beans and water to boiling over high heat; reduce heat, cover Dutch oven and simmer for 2 hours or until beans are tender.<br />
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Drain the cooked beans, reserving liquid. Set beans and reserved liquid aside.<br />
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Trim leek: Cut off root and and green stem. (Leek should be about 5 inches long after trimming.) wash leek thoroughly to remove dirt and sand. Cut on diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices.<br />
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Heat vegetable oil in Dutch oven over high heat. When hot, add leek, onion and garlic. Saute until vegetables are browned, about 5 minutes.<br />
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Add reserved bean liquid and, if necessary, water to the <strike>beef broth </strike>ham stock to make 6 cups liquid.<br />
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Add salt, brown sugar and beans to leek mixture. Stir in ham stock mixture. (I also added all the bite-size chunks of ham I pulled off the ham bone after making my stock.) Bring to boiling over high heat; cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 10 minutes; stir in butter. Serve soup topped with chopped onions and tortilla chips. Makes 12 servings.<br />
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I don't even like beans, and I thought this was delicious!Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-28165382025109892752013-06-06T00:23:00.001-06:002013-06-06T23:10:17.324-06:00May Stat CheckDuring the month of May, I wrote/edited on all 31 days<br />
I editied two picture books, one that I just wrote and another, much older, one, and I edited/rewrote two stories that I wrote sometime last year.<br />
I made 0 submissions<br />
I had 1 story shortlisted for publication<br />
I received 3 rejections (including the previously-shortlisted one, phooey)<br />
I have 12 stories in slush pile circulation<br />
I made 2 blog posts<br />
I took no days off<br />
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Analysis:<br />
Solid writing this month. I feel really good about the picture books, in particular. Other than that, I'm quite tired and feel like I'm falling behind in the "life department." More on another day.Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-74264204915493057072013-05-08T23:57:00.000-06:002013-05-08T23:57:25.874-06:00Happy DayI got good news in my inbox this evening: one of my stories has been shortlisted at a major, pro-paying sci-fi market! I won't name the story or the market just yet, just in case it could affect the outcome, but I wanted to share the good news! I did a little happy dance and printed up the email, not to file as usual, but to hang on my desk for a little while. I ought to know the outcome within a month.<br />
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Happy day!Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-83238829583821639242013-05-01T11:29:00.000-06:002013-05-01T11:29:00.063-06:00April Stat CheckDuring the month of April, I wrote/edited on all 30 days<br />
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I finished the readthru of my novel, sent it out to some beta readers, revised a story I wrote about a year ago, and wrote the first draft of a picture book<br />
I made 11 submissions<br />
I received 2 rejections<br />
I have 12 stories in slush pile circulation<br />
I made 3 blog posts<br />
I took no days off<br />
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Analysis:<br />
I feel pretty happy with my progress for this month. Finishing something as hefty as a novel and soliciting opinions for it was a big step, and then it was nice to get back into stories. I've been so enthused about my writing this month that I'm frequently bargaining extra time from my kiddos after their naps/quiet time (can't you occupy yourselves for a little longer so I can keep writing??)<br />
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Writing a picture book was quite different--especially since it's in rhyme--but the nice thing about kids' books is that they're SHORTER! So you finish them much more quickly. I'm feeling pretty good about that one and hope to get it out later this year. In fact, if all goes well, it could be a series.<br />
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I subscribed to Duotrope this month, and it was <i>very</i> nice to get my stories back under consideration. I just ended my subscription, and am planning to pay for another month in July or so. I think I've come up with a good way to keep track of everything until that time, so I ought not to let everything lapse again. So I'm feeling pretty confident on that front, too.<br />
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I've got a long list of things I'd like to get to next, but with limited time, I know it'll all be slow. But slow is better than nothing!<br />
Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-57260711651989898572013-04-10T22:55:00.001-06:002013-04-10T22:55:59.481-06:00Stories are different from novelsI'm six days back into working on short stories after my novel, and it has been interesting. The material is much shorter and easier to see the whole picture at once, but after having the space to delve into greater detail and take more time, it's weird to be back into the fast-paced, everything-should-pack-the-greatest-punch style of the short story. Although really it's not THAT different, it just feels alien to be working on a different plot now.<br />
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I'm not all that sure how long I'm going to be able to maintain working on short stories. I have a handful that need editing so I can get them submitted and trying to work for me, but in the midst of it all, the next novel <i>just won't leave my brain alone!!!</i> If you know me, and notice me staring off into space or altering my facial expressions while doing a task alone (like making dinner,) it's most likely because I'm working out plots and scenes in my head. These characters and this situation really has taken over my brain, and probably won't let go until I write it down. But I DO want to get these stories taken care of, and preferably write a few fresh ones that can simmer while I work on the next novel and will be ready for rewrites whenever I need a break from the next one.<br />
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In other news, I'm finally getting my stories resubmitted. I've been aiming for one per night starting this week, so by mid-next week I ought to be caught up. And then the rejections can start piling up again, and the process goes on. This is the longest stretch I've let things go in the last few years. Life happens, I guess. But I don't like sitting on my stories, because they aren't doing me any good if they're not under review.<br />
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I've also got one that's been out for almost a year, is long overdue, and has not responded to my query from nearly a month ago. It's a major market, though, and seems a good fit for this particular story, so I'm not sure what to do. Do I resubmit, in case they never got it? (It was a snail mail submission, one of the rare few these days.) Decisions, decisions. There's always something.Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-73792009620933424322013-04-05T18:43:00.000-06:002013-04-05T18:43:00.485-06:00March Stat Check<br />
During the month of March, I wrote/edited on all 31 days<br />
I spent half the month turning the final two chapters of my novel into one, and then read through the entire thing. (Well, technically I got through the first 31 chapters in the last eleven days of March, and then took four more days of April to read the last six. Holidays'll do that to you.)<br />
I made 0 submissions<br />
I received 0 rejections<br />
I have 12 stories ready for slush pile circulation, but only three of them are under review<br />
I made 4 blog posts<br />
I took no days off<br />
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Analysis:<br />
March was the final showdown for my novel. I'd expected to finish it a little sooner, but hadn't anticipated the amount of work the last-two-chapters-that-were-destined-to-become-one would take to beat into submission. But I did it. Whew! I'm pretty happy with my work here, and with the fact that I was only four days over my goal to finish by the end of March.<br />
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I'd been hoping to be a little more prolific with blogging this month, but I'm not too worried about that. I don't want people to forget about me, but keeping up more frequently just isn't really in the cards right now.<br />
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April is going to be..... different. I've been focusing on the novel for so long, it's going to be very weird to write/revise something else. I've been having elements for another novel taking control of my imagination on a regular basis lately, but even so I think I'd like to pause novel-writing and get back into short stories for a while. I have a handful that just need revisions--some light and some heavy--before being ready to be submitted, plus it would be good to write something new again. I haven't written anything new in...well, probably a year. Wow, it's hard to think about it like that, but it really has been that long. Yikes! Most likely, I'll start with some that need revisions, just to get back into a short story mindset. I'm not sure how long I'll let short stories prevail before letting the next novel take its course--my goals have become very much fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants right now. And that's good. I need to explore a little.<br />
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April will be the month to get story submissions back under control. Why? Because Duotrope offered a free month as a NOT April Fool--so I bit. I've got it for a month, the trial kicked me in the pants like nothing else has managed, and I intend to use it. Which basically means I can say good-bye to sleep for the month of April. Alas. This will be good.<br />
Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8160273653933562281.post-43051767485309001152013-04-04T23:26:00.000-06:002013-04-04T23:26:44.344-06:00Well, that's a wrap!I feel somewhat in awe. I finished the readthru of my novel today. It's a pretty cool feeling to know that I wrote a novel, and it is complete, and it seemed to tell a pretty tight story--from my completely-biased-perspective-as-the-author.<br />
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I'll be getting readers in the near future and then shopping for an agent later this year. Whee! Fun times!<br />
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I finally put a good deal of thought into titles, and if anybody is still reading, I'd like your opinions. Without, of course, knowing ANYTHING about the book itself, which title would you be most likely to pick up and read?<br />
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Moonfall<br />
Project Beryl<br />
Escape Velocity<br />
Lunar Eclipse<br />
Lunar Descent<br />
Eclipsed Moon<br />
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Thanks for your input!<br />
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(Eeeeeek! What am I supposed to work on now?????!!!!!)Eileen Rhoadarmerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05934680476041554606noreply@blogger.com1