Woo hoo!

I've had several woo hoos in the past week.

Writing:
I've entered a pact with one of my local writing groups. We vowed to finish writing our current WIPs by April 2011. All three of us are working on YA novels. Two of us are writing dystopian futures and the other critique member is writing a fantasy.


Illustration:
I'm continuing to study children's illustration. My current effort: studying individual illustrators. I'll study their process and design.


I also found out that a local writer/illustrator, Sheila Jarkins, teaches a children's illustration course. I plan to take it.  http://tinyurl.com/2dhs8ky


Job Front:
I recently received an editing job (proofreading fiction manuscripts) for a company that publishes trade and e-books. The best thing about it is that I can: 1) work from home and 2) read (one of my favorite things to do). My first assignment is a fantasy novel. Wish me luck.


Family:
My read-a-holic 10 year old won the Barnes & Noble 39 Clues Summer Reading Program. 
On Wednesday, a representative from Barnes & Noble came to his classroom last Wednesday where she presented my son with a signed set of all of the 39 Clues books and a 39 Clues backpack. He was surprised and very excited about it, so he asked if he could hang onto the books so he could show them to the kids in his class. Unfortunately, one of  his classmates damaged book #10. He doesn't seem to mind as much as I do.

Summer Ho!

Everyone in the family is staying up later. The hubby is staying up till 1am each night, seriously eating into my writing time, and last night he actually let the kids stay up until 11pm. The kids are all out of school, and those of us fortunate to be home with them are scrambling to schedule in “me” time. But how do you do it if you don’t want to pay a babysitter while you write or draw?

Unfortunately, I’m not the kind of person who tolerates the average Joe watching over my shoulder when I draw or write. Believe me, I’ve tried to sketch during my kids' karate lessons, but someone always ends up watching over my shoulder. I’ve tried to read, but there are always one or two very loud parents that yap incessantly. Getting real work done at home while the kids are conscious… rare.

My plan was simple. The town I live in has this great summer play program. You drop the kids off at 8:30am and then pick them up again at 2:30pm. The program has three two-week sessions. I signed my kids up for one session, and I thought I’d sign them up for and additional week in a sports camp. The sports camps cost a little more, and the kids are busy for two to three hours.

Okay, so the hubby vetoed additional camps since we’re also going to Cub Scout Adventure Camp this summer (think lots of $ even though we sold popcorn to lessen the price). I have no hope of writing time then.

What plan to do? I’ll squeeze it in. I can revise with kid prattle as long as it’s not kid fighting, so if they’re occupied I try to steal some time for myself. I’ve started making the kids work on their writing skills. While they are working on their stories, I will be working on mine. We’ll work on the art skills together. 

I’ll let you know how it works.