Decorating party!

As per Burkhart family tradition (or because I bugged my mom endlessly!) we got out our Halloween decorations today and decorated! :) It's sort of a decoration war in my neighborhood and once our neighbor put up his scarecrow yesterday, I knew we were late. Yep, late. In September. Yes, I know it's only September, but I reaaaally love our pumpkins and witches. So, we got out the decorations and when I needed a break from editing, I put up our spooky Halloween collection. I can't stand scary movies, but I adore Halloween!

Every year, we buy one new item for our holiday decorations. This year, I found the most adorable (you'll see a pic) wreath at Wal-Mart. I had to by pass the Christmas section (talk about way too early!), but I found it.

I'm taking pictures tonight of everything and will post the best ones next week.

Anyone else decorate for Halloween?

Mini horse pics

So, here are the pics of the mini horses! :) These little guys are foals from a local miniature horse farm. Aren't they adorable? That's my brother, Jason, with a colt who loved attention. That's the family's dog and it shows just how small the horses really are. Unlike regular horses, these hardy guys can have a 30 year life span. They were so sweet and they had the most even temper of any horse I'd been around.

Now I want one. :)

Field trip

A few weeks ago I was supposed to visit a local horse farm, but I had to cancel. Today's the day! I'll be meeting M, a local horse farm owner, and spending a bit of time with her horses. I'm so excited! I haven't been around horses much since my spinal fusion in 2000. But being around horses is like riding a bike--even if you haven't done it in a while, you don't forget how.

Pictures will be up tomorrow. Check back. :)

Big news with The Writer

Today is a double-post day! So, I mentioned in my first post that I had great news to share. Well, after waiting for confirmation, I can indeed say that.... I'll be the Breakthrough columnist for the March 2008 issue of The Writer Magazine!!! Woo hoo!! I've been trying to break into The Writer for years with no luck. Persistence definitely paid off and I'll be writing the article over the next few weeks.

Off to celebrate! :)

Weekend of books

I did a lot of reading this weekend. First, I read Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants because (gasp!) I've never read it! I've seen the movie a couple of times (love Alexis Bledel), but I forgot about the book.

Then, I tackled two books from Aladdin MIX (*cough* my line). ;) I read Tricia Rayburn's THE MELTING OF MAGGIE BEAN (see sidebar for link to Amazon) and Lauren Barnholdt's THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY. Both are amazing books and MIX has the coolest, cutest covers ever! Next on my list is I am Rembrandt's Daughter. It's a historical YA that came out this year.

What books did you read over the weekend? Or what are you reading now?

PS- I've got awesome news to share, but it'll have to wait a bit. Stay tuned! :)

Confessions of a Shopaholic Movie

Did anyone else hear that Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic is going to be a movie? Isla Fischer is playing Becky Bloomwood and Jerry Bruckheimer will produce. I've only read the first book, but I'd love to see the movie! What do you think?

Series

The blog has been quiet (very!) this week, but it should return to regularly scheduled blogging soon.

Today, I wanted to talk about series. I love a good series, especially those by Libba Bray, Stephenie Meyer and (from my childhood) the Thoroughbred series by Joanna Campbell.

Series give such a rare chance to follow and bond with a character instead of leaving him/her behind after one book. For some, one book is all that's needed to tell a compelling story. There are several books that I've read recently where I loved the ending so much, I was glad there wasn't a sequel. Others seemed to leave me hanging and begged for a follow up. Imagine if JK Rowling stopped with the first HP! Okay, that's not even imaginable.

What are some of your favorite series? Why? Did a sequel ever let you down? Or has a sequel ever been better than the first book?

Edits, oh edits

I've been editing really hard this week and got through a huge chunk of pages. Yay! :) That feeling of "Oh my, I'm getting closer to the end!" is exciting! For a while, I wasn't writing or editing up to my own standards and now I hit my stride. I'll be working through the weekend and will be breaking for the Emmys on Sunday night. Can't wait. Gorgeous gowns, dashing men, crying behind stage after winning....all good. ;)

Are you in the middle of edits? If so, how're they going? Do you have any Emmy favs? I'm pulling for Grey's, Desperate and Ugly Betty.

* Happy Birthday, Em and Samah!

NYT article about famous author rejections

Has anyone else read this article yet? Whoa, and I thought I'd received some harsh rejection letters for freelancing! This article definitely goes to show that publishing is quite subjective and it's all about finding the right home for your book.

Check out No thanks, Mr. Nabokov from the NYT.

Audio Books

As proof that I can be really (embarrassingly) behind the times, I just listened to my first audio book this weekend. Really. It's true. At the library, I came across Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on audio. So, I picked it up and I finally understand why audio book sales are so high. On the way to pick up my brother, I was at Hogwarts. Waiting in the car for said brother while he did a practice PSAT--more Harry.

What's your take on audio books? Have you listened to any? Which ones? If not, why not?

And....today is release day for PLATINUM by Jennifer Lynn Barnes! Yay, Jen!! :)

Website questions--opinions please!

Okay, I need some opinions, please! :) I'm hiring a fab Website designer at the end of this year to re-do my Website for my series release. Now, I'm going to be providing her with information (colors, theme, sites I like, etc) and while I know color-wise what I want, I'm going back and forth on the theme. Some Websites, such as Diana Peterfreund's are more book specific. Her site matches Secret Society Girl in the Flash into. Others, like Simone Elkeles are not specific to one book.

I'm trying to decide if for my first 4 books, I should make the site as an upper-classy looking equestrian boarding school feel or if I should make it non-specific to my High Jumps books since I *hopefully* will see more books in the future.

What do you think?

Death of an Author

Did you guys read this? Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, died on Thursday. Yahoo! wrote a nice article about her and her work. Check it out below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070907/ap_on_re_us/obit_l_engle

Busy bee!

Blogging has been and will be a little (just a little!) neglected while I get through this round of edits.

What's keeping you busy right now?

On a freelance note, I got my September 2007 issue of Listen Magazine with my profile of singer Whitney Wolanin. Check it out if you see the mag. :)

Side note: There has also been so much celeb and lifestyle news/gossip recently that I need someone to dish with me! ;) What do you think about the new iPod? Or Halle Berry's pregnancy? Or Britney's rumored performance at the VMA's? I'm writing so much that I'm relishing a little Hollywood chatter.

TV Tuesday

It's all-new Tuesday for TV! :) Well, daytime that is. I should be editing, but instead I'm watching new episodes of Ellen (she has Hillary Clinton on!) and The View with new co-host Whoopi Goldberg. I miss the controversy Rosie stirred up, so we'll see how Whoopi does today.

I'm blogging for Lamar today so come check us out.

Did everyone have a good holiday? What did you do? My parents, brother and I grilled and we watched movies over the weekend. I've never seen Miss Potter, so I watched that and my fifth (maybe more) viewing of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The cast was so young and tiny! Aw. Renee Zellweger and my fav Ewan McGregor (gorgeous!) were brilliant in Miss Potter, so if you haven't seen it--get it.

Lots of reading was also done over the extended holiday. I finished several books and am now reading So Totally Emily Ebers by Lisa Yee. The book has one of the most adorable covers I've ever seen.

The Kirbys

It is officially a small world. I was reading in article in The Tallahassee Democrat about Florida State University's poet-professor David Kirby. Now, the article talks about Kirby's life, his many accomplishments as a writer and it gives background on him. At the article's end, it mentions that Kirby is the father of Will Kirby. Name sound familiar? It should. Will won Big Brother in 2001, appeared in Big Brother All Stars and is on E!'s Dr. 90210.

Small world. Seriously. Ever have one of those moments? I can't believe that "Evil" Dr. Will grew up in Tally. Funny. :)

Kid Magazine Writers--Check it out!

This one is for freelancers today. Anyone ever visit KidMagWriters? I'm addicted to the site and love the reports from magazine editors and the complete listing of magazines for teens and tweens.

Perhaps the coolest part is the archives. They're chock full of special reports on kid magazines and full of "editors speak." Reading what an editor wants in his/her own words is a huge advantage!

If you're not a freelancer, Kid Mag Writers offers plenty for you, too! The site offers tips on getting organized, success stories of first publications and more. The site is also helpful to authors because there are plenty of magazine for teen/tween/children readers and staying in the know about what kids are reading, listening to and talking about has always been helpful to me when writing books.

Check it out and happy holiday weekend!