My first live radio gig at Homeschool Companion on LifeTalk

Yesterday, I did my first live radio show for Homeschool Companion on LifeTalk Radio! A giant thanks to the lovely and fantastic Celeste Perrino-Walker who hooked me up with the gig. You rock!

The hosts, Candy DeVore and Rose Gamblin, were incredibly sweet and I had the best time chatting with them. Thank you both for inviting me!

Here's a link to the MP3 in case you'd like to hear it. I start about 15 minutes into the segment and I talk for about 45 minutes. I answer questions about homeschooling, writing for magazines, my volunteer work with the Effingham County Humane Society, surgery at Shriners, snagging an agent and much more. It's my first live radio show, so don't be too harsh! ;)

If the above link doesn't work, you can also find it here.

Now, I've got a super-cool clip when I approach more radio shows. :)

Fall Florida Book Festivals

It has almost been a week since I’ve been home and things haven’t slowed down for a day. In between outlining and writing an assigned article for Children’s Writer, I also had one of those middle of the night ideas on Tuesday.

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been wracking my brains for a new MG idea because now I’m on a MG kick. Sure, they can’t be worked on for a while but I like to have them in my brain to toss around and flesh out. That’s how I worked on my new YA. Whenever I needed a break from my current project, I switched over to the YA and wrote a few pages a week. That quickly added up and soon it equaled a book.

Then. It. Hit. Me. I’ve got 4 Agent A approved YA ideas that all can be morphed into MG ideas. Woo hoo! :) Now, at least, the what MG idea is next thought is gone. Whew.

I got one rejection on a mag query yesterday, but not for the VIQ (very important query) I’m most waiting for.

I also got out my big (pink!) wall calendar and started marking off fall dates. It’s unbelievable but on July 27, it will be six months until Take the Reins hits shelves. OMG. The Jessica Burkhart Super Sized (and not at all insanely detailed with pretty pen colors) Publicity Plan for Take the Reins or (TJBSSPPFTTR—yeah, you try to remember those letters, LOL) kicks into action on that date. Eeeep.

I’ve also been looking at lots of cool festivals to consider for the fall—Festival of Reading (St. Petersburg), Sarasota Reading Festival, Vero Beach Book Festival, Midsouth SCBWI (Nashville), Southern Breeze SCBWI (GA, AL and MS), Florida Writers Conference and the Georgia Literary Festival.

Anyone been to any of those? I think it would be fun to check out the exhibits, walk around and meet people.

PS--Is there anything YOU'D like me to blog about in the near future? Questions? Comments? If so, leave me a comment.