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A short day of writing today,

12/09/08 -- A short day of writing today, but productive nonetheless -- almost done with the first draft of the first four scenes of ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR: TAKE TWO. Tomorrow I make the drive north on I-5 to Portland for an appointment at...

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I get to meet many wonderful

12/04/08 -- I get to meet many wonderful librarians in my travels to speak in schools, and am impressed over and over again with their commitment to kids and to getting books in kids' hands. A good example is Alecia Marcum of Natcher Elementary in...

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Hard to believe it's December

12/1/08 -- Hard to believe it's December already. Nice to be home, though, with plenty of time to work on the ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR: TAKE TWO. Today I got a rough draft of the first scene done, and a good start on the second. No attempt i...

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Quitting work early today.

11/26/08 -- Quitting work early today. My daughters, Kelsey and Amy, will be arriving for Thanksgiving and there's much to do to get ready. Fun! Given that the day after Thanksgiving is generally considered to be the biggest shopping day of the ye...

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Today I'm working on a

11/24/08 -- Today I'm working on a detailed synopsis (known in the screenwritingworld as a treatment) of ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR: TAKE TWO. Essentially, I'm walking my way through the story, scene by scene, figuring out which way it might g...

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My calendar for author visits

11/21/08 -- My calendar for author visits for the 2008-2009 school year is getting very full. So far I've spoken in mostly Oregon schools, but will soon be trekking to California, Washington, Texas, Iowa, Georgia, Brazil (yes, the one in South Ame...

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I have now finished doing

11/20/08 -- I have now finished doing most of the initial brainstorming for ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR: TAKE TWO. Instead of trying to dream up everything that is going to happen, I rely on the hundreds of notes I've jotted down over the years...

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FINALLY, all software issues

11/19/08 -- FINALLY, all software issues resolved -- knock on wood -- and I'm back to journaling again! Much to report on that has happened in the interim, but most importantly: my editor has read STORM MOUNTAIN and likes it. Whew! I admit to nerv...

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Friday, and a good day of

11/7/08 -- Friday, and a good day of writing. Spent most of my time working on subplot possibilites for ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR: TAKE TWO. Fitting them and the central plot together is always a puzzle, but not one to be solved, instead it's...

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Recently I've had more issues

11/4/08 -- Recently I've had more issues with the internet plaguing me: web site hosting, software, and email. Don't you just love technology? Actually, I do enjoy the pleasures of working on a computer, and doing research on the Web, and being ab...

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In the past three weeks I've

10/30/08 -- In the past three weeks I've had the opportunity to meet three of my old students from 30 years ago when I taught at Oceanlake Elementary School in Lincoln City, Oregon. What a delight! Even though two of the three sometimes gave me a ...

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I'm back from a visit

10/21/08 -- I'm back from a visit a classroom full of 3rd graders at Jefferson Elementary School here in my hometown of Corvallis, OR. They had just finished a read-aloud of ATTACK OF THE MUTANT UNDERWEAR. When I asked what they'd like to see in a...

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Rewarded myself for finishing

10/16/08 -- Rewarded myself for finishing STORM MOUNTAIN with a trip to the Cascades for a bit of rock climbing, a ten-pitch (10 rope length) route called The Peregrine Traverse (see photo below of me leading pitch 4). Weather was great, so no "St...

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DONE! Finally. After 32

10/13/08 -- DONE! Finally. After 32 rewrites and over two years, STORM MOUNTAIN is now on its way to New York City and my agent, and ultimately onto my editor's desk. Actually, "DONE!" is not right. DONE FOR NOW! is more like it. The manuscript wi...

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I ran into children's author

10/7/08 -- I ran into children's author Kirby Larson at the Kidlitosphere Conference in Portland. She recommended a book on rewriting called NOVEL METAMORPHOSIS: UNCOMMON WAYS TO REVISE by Darcy Pattison. Kirby said she took a weekend workshop wit...

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Working, working, working --

9/18/08 -- Working, working, working -- now ratcheted up to ten hours a day. Sometimes I don't know if I've got what it takes to keep pushing this hard. Then I remember last weekend and a rare day off to compete in the Timberline Half Marathon nea...

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As I related below in my 9/3

9/10/08 -- As I related below in my 9/3 entry, the main character of STORM MOUNTAIN has shifted. Instead of Benjamin, it's now Cat. And it's working! Every single one of the nagging uncertainties I had about character development have vanished. Wo...

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Late this morning I realized

9/3/08 -- Late this morning I realized that I needed a break from writing and went for a mountain bike ride. Huffing and puffing my way up the steep switchbacks on Bald Hill, a question occurred to me: Could some of the trouble I've been having wi...

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