Sydney Salter's Blog, page 38

SCBWI Wrap Up

Aside from seeing old friends, online friends, and making new ones, I love hearing writers at the top of their craft speak. Here are some of my favorite takeaways from the 2009 conference:
I never made it past the stick figure stage of drawing, but I love hearing from illustrators (and seeing how their books come alive). I loved how David Weisner (Flotsam) said that "stuff is in there waiting to break out and get used." It made me feel more patient about all the stories I want to write.
I've been

Cooking For Publicity

A couple of weeks ago, I spotted a blurb in my newspaper about the Z'Tejas restaurant holding a contest for using chile peppers in a dessert. Oooh! I like to cook and one of my favorite desserts is a frozen chocolate cinnamon mousse--chile peppers could only improve it's rich chocolatey goodness. AND I could name it after my upcoming middle-grade novel: Jungle Crossing...Chill.
Why not?

I excitedly told my husband. He said, "fire potatoes." Okay, so my first attempt at modifying a recipe with chil

Home Again

150 + emails to read, loads of snail mail to sort, and all that laundry... So what did I do? I snuck off to the movies with my husband!
I'll write up my SCBWI conference tidbits tomorrow. And eventually I'll get around to washing all the Lake Powell sand out of my clothes.

Guest Nose Cynthea Liu

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Cynthea Liu back--for her middle-grade debut! I adored this book and couldn't wait to pass it along to my 4th grade daughter. She's reading it right now and loving it just as much as I knew she would. Here's what Cynthea has to say:

PARIS PAN TAKES THE DARE does address the issue of beauty somewhat through Robin's character. In a society where tan-ness is good and fairness is almost considered sickly, I'm sure Robin had many insecurities about herself. And its no

Blushes, Gushes, and GRRs (July Edition)

Blush!

Someone I barely knew walked in on me in the bathroom: skirt hiked, undies around my ankles. Okay, that alone is embarrassing. But then she didn't leave! So I stood up, skirt falling, not knowing what to do with the underwear. And she kept standing there talking to me. So I kicked the underwear away and talked really, really fast!



Gush!

I visited Debbie's amazing book club--everyone was so friendly, funny, and charming. Debbie created a list of questions related to My Big Nose And Other Natu

In My Mailbox (2)

Much thanks to The Story Siren and Alea The Pop Culture Junkie for the this weekly feature.

In My Mailbox:

Mommy Doesn't Drink Here Anymore by Rachel Brownell
A memoir about Rachael's struggle with parenthood and alcohol.

Why I'm excited:
Rachel and I went to college together & I'm impressed by her honesty, insight, and reflection in this compelling story. I planned to give it to my psychologist mom, but I couldn't help but read it first.

Bought:

Paris Pan Takes The Dare by Cynthea Liu
Spunky 12-year-o

Guest Nose Megan Frazer

Today it's my pleasure to welcome Megan Frazer, author of Secrets of Truth & Beauty. I'm reading it this weekend--and it's so good!  Megan shared one of her beauty disasters with me:
In college I studied abroad in Ireland. I went through a few radical changes in my appearance while I was there. First, I cut my hair from shoulder length to much shorter. And second I got my nose pierced.

Here's a little Do/Don't for nose piercing:
DO go to someone who knows what she's doing.
DON'T get it done with on

In My Mailbox (1)

I love seeing what everyone is reading, so I've joined The Story Siren and Alea The Pop Culture Junkie for this weekly feature. Though it might be more accurately called What's In My To-Read Stack.
Actually In my mailbox:

The Ring by Bobbie Pyron (Westside Books, September 28, 2009)A troubled girl learns to believe in herself through the sport of boxing.
Why I'm excited:Three years ago, Bobbie brought The Ring manuscript to a writing workshop I attended. And I brought my Jungle Crossing manuscript.

Contest!

Enter to win another bag of fabulous Deb prizes!

Ouch! Copy Edits

For the past week I've been working on copy edits for Swoon At Your Own Risk, my young adult novel that comes out April 5, 2010.
The copy edit stage (which comes after story revisions are complete) always makes me wince with ignorance. I almost always discover that I've been spelling something wrong for my entire life. This time I misspelled "lightning" as in a big storm (I wrote "lightening" as in what happens to blond hair in the sun). 
I also discovered that I really don't understand the concep