Okay, so you’re faced with a new day of teaching or another team practice. Your kids are a bit sleepy. Maybe not sleepy… just less energetic than you had hoped they’d be today. Well, can you blame them? The honeymoon of the first week or two of school is over. Reality is setting in that… Continue reading 10 Verbal Team Challenges you Must Give your Team or Class Today
Category: The Crimson Five series
Spontaneous Hands-on Practice Problems
Are you a visual learner? Or do you learn best by listening? Neither? Well, maybe you fall into the reading/ writing camp. Or maybe you're a kinesthetic learner. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. They respond well to information or solve problems best when given a tactile experience—anything they can play with and touch. Have… Continue reading Spontaneous Hands-on Practice Problems
5 Years for Flip the Silver Switch!
The years since my second book was published are flying by faster that the Crimson Five’s aero bus… the one that transports them to the Piedmont Challenge Global Championships in Quebec! To celebrate, last night I started re-reading it. It’s kind of strange how the details and memories of writing this book came crashing back! … Continue reading 5 Years for Flip the Silver Switch!
10 Years!
120 months. 3,560 days. Today marks the 10th anniversary of swirl and spark! A whole decade of blogging. That’s a lot of words. Today I’ll probably fall down the rabbit hole. I’ll go back and click through my History of Blog Posts, all archived by year and month on this page. I’ve done it before.… Continue reading 10 Years!
Second Quarter Reading Roundup
Hey there! It's been awhile. Such a long while, in fact, that I'm a little late sharing my second quarter reading update. However, I have no illusions that you guys have been waiting on the edges of your seats for this so I'm not feeling too bad about it. I did make a promise to… Continue reading Second Quarter Reading Roundup
Magic Writing Space
Can a writing spot perform magic? I think so! In May, I took a fun girls trip to Florida with my daughter. Relaxed & recharged, I couldn’t wait to get back home to start writing again, whip our gardens into shape, paint the inside casing of our new windows, and do all the summer things.… Continue reading Magic Writing Space
Celebrate the Middle
If you’re a big dreamer like I am, sometimes it’s hard to see small wins or milestones for what they are: a big deal. We sometimes get so hyper-focused on the end game—our ultimate, long-term goals, that we forget to see the in-between, smaller achievements as a huge deal too. I used to be like… Continue reading Celebrate the Middle
Seeking Magical Inspiration
Hello from sunny Florida! I you’re having a great week. I’m spending mine on a mini vacation with my daughter. After a fantastic long weekend in South Florida with my sister-in-law and her kids, yesterday we took the train up to Orlando… Disney to be specific. But we’re not doing the traditional Disney thing. We’re… Continue reading Seeking Magical Inspiration
Spring Cleaning your Manuscript
Since we’re well into Spring, I think we better talk about spring cleaning our manuscripts. Do you have Spring Fever too? Cleaning our manuscripts? Yes! It’s time to get rid of all those dirty words. You know the ones. Filler words. Words like: that, just, really, and very. They weaken your writing and bog down… Continue reading Spring Cleaning your Manuscript
Publishing Expectations vs Reality: Part 1
Last week, I gave a presentation to my local writers groups with author, Marsha Hayles. The Rochester Area Children’s Writers and Illustrators group is a subgroup of SCBWI- such a great bunch of people! I became a member almost 15 years ago around the time I began working towards publication. Back then, I didn’t know… Continue reading Publishing Expectations vs Reality: Part 1