A Great Moment...

This past Saturday, I worked a VCU alumni event with the book and it was so much fun. There was a huge turn-out (I only sold one book, but a huge turnout at any rate). A DJ, prizes, BBQ, and alumni from a huge range of graduating classes and schools. It was so cool to have Parker enjoying the music and Rodney Ram (taking pictures and dancing with alumni) and loving telling people about the book. It was only topped off by the fact that it was Homecoming weekend at VCU. Because VCU doesn't have a football team, their game is basketball. I was able to be hooked up with tickets for the game so we went over after the event.

The game was so packed with excitement - people were lined up around the block (literally) 2 hours before the game. It was sold out pretty early on but black and gold and posters surrounded the outside of the pavillion. The three of us had our VCU garb on also - we fit right in! Parker doesn't usually go crazy at games - in fact, he loves to cheer for the opposite team for fun - I was really crossing my fingers that he would love the game... he did! He was so into it, it made it that much more fun - the Siegel Center was sold out and packed... both teams played well but VCU beat Towson by over 20 in the end. The best part of the whole night was after the game...

Our seats were right on the court and beside the opening to the Rams locker room. We were able to stand right by the opening to cheer on the players at the end of the game. Maynor, Shuler, Anderson ... they all stopped if a kid asked to talk to them or for a signing of a t-shirt. Very sweet with the fans and very humble. Best of all - one of the things I doubt I'll forget anytime soon - was Parker stepping into the opening after the players passed waiting to talk to Coach Grant. I have only met Coach Grant a couple of times and each time he was just as humble and strong of speech and character as you would imagine, but he just blows me away! To watch him on the court with the boys - just commanding everyone and they turned to him for guidance (not fear) throughout the game... and by the way - he wins games! Coach Grant bent over and got on one knee to listen. His team was waiting, some reporters were waiting, the director of athletics was waiting and he stopped to talk to my little 5 (and 1/2) year old so sweetly. He gave Parker a hug when they were finished and a pat on the back. I take pictures of everything - too many really - I had my camera in my pocket and I just couldn't stop watching this moment (that Parker will hopefully remember for a long time) of this amazing coach (saught after by big programs all over the country). I didn't want to run the risk of missing it trying to get my camera right and focused and not getting the picture in time. I was so excited and proud of Parker because that setting is definitely intimidating. That moment will definitely stay in my head for a long time - hopefully Coach Anthony Grant will be here for a long time, too!

Go Rams!

My Birthday Wish...

So my birthday is tomorrow and I've got mixed feelings. I'm not one of those folks who gets all depressed about birthdays (I may feel differently some day - but my mom doesn't either - so I don't think so) but I don't really know how to feel about it. Every year I feel a little wiser (whether I am or not - I feel it) because I try to learn more about myself all the time and from my mistakes and relationships. That's what life is about to me - I don't want to ever stop that - that's when people become stagnant and stop evolving. Being a person who is averse to change, this isn't an easy thing for me - but absolutely necessary.

Here's what I'm looking at right now... (1) waiting to find out (next week) if a publisher is interested in a picture book submission that I teamed with an illustrator to do - keep your fingers crossed for me (2) waiting for my All About Kids article to come out at the end of next week/beginning of the following week -hope people learn something from it (3) trying to follow the advice of my own article and get my work life back on track in the new year (26 days in!) ... I have so many ideas floating around in my head. I really need to get some outlines going and get back into the market. I'm way out of the loop on what's new with what publishing companies and what submissions are hot right now.

Here's my birthday wish ~ acceptance... every variation of the word. I want to accept people for how/who they are; I want for others to accept me just the way I am; and I wish for others to also accept each other for the way they are. Totally hokey, but differences are good... great actually. Accept them!

It's not you, it's me...

I've thought for a long time that friendships are like romantic relationships in a lot of ways - only harder. You invest time and emotional deposits into a relationship with a friend who may or may not pan out for the long haul. The reason friendships can be more difficult is that you can't break up with a friend - there aren't conversations about you just not being compatible... it's not you it's me. It's also harder because you can't just be a friend who plays the "friend field." When you run into a friend and you are with another friend - it's awkward; let's be honest. The whole - 'why didn't she invite me for coffee,' or 'we went here for lunch last week together' is so hilarious to me. Are you truly expected to call every single friend you have every time you want to do something? I'm not even touching on the disconcerting nature of families doing something together and running into a third family while doing so - are we expected to get a table for 25 every time my family wants to do something with another family? At least when you have a romantic partner (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife - whatever) - you don't feel bad when you run into someone when you are on a lunch date with them or having coffee or shopping.

The funny thing is that men don't have that problem - my husband has different degrees of friends - almost seasonal friends if you will. Friends that he talks to much more during certain sport seasons. Most men could care less if one of their buddies includes someone else and not them on activities. If they do, 9 times out of 10 it's because the woman in their life pushed them into being bothered by it (which they probably still aren't bothered but say they are to get the woman off of their back). Women who try to arrange their husband/boyfriend's social life is very annoying - ex: 'Oh -so and so is just going to be hanging around the house on Saturday, why don't you have Bob call him to do something.' Ugghh ... that's a whole other topic all together.

My trouble is that I give way too much personal info too quickly when I'm building friendships - this gives leverage in the friend transition stage. I end up trying to prove that I can open up and in doing so go way overboard in that department. Let's just cut each other some slack... like I always say about my son - there are much worse things in life than having too many people enjoy your company. Put yourself in other people's shoes when it comes to friendships - don't act like the stalker friend who spies to see who went where with whom and when... I've seen it done - trust me; it's not pretty.

Here's to friends who pan out - you know who you are

So far so good...

So far, 2008 is pretty good. I have a good feeling of professional things to come this year as well. I just submitted my "real mom" article for February - All About Kids Magazine. It turned out to be what I was hoping for and with the patient editing back and forth with the managing editor, I think we reached a nice consensus. I also submitted (at the buzzer of 2007) a picture book with storyboards for illustrations and 2 final illustrations - I should find out about that by February 1st as well - so I guess I should say February is looking good so far!

I went and spoke with a 1st grade class earlier in the week and the class was adorable! They were so attentive and asked really good questions about the book, writing, VCU, and me. One of my nephews was in the class and his classmates made him feel lucky because he can look at the book any time he wanted to - very sweet. They wrote me the cutest "Thank you book" wherein each of them took a page to write a note and draw a picture - some were of me reading and some were of basketball and some were of them with me. Very creative and thoughtful of the teacher.

There are a few fresh ideas floating in my head, but I feel like I should sharpen some old manuscripts first. Sometimes it's good to let a 1st draft breathe for a little bit to get fresh ideas in and old ones that seemed fun at first out. It does frustrate me that there are some stories that I've submitted over the years that are technically still in limbo. You never know - I had an e-story published after the company called about a submission from a year and half prior. I'm absolutely not complaining, but I am so impatient - that's tough for me.

Hope everyone else's '08 is "so far so good" as well!~

Technology...

Christmas has passed (a couple of days anyway) - my house is still crazy with stuff every where, but it was a great holiday. My son had "the best Christmas in the world" which I love. He was so grateful even over the smallest gifts... that meant a lot. Santa brought him a Nintendo DS and I am all for him playing it and enjoying himself since he just got it - but at lunch or dinner with just me; not so much! We went to do some after Christmas shopping yesterday and then got some tacos - I purposely did not let him bring his DS because he needed a break and I wanted to enjoy him. At the table beside us, this boy and his father were sitting together. The boy played his DS the whole time and his father played with his blackberry the whole time. We were there a good 45 minutes and neither one of them looked up for a second. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there will be a time that I meet a friend for lunch and want for Parker to occupy himself - I'll be honest - I'm not above it! :) But that definitely got to me a little - I want to be able to enjoy my boy while he still has time for me!!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

I know this time of year is so busy for everyone - but it can be so exciting too! My son is at an age where he knows what's going on and that he really needs to try to behave - but he is so out of his skin excited - I was talking to him about Christmas this afternoon when he got off the bus and he just started laughing - no reason - just belly laughs that he couldn't control... I loved it! It was so sweet. This will be our first Christmas break together and my first instinct was to think of everything that I wanted to fit in before he was home - but now I am so thrilled about all of the things we get to do together. I am going to let him shop for my husband a little and we are going to wrap some things and maybe go on a light hunt at night - we pick random neighborhoods and just look for decorated houses - go get some Starbucks hot chocolate... simple things. Any big activities are so expensive. Ice skating, bowling, movies... I'd rather take him shopping and pick some things out post-Christmas. It has definitely been fun this year getting presents for the past few months (for the first time, I actually shopped early and put away) and then taking it out recently and wrapping. I hope I can pass along the joy to Parker of actually loving what you're giving as much as you're getting. I must admit people's gratitude (or lack there of) really puts a damper on my spirit sometimes - I just hope I can look past it this year. Some folks are genuinely grateful for whatever thoughts you had of them, and others are very obvious when they don't like what you got them. Christmas is so not about that - and I'm not even talking about kids necessarily...

Spread the joy and enjoy yourself this holiday! Also Merry 1st Christmas to my little niece, Elizabeth!!

Signings & Readings

It has definitely been a big couple of weeks. I have been presenting to elementary school classes (grades really) and have really enjoyed that. The kids come up with some really neat questions that I don't always expect - what's your favorite story you've written or how old were you when you started writing? - I really just expect questions about sports or Rodney Ram!


We had the signing at Barnes & Noble last Saturday which was very cool. It isn't like it is on TV or in the movies or anything because people certainly aren't lined up around the block or anything, but it is very rewarding to me to have anyone who liked the book want to chat about it or writing in general. There were some of the kids that attend the schools which I've presented to who came by with their parents. One little boy came up and told me he came because of seeing me at his school and when I asked him if I should sign a copy for him, he said, "I haven't decided if I'm getting one or not." I cracked up!! Susie (the illustrator) was able to join in for the last 45 minutes or so, so some people got their book double signed -hopefully they enjoy it as much as we do. 39 copies were sold and that includes some copies that Barnes & Noble purchased to keep in the store itself. They are signed by myself and Susie, so hopefully people will go get one for a Christmas gift.



In the back of my mind have been these two stories and one submission that are all due in December. One I just turned in (a story for WOW magazine - women on writing) about rejection really being a good thing in my life - all of my rejections have just pushed me harder and sometimes in a different direction - I should know if that was accepted by the end of this month. The other is my All About Kids article - which has already been approved (the "real mom" article) - it will be in the February issue but is due by the 31st of this month. The picture book submission due at the end of this month is for Red Cygnet and is my story called "The Panacake Dance." I worked on this last year with an illustrator and we were back a forth for the last few months of '07 and then finally toward the middle of December, it fizzled. I have a much stronger feeling this year and hope that it works out. We'll see, keep your fingers crossed.The last new piece of news for me is a bit of serendipity. I ran into a mom of a friend from high school (who I literally hadn't seen in - let's just say 10+ years) at a baby shower this weekend. She is guidance counselor for a middle school and asked if I would speak at their BETA club induction. She had seen the articles in the paper (RTD and ML) about the book and myself. All I could think of was a debate that my two little pals who walk home from the bus everyday with my son and I were having. They got off the bus and one said, "Mrs. McNamara - I saw you on our school TV today - you're famous!" the other one said, "no she's not. she only has one book - she needs atleast 3 or 4 before she can be famous!" the other one agreed and they continued to point out how far I have to go. When she asked me to speak, that's all I could think about :)! But then she pointed out that she wanted me to focus on persistence and working toward a goal - now that I can do!