VBT-Writer's on the Move Celebrates Its First Anniversary!

Well, it's a YEAR! That's right, we have been cross-promoting and helping one another for a year now.
To celebrate this accomplishment, we will have a SUPER-DUPER Anniversary Tour!
The number before the host's name is the day in November that he/she will post in the tour.

But, before I explain more about it, here's the schedule:


1 Dianne Sagan is hosting Heidi Thomas

2 Harry Gilleland is hosting Karen Cioffi

3 Karen Cioffi is hosting Martha Swirzinki

4 Kathy Stemke is hosting Brigitte Thompson

5 Nancy Famolari is hosting Deborah Weed

6 Margaret Fieland is hosting Elysabeth Eldering

7 Crystalee Calderwood is hosting Harry Gilleland

8 Katie Hines is hosting Heather Paye

9 Helena Harper is hosting Steve Tremp

10 Liana Metal is hosting Crystalee Calderwood

11 Carolyn Howard-Johnson is hosting Marvin Wilson

12 Gayle Trent is hosting Dianne Sagan

13 Mayra Calvani is hosting Carolyn Howard-Johnson

14 Marvin Wilson is hosting Gayle Trent

15 Linda Asato is hosting Mayra Calvani

16 Heather Paye is hosting Katie Hines

17 Steve Tremp is hosting Helena Harper

18 Elysabeth Eldering is hosting Linda Asato

19 Darcia Helle is hosting Liana Metal

20 Deborah Weed is hosting Nancy Famolari

21 Brigitte Thompson is hosting Margaret Fieland

22 Martha Swirzinki is hosting Darcia Helle

23 Heidi Thomas is hosting Kathy Stemke

Each day there will be prizes offered. All you have to do is leave a comment on the host's site on the day he/she is posting for their guest and you may be a WINNER!

The Winner will have a choice of ONE of 2 or 3 books of our members or other related gifts, OR a one day guest spot on THIS site!

Prizes being given away EVERY Day from November 1st through November 23rd!

OH! Wait a minute! That's not all! We are still having our Mystery Site Giveaway and the SUPER-DUPER PRIZE is a $25 (US) GIFT CARD to either Amazon, Target, or an American Express Gift Card. I'll know for sure by the end of this month.

Winners will be notified the day after each posting. The Mystery Site Winner will be notified Sunday, November 29th.

Come celebrate with us and have the chance of being one of the WINNERS of a great gift in the process.

Angeline is Excited for Halloween!

Guess what she wants?

Book Trailer for Angeline Jellybean!

After months of procrastinating, I have finally made a book trailer for Angeline Jellybean. The process wasn't as hard as I thought, and in fact was lots of fun! I made the video using Windows Movie Maker, a free, easy to use program that came with my computer. You can now view the video on YouTube! I hope you enjoy.

A New Tour of VBT: Writers on the Move Starts Sept. 1st!

VBT: Writers on the Move starts their next round of promotion on September 1st! Each month, a group of talented, award-winning writers set aside their blogs on the 1st and the 3rd to promote each other's latest books and projects. This month, we start the VBT: Writers on the Move Mystery Site Give-away. Each month, the winner will have the choice of receiving the Mystery Site Host's book or a guest spot on VBT Writers on the Move blog. So, go visit all our blogs and see what we've been up to, and you could also be a winner!

VBT Writers on the Move September Schedule

Dianne Sagan hosts Crystalee Calderwood- That's me!

Harry Gilleland hosts Steve Tremp (Author of Breakthrough)

'Karen Cioffi hosts Vivian Zabel (Author or Case of the Missing Coach, Midnight Hours, and many more, and publisher at 4rv Publishing)

Kathy Stemke hosts Heather Paye (15 year old author of A Gift from Above)

Lea Schizas hosts Nancy Famalari (author of Summer's Story)

Nancy Famalari hosts Carolyn Howard-Johnson (Author of The Frugal Editor and The Frugal Book Promoter)

Vivian Zabel hosts Kathy Stemke (Author of Moving Through all Seven Days)

Margaret Fieland hosts Dianne Sagan (Author of Rebekah Redeemed)

Crystalee Calderwood -that's me! hosts Deborah Weed (Author of The Luckiest Penny)

Katie Hines hosts Marvin Wilson (Author of I Romanced the Stone, Between the Storm and the Rainbow, and more.)

Helena Harper hosts Mayra Calvani (Author of Crash!)

Dorothy Massey hosts Harry Gilleland (Author of numerous books of poetry)

Liana Metal hosts Lea Schizas (Author of Bubba and Giganto- Odds Against Us and founder of the Muse Online Writer's Conference)

Carolyn Howard-Johnson hosts Gayle Trent (mystery author)

Gayle Trent hosts Karen Cioffi (Author of Day's End Lullaby)

Mayra Calvani hosts Katie Hines (Author of upcoming book Guardian)

Marvin Wilson hosts Liana Metal (Author of Storytime)

Anita Yasuda hosts Dorothy Massey (her work appears in the Mini Mysteries and Spooky Stories anthology for kids)

Linda Asato hosts Helena Harper (Author of It's a Teacher's Life!: A Collection of Poems Set in a Girl's Private School)


Heather Paye hosts Anita Yasuda (Author of numerous books for both adults and children)

Steve Tremp hosts Margaret Fieland (Author of Moving Through All Seven Days)

Deboran Weed hosts Linda Asato (Author of the 4RV book Spider in Our Mailbox)

My Life: Writing and Working

It's been awhile since I've posted here. All of my energy has been eaten up by working on my novel, looking for a job, and looking for an apartment.

My YA novel (working title Comfort Zone) is almost finished! I'm very excited but at the same time it feels a little anti-climatic. It has been such a part of my life for almost nine months that I don't know what to do with myself after it's finished. I know I'll move on to other projects and eventually return to it for revisions, but I'm still sad to see it end.

I've been sending out poetry and flash fiction again. I have some picture books that I want to send out too. And I'm writing all the time. Not just on my novel, but on random other things too. My passion for writing has never been higher.

My second year with AmeriCorps will come to and end next week, and I've been desperately looking for a "real job." I've applied for teaching positions, secretary positions, pretty much anything I could find that I'm half interested in, and all I've received are rejection e-mails (or no responses at all). I did, however, land a gig teaching one writing for children class at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts this winter, which is really, really exciting. And next week I have an interview for an internship with a literary agency, which I'm hoping leads to bigger things, but neither one of those positions is going to pay the rent.

In short, I'm at a crossroads in my life. I've been working desperately for months to figure out what to do with myself after AmeriCorps ends, and now that time is here, and I still don't know. I hope I can get a break soon. I've applied for an alternative teacher certification program that would start in June, so I have nine months of uncertainty ahead of me. Long enough to finish another novel, but not long enough to really get started at a decent job.

I know it's a tough world out there right now for job seakers, so I'm pursuing everything I can and hoping one of the opportunities works out.

What are your writing roots?

I had a really fascinating conversation yesterday with Mark about how long we've been writing. My writing roots sprouted in Mrs. Biseli's first grade class. Each week, we were given a small black and white picture at random, which we were to paste into our notebooks and then write a story based upon it. I absolutely loved it. I always had the longest stories out of everyone in my class, and my teacher would always compliment me on my name choices.


Although I started out writing short stories, pretty soon I had switched to poetry. Poetry got me through my difficult pre-teen and teen years. In my eighth grade reading class, we were encouraged to do creative projects like writing poems based on the books we were reading. I always went way over the top, using posterboard, colored paper and glitter as backgrounds for my work.


My love of poetry continued until I placed 2nd in a local poetry contest held in affiliation with the Blair County Arts Festival. That was the first time I ever had to read my poetry in front of people, and I was absolutely terrified. Around that time, I also had my first experience with Poetry.com. I didn't realize it then, but the poem I entered probably wasn't publication worthy, yet they "accepted" it and also nominated it for some prize. Once I realized that the company thrived on taking unsuspecting poets' money, I could never look at that poem the same way again. But the mere fact that I had won a poetry contest was enough to propel me into high school.

In college, I majored in English and took my very first poetry workshop. Despite some not-so-great teachers, I excelled in poetry. I felt as if I had found my niche. I had some awesome teachers there, too, who introduced me to poets like Nikki Giovanni and Ted Kooser. I also literally got to meet some well-known poets too. My poetry improved so much in those four years.

I applied to the MFA program at Chatham University in Pittsburgh toward the end of my senior year in college, and was blown away when I was accepted. I started there in August 2006. Chatham was my dream school. I enrolled in the poetry track. Although I have mixed feelings about the program now, I credit Chatham for helping me decide what I don't want to do with my life and what I do want to do with it. I took my very first class in writing for children during my first semester, and that's when my writing really started to come alive.

Almost three years later, I have my MFA in Creative Writing with a dual emphasis in Poetry and Writing for Children, have had my first picture book, and numerous poems, published. I can't believe how far I've come with my writing. I never considered writing for children before going to grad school. I also feel as if I have gone full circle- from a child writing short stories to an adult writing short stories for children. I am so passionate about writing for children and feel as if I can be myself through my stories and books for kids.

I have already written my first YA novel and I'm currently almost finished with my second. Writing for children has given me the opportunity to explore many diverse genres.

Now, my question to you: When did your writing roots begin?

Contest: Help Angeline Taste the World!

Angeline came to me with a problem today. She is tired of living on the farm and wants to see the world! I’m afraid her sweet tooth is back. She told me she’s heard that Ocean City has some great salt water taffy, Hershey, Pennsylvania has the best chocolate, and she can’t wait to get her hands on some Turkish delight!

I promised Angeline I’d help her try as many sweet treats as possible. To achieve her goal, she must visit as many of you as possible! Here’s how you can help:

1) If you’ve already purchased a copy of Angeline Jellybean, let me know what city or state you live in, and what candies Angeline has tried there, in a comment below.
2) If you haven’t purchased Angeline Jellybean yet, what are you waiting for? Angeline is hungry for new types of candy. There are several ways you can buy the book:
*Order it on Amazon.com
*Order it from the publisher, 4RV Publishing
*Go to your local bookstore and ask them to order a copy for you

Once you order Angeline Jellybean, leave a comment below listing your city or state and what candy you’re going to give Angeline. Post your message by August 13th, 2009 and you could win a prize!

Now, here’s the fun part! On or after August 15th 2009, I will choose one person at random to receive a very special prize of jellybeans from JellyBelly.com, courtesy of me!

Good luck! (And let’s hope that Angeline doesn’t get sick from eating all this candy!)

Appearing on Robin Falls Kids Story Time!

On August 5th at 10AM Central, I will be appearing on Robin Falls Kids Story Time on Blog Talk Radio! You can listen in to the program on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/RobinFalls to hear me talk about the inspirations behind my picture book Angeline Jellybean. It should be a fun and exciting time for all writers involved!

Also, why don't you take some time to support me in the Take Steps for Crohn's Disease and Colitis Walk? You can find out more about Crohn's and Colitis as well as donate at http://tinyurl.com/qy9jlg

I have been told that I write 17 year old characters rather well. For some reason, I tend to make my teenage main characters 17/18 years old, usually seniors in high school. I confess that I enjoy writing about that age the most. I feel as if I can get into a teenager's head more successfully than someone even a couple of years younger.

I find this an odd phenomenon because I have surpressed so much about that period in my life. I don't care to remember all the nasty details of my senior prom (where my friend's boyfriend danced with, and hit on, everyone but her) or what I wore when I went to homecoming by myelf. I have pretty much forgotten the details of high school. However, I realized recently, I've never forgotten those feelings. In fact, I still experience the utter confusion, the disorientation, and the seclusion of my teenage years on a regular basis. The difference is, I know how to handle them now. So, I guess that's why I can tap into the teenager's mind so well. I use things I have observed or heard about or can imagine as the premise of my stories, but the emotions that I put down on the paper, in one way or another, are all mine.

Last day of Angeline Jellybean blog tour :-(

Today I would like to say thank you to all my friends and colleagues who took time out of their busy lives to host the blog tour for my book Angeline Jellybean! From favorite jellybean flavors to how the book got written, we sure covered a lot of material this week! I’ve received a lot of great reviews and feedback on my book. I’ve even met a few new authors. Can you believe that I actually came in contact with a children’s writer from my hometown of Altoona?

One of the things I love so much about blogging is that I get to interact with other writers all over the world. I network without boundaries, and I make some good friends in the process. To me, being an author isn’t about solitary confinement; it’s about having the entire world at your fingertips.

I’ve learned so much from all of you, and I hope you’ve learned from me as well. I look forward to continuing relationships with my fellow writers.

Happy New Year!

For the past few years, my New Year's Resolution was to get published. In 2008, I did! Now, I suppose it's time to find a new resolution. This year, I've decided to start making writing goals for myself, spreading them out over the year at intervals I can accomplish.

I think this time of year is the perfect time for us all as writers to reflect on our past years, our successes, failures, and progress made with our careers. Today, I'll share some of my writing successes with you. Tomorrow, I'll make a list of what I hope to accomplish in 2009.

In 2008, I:

Published a picture book
Met Naomi Shihab Nye
Completed my thesis, my very first YA novel
Got my MFA!


Happy New Year, everyone! Let's make 2009 a productive one.

Experimentation

Some of your may be surprised to learn that I have only been serious about writing children's books for the past year or so. I wrote my very first picture book, Paws the Puppy, a little over two years ago. I was also working on my first, still unfinished fantasy YA novel at that point, too. But it wasn't until I took my first picture book class in the Fall of 2007, that I realized I really wanted to write for kids.

I'm a recovering poet. It's not that I don't see myself ever writing poetry again, but I just don't know if my poetry is right for traditional publications. In grad school, I became jaded over poetry. I mass-produced crappy poetry at a high rate, and none of it satisfied my professors. I was told that I wrote poetry for me, and that some poetry simply wasn't meant for public consumption. I grew tired of having to write poetry that fit a mold, that was socially acceptable, and therefore publishable. In my children's writing classes, I was encouraged to work with what my imagination came up with it, taught how to hone my craft and make it into something worthy of an audience. Most importantly, in fiction I could write whatever I wanted without being accused of writing every single detail true to something in my life. (That aspect of my poetry classes annoyed me the most. Other people could write persona poems successfully, but when I tried I felt as if they were all judging me. It was as if they didn't think I had the ability to step outside my comfort zone.)

I still sometimes get a feeling like some people think my writing is unfocused. I have written everything from picture books to YA novels to non-fiction articles for middle schoolers. I say, what is wrong with experimentation? I will admit that I have not found my niche in children's writing yet. Until I do, what's wrong with me working on many projects at once, working with different genres and writing for different age levels? The beauty of writing for kids is that you are not put into a box. Look at Jane Yolen. She has had a very successful career in both middle grade novels and picture books. No one tells Jane Yolen to settle on one.

I say, if I want to, I can do it all. Of course, I need to work on my craft before I become a highly-successful writer. All the more reason for me to experiment within the genre.

Join us on the Angeline Jellybean Blog Tour!

Angeline Jellybean Blog Tour Schedule

Ransom Noble at http://ransomnoble.wordpress.com/ -December 28th
Vivian Zabel at http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com -December 29th
Laura Peters at http://www.renaissance-seamstress.com/blog/ -December 30th
Elysabeth Eldering http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com/ -December 31st
Susan Thompson at http://www.susansmiththompson.com/ -January 1st
Sarah Adkins at http://seapeanut.wordpress.com/ -January 2nd
Lea Schizas at http://thewritingjungle.blogspot.com/ -January 3rd
Crystalee Calderwood at http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com -January 4th

Join my fellow writers for interviews with myself and the illustrator Stephen Macquignon, book reviews, and other fun things, next week!

Thesis Defense

Today, I finally had my thesis defense. And I passed! I only need to do some minor fix-ups, print three copies, and have them bound. But the process of going through the defense helped me realize that the novel still has a way to go before publication. I need to fill in some plot holes and make some minor characters stronger. I am leaving the manuscript sit until summer, at which point I will pick it back up again and begin revisions.

In the meantime, I'm aleady formulating ideas for my next novel.

Angeline Jellybean Blog Tour!

Angeline Jellybean and I will be going on a blog tour the last week in December! Please drop by these awesome blogs to learn more about me, the illustrator Stephen Macquignon, and Angeline Jellybean herself!

Ransom Noble at http://ransomnoble.wordpress.com/ -December 28th
Vivian Zabel at http://vivianzabel.blogspot.com -December 29th
Laura Peters at http://www.renaissance-seamstress.com/blog/ December 30th
Elysabeth Eldering http://jgdsseries.blogspot.com/ -December 31st
Susan Thompson at http://www.susansmiththompson.com/ - January 1st
Sarah Adkins at http://seapeanut.wordpress.com/ -January 2nd
Lea Schizas at http://thewritingjungle.blogspot.com/ -January 3rd
Crystalee Calderwood at http://crystaleecalderwood.blogspot.com/ -January 4th

Angeline Now Available at Amazon.com!

You can now order your very own copy of Angeline Jellybean at Amazon.com! (Click the link for a direct link to the book.)

Angeline Jellybean is available for pre-order!

Angeline Jellybean is now available for advance order from www.4rvpublishingllc.com/store-books.html ! You may order your books now, but please keep in mind they won't be available to mailing for 10-14 days.