It is officially a small world. I was reading in article in The Tallahassee Democrat about Florida State University’s poet-professor David Kirby. Now, the article talks about Kirby’s life, his many accomplishments as a writer and it gives background on him. At the article’s end, it mentions that Kirby is the father of Will Kirby. Name sound familiar? It should. Will won Big Brother in 2001, appeared in Big Brother All Stars and is on E!’s Dr. 90210.

Small world. Seriously. Ever have one of those moments? I can’t believe that “Evil” Dr. Will grew up in Tally. Funny. 🙂

This one is for freelancers today. Anyone ever visit KidMagWriters? I’m addicted to the site and love the reports from magazine editors and the complete listing of magazines for teens and tweens.

Perhaps the coolest part is the archives. They’re chock full of special reports on kid magazines and full of “editors speak.” Reading what an editor wants in his/her own words is a huge advantage!

If you’re not a freelancer, Kid Mag Writers offers plenty for you, too! The site offers tips on getting organized, success stories of first publications and more. The site is also helpful to authors because there are plenty of magazine for teen/tween/children readers and staying in the know about what kids are reading, listening to and talking about has always been helpful to me when writing books.

Check it out and happy holiday weekend!

There has been a lot of chatter recently about the big project coming up from Readergirlz. From October 1-31, Readergirlz will be having chats with 31 authors for 31 days. Authors include (and, oh is it a BIG list!): Meg Cabot, Stephenie Meyer, Sara Zarr, Lisa Yee and Holly Black, among others.

Blogs from Little Willow and YA Fresh have offered news about the huge event, so stay tuned to their blogs for the latest.

Are you going to check out the event?

A big, BIG congrats to Sara Hantz on the release of her YA novel, The Second Virginity of Suzy Green by Flux. Visit her blog party this week to read posts from Sara, Alyson Noel and other fav authors.

Yay, Sara! 🙂

Okay, I’m off and back to editing…

I’ve got some cool news to share on this Wednesday morning! My dad’s company partnered with ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition and they built a house in Minnesota over the past week. The episode will air during sweeps in November and you’ll be able to see my dad’s company (Eniva) and a bunch of the company employees and owners who signed on to help.

I was this close to flying to Minnesota to help rebuild and sneak a glance at the photo shoot with Ty Pennington and the gang, but my dad had to fly somewhere else for the week, so it was a no go.

I’m working on edits today and am getting ready for the holiday weekend. Anyone have any plans? I’ll be writing, sifting through my pile of YA and MG must reads and grilling.

I blogged about America’s reading habits at Lamar today. Check it out here! I’ll be blogging there every Tuesday for the next couple of weeks.

Anyone get their September issue of Romance Writers Report yet? If so, be sure to check out my article on increasing Website traffic. It’s my first publication in RWR and it’s a thrill to have a pub credit in a new (for me) magazine.

I’ve been taking a break from freelancing for a while and have been allowing editors to contact me when they need something, instead of sending queries. I do an occasional query when I can’t pass up a story idea, but I turned to focus fully on fiction for right now.

Today, however, no writing has occured since we’ve been dealing with storms and it would be my luck for my surge protector to get hit. So, I’ve been watching movies (Spiderman, Ella Enchanted) with my brother and reading. Lots of reading. The local librarians gave me the evil eye on Friday because I practically cleaned out their teen/tween section and have an insanely large load of books. I’ll take a pic sometime. Plus, the more I check out the more I struggle over what to read first! Pretty Little Liars, Shug or Girls on Film? Choices, choices.

Since I’m a little out of the loop on the magazine biz, what are your fav magazines? Teen or adult. Share them here!

Oh, and anyone else watching the Teen Choice Awards tonight? C’mon, you know you want to see Avril perform. 😉

I blogged at Lamar today. Check it out! 🙂

(Excuse the crooked shot!)

I’ve been editing like crazy today–focusing on my first young adult novel, Blackheart Mountain. It’s the first round of line edits and there’s still the ending to write although I have it fully outlined. It’s a fun book to write and how different it is writing for a sixteen-year-old than writing for Sasha, my thirteen-year-old in High Jumps.

I’ve also been getting caught up on my blog reading and wow, lots has been happening in the lit world especially with lots of new deals over at Verla Kay. Way to go, guys! 🙂

So, I thought I’d share a page from the August/September Tallahassee Woman. I didn’t post the last one here and figured it was a nice way to help promote the mag, too.

If you’re interested in talks about plots, head over to Diana’s blog and get in on the conversation.

Tomorrow, I’ll be blogging for the Lamar Write Site, so come join me there!

I’m a self-professed TV junkie and as such, I absolutely cannot wait to stop
watching summer reality TV (except for Big Brother) and get back to scripted shows. In addition to shows already on air, there are several new shows that caught my eye. Here’s the list of shows I can’t wait to see:

Cashmere Mafia

The title alone makes me want to try it.

Gossip Girl

Any book to TV is a must see.

Kid Nation

Kids with their own mini-city—how cool is that?!

Survivor: China

As the first show to have such access to filming a reality show in China, I’m curious to see how this season unfolds.

Dirty Sexy Money

Uber-talented Donald Sutherland and the return of Portia De Rossi in this ABC show has me hooked for the pilot.

Pushing Daisies

This one received some of the best early reviews and the previews are gorgeous.

Private Practice

Shonda Rimes, I am not worthy. 🙂

Lipstick Jungle

Loved the book and we’ll see about Brooke.

New or old, what are you looking forward to this season?

*Finally, something off topic.*

Major congratulations to Florida State University’s own WILL BIGHAM who won last night’s On the Lot. Will won a million dollar contract with Dreamworks and is now working for Mr. Steven Spielberg. Yay, Will and congrats to you and your lovely family!