How to use this Page

Today was short-pose, costumed model day at Arts Umbrella - aka "Pirate Day". We drew piratey model whilst listening to "The Pirates of the Caribbean" soundtrack. We were sadly lacking in eye-patches, parrots and peg-legs, however.

We had a series of scant-20 minute poses - so I scrambled to do some full-bodied poses (I promised I would) . Eh.

Pirate Day!

September 19th is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. I searched for Pirate Day in JacketFlap's blog reader, and I saw that the wonderful & talented Elizabeth O. Dulemba has graciously posted a pirate-themed coloring book page for all to download and color in her fabulous style. My kids will now have an after-school activity to do. Thanks Elizabeth!

And speaking of Pirate Day, I was browsing JacketFlap's Newly Published books section, and I noticed that Eloise's Pirate Adventure was published yesterday (Sept. 18th) by Aladdin Paperbacks. Great timing!

Congratulations to our members!

I'd like to send a big congratulations today to two JacketFlap members. Wendy Mass, author of such fabulous books as Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life and A Mango-Shaped Space emailed to say that her new book Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall is now available, written for seventh graders and up.


Also congratulations to Carrie Jones who sold two books to Bloomsbury. The first book is called NEED. Read her Super Great News post for the details. Great job!


Book Stores in the news

Jessica Stockton of The Written Nerd blog did a great job of summing up some recent news articles regarding independent book stores versus the big chains. It is quite interesting to take note that while big chains like Barnes and Nobles are closing shops the independent ma & pa shops might be making a come-back. Read her post here.


New Member Welcome

I always get a kick out of checking JacketFlap's New Members page to see the faces of the people that just joined the site. From time to time, I'm going to introduce some of our new members here in my blog. I'd like everyone to join me today in welcoming Marjorie van Heerden. Since the publication of her first children’s picture book in 1983 Marjorie has written and/or illustrated more than 80 children’s books and has been published in 33 languages in Africa, England, Europe, Canada and the USA. She was born in South Africa, lived in Stellenbosch near Cape Town for 20 years, in Linden, Johannesburg for a decade, travelled for eighteen months on honeymoon in a camper van around Europe, lived for a year on the banks of Lake Michigan in the USA and for four years in a forest on a mountain north of Athens in Greece. Now her studio overlooks False Bay, once again near Cape Town, South Africa. Please leave a comment on Marjorie's profile page to welcome her to JacketFlap!

Tracy

To learn more about the guys who cooked up this crazy idea, go to Talk Like a Pirate. In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I share some jokes: *What do you call a pirate that skips class? -- Captain Hooky! *How much did the pirate pay for his peg leg and hook? -- An arm and a leg! *What kind of socks does a pirate wear? -- Aarrgghyle!! *What happened when Red Beard fell

Every day is talk like a pirate day here at Stately Beat Manor.

As ye all know, today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. If ye`ve any love fer this sacred holiday, ye`d be wise t' follow me lead an' jus' plug everythin' ye`re goin' t' blog starboard into th' Shipmate Speak website.

Nay. I be jus' kiddin' ye. As enjoyable as havin' a Hot Man o' Children`s Literature presented entirely in "sea dog" might be, I`ll reserve me Yo Ho Hoin' fer this post alone. Still, check ou' th' official holiday website an' drink a keg o' rum on a dead man`s chest fer me, if ye get a chance.

Courtesy of the Wordsmith word-a-day email: tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate day.

I researched cameras. I reviewed their ratings. I compared prices. Then I walked into the store and bought the first one I saw because it was cute. (It's really shiny and red!)

Here is the first photo I took with me new digital camera.


Oops. Just realized I wrote "with ME new" instead of "with MY new." However, Speak Like a Pirate Day is coming up, so I'm going to leave it.

Okay. Other stuff. Magazineey stuff.

1. My story "Veggies, the Wolf Boy, and Me" is in the premiere issue of GO magazine. It's about healthy eating, so in honor of it I am not going to eat the Violet Crumble that is sitting on my desk. The magazine readership is elementary school kids, and royalty, and it's distributed by the National Governors Association.


2. MORE magazine.
I'm interviewed in MORE magazine (October issue) by Signorney Weaver!!!


Well, not really. But I am in the magazine in an article called "The Cost of Passion." It's about women who changed careers to follow their dreams. I am happy with the interview, except for the line, "she was gaining weight."

3. MORE magazines.
Here are some magazines (honest!) that I have been in . . .

- My wedding invitation was in BRIDES magazine. (I had written a humorous fairy tale. The invite had a photo of me, age 4, wearing a slip on my head and pretending to be a bride. Hubby's photo, same age, was him on a rocking horse)
- My ovaries were in the WALL STREET JOURNAL. (in an article about career obessesed women who scheduled their pregnancy around big projects
- My photo was in the premiere issue of ALLURE. (I represented what a Disney producer looked like)
- My cooking was chronicled in the TUPPERWARE magazine. (I was quoted as saying, "I roast chicken and then store it in Tupperware." Actually, I said, "I BUY roast chicken and store it in Tupperware."
- And the list goes on!

And finally, I was so thrilled with my new little red camera, I bought a little red Corvette. Only it looks like this . . .