Aaaagh!

  Got an e-mail at 9:30 p.m. from the Superintendent--surely this was a yes or no on my job!  But no--he was letting me know he was just named Superintent of the Year! 

After a stressful day...Joy

   Tuesday, July 17th should go down as one of my most stressful days.  (And a year ago this week, I was at Chautauqua, meeting Joy Cowley and a wonderful group of new friends.)  Besides being my first day on my own with library's new computerized checkout system, I had a job interview at 2 p.m. for the reading coach job at the school.  The interview went well, but now comes the stressful part--waiting!  You'd think that being a writer would make me used to painfully long waits, but it's still hard to wait for a decision that could change my daily life for the next few years.
    My writer friend from Chatauqua, Kathy, who recently retired from a similar position, has been my cheerleader and sent me encouraging notes all day.  Then, that night, just before I turned into bed early, there was an e-mail from Joy Cowley!  I could just hear her saying these words in her New Zealand speaking voice.

Hi Deborah, lovely to hear from you. The new magazine Hello looks great. It is even waterproof! I'm sure your rhymes will find a home in it.

Keep writing!

Warm regards,

Joy

 

     It couldn't have come at a better time!  Now, back to waiting.  The decision is up to the Superintendent, and he's out of town....

A Note That Made My Heart Smile

   Got this from my dear friend Carol's youngest daughter, about her youngest daughter:

Ellie is now able to read your books. She loves them! Awful Waffle makes her laugh and laugh! She was especially thrilled to discover the author had signed the book for her, and the author was a special friend of grandma Carol. (She was only 3 when you sent them so she had completely forgotten.) Just wanted to thank you for your beautiful stories, they are loved and appreciated!

   We writers endure a lot of rejections and hurt feelings, but notes like this make being a writer the best job on Earth!

   

    My friend Barbara recently returned from a week-long Highlights workshop at the Barn, and editor Kathleen Hayes showed her group a prototype of Hello.  It's about the size of a board book, she said, made of a sort of plastic-y paper that can be wiped off with a wet cloth.  The prototype issue contained a piece by my hero in writing for young children, Joy Cowley of New Zealand.  Being her "bus buddy" and chatting with her at last summer's Chautauqua was a high point in my life!

More hopeful news--a "bear card" from the editor of the new Highlights baby magazine, Hello, for four more poems!  That makes six that they are considering purchasing!  It feels really exciting to be contributing to a brand new magazine.  I think this is the magazine that will have my dear friend Carol Van Why's quotation, "Will they remember the unmade bed, or the talk we had instead?"  I believe it comes out in January.

   May and June were full of rejections, although my action rhyme "Garden Stretch" appeared in High Five. 

It was fun to share it with my "Colorado Mom," Gen Doak.



 There is hopeful news, however!  Highlights is adding a new magazine next year, for babies, called "Hello."  It will be edited by Kathleen Hayes, who also edits High Five.  I wrote and asked her if I could submit some poems, and here's what she wrote back:


Hi Deborah,

Yes, I'd be happy to see submissions from you for Hello.

Just be sure to make them very simple :)

Kathleen

Kathleen Hayes Editor Highlights High Five 807 Church Street Honesdale, PA 18431 ikhayes@highlightshighfive.com 570-251-4528 570-251-7847 fax So I sent in two, and got back a bear card for both of them!  Bear cards aren't an automatic in, but they are definitely good news.  The two poems are "Babies Can, Too" and one that I wrote with my graddaughter Olivia Rose in mind, "Knock Knock, It's Nana."      The Verla Kay blue boards are a great resource, and have given me some places to submit, such as Knowonder, Spellbound and Holiday House.  I'm working on my writing more than ever, which helps me feel succesful amid all the rejections.