The sun is shining as we stepped out of the car and into the warm brown sand. It tickles our toes as we walk towards the water to find a place to spread  our blanket. As I glance out at the horizon I can see the sun glistening upon  the water…it is a perfect day for the beach.
 
For the next hour my daughter and I dig the shovels deep into the earth and excavate the dirt to turn into mud pies and sand castles. The sound of the waves  crashing in the distance echoes gently between the giggles that I share with  my little girl. As soon as I would dump my sand out of the mold, she took excitement  out of squashing it the minute I looked the other way. A silly game that would  only last an hour in time, but a lifetime in our memory.

As I looked around I noticed that we were the only ones on the beach that day. Just the two of us, left alone to bask in the glory of our beautiful surroundings. This would be our last adventure for the year, as school would be 
starting soon. Our days together would be limited now by bus schedules and dance  lessons. But for today we have the entire world at our fingertips, with nothing but the peaceful sounds of nature to interrupt our precious mother
daughter time.

 I often wonder how many more times I will get to enjoy days like this. Times when she still wants to play with her mother instead of her friends. How many more afternoons in the sun we will get to walk the shores hand in hand is 
unknown, so for now I am taking in every minute of it. Today she is still my little girl and I want to preserve that in my heart, for you never know how many more chances you will get to hear “I love you mommy.”
 

I picked this book up last week and within just a few days I found myself finishing the last chapter.  Very emotional and gripping...I could not put it down. 

Erin Merryn was twleve years old the night that her cousin stole her innocence during a childhood game of hide and go seek.  Afraid to tell, Erin kept the horrible secret from her family. This silence gave power to her abuser to continue for two more years, turning her own life into a nightmare. Suffering from Post TraumaticStress Disorder (PSTD), Erin must find the courage to speak up about the abuse before the nightmares and flashbacks take over her life.

As written through journal entries from a little pink diary, Erin shares her personal pain and struggles while trying to cope with having to see her cousin during family gatherings.  It is not until several years after she breaks her silence is she able to confront him about the abuse, and works towards rebuilding her life that is now focused on helping others.

I give Erin alot of credit for sharing her story. Her courage will empower others to open up and begin their own healing.  Since sexual abuse is more often than not perpretrated by a family member or somebody they know and trust, it is usually kept quiet in order to protect the sanctity of the family unit.  It takes a strong person to stand up for their moral rights and to say that NOBODY, not even a family member, is allowed to treat another person this way. 

Good luck Erin in your future as a social worker and thank you for raising awareness on this sensitive subject!

To help get Erin's Law signed in your state to protect our children, please sign the onlipetition  http://www.change.org/petitions/prevent-child-sexual-abuse-pass-erins-law-at-the-federal-level

Have you visited Diane Estrella's site yet?  Each week she offers a different writing prompt for the MicroFiction Muse.  This week's muse is a picture of my daughter and my newphew when they we young.  (where did the time go?)

What is Microfiction?  According to Diane it means the shortest of short stories. Think Aesop’s  fables, comic strips, or even jokes: complete stories that can be  told in under a minute.  On top of the writing prompts, Diane also offers book reviews and giveaways.  Check her out at DianeEstrella.Com

The rules are simple. Tell a story about the picture in 140 characters or less (including spaces and punctuation).  Here's my tale for this week:

No wonder I almost drowned. The stars on my Wonder Woman costume are suppose to be on the bottom

I would have saved you anyways

You're my hero

Day two of the Summer Writing Institute was amazing.  During our reflective writing time I conferenced with author Sharon Kane on my book proposal.  She was wonderful to talk to and I enjoyed sharing ideas with her. After lunch (which Sharon and I had worked through) everyone broke out into small groups, depending on their grade level.  It was now time to share the stories that we had been working on for the past two days.  I chose to share a piece that I just submitted to an upcoming Chicken Soup for the Soul series, about learinng how my daughter had disabilities. The first time I practiced reading it to my table, I choked up and had to have a friend finish reading it for me.  (It wasn't a hard piece to read, but it hit me emotionally)

When I read it aloud again to the whole group I held it together, but left my audience speechless.  They were so moved, especially since most of them know my daughter personally.  The class decided that I should read my story to the entire group when we rejoined everyone that afternoon, as it was an inspirational piece.  Only three people were going to be chosen to share that day, so I was both humbled and slightly nervous about standing among my peers.  But I knew it would be a great way to practice my public speaking skills so when everyone filtered into the college auditorium I summoned up my courage and walked up to the microphone ready to go.  (Little did I know that the district superintendent was sitting in the audience at the time)  Overall it went well, and a few people left a little teary eyed, which I took as a compliment that I can move people with my words.

The picture you see here was not from the writing institute, but from the public reading that I attended in July at the River's End Booktore.

As an educator, we are always telling our students to be more descriptive during their writing.

"Don't keep repeating the same words over and over. Use a synonym and your story will sound better." we would tell them. And so the "Said is Dead" lessons began. Children were forced to use different words at the end of their dialogue instead of " Sally said " or "he said". We wanted them to get creative..."Sally shouted"...or "He whispered." And we as teachers would give the kids a nice red smiley face on top  of their papers to show our pleasure in the fact that the children were increasing their vocabulary.

Today I sat in class among several other teachers at the Summer Writing Institute at SUNY Oswego. While 
listening to the keynote speaker Ellen Yeomans, we were all very surprised when she told us to stop teaching those lessons. As a professional writer, by not using 'said' at the end of a sentence, it sends a red flag to a publisher that you are an amateur.

The word 'said' at the end of dialogue is basically an invisible word. As a reader, our eyes skip right over it, 
allowing what was in the text to stand out even more. But if we put a fancy word  to describe how the sentence was being said, it puts the emphasize on how it is  being delivered, rather than focusing on the meaning of script.

We always want the discussion between characters to stand out to our readers. We can reflect how the conversation is being said by using body language. By having somebody roll their eyes, the reader interprets how that person is feeling, without you having to come out and saying  "....Annie retorted."

Ellen also taught us to write a poem about each chapter or scene that we right.  "If you can't write a poem about it, then it doesn't belong" she said.  (notice how I threw 'said' in there?)  As a writer I was in awe at this concept. So many times I have mulled over sections of my work wondering if it belonged or not. I can't wait to try this trick and see how it helps the story.

Tomorrow is day two of the institute and I am very anxious to return. What will I learn?  Now that 'said' has been resurrected, anything is possible! 

If you're going to catch something, you need the right tool for the job.  For Captain Hook, he used his hook to help him catch some gold.  If you're a fisherman you will need a hook to help catch your dinner, and if you are a writer a good hook is what you will use to catch the attention of an agent or publisher.

What's alike with each of these?  They need to be sharp to get the job done!

In the literary world, your hook is one sentence that sums up the entire book.  This is not always as easy as it sounds.  I spent two years pouring over every deatil in my manuscript.  50,000 words later I have finished and now I need to boil this down to one sentence?  Hmmm...this may take me a couple of more months.

I have changed my hook alot during the book proposal process.  I needed something that will intrigue people to want to learn more, without divulging too much where they would loose interest. This revelation came to me about 1 am last night.  Now if you ever run into me and ask what my book is about, I could tell you in thrity second before  the elevator reaches the next stop. 

No my friends, I am not talking about my wonderful, loving husband.  I am talking about Diane Estrella's Micro Muse picture of the week.  I couldn't help but to be inspired by Carrie Underwood's song/video "Before He Cheats."

What would you say about this picture in 140 characters or less?  Check out the fun on her website DianeEstrella.Com

A local family is holding a fund raiser in hopes of sending their three year old son to an intensive feeding clinic in California.  Ethan Mills has been diagonosed with Autism, and suffers from an eating disability.  His dysphagia is very painful, which causes him to have difficulty in swallowing.   He barely eats one pudding cup a day.  

The insurance that Ethan has will not pay for him to go to the clinic which has an opening for him in September, so the family has been searching for other ways to raise the money that is needed to get to California. Local businesses have donated gift cards for an online auction, and on August 28th the family is hosting a bounce house event in Fulton.  Facebook users are also invited to give up their cup of cofffee for one day to donate $2 to the cause. All money raised will go towards air fare, lodging and clinical expenses.

If you would like to donate, funds can be send to Keala Richardson  c/o Team Ethan at 92 Hamilton St, Apt 5A, Oswego NY, 13126.

As part of Diane Estrelle's microfiction muse writing, she has invited people to share their shortest of stories based on a particular pictures.  These must be in 140 characters or less!  The challenge was on to see if I could come up with tale that would be shorter than what this poochie has. So here it goes:

"I think I can, I think I can....Nope, walking this tight rope is not worth one little dog biscuit!"


How'd I do?  I counted 26 characters when I added in the punctuation.  Diane's website offers a new picture weekly...a fun way to keep your writing skills attuned and your mind sharp!  Make sure you visit her site and vote for your favorite (or vote for mine just because you like me  LOL).  She can be found at Dianeestrella.com. 

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