March is filled with all kinds of excitement. Geese are flying back from their winter migragtion, the chipmunks are once again romping around the yard, and the sun is shinning down with bright warm rays that evoke a sense of spring cleaning among us folks.  There is so much to do and my personal calendar holds no exception to the business of the season.

This week my friend Lisa Buske and I will once again be traveling to our writer's critique group. It is always such a nice night out with a wonderful group of friends. This month I am bringing a special piece of work and I am very excited to be having it looked over by some great writers. Their input will help me in my final copy which is due in two weeks.

On Wednesday I will be coaching my team in the Battle of the Books. Since December the kids have been reading books, memorizing the title and author of each, and practicing the study questions and participating in mock battles. They have been working very hard. After our building battle medals will be awarded and the first place team will proceed to the district battle on March 28th. The Rockin' Readers are ready for the challenge !!

My focus will then be turning to my speaking engagement for the HOPE Network on March 28th. A spa day is being held in honor of mothers who are raising children with disabilities. (Yes, I get to speak and enjoy spa treatments...the best of both worlds!) I have been asked to talk about my experiences as a mother so I prepared my speech accordingly. Now I just need to do a run through to ensure that it fits into the time constraints. There will be approxiamtely 65 participants at the event, and each one will be going home with a copy of Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child.

At school the kids have been working on the character trait Fairness. I have been working with the Oswego Arise office to bring in a speaker to our assembly to talk to the entire student body on exactly what fairness is.  It does not always mean treating everyone the same, it means to give everyone gets what they need. Our goal is to show the school examples of this so that they will come away with an understanding of why some people get certain things while others do not.

My calendar is also filled in with various appointments and two birthday parties before the months' end, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel because as March goes out like a lamb it will bring me into spring break and allow for some much needed time to relax.

Congratulations to Patricia Mott for winning a copy of Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child. 

 Pat was at the Sacred Heart Church craft show this
morning working her own booth selling handcrafted wood, gifts, and collectibles, but took a moment away from her own table and entered into a raffle to try and win a copy of the book. She was so excited when she won...YEAH Pat !

At the crack of dawn this morning I rolled out of bed after very little sleep and packed up my car for the trek up to Cicero. Of course Mother Nature chose the one day that I had to drive somewhere to sprinkle the world with white dust, but I braved the bitter snow and spent an hour setting up the table getting ready for the day. Books were on display, brochures available to let people know how they can submit stories to the next book, and a sign up sheet out out for speaking engagements.

Thanks to my friend Lisa Buske, the day went by fast as conversation passed between us as we worked, planned, and discussed our writing. It seems like the work of an author & speaker are never done !  Tomorrow Lisa will be at the Port City Assembly of God, giving a testimony of hope - It's possible to get through the tough times.  She is a phenominal speaker and if you get a chance you should stop by and listen to her presentation.

As Disability Awareness Month continues I will be focusing on my own speaking engagement for the H.O.P.E. Network on March 28th at the Northside Baptist in Liverpool. They offer support to families of special needs children and I will be talking about my experiences in raising a child with a disability. Every person going to the event that day will be receiving a copy of Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways: Our Lives with a Special Needs Child. I can't wait to meet all of the other parents and learn what makes th

What a crazy week this has been.  With the release of my new book, what little time I have left after work has been spent between autographing copies, signing a contract with the bookstore, getting the stories ready that will be on display at the YMCA Christmas party, and preparing for the upcoming craft show this weekend where my book will be for sale at two different locations.

This Friday is a big day for some of the families who contributed to the book.  Their stories will set up for the public to view during the Christmas party from 6-8pm at the Oswego Armory.  I am so proud of everyone and the work that they did that I wanted to showcase their talent.  Many people are very excited about their big debut!


On Saturday December 3rd, you can stop by and visit me in Oswego, NY at St. Joseph's annual holiday craft show from 10-4.  The building is located on W.1st street across from the YMCA.  I will be selling autographed copies of my book at a special sale price.

Also on December 3rd you can find autographed copies of my book at the Mexico Presbytarian Church during their annual Christmas holiday expo.  You can stroll the town and take part in the Dicken's Christmas Carol, visit the many different churches that are holding craft sales, and get a jump start on your holiday cheer.  You will need to look for Lisa Buske's booth from 9-3, and while you are there you chat with her about her upcoming book as well.

The picture above is from the River's End Bookstore in Oswego, NY.  There have my book on their shelves in not one, but two spots in the store.  The first is under "Local Authors" and the second is under the "Inspirational" section.  You can ask for Sometimes The Wind Blows Sideways:Our Lives with a Special Need Child 
and the employees will be more than happy to assist you.  Remember that they do free gift wrapping for the holidays!

Well if this interview is any indication of what I should expect once my book is out, then I need to work on my public speaking skills (LOL).  This is me and my good friend Lisa Buske on Friday night after our public reading at the River's End Bookstore.  You never know what to expect when the two of us get together, but it always guaranteed to be fun and productive!

If you have not visited Lisa's website yet, you are missing out.  She writes from the heart and has a passion for everything that she believes in. She can be found at: http://lisabuske.weebly.com/index.html

This coming week should be very excited.  The deadline is fast approaching for stories to be submitted for the anthology and several newspapers have contacted me to put the information out to the public.  There are several people who tell me that their writing is almost complete and promise that they will have it to me by next Sunday.  I will be very busy with the preperations for the publisher, and I can't wait to see the final product.  Check back often for updates on the process!

As another summer reaches an end and fall is lurking around the corner, I am forced to sit back and reflect on my goals that I had set for myself at the start of my vacation.  Did I accomplish all that I had set out to do?

Let's see how I did...
My ever growing array of post it notes have dwindled done to just one lonely reminder. The book proposal that has made a few gray hairs pop up on my head is not only complete, but in the mail as we speak.  Oh, and that one page sell sheet that caused the love affair with my computer to come to a screeching halt...Done. The notes from my 1:1 critique with my writing professor has been implemented and my manuscript is in better shape than what it was three months ago.

Not bad for one summer's worth of work.  I set my goals to a reasonable amount and managed to accomplish them all....plus some!  Here's a run down of the unexpected bonuses that made my summer:
1) I was able to read a piece of my work to my colleagues during the SUNY Oswego Summer Writing Institute
2) Several submissions are now under consideration for upcoming two different Chicken Soup for the Soul series
3) The community project that I started, From Caring To Sharing, has started to receive some amazing stories from people right here in Upstate NY.  The local newspapers have also run articles on this proposed anthology!

While my summer off from teaching was still spent hitting the books (or laptops), I did manage to squeeze in some summer fun.  See the picture above?  That's me and my writing accountability partner goofing off while getting some serious work done.  We spent an afternoon working on a photo shoot so that I could have some updated pictures on my website and for the one page sell sheet that went along with my book proposal.  Once school resumes this week we plan on falling back into a regular schedule again and working on some new concepts for our platform.

As sad as I am to see the warm weather fade away and I dread having to set my alarm clock every night, I will be glad to get back to work and see all of the smiling faces fill the hallways once more.  Soon I will be in a new routine, which will consist of writing during lunch breaks and in between dance lessons, and seeking out new classes to fill the very little extra time that I do have to myself.  It's chaotic and exhausting, but I wouldn't have it any other way!