tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80125205761761582062011-12-08T15:25:51.144-05:00Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.comBlogger571100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-91678542071020610732011-12-07T19:41:00.012-05:002011-12-07T22:30:36.914-05:00

This is very troubling: I've recently read and cast aside, dead middle or nearing the end, 4 newly released, much-lauded YA novels. Because, boringly, I knew what was going to happen (cue this, up the stakes now, enter stage left second mysterious hunky male etc.)I'm wondering if this is a case of too many cooks spoiling the stew. I.e.: Are YA manuscripts increasingly being massaged by a team

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-5780643435993452822011-11-03T22:31:00.004-04:002011-11-03T23:19:02.082-04:00

As a child, I was the kind of reader who skipped descriptions. My eyes were experts at skimming until I got back to the action.As a teen, I read books with insane amounts of description - those were the kind I seemed to be drawn to - but still, I skipped a large chunk of them. Yeah, yeah, I knew the way those leaves he was hiding behind would move in the breeze, blah, blah, blah.As a young adult,

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-53855378016113223322011-08-09T06:46:00.012-04:002011-08-09T08:03:13.254-04:00

(click on book covers for more info.) Bursting With Unforgettable Characters (even the setting - Alcatraz - acts like an Unforgettable Character) : Spot-On Dialogue and Most Real Mean Girl I've Read in a Long Time (Ella): Eerie, Creepy, Can't Take Eyes Off the Page Read: Spiritual Wrapped in a Cutesy, Flouncy Skirt (a la Stargirl herself): This one made me all Dobby-like, wondering why I'd

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-62782045843071809162011-07-18T19:41:00.008-04:002011-07-19T01:10:58.912-04:00

I realize I've been a sorry blogger but I also realize I can't blog and write. I can't read blogs and write either. They're too engrossing and make me wonder if I should be writing something else or, make me want to hurry and finish what I am writing so I can "make the cut" or, make me want to stay as a reader solely (instead of playing writer as well) due to reading about the amazing books out

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-90442196152140137772011-05-21T12:12:00.008-04:002011-05-21T13:54:00.736-04:00

It's true the amongst my family and friends, I'm known as the one who points out obvious simple truths (my sister calls me the dinosaur from Toy Story, ugh), but I still wanted to excitedly log in to blogger to tell everyone that I've finally discovered this most beautiful simple truth about writing:you know when you want to rush home/cafe/library/wherever you write, just so you can get back to

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-13454484151187523602011-04-09T21:11:00.008-04:002011-04-09T22:11:38.119-04:00

a thank you to my husband for the photoSee how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls. - Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu--------------------------I wish I could say that I am

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-29515497099515523112011-02-22T22:52:00.014-05:002011-03-04T17:28:17.172-05:00

Aleeza gave me an award:Thank you Aleeza. (And your blog is so fun to read.)Here are my 7 bits of (weird) info:1) I love using paprika in/on most everything I cook.2) I just inherited a massive, muscled cat named YETI. I swear, it's a lion cub.3) I believe in kindred spirits. Like my hubby.4) I cry when I read Melina Marchetta books. And then, I read passages to other people to get them to

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-90742917852128951622011-02-22T20:56:00.005-05:002011-02-22T21:52:28.431-05:00

She re-reads her last post and wrinkles her nose. The horrific irony: a claimed cure for writer's block followed by a huge long stretch of no actual writing showing up on dis here blog of hers.Will she never learn? Really: ? ? ? Heheh. Actually, I have been writing. :)-------------------------------------------I know we're not supposed to discuss politics at the blogging table, but my mind

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-45236048561194912262011-01-15T11:09:00.005-05:002011-01-15T11:38:49.950-05:00

After years of careful research, I've found the antidote for perceived writer's block:Give the ailing writer a classful of report cards to write. All I wanna do is write, write, write. (Just not report cards.)this is life. photo by Gareth

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-46713420668553417552011-01-07T23:51:00.008-05:002011-01-08T02:17:34.174-05:00

my son, a Boy? Tomorrow I'm going to spend a part of the day at the bookstore with my son. The other two children will be socializing at birthday parties and such, so it'll be just me and my fifteen year old.The other day (which was like six weeks ago), I suddenly realized that my son had become a Teenage Boy. This fact hadn't imprinted itself into my brain even though the child is over 6 feet

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-27804373579809605152011-01-06T22:13:00.005-05:002011-01-06T22:36:46.799-05:00

I've been a TED fan for a long time now. I've been a Boonaa fan for even longer so Boonaa at a TED event?Hearing spoken word always gives me pain, though. It's so undervalued as an Art form (capital A) that I start thinking about that whole issue of who decides what's high falutin' enough to be Appreciated (capital A) and what isn't.Anyways. I'm trying to be cheery like Boonaa. I'll just let

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-89908673184996109692011-01-05T00:08:00.011-05:002011-01-05T00:53:28.489-05:00

I think everyone around me is getting sick and tired of my million and one new ideas for a NEW story.I think I need to teach myself to be a committed kinda gal. Committed to my first, um, love.But I kind of took that book in all sorts of zany directions. Pulled it this way and stretched it that way - until it got sort of pizza dough holey in the middle. It's really unrecognizable from the

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-11053548711584150462010-12-20T22:16:00.007-05:002010-12-20T22:45:49.647-05:00

This is a meme from Kate Hart's always-interesting blog: a list of of 100 "big reads". (Well, according to BBC.)I discovered I've read 50 of them. You're to bold the ones you've read. If you do this meme, leave a comment at Kate's post.From the ones I haven't read, I really only want to read: War and Peace and Crime and Punishment. Obviously, the list is subjective.1. Pride and Prejudice –

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-45098817113848337392010-12-14T22:31:00.011-05:002011-05-03T00:14:40.021-04:00

As my daughter and I were perusing books (via their first pages on Amazon), I realized for the first time that we have vastly different criteria guiding our first impressions of books. (duh?)We're not talking about front covers, back covers or book trailers here. Not hype or book-lure - but just plain old writing. What she can stand, what I can't (like unnecessarily flowery stuff), what I

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-16706739428769269912010-12-09T21:47:00.012-05:002010-12-10T00:54:00.431-05:00

I've planned Winter Break oh so nicely in my head.First week, do all the kids stuff: host sleepovers, make the funny family home-movies that only we get, go skiing, skating, snow-fortressing, hang around by the fireplace in pajamas playing board games, breaking up small, and then, medium, and then, huge fights, and so on.Second week, my week.Kids with their dad. Husband and his son, my stepson,

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-20486896043531849762010-12-01T23:29:00.007-05:002010-12-02T01:12:23.144-05:00

photo by Khürt WilliamsI've found the best remedy for that end-of-November-early-December descent of dementor-like darkness: brand new moleskine notebooks. (3 pack, on sale.)I shared them with the hubby as he is a notebook affectionado as well. So that means I have two empty notebooks waiting patiently for me on my triangular night table. (I know, it's so nice to have a hubby who knows how to

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-213347860810611442010-11-28T23:34:00.008-05:002010-11-30T19:54:20.664-05:00

Lemony Snicket + Maira Kalman + 13 Words = A Nonsensically Common Sense Story to Be Read Again and Again.This is a riveting account of growing into yourself, with mystery, "love" and hate added to keep one up all night.Currently reading: Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr. So very good.And welcome, new readers to my blog. Thanks for following!And I hope to have something good to say about my writing

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-4216190176886136482010-11-20T00:10:00.004-05:002010-11-20T00:45:57.484-05:00

Part of the magic:WE ALL WENT, AS A SPLINTERED, YET UNITED FAMILY, TO WATCH THE MOVIE. THE CHILDREN (OWN AND STEPSON - WHO IS LIVING WITH US NOW) AND I AND MY HUBBY AND MY EX-HUBBY. Cause that's the way to do it.This latest movie is up there with my all-time favorite HP movie of the series, The Prisoner of Azkaban. Like director Alfonso Cuaron's version of book 3, Deathly Hallows Part 1 was

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-74931145713632897192010-11-08T22:53:00.008-05:002010-11-08T23:45:52.430-05:00

I'm lost.I have my stickies. I'm trying to plot and plan. How in the world does one do that?I'm nanowrimoing slowly. If I get to merely 20,000 words by Nov. 30, I will dye my hijab bright turquoise. (I'm such a fake. I love bright turquoise hijabs. Have 3 already.)I'm going so slow because I'm writing the way I did way back when. Nice and slow and literary. Scenes. Small scenes and big whamo

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-41878278384463781282010-10-17T01:19:00.014-04:002010-10-17T03:35:57.005-04:00

One day this past week, I picked up the kids after school and took them straight to "our" bookstore. They did their homework there and then got comfy with their books and all was good in the world. It was sooo spunderful (specially wonderful) that I want to do it more often, perhaps even weekly. (Except I'm going to have to figure out a way to make sure I don't walk out of there $100 poorer

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-79846508448407240042010-10-13T20:28:00.004-04:002010-10-13T22:08:28.129-04:00

All the things worth mentioning that happened in the last month and a half:1. Read Catching Fire and Mockingjay. After gnawing feeling of loss left a hole in heart, sighed with bliss re: how Collins ended the whole thing; so real, so true.2. Worked butt off trying to be super teacher. Still at it. Proof: glue on hijab, van-gogh sunflower yellow paint on pinky finger, glitter on knees,

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-79355330826419069872010-08-30T00:14:00.007-04:002010-08-30T01:22:14.052-04:00

School is upon us.This week coming up = prepping a third grade classroom, program, teacher-persona.I have to pull that bright "oh boys and girls how wonderful to see you all!" bubbliness a notch or two from the year previous, when I taught second grade. These kids are EIGHT, remember? That means they're a bit, sniff, older, and obviously, a bit more jaded, lol.I have to be calm, cool and all

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-59932432195815597322010-08-28T22:20:00.007-04:002010-08-29T21:31:34.884-04:00

I just realized I need ruthless betas for this fresh round of revisions being churned out. I love my rah-rah readers too...but sometimes a writer needs to hear what stinks.One awesome friend did tell me such an amazingly horrific truth about my book (first revision) that I was left speechless. I couldn't believe I had missed it all along. (It was the part about how I had two really different

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-58714001023747052242010-08-27T14:42:00.007-04:002010-08-27T15:17:31.735-04:00

I'm feeling so left out. Out of the euphoria that is Mockingjay.Reading about all the excitement, the sleeplessness, the withdrawal symptoms, the depression, is making me desperate to jump in and...try. again.I remember the joy that arrived with each new addition to Harry Potter. Staying up all night as soon as they came out, once when I was pregnant to the max, on the verge of delivering my

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-63624181871840162052010-08-27T02:26:00.005-04:002011-05-03T00:15:52.268-04:00

Rebecca Stead. (kinda-spoilers coming up)I gave her book, When You Reach Me, to my niece, the most ferociously voracious nine year old reader I have ever met. I told her it won the Newbery Medal.She read it in a couple of hours. And said she liked it. But she wondered why specifically it had won the award.Then I took it and read it. I wondered how it could not have won the award. It was

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-50093551262102434112010-08-25T19:45:00.003-04:002010-08-25T22:44:11.738-04:00

In 1860, conservatives accused Lincoln of being CATHOLIC.In 1940, 90 years later, conservatives accused Roosevelt of being JEWISH.In 2010, 70 years later, conservatives are accusing Obama of being MUSLIM.(The narrowing down of the years between such hate-mongering does mean it's getting better, doesn't it? Doesn't it?)I've got lots to say on this topic but I'm gonna let John Green do part of it

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-87320535535770476082010-08-18T07:32:00.006-04:002010-08-21T02:04:16.219-04:00

I'm feeling nervous about this but...here goes. (this is part of the second chapter)****snipped****(And I apologize as people said they found posting comments difficult for some reason this week. It's crazy that it had to happen when I posted my first teaser! But thanks to Aleeza and Cheyanne for making it through...it was much appreciated.)

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-22677743864803043502010-08-14T01:41:00.002-04:002010-08-14T02:07:40.500-04:00

...was unbelievably good! I loved this bit from Molly O'Neill (associate editor at Katherine Tegen Books) during Thursday's Industry Professional Panel:a question I often find myself asking is if the author has TRULY started the story in the right place. Not always, but often, the first few chapters are warm-up/backstory that the author needed to write to understand the characters...but the

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-51038333831078932762010-08-11T00:52:00.010-04:002010-08-14T02:18:40.911-04:00

(I know, I'm sappy for loving alliterative titles a little too much!)The month of Ramadan has officially begun. That means fasting (refraining from food, drink, sex) from before sunrise to sunset. For us in these parts, that's 16 hours straight.That gives you a lot of time for reflections (especially on what it means to have so much when others have so little) and spiritual cleansing. This is

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-28197594081282803272010-08-05T22:37:00.010-04:002010-08-06T01:05:22.209-04:00

I'm back! Again. This time it's from camping.my two sons, bookending their sister and cousinsmy daughter, on the rock we take her annual picture onmy hubby with the real photogear (his photos are much better than these)We convinced my parents to come with us this time. My father was apprehensive - he prefers the cottaging method of enjoying nature - especially with the possibility of bears. We

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-62869593712415369282010-07-15T00:00:00.005-04:002010-07-15T07:56:50.610-04:00

I am so happy to be back home. But I was so happy to be in your home too, America.We got back this past weekend because we just happened to spontaneously extend our vacation. We pricelined hotels and we were set. It was great! But now back to work. So much work to do before my retreat.My husband turned to me nearing the end of our trip and said, I hope you blog about this. This? Yes, this,

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-57487348759388266632010-06-26T11:14:00.006-04:002010-06-26T14:12:18.814-04:00

Curiously, without realizing it, I made a transition. I moved from viewing writing as a fave thing to do, a hobby, to viewing it as a commitment, a career path. I received my first inbox happening on Wednesday and it was a nice revise and resubmit - not a specific step-by-step-here's-what-you-must-do sort of letter but one which still left me feeling happy, hopeful. Really happy.So here's what

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-83342693431736592222010-06-21T14:38:00.000-04:002010-06-21T14:53:25.192-04:00

Blue Lipstick Samurai gave me this. Thanks!Here's the hows of responding/passing it on:1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award.2. Share 7 things about yourself.3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (In no particular order...)4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-13850053372565877362010-06-15T22:27:00.007-04:002010-06-16T00:34:43.595-04:00

Agenda for Upcoming Posts:1. Teaser Tuesdays2. Diversity in YA, MG3. Voice4. Boys 'n booksI'm going to try to keep this handy, dandy agenda up so that I can remember what I wanted to post about. (I'm a-getting old, heehee.)I'll go backwards.Boy 'n BooksMy school had a boys book club which two "cool" young male teachers ran to get reluctant readers excited about books. It was a great idea

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-70640422036294001352010-06-06T16:53:00.011-04:002010-06-09T15:09:11.072-04:00

Lately, some bloggers/writers I read have been debating this:Write About What You Know(You know, that ol' saying they throw at you when you're studying writing - to try to encourage the most AUTHENTIC VOICE out of you?)Yes, I too was told this when I was nineteen. So, like a good little keener, I ditched writing about a mutating nine-year old, a seventy year old woman ruling the apartment

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-39290042729676049972010-06-05T19:06:00.011-04:002010-08-25T03:52:32.623-04:00

My MomI planted a small salad garden and an herb garden in the backyard today. And a few flowers. Because my mom came over to help and this is her: a cute walking green thumb in a hijab.As soon she touched the herbs I'd bought, I was sure I saw them straighten up.My mom: earthy and heavenly sweet. Because she grew things for me ahead of time so that I didn't have to buy everything I wanted to

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-74172034933772001242010-06-04T10:23:00.003-04:002010-06-04T11:18:44.648-04:00

I've got a new baby. She's so hyper, it's making me think I'm going to have a sad husband soon. Because all my attention is being paid to HER, my latest work in progress.This one, a MG, is just writing itself down - like it was there, already fully formed. I'm falling hard for it and I can't stop thinking about it. It's different from my completed YA and different from my other MG.I love it

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-25308098781772514872010-06-03T18:57:00.007-04:002010-06-10T21:05:29.615-04:00

For optimal viewing pleasure, the volume needs to be on and the ad banner needs to be clicked off - it covers up text.) ***For some reason, the first view times I watched it after uploading it on youtube, it was really fuzzy. I hope that's cleared up now.I'd love to get feedback on this: does it make sense?(And, finally: um, no, I promise I didn't play with my daughter's old dolls all weekend! :)

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-63073549206975906512010-06-02T23:09:00.004-04:002010-06-02T23:22:37.542-04:00

I've just finished my book trailer...and of course I've gotten over-excited about the whole process. I called my sister as I put the last touches in and told her that I finally knew what I wanted to be when I grew up! A book tailer-maker!(Not that my trailer is that great. I can't tell if it gives viewers enough of a "trail" or too much of a "trail". Sure, my whole fan-club here at home

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-27815405557866468772010-05-31T00:14:00.003-04:002010-05-31T23:06:58.404-04:00

/\ The wordle for my YA book: How to Beat Away a Boy. Click to enlarge. Leah is the main character's 2nd best friend. I'm working on a cutesy trailer for it.

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-54815211729918134672010-05-30T02:57:00.008-04:002010-08-25T04:58:32.393-04:00

My nine year-old daughter has notebooks all over the place. She's writing constantly. About a month ago, I found her old, sparkly-cat covered notebook from when she was six. It was filled with random words, arranged apparently haphazardly on page after page and as my husband and I pored over them, we saw that they were a record of our family trips, running for errands, in the car.Then I

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-29807883201383610612010-05-25T12:14:00.004-04:002010-05-25T12:21:51.089-04:00

It was a loooong weekend up in these parts (Canada) and we got to do a lot of family-togetherness. It was so nice that I took an almost complete break from the internet. And yes I finished The Hunger Games. And yikes. Yikes. Yikes. I can't believe I have the same exact thing to say about it that His Royal Kindness did. See post below. I want to say why but can't right now. TOO busy as of

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-75539869350047758852010-05-21T21:29:00.003-04:002010-05-21T22:03:07.331-04:00

He finished The Hunger Games. "It was good enough to finish but not so good that I want to read the second one."~ His Royal KindnessYikes! I feel bad typing this, HIS, review. My lengthier, probably more gushing, review will appear probably the next time I post. (I've already read 4 chapters and love it so far.)

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-33209660382032544822010-05-20T20:45:00.010-04:002010-05-20T22:18:17.604-04:00

I'm trying to keep my commitment to this blog. So that's why I'm trying my darnest to post almost every week day.Today was busy. My hands are still covered in paint. I'm trying to finish up some paintings.Here is what my studio/office looks like now:It's getting worse and worse, day by day. That is why I do all my writing work in the beautiful, pristine local library nowadays.By the end of

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-40720552542213350562010-05-19T23:25:00.005-04:002010-05-20T11:23:13.649-04:00

photograph by D Sharon PruittThere is a reason the word art is found in HEART.Casting aside all that wrangling about whether real hearts do look like the shape assigned to them or whether the said organ actually is the depositary of all feelings and such, perhaps we can agree that there is something inside us humans which longs to be touched. Or moved. Or taken on a soaring adventure. Or just

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-20308729216812911112010-05-18T13:52:00.009-04:002010-05-18T15:29:22.218-04:00

I am here:Doing this:I am using Darcy Pattison's shrunken manuscript technique for doing revisions. Essentially, it tells you to reduce the font of your manuscript until it fits onto about 30 pages. Then, depending on how basic or sophisticated/nuanced (i.e. anal) you want to be about it all, you highlight:1. The strongest chapters in your favorite color. (This is the basic version.)2. The

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-69916994709896174082010-05-14T22:50:00.007-04:002010-05-15T00:34:28.613-04:00

I can't believe it. With the rant-of-post yesterday sitting heavily on me (I couldn't shake the feeling that somehow I'd ruffled some feathers), I've found that there are agents who want books which feature Muslim MCs, stories outside the norm for "real Americans" (see the Rejectionist's take on that one) and which may just end up having a hijab-wearing girl on the cover. Quite a few apparently

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-7809336155477601392010-05-13T23:04:00.011-04:002010-05-14T00:44:08.267-04:00

But, instead I give you this cute old video, featuring music by someone I know, has a lot of people who look like me, and which touches upon what I was going to rant about anyways: one-in-four-people*-on-the-face-of-this-earth-are-Muslim-and-lots-and-lots-of-us-NEWS

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-87596977364500803222010-05-12T12:56:00.009-04:002010-05-12T17:23:57.904-04:00

I love this YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday topic: If Literary Characters Had Accounts, Whose Tweets Would You Follow? This was Remilda's idea (yay Remilda! :)This is quickly off the top of my head...So for sure, these gals (ready for a long list of Austen heroines?):Marianne Dashwood, Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse and Fanny Price. No explanation needed for Austen-love.Next would come (this is

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-38622076706104540612010-05-10T22:47:00.003-04:002010-05-10T23:07:54.857-04:00

The thirteen year old daughter of a friend passed away this morning. Everything, everything, everything, pales in comparison to that.She'd been ill for seven years - after getting encephalitis in grade one, going into a coma, recovering and then suffering seizures ever since then.This blog was supposed to be only about writing...but sometimes life interrupts us...and makes us more aware.All I

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-4355864388436417182010-05-06T22:34:00.015-04:002010-05-07T08:28:30.953-04:00

I always tell everyone about Ms. Zultek, my grade 7 teacher.I sure told my ex-husband about her and when we finally made it down to my old school the year before she retired to say hi and I excitedly approached her and she looked blankly at me and then said oh yes, were you one of my old E.S.L.* students? he burst out laughing. I wanted to kick him. But I knew why he laughed.Because my number

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-75948378243698133622010-05-05T13:38:00.002-04:002010-05-06T12:29:06.715-04:00

No, no, make that I'm checking it obsessively. My list of dream agents.I'm sure I've researched this topic as much as my brother's researched things for his PhD in law. Which he's almost done while I still plod away - well, excitedly plod away (is that a possible way to plod?)Isn't it funny when you say oh-my-gosh-this-agent-likes-chocolate-and-jane-austen-as-much-as-i-do-.-

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-55104789962574164282010-05-04T14:07:00.006-04:002010-05-05T13:38:03.422-04:00

I'm working on writing queries. Too many revisions later, I need chocolate.Lindt 85% dark would be great to have and to hold in my aching fingers right now.But alas, none is available for sacrifice to the writing process.

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-4620240633776359872010-05-03T13:13:00.009-04:002010-05-04T14:27:59.033-04:00

I follow author/American-living-in-France Amy Huntington's blog Chitlins & Camembert and there's this post where she describes reading her writing to her French husband every day.He sits there and eats his lunch silently while she reads her latest efforts. Then he nods, gets up and puts his dishes in the sink.She'd feel like she was just reading it to herself.I burst out laughing. Because Amy

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-88155045882628790682010-04-30T23:23:00.010-04:002010-05-06T12:30:09.503-04:00

So I show my husband this new writing blog of mine.Previous to this, I'd been a blogger for 3 years, elsewhere. But then I tapered off blogging so frequently when life got busy (love again/remarriage, merged families, life!)My new husband (of 2 years this August) is a photographer. He takes one look at my picture on the sidebar of this new blog and shakes his head.So he said he's going to take

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-44106107502612641992010-04-28T00:19:00.011-04:002011-01-02T16:14:05.029-05:00

Introduce the writing I, actually. There are other types of I's, obviously. Wife, mother, job-person, sighing-at-the-mount-of-laundry gal, etc, etc.But then there is I, the writer. Born, I think, in grade six when I found writing a report on the Goldenrod plant so fascinating. I had been sick for a whole week and when I came back to class, there it was, the only plant book unchosen by the

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8012520576176158206.post-36056341100381645222010-04-18T06:31:00.000-04:002010-08-29T01:59:06.501-04:00

snipped

Sajidahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06826756552339363668noreply@blogger.com0