Month: January 2011

“You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul’s own doing.” ~ Marie Carmichael Stopes ~

Maxine Hong Kingston is off on new adventures, at seventy. And isn’t she beautiful? She is my inspiration for the day, still the Woman Warrior.

EDITED THE FOLLOWING DAY TO ADD: Ms. G., a witty acquaintance wrote and pointed out the Stopes quote is pure balderdash. “It reminds me,” she complained, “of when people used to say that at a certain age we have the face we deserve. We do not have the face we deserve, we get the face that genetics dictate and now, thanks to plastic surgery, the face we can afford.”

Yesterday’s paperback giveaway was quite an eye-opener, for reasons I didn’t expect. Homeschool peeps, I know, come from all walks, and are in the field for various reasons, or having kids with learning differences to being unhappy with a school district, to simply just wanting to spend the quality years of childhood with their children, instead of sending them to others to teach them. What I didn’t realize was how many homeschooling folk are from Canada! (Hello, Northern Neighbors!) New Westminster represented for BC.

The Midwest was also well represented, with Illinois, Indiana and Michigan being the most common. I was surprised to find only two Southern homeschool addresses from Georgia and Arkansas. Guess the South wasn’t online yesterday.

There were some interesting statistics I gleaned from the notes I received. The majority of people who participated had more three or more kids. Most were mothers, although there were two gentlemen. We had one librarian pop up and wave. We had twelve people who commented and left notes with addresses but no last names. (Ah, well. The addresses are probably enough, and no one should wonder too much if a book comes to Hope Whatshername.) We had two participants from the West Coast, and only ONE from my home state – which was a surprise! Of course, none of this represents actual numbers of homeschooling families in the U.S., it was just the people who were online yesterday who happened to hear about the giveaway. Still – very interesting.

I’m grateful to everyone who played along. This was such fun! Please remember to take advantage of the Homeschool Teacher’s Unit on Mare’s War, and enjoy your studies. I hope it leads you down a good rabbit trail (as Lissa Wiley calls them) to delve more deeply into new information you hadn’t learned before.

And to those eight or nine of you to whom I sent a wee note to remind you that your address might be good to have, well, I do hope you actually check back and send it, otherwise the whole postal process does get tricky…

A “thanks for playing” and a book go out to:

Jen from Prospect Heights,

Emily from Bloomington,
Sharon from Shelby Township,
Jon from Canton,
Gretchen from Cincinnati,
Megan from Brunaby,
Rachel from Aurora,
Michelle from Lincoln,
Paula from Milaca,
Jennifer, Carrie, and Kathleen from New Westminster,
Teresa from Auburn,
Geneviève and Magda from Montreal,
Jill from Vancouver,
Sheila from Victoria,
Ariel from Seattle,
Moe from Sterling Heights,
Kay from Corpus Christi, and
Diane from Springfield

THANK YOU!

Most of you will receive your book in a couple of weeks, barring further postal calamities on this side of the pond. I hope you enjoy it. Happy Homeschooling!

HAPPY TUESDAY! Somewhere, it’s 11:00 a.m., which means it’s time for the giveaway! MARE’S WAR will be out in paperback in February, but if you are a.) a homeschooling family, or b.) a homeschooled kid or c.) a librarian who works with homeschoolers, today is your chance to receive an early copy.

After a parent request, I worked up a Homeschool Teacher’s Unit on Mare’s War. It reminded me of my 1:1 teaching days, which were actually kind of like homeschooling (for the State of California; my students were in group homes, so I visited them instead of them coming to me) and started thinking about the fact that there are probably not a lot of book contests strictly for homeschool folk. So — this one is.

And it’s straight up simple. Just — leave a comment, then drop me a note. Tell me hi, tell me how long you’ve been homeschooled, say you love it, tell me you’re studying WWII and dread trying to write — or grade — a decent essay about it. The first twenty-five of you who comment will automatically receive a copy of the book! (Please don’t leave your mailing address in the comments [unless you don’t mind sharing it with the world?]; send your address in a note, using the private contact form. EDITED TO ADD:The contest is over; please don’t send your address! Sorry you missed it.)

But, if you’re a latecomer and not one of the twenty-five, don’t let that stop you from commenting! I’ll give away a few more books to random people who amuse or interest me — names I’ll pick out of a hat. Those folks also might get a hardback copy instead of a paperback, FYI.

So, that’s my “contest” of sorts — a chance to celebrate homeschool folks and to honor the parent teachers who are doing their own thing, and doing a great job with it.

Happy Giveaway Day!

EDITED TO ADD: Comments are closed now, the contest is over; thank you to all of you who showed up to play yesterday!

The first week of January is over! Yippee!

No, I’m not ecstatic ’cause we’re that much closer to Valentine’s — please. I intend to be all ironic and hipster and wear head-to-toe black that day like I always do. No, I’m happy that the first week of January has passed because so far I’ve gotten done all that I want to do.

Okay, not all exactly. I’m still doing one last go-round on my MG novel, and I fell asleep in the middle of that — SO not a good sign — but almost all, okay??

The one thing I got done this week was something I intended to do, but didn’t get around to until being given a bit of a swift kick by a homeschooling mom in Detroit. So, Mrs. Ribbron, this one’s for you.

Behold, the Homeschool Teacher’s Unit on Mare’s War!

While this idea sheet is intended merely a springboard for your own ideas, I hope it gives you something to go on, so you’ll both enjoy the novel as a story, and as a chance to think more deeply. Thanks to Adrienne Furness, librarian and homeschool advocate, for helping me be coherent about where I was going with this. And thanks, too, to Lissa Wiley and Karen Edmisten, who gave the sheet a once over and the Homeschooling Educator/Awesome Writerly Moms Seal of Approval.

Man, that seal looks happy. It must meansomething good is going to happen… maybe a book giveaway for homeschooling families, kicking off on 1-11-11!

Sound good? Stay tuned! Check out the Mare’s War study unit ideas, spread the word to your homeschooling peeps, and check back on TUESDAY, January 11th, for a chance to win a paperback copy of MARE’S WAR for yourself or a friend.