Category Archives: kids

Down the Rabbit Hole: adventures in writing for children

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The Shebeen

What:

The Shebeen Club: Vancouver’s Literary Gathering:

Down the Rabbit Hole
adventures in writing for children

Who: Lois Peterson of the LP Wordsolutions

When: 7-9pm, Tuesday, September 18th

Where: The Shebeen, behind the Irish Heather, 217 Carrall

How(much)? $15 includes dinner and drink

Why: To learn the Children’s Book market

Down the Rabbit Hole
adventures in writing for children

After twenty years writing for adults, Lois Peterson has written four kids novels in the past six months, and just can’t seem to stop. In her informal presentation Down the Rabbit Hole – adventures in writing for children she will share what has changed since she was a bookaholic kid, what remains the same, and how to tell the difference.

Lois (www.lpwordsolutions.com) is also a creative writing instructor and author of 101 – and More – Writing Exercises to Get You Stared & Keep You Going. While her novel Tansy Here and Now is currently under serious consideration at a wonderful kids’ publishing house, she has reverted to another childhood habit – biting her nails.

Bio: Lois Peterson was brought up in the now-beleagued cities of Basra and Kirkuk (Iraq), ran away from boarding school in her housecoat, and over the years was caught telling numerous lies. So she turned to writing. She publishes articles, essays, and short stories, and in 2007 hopes to finish one novel Who Do You Wish was With Us, and begin another, Just Go. She teaches creative writing to anyone who wants to learn, operates a writing and editing business, and has worked for many, many years for a major public library.

Dress writerly. Berets and/or Team Dorothy Parker tees optional.

More info: email lorraine.murphy at gmail.com

7-7:30 Meet & Mingle

7:30-8 Listen and Learn

8-Whenever “Narnians/Middle Earthers” vs “Hardy Boys/Nancy Drews.”

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Chop-Chop

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The following is, apparently, and example of something I am NOT supposed to post on my new blog. Who saw that coming?

Canadian

Decapitated kid much better now!

Hey, it takes a lot to stop a Canuck! In this case, having had his head chopped off back in July hasn’t stopped 11-year-old Ryan Ooms of Saskatoon from starting school right on time.

Ryan Ooms EMTsOoms spent just 2 1/2 weeks in a hospital where doctors fused the vertebrae and inserted titanium pins and rods. On Aug. 23, five weeks after the July 17 accident, Ooms and his family paid an unexpected visit to the firehall to thank his rescuers.”When he walked in I recognized him but there was this disbelief,” said McNair. “His recovery rate has been phenomenal.”

McNair was one of the first EMTs on the scene of the accident. He helped paramedics remove Ooms from the crushed minivan then stayed at the boy’s side in the ambulance.

Once Ooms was in the care of trauma specialists, McNair thought of the boy’s parents being told about their son.

But there was Ooms, on Aug. 23, smiling and cracking jokes and climbing on the fire trucks. The only indication of his injury was a brace hugging his wounded and tender neck, keeping it steady.

You’d better believe this kid has a patron saint (is it Nearly Headless Nick?). Yes, us Canadians are a fearsome breed, seemingly descended from the unhallowed love match of Odin and Laura Secord, with a bit of Sasquatch thrown in there for good measure. Given that decapitation has hardly slowed this Canuck down, what do you imagine it would take to stop Celine Dion?

Really, tell me. The sooner the better; I hear Mariah Carey’s offering cash.

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it’s quiet. too quiet

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SwoonIt may well be quiet around here (that’s the natural aftermath of fighting off a venomous spider…you really just want to go lie down and have food and refreshing beverages brought to you) but I know somewhere that’s simply radiating vitality, having sprung fully-formed from the forehead of Coco Chanel.

Teeny Manolo, my new blog.

What are you still doing here? The other blogger has 15 welcoming comments in her introductory post. Moi? Goose egg. And I’m too proud to invent sock puppets to post paens to myself.

Barely.

It’s a children’s fashion blog with celebrity overtones (because I write for it, y’all), and if you must know I wrote it yesterday wearing stirrup pants and a Starbucks gimme t, with a wad of greasy deep conditioner in my hair, whereas today I wrote it wearing my sister’s overalls (so hot this year, and boy am I lucky) another Starbucks gimme t, and a shaker knit cardigan. I’m not eating pizza, but I should be, to get the look right.

As I said before: what are you still doing here? Go, read, enjoy, comment, blogroll, Technorati Fave and all other assorted Operation Global Media Domination furthering activities! That’s H T T P : / / T E E N Y M A N O L O . C O M, y’all!

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quiz: which carnival ride are you?

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You Are a Carousel


You are young at heart and a truly playful person. No one would ever accuse you of taking life too seriously.

You are definitely in things for the fun. You find joy easily, and you are often building up anticipation for your next adventure.

In relationships, you tend to want to be babied and taken care of.

And while you may be a bit high maintenance, you are incredibly loyal.Your life is simple and satisfying. Each day you treat yourself to something you enjoy.

You have a lot of emotional attachments, and experiences are extra vivid to you.

You tend to be nostalgic and sentimental. The past is important to you.

Comfortable around all living things, you have a special connection to animals and children.

At your best, you are whimsical, free spirited, and creative.

Even if your schemes seem a bit strange, they usually work out wonderfully.

At your worst, you are spoiled, demanding, and impossible to satisfy.

You’ve been known to act like a brat if you aren’t getting your way!

What Carnival Ride Are You?

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Cthulhu Cthamp for Kthids.

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Cthulhu House

Ah yes, this is what I look for in a summer camp: tentacles. When deciding which godforsaken pit of vipers you’re going to pay to store your children for a couple of weeks, it’s so, so very important to make sure that you choose one that will teach them skills they will need in life as they’re growing up.

Coping with Cthulhu is, obviously, one of those skills.

The Russians, whose Soviet-era abandoned summer camp this is, were obviously miles ahead of the West in Elder God Preparations; only the fall of Communism put an end to their highly sophisticated program, closing the Appeasement of the Ancient Ones Gap between East and West.

Cthulhu House Interior

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