Had a recent request from a Facebook friend to answer some questions about the writing life. After I read them, I thought they might make a good series of blog posts.

Thanks, Mindy!

1) What things made it challenging for you to be a journalist and a writer?

I split my writing life into two identities, so I will have to answer this in two different ways:

Writing for children — The most challenging thing is to stick with it and not give up. It is VERY difficult to get published. I will not pay to publish my own work and I never have. If I can’t get an editor interested, then I need to polish my work or keep writing stories until I DO write something that will make an editor sit up and take notice. I’ve been fortunate to do that four times. I thought that getting accepted once would mean no more fears. Yet I found the second book was just as gut-wrenching as the first, and so on. The problem is then, “What if I fail? What if I’m out of ideas? What if it’s a fluke that I even got published in the first place?” I’d say that’s the hardest thing, always second-guessing your abilities.

Journalism — Lots of things were hard for me at first, like learning to be bold and ask questions, understanding how open records laws work, adapting to situations I’d never been placed in before (from flying in a four-seater airplane over a brush fire to being at the scene of a car wreck to covering volatile city council meetings). The writing was easy. It was dealing with people and situations I wasn’t familiar with that was the most difficult.

Attending SCBWI conferences helps you learn how to interact with editors and agents. You gain an understanding of what they’re looking for, how to submit to them, etc., etc., etc.

The first time I had a critique with an agent at an SCBWI conference, I was scared to death. I did and said all the wrong things. That was several years ago, and I have learned from that experience.

Agents and editors, as we like to say here in the south, put their pants on one leg at a time,  just like we do. When you go to a conference, don’t be afraid of them. Be friendly. Thank them for coming to your conference. If they’re critiquing your work, thank them for their comments, even if you feel like crying by the time they’re finished. (And do try not to cry. There are agents out there that do not like tears during critiques. This is a business, after all, and we must learn to behave in a professional manner.)

HOWEVER …

Don’t behave like a used car salesman and hound them until they agree to take your manuscript for a test drive.

Don’t corner them at the end of a workshop, in the hall, in an elevator, on the front steps of the hotel, in the dining room …

And if you’ve paid for a critique, don’t expect them to read your work and immediately offer representation.

Read the Upstart Crow blog for an agent’s perspective on conference groupies. Don’t behave like the zombies in the photo. Zombies are scary. Don’t be scary.

I’ve volunteered at several conferences. Once, I had to literally PULL an agent away from a gang of desperate writers.

It’s not a pretty sight. And believe me, it doesn’t leave a good impression on the agent.

Eleven days until the SCBWI-Midsouth Annual Conference. Woo! If you’re a writer or illustrator and you’ve never attended an SCBWI conference, go to the SCBWI web site and search for a conference near you. It’s time and money well invested in your career.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself, “Why should I go to a conference? How would I benefit?” In today’s post, and in those leading up to the conference, I’ll share some reasons why SCBWI conferences are so awesome, and I’ll even include some tips on how to get the most from your conference experience.

Conference Perk #1: The energy generated at an SCBWI conference is contagious, long-lasting and will keep your creative batteries charged for weeks.

There’s always an air of excitement at an SCBWI conference. Opportunities are there for networking, making friends, finding critique partners, and more. Where else can you sit and chat with multi-published, well-known authors?

Children’s writers and illustrators are an incredibly friendly bunch. I’ve never met one who wasn’t willing to talk about their creative process, what motivates them, etc. From the pre-published to those with book sales in the millions, we all share a common experience — the long hours spent alone at the computer or locked away in a studio, perfecting manuscripts and artwork, wondering if anyone will find our creations fit for publication.

Perhaps we’re all bound together by the insecurities we share that seem to be an inherent part of the writer’s/illustrator’s craft. We empathize with the struggles of our fellow artists and wordsmiths. And we all have that desire to tell a story that will send shivers of delight up and down a child’s spine, or will capture the readers interest so that he’s willing to stay up late at night and read the book by flashlight under the covers.

Whatever the case, it’s wonderful to spend a day or a weekend among like-minded souls who savor a great metaphor or make a living sketching friendly monsters.

It’s a gorgeous Kentucky morning. I have the day off  today, so I’m looking forward to catching up on some chores. I might even get some fall mums to put out on my porch.

Took my daughter’s family cat to a local vet yesterday to be spayed and declawed (front paws only). The kitty gets released this afternoon, so I have to pick her up and watch over her until my daughter comes home to get her.

The newspaper where I work ran the last installment of a three-part series about our local animal shelter today. (Our online edition is subscription only, so I can’t post a link — you wouldn’t be able to read it.) Our lead reporter discovered a sobering, shameful statistic about our local shelter.

In 2008, nearly 80 percent of the more than 4,000 animals brought there were euthanized. That’s more than 1,200 kittens, more than 700 cats, more than 700 puppies and more than 650 dogs.

One reader did the math and posted a comment on our web site — the shelter on average would have had to kill 13 animals a day, every day they were open, to put down that many in a year’s time.

The thought makes me sick to my stomach. It’s an embarrassment to our community. We are better people than that.

Our reporter learned the shelter director refuses to establish an Internet presence for the shelter, will not allow volunteers, and makes it so hard to adopt an animal that some prospective pet owners just give up and leave.

Now, however, the shameful way our shelter is being operated has been exposed, and local residents are shocked and angered. I know our citizens won’t continue to allow such inhumane activities. I’m eager to see what happens next.

I love my cat, and I admit, I’ve been giving him a bit of extra love lately. When I got him a few years ago, he was one of a stray mama’s litter. When I think of how he could have had the same fate as thousands of unfortunate kittens (because there’s no telling how long this has been going on), it makes me want to cry.

I’m thankful our newspaper was able to be the voice for those innocent creatures unable to speak for themselves.

Long time, no posts! With vacations, catching up on work (meaning my actual paying  job) between days off, and my youngest getting married in 29 days, blogging has been, like, at the bottom of my list.

So if you can tolerate some random “catch-up” here, read on:

• The first half of my vacation was all about the grandkids — from Chuck E. Cheese night to late-night Disney movies, it was a week’s worth of baby and preschool fun.
• Our future daughter-in-law hung out with us during the second segment of our vacation. We stayed in one of those hotels that have suites with fully-equipped kitchens. Normally, I don’t cook much. But on this trip, we cooked just about every meal and it was so good. The future d-i-l taught me how to make homemade guacamole and it was incredible! I am now a guacamole guru. When it’s done, it looks like a party on a plate.  Take two ripe avocados, cut in half, remove pit, scoop out the flesh onto a plate and smush it with a fork ’till chunky. Chop a couple of tomatoes and some fresh cilantro, mix into the mashed avocado (be sure to use the tomato juice!) and add salt and onion powder to taste. (Lemon or lime juice is optional.) Eat with tortilla chips until you get sick or your pants don’t fit, whichever comes first.
• A bit of advice from one who has been there and done that: When it comes to hotel rooms, chances are you’ll get what you pay for.  In our case, an inexpensive room in a facility that appeared decent on the outside turned out to be a filthy nightmare on the inside. When we arrived at the hotel and opened the door to the room, it not only smelled bad, the bathroom floor was dirty, the kitchenette disgusting, and the hide-a-bed couch mattress was covered in weeks’ worth of filth, crumbs, and grime. We immediately left and found a spotless suite with kitchen (even a dishwasher!) at a Marriott Residence Inn just down the road. It cost twice as much, but it was worth it to be able to lay my head down on the pillow at night.

Random stuff. Think of it as Kibbles and Bits, but less crunchy and useless for preventing hairballs.

modem trouble + router issues/seven days = zero posts for at least one week

Ah well. On to other things.

The FEMA contractors finally removed the four, 6-foot high piles of tree limbs in front of my house. The limbs broke off our trees during the January ice storm. I was really glad to see the limbs go. I couldn’t see to back out of my driveway and was sure one morning I’d ram into another vehicle. The contractors used BIG equipment that left huge ruts at the edge of our yard but I don’t care. I’m just glad the stuff has been moved. It’s a bit of closure for us. We had our trees trimmed and they look so bare now.

In other news, an article I wrote about Twitter is in the current issue of our SCBWI regional newsletter. You can read it here. It’s a pdf file, so you have to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to open it.

My Facebook friend, Holly Folsom, challenged me to do a Google search for “patricia needs” and list the top ten results. Here they are.

Ya know, some of these are kinda creepy.

1. Patricia needs a full service hotel.
2. Patricia needs work.
3. Patricia needs to get something to eat.
4. Patricia needs a loan of 2000 soles. (Fish? Leather? Ephemeral presences?)
5. Patricia needs a job now. (A pattern is emerging!)
6. Patricia needs rent money. (It’s the economy, stupid.)
7. Patricia needs updating. (My kids have been saying this for years.)
8. Patricia needs to live in supportive housing where there is constant supervision. (My kids have been saying this for years.)
9. Patricia needs to get herself a page on the web and start blogging. (*snort!*)
10. Patricia Needs a Roommate, Can She Have Yours? (Nuh-uh! I’ve had the same roomie — dear sweet hubby – for almost 30 years. Don’t want to share a room with anyone else!)

A massive ice storm hit our area Jan. 26-28. I have had no electricity since. For several days, we didn’t have landline or cell phone service.

Life is beginning to return to normal, but I still have no electricity, and that means no internet. I’m writing this post using a wireless connection at a local cafe. I just finished checking hundreds of e-mails, and ended up deleting some because I just don’t have time to read them all.

One of the e-mails I received since the storm hit was from a publisher that accepted a picture book manuscript I sent them. They e-mailed to let me know they’ve decided not to publish the book due to the economy.

I’ve had no electricity for nearly two weeks. No e-mail or internet access. I have to wash my laundry by hand. And now I get an e-mail informing me that the book they’ve been holding for a year and a half won’t get published after all.

I think I’m going to go hit myself in the head with an icicle.

However …

Things could be worse. I don’t have electricity, but I have gas heat, and a gas water heater so I can take a warm shower. Restaurants are open again, so I don’t have to cook canned food in the dark.

I’ve been working a lot, and our newspaper has published every day since the storm hit. At night, I sit and read books by flashlight. I just finished Bud, Not Buddy and am now reading Sherman Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

We have tons of utility crews here from several states helping to restore power. The National Guard’s here, too. Everyone in my county is neighborly, everyone tries to take care of each other. If you’re going to be in a natural disaster, this is the best place to be. I know we’ve been featured on Good Morning America and on some network and cable newscasts, but they don’t tell the story of how we take care of each other. They just talk about how bad it is.

Hopefully in the next few days, I’ll get my power back. Until then, everyone stay warm!