Big News!

So, there is big, exciting news around here. I've been meaning to share it for some time, but today is a good day to do it, because today is the big day!

We've been meaning to and wanting to blog for quite some time, but it's been very busy around here -- we had 8 house guests for 4 days followed by 3 days of straight birthday parties, followed by 4 house guests for 3 days followed by a few of us getting sick. And to top that all off, yesterday I'm pretty sure I broke my toe (another story for another time).

On to the big news. Thing 1, who you know is always reading and writing, just got an internship/gig/job with a major writing blog and her first column goes live today!!

It's an incredible story. In January of this year, I came across a fun article online about the heroes in Harry Potter. It was a cool article with a writing activity at the bottom of it. I found this and several other writing blog resources and emailed them to my lovely writer daughter. I mentioned to her that there was a list of the "Top Ten Blogs for Writers" and The Write Practice (where the Harry Potter article was located) was one of those top ten blog resources.

Well, Thing 1 subscribed to a bunch of the writing blogs plus some others she found herself. A few weeks into her keeping up with those blogs, she let us know one night at dinner that she had, of her own accord, unsubscribed to one of them. She went on to explain that while the occasional swear word or comment doesn't bother her, this particular blog was too laden with profanity and didn't have enough good information on writing to make it worth it. We're so proud of her for knowing herself so well and thereby setting her own boundaries. She is a fantastic kid.

Anyway, as she has kept up with all of these blogs, one has emerged as her absolute favorite and that is definitely The Write Practice. She reads every new post, comments frequently, and participates actively on the forum with other writers and bloggers. Very soon, she was sharing writing samples and receiving good, concrete feedback from other authors. Thing 1 gives people pointers on their writing and is remarkably open to receiving feedback on her own work.


In July, I went out on a double date with Thing 2. He and I joined a local grandma (a good friend of ours) and her grandson (a friend of Thing 2's) for movie and a pizza lunch. When I got home, Thing 1 excitedly announced that The Write Practice was growing and looking to add two permanent members to their writing team. She smiled back and told me that she was applying. I so admire her spunk and drive and I think it's great how she puts herself out there! I was a bit nervous about the possible rejection, but we've talked a lot about how rejection is part of the process when it comes to writing, and I figured there was nothing to lose in applying for the job. After all, applying, in and of itself, is a good, learning experience. I was so proud of her for just going after it totally on her own. She simply saw the job opening and wrote up her application, which included doing a sample post patterned after the ones done on The Write Practice. I'm in total awe.

Here's the thing. This site is NOT geared toward kids at all. It is geared for adult writers. The guy who runs the site, Joe Bunting, told her straight up that he was looking for adult writers but that she did such a great job applying and commenting on his site that he wanted to give her a shot and that he had an idea that he wanted to run past us, her parents.

He wrote to me and Mark and was very honest that he was kind of nervous to see a 12 year old on his site, participating so much and being active. But he also said that he is blown away by her maturity and talent and that everyone on the site loves her. So, he came up with a monthly column for her! He told us that he wants to protect her identity online and keep her safe and mentor her in her writing and such, so he hired her and copies us on his emails to her - totally on the up and up! We are so grateful to him!

Joe Bunting is a published author, ghost writer, and editor, so this is amazing! He is a great guy, based out of Georgia, who knows the ropes -- social networking, blogging, formatting, etc. -- and is teaching her all kinds of neat stuff. We are so grateful for him and for his being so open to coming up with the idea and giving her this amazing opportunity!

Okay, okay. Enough about the background story. GO READ HER FIRST POST!! Be sure to scroll down, too, to see her picture and mini-bio!

Just Write.

I love and am so proud of you, Thing 1!! This is one VERY proud Momma sitting here. It's like my fingers just can't type fast enough to spread the great news!!