The Bouncy Castle in Space

sissybaby

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Judy - truly sorry about the rejection, although if it wasn't right for the agent, then the agent wasn't right for you.

The butter story made my day, though. When I did it with my girl scouts, we used the electric mixer, which wasn't nearly as fun, until one of the problem children pulled the mixer out of the mix with it running on full. That got EVERYONE's attention really quick.

I can't believe you're still doing that in class. I remember doing it in either first or second grade a bazillion years ago. We got to eat it on little pieces of bread. Best butter in the world.
 

MsJudy

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thanks for the Reject sympathy. She did say some nice things about my world-building, but said the story wasn't quite compelling enough for her to offer rep. So, not exactly helpful, but nice enough. And of the three agents, her original request was the least excited, so I feel like the other two started out more in love with the writing style. They used words like "wonderful" and "fantastic." Hopefully they will still feel that way by the end!

If both of them end up rejecting, I'll probably do another round of revisions before I query more. I still have some notes from my Wonderful, Fantastic, and Highly Intelligent betas that I haven't quite figured out how to address, so if I dig in and work on those after Xmas, I might be able to make the story even better.

No worries, right?

Re: the butter: We had a whole North American feast. Buffalo jerky from Trader Joe's, dried cranberries, and sweet corn muffins to spread the butter on. Much fun.

We study a different continent every month. For Africa, we eat Cinq Centimes, a cookie from Senegal that is very easy: Spread a sugar cookie with peanut butter, sprinkle with chopped peanuts, and eat!

Asia is my favorite. We practice eating ramen noodles with chopsticks. Ooh, and for South America we eat chocolate! For Europe we nibble on all kinds of little imported cookies. Still trying to think of what to eat for Antarctica...not really into penguin jerky... And I refuse to make Vegemite sandwiches for Australia!

p.s. I has cinnamon rolls. Anybody need a bite?
 
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Kitty Pryde

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Oh, for Australia you could make tiger toast. Or pavlova. In other news, they let you serve peanuts at school? :O For Antarctica you could eat like explorer food, pemmican or hardtack or Kendal mint cake (basically minty sugary fat, nom nom).
 
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Torgo

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I've just been sent a picture book via a top agency, written by a moderately famous journalist, and I really wish I could post it here so you could see how not to write or sell a picture book. Or especially how not to draw one, because it's come with some of the worst pictures I can remember seeing in an agented submission. I mean, bloody Nora they're bad.
 

MsJudy

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ooh, Torgo, now you've got my imagination going. We should have a contest to see who can write the world's worst PB! Of course, we'd end up going too far in the other direction and making one so bad it's good...

Kitty, I'm off to google tiger toast and pavlova! Yay, new things!
 

fringle

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Happy Thanksgiving all! My morning began with my 6yo deciding to help feed the puppy.
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ColoradoKate

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Congrats to your daughter, Ruth. And Judy, sorry about the rejection, but, yeah, if the others are saying "wonderful" and "fantastic," I would still be swooning, too. Just... wow!

Fringle, I can't decide if the puppy looks frightened or just overwhelmed with the wonderfulness of it all.

And I totally want a worst-PB-ever contest. Can mine be about a zombie babysitter? Or, oh, a dystopian PB... the wheels are turning...
 

monkeymum

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MsJudy - Pavlova, yum, one of may favourite deserts, although I swear my mother-in-law nearly poisoned me with one . I'm also surprised about the peanuts. My kids aren't even allowed anything vaguely nutty in their packed lunches!(Fingers crossed for the other subs by the way)

Fringle - don't you just love it, you spend ages trying to get the children to help with things and then it makes twice as much work, so you wonder why you ever bothered!
 

MsJudy

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Oooh, puppy paradise!

My mom plays this game with her terrier. She throws a round treat on the floor, and the pup chases it down. Well, pup has now figured out Mom always gives her two. So now she catches the first one, sets it back down, waits for the second, then collects both in her mouth! Trots off to her cave under the coffee table to eat both at her leisure (which doesn't take more than about 10 seconds...)

Happy turkeys day to all! Me and Mom are off to a fancy-shmancy buffet at a local Nice Restaurant. No dishes for me!
 

Smish

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Happy Thanksgiving, kidlit gang (and that includes Jed and Torgo and our other non-US members, even though you don't celebrate my very favorite holiday of all :e2cry:)! I'm thankful for all of you. :Hug2:

The turkey and the greenbean casserole is in the oven! Maccaroni is on the stovetop. Pies are all baked. Gallons of sweet tea have been made. And the guests are bringing potatoes and other veggies, more desserts, and rolls. :hooray:
 

Ferret

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, happy Thursday.

I baked my pumpkin pie and mashed yams yesterday--the flavor is always better the second day, and it means my Thanksgiving doesn't get too hectic. I'm about to deliver a pie to a friend, and then I'll start my turkey. While it's cooking, I might even find some time to write.
 

MsJudy

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So, it turns out if you google "tiger toast" you get a few recipes for vegemite-and-cheese treats...

and a whole bunch of articles asking, "Is Tiger Woods toast?"
 

Kitty Pryde

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Dessert was good! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving, or Thursday, as the case may be. I hope everyone's Black Friday is spent safely indoors sipping cocoa and reading MG novels :D

I was just having TG dinner at my friend's, and he said that someone had left a shirt there and he thought it was mine (sounds dodgy, I know, but possible as I helped him out this summer when his guest house flooded, and it was all mucky and I had to change clothes...anyway). So he goes and comes back with a smallish t-shirt that reads "Barking Spider" and has a big picture of a spider tooting. Not mine, but I'm so glad I was the first friend he thought of who's short and enjoys spider-themed flatulence humor...

So, I thought it was hilarious and I offered to give the shirt a new home...so I guess he was not that far off in thinking it was mine. It's a truly tasteful addition to my wardrobe, I feel. I feel bad for whichever mysterious short friend of his who's now short one tooting arachnid t-shirt.
 

monkeymum

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So he goes and comes back with a smallish t-shirt that reads "Barking Spider" and has a big picture of a spider tooting. Not mine, but I'm so glad I was the first friend he thought of who's short and enjoys spider-themed flatulence humor...
:roll:
 

sissybaby

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You people are killing me with your funny comments. Judy's search for tiger toast, and Kitty's shirt stories.

I had TG dinner with family at an almost local restaurant. The dressing was a disappointment, but otherwise well worth not having to cook.

Fringle - thanks so much for sharing the photo. First virtual smile of the morning.

Oh, and I've probably already written the world's worst PB. Actually several of them, according to agents.

No shopping for me today. YAY!
 

Kitty Pryde

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Everyone survive the festive weekend? We had a nice tg and then drove 6 hours up to san fran to toodle around and have Happy Inlaw Fun Times. Got home Sunday night at 11 and now feeling considerably less bouncy at work - _ -
 

MorganMarshall

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So... I think this might be a good thread to put this in, If not, let me know please!

My son has landed his first part in a play! He's a shepherd in the Spokane Children's Theatre production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever". One hundred kids tried out, and only thirty were chosen for the entire cast (six shepherds). I'm so proud!

OK, just wanted to share. Carry on!
 

sissybaby

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Morgan - huge congrats to your son! I have much admiration for any kid who will even try out for a production. Says so much for self-esteem.

Hope all goes well and he has a great time.
 

Morrell

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That's awesome, Morgan! My daughter was in plays from the time she was 9 through early high school. It was a great experience for her. I hope your son enjoys it!