Anyone Want to Buy My House?

We just learned that we will be unemployed at the end of June, so if anyone wants a nice two story four bedroom 2.5 bath house with a pool, new roof, new stove, new dishwasher, new water heater, great location, great schools, and the best ward ever, do let me know.

Book Review Blog Launched!

Because I love to read and review books, and because web traffic looks good on query letters, I've launched a new blog just for my book reviews. I'll be posting a new review every day, focusing on literature for young readers - picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult fiction. I've labeled all the reviews by category so you can quickly find what you want.

Please stop by! Tell your friends! I'd love to help you find a good book or two.

Rebecca's Recommended Reads

I Don't Mind Inflation

I don't mind inflation. It makes my mortgage look smaller.

Fully Operational Battle Station- ah- er- Bathroom!

There it is! Tonight we hung the towel bars. A few cosmetic details remain - some paint touch-up and a new toilet seat. But everything works, nothing leaks, and the floor is waterproof.

I think.

How to Do Home Improvement Projects While You Have Young Children At Home

Don't.

World Building

With four drafts and an encouraging letter from the editor in my back pocket, I'm ready to take on Earthcrosser my way. My teacher at the writing workshop told me to finish the book and submit it as soon as I could, before the editor forgot who I was. That meant my habitual three or four years of world building had to be skipped so I could get on with things and write the prose. No, I'm not going to make the editor wait three years for a re-write, but I'm no longer in a desperate rush. I can let the ideas distill into my brain. I can ask thousands of questions about the world and wait for my imagination to answer. I can think things through until my alternate world approaches the complexity and intensity of real life.

So today I'm having lots of fun figuring out how to destroy modern civilization and keep it down for fifty years. Wish me luck!

I Voted for McCain

Apparently, President Elect Obama plans to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, which, as I understand it, makes abortion a right just like freedom of speech. Underage girls will not need to get parental consent. Partial birth abortions will be legal. Please do your own research on this issue: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Choice_Act

If there ever was a time to write your congressman, here it is. We need to focus on preventing unwanted pregnancies, promoting adoption, and supporting women who want to carry their babies to term. Making any and all abortions legal sounds like giving up to me.

Abortion is not an easy and pleasant procedure. I believe convenience abortions degrade women because they invade the sacred wellspring of life. On the other hand, I do not think all abortions should be illegal. There are medical reasons to have an abortion. There are also some instances in which I think an early abortion could be justified for social reasons, such as in the case of rape or incest. But an attitude of "who cares if I get pregnant, I'll just have an abortion" shows a lack of understanding of the significance of the power, the gift, the honor that it is to create human life within ourselves.