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portland

Big News

March 29, 2014 by Sue Campbell

Ten-year-old Martha has leadership skills. At least that’s what her parents say. Her cousins, Sanjay and Anand, just say she’s bossy.
Martha and the Boys: Ten-year-old Martha has leadership skills.
At least that’s what her parents say.
Her cousins, Sanjay and Anand, just say she’s bossy.

Last summer, I fell in love with middle grade novels. First it was The Penderwicks series. Then Harriet the Spy. Then Charlotte’s Web, then The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, then Harry Potter. And on and on.

When I fall in love, I fall hard. And when I fall in love with books, I want to write.

So.

Over a week long vacation in August, I pounded out a draft of my own novel for ages 8-12. That’s right, I wrote 25,000 words in nine days.

And I couldn’t have done it without Nora. She was my tiny project manager. I’d write a few hundred words and read it back to her. “That’s so great, Mommy! Write some more!”

Did I mention one of my main characters is a ten-year-old girl with, ahem, leadership skills?

All these years I’ve tried to find time for writing while parenting. Turns out all I needed to do was write something my daughter wanted to read!

Now it’s seven months and many revisions later. The novel is in its final draft (I hope).

I’m querying agents. I’ve had two nibbles so far. Exciting!

While I wait, I thought I’d give you guys a peek at it and the chance to get an email notification when it’s published.

Click here to get a taste of the book, tentatively titled Martha and the Boys. If it sounds like something you and your kids would like to read, enter your email address to read the entire first chapter and get notified when it’s published.

 

Filed Under: Big Themes Tagged With: Ban Bossy, middle grade novel, portland, summer adventure tale, writing

I’m at BlogHer.com and My FIL is Guest Posting: Portlandiacs

August 18, 2011 by sue campbell

Good news, friends!  I managed to snag a gig as a result of attending BlogHer. Please head over and check out my piece, How to Succeed in Portland Without Really Recycling at BlogHer.com. 

And I’d so appreciated if you’d hit the “sparkle” button while you’re there, so maybe they’ll invite me back sometime. I only have to manage 16 more of these babies for the conference to pay for itself! 

You don’t have to have an account to “sparkle” something, you do need to have an account to comment. That said, I’d really love it if you left a comment, too.

When you’re done reading that, come back and read my father-in-law’s rebuttal, of sorts.  But really, go read my piece at BlogHer.com first or what Larry has to say won’t make any sense. Take it away, Larry…

I loved your description of success in Portland. Perfect. And funny.

You know, here in the Midwest some of us have a similar lifestyle. But we don’t make a big deal out of it like you Portlandiacs. We just modestly go about our business.

Yes, we live in the suburbs and have a too-big chemically-infused lawn. But we also compost — it’s right behind the shed where the neighbors won’t see it. Nobody knows. And that is just fine, because we are from the Midwest, you know.

When Ben and Iss were babies we used cloth diapers. You haven’t had fun until you dunk diapers in the toilet umpteen times a day, doing your best to not splash. Or gag. The diaper pail was in the hall closet, of all places. No one knew it was there, of course, because Midwesterners don’t make a show about such things.

As you know, we have been vegetarians for more than 30 years. I suspect that on some days we have been more vegan than not. Our friends eat meat, but what other people choose to eat is no business of ours. Eat meat if you wish. We wouldn’t want to impose our values on other folks. Midwesterners would never do such a thing, you know.

We recycle as best we can, checking the little number in the middle of the triangle. Part of it is about frugality. But the rest is just doing what it takes to make the world a bit better, as modestly as we can. After recycling and composting, there isn’t much left. When it comes to trash, we make a game out if. How many weeks can we go without putting any trash out by the curb? But we would never expect the neighbors to notice. Or care. Not in the Midwest.

We use paper napkins? Gasp! But after each meal we slip them under the placemat to be reused again and again. If we haven’t been eating too many meals with ketchup or other goopy stuff, a napkin can last a week or more. Then it gets composted. But here in the Midwest, we do it quietly and modestly.

Maybe it’s not so much what we do, as how we do it. Portlandiacs, get over yourselves! Be like us here in the Midwest. As Garrison Keillor says, “Be well, do good work…” and don’t make a big deal out of it.

Filed Under: Society & Culture Tagged With: BlogHer.com, I really do recycle, portland, recycling, satire, sustainabilty, syndication

Be There or Be Square

November 30, 2010 by sue campbell

Filed Under: Family Outings Tagged With: best time ever, events, magical winter faire, portland, Waldorf

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What kind of blog is this?

This is a blog for PARENTS. True, the writer, Sue Campbell, writes books for kids. But this blog is for grown-ups. It has some swearing and would be super boring for kids. Except for the swearing.

The PODCAST is for KIDS and PARENTS. In fact, my twelve-year-old daughter is my co-host.

If your kids like Sue's books, send them over to suecampbellbooks.com where there's some kid-friendly content. EVEN BETTER, join the mailing list. You get stuff for grown-ups and printable stuff for kids. And sometimes there will be super ill-advised giveaways or coloring contests for free books.

MORE ABOUT SUE: She makes an ACTUAL LIVING from writing words and marketing books and lives with her husband, two daughters, six chickens and one messy house rabbit in Portland, Oregon. And yes, Portland IS that weird. She really couldn't be any luckier.

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