Banned Books Week--September 25 to October 2

I'm not one to get overly political or controversial with my posts, but you've probably figured out banned books is a hot button topic for me.

This is what happened last week: Wesley Scroggins (yes, a perfect name) challenged a school district in Missouri for allowing teens access to "filthy books" including the wonderful Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a novel about finding courage and a voice.  The most maddening part is the response by the school superintendent. It appears they are taking this guy seriously. http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100918/OPINIONS02/9180307/Scroggins-Filthy-books-demeaning-to-Republic-education

Unfortunate, but true.

So, what can we do? 

This week is Banned Books Week! You can learn all about it here: 
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

Here's a list of the most frequently banned books of 2009: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged/2009/index.cfm

By the way, I am particularly alarmed that And Tango Makes Three is number two on the list. Are we really that homophobic as a society? Really?
That's sad.

Be rebellious and read a banned book (or two) this week.
Speak out.

Happy Reading!

Finding Voice

Both of my sons started blogging recently, and, like any proud mother, I read their work eagerly. I love the intrinsic Liam and Holden-ness.

Liam describes his dreams like a poet:

I am a ten year old boy who dreams of exploring the vast water of our planet to do marine biology all over the our planet. I love fish them self not the taste I hate all meat by the way. I like the color GREEN A LOT! The color of sea grass.


Holden postulates communication in the universe:

One high frequency photon can be split into to low frequency photons. These photons are now entangled which means no matter where you are in the universe whatever you do to one photon happens immediately to the other one.

I wish I could write as beautifully as my children. I want to unlearn everything and find my way back to the essence of dreams and imagination . . .
into honesty.

Writing and the Day Job

Revising

Back to school

A hectic work week. Ah, my day job  . . .

Which brings me to something I've been thinking about--writing and the day job.

Many writers I know have some lovely writing routines and manage to work through some extraordinary distractions, but I haven't heard from writers who have jobs (you know, those things you do to make money that isn't writing).

I'm fortunate enough to have a day job where I work from home, so I manage, on most days, to put in some writing time before and after work. My work can take a lot of energy out of me, but I am determined to get my writing done!

I would love to hear from some other writers out in the universe with jobs. What do you do? How do you stay motivated?  How do you keep your job from sucking up all your creative energy? What's your schedule like? How do you make time for your writing?

I know the biggest motivation for me is this: The more I write, the more likely I'll be able to leave my day job behind.

Someday . . .