@SerenaGingold

Where does the time go? I mean seriously. It was just October and suddenly we’re in the second week of November…

My boyfriend and I dressed up for Halloween as famous artists and went to the Oakland Museum of California for their weekly Friday night shindig. They have half price admission and food trucks that gather outside. It was pretty deserted, probably due to the fact that it had rained for most of the day, but we still had fun.

Vincent and Frida together at last

 I subbed two days in fifth grade classes at different schools. The take-away is that subbing in upper grades in usually pretty easy (kind of like babysitting because the kids are pretty good at independent work) but damn, fifth graders can smell bad!

On the writing front, I went to an SCBWI county meeting and heard three authors speak about their road to getting published. Their stories were interesting and so different from each other. I also had the chance to have a long-distance phone critique with the mom of two of my former students (she’s a children’s writer and an actor, not to mention being the mom of two amazing kids). She gave me some really amazing feedback for the story I’m getting ready for submission. She also told me that she just sold two early readers that she wrote! I’m so excited for her. Since the conversation I’ve been working on revising my story and I think it’s really improved. And next week is the first meeting of the new critique group that I joined. There are six members so far and we’ve exchanged stories for critique via email. It’s so interesting to read other people’s work. I can’t wait to meet the writers in person and see what they think about my story.

Oh, and one last thing. I set up a Twitter account! Now you can follow me wherever I go: @SerenaGingold. So far I have one follower (thanks Bekah! @InkNpaperz). 

What I’ve been reading: I finished The Magician’s Assistant and I was not impressed. The story line just wasn’t for me. I finally started reading Call the Midwife: a Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times by Jennifer Worth. It’s written in what I consider to be an unusual style. It’s hard to tell, but I don’t know that I’d really be enjoying it if I hadn’t already watched the show. I also read Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher in one day. It was hard to put down. If you like YA, you should read it. I thought it was terrific. I picked up Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, but I’m not entirely sure I can deal with reading it. I haven’t gotten far, but it’s incredibly boring and seriously long-winded.