A Real Live Heroine

Meet Justine Siegel. Justine is the founder and administrator of Baseball for All, a non-profit organization that advocates both sexes be allowed to play ball. When I researched women baseball players, Justine's name came up over and over. Here's an article about her: Baseball: Making a Pitch for Women.

Hope to see some of you readers at NESCBWI 2012. 

Why did I write about a girl who plays baseball? - Part 2

I've always liked books about strong girls and women. Women who knew how to stand up for themselves and be leaders in their field or world. Women who fought for their rights, or their family, or for their life. Women like Meg from A Wrinkle in Time, Jo from The Little Women, and Princess Eilonwy from The Chronicles of Prydain. Women like Katniss from The Hunger Games, Kasta from Graceling, Alanna from The Song of the Lioness, and Tris from Divergent.

Women and girls who play baseball are those types of women. They aren't fighting in imagined worlds. They are fighting in real time, in our time, to play the sport that they love.

In February I wrote a post called, "Why write a story about a girl who plays baseball?" Today I'm updating that post with an article called Major League Baseball, Women, Augusta National, and Ball Size from Monday's Chicago Now blog (via @girlbaseball). If you are interested in this topic and what it's like for women playing baseball today, it's a great read.

Who are your favorite heroines? How do they compare with women and girls in the real world?

A happy holiday - or not

Today I was reminded that you can't always count on things working out the way you expect. We had a lovely seder with our family last night. Everyone got along, no big family dramas, food was great, and my son even impressed us all with his reading skills, in both Hebrew and English. Pretty good for a newly turned 9 year old. Tonight we planned to have some friends over for a family friendly seder with props and a Passover Play. The turkey was bought, the table was set, and the scripts were copied. We were all ready.

Then this morning we woke up to not one, but two, vomiting children. I guess they were deep into the holiday spirit and decided to experience a plague first hand. Either way, what was supposed to be a day of shul and friends, turned into... an enormous mess. Plans were cancelled, children felt aweful, and I'm exhausted.

So how does this relate to my writing life? Throughout the years I've been doing this I've made a lot of plans. I was absolutely sure that the first book I wrote was going to be published and that I'd be a big hit by now. Each rejection felt like a knife to the gut, or a day in the bathroom. But the more I've learned, the more I realized that everything that happens is a learning experience that brings around something new. Each rejection is a time to reflect, redirect, and move on.

So no, I didn't have a child friendly seder tonight. But I did get the chance to slow down and spend the day snuggled with my children. We watched movies, read books, and tried to make the best of a bad situation. The great thing about holidays, we always get a chance to try it again next year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Passover, Easter, or weekend. May your holiday be filled with family and friends and hopefully be healthier than mine.