Happy Hump Day!

Yay!  Happy Hump Day.  

I am so excited to be here today.  As the week winds down I am working with my freshman students on how to write an essay.  Last week I gave them a timed in-class essay with 70 minutes.  I discovered a few things, not all of them good.  One was just how hard it is for kids today to simply focus without any noise going on around them.  I am back in the classroom after 5 ½ years of being an administrator.  This is only our 2^nd week of class so I am still adjusting a bit.  Having the students write, since that is my passion, seemed only natural.  We read a few short stories and I thought it would be good to have them pull some information from the text and prove their point.  Easy right?  Or not.  Oh my goodness.  No thesis sentences, even though they told me they knew what that was, no organization of thoughts even though I had asked for some sort of prewrite/outline.  Nothing to show that they knew how to do what I asked for.  I got some great story summaries.  Really good ones.  However, nothing to show me they  could actually extrapolation and write.  Oh and did I mention no complete sentences?  Or proper use of punctuation?  And they want to talk to me in text language in formal essays…sigh.  This required a rethink on my part and now we are back at the beginning.

I am actually excited though because when we are done with this we can start a creative writing unit.  Which is my favorite (gee I wonder why?).  We will be writing short stories, any type they want.  As long as they use dialogue and imagery…oh and follow through on their plot.

As for me?  Well I am enjoying my time back in the classroom.  It has given me the freedom to work on my writing career again.  For me that is huge.  I have missed the time where I was able to come home from work and relax, or just come home from work.  So expect to see some new and exciting stuff out there.  Still in the romance/paranormal realm of the world, after all that is where I live.

You can find me at:

http://brigitsaine.posterous.com

http://brigitsjournals.blogspot.com

http://www.twitter.com/brigitsworld

http://www.facebook.com/brigitaine

My book here at Decadent is Red’s Return.  The first in the Torrent’s Talents series and still the one closest to my heart. 

For Red Hood, it's been a long journey to Grandma's house. Her escape to big-city life is not what she had expected; the hustle and bustle of metropolis has left her feeling alienated and more of a freak than she could have imagined. Torrent, the town where she grew up, on the other hand, has so much more to offer--friends, family and acceptance of her 'special' breed of talent.

Red quickly makes up her mind to return home. The warm embrace of her parents and grandmother are alluring, but the mysterious stranger she bumps into on the path to Grandma's might just sweeten the deal.

Buy Red's Return HERE!