Last week my brother died unexpectedly. My sister-in-law didn't know logins and passwords for their accounts online, so couldn't see what bills were paid and what owing. We were able to find some; her son will probably have to help her figure out others.

On the plane home I was thinking about several writers who have died or become incapacitated. Their facebook pages are still up. I'm guessing that means no one in their family has access. Or family members, especially in the case of someone who is single, may not even be aware of the social media sites where their loved one was involved.

So this is my challenge to all of us creative people. Make sure someone somewhere has a list of the social media you are involved in. The list should include login information and passwords for each site. It should mention which services you are paying for and which are free.

For example, I pay for my website hosting (monthly), my domain name (annually) and ad-free yahoo mail (annually). These automatically come out of my writing business checking account, which my husband is a signer on. I also have a writing PayPal account which is tied to my checking. I have free accounts: facebook, gmail, google+, twitter, linked in. A number of them send notices to my email. If I'm using all these when I inevitably die, I want my husband or daughters to be able to cancel or change, whichever is appropriate.

As I'm typing this, I'm thinking a list of the listserves I participate in would be helpful as well. For those, the email used would be appropriate to note. And what about physical magazines or memberships in organizations? Those could be recorded too.

I know these things would be low priorities for my loved ones, but eventually, when they got to them, how much nicer to have the information than to keep having notices trickle in.

You're not alone.

One of my favorite resources is a book by Harry Shaw called Errors in English and How to Correct Them. If you're in doubt on whether to use who or whom or how to punctuate when using quotes or the difference between effect and affect, this book explains it in an easy to read way.

Sometimes, we need help though to get something fixed in our brain. I'll list a grammatical problem and then a site I recommend to students for help with that particular issue.

Adverbs - Been told you're overusing those "ly" words? This site is useful to paste your text in and have it show them to you. It also works on other grammar issues, such as passive verbs. http://editminion.com/

Future in the Past Tense - An example of this is "would get" versus "got." http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/futureinpast.html

Passive Verbs - Been told to watch out for passive verbs ending in "ing?"
This article on the ICL website is helpful: http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws05/goodverbs.shtml
This one explains the difference between active and passive: http://www.towson.edu/ows/activepass.htm

Run-on Sentences - I've got two helpful sites for this problem:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm
http://www.myenglishteacher.net/runonsentences.html

Sentence Fragments - This site offers a quiz.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/fragments.htm

Verb Tense Consistency - This educational site has a verb consistency test. You can answer the questions then check your answers which is pretty useful.
http://www.towson.edu/ows/exercisetenseconsistency.htm

Which English is it? Spelling and grammar different from country to country. - Here is a wonderful chart that outlines the subtle differences between British, Canadian, and American English: http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/BritishCanadianAmerican.htm

I know this isn't a complete list of grammar problems, but they are definitely ones I see commonly in student assignments.

Photo courtesy of xandert on morguefile.com

Yes. Check out these opportunities.

Children's Magazines and Ezines
A good place to look is at the magazines you read. Do you see a kid's or children's section? Or there might be a "reader's art" section. Here are some I found:

Amazing Kids! Online Magazine - writing, art, photography or videography, by kids ages of 5 to 18.

chixLIT - by and for girls 13-17 OR chixLITtle for girls 7-12.

Creative Kids Magazine - for kids 8 to 16. "Material may include cartoons, songs, stories between 500 and 1200 words, puzzles, photographs, artwork, games, editorials, poetry, and plays, as well as any other creative work that can fit in the pages of the magazine."

KidPub - books and stories by kids online - free to read, but membership ($12.95) is required to publish stories.

New Moon Girls - writing and art by girls 8 and up.

Stone Soup Magazine - features stories, poems and art by kids 8 to 13

Contests
Contests aimed at children are a good place for young people to submit. Here are a few.

The Young Voices Foundation 2013 contest ends February 28th. This year's theme is: Young Voices of America Speak of Heroes Among Us

Adventure Write Kids has an annual contest for kids under the age of 19.

Creative Communication offers poetry and essay contests for kids ages K-12.

Miss Literati offers writing contests and book giveaways.

National Geographic Kids has some contests - looks as if photos is a consistent contest and others vary.

PBS Kids has a story writing and illustrating contest for kids in K-3rd grade.

Scholastic has an annual Kids Are Authors contest.

Other
Young Authors Guide - this website has advice, links to magazines, and contests ordered by deadline.

The Young Writer's Guide to Getting Published by Kathy Henderson has been a good resource in the past, but the copy on Amazon is pretty dated (2001)

Young Writers Society is an online communities for young writers - ages 13+

Advice
Same as with adults submitting, kids and teens need to follow the directions exactly.

Publication is a slow process. Even magazine publications can take a long time. Years ago I sold a piece to Highlights and it took three years before it was published. But it appeared in their 50th anniversary addition so that made the wait worthwhile. (Fortunately, they pay on acceptance.)

Work-for-hire is often quicker, but still not immediate. This past week I got two of the three books I wrote for Unibooks (Korea) in late 2011. We finished rewrites in early 2012. Published under the Tuntun label which produces books to teach Korean children English, these books are written by native English speakers. I'm very pleased with how my books, both retellings of Aesop fables, turned out. Each cover has some special effects of shiny texture. (I'm sure there is some correct technical word, but I don't know it.)

BELLING THE CAT was illustrated by Kwak Jinyoung. Jinyoung did a great job. The mice crack me up. The cat is nice and wicked (from a mouse's point of view). There are two fold out pages and one fold up page, which was a fun surprise. I also like how she did some lettering as if it was cut out fabric.








THE FOX AND THE CRANE was illustrated by Son Junghyun. Junghyun put in lots of details that mean kids could spend a long time reading and rereading before they notice them all. I especially like the image of Fox pulling a trick on Rabbit. Look at the sidewalk and trees in this image.

I worked with two editors on these books and we did a number of revisions. I worked with a different editor on a third book, MY SHADOW, that is to come out next month.

Some of my friends wrote books for Tuntun also and got their copies recently, too:
Jo S. Kittinger: I JUMP UP, I COME BACK DOWN (about gravity) and THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF. Read about Jo on her website.

Monica Harris: SASHA'S SENSES, SOPHIE & GYURI'S FUN DAY - review 2, SOPHIE & GYURI'S FUN DAY - review 3. Monica lost her webmaster so plans to focus on updating her site in 2013.

Another friend, like me, is waiting for further copies. Genny Heikka will be getting A TRIP TO THE SUPERMARKET soon. On her site you can see she's done a lot of books for this company.

My life has been crazy recently. We bought a new house, painted almost every room, did other repairs, packed, moved out of the rental and into the new house, cleaned the rental, and unpacked. (Not that we're done!) A new house always requires some "editing." That's not in the right place; that doesn't fit well. Sometimes it needs additions: a shelf here, some hooks there. Other items are removed. There are adjustments. It's a Work-in-Progress with still more unpacking, fixing and painting to do.

My writing, of course, is affected by my life. When things get so busy, less writing gets done. Current projects get put on hold. Blogging definitely goes by the wayside. Unfortunately, I get out of the habit of writing. But not like many other habits--flossing my teeth--when things in my life quiet down, something in me starts bugging me: "Write. Write something. What about the work-in-progress? What's that character going to do next? Write something for your blog. Recommend another good book. Write!" And I'm thankful for those nudges.

However, there are benefits to being away from my writing for a while. I get filled up with new experiences. Some experiences I'd rather not have, I'll admit. My most recent one was a broken ankle requiring surgery. It's too soon to know whether that will directly go into a book or story, but I have learned some things that will definitely affect my outlook and my life and, I'm sure at some point, my writing.

I've learned that handicapped access is not always so accessible. Have you ever thought there were "too many" handicapped parking spaces in a parking lot? I have. But not anymore. I haven't been able to walk for 3 weeks now and have another 3 and a half before there's a possibility to walk. I've been fortunate to have a knee walker to use, which is way better than crutches, but it is still exhausting. I have a temporary parking permit to use handicapped spots. I don't go out much, but I'm finding handicapped spots aren't always where they are needed. Or they are filled. And when we do go out and get a parking spot, those little wheels on the knee walker jar or stick at every bump and crack in the asphalt or pavement. Going up a ramp is work. Going down a ramp is scary. (What if I get going too fast and lose control and fall?!) My handicap will be over soon. But many people don't get a "you'll be free of it" time. I hope when I'm back on my two feet, I'll be more empathetic.

I've been on the receiving end of stares. I'm old enough it doesn't really bother me, but I know some people it would. Borrowing a mall wheelchair to do some Christmas shopping, my husband was pushing me through an area and a woman told her little kids, "Don't stare." If she hadn't been whipping by so fast, I would have liked to explain to the kids why I was in a wheelchair. Not for me, but for them and their understanding. I hope she explained more later.

But here again is where writing comes in. I want my words to do more than entertain. I want them to be useful in some way. Maybe readers through my characters' experiences will learn something new, or learn empathy, or be encouraged because others have had similar experiences. And I've just had more experiences to throw into my personal resource file.

So, all that said, I can't complain about a crazy life. Well, I shouldn't complain.

But didn't I say I was a "Work-in-Progress?"