News, Notes & Inside Info from a Children’s Book Author

Archive for the ‘Fun Clips’ Category

The Mom Song

Friday, February 6th, 2009 Posted in Fun Clips | No Comments »


This song, written by Anita Renfroe, has pretty much gone viral, so maybe you already know it. I like how the momentum builds. Just when you start to think, "Okay, I get it, that's fine," it gets funnier and keeps ...

One Year in 40 Seconds: Sublime

Monday, January 5th, 2009 Posted in Fun Clips | No Comments »


[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmIFXIXQQ_E] The video speaks for itself. For more information on "the making of," including all sorts of camera-geek details, go here.

Stand By Me . . . Around the World

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips, Music | 3 Comments »


I don't know how I found this remarkable video, which in its way is reminiscent of the viral Where's Matt? clip, but I'm glad I did. It's five minutes -- and who's got five minutes? -- but play it anyway ...

My Mitzy Kafka Story

Thursday, December 4th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips, the writing process | No Comments »


In my interview with Ellen Miles, we traded a few war stories from the trenches, odd jobs we've done over the years as "writers for hire." I mentioned a pen name I twice used, Mitzy Kafka. Someone remarked on it ...

Happy Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips | No Comments »


Not sure what I'll accomplish this week, blog-wise. So I think we'll see a few days of light posting, if anything. But we'll come back strong at the end of the weekend with a terrific interview with author Ellen Miles. As ...

“Way back.”

Friday, November 14th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips | No Comments »


That's a 1969 baseball card of Tony Oliva, from back when I was eight years old. I still treasure mine. Along with Mickey Mantle, and Nolan Ryan, and Hank Aaron, everybody else from that Topps set, all 660 cards. I enjoyed ...

Election Day

Tuesday, November 4th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips | No Comments »


It's been a period of distractions -- Halloween, a visit to Clinton Elementary in Maplewood, NJ (more on that later) -- and now Election Day. We'll be back on track tomorrow. In the meantime, let's Rock the Vote. [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY] EDIT: I learned today, ...

For Writers Only (Okay, Relax, Illustrators, Too)

Sunday, October 26th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips, the writing process | No Comments »


[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxschLOAr-s] Thanks to Richard Spaulding, an old friend, who passed this along. The man behind this video, Dennis Cass, has a pretty cool blogsite, Dennis Cass Wants You To Be More Awesome. He really does!

Do You Need a Dinette Set?

Friday, October 24th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips, Greatest Hits | 4 Comments »


As a service to my readers who might be shopping for dinette sets, I submit this: [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk] Yes, that's a real commercial. Have a great weekend.

The Writing Process: Theft (and Tom Chiarella)!

Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips, the writing process | No Comments »


I was reading an article in Esquire this morning, "How to Be a Sweet-Talker" by Tom Chiarella. He's a fine writer and I've read his work for several years. I came across this sentence: I spent the great flood lying in ...