Fonetic Friday: Word of the Day

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.


Today’s word is: Boffiati

HAVE FUN! AND HAPPY FRIDAY? (and Thursday)

I saw this word and knew I had to use it right away.  Boffiati- How do I put this? This is what a British/Italian couple call "fooling around".

Hey Cara mia, let's leave this boring opera and head home for a little boffiati.

Hope this gave you a New Years Eve laugh.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Zoosday Tuesday

***The opinions expressed on this blog are mine alone and are not endorsed by the Kansas City Zoo***

The White Cheeked Gibbon

What's the deal? I see one animal with white cheeks, but what's up with the blond? These are both white cheeked gibbons, the black one is the male and the blond is the female. These amazing animals change colors throughout their life. They all start out blond, regardless of sex, this helps them camouflage with the mother. Then at about two years old they all change to black. When they reach sexual maturity at about 6-8 years the females will go back to blond.

Gibbons are the only primates that are monogamous and mate for life. They form duets, that each have their own individual song.  At the Kansas City Zoo we have a young couple. The female is not quite sexually mature, she still has her black coloring, but in the next few years she will be ready to mate.

Gibbons are apes (but unlike orangutans, gorillas, chimps, and bonobos, they are called lesser apes.) This is only due to their size! Like great apes, they don't have tails, and they are highly intelligent.

Like orangutans, gibbons are arboreal, meaning that they spend all of their time high in the trees. They brachiate through the trees (meaning they swing by their arms from tree to tree.) Their arms are extremely long, their hands are hook shaped, and they have a ball-and-socket in their wrists. All of these features help them swing through the trees at up to 35mph.

There are 15 species of gibbon. They range all over South East Asia. The white cheeked gibbons are mainly found in Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Melissa's Myths for Mondays

There Are an Unlimited Number of Myths That Melissa Can Blog About

Sadly, I've run out of myths. I could probably think of more, and you probably know of many that I haven't even touched on, but since this is the last Monday of 2010, I thought it would be a good time to say bye bye to Melissa's Myths for Mondays.

Starting in the New Year, I'm going to be revising my Nano WIP and so I'll be blogging about revisions on Monday. I know there are a lot of great posts about revision, but this subject is too important not to hammer over and over.

Last year about this time, I was new to blogging and found Mary Kole's blog on revision. http://kidlit.com/category/revision/page/2/. I changed the way I view the whole process. I hope to be able to offer some tips for newer writers, and get all of your fabulous input as well.

So any last Myths for 2010?

EVERYONE HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Fonetic Friday: Word of the Day

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.


Today’s word is: Dyfilip

HAVE FUN! AND HAPPY FRIDAY?

Dyfilip : A gymnastics move created by legendary Ukrainian gymnast, Dystansia Bolkonskya.

Claire Dugan is going to perform her first Dyfilip on the balance beam at the 2012 Olympics.

What Would Your Character Do/Say Wednesday

As the year comes to a close, so will this feature. This will be the last What would your character do/say Wednesday? In the New Year, Wednesday will have a brand new feature, but it's a surprise.

So for my last What Would Your Character Do/Say, lets talk about the Holidays.

1) Does your character celebrate any kind of holiday?

2) If so, what are their holiday traditions?

3) What about your holiday traditions? Tell us all about them.

My character William, lived in a suburb of Kansas City until the world fell apart when he was ten. His favorite holiday memory was going to see the Plaza Lights when he was six. (This happens to be one of my favorite holiday memories too.) The family drove to the Country Club Plaza and looked at the brightly colored lights, and the shop windows. Then they visited Santa Clause.

Zoosday Tuesday

***The opinions shared on this blog are mine alone and are not endorsed by the Kansas City Zoo

The Sumatran Elephant



I could go on and on about elephants. They are some of the worlds most fascinating and intelligent creatures. We don't have any Sumatran Elephants at the KC Zoo, we only have African Elephants.

Sumatran Elephants are the smallest of the Asiatic Elephant subspecies. They weigh from 6,000 - 10,000lbs. In contrast, African Elephants weigh 9,000-15,000lbs.

I hate to be a downer on these posts, but unfortunately these guys are highly endangered too, only around 2000 left in the wild. Just like the Orangutans and Tigers, they are threatened by deforestation. But elephants are eliminated mainly because they're considered so destructive by humans. WWF has a great article about using domesticated elephants to drive wild elephants away from populated areas, keeping everyone happy. http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/sumatranelephant/sumatranelephant.html.

Female elephants are very social. They live in family groups lead by a matriarch who keeps the herd moving from place to place to find food. Elephants are strictly herbivores, eating leaves, fruit, bamboo, ginger. But they eat about 200lbs per day. That's a lot of bananas. The matriarch knows where the fruit is going to be ripe, based on season, sunlight, elevation, etc. and leads the family to the best food.

Elephant's have the most amazing trunks. They are so articulate that they can pick up a single blade of grass but so strong they can lift a heavy log. At the Kansas City Zoo, our elephants have learned to paint. This is a form of enrichment that stimulates their minds and allows them to exercise their trunks.

If you have any questions about elephants, just ask.

Melissa's Myths for Mondays

Once You Have an Agent Your Home Free

I used to think that if I could only get an agent, I'd be home free. They'd sell my book, it would be published, everyone would live happily ever after.  Imagine my chagrin, when I found out that even people with agents still have to worry.

What if the book doesn't sell?
What if the book sells to a publisher, but then doesn't sell at the stores?
What if a publisher buys your book, but never publishes it?
What if you agent decides to leave the business, and you have to start all over?
What if ...

So, just like with most careers, job security is very hard to come by for writers. Oh well, another hope dashed. It wasn't the first and it won't be the last.

What about you, do you have an agent? What are some of the great things your agent does? We all know the horror stories, let's hear the good stuff.

Fonetic Friday: Word of the Day

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.


Today’s word is: Terworg

HAVE FUN! AND HAPPY FRIDAY?

Terworg:: A South American amphibian that lives in abandoned birds nests in the tops of trees.

The only way to study terworgs is by using a balloon raft that rests on the top of the rainforest canopy.

What Would Your Character Do or Say Wednesday

I’m always looking for questions to ask my characters; anything to pull them out of their shell and see how they act in foreign territory. I wondered what it would be like if my characters participated in other Middle Grade and Young Adult stories. How would they act in Narnia, or at Hogwarts? It’s interesting to see how your characters act in a completely different setting. .

Questions Based on Operation Redwoods:
Waking up alone in an abandoned office, Julian Carter-Li intercepts an angry e-mail message meant for his high-powered uncle:


SIBLEY CARTER IS A MORON AND A WORLD-CLASS JERK!!!
With that, OPERATION REDWOOD is set in motion as Julian discovers his Uncle Sibley's plan to log an ancient redwood grove in Northern California. Will there be "consequences" when Sibley discovers Julian's been tampering with his e-mail? Can Julian find out more about Robin, the intriguing girl who sent the message? Can he escape math camp for the summer and help save Big Tree Grove? Is Operation Redwood doomed to failure . . . or is there hope?

1) Does your character have a cause that he/she is passionate about?

2) What would your character be willing to risk for a cause that they believe in?

3) Does your character have a best friend?

4) How would your character handle the relationship with his/her best friend when a new friend enters into the picture, (especially if that new friend is the opposite sex.)

Zoosday Tuesday

***Any views expressed on this blog are mine alone and are not endorsed by the Kansas City Zoo.

The Sumatran Tiger



I'm going to continue with animals that are specifically from Indonesia, for the next couple of posts. The big islands like Sumatra, Borneo, and Java, and even many of the smaller Indonesian islands have these wonderfully unique eco-systems, where unique species have adapted in isolation.

The Sumatran Tiger is one of those animals. They are the smallest of all the remaining tiger breeds, weighing only about 280lbs for males and 220 for females. They live in the dense forest of Sumatra. They have heavier stripes than other tigers species, which provides good camouflage.

It is estimated that there are less than 400 tigers left in Sumatra. When they are gone they will be like their neighbors the Javanese and Balinese tigers, extinct.  They face the same threats as the orangutans, deforestation. But while orangutans are killed so that infants can be sold to the pet trade, tigers are killed for their pelts and other body parts which are used in traditional medicine.

The WWF has a great web site and really good information about Sumatran Tigers. http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/sumatrantiger/sumatrantiger.html. The good news on this site is that they "captured" pictures of a mother and two cubs on a camera trap in Sumatra! Yeah, maybe that means 402 tigers.

At the KC Zoo we have two Sumatran tigers, who are brothers Manis and Lanka. They are part of the Species Survival Program, but so far neither brother has been sent out for breeding. We don't have the facility to breed tigers at our zoo. The brothers get along pretty well, and like all cats are content to sleep the day away. They enjoy their enrichment activities like getting pinatas filled with meatballs, pumpkins on Halloween, bones, and cow hooves to chew on. They are truly beautiful boys.

Melissa's Myths for Mondays

Any Agent You Can Get Is A Good Agent

I used to think that if I could just get anyone to agree to represent me, that I wouldn't even hesitate before saying yes. But I've come to realize that agents come in different "sizes" just like writers.

The main things I'm looking for in an agent are:
#1 Someone who LOVES my book. Someone who's as passionate about my book as I am.
#2 Someone who is going to be in this with me for the long haul.

#1 is one of the reasons that I care less now if I get feedback on my rejections. If you don't love my book, fine, I get that. But I'm not going to change my book based on the feedback of someone who's not hoping to represent it.

#2 is why I've been more discerning about whom I send my work to. It seems like there are some agents out there who are just doing this as a part time gig while their own writing careers take off. That's fine, I don't have a problem with it, but it's just not for me. For one thing, I think the agents skill sets and the writers skill sets are so different, it makes me wonder how anyone can do both well. I'm sure some people can, but that's not what I'm looking for.

So what do you think? What things do you look for in an agent? Are there any characteristics that would make you turn down an agent, even if they were the only one to make you an offer?

Zoosday Tuesday

Kalijon's Special Story



***The opinions shared on this blog are mine alone, and are not endorsed by the Kanas City Zoo.

As promised last week I am going to share the story of Kalijon, a very special orangutan who was born at the Kansas City Zoo on April 24, 2009.

When Kali was born, the staff at the zoo was prepared for the possibility that she would have to be hand reared. Her mother TK had refused to nurture her infants in the past, and while we all hoped that things would be different with Kali, we had to be prepared to take over.

TK was  not interested in being a mother to Kali, and since she had not nursed after 30 hours, she was taken from TK and given to keepers and docents to hand raise. (TK was not in the least upset by this. She got to go back with Kali's father Berani, who she's crazy about.)

Now it was up to the zoo staff and volunteers to hand raise baby Kalijon with the goal of getting her back with her own kind as soon as possible. We had an experienced mother orangutan, Jill, just waiting in the wings to take over when she was old enough. So instead of treating her like a human baby (which is easy to do becasue the size and anotomy are so similar), the "orangutan mamas" acted like orangutans.

They wore a special vest that opened in the back and was made out of synthetic fur a very shaggy, curly variety that baby Kali could grasp on to. They would support her to some extent, but it was important for her to develop her arm and leg muscles by grasping and pulling on the vest with both her hands and feet.

Kali didn't wear a diaper so the mamas just had to try to get out of the way when she eliminated, and I'm sure it was quite messy, but I wouldn't have minded. (I couldn't participate because of the dreaded day job.)

She was fed a bottle just like a human baby, and even drank human infant formula, (infamil).

During the five month hand rearing period the mamas and Kali stayed in an empty orangutan stall inside the orangutan building right next to the stall that Jill, the experience mother orangutan was in. She had to be held and cared for 24/7 so the mama would bring in bedding and make a "nest" at night and sleep with Kali.

There were about 15 mamas (both men and women, some staff and some docents) who took turns with Kali. By changing mamas so often, she never over-bonded with any one human, the one constant was Jill the orangutan mother in the next stall. Jill was always willing to share her opinion on the mamas orangutan raising abilities, whenever Kali cried she would gesture that the baby should be handed over to her, now.

The only thing standing between Jill and Kali was the fact that Jill wasn't lactating, and the keepers needed to continue to feed the baby to make sure they could acurately monitor how much she was eating. Jill's a great mom, but no one doubted that she would drink some of Kali's milk if she was given the bottle. So they had to come up with another solution.

Kali learned to take her bottle through the 2" x 2" mesh opening that separates the keepers from the animals, but what's really impressive is that Jill learned to present the baby for bottle feeding. The trainers used a stuffed orangutan to teach Jill that when they gave a command she was supposed to bring the baby to the mesh, hold her up and the keeper would give the bottle through the mesh.

On September 24th when Kali was just 5 months old, she was given to Jill to raise. This is the youngest any orangutan infant has ever been paired with an orangutan surrogate. Jill has been taking great care of Kali ever since. They kept up the bottle feeding through the mesh until Kali was one and had enough teeth to eat solid food.

Today, Kali lives in a group with Jill and her older daughter Josie. Josie is 8 1/2 now and in a couple of years will be ready to have a baby of her own. She has learned a lot about how to raise a baby from watching her mother and Kali. She also "babysits" and the two girls play more and more the older Kali gets. The other member of their group is Rufus a 23 year old, 303lb male orangutan. Rufus was part of Jill and Josie's group before Kali was born, and all four are now very happy together.

Orangutan's don't normally form social groups like this mainly because resources are too scarce in their native environment to allow them to live and travel in social groups. But in the zoo where resources are pleantiful their social nature comes out. As for TK and Birani who are Kali's natural parents, they are still crazy about each other. The two "groups" are kept in separate parts of the orangutan exhibit.

Melissa's Myths for Mondays

You Should Write What You Know


I think this depends on how you define the word know. Do you have to be an expert on a subject to write about it? I hope not, because I enjoy writing about many things which are completely unfamiliar to me, zombie rabbits for instance. But I do know animals. I volunteer as a docent at the zoo and have come to appreciate animals in a whole knew way.

On the other hand, when people know too much about their subject it can stifle the action and the tension of a scene. I’ve read several manuscripts (none of them published) where the writer spent so much time trying to teach and inform us about his favorite topic, that the story was drowned.

Lynda Young did a great post about this on her site a couple months ago. http://lyndaryoung.blogspot.com/2010/10/write-what-you-dont-know-part-1.html

Do you only write what you know, or do you like to explore the unfamiliar?

Fonetic Friday: Word of the Day

Hey, you know those cool words they make you type when you comment on a blog, the ones that prevent spammers from commenting? If they were real words, what would they mean? See if you can come up with a definition and use it in a sentence.


Today’s word is: Gummosis

HAVE FUN! AND HAPPY FRIDAY?

Japanese gummy bears.


Those gummosis are going to stick to your braces, Ned.

My NaNo Journey

Oh boy. I'm so glad it's December.

This was my first year to participate in NaNo and overall, it was a pretty good experience. I developed a habit of writing everyday, which I hope will stick with me.

But did I write 50,000 words, the answer is not quite. It's the wierdest thing, I was going strong had about 3500 words to finish on Monday, and a big chunk of time to get it almost done, and I ran out of steam. Right at the end of the race. This is really strange for me, because usually when I set a goal I comlete it.

I really don't know what happened, maybe it was getting to the end of my story (I hate endings), maybe it was my total mental exhaustion (from a combo of things NaNo being only one), maybe it was having to host book club the following night.  I don't know, but I wound up at around 46,578 words.

Oh well, I also have a MS around 79,000 words that needs a lot of revision. So I'm counting it as a success even if I stalled at the last lap.

What about you guys. Did you complete your NaNo goal for this year? How was it for you?

What Would Your Character Do/Say Wednesday

I’m always looking for questions to ask my characters; anything to pull them out of their shell and see how they act in foreign territory. I wondered what it would be like if my characters participated in other Middle Grade and Young Adult stories. How would they act in Narnia, or at Hogwarts? It’s interesting to see how your characters act in a completely different setting.


A small New England town is suddenly, inexplicably cut off from the rest of the world, trapping a large cast of characters inside (or outside) a huge, clear dome. As the emergency escalates, various heroes (and villains) emerge to play a part in the drama. What is the dome? Why is it there? Will the town survive? This is the premise of Stephen King's big, long, thoroughly fascinating new novel.


Under The Dome


1) If your character were cut off from civilization, would they take a leadership role, or let others make the decisions?

2) Does your character have anything to repent for?

3) How would your character respond to being cut of or trapped somewhere with no way out?

4) If your character was the target of a bully, would they use brawn or brains to protect themselves?

5) Would your character ever contemplate suicide in a desperate situation?