Stanford Magazine: Homeschooling article

Stanford Magazine: November/December 2000: In a Class by Themselves

Here's an interesting article on homeschooling in the Stanford magazine.

Rita! Rita! Rita!

Whoo hoo! I just got word that CALIFORNIA DEMON is a finalist for RWA's RITA award! (For those not in the know, that's sort of like the Oscar for women's fiction. If you win, you get a little gold statue and everything. And the award ceremony is reason to buy a fab new dress; what could be better?)

Fun stuff!

Have to fed ex galleys out tomorrow, so heading back to work ....

GCC Tour: Super Mom Saves The World!

Touring this week at the GCC, Melanie Hauser and SUPER MOM SAVES THE WORLD, a totally fun series!

Here's more:

About SUPER MOM SAVES THE WORLD (NAL/Penguin), the sequel to the acclaimed CONFESSIONS OF SUPER MOM —


It's six months after the Horrible Swiffer Accident that left her a superhero, and Birdie Lee is still adjusting. For starters, she's hearing voices and having lustful thoughts about Mr. Clean. Then there's the fact that her daughter is suddenly sporting a bright pink streak in her hair, courtesy of her new friend Vienna (and if recent history has taught us anything, we all know that a girl named after a foreign city is going to be trouble). Birdie's son is experiencing his first case of puppy love, her nerdy scientist love interest has just proposed marriage, and her annoying ex-husband is suddenly less annoying. Which can only mean he's up to no good.

But things get even more sinister when her hometown of Astro Park gets Little League fever in a big way. Rabid parents, performance-enhancing Gatorade and a domed stadium on shaky - potentially explosive - ground are just the beginning of Super Mom's problems; throw in a ticked off school janitor and a corrupt mayor, and Super Mom has her hands full. Can one superhero — one mother — struggle to keep her teenagers in tow with one hand while saving her hometown from disaster with the other — while trying to find time for herself as she plans her marriage to her very own Super Man? Only if she’s Super Mom!

What People are Saying —

“(Super Mom Saves the World) provides a welcome break from the proliferation of urban mommy books. For those who rely on Fresh Direct and nannies to run a household, this will read like a foreign text. The women in Hauser's world clean their own toilets, volunteer for the PTA and bake a mean tuna casserole.” Kirkus Reviews

“Hauser's sequel to Confessions of Super Mom (2005) is an amusing and sharp critique of the thankless job mothers perform as they juggle home and work. Every mom will want to be Super Mom.” Booklist

Smart, zany, and touching... (Karen Quinn, author of The Ivy Chronicles) Never has there been a more appealingly down-to-earth heroine or a superhero with more enviable powers. (Pamela Redmond Satran, author of Suburbanistas) Hauser's quirky characters sparkle brightly as a newly Swiffered floor, and her writing shines like freshly polished glass. (Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries and Queen of Babble)


Here are Melanie's answers to my GCC questions:


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”? After spending the morning getting the boys off to school, reading the paper, drinking my coffee, surfing the Internet and exercising, I'm usually ready to start writing around noon. I'll write until about three, when my sons get home; then after trying to extract tiny bits of information about their days from them before they go up to their rooms and shut the door, I'll write for another hour, before starting dinner.
DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? Well, it was a sequel, and contracted, so I had to find the inspiration after the fact. But I really wanted to talk about blending families, as Super Mom contemplates a second marriage. And also - how moms, even when they're superheroes, are always taken for granted. I also wanted to poke some fun at the crazy fundraising part of every PTA, and Ryan Seacrest.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. Like Birdie Lee (aka Super Mom), I'm trying to figure out how to come into my own once my children leave home; I have a high school senior and a sophomore, so that time is rapidly approaching. And I don't want to stay stuck in the past; I want to find a way to embrace the future.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? Can't I have both??? I guess I'd say the books, because I can always write in the margins!

BEER OR WINE? Red wine.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate.



About Melanie Lynne Hauser —

Former member of the PTA, Melanie Lynne Hauser is a prototypical Super Mom. In addition CONFESSIONS OF SUPER MOM and SUPER MOM SAVES THE WORLD, she is a contributor to the anthology It's a Boy. Melanie is an active member of both the writing and "blogging mommies" blogger communities. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two teenaged sons, truly does love Swiffer products, and would like to thank Procter and Gamble for its marvelous sense of humor about all this.

Visit her website (www.melanielynnehauser.com); blog (www.melanielynnehauser.com/wordpress/) and MySpace page (http://home.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user&MyToken=28f1a9a4-b705-49b3-9e6f-596b6f35ff13)

Once More With Feeling

Buffy, Drew, and Hugh Grant, too!

Hey. I made up a little rhyme. How cute is that? (I kept it because this post was going to be about Buffy AND Music & Lyrics. But I'm a sloth, and quit writing after the Buffy part. Maybe tomorrow. But, hey, I'd already made up the rhyme, so ...)

Been off the blog for a day or so. I had a proposal to get out the door. (They wanted a couple of paragraphs. I turned in 5 pages single spaced. That is SO me. But, hey, more is better, right? Unless we're talking calories, although frankly, if there are more calories, it probably tastes better. )

But I haven't just been writing. No, I also went to a movie! And before Lent, Don and I glommed much television, and managed to get further along in Season Six of Buffy. Yes, folks, we made it to ... the musical episode.



And can I just say that Once More With Feeling absolutely rocks? Now, I'm a major Broadway musical junkie as it is. I'm not entirely sure if that makes me more open to an episode like this or more critical, but the fact is I found nothing to be critical about except the ending (seemed extremely abrupt, but the actual freeze frame of Buffy/Spike, and also the resolution with the demon not wanting Xander as his queen, so he hightails it outta there). Other than that, though, I have nothing but good to say. I loved the musical numbers – especially Anya/Xander's song. I loved the way the premise fit naturally around the numbers. And I absolutely loved the way it got Buffy to reveal her Big Secret that she – being Buffy – would never have revealed because she knew it would hurt her friends. A wonderful moment in the arc of the series. Major kudos, and I hope Season Six stays on an upswing (although beating this episode won't be easy!)

(this post cross-posted with my MySpace blog because I'm a lazy slug)