Monday, August 27, 2012

New Belly Dance Class

Hey, guys! Just a heads up that I have a new (and totally awesome) belly dance class starting on September 18, 2012.

From Shakti Yoga
Cardio and Conditioning with Bellydance Choreography

with Frankie Mallis

Starting September 18. Weekly. Tuesdays at 7:30 pm. Studio A.

A cardio and conditioning class perfect for anyone interested in the ancient art of Middle Eastern Dance.
Each will new high tempo dance combinations will be broken down and drilled to create a fun, fast paced 
cardio workout. The belly dance equivalent of a Zumba class, this work out will combine the high energy
impact of a dance class, but through belly dance movements, add a high level of conditioning and toning.
This class is perfect for anyone who loves to have fun and dance.

 All levels of fitness and dance are welcome.

$15 Drop-in Rate. Shakti Yoga Class Cards can be used at this class



If you're local and like to dance you should come!

If you're not local and like to dance you should come! <--This will require a road trip.

If you already come to my Thursday class you should come!

If you've never been to my Thursday class you should come!

Basically, whoever you are, wherever you are, you should come!


Exciting YA Fall Events!

Did you guys know I have an events page? Well, now I have two pages for events! With how quickly my schedule has been filling up lately, I thought it made more sense to separate my writing/author appearances and events from my belly dance events.

Fascinating right?

OK luckily I'm not here to go on and on about my blog tabs.

But I AM here to tell you about two super cool events I have happening this fall!

YA PANEL and BOOK SIGNING with 5 YA AUTHORS in a CASTLE!
This event is FREE and open to the public!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 from 5-7PM.
Location: Arcadia University, Glenside PA in the Rose Room of Grey Towers.

Moderator: ME!

Panelists:
Amy Garvey


E.C. Myers


Jeri Smith-Ready


Maria V. Snyder



K.M. Walton





Book Sale by CHILDREN'S BOOK WORLD!



I am SO freaking excited for this, I can't even tell you!

And...onto event two!

YA Writing Workshop

I'm partnering with Arcadia University and  Musehouse to bring you this one night talk with...well, with me.

(Copied from the Musehouse catalog/website)


Writing the Young Adult Novel 
One-Day Workshop Are you writing a young adult novel? Or considering writing one? This workshop is for you. We'll look at not only what makes a book a young adult novel, but what makes it successful. Savvy writers who want to break into the young adult industry need to know how to navigate through this ever-changing field. So we'll also be looking at current trends in the market and how to understand the trends, but still write the story of your heart. The process of querying, signing with an agent and networking in the young adult industry will also be covered, along with personal tidbits from the instructor’s journey to publication. Get ready for a crash course in the young adult novel and how to bring your own YA book out into the world.
Date: Saturday, November 10, 2012
Time: 7 — 8:30 p.m.
Fee: $40
Instructor: Frankie Diane Mallis

Frankie Diane Mallis is a young adult fantasy writer in the Philadelphia area, represented by Laura Rennert. She is a professor of composition and creative writing at Arcadia University and currently teaches the popular Writing For Children class. Frankie also runs a small children's library in Elkins Park. When not writing or teaching she is often blogging or tweeting. You can learn more by visiting her website www.frankiediane.blogspot.com. 


EEEH! So, hopefully I'll see some of your wonderful faces at one or both of these events.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

I Am The Crazy

Hey guys! Long time no blog!

Soooo I'm here with a writing update. There's been some interesting developments over here in Frankie-Land.

Remember that one time in May when I wrote a whole book in a month and it was super exciting and my agent was excited for it and my critique partners were excited for it and I was REALLY REALLY excited about it?

Well...skip ahead a a few weeks and this is what happened.

No wait. First a little bit of back story. Let me explain...

You may not know this about me but I have a highly obsessive personality. When I get into something I get INTO something. I will think about it 24/7, I will read every book on the subject, I will read every blog on the subject, I will discover every person who also knows about this subject, I will learn and do EVERYTHING you can think of that goes along with whatever this thing is that I am currently INTO.

So imagine me as a writer.

When I'm drafting or writing or revising or editing, it's ALL I can do.

Except this last time.

I realized I was having to force myself to sit down and work.

I realized I was making excuses for reasons why I couldn't work. And trust me I had plenty--its a billion degrees, I need to help my sister with her wedding, Beverly Hills Nannies is on again! WHOOOT!

And...I just don't do that. My usual M.O. is kind of an obsessive compulsive workaholic.

So I started worrying and routinely asking my critique partners if I was just tired or if my book sucked and that's why I wasn't excited to sit down and work.

They all assured me it was the tired thing. My book was awesome.

But then I had an IDEA.

A really exciting IDEA. The kind of idea that makes my heart stop and the more I think about it the more excited I get and the more floaty I feel and the more everything around me seems brighter and lighter and better. And I just want to hug everyone.

Basically I fell in love.

With another book.

So after giving this some thought (because hello, this is not LOVE this is SNIS--Sexy New Idea Syndrome--and I am a professional and I do not listen to that siren's call) I realized, I was truly honestly just not excited for the WIP I wrote in May.

I nervously emailed my agent and let her know what was going on in my brain and we set up a talk.

I was so nervous! I mean, I was about to tell her she wasn't getting a book she really wanted, and also I had a new one in mind.

After discussing all my feelings she agreed, it was time to put the current project aside. And then I had to pitch my new book to her.

And you guys....

She LOVED it!

So...despite having spent months on this one project that would have been ready for submissions in the very near future, I'm starting from scratch.

You'd think I'd be upset about months of work lost. But I'm truly not. I'm so excited.

First of all: I don't believe ANY writing is a waste.

Second of all: I'm not necessarily done with that WIP. I see myself going back to it. There are a lot of really great things in there. But it's just the wrong time for me right now. Someday though in the future I believe awesome things will come out of it.

Third of all: I probably needed to write that other book to get to write this book and anything I did to come to this moment was worth it.

Fourth of all: I really feel that you have to be excited whenever you're working on a project. Excitement breeds passion. And when you have excitement and passion when writing, readers have excitement and passion too. When you lack it...well you know.

So I shall be word warring with anyone and everyone who wants to.

How's everyone else's writing? Can you believe the summer is almost over?