Want to be on a panel?

If you've ever dreamed of being on an advisory panel, now's your chance...

I'm looking to build a very informal "advisory group" made up of moms and dads to boys age 11 to 14 who will help me when I have questions.

All I need is an email address and the ages of your child(ren). I'll submit a question to the group every now and then, which you can answer or not, up to you. And that's it. That's all you need to commit to.

The protagonist in the novel, which is loosely based on my blog, Balancing Business & Babies, is an 8th grade boy. Because I don't have an 8th grade boy (only my 3-year-old to imagine as a 13-year-old), I need some help.

If you're interested, send me a note at kelly [at] desmoinesfamilies [dot] com.

As if I need another blog...

Welcome to The Making of "Truth Be Told" -- the working title of my novel in progress.

And when I say "in progress," I'm pretty serious. I have 547 words, so there is some progress, but it's what you might call moderate.

The plot is still developing, but the gist is that an 8th-grade boy loses his mom in some sort of TBD tragedy. He is extremely angry with her, both for her life and her death, but learns how much she really cared about him by reading the newspaper.

That's because the local paper's editorial staff has decided -- as a tribute to his mom -- to reprint a series of columns she wrote when the boy was a toddler.

The columns will appear in the book, and they will be developed from my Balancing Business & Babies blog, which I have been writing for nearly two years.

It's going to be a challenge, but I think I'm up for it. Wish me luck!