That's an illustration by Arthur Rackham from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I believe I dowloaded it from Dover Publishing - they occasionally have specials where you can download stuff for free.

The cool thing is, I have an early edition of the book itself with his illustrations included as tissue-protected plates throughout. Another awesome illustrator/artist was Maxfield Parrish, but I haven't been able to find any royalty-free downloads of his stuff. :(

I've just finished reading it and like all the extra details a lot. It's such a beautiful story! I think if you expand it, the story will lose its momentum. The only way I could see this being added to is if you give it a longer beginning, but I don't know. Her many memories take care of the need for backstory and all that, and the reader is already being pulled gently along. If you add more, it could turn into one of those stories that the reader will say, "Hm. Good, but it should have ended five chapters ago." Or worse, it could start to get "preachy."

No, this is, in my opinion, exactly the right length - long enough to keep the suspicion about the driver's identity from becoming slap-in-the-face obvious, but short enough to hold interest to the very end.

There are a few minor glitches here and there, mostly involving words left out. If you'd like, I can go through it again, make notes on where the problems are, and give you a list with the page numbers and paragraphs.

For the most part, though, there's very little editing that needs to be done at this point. It's well told and I love the Southern expressions and mannerisms described. It's lovely!

And of course, the ending is sweet and made me sigh through a big smile. "D

You are beyond wonderful, Judy. I'd love to have your editing input. It's not easy for me to spot my errors because I'm too close to the work. But fresh eyes are wonderful.

I'm hoping to query this one to a few agents that specialize in shorts. (A friend of mine here in Texas - she and her husband are script writers, apparently that field has become huge in Austin - said she thought it could easily be adapted into a screenplay for something like a Hallmark Channel movie. I thought that was a pretty nice compliment!

My mom, whose family belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church, lived in a part of Brooklyn where there was a high Jewish population living cheek-and-jowl, so to speak, with her Christian community. As a result, she learned a great deal of Yiddish from her friends and their parents, and even how to make a mean stuffed cabbage dish.

She used a lot of the terms during moments of great stress or when something was distasteful. The first time I heard her use the word "schmaltzy,' for instance, we were watching a Frank Sinatra movie, lol.

That is so funny. I dated two Jewish girls, to the horror of their parents. Those were years I cherish even now.
And...I would kill for stuffed cabbage.

2:13am....I believe I've crossed my curfew.
G'nite Jude.

I did. Thought I had messaged you to let you know - sorry. I'm working on it but I may have some questions about some of the stories. Will talk to you soon. ')

Okay ma.
Thanks.

I read you post on Alexis' profile, I sorry to know all that, I really didn't had in mind that something like that was going on in your family.

Well, like I said on her profile, I don't talk about my personal life as a rule, but I though I'd share that with her so she'd know she wasn't alone.

That's very thoughtful and generous of you Ma'am.

Hi.

Hi, this is Abdul, the guy that lived in Andre house a while back. How you been?

Who r u talking 2???

I believe he's talking to me, lol. I would guess he doesn't know how the profile thing works, lol.

Hey, Abdul. Send me a friend request so you can talk to me through my profile instead. 'D

Sorry, Alan. ')

it's okay lol >.<

HI, Patrick. I've had a lot of distractions over the past few days and missed it, so I just went back and saw the message. Thanks for the nudge, lol.

I think there are a number of capable individuals here who could help you, but I can't guarantee they'll have time. Still, I can give you some names - L. Avery Brown, Patrick Lee (his username is felixthecat), Laszlo Kugler (his username starts with Laz and I think there's a number after it, but I'm not sure), and J.C. Laird are a few.

I also do professional editing, but sometimes will work with BookRix members for free when I can. Right now I'm working with a gentleman here who is from a non-English-speaking country. To his credit, he has written an epic series in English, but because of the language limitations, it needs a major overhaul in terms of grammar, spelling and syntax. I anticipate being done by the middle of November, which is only a few weeks away.

I'm doing a transcription/edit for a blog-talk radio host now, too, and will be participating in NaNoWriMo starting November 1st, but if you can't find anyone else to help with your edits, I'll be happy to clear up part of my schedule to work with you, if that's okay. As a fellow BookRix member, I wouldn't think of charging you for it, of course. We're here to help each other. ')

Anyway, let me know what happens.

Warm Regards,

Judy C.

I would love for you to assist, You seem to enjoy the story of the book and can also see the possibility. I would love you to work with me on the editing.

Kind regards

Patrick French

Awesome - and thank you for asking me to do this. I'll let you know when I get closer to completion on the current story I mentioned, so we can figure out how to do this and establish a reasonable timeline. ')

fantastic, i await your freedom :)

'D

Okay Ma'am, I have received the really back from Mrs. Coleen Liebsch, and this is what she wrote me back:

"Hi Milky,
Things here are still pretty crazy, but we're finally rolling on this year's Books for Kids Program! We started doing in-school readings Friday and we are in the process of hiring 2 more employees so we can schedule and complete each school as quickly as possible.
The time-frames are still the same as they've always been for the next books we take on though. We will START looking at submissions for next year's Books for Kids Program in November.
I don't have a time-frame for when we'll make a decision on the titles that are selected though. It will totally depend on the number of entries we receive, and the speed at which we get through schools this year. The one thing I can definitely guarantee is that we won't be offering anyone contracts until after the first of the year, and more likely springtime. We will, however, start looking at submissions in November - as planned.
If a book is rejected in the first read, it will be sent back to the author with reasons for the rejection. That gives the author a chance to do a re-write if he or she wants to re-submit it for consideration.
Once a book is selected, the author is offered a contract and we go from there.
I hope that answers your questions and I do have your book in the group that will be read in November.
Thanks for following up!
Coleen"

That's all, Ma'am.

Sounds good. And if she sends your submission back with suggestions to make it better, let me know, and I'll gladly help you with it so it can be resubmitted - determination and the will to keep trying is what brings success. I hope she doesn't send it back, of course, but don't worry a lot about it. One way or another, you'll achieve your goals if you don't give up. ')

You really would help me again on that book IF it gets rejected? Aww, thanks Mrs. Colella, you're so wonderful :) ....and yeah, I hope it doesn't gets rejected, and sure, I won't give up... unless I am force to give up by my father...lol