Thank you for all of your kind comments about the book on the blog and on Facebook and Twitter.  The kids (and I) are really overwhelmed.  We’ve been over here on this figurative island, building the space for so long, and it’s nice to now have a bridge running over here so everyone can walk over and see what we’ve been doing, which is teaching people how to code by making cool retro games.

And we would really really really appreciate your help spreading word.  Tell your friends, tell your family members, tell your nearby schools, tell your grandma who always wanted to learn how to make Intellivision-like games.

I realized yesterday that I originally linked to the Deal of the Day page and not the book itself, so here is a link to Hello Scratch.  Additionally, there is a forum for the book where you can post questions or comments.  The kids check that every day.  And I’m going to start embedding the games they make in future posts so you can play them, too.

The whole experience has been really eye-opening.  They’ve seen me publish 5 books, but I don’t think they fully realized what went into the process even though they’ve been privvy to dinner time conversations and riffled through everything from contracts to page proofs.  When it’s your own book, it’s a different story.  Literally.

It’s stressful, writing a book, and they’re little.  It’s also amazing to see the way their minds work, and we’ve gotten really really good at working together as a team.  Though…. as I write that… I am listening to them upstairs, shrieking and laughing hysterically when they’re supposed to be editing.  So… there’s that.  What I mean is that they are still kids, and writing with them is a little bit like wrangling cats AND a little bit like cuddling up with your favourite cat.

I built them chapter templates, so they know the information they need to include, and they can type out all of their notes accordingly.  Then we sit down and record the chapter.  This is because they are (1) slow typers and (2) it’s easier to record it and type later because I’m usually taking screenshots while they’re talking.  But there is also a third reason I do this.  I really miss them during the day, and this is (selfishly) a chance to feel like they’re in the house.  I am sitting here, alone at my desk during the day, but I’m also listening to their voice.

And maybe that is the reason I agreed to all of this.  Because they are growing up and apart, which is a good thing, but I want them to also remember this as a bonding experience.  We’re a team — the Retromakers — and writing a book together means spending a lot of time together.  It’s the epitome of roots and wings.  I want us to feel grounded to each other, but I also want to nurture those skills and passions so they fly away towards whatever fulfills them.

[That is a complete lie.  I want them to remain mine mine mine all mine.  I’m just being honest, kids.]

You may have questions about the process, or your kids may have questions for my kids about writing a book.  So ask away.  All of us are happy to answer.

I don’t really know how to begin this post, so I’m just going to say it:

The twins got a book deal.

Last fall, they pitched an idea for their book and got interest.  They wrote a book proposal and sample chapters and shopped it.  And a publisher picked up the book and signed them.  We have a cover.  We have about 2/3rd of the book in a semi-finished state.

That’s how they spent their summer.

It will be in bookstores this spring, but the publisher (because it is a programming book) is releasing the e-book in chunks as part of their early access program, and today it is 50% off if you use the code dotd083016au after clicking on that link.

Do you remember back when I started this blog they were weaning off of bottles?  Then we graduated to toddler beds and gave up binkies and had imaginary friends and… The point is that they’ve been growing up here, but they haven’t really been growing up here.  I’ve always been very careful to give them their space and let them tell their own story to the world.

We’ve asked them over and over again if they’re ready to be online.  If they understood what publishing a book meant; that they would have an online presence.  And they kept reassuring us that they felt good about this.  That they were okay being out there for something good like a book.  So we gave our blessing, and I’ve been helping manage their book schedule, typing their chapters for them (they speak them into a recorder, and I type them while they’re at school), and helping edit.

I am so insanely proud of them.  They have matured so much.  Sure, the ChickieNob still includes a high heel emoji on the emails she sends me when there are chapter notes to review, but the girl is researching and writing and putting her heart into the art in the book.  The Wolvog still laughs hysterically every time we’re recording, but he’s putting in hours and hours of work programming the games.  Together, they are an amazing team, and I feel so lucky that I get a front row seat to watch them problem solve and create.

Their book teaches other kids as well as adults (or anyone who wants to get into game making) how to design and code arcade games.  There are seven games in the book based on popular games from the 80s including Astrosmash, Super Mario Bros, and Pitfall.  The heart of the book is eight computer science concepts, which are presented over and over again, so the reader walks away knowing about variables, loops, and conditional statements.

Could I have imagined this when they were little preemies in the NICU?  No.  (Well, maybe, I mean both parents are writers.)  But that’s sort of the point of life.  You never know where decisions will take you.

I’m glad they found one of many passions early on.  I’m glad adults gave them the opportunity to write a book and that they truly understand the ins and outs of the publishing world; that it isn’t all sunshine and roses but a lot of really hard, sometimes frustrating, work.

So… if you have a kid in your life, or if you want to learn how to program games yourself, go over and get early access to their book.  (The code is dotd083016au.)  Or mark down April 2017 for the bookstore release.  Actually, who am I kidding?  Do you really think I’m not going to remind you a dozen times between now and then?

While we haven’t started tweeting over there yet, we will quite soon if you want to follow @Retromakers, which is our group account.  And we’re setting up a website, and I’ll post that URL when it’s done.  Lots of fun things ahead.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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While I don’t want to live in Florida, I do want to live in Disney World.  (Yes, I’m aware that will be a problem if I don’t want to live in Florida.)  Like really really really want to find 2 million dollars so I can buy a house next to the parks and go there every day.

I love amusement parks.

And I love the idea of living in one.  I know some people find amusement parks draining, but I feel super recharged and happy after being in one for a few hours.  I know — sort of strange for an introvert, but I didn’t say I liked engaging with people there.  I just like being on the rides and walking around the park and breathing in the scent of park food and listening to carousel organ music.

Would you want to live in an amusement park?  And if not, what would be your ideal space to inhabit?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored posts.

Last month I was reading an article about an app that comes with exercises meant to make you happier. Perhaps not happy but happier than you are overall.

It piqued my interest because… well… don’t we all want to be happier?  I mean, who would turn down something like happiness?  (“Oh, no, thanks.  I’d rather be miserable.”)  And at the same time, I don’t know if making oneself happy is actually possible.  I think there are things we can do that bring us toward or farther away from that emotion, but actually making happiness happen?  That seems outside our control.

Right?

I mean, I can’t make myself sad.  I can read sad books and watch sad movies and listen to sad stories and feel something akin to sad.  But once I move away from the stimuli, I’m usually not sad for very long.  In all of those cases, I’m sad for.  I’m sad for the character or the other person, but I’m not sad for myself.  So I can’t really make myself sad.  It’s like I can only go and stand next to sad, but I can’t actually become sad.

I can recognize that: That the sad I feel when I watch the sad movie is not the same kind of sad I feel when I’m really grieving a loss.  They are both sad, but one feels real and vivid and the other feels like I’m viewing sad through a window.  It is outside, and I am inside.  I can look at it, but I don’t have to get close to it.

So wouldn’t the opposite be true, too?  Can we really make ourselves happy?  I can do the exercises on that app and feel like it was time well spent, but does that actually mean that I’m happier?  So much of my happiness is a combination of how I’m viewing the world at the moment coupled with what is happening in my day-to-day world.  Content with work, getting some me-time, feeling like I’m doing a good job on the parenting front: All of that equals happiness.  When things are not great with work, I’m not getting me-time, or I’m feeling like a failure in parenting: I’m not feeling happiness.

Can we really make ourselves happier if those facets of life (whichever ones you use to determine your happiness levels) are out of whack?  Can I be miserable with work and forget to do stuff for the kids and balance it with a few exercises on an app and restore happiness?

Because if we all agree that we can’t make ourselves be sad, why do we believe the idea that we can make ourselves be happy?

The twins now have a locker.  Well, they each have their own locker.  This is a big step up from elementary school when all they had was a desk and a cubby.  Both have a few issues opening said lockers.

But that’s not the point.  The point is that it is very important that we decorate said locker within an inch of its life.  I’ve been tucking away comic books and ripping pictures from People magazine all summer that they can use to wallpaper the walls.  And I’m getting each a dry erase board so they can write themselves important notes.  (But which I know they’ll use to write song lyrics and ridiculous things from autocorrect.)

Here’s the memory I have from middle school/high school, and I’m not sure kids still do this: Did you decorate your friends’ lockers for their birthday?  I remember that after you left school the day before your birthday, your friends stayed behind and filled your locker with streamers and balloons and candy.  If you had a summer birthday, people usually did it during your half-birthday.  Was this a thing where you lived?

I told the kids I needed their locker combo so I could surprise them with something like that one day because I wasn’t sure kids did that anymore.  And it was always the best feeling to open that metal door and have tiny balloons fall out on you.  Though they pointed out that if no one did this anymore, it would look a little weird.  Are kids still doing this these days?

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Stop procrastinating.  Go make your backups.  Don’t have regrets.

Seriously.  Stop what you’re doing for a moment.  It will take you fifteen minutes, tops.  But you will have peace of mind for days and days.  It’s the gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

As always, add any new thoughts to the Friday Backup post and peruse new comments in order to find out about methods, plug-ins, and devices that help you quickly back up your data and accounts.

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And now the blogs…

But first, second helpings of the posts that appeared in the open comment thread last week.  In order to read the description before clicking over, please return to the open thread:

• None… sniff

Okay, now my choices this week.

Res Cogitatae has a post about worrying that struck close to home.  She worries about a potential non-problem (she just doesn’t know yet) because it’s a situation that has a solution, and it distracts her from the very real problems that currently exist that do not have solutions.  It’s also a post about what it’s like to parent a second child.  Just a really really good read about how we’re all individuals, but there are clearly commonalities, too.

Dear Noah has a post about the fact that had Noah lived, he would have been starting preschool.  She writes, “Owen’s school is incredibly full.  There are wait lists for every class but one.  The one that Noah would have been in.  His spot is there.  But he isn’t.”  Please go over and give her a hug.

Lastly, Riding the IVF Roller Coaster is back with an update.  She muses about whether she should change the title now that she’s not doing IVF, but IVF is still a lens through which she sees the world.  She writes, “I think I’ve been living less deliberately than I should. I’ve been trying to keep my head above water for so long that I’ve come to consider treading water OK.”  As a fellow water treader, I want to start swimming again, too.

The roundup to the Roundup: Did people decorate your locker for your birthday?  Your weekly backup nudge.  And lots of great posts to read.  So what did you find this week?  Please use a permalink to the blog post (written between August 19th and 26th) and not the blog’s main url. Not understanding why I’m asking you what you found this week?  Read the original open thread post here.