Treats From Chronicle!

On Saturday I got a package from Chronicle Books! I have to tell you it totally made my day!! Free books! And a nifty bag to carry them in!! I mean isn't it enough that they are publishing my book? Do they really need to do anything more??


YAY Chronicle!!

And that very night I started reading Katie Williams YA novel, The Space Between Trees. (book review coming soon)


Not only is the cover the coolest cover I've ever seen (it's laser cut!!) but the words inside...??
Well. You will all have to wait to hear more about that. Or you could go and purchase it right now. Why wait? You won't be disappointed.


And speaking of debut novels and cool things like that you should all check out this new group I'm so lucky to be a part of: The Apocalypsies
Watch out for us. We will be hitting your bookstores just in time for the world to end. Or not end. Here's hoping we have a few more years before the aliens arrive.

Monday Music. At last!

Yes. It's back.
Did you miss it?? I know I did.

Today's Monday Music selection will be...

RADIOHEAD!!

Yeah. I know. You all already know about them. But. Here's the thing...
I can't get enough of In Rainbows. In fact I'll share a little secret with you.
The song, All I Need, is a great writing song for the um, kissing/romantic scenes.

Yep. It is.

And Reckoner is one of those songs I put on repeat. Brainstorming music at its best.

They have a few other good songs. You know, just a few. Except Creep. I really don't like that song. Never have.

GO LISTEN TO RADIOHEAD.

A Week of Silence

Wow. What a week. Two sick kids, hours and hours of Blue's Clues and many doses of Tylenol later I think I've managed to avoid the nasty virus that moved in last week and has yet to leave. I mean Temperature and her lovely friend, Sleepless Nights, took off — hopefully they aren't headed to any of your homes — but they left behind their most obnoxious friend Hacking Cough. Sheesh. Any ideas on how to get rid of her?? She is loud and she constantly interrupts and she's making my kids just miserable.

And since we're talking about infection and fun stuff like that, now is probably the best time to let you know that I've come down with what is commonly known as the Idon'tknowwhattodowithmyself virus.
I caught it right around the time my editor called. (Yes! I said editor!)
Julie Romeis, my lovely editor over at Chronicle Books, laid out the time line for book 2 and explained how I should be expecting her edits by mid December. MID DECEMBER!!!
What ever will I do until then?? I mean I have Thanksgiving and Christmas and don't forget how I have to finish up NaNo and...and.
Yes. I have a lot to do before December but I can't seem to get anything done. Not even a simple blog post. I just keep walking around in circles. And it's scaring the cats.

OH!! And guess what else?

My NaNo project just up and changed itself. Like completely!!
I was doing just fine — and by fine I mean about a hundred thousand words behind — when all of a sudden my husband shared the most intriguing idea for a book and I was all, wow, that sounds cool, and then my NaNo project literally began to twitch and shake, it made this strange noise and then POOF! It turned into something else. Entirely. Well, not entirely. I still have my main character's name. So. That's something.
Sigh.
What to do...what to do. Do I:
1. Ignore it completely
2. Tell husband to stop sharing terrific ideas
3.Crawl into a corner and cry (without scaring the two small children who live with me)
4. REWRITE THE DANG THING!

Yep. You guessed it.

I won't be winning NaNo this year.

News Of The Best Kind

So, as of 8:06 this morning, when my agent emailed to let me know that everything was "all done," I am an author. A published one. Or soon to be, that is.

*deep breath*

Book 2 is going to be published by Chronicle Books in the Spring of 2012. 2012! I tell you! Sounds far away, doesn't it? Well, I've got a lot to do in the meantime, like revise the book and write more. And. Write more. Because that's what I do now. I write. Like for reals.

My road to publication story is a long one. It began in 2007 and I promise there will be a blog post that explains it in detail. I just know y'all are curious. Mostly I've been wanting to fill in the blanks on this time line since I typed "The End" on the last page of book 1.

And don't think I've forgotten about book 1. Its time will come.

But today I celebrate book 2!! Hip Hip Hurray!!

Ch Ch Ch Changes

No. I'm really not a David Bowie fan. But I went to type Changes and that's what it turned into.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD DAVID BOWIE!

So if you will all direct your attention to the top of my blog...I HAVE A NEW HEADER!!
Isn't it fabulous!?!
My amazing husband designed this for me. I like to think he sees me as the girl/dancer in the image. Yes. I'm sure he does.
And the sky! With the birds flying...and how they match the other birds on my page...and the tree! Don't you just want to sit by that tree and daydream?!
Sigh.
I love it. Can you tell? Alright. Moving on...

And because Mother Nature is screwing with me, it snowed today. Yes. Snow! In NOVEMBER! How crazy is that!?
Pretty dang CRAZY, I tell you. I'd be just fine if it snowed on Christmas Eve and stuck around until all the presents were opened Christmas day, and then the sun came out and it was warm enough to play outside with all of your new toys, while wearing shorts. Just like my childhood. The shorts and playing outside part, that is. It never snowed in Sunny California on Christmas Eve. Even when I asked Santa for it. I guess Santa and Mother Nature don't talk.

In NaNo news:
I'm really excited about my new story. No, I haven't exactly kept up word count wise but I'm trying my best. I've had some distractions. And those distractions have been rather distracting.
And that's all I'm going to say about that.
For now.

So...feel free to stare at my new header and daydream for a while. You could even click on my little music thingy and hang out all day. I just might.

Tuesday Tunes! Again.

Alright. I know it's supposed to be Monday Music but where does the time go? No. Really. Where does it go? Because last I checked it was August or something and then just like that I'm out trick or treating. Mmmmm candy...

Today is Andrew Bird day! And yes, I just made that up. Don't go checking your calendars.
I've seen Mr. Bird live and let me say, he's about the coolest performer ever!





He sings beautifully, he plays the violin, guitar, glockenspiel (yes I said glockenspiel) and he whistles! And when I say he whistles, well, you've just got to hear it to believe it. So go check him out! His latest CD is Noble Beast, which I love, but I also love Armchair Apocrypha and Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs.



First time I saw him he was opening for Wilco at Tanglewood in Massachusetts. Second time was at the Orpheum in Boston. He rocked both shows!
Wow! I can't believe this is the first time I'm mentioning him! He's sooo brainstorming worthy!

So yesterday was the first day of NaNo! WOOHOO!
And I have to say now that it is day two I'm really feeling this new idea. Just like that *snaps fingers* it moved in.
Soon you will find me wandering the streets in a stupor, muttering my new characters names while I stare off into the trees.

Good times.