Odds and Ends

For those of you reading this on blogger, I have to say that as dear to my heart as blogger is, LiveJournal has been winning me over recently. I just love how easy it is to feel connected and part of a larger community instead of one blog hanging out a shingle in the darkness. Of course, what I like most are (a) that you can reply directly to certain comments so it's more of a conversation and (b) the flist so I'm updated whenever a friend posts (instead of with blogger where I have a whole big folder of favorites I gotta check every day!) Plus, I seem to get more comments over there *shrug*. Not that I'm changing the way I'm doing things -- I'll still cross-post, etc., I'm just saying that if you're a LJ fan you can find me there: carrie-ryan.livejournal.com.

So, lots of things going on in life, lots to update, not a lot of time. Hence a listing-type post...

1. For a brief moment, I thought my old computer had come back to life! See, it's just that the screen won't illuminate. Except that it does work when starting up, it just goes dark when it's running, as if it the screen is in hibernation when the computer itself isn't. If I angle it just right, I can actually still see what's written which is how I was able to get last year's tax forms off it. I did a system update and for two glorious days my old laptop worked just like it used to. It was wonderful!! Oh, how I missed it! But then, LITERALLY as I began this paragraph, the screen went out. Crap.

2. In other computer news, my firm was selling it's old laptops dirt cheap -- I like dirt cheap! I'm still angling for a new Mac, but this one here will do just fine for a while!

3. My agent posted a really sweet entry on they Dystel & Goderich blog today. Seriously, it made me teary and brought back the excitement I felt when he first called me to offer representation. JP pointed out that it's the first time he's seen an agent admit that he reads to reject :) I'm not just sending you over there because he says nice things, I actually think it's an interesting insight into how agents approach submissions :) Needless to say, however, I love Jim and he's the bestest ever!

4. In beastie news: Jake has had his whatnots removed and seems no worse for the wear for it. Unfortunately, he had a hanging dew claw we also had to remove and over the weekend he reopened the spot and now he wears a lampshade. Poor guy! He's still wonderful and we have many wonderful walks together! He's also a wimp - submits himself in a heartbeat (he's buffing at the dishwasher right now).

However, when we took Jake in to get his foot re-stapled, I also took my cat, Sam, in cause he's been all winky recently. Turns out he has an ulcer on his cornea and he's in danger of losing his eye. I cannot tell you how upset this makes me (even if he would make the best pirate kitty ever). So fingers crossed that copious amounts of meds work!!

5. Sarah Prineas is hosting a week long chat about publicity and marketing on her LJ. For those of you who don't know Sarah, her debut MG, The Magic Thief, is coming out around June (?) and I've been hearing some great buzz, reading some awesome reviews, and am totally looking forward to it. Of course, publicity varies from house to house, author to author, editor to editor (i.e. no two experiences are the same) but I'm a believer that it's better to know more about the process rather than less, even if it's a process that may be different from yours.

6. If you're a YA author with a debut in 2009, I highly recommend joining The 2009 Debutantes livejournal community (I think it says how on the user page). If you're not a YA author with a debut in 2009, I still recommend the site as we've started in with some weekly discussions about writing and the pub process so far. Did I ever mention I was a deb? Perhaps I should dig up pictures... unfortunately I think it was in the day before digital pics. Ah well...

7. Work (day job work) is copious. However, I am learning tons of stuff. 'Nuff said!

8. I'm horribly late in responding, but Karen Mahoney nominated me for a Roar for Powerful Words award! Thanks Karen!! It really does mean a lot to me that people find my ramblings interesting :) But y'all will have to check back in my next post to see who I nominate :)

Um... I think that's it for now. Though I'm sure I'll come up with more stuff as soon as I hit post :)