Snow Day!

A few things really quickly... first, I found out that The Forest of Hands and Teeth is part of the Amazon Vine program which means that some reviewers have gotten early copies and started posting reviews.  Very exciting and scary!  Second, I had a blast finishing sentences for an interview with Samantha Elliott  (interview here).  Also, Saundra Mitchell posted a 5 Minutes With... interview with me and is giving away a signed copy of FHT (interview here)!

We had real, actual stick-on-the-ground snow last night!  Of course, this was also the night that Ben Folds was in town for a concert and he's one of my favorite.  I'd heard rumors of snow, and in the Carolinas rumors of snow are pretty much all it takes to shut the place down.   But nothing would deter JP and I!  So off we tromped in the rain to a friends house for some pre-concert food and drink and when we opened the door to head to the arena... snow!  Everywhere!

But it was Ben Folds!  So we braved the snowy roads (and I think we saw both snow plows in Charlotte) and made it to the venue.  Surprisingly, it was decently full even with the weather and Ben gave a great concert.  Thankfully I'd downloaded his most recent album a few weeks ago so I was up to date on his current music :)

I have to say, watching Ben Folds made me think a lot about writing and being creative.  Here's the thing, I am a total sucker for anyone with that kind of talent.  He plays the piano like as easily as you and I talk -- it's just like an extension of himself.  And he puts everything into it - jumping up and down, banging the keys, exploring different sounds.  He's not afraid to try new things like putting a can of altoids against the strings to get this really funky sound (you can see a youtube of it here).

There is just no way to watch someone that good and that passionate and not feel this incredible upwelling of awe and creative energy.   It just totally pumped me up -- completely awesome.  Especially because I feel like a lot of Ben Folds' songs are stories -- character sketches -- that got me thinking about how we come up with the people in our books and what their lives are like.

It was one of those times when I just felt so full of creative energy that I wanted to explode!  Which means I need to find a first line for my new project soon or things will not be pretty around here!

I wish I could remember more about what I was thinking during the concert, but I got distracted.  Once the concert was over, JP and I headed out into this totally white world!  More snow!  I know, I know, those of you who live in colder climates are laughing -- but it's so rare for us to get a good snow that covers everything.

So of course this meant coming home and playing with the dog outside.  And by playing with the dog I mean tossing snow balls for him to catch which he found totally unfair and confusing because the darn balls kept disappearing and he couldn't find them!  Then we all cuddled in front of the fire and listened to more Ben Folds and talked about stories.  All in all a fantastic night!