Pre-Pub Tour and Book 2 Done!

Hey Y'all!

Exciting news! At the end of October I'm heading out on a pre-publication tour for The Forest of Hands and Teeth!! I am SO excited about this!! Ever since I got the news a while back I've been pinching myself like crazy :) I think they're still finalizing the details, but right now I'll be spending the week of October 19th in NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle.

It's just going to be so strange to talk to people who've read FHT. And it's going to be super cool to talk to people who love books, especially YA books. I've never really talked to a lot of booksellers, librarians and teachers so I can't wait to get their take on things (and get some good recommendations!).

My other fun news is that yesterday I turned in Book 2! It does have a working title but I'm superstitious so for the time being I'll keep referring to it as Book 2 :) Now it's back to waiting to see what my editor thinks. I didn't have to turn in a synopsis or outline so she really has no idea what she's getting (thankfully my agent and beta readers liked it!).

A while back Steph, Reviewer X, asked about the Sophomore Slump and it's a good question. I wanted to wait until the book was turned in (didn't want to jinx myself) before I tackled it so I'll be blogging about that soon. I just have to gather my thoughts a bit :)

Banned Books Week

This week is Banned Books Week. I'm sure many of you have noticed -- there have been a lot of us blogging about it and I wanted to throw my thoughts out there as well.

This morning during a report on NPR about The Grapes of Wrath and the Politics of Book Burning, I heard a quote that I think really hammers home how I feel about book banning. A local librarian, in an effort to overturn the ban against The Grapes of Wrath in her county (Kern County where much of the book was set) wrote a letter to the county supervisors saying:

It's such a vicious and dangerous thing to begin. Besides, banning books is so utterly hopeless and futile. Ideas don't die because a book is forbidden reading.

And that's really so much of what is behind book banning -- fear of ideas.

At my graduation from high school, the bishop of our Diocese (I went to an Episcopal school) told us that as we went forward in life we should always question our faith. He said that if we questioned our faith and continued to believe then our faith would only be stronger. If we questioned and did not believe, then our faith was not strong enough to begin with.

Honestly, this blew my mind. It seems so simple now, but it was the first time that someone -- especially someone in a position of authority and power -- told us to question and really test ourselves. It was an incredible lesson to learn and one that I try to apply to all aspects of my life beyond just religion and faith.

To me, this is what books do: they cause us to think. To question. If reading a book causes us to think harder about what we believe, that is a good thing. We should always think hard about what we believe.

We should never hold tight to an idea, belief or thought from a position of ignorance. And this is what book banning promotes. It is nothing but fear.

Prime News

Seems like recently the news is all about economic woes, election, war, etc etc etc. And then this morning as I've been reading the news, I saw that the top story on CNN isn't about any of those things. It's about how mathematicians at UCLA have found a new prime number. For some reason this just tickles me -- I think it's awesome. A prime number with 13 million digits!! They used 25 computers to find it!

And it's the top news story which totally rocks.

I guess that gives me some hope. Not just that people are there are working on things like finding a new prime number (I had no idea that we didn't already know all the prime numbers!) but also that others recognize this as such a cool story. It's like how a few weeks ago it seemed everyone was abuzz with the news of the supercollider. These are such cool things -- people with a passion for science and math stretching the limits of what we know and don't know. And I just love that this ignites something in all of us, even those of us who understand next to nothing about it :)

So yay for a new prime number. Yay for people recognizing it as worthy of being a top news story.

Of course, I can't help but admit that the former SAT prep teacher in me is wondering how I could work a 13 million digit prime number into the test...

Blurbs, Beta Readers & Bikinis

I have fun book news!


First, Amazon sent me a little update to let me know that The Forest of Hands and Teeth will be shipping on March 10! I scrambled over and checked the Random House Children's Books webpage and yep, it says FHT is coming out March 10 as well. I'm sure these things can still change, but still -- it could be coming out two weeks earlier than planned!


Second, I've said before and I'm sure I'll keep saying it over and over again but it's very surreal and crazy to have people read FHT and tell me their thoughts. It's even more surreal when those people are authors who you have admired and been fan-girly about for years. Even crazier - when they blurb your book! I've posted before about Melissa Marr's blurb, but now I'm very honored and excited to share a few more blurbs:


"A post-apocalypse romance of the first order, elegantly written from title to last line."
-Scott Westerfeld


"Dark and sexy and scary. Only one of the Unconsecrated could put this book down."
-Justine Larbalestier


"Intelligent, dark and bewitching, Forest of Hands and Teeth transitions effortlessly between horror and beauty. Mary's world is one that readers will not soon forget."
-Cassandra Clare

Big time SQUEE!!


Third, today is the day I send Book 2 out to a few beta readers and my agent. I was thinking about this last night and the analogy that seemed to fit was this: imagine that you're told that in February you're going to be in a competition wearing nothing but a bikini. And they'll take pics or video of you in that competition to immortalize it forever and those pics and videos will be distributed to people who will then grade you, critique you, talk about you etc. Great -- that's over 5 months away and you can spend those 5 months working out, toning up, finding the right bikini, etc.


But what if right now, way before the competition, you had to stand on stage in that bikini for a few friends and let them tell you EXACTLY what you look like now and what you need to do to be ready in 5 months. They may poke at your saddle bags, glare at the wobble under your arms etc etc etc. You'd want their critiques -- you welcome them because what really matters is that competition in 5 months.


But you're also a little afraid because some of those people have ONLY seen you when you've been in competition shape before. You don't know what they'll say when the see how you've let yourself go over the past year. Others have seen you look way worse of course and they'll be able to say "you may have let yourself go, but man, you want to know what you looked like TWO years ago? Yikes!"


So... yeah. That's how I feel. The final draft of the book isn't due until February so there's lots and lots of time to get it in shape and tone it up. Right now is the time to start poking at its flaws and weaknesses and start the long regime to get it in order. I'm excited about the process, I love the process -- taking what I have now and (hopefully) transforming it into something great. But still.... must take the deep breath, throw on that bikini and strut across the stage :)

X-treme laziness + weekend goals

Ok, confession. You want to know the real reason I end up posting on my LJ more than here? Aside from the fact that it's easier to respond personally and all of that jazz. The real reason is that I'm lazy. Deeply lazy. Back in the day when I created this blog, I didn't want to use my personal gmail account mostly because I didn't want people at work finding my blog (thus didn't want my real name on it) and so I created another one. Hence the carrie-me. And generally, I keep my computer logged into my personal account all day. Which means that to post on this blog I have to log out of my other account and log into this one.

Really doesn't sound like a lot of trouble or effort does it? But I can't tell you the number of times I've thought "hey! I should blog" and then haven't wanted to go through the trouble of logging out and back in. Of course, mostly that's because I'm chatting in my other account and don't want to interrupt the chat just to go post. So yes, there have been a few times (like this week) that I've just blogged on LJ and not bothered to cross post here.

Lame, I know. I wish there were a way to toggle easily between accounts but... alas. Just thought I'd let y'all know about this since recently I've blogged over on LJ and not cross posted here.

In other news, fall has... erm.... fallen here rather quickly. At least weather wise. A few days ago I was sweating it out in shorts and t-shirts and today has that wonderful crisp fall air that makes everything feel so clean and sharp. I love it. I'm sitting here with the window open, the cat on the dog bed and the dog on the couch. Everyone's enjoying the fresh air!

Many moons ago I used to post weekend goals. Essentially I did it to hold myself accountable and to put my intentions in writing. I haven't done that as much recently because I've been holding me writing process closer to my chest. But, as I round into the home stretch towards my second book being due, I thought it would be fun to get back into the weekend goal habit. So this weekends goal: read Book 2. And then revise it.

I'm not one of those people who reads as she writes -- I try to not look back. I open the document, glance at where I left off and then start writing. If something in the plot needs to change, I put a comment in saying "make this change" and then I keep pushing along. When I'm done, I go back through and write a list of all those comments and then I start reading.

Usually I like to do the first read on paper. But it takes me DAYS to enter in the comments and corrections I make and I just don't feel like taking that time. Not with work being as hectic as it's been recently. So today my plan is to read the draft, make notes (on the document and on a pad of paper) of things I like and don't like and what needs to change. Tomorrow I'll dive in and make all those changes. And then it's off to beta readers - hurrah!

Or at least that's the plan....

And that's all I have to say about that...

So, you may have noticed we're in election season.  You may not have noticed that I haven't talked about politics or the election and let me assure you that I'm not going to start now :)  While I have very strong thoughts and views and I'm an utter political junkie, I also decided way back when I started this blog that I wouldn't express those views here.  So no worries on that front for those of you who are tired of such things.  However, I did want to bring up a few thoughts tangential to the election in a non-partisan way.     

First, for those of you who aren't registered to vote, now is the time to register.  There are a lot of people who have said it much better than me, but the bottom line is that voting is important and we should all do it.  Plus, it's totally fun and cool :)

Second, if you've moved since you last registered to vote or if your information has changed, make sure your voter registration is up to date.  This is really simple to do -- a lot of states have their voter registration online and you can look yourself up and make sure everything is right.  You don't want to cast your vote only to realize that it might not count cause you information was out of date.

Third, inform yourself.  Don't just believe what you hear, but take a little time to check the facts.  There are plenty of non-partisan groups out there that try to get the bottom of claims, rumors, etc.  One of them is factcheck.org and another is (believe it or not because I had no idea) snopes.com (if you know of others, leave them in the comments).  Just because a candidate or a newscaster or a friend says something doesn't make it true.  Be the cool one who can say "Actually, I looked this up and the truth is...."

Fourth, challenge yourself.  Even though we all love to be proven right, play the devil's advocate to yourself.  When I was in law school I challenged myself to read newspapers that held a bias opposite of my own.  These days I read liberal slanted papers and conservative slanted papers and everything in between.  And I know this sounds like it can take time, but it doesn't have to.  Try getting your news from a variety of outlets to make sure you're getting many different angles.  If your beliefs or feelings are so shallow that they can't be challenged by reading or watching news that might contradict what you think, know or hear, then you need to rethink those beliefs.  To me, the strongest convictions are born from evaluating the facts of both sides and then deciding where you stand; that's why it's important to know the facts and to try to understand the other side's point of view (even if you later reject it).

Firth, remember that there are local elections too!  There's nothing worse than walking into the voting booth with a long and well-reasoned list of reasons to vote for Candidate A for President and then knowing nothing about the senators, city counsel members, judges, etc. that will also have a big impact on your day to day life!   

Sixth, play nice.  Elections can be emotional, they can stir people up.  Remember that other people hold their convictions as tightly as your hold yours.  And if you try to change other people's convictions, be willing to change your own.  And also, don't belive something just because your parents or your friends or your spouse tells you to :)

Finally, enjoy it.  There's a lot to talk about these days!  It's exciting and fun! 

And that's all I have to say about that!

A thought...

Mom: I have an idea for a twist in your book.

Me: Okay, let's hear it.

Mom: Have one of them get pregnant...

Me: Well... I don' t know if--

Mom: ... with a zombie.

*pause pause pause*

Me: Are you suggesting necrophelia to spice up my book?

Mom: *laughs*

Me: You know this conversation will end up on my blog, right?

Mom: *curses in Spanish*

Final Cover

Hello all! Confession: I have become an obsessive self-googler. Yes, it is so bad that at times I have resorted to self-googling even though I have a google alert set up (I was rewarded once for doing this which has only hurt my efforts to reduce said self-googling). But one thing that I've realized in this madness is that I haven't posted the most recent version of my cover!! Granted, there aren't HUGE differences between the first cover I posted and the most recent, but enough that I cringe just a little when I see the old one and feel remiss about not posting the new one :)

So, without further ado, the final (I hope) cover of The Forest of Hands and Teeth (which is scheduled to come out March 24, 2009, btw if I haven't mentioned already :).

I think I missed zombie day

You know how the SciFi network on the weekends tends to have themes? Well, I'm pretty sure yesterday was all about zombies. I can't verify this (read: am too lazy to look up their schedule online) but seeing as how the remake of Dawn of the Dead was on last night followed by Resident Evil: Apocalypse... well... seems zombie theme-ish to me.

We tuned in right for the end of Dawn of the Dead. And once we saw the commercial for Resident Evil: Apocalypse there was much groaning and gnashing of teeth and JP saying "and I almost checked to see what was on SciFi like three times today!!" But it's a good thing we didn't realize it was zombie day because then I would have gotten nothing accomplished. Even though it looks like I have to delete much of what I wrote anyways. Sigh.

So we're really into the big final scene of Dawn of the Dead... the zombies are everywhere, the blonde chick loses a limb, etc etc etc and then BAM: Honey Nut Cheerios commercial. I kid you not, the movie was sponsored by Honey Nut Cheerios. Doesn't that seem odd to you? Also, does it not seem odd you to that we sat there and watched the commercials even though we OWNED the movie? I think it was even in the DVD player at the time!

Many of you know that the remake of Dawn of the Dead is what started me on the whole zombie business. So it was nice getting back to my roots. We also got turned on to Richard Cheese via the movie. I can't recommend him enough -- he does lounge versions of songs (he did the lounge version of Down with the Sickness in the movie while they're playing around in the mall). Hilarious - totally worth downloading for your next party!

Anyway, Dawn of the Dead segued nicely into Resident Evil: Apocalypse (which was sponsored by eHaromony...) and a lovely zombie night was had by all!

Chasing your tail

Well, it's almost 11am on Saturday morning which means I've been daydreaming up what to write today, I've combed through the news and fun blogs, I've checked message boards and now there's nothing else to do but work on Book 2. And so I blog :)

Not much to report. Although I have had the phrase "Just keep swimming" as said/sung by Dori in Finding Nemo in my head since my last post. "Just keep swimming.... just keep swimming..." It's so cheery though that I don't mind :)

As I was sitting here this morning I heard a terrible cat-fight on the next couch over. It was clearly JP's cat screaming so I figured it must be my cat being a bully. Nope. She'd gotten her own claw stuck in her own tail and was furious about the audacity of having a claw in her tail! She spun around a few times, and then fell off the couch, running away from her vile tormentor. Of course my cat ran in to see the commotion, as did the dog. Which led to both cats ganging up on the dog. I don't think he realizes that he's 70 pounds and a DOG. He just puts his head down and takes his lickings. The whole scene, hardest I've laughed in quite a while!

I'd like to say that I'm loving Book 2 right now (because I am), but I'm superstitious so I won't. I've heard from the publicist I'll be working with at RHCB and I think we're talking next week (which I'm super super excited about!!). I'm trying to come up with questions other than "tell me everything you know that I need to know."

I don't think I ever really paid attention to the publicity/marketing side of things before I sold. From being involved in RWA I knew that a lot of authors made bookmarks and magnets and pens, etc. But I don't think I ever paid attention to all the other behind the scenes stuff -- the stuff the publisher can do.

It's interesting because I know some authors who are leery of just how much of an impact an author can have in their own sales and I know other authors who are firm believers that the author can really impact sales. It's hard to figure out where to stand in that spectrum. Generally, when I don't know where to stand I do lots of research so if y'all have any thoughts, bring 'em on! In the end, I'll probably take the same approach as I did to revising -- wanting to know that at the end of the day I did everything in my power to give my little book the best chance I could.

Congrats to Diana Peterfreund on the new addition to the family! Speaking of puppies, mine is trying to crawl into my lap right now.... off to work!

Just...

I feel like my life has been a series of "justs" recently. ... Just sit down and write a thousand words a day, only a thousand. If you want to do more you can, but just worry about the thousand. ... Just get dressed in your workout clothes and start the walk... just run 60 seconds before you can walk again. ... Just make around the lake one more time. ... Just get through the next urgent item on the "to-list"... just what you need to do to keep ahead of the deadlines. ...Just make it through today and then it will be closer to the weekend. ... Just be patient about FHT... it's making it's way out into the world, just wait and you'll start getting more feedback, more news, more indicators.

Sometimes I totally feel like balance in life narrows down to these justs... just keep moving forward. That's not to say there aren't things that egg me on and get me excited, making the process and journey more fun like little rewards along the way. Loving the book I'm writing makes me excited to sit down and write, excited when I get through another scene. Getting through a training session makes me proud, makes me want to keep going. Seeing mentions of my book online (like as a "Kids' Galleys to Grab" in Publishers Weekly) keeps me floating for days!

And I take the time to savor these moments, to pull myself out of the perpetual forward motion and say "Hey, that's pretty cool! Great job on getting your run in today! Yay for finishing those 1k words! And w00t for zombies!" I do think that when things get hectic (like two jobs, a wedding to plan, a family to talk to (hi family!! I'll call, I promise!!)), that it's easy to head down, just make it through. But sometimes you forget to raise your head and suddenly it's August -- almost the end of August -- and you go, "What the.... what happened to my year!?!"

This time a year ago I just started sending out query letters. I'd just quit my job at my old firm. JP and I were looking for a home for our brain damaged dog, Daphne. I'm shocked at how much can change in a year! And let me tell you, the past year? A total and utter dream come true. I just need to relax, to just let time be what it's going to be. To just sit back and enjoy the ride because I have a feeling that the next year is going to be pretty cool too :)

I just have to go write 1k words real quick first :)

More zombies than usual...

Thanks for all the ideas for FAQs!!! I can't wait to show off my new site!

A while back I posted a little lol about my book. I mean for real, what can be better than kittens+zombies+lolspeak? (feel free to answer that in the comments).

So imagine my delight when my friend, and amazing author, Saundra Mitchell, sent me this!

Yes, it is a good day!

It's Content Time, Baby!

So my fabulous web designer has sent the prelim design for my website and I love it! I love all her sites (which is one reason I begged her to take me on right after I sold even though she was booked solid), but still - I was so afraid to send her my thoughts when it came time to start the design because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to ever articulate what I like in a website and what I don't like. Hence the delay in getting it done... me not pulling the trigger.

Anyways, all that aside, we're getting closer! So now it's time for me to write content! And what's funny about this is that while I've been happily typing away on Book 2, ideas flowing wonderfully around me, when I sit down to write a FAQ page (notwithstanding the irony of never having been asked any questions much less frequently) I stare at a blank page... no ideas to be found.

So that's where y'all come in! Do you have any questions for me? Even if you don't, are there things you like to know about your authors in general? Questions that you love to see asked and answered? Ideas for what I can put on the FAQ?

Any other content ideas, throw em at me :) Thanks!!

Back Cover Copy (and other book ods and ends)

So it occurred to me that I haven't ever shared the back cover copy for The Forest of Hands and Teeth. In fact, it feels like I haven't talked about The Forest of Hands and Teeth in a bit. I am here to remedy that.

First, here is the back cover copy (this is what I have on the jacket proof which is different from what's on Amazon... I don't know which trumps but I'm assuming the dust jacket).

In Mary's world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

The Guardians will protect and serve.

The Unconsecrated will never relent.

And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

Very exciting! Technically, that's on the inside flap of the dust jacket. On the back in a beautiful glossy red box (the image of the forest wraps around the spine and across the back as well) is a blurb from Melissa Marr (I can't remember if I shared it before so I'll share it now) that says:

Opening The Forest of Hands and Teeth is like cracking Pandora's box; a blur of darkness and a precious bit of hope pour out. This is a beautifully crafted, page-turning, powerful novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it!"
- Melissa Marr, bestselling author of Wicked Lovely and Ink Exchange.

Thanks Melissa!!! Also exciting is that FHT is up for pre-order (or at least listed) in a few places!
Amazon
Barnes & Noble (not for pre-order yet)
Target

The book also got a shout out on A Fuse #8 Production! And hopefully, I'll be able to share some other fun news soon as well!

I have to admit, it's been very cool and surreal to see mentions of FHT popping up on the internet. I mean, for so long, the only people who have known anything about it are somehow connected with me -- message boards, LJ, related, etc. But to see random mentions... it's like, wow, this book is out there now and totally out of my hands. I get little bursts of joy when I see it mentioned and actually seeing someone like it is really an amazing feeling.

In other news, I bought a new toy for our house: an Apple Time Capsule. This sucker is a router, a print server, and a 500G hard drive. We named it Tardis. It only took a little wrestling to get it installed. For real, the sticking point is that rather than unplugging the cable modem for 30 full seconds when I was installing everything, I unplugged it for 25 seconds. Picky little sucker. But now we have all sorts of back-up for our computers! Yay!

On the Work/Life Balance

Recently, my fiance JP also blogged about the work/life balance.  Since I've been struggling with the whole balance issue myself recently, I thought I'd blog about it.

I think JP brings up a lot of good points, one of them being:

My other thought is that you need to take the time you need to get things done right. And that means that sometimes writing needs to win out, and that means sometimes the Day Job or other things need to win out. The trick is to keep one from pushing other off the face of the map, particularly writing. Too many people let the stress of life be an excuse not to write, myself included. Conversely, though, you shouldn't let the drive to write add more stress to an already stressful period.

 As JP points out in his post, there are a lot of people who will say that if you truly love writing, if you truly are a writer, then you'll find the time to write.  No matter what.  You'll sacrifice everything else before you'll sacrifice writing.  But I think that is unreasonable when you've also got other things going on in life: day job, raising kids, moving, a budding relationship, etc.  It's just a fact of life that sometimes, other things will have to come first.

Conversely, I hear from a ton of writers who never put writing first.  Family, job, cleaning the house, volunteer work, exercise, cooking, etc. always comes first.  This is also unreasonable if you want to be a professional writer.

We all know that a writer writes -- it's the bottom line of the profession.  How that happens?  That's the difficulty.  And yeah, it's going to take sacrifice.  If you want to sell a book, I don't think you can just throw writing on at the end of your priorities and have that be enough.  Just the opposite, I think that it has to come first (and has to come first a lot).  That's why I'll be eating a frozen dinner tonight.  And tomorrow night.  And every night this week -- because it takes a lot of time to cook and that's time I could be writing.  That's why our house is often messy -- because we write rather than clean.  That's why our garden isn't winning us any awards in our neighborhood.

We had to prioritize.  One of the first things to go -- most TV shows.  Did I *really* need to know who the last Cylon was right when the rest of the world found out (or has it even been revealed yet)?  Nope, that's what Netflix is for.  Do I *really* have to see the million different shows about planning a wedding?  Nope, that's what eloping is for (just kidding mom!).  Even when I go online and find myself following comment trails on blogs and message boards I ask myself: do I really need to spend time doing this?

And sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes other things must take priority.  Yes, JP and I take the time to walk the dog and spend time together.  We take the time for our day jobs because we happen to like our house.  But we looked at what could go, and we cut it.  I do think often that's the investment writing to go pro requires.

But you know, the thing is, sometimes life just gets in the way.  You meet someone new.  You get buried at work.  Sometimes, even though it's a big priority, writing just has to get bumped down for your own sanity.  For me, the key is then to ENJOY that time not writing.  I think of it like dieting, if you're going to eat that tres leches cake, enjoy it!  Don't sneak it in, pretend you're not eating it -- no! sit there and savor it!  Same thing with time off -- admit that you're taking time off.  Live with the decision, and don't beat yourself up.  But also acknowledge that taking that time might mean extending personal deadlines -- again, you have to make that decision knowingly and honestly and then live with it!

In the end, remember that you're going to mess up.  We're human, it happens.  Sometimes the alarm will go off at 5:30 and you'll jump out of bed ready to write.  Sometimes you'll keep hitting snooze until your fiance rips the clock cord out of the wall.  I think it's a constant struggle and it constantly needs tweaking.  Bottom line, I think you just have to be honest with yourself.  It's way too easy to fritter away time rather than being conscious about the choices you're making.

All that being said... I have some pages to write :)  What are y'all's thoughts on the work/life balance?

Clean house, clean mind

Since this blog is all about procrastination, I thought I'd talk about it some more.  In college, my favorite form of procrastination was cleaning.  And I'm generally not a huge fan of cleaning.  And I'm also really really messy.  I try not to be messy, but inertia tends to lead me in that direction.  I think part of my problem is that I like stuff and form stupid superstitious attachments to things easily.  For example, from cleaning out my apartment FIVE years after college:  "Oh, that's the shirt I wore for my ninth grade school picture, I can't get rid of THAT!"

So, as you can imagine, there's clutter.  Thinking back to this room yesterday afternoon:  I still had Christmas cards on display.  I had a calendar on the wall from 2007 (but it has pics of my niece and nephews which I love).  Old phonebooks - check!  Magazines (bridal, Publishers Weekly, Romance Writers Report).  In this room alone were four computers!  And for some reason, a burned out lightbulb in a basket.  With dog toys.  And pens, half of which don't work.  And PILES of mail.

As you can see, clutter.  Even when I get into a mood to throw away, I always have some stupid reason to hang onto things (what if the power goes out and we need the energy company number and can't find the most recent phone book?  Maybe if I scribble enough I can make some of these pens work...etc).

I realized that for the last few weeks, it's been more difficult to write.  Then yesterday, JP and I spent all afternoon cleaning and THROWING AWAY CLUTTER.  Our hurby curby is full!  And suddenly... I'm writing more.

My mom used to say, clean house, clean mind (I think she said that, at least).  I thought it was just a trick to make me clean my room.  But now I think she's right.  Not only was cleaning a great way to procrastinate writing papers in college, it put everything else around me in order so I wasn't distracted.  Sitting here now, with the mountain of mail gone, dog toys put away, a broken piece of furniture moved out, I feel lighter.  We still have a way to go, but the bookcase is in order, the floors are clear, and I can see the top of our huntboard.  JP and I were even able to eat dinner and play Scrabble on the dining room table!

Plus, it feels good to have accomplished a goal that's been hanging on my back for a while.  It's like, if I can clear things away in life, I can clear them away in my head.  

So that's one of my procrastination techniques.  Oddly, it's a circular game because when I don't want to clean I procrastinate by.... writing.  Go figure!  What are some of your favorite procrastination techniques?

Manuscript Maven Jamboree!

A little note to say that the Manuscript Mavens are having our first Anniversary Jamboree! There are prizes, books, and answers to those questions everyone has always wondered! So pop on over and check it out!

Today's question asks what's the best Halloween costume you've worn? Ironically, I was just home this weekend scanning in pictures and I happened to scan in one from Halloween my first year of law school. I was a Bond girl... wish I could remember my Bond name.... and for some reason Blogger is being mean and won't let me post the picture so you'll have to go HERE to my LJ to see it. 

Suggested Bond names welcome in the comments :)  So head over to the Maven site and let me know -- what's your favorite Halloween costume?

Author Photo - the results

Hello world!  Insert obligatory apology for not posting more.  You know it's been a while when your mother reminds you to post on your blog so she knows what's going on in your life.  Mayhap I should call home a little more often....

Recently I posted about getting author photos taken... well, here are two of the ones I really liked.  I have to admit, the photographer did a fantastic job -- everyone did.  It was fun to feel like a superstar for a few hours with people slowing their cars down to wonder who the chick was and why people would be taking her picture.  I had tons of pics to choose from, but I think I like these two the best.  What do you think?

We just got back from our annual treck to the beach for the Fourth of July.  Growing up, my family used to go spend the summer at my grandparent's house on Cape Cod.  I have amazing memories of these summers.  Even though they all tumble together into one happy blur of sailing, sitting on rocks watching the sunset, the generic car, Crystal Lake (yes, that was the name of the lake) and more memories than I could ever list here, they're all how I think of "summer."  

Going to JP's family's house at the beach reminds me of those times.  It's something about how laid back it all feels, about the layers of history you feel in every aspect of life there, and about the smell of a house near the ocean that doesn't always run the air conditioner.  There's just that same sense of pace to it all - nothing exists outside of that house and its world.

This time, it was interesting to stand on the dock and look down at the tide filling the marsh and take a snapshot of life how it is now.  This time last year I was revising The Forest of Hands and Teeth.  I was looking for a new day job.  I wasn't yet engaged (though to us that was just a technicality).  This year I've signed with an agent, sold a book, started to get feedback on that book from readers, gotten engaged.  Next year... who knows?  JP and I should hopefully be married (if we get around to planning the wedding), my book will be out, the book I'm writing now should be finished and hopefully I'll be writing a third.

I think it's nice to take stock of things every now and again.  It's so easy to head-down and plow through life -- looking towards the weekend or waiting for ARCs or wondering about things off in the future -- that we fail to think about where we are now.  Where we've come from and where we're going.  It's crazy how much things can change in a year!

He's a Pro!

A while back y'all may remember me announcing the news of JP's first pro-level sale. The post is here. Now, many of you may not be familiar with the short story market (esp. the SFF short story market) I certainly wasn't before JP started writing in it. But it's a tough market -- an incredibly tough market. And there are levels -- SFWA (Sci Fi Writers of America) has guidelines which essentially rank markets and the highest level is pro -- it's a tough market to crack!

Baen's Universe is one of the pro-level markets and a while back they created an "introducing slot." The way I think of it is that these are writers who Baen's wants to claim saying "we're the ones that found him! We're the ones to thank for bringing you this amazing new talent!"

JP is one of Baen's Universe's introducing writers for June with his story, Spamdemonium. It's an amazing story. I thought it was an amazing story when he first wrote it years ago. And the story behind his sale is even more amazing. He wrote Spamdemonium a long time ago, back after we'd conceived of the 10 Year Plan. He submitted it to Baen's and got feedback which he used to revise before submitting it again. It was passed up the main editors out of the slush and there it sat. And sat. And sat. For over a year. For 480 days.

Mike Resnick spoke at ConCarolinas about being an editor for Baen's and the time the slush readers sent way too many stories up for review -- hundreds of them. And how it took almost a year to cull through them. He said that only those amazing few made it past his review-- and one of those was JP's. And I know this because after Mike's talk JP introduced himself and Mike told that to him-- that JP must have been one of the few really incredible ones. For those of you counting, his story came out 735 days after submission. Wow!!

I'm in constant awe of short story writing. I'm amazed at the economy of words, the ability to parse things down to their most important. I realized a long time ago that I would write novels because I don't have the skill for short stories -- I'm way too verbose.

But JP has that talent. He really is an inspiration. And I have learned a lot from him and his writing.

So I urge you to check out his first pro-level sale, Spamdemonium. It's worth it! Totally worth the wait!!

Plus they commissioned original art to go along with his story -- how cool is that?

This morning in the Ryan-Davis household

JP: get up

Carrie: grrrmmmph

JP: get up or I shall sick my minions on you

Carrie: please not the dogs

JP: don't think I won't do it

Carrie: I dreamt of zombies last night

JP: I'm so proud of you!

Carrie: twice. I dreamt of zombies twice.

JP: awesome!

And the thing is, the man wasn't being sarcastic! Welcome to our life.

Oh, and very oddly, the first time I dreamt of zombies, Gena Showalter was there. It was a zombie attack and I was running to get away from them and I see Gena coming out of a restaurant gripping her side. She was getting into a zippy black little sports car -- clearly a chauffeured car -- but no one would drive it cause they thought she was about to turn. Me, I wanted that car so I could get far far away. So I asked her "are you about to turn into a zombie?" her: "no, I know I look like it, but no." So I asked her where her hotel was and drove her there. I mean, I drove right inside the doors of the hotel and left her off at the elevator -- talk about door to door service! I hope she made it to her room without becoming a zombie!!