Hi! **waves sheepishly** I'm not dead.

image by dev null
via Flickr Creative Commons

And I haven't been an absent blogger because don't I love you, or because I haven't missed you all like crazy, either. After being gone from blogging for what felt like the entire summer, let's update each other, shall we? If you want me to start, keep reading. If you'd like to start, feel free to scroll right down to the comments first.

I made it through content and line edits! I did round one edits in the spring, but my editorial letters for rounds 2, 3, and 4, each complete with line edits all came during the summer. It was tough, but I'm done! And right now, my manuscript is in the hands of a copy editor.

My kids made it through what has arguably been the MOST BORING SUMMER EVER. (Apparently stressful deadlines for me = no fun for them.) And they went back to school today! I now have kids in three different schools, with six different drop off / pick up times. 7:45, 8:15, 9:05, 2:15, 2:45, 3:30. Crazy much? Maybe just a little. Benefits to having the most boring summer ever? My kids are actually, for the first time ever, mentally ready (and possibly even a little bit excited) for school to start. Huzzah!

I recently okayed my author bio, wrote my dedication, and worked on my acknowledgements. :'o) I haven't finished them, though. Holy hardness-- they're tough! So much more difficult than I anticipated. Oh! And I made a book trailer! Aaaand I can't show you for like ten months. But it's awesome! (You're just going to have to trust me on this one for now.) It was crazy time consuming and had to happen right during crazy deadlines for edits in order to be used at list launch, and possibly made me a little crazy,  but it's done. And my agent is going to use it to pitch my book to foreign editors, which makes me crazy happy. Plus, in ten months from now when I'll probably be crazy busy, I'm going to take a few minutes to sit down, kick my feet up, and be so glad I'm not in the middle of making a book trailer.

I actually worked on book 2 this past weekend! I went to a writing retreat and got SO MUCH DONE. I'm still living off the high from accomplishing so much. Especially because I'm generally a slow drafter, so what I got done in 2 1/2 days amounts to 7 good weeks of writing. For a moment, though, I didn't think it would happen. I was wandering outside the resort, talking and plotting (because I plot best when I wander. And it's even better when I do it chatting on the phone with someone than when I'm just talking with myself...), and I saw this:

I took this with my phone, standing directly in front of our place, looking at the Park City mountain that's so very close to us. That stuff in the background? Those aren't clouds! They're the first billows of smoke from a massive forest fire. I thought for sure we'd be evacuated. The writing gods smiled down on us, and we forged on.

I swear, guys, I am back, and I plan to blog like I love it again. Because I really do. I figured I'd do a few industry posts, too. I think it's so good to know what you're getting into every step of the way, and the best way to do that is to read about the same things from different people. Things are just so vastly different between publishing houses, between genres, age groups, editors, authors-- it's good to hear all of it. So I think I'll post this week on List Launch--- the thing I knew the least about when I got my book deal. Plus, I think I'll post on how to have a successful writing retreat, because it could've just as easily become a chat-a-thon as a write-a-thon.....

So tell me what you've been up to this summer! You don't have to write a post-length comment, of course. It is, after all, my fault I haven't been around to see what you've been doing. But if you do decide to leave a post-length telling of your summer, I am so VERY okay with that.

When things get really tough

There are parts of this whole writing thing that are HARD. Some are so hard, you might be tempted to quit! Today, I'm at Jeff Hargett's blog, Strands of Pattern, talking about how to keep the desire to be published when things get hard. Come hang out with us!

Come hang out poolside!

Guys, guess what? The fabulous Angela Cothran has come back to blogging! (I think she realized how much more fun blogging is than unpacking after a cross-country move.) She wants us to come hang out with her at her new digs where, seriously, she has a pool. What say you? Feel free to come in whatever you're wearing. I swear I probably won't push you in.

And I swear we'll talk about more than just this:

Heck, we might even talk about writing! Come join us at Angela's. But bring your own sunglasses. I already stole borrowed hers.

And the winner is.....

First, thank you so much to everyone who entered the One Year, One Month, One Day, One Incredible Giveaway Blogiversary! You sure can make a couple of girls' blogiversary awesome!

And the winner is....

Faith E. Hough!

glitter star backdrop (christmasstockimages.com) / CC BY 3.0

We'll be getting in touch soon, Faith.

One Year, One Month, One Day, One Incredible Giveaway!

Today is my one year, one month, and one day blogiversary! *Tosses confetti* Thanks for coming by to celebrate with me!

My fabulous writing / blogging bff, Jessie Humphries at The B-Word and I started our blogs at virtually the same time, holding hands and fumbling through the dark together. And when you fumble together, it’s only appropriate to celebrate together. Especially when it adds to the epicness of it.

Because oh my goodness, THE EPIC.

Here’s the thing. We love you guys! We’ve been constantly amazed over the past one year, one month, and one day at how welcoming, supportive, helpful, kind and hilarious you all are. We wanted to show our gratitude.

So, we are giving away to one lucky winner......

(Drum roll, please)

Always wanted an e-reader? Here’s your chance to win! Already have one? You can get your choice of a gift certificate to Amazon, your choice of books from The Book Depository, or if you’re in the U.S., books from your favorite indie bookstore! This giveaway is even open internationally! (Where you live might affect the prize available to you. You’d have a choice of Amazon if it’s available in your country, or books from The Book Depository anywhere in the world.)

The giveaway opens today, on my one year, one month, one day blogiversary, and ends next Monday (July 23) at midnight EST, on Jessie’s one year, one month, one day blogiversary.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


What? You want even more chances to win? Head on over to Jessie Humphries: The B-Word, if not for more chances, then do it because Jessie rocks! Plus, I hear she’s offering free spooning.

Buried

I have been a bad blogger lately.

It's not that I don't love it! And every day I hate not knowing what's going on with you guys. It's just a very unfortunate bi-product of some insane deadlines. (Plus, there's kids who need a mom... a hubby who needs a wife...) But soon. Soon..... I have third round edits due this week, then it's possible I'll have a 2-3 week breather before copy edits arrive. (Who's that calling my name? Ahh! Book 2! I had almost forgotten you were over there! We'll hang out soon. I promise.)

But until I get that breather, my desk has been feeling a little like this:

What do you mean? My head totally matches with my body. And I could totally be smiley in a desk like this. And I totally still use a phone with a cord.

And do you know what helps when your desk is feeling like that? Looking at desks that don't. (If your desk is feeling like the one above, go ahead and salivate at these.)

credit

credit

credit

credit

Check out the desktop space! I WANT THAT SPACE. AND THOSE WINDOWS.

credit

Credit

Credit

Do you know what? Forget the desk. I just want to work here:

credit

Has your summer been more full of work or play? And when you are working, where do YOU want to work?



Thank you so much, E.D. at (Not) Just Another Writer for the Kreative Blogger award!

Oh, the epicness! The EPICNESS!! (Seriously. You want this prize.)

Do you know what's six months from today?

That's right! 2013-- the year that holds a special place in my heart *cue cheesy grin*. ANYWAY, as a Lucky 13s group, since that's when our books start coming out, we decided to have a giveaway! We have each chosen a book that has influenced us, and we are giving them ALL away to one lucky winner!! We'll each ship the book we've chosen off ourselves, so you'll get 20 different packages in the mail! Can you even imagine how fun it will be to get your mail each day? *cue jealousy for not being able to enter myself*

Seriously. Feast your eyes on the awesomeness:

I know you're dying to go enter right now. But first, a little on why I chose the book I chose.

I read a ton of MG to my kids. If you asked any of my kids what their favorite book I've read to them is, they'd say without hesitation GREGOR THE OVERLANDER.

Why? A few things, I think. First and foremost-- THE CONFLICT!! Yeah. I think we can all agree that Suzanne Collins is pretty darn good at conflict. It meant that my kids were glued to the books! Nothing like a little mortal danger to keep you wanting to know what happens! She made likeable, flawed characters. An incredible setting. Unique and unforgettable secondary characters. An interesting and gripping plot. And a tag-along two-year old you can't help but love. I guess why I picked this book as being one of the most influential to me, is that it really showed that when you don't coddle your characters, your book gets so much more interesting.

Thanks for sticking around long enough to read that, when I know what you really want to do is get on over to the Lucky 13s giveaway! I'm so excited for this giveaway! Best of luck!!

Oops!

Doh! I was writing my post for tomorrow, and forgot to change the scheduled date before I clicked "publish!" (I hate when that happens!) So.... If your reader sent you here anytime before Monday morning, just forget it ever happened. ;)

BUT DO COME BACK TOMORROW! I'm talking about a seriously epic giveaway. You definitely won't want to miss it.

Quotes and Cookies: Make up words

The other day, my brother sent me a press release to edit before it went live. I figured Press Release = Scrutinize Minutely, right? So I did. There was a word in it, "centristic," and I wasn't sure what it meant, so I wasn't sure if it was getting across the right message. Being the dutiful editor that I am, I looked it up.

Yeah. It wasn't in the dictionary.

So I sent my brother the file with my notes, and on that word, I left a note saying, "I don't know what this word means, and neither does dictionary.com"

His reply is my quote for the day.

"You don’t have to be the president to invent words,
and I think this is a good one."

~Allen Wheeler

Hahaha! Okay, I have to say that I love that quote way more than I should. Probably because I totally agree with it. I was reading ENNA BURNING by Shannon Hale when I first became a writer. She used a word-- thocked-- that was absolutely perfect in the sentence. It was also a word I'd never heard before, so I looked it up. (Okay, maybe it has absolutely nothing at all to do with being a dutiful editor and everything to do with being a geek.) And guess what I found? IT'S NOT A WORD. I was shocked. Really? Writers can do that?

Yes we can. And our books might be all the better for it. (As long as we don't abuse our power, of course.)

Have you ever made up a word? I know I've wanted to! (Raise your hand if you've needed the English language to have about 10 more words for smile. I mean we've got grin and smirk. That's IT.)

So make up a word! Have a Loaded Oatmeal cookie! And if you are feeling 20 kinds of awesome, make up a word for "smile!" (You know, like one for a sly smile. Or a sad smile. Or one of those smiles that don't really have any emotion behind it. Or one of those where all is right with the world. Or an evil smile.)

Photo credit and recipe link for Claudia's Cookbook

And then make sure to have an [insert made up word here] weekend!

The Way We Are: The Hardest Part of Your Novel

Okay, so I've heard writers talk about what's hardest for them when writing a book. For some, it's the sagging middle. For others, it's the weighty beginning. For others, it's the has-to-be-fabulous ending.

They're all their own special kind of hard, it's true. The more I got thinking about which part is hardest for me, the more I got wondering what is the hardest part for everyone else. So how about you? Let's have it!

poll by twiigs.com

 
For me, it's beginnings. Not far behind that is endings. The middle for me is cake! I plot a lot, and do a lot of figuring things out ahead of time, so when I sit down to start and everything wants to pour, it's so overwhelming figuring out how to make it trickle.

What about your hardest part is hardest for you?