Wondering About How A Book Can Happen For You?

If you want to understand the wily world of publishing, get thee to Kiersten White's blog. This lovely lady just rocked a major deal with Harper Teen and she's also full of sweetness and sharp wit to boot.

Her post today: How to get published. Check it out!

As for me, I'm in denial about the approaching school year. What could help, what could help, hmmmmm, maybe this?

Making Friends

All former (or current) Girl Scouts in the house raise your hands!

Remember this song? (Sung as a round)

Make new friends
But keep the old
One is silver
And the other's gold

I've always liked the message of this simple tune and my life of late reflects its sentiment very well.

I made some awesome new friends in the Tenners and I'm delighted to count myself amongst them. Let me tell you - next year will be a fantastic year for books! I can't wait to read the collective works of my fellow Tenners.

I'm indebted and thrilled to be working with a very old friend, the fabulous Lindsey. She is a creative, innovative graphic designer and she's building me a web site!

She sent me the page proofs yesterday and I went gaga over them. So beautiful! I can't wait to share the site with the the world, I'll let you know when it goes live.

Thanks to friends, old and new. Here's to a brilliant future for us all!

Something in the Air?

I guess my next move should be to buy a lottery ticket, since I just received the Kreativ blog award from Tricia over at Talespinning. Thanks, Tricia.

This award requires that I divulge some personal information. I'm going to leave you with one - I have a large freckle under my left eye that constantly causes people to stop and say, "You know you have a mascara smudge under your eye."

For more quirky Andrea see my post on quirks.

Now to share the love, here are some fellow Kreative folk:

Suzette Saxton, Shooting Stars
Wendy, Writes in the City
The Story Siren
The Wednesday Chronicles

I Won, I Won!

At what has become my favorite blog post of the week, the lovely Laura, weekly guest poster at Eric's fantastic Pimp My Novel has taken to challenging her readers to creative contests. The first contest: write the first line of an Amish vampire novel. Awesome and hilarious.

Last week's contest: invent a new fantasy weapon.

And my entry won!

The weapon: Blesions - blessings from fallen angels that strike victims down with apolcalyptic-style boils.

Thanks, Laura :)

Music is My...

I'm all bubbles and sparklers because I'm about to put together a new playlist. I've mentioned in the past that I use music to write, but I haven't formally posted about the whys and wherefores of a novel's playlist.

Playlists serve three primary functions for me:
1) Create the mood of a scene
2) Define key traits of a character & his/her tastes
3) Get me to a better writing place if I get stuck

Regarding #3, while I wouldn't stay I've ever had writer's block I do experience writer's detour - wherein I find myself wandering away from the mental space I want to be in to write well. The best solution I've found for going off road involves literal driving. I do some of my best idea generating when behind the wheel, particularly if I'm listening to the playlist I've created for my current writing progress.

Up until this week I've had an informal playlist for my WIP, but I've heard a few songs recently that catapulted me into the novel and I knew it was time to put the REAL playlist together and get this baby rockin on the screen.

What about the playlist for my novel? That, my friends, will be posted in concert with the availability of ARCs. When I can share the book with readers, I'll share the music too!

But until then here's a key track from the playlist I'm buidling today:


What's even more neat-o? That girl looks like my protagonist.

I love reading about whether music works for other writers. Do you playlist?

Known

I had a surprise left at my front door this morning. I looked at the package for awhile, shook it, and wondered what it could be. Who it was from. Or if I'd ordered something on amazon.com and forgotten about it (wouldn't be the first time).

Inside the box was this:

My fluffy Penguinlet was sent by my best friend from age 5, Katie. What was really profound about this oh-so-joyful and perfect surprise is that Katie lives in Madison and so she hasn't been around to see my twirling and chirping "I'm a Penguin! I'm a Penguin!" up and down the streets of Minneapolis since I got the offer.

But she knew. She always knows.

Katie understands why I need to write. She was there for the earliest scribblings. And she always believed in me. She still does.

Being truly known by another person is one of life's greatest delights; to be believed in when you no longer believe in yourself is what makes the journey possible. From my brother's assurance when my book went on submission, "Your book will sell, I have no doubt. There is no question of whether or not it will sell," to the constant response I received when I admitted I wanted to become a novelist, "Well of course. You've always been a writer. That's what you do." (And this coming from folks who haven't had regular contact with me since I graduated from high school!)

When my dream came true of going from aspiring author to author with a two-book deal I was greeted by the hugs and screeches of happiness from my family and friends.

Their elation made my own shine even brighter.

Sharing the excitement has been the highlight of this crossroads because the people who have been supporting me from the beginning are those who truly know what a victory it is. How long it has been a dream and how much it means to begin living it.

Thank you to everyone for believing, for knowing, for celebrating. This is only the beginning!

Family Ties

My parents are here for a visit and they brought their dog, which brings us up to three dogs, one parakeet, and one wild rabbit in the house.


She made herself at home, living up to her namesake: Loki.

And Rocco learned about sharing.

And, yes, I am terrible about making the bed.