1. Well, the good news is the Apple store was able to retrieve the work I did yesterday on my WIP, so at least I haven't lost that anymore, it's now safely emailed to myself. So that means all the latest versions of my WIPs/novels/writing are backed up. The bad news is it seems the cost to fix the damage to my computer is only $100 LESS than the cost of a brand new computer. So...it doesn't seem worth it to fix it. Apparently I have 10 minutes to back up whatever I can before the computer dies for good. Only my writing is backed up, not my photos/music/stuff like that. Not sure I believe that there's a 10 minute deadline but I'm going to try it as soon as I finish this blog post (because I have to steal the monitor away from the PC I'm typing on to do it). It seems my computer is on its death bed. Other than that, looks like I'll be buying a new computer this weekend. I do have a PC desktop and a PC laptop, but PCs and I do not get along very well so I'm going to try to make the time spent with them as little as possible.

ETA: My computer did not die after 10 minutes. It's been going strong for 2 hours. I now have everything backed up, phew!

2. I never updated about writing stuff. I finished nano with 57k, which is essentially 40k less than I was shooting for. (My first drafts tend to be on the long side, then I trim, so don't be scared by that number.) I ended up having to stop working on nano toward mid-November when something surprising came up. I dragged a manuscript out of trunk-dom and I've been revising like hell the last few weeks to get it to my agent. That's the one I was working on yesterday. It seems there might be new life for this one! So yay on that! I like this book and I'm glad there's renewed interest.


3. As for my super secret retelling, it's out with crit partners still. I have some notes from them waiting to be implemented, but I'm not going to tackle them until I get my agent the revived trunk novel. The retelling is in half-final draft mode, half-third draft mode since I revised the first half in November before I had to switch to the trunked one. My eta on this is to get her the full retelling book before the holidays.

4. Tomorrow is 6 months until my wedding. EEK!!! I picked out Bridesmaid dresses over Thanksgiving.

5. I'm going to go to this book signing at Books of Wonder in NYC this weekend so if you see me, say hi!

MICHELLE ZINK - Prophecy of the Sisters
JON SKOVRON - Struts and Frets
MEGAN CREWE - Give Up the Ghost
SARAH CROSS - Dull Boy
SHANI PETROFF - Daddy’s Little Angle: Bedeviled #1
KATE MESSNER - The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z
NEESHA MEMINGER - Shine Coconut Moon
DEVA FAGAN - Fortune’s Folly

How was your November? Holidays? Any exciting weekend plans?

This is what my klutziness did to my computer monitor:



And that, kids, is why we should always backup our work. I did lose 8 hours of work today on my revisions, but I had backed it up yesterday so it could have been much worse. All the latest drafts of my other projects are also safely backed up. I hope I can rescue the file as I was trying to get this to my agent, oh, tomorrow. That's not going to happen now.

Also, I cross-posted this on twitter and FB, but if anyone knows how to hook up the macbook to a PC monitor, a PC, or a TV (to act as a monitor), please let me know so I can get this file off the computer. I am currently typing on a PC desktop.

I've been juggling between all these trenches the last few weeks: revision trench, nano trench, wedding planning trench, plus I'm still trying to keep up with the thousand TV shows I watch AND read two books per week. So far so good on all that. Blogging? Not so much. Then add to that a new job I've been working 10-12 hours a day at plus commuting takes as long as two hours each way. That's where I've been the last two weeks and that's why I haven't had much time for the internets. I've had to make cuts and so I figured I might as well cut the time suck until things slow down again. I suspect the rest of November will be like this. Anyway, here's my progress on some of the above. Also, if you need to reach me, the best way is via email, which is on the sidebar. I'm still checking that religiously!

1. Super Secret Retelling revisions are going very very well. The book is out with critique partners right now. I've been revising as I get their notes. I have two scenes left to add. I think chapters 1-17 are in pretty good shape at the moment. The rest are getting there as I get to them. I'm very excited about the way the book is turning out. Right now it's on the longish side for YA (around 85k), but I'm working on shaving it down. Hoping to get it to my agent asap! Ideally, it will go on sub in January.

2. Nanowrimo. I was off to a great start doing 3k a day and having no trouble and then I started this freelance job and I lost all my free time. I don't get home until after 10pm and I haven't been able to get a seat on the bus for my commute so writing on the alpha smart is out too. The last few nights I've been struggling to get 1k-2k written because my brain is on sleep mode at that point. Hopefully I'll have some time to catch up this weekend (I've got two 4-hour car rides to and from Boston that I can write during). Right now the book stands at 32k. I'd prefer to be at, like, 39k by the end of the day but it's not going to happen. I was hoping to get the entire draft written in November (which tends to be about 90k for a first draft...I always overwrite at first, which I prefer. I like having things to cut in draft 2) but I may have to settle for just 50k or whatever additional I can do. I had a really detailed outline for this book, but I've started to stray. A love triangle cropped up I hadn't planned on and I'm loving it so I'm going with it. I think I may have a case of an unnecessary character as well so that person might get axed in revisions.

3. TV. The three weeks of Glee withdrawal were hard to deal with. I have a major crush on Puck. I wish the last episode wasn't so preachy, even though it made me cry. I'm still absolutely loving Vampire Diaries. I also have a crush on Damon. I like the risks that show is taking. Surprisingly, I've been enjoying Grey's Anatomy. I think it's because George and Izzie are gone at the moment and I never liked them. I nearly gave that show up last year and the year before. Also I adore Modern Family!

4. I read Prada and Prejudice and Rampant recently and really enjoyed both of them!

5. I signed up for the YA/kidlit ALA tweetup happening in January in Boston. Anyone going?

6. This weekend I'm going to my future-in-laws' house in the Boston area because they're hosting a "ravioli making party." Sounds fun!

What's up with everyone else?

1. So my obviously unrealistic plan of getting the retelling ready for my agent by nano didn't quite work out. Still, I've gotten a lot done. Every time I make a change, I think, "wow that made the book stronger!" Even just replacing a sentence with another. I'm really quite happy with the progress. My new goal is to just get it to my agent as soon as I can. Not sure when that will be because it will depend on how extensive the revisions are for the latter half of the book (since the first half is pretty ready) and I haven't yet received those notes from my fab critiquers (or even given it to some of them...which makes it pretty hard to receive the notes).

2. I'm still doing nano! I plan to do just 2k a day and work on the retelling revisions the rest of the time. Luckily the no-job thing will help me with time-management. Did I say no-job? I mean full-time writing job! Since i'm freelance though, i could get put on a crazy-deadline project any moment. I usually have those in November because everyone wants holiday commercial graphics. I really want to have fun with this nano project and not stress about it. I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this, but I HATE first drafting. I try to get it done as fast as possible. I love love love to revise and so nano is perfect because it makes me competitive enough to bang out the crappy first draft and then indulge in the part of the process I love.

I'm ShanaS over at nano if you want to buddy me!

3. My Elaine Benes halloween costume is made of fail. I can't get my hair right and I've been practicing for days. I may have to pull a bait-and-switch Katniss instead. However, my boy looks adorable in his puffy shirt.

4. So I was watching Gossip Girl on Monday and a New Moon commercial came on. I squeed like the fangirl I am and had to rewind the TV a couple of times. Then I glanced over at the fiance. He was staring at me with a look of horror on his face. He told me he's wondering if he should break up with me for someone who is not twelve-years-old like I am. I could have defended myself. I could have kept my fangirl hidden. Instead I did the next best thing.

I applied to be on Rachael Ray as the ultimate Twilight fan and told all the stories about how he doesn't support me because he still will not agree to Flightless Bird being our first dance song, but I'm working on it. Hey, that's what ultimatums are for, right?

He's a good guy, don't get me wrong, but not liking vampire fiction is one of his biggest flaws. Fingers crossed for Rachael Ray (I'm not exaggerating, I really did apply).

(I can't believe I just posted that story.)

5. Recent reads and quick reviews:

Splendor: I'm not finished yet, but almost. I really like this one! Elizabeth's story bored me after book one, but hers is my favorite this time around. I like how the author makes me like even the sympathetic characters.

When You Reach Me: I'd heard great things about this and really had no idea what to expect because I hadn't read anything about the exact premise other than the protagonist receives weird notes. Well, I certainly didn't expect that! I really really enjoyed this story. I can't stop thinking about it. I can't really go into details without giving away spoilers, but let's just say that some of the conversations in this book and the mystery solution are things I used to discuss with my dad at the protagonist's age. So it hit close to home. (Though I have yet to receive weird notes like she did. I'm still waiting though!) I love how the author hid so many clues right in front of the reader's face and you just didn't notice until it all came together.

The Season: What a juicy romance! Gavin is so crushworthy. I had the mystery pegged quickly (as I usually do), but since I was so invested in the romance it didn't matter. I also liked how strong the protagonist was.

Perfect You: Loved the snappy dialogue and comebacks of the main character. I also found the romance really fun. I also like how the ending went in a different direction than I expected. That's refreshing.

I was debating whether or not to go to the SCBWI Winter conference, but I finally decided to register. The cost of the writing intensive was holding me up since it put the entire cost of the conference higher than when I went for extra days in LA. Therefore, I decided not to do the writing intensive and just do the regular conference.

Really, I shouldn't have been debating. I live 20 mins from NYC and I'm there almost every day for work. For LA, I had to get airfare and hotel. And last year I regretted not going to the winter conference. I don't want to miss out again!

Plus, I'm so excited to meet everyone who may be coming! I had a great time at the blueboarder dinner and Kidlit drinks night. I'm hoping both events will happen again this year!

I loved the LA conference. I would definitely go back to it, but seeing as I'm going on a two-week honeymoon to France in June and then I have a wedding in LA in October, I think I've filled my quota on vacations for 2010. Oh well, maybe in 2011.

So who's going to the conference? We'll definitely need to plan a get together!

1. The majority of my super secret retelling WIP is with my awesome crit partner denisejaden . She's already sent me notes on a few chapters and they rock. My critique partner is the best! I've been working my butt off on this book and I still love it so much! Still aiming for an unrealistic goal of getting this book in its polished and sparkling entirety to my agent by Nanowrimo. If it doesn't end up being feasible, that's fine, but I like to give myself impossible goals because they push me harder.

2. There are several things standing in the way of those goals, mainly real life work. Because the only thing that has deadlines more insane than the ones I give myself are advertising clients. At 2pm yesterday they told me I had to redo a lot of the 60 second animation I created. Oh and they needed it by 3pm. Um, that's just not physically possible. It takes a half hour just to render the animation into quicktimes. So that's why I stayed very late yesterday and I got here at 7am this morning. I can't work this weekend and the project needs to air on TV on Monday.

3. I can't work this weekend because tomorrow we're heading to Boston. My fiance's relatives are throwing us an engagement party! I'm so excited. I have a cute new dress for it and everything. Less than 8 months to go until the wedding! We have all the big things booked, except an officiant but we have meetings set up next week. Next up we're going to pick out invitations. We've also decided on France for the honeymoon (South of France, wine tours, then Paris) but we haven't booked yet. Anyone know good hotels or locations to stay at?

4. I am seriously in love with Glee and the Vampire Diaries. Last night's episode was awesome (yes, I sacrificed precious sleep to watch it).

5. I really wanted to dress as Katniss Everdeen for Halloween (long braid, mockingjay pin, fake bow and arrow, done) but the fiance nixed it and told me no one would get it. I knew that, of course, but I hoped maybe it would be a conversation starter and then I could talk about books. Or since I'm NYC and plan on going out in NYC on Halloween, maybe just maybe someone in the publishing industry would be at the same bar and quickly recognize my costume. So I was all set to do it and then he bought himself a Seinfeld puffy shirt and is persuading me to go as Elaine. I dance like her, so that part wouldn't be a stretch. And well, I kind of want to see him wear a puffy shirt, which he will only do if I dress as Elaine, so i think my Katniss costume is a no go. Sigh!

My Spain recap is still in limbo because the photos from the trip are being held hostage by my sister, aka keeper of the sole camera we brought on the trip. She hasn't had a chance to upload them yet and when she does, I'll be able to do the recap.

I've been promising blog reviews for a while. There are several I want to do and so I'm going to finally stop talking and actually post them. I'm going to try to be realistic about it and do one a week. Here's the first one since I finished reading it last night and I'm itching to discuss!




Oh my gosh. This book was amazing. I'd heard from others that it's really confusing for the first third of the book, but stick with it because everything comes together and it's worth reading.

My sister had actually brought this book back for me from a vacation in Australia nearly two years ago because it was a best seller there and wasn't yet available in the US. I'd tried to read it two other times but I couldn't get past page 20 or so. Part of that had to do with the foreign punctuation, but mostly the story IS really confusing.

Since it won the Printz award last January, I'd been meaning to give it another try but I've been intimidated about it. Finally, I decided to push through past the first third and see if I could get into it.

I am so, so glad I stuck with it. I have to say the first 125 pages ARE hard to get through. I really had no idea what was happening and I wasn't invested in the story, mostly because I couldn't figure out what the story actually was. But around page 150 the focus of the story started to change, I began to piece things together and everything started making sense. But most importantly, it was around that time when I found myself really caring about the characters.

And that was it. From that point on I had to read it in one sitting because I couldn't drag myself away. It was an emotional ride, I felt very drained when I finished (but in a good way) and I cried even though the book isn't sad in the way The Book Thief is sad, more that it's a tough emotional journey that tugged at my heart strings.

It gets intense even though it starts out pretty surface level where you think the book is going to be a rivalry between students at neighboring schools (for lack of a better phrase) but it ends up being so much more. For the first third of the book I thought the love story was completely non-existent--where I couldn't even figure out who the love interest was at first except for a clue in the jacket copy. But it ended up being one of the most intense love stories I've ever read, where the love crackled on the page even when the characters weren't admitting to it. I'm wholly impressed.

One of my favorite things about this author is that she pulls the bait and switch in such a subtle way that you don't even notice she's doing it. You start out hating a character and then you realize you're in love with him and you think--wait, when did that happen? Masterful.

Oh and I have a new literary boy crush. I love this one because he appears to be tough and kind of a jerk wad and then he slowly peels away the outer shell and he's completely sensitive and romantic.

This was an interesting read for me, personally, because it consisted of two separate timelines. I've written two books of my own (The Art Of Selling My Sister and Rhythm And Clues) that had dual timelines and I remember it being a very difficult process because my critiquers would often vastly prefer one storyline to the other and it took several rewrites to get them to be invested in BOTH storylines. This was interesting because for about 2/3 of Jellicoe Road, I really didn't care for one of the storylines. Every time it showed up, I would grown and I'd have to force myself to push through just to get back to the storyline I liked. Part of this was that the 2nd storyline (the one in italics) was rather confusing and out of order and I kept forgetting who the characters were and their relationships so it was too much work. But then about 2/3 of the way through I understood the purpose of this timeline and that's when I got invested in it. I think I missed a lot in the beginning because of not understanding so eventually I want to re-read and really pay attention to the parts I missed.

In a way the book reminded me of Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin because of the book within a book structure and how at first it appears to be just a story one of the characters wrote but then turns out to hold the key to everything. Of course, I read TBA about a decade ago so I might be misremembering it.

I did figure out most of the mystery way before the protagonist, and sometimes that bothers me in a book, but this time it didn't because it wasn't just about figuring out the mystery. There was so much more to this book and this story and I found myself caring less about the mystery reveals and more about how they affected the protagonist. That's awesome writing.

I cared deeply for the characters by the end. They're all very well-drawn, even the minor ones. Taylor is an awesome protagonist, and like I mentioned, her love interest is Sa-woon worthy (as Kristy from THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER) would say.

This book absolutely deserved the Printz award. It's a brilliant book that appears to be a surface level story at the start but is way deeper and takes the reader on a unique journey. I highly recommend reading it with the warning that you WILL get confused and want to put the book down for the first 150 pages or so but don't. You'll be glad you stuck with it.

Hi everyone. I'm back in the US--and have been for 2 days--though not officially committed to the east coast time zone yet. My body is a bit confused. I thought I would have a few days to adjust but alas, I got a freelance job for the next few days so I trekked into NYC city this morning (or was it afternoon?) and that's where I'm typing this. I have lots of fun photos to post and recaps. Like, don't you want to see how super cool I was rocking the fanny pack? Because, oh yeah, I rocked it. And I'm not ashamed. It was the only way to ensure safe return of my passports, three ipods, my sister's black berry, and my precious hand lotion (I dislike dry skin) without acting like a paranoid New Yorker and clutching my purse for dear life. Also, I needed a belt and this served duel purpose. All that sight seeing does have its weight-loss benefits!

I'll do an in depth recap probably tomorrow or Friday since I doubt I'll have time by then. I'm on a busy schedule after work this week of frantically watching all 30 TV shows I taped last week AND watching the new ones this week. Plus, you know, I should probably continue revising my WIP since we've been apart for a while and I've missed it. Speaking of which, while I was away I figured out how to fix a problem area I'd left blank and "to be determined" in earlier drafts. Also, I've worked it out in such a way that tied all my subplots together with a single scene. W00t! This has been bugging me for a while and since it's the climax scene, it's pretty important I get it right. And make it awesome.

Remember when I posted that I was doing fine with communicating in Spanish? I spoke to soon. It was a huge problem while I was there. I can sort of read Spanish, but hearing it and trying to understand is completely different. We only got by because my dad understood Spanish reasonably better than the rest of us (but confused everyone else when he spoke it). I'm now nervous because so far France (Paris, a wine tour, and then several days at a beach) is so far top contender for honeymoon locations and neither me nor my fiance speak a word of French. Has anyone gone there without speaking the language? Were you able to get by? I didn't have this problem when I went to Italy, but in Spain it was a big issue.

Particularly during meals. Because when there's a photo of a hamburger that presumably looks made out of beef and the Spanish translation is "hamburguesa" I expect to get a normal hamburger. Not a "ham" burger, aka a pink patty of pork. And, well, I don't eat pork and I had no idea how to correct this mistake except by pointing at the plate and saying "no." Or when I ordered a chicken sandwich and asked for "no queso" and then received a plate of cheese for my meal, sans chicken.

I did not have the food problem in Morocco though, and in fact, I loved it. I loved everything about it. Except waking up at 4:20am for the bus tour. I was not a fan of *that*.

Anyway, I'll get together a picture slide show over the next few days once my sleep schedule returns to normal and my brain is once again capable of coming up with witty captions.

I wasn't able to read LJ the entire time I was away and I'm a bit overwhelmed with all I have to catch up on. I was able to log onto my email for 15 minutes a day where I practiced my speed reading and telepathically sent replies since I never had time to actually respond. Therefore, dear LJ friends, I'm wondering if you could give me a quick recap of what I missed?

Anyone get a book deal? If so, CONGRATS! I want to read it!

Anyone get an agent? If so, good luck and my fingers are crossed for a quick sale!

Anyone defeated by a battle with difficult revisions? If so, put it away for a few weeks, work on something else, then come back to it with fresh eyes. Also, chocolate. Plenty of chocolate.

Any engagements? Drafts completed? New favorite TV shows watched? Cute fall clothes purchased?

I need details, people!

Also, happy half-birthday to me. It is one of the most important holidays of the year to me and yet no one ever remembers. Pfft. I want un-birthday presents!

Hi everyone. I'm writing from a very strange keyboard in Seville, Spain. This keyboard has characters like ¿ ñ and I keep hitting ç instead of ENTER because it's in the spot enter normally is.
 
The hotel I'm staying at right now is ultra modern, kind of reminding me of that Saturday Night Live skit where they sit in ridiculously uncomfortable chairs. The end tables are like 2 inches high. The lamps are all odd shapes. The chair I'm sitting in is made of orange arcyllic and isn't that sturdy. The shower had four different shower heads from various angles. And the lights only turn on if you leave your room key in a power slot. It's called the High Tech Hotel.

We spent the last two days in Madrid. I saw Dali and Picasso paintings and we had a great tour of the palace in Madrid. I have pictures I'll upload when I get home. I can't plug in my normal computer because we don't have the right kind of converter outlet things.

The first day I wasn't adventurous food wise. Unless you count attempting to eat foreigh Burger King. But last night we ordered various tapas and they were good! My favorite was the chicken in garlic sauce.

I've been surprised by how much Spanish I remember even though I only took on two years of it in high school and it was my worst subject. But I'm picking up every fourth word or so when people speak and I can sort of communicate. Pretty much no one except hotel employees speaks English, which I hadn't expected.

I watched 90210 dubbed in Spanish today. I didn't really understand it except it was the episode where Andrea has her baby.

This is my last day with internet I think. We're driving to Costa Del Sol tonight and renting an apartment for the next few days. Then it's beaches, a tour of Morocco, and other small tours.

I hope this is spelled correctly. I'm having issues using the java spell check here. Apologies if it's not since this keyboard is weird to type on and keeps making my words jump around on the page.

I'll do a much better recap next week when I get home and have more than 5 minutes to type this as well as pictures to illustrate!

Well, blog friends, I'm leaving today for 10 days in Spain. The blog may be dark during that time. We're going to Madrid where I will look at this painting:

As well as Sevilla, Costa Del Sol, and Morocco--specifically Tangiers. I'm very excited! I've loaded my carry-on with books as well as my alpha smart. Unfortunately, editing my WIP is way too hard on an alpha smart. But I'm going to take advantage and outline my next project so it's ready when I have time to write it. I'm choosing out of 4 ideas (one fun contemporary YA, one fun MG, one paranormal YA, and one dystopian YA--have I ever mentioned that I wrote my senior thesis on dystopian fiction? I am an expert on the topic.) and have gotten approval on all of them from denisejaden. I plan to work on them all and see if any of them start to stand out as a clear winner.

I'm also glad for this because I think it will help get my mind off the super secret retelling so when I come back from Spain, I'll be able to tackle that project again with fresh eyes. I might be too close to it now so this time away has been good.



Last week I managed to revise the next 100 pages of the retelling. That brings me to about 53k out of approx 75k done. Getting there! The goal is to get the entire draft back to my agent by the end of October, which is looking increasingly doable. Very excited about how this project is coming along! I love it so!

I also forgot to mention that last week I went to the NYPL's Teen Reading night with Jen Hayley. I love this since it's supposed to be geared toward teens, yet the entire audience is adults from the pub industry. I spied editors, agents, writers, and YA bloggers. The readers at this session were David Levithan, who read from his very poetic book about 9/11. He said that no one had published fiction about 9/11 yet. Well, I beg to differ. About 2 years ago, I sold a 9/11 based short story that I actually wrote in college on 9/12/2001. That short story is what I submitted to get me into an exclusive creative writing class taught by Mary Gaitskill at Syracuse. I got into that class but I hadn't tried to sell the story then because I knew the subject matter might upset people. After I'd sold other short stories, I busted it out again, did a revision, and sold it pretty quickly--to the only magazine I subbed to. It was published in the July 2007 issue of The Hiss Quarterly. Anyway, the other readers were E. Lockhart who read a hilarious excerpt from Treasure Map of Boys (which I'd already read) about boobs. The audience was in hysterics. Scott Levithan had the audience captivated by reading from his much anticipated steam punk novel Leviathan. He gave a drawing to a member of the audience. The rest of the readers were as follows, and I loved hearing from writers I hadn't already read books by:

Gordon Korman, Pop
Lauren McLaughlin, Recycler
Bennett Madison, The Blonde of the Joke
Dan Poblocki, The Stone Child

It was a great day. This is one of my favorite things about living so close to NYC. That and The Strand.

Let's see, what else happened last week. I went to a bridal show and had a free hair trial. I'm still trying to decide if the whole thing was a joke on me I didn't get. I told the hair dresser to do what he thought would look best for my wedding day. Partly because I wanted to get ideas for how I should wear my hair and partly because I knew this was just for fun and I figured I'd let him experiment.

Experiment he did! He apparently thought the best look for me would be that of a 50s housewife, beehive and all. Um....let's just say it didn't work. How do I know? Because when I came home and showed my fiance and my dad, their reaction was mutual. They burst into hysterical laughter. Yeah...not the kind of response I want to get for my wedding day hair.

In the world of TV. I'm surprised by how much I like Vampire Diaries. Truthfully, I'm a little vampired out except for Richelle Mead's series which i can't get enough of since I keep re-reading the books. But I really enjoyed this show, mostly because of how fabulous Ian Somerholder is at playing a villain. The villain character is the best part of the show. Love. I'm also still loving Glee, though I found the latest episode slightly disappointing. I was trying to figure out why that is and I realized it is because it focused less on the teens and more on the adults. I just don't care about adults. This is why I write and read YA. This is why all my favorite shows center around teens. I thought The Beautiful Life was cliche. I've read several modeling YA books and this seemed to have very similar characters and storylines. I am quite sad that I'm missing my fave week of the year: premiere week, and to do so I have to rely on my fiance to remember to tape all my shows since i couldn't go that far in my DVR. I set up reminder emails. This is his first big test as a future husband. I hope he passes! LOL.

Okay hopefully this blog post is long enough to tide you over for the next 10 days. I have no idea if I'll have internet over there. If I do, I'll try to blog with some photos but if not, I'll see you on September 29th!

1. That my agent loved the first 100 pages of my retelling! She sent me some awesome minor revision notes which I spent Labor Day mulling over, and I'm now trying to incorporate those plus get the rest of the book polished and pretty. I have a lot to rewrite in the 2nd half because of things that changed during revisions of the first, but it will be well worth it. Trying to get as much done as I can before I leave for Spain on Sept 18 so I can send to my crit partners while I'm gone and won't have a chance to work on it. I'm so excited about this book!

2. Catching Fire. I can't tell you how much I loved this book. I had a freak out moment near the middle where I considered not continuing because I thought it might be too violent, but I'm sooooo glad I did. I am Team Peeta, and I personally think Katniss is too even though she won't acknowledge it. But I will refrain from saying more to avoid spoilers. What I also like about these books is that my friends, aka real life non-writing friends, have all started reading them. Without me prodding them. So it's crossing over to mainstream! I'm lending Catching Fire to a guy friend from High School tonight who usually only reads Chuck Palahniuk.

Also I want to be Katniss for Halloween but I have no place to wear the costume to.

3. GLEE. This is my new obsession. I adored the pilot. I was worried the second ep wouldn't live up to my expectations but it did! I love how I'm already rooting for both love plotlines. And I think the cast is fabulous. Jane Lynch makes the best villain!

4. TV premiere week in general! Reality TV this summer didn't really do it for me.

5. What are you thankful for?

So the first 100 pages of my retelling have left the nest and are patiently waiting for my agent's feedback. She likes to read hard copies, and I stupidly thought the fiance could handle the simple task of mailing a manilla envelope for me because I couldn't get to the post office during business hours last week. He was technically capable of mailing said package, but listening to directions? Not so much. I specifically said to him, "Don't send it overnight, but also don't send it 7-10 day." I just wanted something in between that would be a reasonable price and wouldn't take a ridiculous amount of time. He apparently only heard the word, "Overnight."

Doh.

I hope she doesn't think I'm super antsy for her to read. I'm not in a rush! Though I am excited to hear what she says. I'm feeling good and confident about what I sent, and I hope she enjoys it!

In the meantime, I've started outlining the changes I need to make for to the rest of the book. It's in first draft form, but a lot changed during this round of revisions so I want to make sure it all lines up and uses the least amount of scenes possible. I can't tell you how much I love outlining. The goal is to get the rest of the draft in beta-reader shape by September 17th, so I can have my wonderful crit partners hack at it with their awesome suggestions while I head over to Spain for 10 days. I have been practicing my Spanish. I can now say, "Pollo no queso." "Donde esta el bano?" and a few of the colors. I can also count to 100. I'm like a two-year-old.

This weekend I spent in a Blood Promise-induced haze. I held it in front of me like a shield, trying to use it as an excuse to get out of cleaning the apartment. "Just one more chapter, honey! Then I'll clean the toilet!" It worked on Saturday, but then on Sunday the fiance used bribes to lure me away from the book. That was very evil of him. But the meals he cooked in exchange for my maid services turned out to be well worth it. And because I spent so much time with the book, I had VA related dreams. Dimitri in a dream? Not a bad thing.

I have much to say about the book, but I fear I would give away spoilers. Has anyone read it? Let's discuss! This is by far one of my favorite YA series, if not the favorite. I love when authors take risks that the reader isn't expecting and may be angry about (such as the Shadow Kiss ending cliffhanger). Anyway, I am itching to talk about it! And unfortunately, there is no bribe in the world that will get the cute boy that lives in my apartment to read. I can't even get him to read my books! But cookbooks? He devours those.

Today is my reading day off before I slip into a Catching Fire-coma.

I've had a really good reading week. Just before Blood Promise I read Hush Hush by bec_fitzpatrick and I loved that one too. I'm in the middle of drafting a review that will hopefully go up this week. I'm thrilled because I had been in a reading slump for a bit so I spent most of August re-reading books I had already read and loved (also preparing for BP and CF releases by re-reading their predecessors) in hopes of getting out of the slump. And then I scored three awesome ones in a row. W00t. Well, I'm assuming CF will be awesome. How can it not be?

So that's what's going on in my life. What is going on with yours?

1. My SCBWI notes/recap is coming, I promise. I have been spending all my free time this week on my WIP, critiques, and wedding stuff. Sadly, this has not left a lot of time for blogging. But I'm sending the first portion of my ms to my agent next week and then I'll have some more time to indulge on here...before I tackle the revisions for the rest of ms!

2. I FOUND MY WEDDING DRESS!!! I love it! It has everything I want! In fact, I had been eyeing this particular dress in magazines for weeks, hoping I could find a store that carried it but I didn't know how to go about it. Then when I went to my appointment, the sales lady pulled out a dress and I was like, OMG. That's the one! I tried it on first. Loved. But proceeded to try on about 15 more in all different styles. But I had already made my decision.

I'll give you a hint...it's white. I hope I didn't spoil it too much!

3. I am super excited for Blood Promise to come out this week and Catching Fire to come out next week. I've already preordered both.

4. I'm seeing Alexis Bleidel's POST GRAD tonight. Excited about that too. Love her!

5. And then this weekend I'm going wine touring and then having dinner with the future in-laws. What are you doing?

1. I am in the process of composing my SCBWI LA blog recap. I can't find my camera connector (remember, I just moved last week! I am not responsible for lost possessions!) and what is a blog post without fabulous pictures? I will work on it this weekend and hopefully find the camera connector. So stay tuned! I took 23k worth of notes, I won't post them all but I'll try to find the best highlights.

2. But I had an AMAZING time in LA and I came back super motivated to work on my secret retelling. Today I completely rearranged the scenes in chapters 4-6 to avoid a pacing issue and give that section more forward movement. It screwed up my timeline so I had to account for that too. I think this will help readers care about a particular problem scene that was just in the wrong spot before. Now, it works because my rearrangement gave the reader a reason to care! Huzzah! My plan is still to send the first 100 pages to my agent late next week. So far so good! I am so excited about this book!

3. While in LA, I toured Dreamworks where my cousin's fiance works and holy cow! I want to work there! I have six years experience doing compositing and visual effects for TV and movies so I'm definitely qualified to work there. They had 3D monitors on their desks and 3D glasses to view their scenes. I am jealous.

4. The apartment is slowly shaping up and becoming more livable. The bedroom is done and I have so much more closet space, which clearly means I need more clothes. The kitchen is all set up. Our living room is in sadder shape, esp with the empty boxes we haven't figured out where to discard yet. And we need a kitchen table. That would probably be a good thing to get relatively soon.

5. What did I miss last week?

I am typing this from my new apartment, which I will abandon tomorrow to head for LA. The move went well, but I am utterly exhausted. Everything is now in the new apartment, but nothing is unpacked. Well, except my books. Those were of course priority! At least my suitcase for LA gets to stay packed, at least until tomorrow night when I get to my hotel.

Anyway, if you're going to SCBWI LA and you recognize me, please please come say hello! I am very short, only five feet tall.

denisejaden and I are planning to stake out a spot in the hotel lobby bar area on Thursday night (the night before the conference) in hopes of making it a central location to meet up. We'll get there in the early evening-ish.

Looking forward to meeting everyone!

Sorry for being so MIA this week. I am moving this weekend so all my free time has been spent packing. Though I have managed to squeeze in time to revise my WIP, getting about a chapter a day done. Aim is to get the first third of the book to my agent shortly after SCBWI. I have I LOVE this new version of the book. I'm so excited about it! And I'm actually glad I wrote the book wrong twice because it led me to this version, which is a thousand times stronger than the previous ones.

Packing sucks, just saying.

Less than a week for SCBWI LA!!! I'm all packed for it because I wanted to do it before the move so I wouldn't be scrambling for things next week.

And last weekend I went wedding dress shopping. It was part fail because I knew what I wanted but hadn't realized how many of what I wanted was out there! And that made it difficult to choose. I went to a trunk show where I only had one day to decide if I wanted a certain dress because it would be going to another state the next day. I really liked the dress, but I wasn't 100% positive yet. I agonized over the decision, not sleeping at all that night. The dress was really unique, but I worried it was TOO unique. Carrie Bradshaw could pull it off, but could I? It would have been memorable though. And there was another dress I also liked not from a trunk show, it was what I wanted but a little bit safer. However I worry it might be...forgettable. It's the most popular style from a particular designer. So less unique, more trendy. Anyway, I didn't buy anything yet, the safer dress is still there if I want it but the quirky dress is gone. Not sure if I'll regret my decision yet. I want to try on more dresses so I can be positive about my decision and not get buyer's remorse. I can't go dress shopping again until a week after SCBWI LA, which is cutting it close, because I have been told the dresses take approx 8 months to come in plus another month or two for alterations, and I'm pretty much 10 months out right now. So I better get on this!

I also had dinner with some awesome YA writers this week! I love discussing books in person! I metangie_frazier and her adorable kids,bracken , Jaclyn Dolamore, and YA blogger Mitali. I had a great time!

So that's what's going on with me. I will try to do a Friday Five, but then the blog may be dark for a bit because I am having trouble getting an appointment to set up internet for the new apartment and well, without internet, I can't blog! They won't let me set it up until the current tenants cancel their service, but that prob won't happen until this weekend. Hopefully while attending SCBWI LA though, I'll do some recaps there.

1. Yesterday I wrote 7k worth of new scenes in my retelling revision. I love when you work on something all day and it doesn't feel like work, especially after struggling a bit with this one a few months ago. Yesterday I also reordered some of the existing scenes. I think it's coming together really nicely! I'm very excited about it! And I must thank denisejaden for helping me come up with a kick-butt new opening. She rocks and her ideas are awesome! Now I just need to read through the first 100 pages (what I've revised up to so far--they end on a good cliff hanger) and make sure it's consistent and do some line edits. For those that offered to read, hopefully I'll have the first section ready some time next week. Thanks in advance!

2. I hate moving. Just saying. I'm sort of annoyed all those wishes upon stars have not come true. Every morning I wake up and my apartment has NOT packed itself.

3. SCBWI LA is so soon! I am so excited!

4. I am going wedding dress shopping tomorrow! Eek!

5. How is everyone else's WIPs coming along? Any fun plans this weekend? Exciting vacations? Let me know!

5.5. I won't embed them for those that don't want spoilers, but here are links to two clips of New Moon shown at Comic Con yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=Lyldfq0kQOc&feature=channel_page


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=I_EUZWb9CZw&feature=channel

Is it a coincidence that both involve a shirtless boy?

Oh, NJ. *hangs head in shame*

You already have such a bad reputation. "The armpit of America" is not exactly a flattering nickname. And the Sopranos didn't do much to help. Now everyone thinks we're hiding mafia criminals behind every strip club. And those land fills you have to pass on your way into NYC? Not exactly picturesque or full of roses.

You have produced some good things, besides, well, me. Your tomatoes are pretty awesome. And most of the country knows the lyrics to Bruce Springstein or Bon Jovi songs. I still think it's really cool that it costs me $1.75 to take a subway from NJ into NYC while it costs me $2.25 to go one stop (i.e. 9 blocks) within the city itself. And you have no tax on clothes! That's helpful.

But today, NJ, you have gone a couple steps backward. 44 steps and counting, to be exact. The 32 year old mayor of my town, Hoboken, (for 7 more days before I move) was arrested this morning for money laundering. Along with several other mayors. And a bunch of Rabbis. Rabbis!  44 people in total have been arrested. I don't know all the details, but I assume it's not pretty.

So I'm disappointed in you, NJ.

1. I am going to The Hamptons with my girlfriends this weekend for some beach tanning, wine touring, and gossip. Very excited!

2. The retelling revision is coming along well. I think I need a new opening chapter (not surprising, I usually rewrite my openings several times until I find the hookiest one) but I've gotten through 1/3 of the book already, making note of the bigger changes for later and doing the line edits that are necessary as I come to them. It's working well.

3. I got my engagement ring back and it fits! I heart it. I also hear the boy who gave it to me.

4. I saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I thought it was hilarious, more of a rom com than an action-adventure movie. I read the book so long ago that I really didn't remember most of it except for the Big Things and so I found myself slightly confused in places. I'm not sure what the point of having Fenrir Greyback in the movie was because he didn't end up doing anything except Look Menacing. And I thought the final battle scene was a bit of a let down, but I still really enjoyed watching it. The two and a half hours flew by, which doesn't always happen in movies of that length. I LOVE Luna! And I liked Slughorn a lot.

5. The next 3 weeks will be consumed with revising, packing and moving to a new apartment and unpacking, wedding planning, and then finally SCBWI LA. If blogging is sporadic at best during this time, that's why. Hopefully I'll be able to do some SCBWI recaps each night though!

So I just read two books in a row where a significant number of scenes revolved around the students making mayonnaise in chemistry class. I think I missed a new trend memo.

The other thing the books had in common? Both teachers in the story were SUPER excited about the mayonnaise lesson. The students did not share such enthusiasm. And in the first one, it really did seem unique. And random. Now? Just another notch on the trend belt post. (Both of these books aren't released yet. One will be released this month, the other in October.)

Anyway, it got me thinking how for a while there it seemed I read a ton of books with biology partner scenes ala Twilight. I guess some authors moved over to chemistry for some variety. I completely understand why so many scenes are set in science class. Setting a conversation over an experiment offers so many more actions as well as possible tension over the turn out of the experiment. You can't get nearly as lively as say...a discussion taking place while a teacher drones on and on about differential calculus. For one thing, science classes usually allow talking while other classes do not. And though sneaking in discussions while the teacher's back is turned could offer some tension, it still isn't as lively.

But at the same time, I would love to see more class lessons that are lively with good actions, but do not revolve around lab partners. I've seen some, but definitely not as often as the biology/chemistry lessons. I'm blanking on examples at the moment.

So are physics experiments next?

What new trends you've been seeing lately in recently released children's fiction?