November 2009
The Wii Obsession Begins
1 November 2009
A quick reminder that this Saturday I’ll be signing books at the Barnes and Noble on the plaza from 1-3pm. Here’s the address.
So, I was completely spoiled this weekend at my birthday party. My parents, Nana, and in-laws all went together at bought me a Wii and all the necessary accessories. This is the first time I’ve ever had a gaming system—the first time I’ve ever really wanted one—, and it’s the first time in years that I’ve actually gotten a “toy” for my birthday. Ben, my brother-in-law, and his girlfriend figured out how to get it hooked up, then those who wanted to took turns bowling.
And last night, after we’d put McKenna to bed and started testing out all the different games, it became very clear that I don’t have much experience with video games. I’m really horrible. I do okay at golf, but so far Ben’s kicking my butt in everything else.
And then this morning I learned that I’m going to need to STRETCH before I power on the Wii. Especially baseball. My right arm is sore, and so is my left leg (I, uh, was pretty exuberant in my swinging.)
Something I’ll need to be careful about is not letting the Wii suck up every free minute of my day. Right now it kinda is (guess who almost skipped blogging for another round of tennis…) but that’s because it’s new. Having the Wii has put me in the mindset of a 7-year-old with a brand new toy. If the obsession doesn’t fade in the next week or so, I’ll actually have to enforce some rules on myself.
But since it’s still new, I’ll go easy on myself. Off to pull out the nun chucks and try out the boxing…
Dealing with Change
2 November 2009
In high school, I truly believed that by now I would have this life thing “figured out.” I thought I’d know how to do my hair (nope – just getting better at disguising the fact), how to best organize my time, and how I felt about all the important issues.
For a while now, particularly the first year of McKenna’s life, I spent a lot of time panicking because I DON’T HAVE THINGS FIGURED OUT. Not only that, but I couldn’t see any hope of figuring them out. Every time I’d settle on a new cleaning or cooking schedule, it would get thrown off. Or I’d read something that would make me think differently about an issue I thought I’d settled in my mind.
And then I started having coffee once a week with my friend Debbie. Debbie has daughters my age, so she’s not only a fabulous friend, she’s a mentor as well. Debbie left for South Africa today. Three months ago, she thought she’d live in Kansas City until her husband retired. Now she’ll be in Pretoria for 2 years. During our coffee times these last months, as I watched Debbie roll with the unexpected change in her life, I was struck anew by something my husband has been telling me for years—It’s okay to not have everything figured out. You’re not supposed to.
A better plan, the only one that will actually work, is to do everything to the best of my abilities and trust God to do the rest. It’s a hard plan—it was a lot easier to make my cleaning schedules every couple months. But as I come to terms with the fact that I won’t have life figured out in 10, 20, or even 90 years, I realize it’s the only plan I’ll ever be completely satisfied with.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Writing Wednesday – An interview with Erica Vetsch
3 November 2009
While I don’t foresee myself doing a ton of author interviews, I really wanted to feature Erica for a couple reasons. 1. Erica was my first writing friend, so it’s fitting for her to be the first interview I ever do. 2. Erica’s often told me how her 17-year-old daughter, Heather (who crochets a mean baby blanket, by the way), is a huge help to her. I thought it’d be fun to talk to her about that.
Tell us about The Bartered Bride.
The Bartered Bride is the story of an arranged marriage that neither party wants, but each accept for different reasons, all the while looking for a way out before the vows are spoken. And about how things don’t always work out the way we expected, but that doesn’t mean God isn’t in control and working those situations out for our own good.What do you think makes your books unique?
I think what makes The Bartered Bride unique is that I used a real historical incident to provide some of the closing drama. I love to find unique, little known historical facts and work them into my stories. For The Bartered Bride, it was a terrible storm. For the next in the series, it is a lot of little things I gleaned by visiting and reading about Great Lakes Lighthouses. Bird barrages, mercury floats, inspections. What can I say? I’m such a history geek.Tell us how Heather is active in your writing.
My daughter is 17, and she is such a help in the writing process. She hears the initial plot ideas, then the story. Over and over and over. Heather is great for picking out plot holes and she’s always asking me “Why? Why did the character do that?” Invaluable.Today we took a trip to Barnes and Noble to browse the historical fiction. I read back cover blurbs to her and we evaluated which ones would make us read on, and which ones were kinda boring. Then we tried to learn what intrigued us and would make us read more. It was a great trip. And of course we didn’t only go to B&N. We walked through the mall and had lunch too. :) Gotta love the girl-time.
(Writers, I’ve already asked and at the moment Heather isn’t available for loan. When she is, you can stand behind me in line.)
Is it ever weird for you that Melissa, your narrator in The Bartered Bride is only a couple years older than Heather?
If I let myself think about it, yes! But I remind myself that these are different times. Heather, at 17, would be almost an old maid if she lived in some of the eras I write about. But for now, I’ve told her she can start dating when she’s 32 or so. ;)
Are there ways that you’re able to borrow on Heather’s emotions for your young narrators?
Melissa and Heather have quite a few things in common. They both play the piano, they are both passionate about teaching (though Heather works mostly with pre-schoolers right now.) I think Heather’s more even-keeled than Melissa is. Melissa is a bit more dramatic, though not as dramatic as Annie, the heroine of my next book. I think I drew a lot on my own churned up feelings where Melissa and Annie are concerned. (Okay, I’m a bit of a drama queen from time to time, I admit it. :) )Finally, best or worst high school memory.
Probably the most unique thing about my high school experience was that I went to a little private school in central Kansas, and I was the only student in my grade. I graduated alone (though I was the valedictorian :D ) I have so many great memories from High School, it would be hard to choose just one. Though I would have to say my worst moment in HS happened pretty much every time I had to open my Geometry book. :) I much preferred history and literature to math.
Sounds familiar.
Erica, fabulous lady that she is, has agreed to give away a copy of The Bartered Bride. If you’re interested (you are—I’ve read it) leave a comment, and I’ll draw a winner over the weekend. It doesn’t even have to be an intelligent comment. Just “Hi, sounds good,” will suffice.
Snuggies. Yes, Snuggies.
4 November 2009
There are probably more important issues in the world that I should discuss, but recently I can’t seem to get away from Snuggies.
You know, those silly blankets that have sleeves? I started seeing the infomercials last winter. The commercials were so serious, almost to the point where I was like, “Are they mocking themselves? Do they know how ridiculous this all looks?” While I bought into the old woman sitting on her couch reading in her Snuggie, I could not accept the group of guys at the football game in them.
I forgot all about Snuggies for a while, assumed they had died a quick death, and then my husband and I were in Bed, Bath, and Beyond a couple months ago and came across a display of like a hundred. Seriously, like a hundred Snuggies were all stacked up in the middle of the store.
Then I noticed CostCo carries them.
Then a friend of mine received one for a bridal shower. (I’m really hoping it was at least kind of a joke.)
Then I saw another infomercial this week. I no longer needed to ask if the Snuggie people were mocking themselves, because it was obvious they were. I mean, you don’t have middle-aged people “raising the roof” in a commercial if you aren’t poking a little fun at yourself.
Then this morning on the radio I heard you can get a Weezer Snuggie.
I have no idea what kind of crazy marketing plan the Snuggie people have, but it’s apparently working. Not only am I seeing them everywhere (not quite as much as I see Bella and Edward when I’m out shopping, but pretty close), I also frequently hear people talking/joking about Snuggies. As someone who’s still trying to figure out this whole marketing thing, I admit I’m way impressed.
While I won’t be ordering one anytime soon (nor do I want one bought for me, Weezer, Muse, or otherwise), when I’m reading on the couch at night, I have found myself thinking “It would be nice if I could put my arms under the blanket too…”
Happy Thursday everyone. Stay cozy.
Book Friday - A Stray Drop of Blood by Roseanna White
5 November 2009
“Abigail’s tears were unneeded.”
That’s the opening line of Stray Drop of Blood by Roseanna White.
Before I talk about how much I’m loving this book, I’ll preface it by saying this isn’t some random book I picked up at Barnes and Noble. Roseanna and I met in 2007 at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference, liked each other, and started exchanging chapters to critique. Our friendship started with mutual admiration for the other’s writing, but because we’re at very similar stages in life (she’s 27 with a 4-year-old girl and 20-month old boy), we’ve become close these last couple years.
Stray Drop of Blood, which is being rereleased in paperback this December, is an enormous and engrossing book. Kinda like Twilight where you first see it and you’re like, “Okay, this is huge…” and then you forget all about its size because you can’t put it down. The story follows a Hebrew slave girl, Abigail, in the times of Jesus. Abigail’s life is an amazing combination of heartwarming and heartbreaking. I’ve cried at least twice already, and I’m only halfway through. (Though this is me we’re talking about, so maybe that doesn’t mean much.) Let me just say, I’m grateful to be a woman NOW.
Biblical fiction is a genre I adore when it’s done well, and Stray Drop of Blood is. It’s frank about what went on in those days without being graphic, has wonderful insights about Hebrew Law versus Roman law, and has made me think differently about what Jesus meant to those who were on earth to receive him.
Roseanna will be with us in December to giveaway a copy of Stray Drop of Blood, and everyone should enter. Excellent stuff.
Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!
Praise God, it isn’t about me
8 November 2009
On Saturday, I had a book signing at the Barnes and Noble down on The Plaza here in Kansas City. This is the bookstore I grew up going to, and also the one Skylar would go to (were she a reader), so I was pretty excited. The only thing that had me slightly nervous is that for my first book signing back in July, we’d invited basically everyone we knew and most of them came. And if they weren’t able to come, most of them have bought the book since and had them signed. So I knew that Saturday would be a more accurate representation of a book signing for a debut author.
Uh, I preferred the less accurate one.
Actually, I feel like the signing went fine. I sold 4 books, which is 4 more than I would have sold in those two hours had I not been there. Plus I had a couple of conversations that might lead to future sales.
But as I sat there for two hours, making eye contact with whomever I could, then watching them walk right by me, it occurred to me how grateful I am to know that it’s not about me. I don’t write to glorify myself, I don’t do book signings to get attention, and I don’t do school visits to hear myself talk. I do it because God has asked me to, and because I trust He has a plan. And because I believe that, it makes me feel like the sales I had on Saturday were the only sales that needed to happen. They were important, and that’s why I was there.
How do non-believing authors do it? Without God, the blow to the ego would be devastating.
Please, guys. If you walk into a bookstore and there’s an author set up at a table signing books, and if that author smiles at you and says, “Hi, how are you?” will you at least exercise a little common courtesy? I eventually became amused by how many people turned away without any kind of acknowledgment. It made me think of Stephanie Tanner on Full House, when she’d say, “How rude.”
Have a great Monday, everyone!
His name isn't Taylor Lautner, it's Jacob Black
9 November 2009
First, congratulations to Gina who won the copy of The Bartered Bride by Erica Vetsch. For those who are curious about how the drawing worked, I wrote down numbers 1-12 on scraps of paper, threw them in an old tea tin, and pulled out number 8. Which happened to be Gina’s comment.
Okay, so last week I saw Taylor Lautner (Jacob from the Twilight Saga) is dating Taylor Swift, the country star. Lots of people get way into celebrity gossip, but it’s really never done it for me. I’m more interested when it involves musicians, but with actors … I really don’t care to think of them outside of their characters. This never occurred to me until I saw a picture of the Taylors together and it looked so weird because (in my mind) he belongs to Bella. I really can’t think of him as anyone but Jacob Black. (Which I suppose is how typecasting begins.)
Do people feel that way about books as well? I don’t, but I’m sure at least part of that is because this is my profession. I’m much more interested in interviews with Stephenie Meyer than I am with any of the actors in the Twilight movies. I don’t care about their insights into the characters or how they like their lattes. I care about Stephenie’s insights and coffee habits.
But maybe non-writer readers would rather not think about the author. Maybe they prefer, like I do with movies, enjoying the fantasy world without being burdened by the creator. I can see how it’d be much more fun to pretend Skylar Hoyt is real and wasn’t created by someone who spends a lot of her day playing tea party with an almost-2-year-old and doesn’t think beyond blue jeans when it comes to getting dressed.
Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!
Writing Wednesday: Will You Ever Write Books for Boys?
10 November 2009
In short, no.
I wish I could. Moms are always saying to me, “I can find lots of stuff for my girls, but it’s much harder for my boys.” And when I’m at school visits, it’s usually about 50% boys in the audience. I don’t feel like I have anything to offer them, though my experience at Shawnee Mission Northwest was that the guys asked way more questions. And a lot of them asked if I’ll ever write books for guys.
I don’t feel like I could accurately portray a guy when writing in first person. I know how guys interact with girls, and I know how they interact with other guys when girls are present, but the rest is really a mystery to me. I’m afraid any attempts I made at a guy-focused YA novel would make guys say, “This is clearly written by a girl who thinks this is how we think.” (When I said this at SMNW, one guy said, “I think that’d be funny! Do it.”)
For the foreseeable future, I’ll stick with writing for chicks and deal with being lopsided at school visits.
Happy Wednesday everyone!
Time as as child
11 November 2009
So, it’s obvious to me that as a child, I had no concept of time.
I rented Anne of Green Gables, the one with Megan Fellows and Colleen Dewhurst. It was one of my favorite movies as a girl, but I also needed it for the book I’m working on now. I’m guessing I last watched it was when I was 8 or so. I remember watching it a lot with my mom.
As I put in the DVD, Ben said, “How long is this?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Can’t be too long. I used to watch this all the time as a kid.”
And then three hours later when it was still going on, I’m like, “Okay, how much more is there?” (For the record, it wasn’t because I was bored, but because it was 11:15, and I was about to doze off on the couch.)
This morning I discovered there was only another 20ish minutes left. McKenna and I watched it, and we both bawled like crazy when Matthew died. (I cried because it’s sad; McKenna cried because Anne was crying, and then she turned and saw me crying.)
I can’t believe how often I used to watch that movie as a kid. It’s so long! Watching it made me miss childhood a little bit. When you didn’t care how long a movie was, because you didn’t have anything else you needed to be doing anyway. Not like last night when I was popping it in thinking, “I need to watch this for my manuscript, but it’d probably be better if I finally mopped the floors, and ironed the laundry, and e-mailed back so-and-so.”
I also have Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel sitting on my shelf. That might have to wait until next week.
Happy Thursday, everyone!
Book Friday – Anne of Green Gables
12 November 2009
No worries. Anne of Green Gables isn’t going to become the new theme for my blog or anything, it’s just on my mind recently. I’m using the book—or the play, actually—in the book I’m currently working on. I was in Anne of Green Gables in 7th grade (I played Bessie Wright, who FYI isn’t in the book or the movie. Tells you just how good of an actress I was). Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to save my play book, so I read the real book a couple months ago and then watched the movie this week.
There’s seven or so books in the Anne series. I’ve only read the first three thus far. Here’s my review in short:
Anne of Green Gables: Excellent.
Anne of Avonlea: Total snooze. I kept thinking, “So … where’d the plot go, and can I please have it back?”
Anne of the Island: Again, excellent.A couple things stood out to me while reading Anne of Green Gables. One is that I’d always thought of the story as a romance, probably because I saw the movie a dozen times before reading the book and the movie varies in the Anne/Gilbert storyline. In the book though, Anne totally ignores Gilbert. She’s holding a major grudge and will barely even speak his name. The most contact we get between the two is when he walks her home at the end. Yet somehow, there’s still a decent amount of romantic tension.
The other thing is the idea that a little belief can go a long way. Particularly with a child. Anne is an orphan who comes to live with an old maid, Marilla, and her brother, Matthew. Everybody warns them against bringing an orphan to come live with them, but Anne flourishes under their care and grows into an amazing, intelligent young woman.
Yes, it’s a classic, but it’s also awesome. And you can pick it up at Half Price Books for like a $1 back in the children’s/teen section. Totally worth a try.
Why I'm addicted to FlashForward
15 November 2009
My favorite show at the moment is FlashForward on ABC. I saw the preview for it months ago when I was at a movie with my friend, Kelli, and it’s the first show since Lost that I’ve been like, “Oooh … that looks good.”
The premise of FlashForward is that everyone on the planet blacks out simultaneously for two minutes and sixteen seconds. During that time, everyone sees a glimpse of what their life will be like six months later. It’s an adaptation of Robert J. Sawyer’s novel, which I’m now dying to read, but of course I don’t want to spoil what happens later in the show. (As a side note, talk about a fascinating premise that makes writers drool. These are the kinds of high concepts we’re supposed to come up with, and it’s so freaking hard!)
But my husband and I weren’t really looking to add a show to the list of ones we watch. (24, Lost, The Office, and usually 30 Rock.) I could watch a lot of TV, but recognize it’s really not the most productive way to spend my evenings. Because I was excited about FlashForward, Ben was like, “Okay, let’s give it a try.”
We’re five or six weeks into the season, and that show is GOOD. While the concept was amazing enough to hook me, the writing and the characters are what keep me tuning in. I want to know if Mark starts drinking, if Olivia does what she never thought she’d do, and if Demitri didn’t see anything because he’s dead in six months or (what I’m holding out for) because he’s unconscious.
Something else that makes me really, really happy about this show is their endings. Every single episode has ended with something haunting or enticing that makes me say, “Nooooo! Don’t make me wait a whole other week!” Every. Single. Episode. That’s takes skill. And challenges me as a writer.
Hope everyone had a great weekend!
Keep it private
16 November 2009
I continue to be shocked by conversations I hear in public. I’m usually not shocked that they’re happening, just that they are happening in public.
Like yesterday, when I was eating lunch at Panera with McKenna. There was a group of college aged girls sitting at the table next to ours. One was sharing with her friends that her cousin and his wife just learned they can’t have children, so she’s thinking about offering to be a surrogate mother for them once she’s done with school. She said she’d use the money to have a boob job and tummy tuck afterward.
I’m hoping none of these were terribly close friends, because they were all hedging around the difficult questions, and instead asking stuff like, “Well … when do you think you’ll suggest this to them? Because you might want to wait until you’re absolutely sure…” Hopefully the friends were waiting to ask the hard stuff until they were in a more conducive place for conversation. Panera at noon when at least six other tables are in hearing range doesn’t seem ideal to me. Especially when there might be nosey writers nearby.
And a few weeks ago, I was in line at the post office where I (and everyone else in line) was privvy to a conversation between a woman in her late twenties and the postal worker. She was asking how to take action against someone who she thinks stole her child support check, because she thought the people she’d been living with had taken it. And she needed a change-of-address form because they’d kicked her out. Although she didn’t have a new place yet, so she wasn’t sure where to change her address to. And then she fielded a very loud phone cell phone call in which she was asking if she could crash for a couple of nights.
I suppose it’s just different personality types. Maybe these ladies really didn’t care if everyone around them knew that they were considering a major decision like being a surrogate, or had fallen into an awkward situaton with child support. It’s not like either of them kept their volume down.
It’s piqued my interest about writing an open book kind of character, one who truly doesn’t care what people hear about her (him) or what they think.
But – tip for the day – if you want the conversation kept private, have it in a private place.
Writing Wednesday – What Does Being an Author Look Like?
17 November 2009
I can’t speak for every author, just for me. Like all professionals, I’m not only an author, but have other responsibilities as well. I’m a wife, mommy, home owner, and a myriad of other things.
The mom part especially affects how I spend my time, for better and worse. The good thing is it prevents me from getting addicted to my work, which I could easily do. Until I became published, I had no idea that I had workaholic tendencies. Figuring out how to work from home and squeeze my responsibilities into tiny windows of time was a source of stress for a while. At the moment (and I dread saying this), I feel like I have a pretty good handle on it, but it might also be because I’m not on deadline right now.
So here’s a quick rundown of what my glamorous author life looks like:
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I only have McKenna’s nap time to work. It varies from 90 minutes to 3 hours, but it’s normally on the short end of that scale. During my 90 minutes to 3 hours of work, I try to squeeze in the following:
Work e-mails. At least three to four of those a day, and usually none of them are my agent or publisher. My agent and I talk a lot when stuff is going on, and my publisher and I are in contact when a book is releasing or they need me to do edits or something, but it’s not a correspond-daily kind of relationship.
Blogging. Self explanatory.
Visiting the few blogs that I frequent. This gets cut if I have a particularly pressing schedule, but when people take time to read my blogs, I like to pay back and read theirs as well.
And then hopefully writing. Sometimes just e-mails and blogging suck up all my time, but I usually get to write at least 30 minutes every day.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have babysitters from 9am until McKenna goes down for her nap around 1pm. For the record, they’re free babysitters (I love grandparents). With what I make, there’s no way I could afford a babysitter for McKenna twice a week.
I try really, really hard to mostly write on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I end up doing e-mail, blogging, and various marketing things (interviews, responding to fans) for about an hour usually, but because I’m blessed with a big chunk of time, I try to use it for writing. A solid writing day for me is 1,000 words. A great day is 3,000. An excellent day is 5,000.
It’s not easy to squeeze everything in. I’ve blogged about this before, but when I imagined myself doing the writer/mommy thing, I imagined McKenna playing at my feet the way my dog always did. Nope. But the roles I have now are roles God called me to, and I spend a lot of prayer time asking for insight on how to do all my jobs to the best of my ability. He’s the reason everything gets done.
Happy Wednesday everyone!
4 Stars for Out with the In Crowd
18 November 2009
This is my last post until Monday, November 30th. We’re leaving on a family vacation, and I won’t have any internet access, so blogging, Tweeting, and updating FaceBook are all out of the question. And my phone only makes calls and calculates tips, so I can’t even do anything from that.
Actually, taking a computer break doesn’t bother me too much. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is “they” say it’s basically blog suicide to take an extended break. So, um, can some of you try to remember to come back after Thanksgiving? I’d really appreciate it.
If you’re looking for reading material in the meantime, I’ve uploaded the first chapter of Out with the In Crowd, so you can get a sneak peek before January 1st. If you’d like a shot to win a free, signed copy, sign up for my newsletter.
I’m really excited about this release of this book. I had a fabulous time writing it, plus I just had an e-mail from Revell that RT Book Reviews (which used to be the Romantic Times) gave Out with the In Crowd a 4-star review. Wonderful news to hear before departing on vacation.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! Talk to you all on the 30th!
The Vacation where if I managed to remember it, I lost it
29 November 2009
I’m not a forgetful or disorderly person. At all. But apparently even the überorganized can fail.
So I spent most of last week vacationing in Yosemite, right? My husband, an avid hiker, was super excited and made up this whole packing list for himself. I think it’s because he secretly likes listing all his hiking gear. He also made a list for McKenna, then encouraged me to make one of my own. “Yeah, yeah,” I said a few times. “I’m not worried.” Because I rarely forget anything when I go on vacation.
Except this time.
It wasn’t anything super critical like underwear or contacts, but I did manage to leave the house without ANY winter stuff. I remembered my coat (probably only because it’d been bought specifically for the trip) but I forgot my winter hat, scarf, gloves, and long underwear. All of which I intended to bring.
I spent the entire trip feeling like a little kid who can’t be trusted to pack for themselves. My friend, Rachel, loaned me an extra pair of gloves and Ben graciously gave up his hat. (Even more gracious—only once did he say, “This is why you should make a packing list,” and he saved it for the final day. Had I given up my winter hat … well, he would’ve heard about it a lot more often.)
Of course had I remembered to bring my winter stuff, I probably would have lost it.
The first thing I lost was McKenna’s coat. That’s right. My 2-year-old’s coat. That I’d just bought. For this trip. I’m not even sure what happened to it. When we got our luggage in Sacramento, we had it. When we got in the Suburban, we apparently didn’t.
The second thing I lost was my sunglasses. Again, not exactly sure what happened. I know where I had them last, but they weren’t there when I looked. And all of us adults scoured the house with no luck. It wouldn’t be such a bummer if I didn’t currently hate all new sunglasses. (My face is tiny—I look like a fly in those huge, round things.)
And then I thought I’d either lost my hair gel or forgotten it at home, but I found it on the last day in our friend’s laundry room. ???? I’m guessing McKenna may have had something to do with that.
So I’m home now, and on hunt for a pair of sunglasses that doesn’t make me look like a bug. I might have a chance to look tonight when I’m at the mall for a book signing. (Like that smooth segue?)
I’m at Barnes and Noble at Oak Park Mall from 4-6pm. Assuming I don’t forget to go. Anything feels possible now.