Well hello there

April is nearly over, and I just realized that I haven't blogged yet this month. Oops. There's been lots going on, and it's not stopping anytime soon. We've got an old friend coming to stay with us this weekend, and the following weekend one of my college roommates will be passing through for a conference, and I hope to spend some time catching up with her. It scares me how long it's been since college, because when I think about those days, it seems like it was just a year or two ago.

I'm also suuuuuper excited about an amazing writing retreat that I'm going on in about two weeks. I don't think any of my fellow retreaters have blogged about it yet, but a small group of us are heading out to a cabin in the woods for a long weekend to write and it's going to be awesome. I was hoping to start working on something new since I've got about five fun ideas bouncing around inside my head right now, but it looks like I'll be diving into some rewrites instead. Pretty jazzed about those too, though, so it's all good.

Because I've been such a lazy blogger lately, I've signed up for Sara McClung's Blog Me MAYbe blogfest, where we'll have a different blogging prompt for each day of the week. Go check it out if you're interested in joining. I think it's going to be fun!

And finally, here's a little wake-up music for you. Sometimes I like to listen to a little classical first thing in the morning while I'm gathering my wits, and right now I can't get enough of this piece. I used to play piano pretty well back in another life--I even auditioned in college--but then I dropped it entirely, and now all those pieces that used to live in my muscle memory are only ghosts in my fingers. But I still love to listen to them.

Favorite Writers: Poe Ballantine

When I lived in Munich, one of my favorite possessions was a copy of The Best American Short Stories 1998. Most of the time I read German literature, an attempt to improve my vocabulary, but when my brain was fried from too many 25-letter-long words or from looking up what Verfügbarkeit meant for the fifteenth time, I would pick up the slightly worn, lime green book (guest edited by Garrison Keillor), and read a short story.

The story I loved the most was a melancholy one about troubled kids born into dysfunctional lower class families, written in strange and wonderful imagery. This story has stuck with me over the years, popping into my mind at random times. It's called "The Blue Devils of Blue River Avenue," by Poe Ballantine. The prose is straightforward, just simple enough to accommodate the quirky descriptions and observations. To my delight, I just found that this story is available online. I found it by searching for "poe ballantine wolf," because this is the image that sticks in my memory:

"My mother didn’t like my going over to the Sambeauxs’. There was something mysterious and menacing about that house: a bloodcurdling scream, a silhouette of a knife in the window, a wolf on its hind legs with a leather tail scuffling along behind the juniper trees."

Here is another one I like:

"His hair was short and fair, and he had the polite and unassuming stride of a farm boy. From a distance, the Sambeaux house must have appeared to him to be the place to make friends. There were children everywhere: peeping from windows, lounging against cars, hanging lemurlike from trees, barelegged, barefoot, the spirit of Peter Pan and Tobacco Road. There were paper clouds above the Sambeaux roof, pink pastel streaks painted across the sky, devils on the rooftop, monkeys on wires. A big cardboard vulture squealed over. Homer knocked on the door. Roland and Langston ushered him in."

Here's a great description of the narrator's mother:

"My mother cut sharp glances at me. She had the kind of vision that went right through you and saw into your future. She saw me taking LSD, or driving drunk off a cliff, or marrying a Filipino go-go dancer with a long scar across her abdomen. She saw weeds coming up in the garden of my innocence, and wormy, wild apples waving in the wind.."

Rereading this story now, I still love it just as much as I did back in 1998. I could post a hundred more excerpts--the writing is a dream, so elegant and controlled and interesting. Poe Ballantine is the kind of writer I aspire to be like. If you liked these excerpts, I highly recommend that you go read the full story here.

Huzzah for my CP!!

Just wanted to take a moment on this wonderful, drizzly Friday to spread the word that my fantastic, amazing, probably-hiding-a-superpower CP Liz Briggs has just accepted an offer of representation from her dream agent, Kate Testerman of KT Literary.

Hooray Liz!!!!!!

I would add some sort of fancy animated fireworks here, but that is beyond my limited skills. So here:

Besides being CPs, Liz and I keep each other sane during our day jobs by keeping up a near-constant stream of chats, and last Wednesday she tortured me like this:

Liz: OMG 
      OMG 
      OMG 
      OMG
me: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      what what what
Liz: omggggggggggggg
        KATE
me: TELL ME
Liz: AAAAAAH
me: NOW
      NOW
      SHARE


It was so much fun to watch this all unfold. Querying is no fun, and Liz did some hard time in the query trenches. But she's a smart cat, and she used every bit of feedback she got to improve while querying. And it doesn't hurt that her book is AWESOME, with exciting high action, tech geekery and swoooony romance. Believe me, you want to read this. So head on over to Liz's blog to congratulate her and read the full story!

My 2013 Oscar Predictions

I know they're no true measure of artistic excellence, but as a guilty pleasure, I love the Academy Awards. I like the predictable seasonal shift when fall comes and the quality (or pretentiousness) of movies increases, and I like trying to guess which ones will be recognized or which performance will get snubbed, and keeping my ear to the ground for unexpected dark horse buzz.

Sadly, this year Oscar season came and went like a fart in the wind. I haven't seen The Artist yet, and I'm sure it's good, but overall my reaction was: meh. So a few days ago, I was listening to the Chicago soundtrack and lamenting the lack of big budget extravaganzas at the cinema, and I took a look to see what next year's crop of Oscar bait might look like.

And friends, things are looking very good indeed. Here's what I'm salivating over for next fall:

The Great Gatsby - Baz, Leo, Tobey, Carey. I've never been a huge Leo fan, but I feel like he's growing into himself, and the stills from the set are luscious. And that's not even a word I use.

Lincoln - Spielberg's next offering on the alter of Oscar looks like it could be mind-blowingly good. I was sad when I first heard that Liam Neeson backed out of the title role, but his replacement, Mr. Day-Lewis, is even better. Add some Joseph Gordon-Levitt and some Sally Field to the mix, and I'm a happy girl.

Django Unchained - This could quite possibly be horrendous, but I enjoyed Inglourious Basterds, and based on the cast, I have high hopes for Mr. Tarantino's slave revenge fantasy. And look, there's Leo again! Let's hope he takes himself a little less seriously in this role.

Les Miserables - Hmm, we'll see. I'm kind of already over another Les Mis film, but the director gets props for making The King's Speech last year, and I am always a sucker for a musical.

Skyfall - Daniel Craig is back as 007, and this time he's facing off against Javier Bardem. I can't say anything else, because my head just exploded.

The Hobbit - Yaaaayyy Peter Jackson I'm so glad you resolved your differences and decided to direct this one. I expect nothing but excellence.

Hyde Park on Hudson - I don't know how this one snuck past me, but it's already in the can. Bill Murray as FDR? The pictures look convincing, but I'll reserve judgment until I see a clip. Mr. Murray must have gotten a taste for the gold after his nomination a few years ago, eh?

Life of Pi - I have no idea how they'll pull off a film of this excellent book, but it's Ang Lee, so...good luck.

And if next fall is too far away, even the summer blockbusters are looking better than usual: The Dark Knight Rises (huzzah!), Dark Shadows, The Hunger Games (not that I'm complaining, but who releases a blockbuster in March?), The Avengers, The Amazing Spider-Man...

Are there any other movies coming out this year that you're excited about?

In The Weeds

If you hadn't noticed, I've had to abandon pretty much any intentions of social networking lately. Last week was delightful, but very very busy with work and social engagements and other commitments. I just dropped my husband off at the airport for a quick business trip to Ankara, and now it's time to wind down and catch up on what's happening in the world.

This is coming a little bit late, but I want to thank Cherie of Cherie Writes for tagging me a while ago for an award on Valentine's Day. Thank you Cherie! I've also been tagged by Caitlin at All About Growing Up And Becoming A Famous Author to answer her 11 questions. Thanks Caitlin! I'm always in the mood for some fun questions, so here goes:


1. Cadbury Cream Eggs, yes or no?
Yes, fondly, although I've kinda cut back on the sugar, so I think I could only handle a bite or two now. But I think they're lovely.
2. Do you like to do writing prompts or continue with free writing time while editing?
Well, I've never really done any writing prompts outside of school, and when I'm revising, I'm revising. I'm more likely to start writing a second project while drafting something else. I'm prone to tangents, I guess.
3. Where do you spend most of your time writing?
Used to be on the couch, under a blanket, with my cat on my feet. But that's bad for the old wrists, so these days it's at a desk in my home office.
4. If you could be one person for a day, fictional, real, alive, or dead, who would you be?
Bella Swan! No, just kidding. Hmm, maybe Kara Thrace, being badass and fighting Cylons. 
5. What's the biggest writing pet peeve that you catch yourself doing?
Writing the longest sentences ever, with maybe one conjunction, or sometimes more conjunctions, so that the sentences goes on and on until your eyes glaze over and you start thinking, gee, maybe I should go get some cheese or start that load of laundry that I meant to do yesterday, but didn't get around to because I had to finish working on that chapter I was revising. Okay, I'm not that bad, but I do love my conjunctions.
6. Do you prefer to write on the computer or by hand?
Computer! My hand is not fast enough. Also I have terrible handwriting.
7. Are you as terrified of having to come up with 11 questions for someone else as I was?
Um...will you hate me if I don't do that just now? It's Saturday night, and I've got a hot date with my Kindle and the second half of Paranormalcy. 
8. Do you like to snack while you write, or does it distract you?
It doesn't distract me the way noise does. I guess I go ahead and snack if I'm hungry?
9. What is the most mundane task that has given you inspiration for writing?
That's a hard one. I can't think of anything. A lot of my inspiration comes from music.
10. Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because he was seeking enlightenment. Or maybe just trying to get to the beach.
11. Would you rather write well and never be published or write terribly, be published, and be loved by millions?
Writing terribly will probably never be a goal of mine ;-)

Alright folks, brain is shorting out and I still need to go write an email to my mom and dig up some dinner. I'll try to get around to more blogs soon. Have a great weekend!

I Hug You All

Happy Valentine's Day! Please accept a virtual hug from me, since I cannot virtually share the delicious Coffee-Rum Truffettes I made last night for the occasion. (Tip: They are super easy to make, especially if you skip the dipping and just roll them in cocoa powder. Also they are addictive.) (Bonus tip: If you decide to make them and think that it would be smart to scoop them out with a melon baller, be aware that a melon baller is quite sharp. It will cut a deep channel in the pad of your thumb if you let it.)

I don't have too much else to say today, so in honor of my dear Valentine who likes gypsy music, I will share this song that I cannot get enough of lately:

A Few Good Reads

So I just caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror, whilst tossing more decongestant down my gullet, and what I saw made me pause. Sure, I've been sick the past four days (again? yes, again), and I've spent most of my time sleeping and sweating and not grooming, but I had some ridiculously big purple bags under my eyes. I wondered, Am I really that sick? I thought I was getting better?

And then I remembered that I finished reading The Fault in Our Stars this morning. Those swollen lids are little mementos of how hard I sobbed. Oh John Green, have you no care for your readers' delicate eyelid skin?

Of course it was an amazing book. Augustus Waters is up there with my all-time favorite characters. And I count myself lucky to have been able to get a ticket to John Green's book tour when he came through L.A. last week--if you think he and Hank would probably put on an awesome show together, you would be right.

I also recently attended Robin Mellom's release party for her debut, Ditched. She was absolutely lovely in person, and I won the raffle basket (put together by her parents!) which had all kinds of cool schwag (including but not limited to FUNYUNS!) and an ARC of her upcoming MG book, The Classroom. Yay me! I haven't read Ditched yet, but I'm looking forward to it--it looks like such a fun book.

Other books I have read recently: Chime by Frannie Billingsley (a little slow and very different, but by the end I really liked it), and Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (unique and lovely, with a plot that comes together so neatly). Right now I'm working my way through A Game of Thrones, which I'm embarrassed to say my friend's husband lent me lo these many years ago (before the HBO series was even announced), and I only just now took interest in after watching said series and needing to know right now what happens next. The epic fantasy, she is not my first choice, but the storytelling here is excellent.

Anybody out there read epic fantasy? Is there anything else amazing that I'm missing?