May there be strawberries and homemade whipped cream and homemade biscuits and parades and stilt walkers???? and ice cream and food off the grill and potato salad and potato chips and sparklers and glow sticks (no, not glow sticks, those must be deadly bad for the environment, right?) and laughing and staying up late with good friends and fireworks and sweet dreams for a better tomorrow for this troubled country, dreams that come true.

xo


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halseanderson Daily 15 Keeping Myself Honest Check-In: 357 words

1. Cartoonists! Bid on the chance to illustrate a Swordspoint comic script by Ellen Kushner. It’s part of the Live Long and Marry fandom fundraiser in support of marriage equality. If I could draw, you can bet I’d be bidding.

2. Read Nicola Griffith’s essay, “Identity and SF,” just posted to her website.

3. When I blogged about the WFMU book, I noted that I had not actually listened to the station yet. I have begun to remedy that criminal lack, most often via selections from the archives of The Speakeasy with Dorian Devins. Great interviews, with an eclectic selection of guests. Go, listen.

4. Apparently the guy next to me at the coffeeshop has a horse’s whinny as his computer’s alert sound. Time to put on my headphones.

Originally published at sararyan.com. You can comment here or there.

My dad just called from the hospital and he's doing pretty well! The surgery went fine and they're actually going to get him to try to walk this afternoon. What a happy relief. Thanks for all the well-wishes. :-)

Yesterday I finished my first freelance job three days early, which is a nice relief as well, since the next one was going to overlap and I was a little nervous. Also, working with the boy at home is... challenging. Basically, it involves taking a break at least every hour or less to read a chapter from The Titan's Curse, play a MiniClip game (or 5) together, or hold the cats and chat about myths and what god we would be if we had a choice. All good stuff, but it does slow things down a bit. :-)

Today I need to make stilt pants for the 4th of July Parade. (Is that really tomorrow?? Dang, where is the summer going???) I hope we don't look too dorky. But, you know, when you're talking stilt pants... ah well.


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halseanderson Daily 15 Keeping Myself Honest Check-In: 538 words

How's everyone else doing so far??

I am in the writing cave. I have so many deadlines looming that I can't do anything or see anyone.

But today, just as I finished one deadline, trumanburbank called to see if I wanted to go to the Santa Monica Library with him Mike and Anna, to see Stan Lee talk and then grab lunch.

"Sure," I said, being way in the mood to procrastinate and needing a break.

I felt as though seeing Stan Lee was the perfect nerdy thing to do in the middle of the afternoon.

So we go west toward the ocean and we go see Stan Lee talk.

"Doesn't get better than this," I thought.

But we kick it up a notch afterwards, and we decide to go check out the comic book store across the street.

I am always curious about comic book stores because each one is so different. I like them. I like to buy a lot of comic books in them. And lately I am always interested in where all the Minx Books are shelved. I have discovered that like in book stores, they are always in a different place. I have found it interesting and so I almost always introduce myself and I ask. So the manager and I are having a nice conversation, about Water Baby, which had just arrived, and the Minx books and other comic related things and this guy comes up and joins us, and we're all talking for, like, 15 minutes before it suddenly dawns on me that this nice gentleman whose joined us, who I'm casually shooting the shit with, is none other than Luke Skywalker. Being a seasoned Hollywood girl, I do not even let it even faze me at all, I just keep talking until we finish up and then I go over and rejoin my friends.

"So," Mike says. "We were standing over here watching you talk with Luke Skywalker and we wondering if he stole any peeks at your Star Wars tattoo and knew that you had the love of the force inside of you?"

"No, I don't think so," I say. "Besides, it's not like it's a rebel insignia, it's a tattoo of Queen Amidala's insignia tattoo, he probably doesn't recognize that as easily, because nobody does!"

And then I thought,"It doesn't get better than this."

Except remember that I live in Hollywood? And sometimes there are advanced screenings here? And sometimes little ladies who live in Hollywood get invited to such press / advanced screenings? Oh. Yeah.

That's right about when I checked my email and saw an invite to go see The Dark Knight. Mmmm. Hmmm.

Lesson learned?

Sometimes procrastinating from writing your own geeky books = having the Best Geek Day Ever.

…but what I really want to do right now is point you all toward the Eggcorn Database.

My favorite so far: mindgrain.

Originally published at sararyan.com. You can comment here or there.

For the first time ever, I ended up not reading a single book on my vacation. (Well, I read to E but that doesn't count as books for ME.) Usually I read 3-4 at least. I'm not sure what's up with that.

Also, it's taking me forever to get through the 2nd Octavian Nothing book because it is LONG (and brilliant, as expected). And? Confession: I am extremely embarrassed by how many words I've come across that I should look up in the dictionary because I have never heard of them. Sadly, unlike my embarrassing encounter with Tobin Anderson in which I believe I made UP a word, I do not think he made up any of these. *hangs head in shame*

Today my dad is having back surgery. If you all could send a quick well-wish toward Concord, NH at noon eastern time, I'd really appreciate it. :-)

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halseanderson Daily 15 Keeping Myself Honest Check-In: 471 words

Good luck all you other 15-ers!!!

Just stating it here to keep myself honest.
If I comment on anyone's LJ between 7:00-7:15, you have permission to kick me.
:-)

Conferences bring out both the extrovert and introvert sides of my personality, sometimes in rapid succession. Here in Anaheim I’ve spent a lot of time ‘on’: the panel about teens in your branch library, the YA author ’speed-dating’ event — both of which I was so pleased to be able to be part of — and in the meetings, meetings, meetings. (I’m pleased to be in them, too. Honest.) I’ve met great new people and reconnected with some of the friends I only see twice a year. I got to be part of a video (yikes).

On Monday night, my plan was to hear the Printz speeches and attend the reception afterwards. But I could feel it coming over me as soon as I went into the auditorium and sat, not with friends, but by myself near the back: the feeling that I’d need, soon, to retreat. I listened, and I thought, and as the applause for Geraldine McCaughrean was dying down, I walked quickly out of that room and back to my hotel to write. Not just this.

Later, after a little arm-twisting via text message, I went out again — more excellent time with friends — then back to the room, but still wound up. Turned on the television. “The History Boys” was just starting. Gorgeous. Very smart. Very clear that it was originally a play. Very glad that it happened to be on.

Then it was three-thirty, and really, really, really, time to sleep.

Originally published at sararyan.com. You can comment here or there.

Today begins halseanderson's 15 a day challenge and I am ready to take it!

Yesterday I started a new freelance job which overlaps another one starting next week. Also, the boy is home with me. This makes it very hard to work on my fiction (both because I am tired and because I feel guilty spending even MORE time not doing stuff with E).

But Laurie is right. Everyone can find 15 minutes in their day, no matter how busy they are. And 15 minutes of you-time is nothing to feel guilty about, right?

I was going to start freelance work right away this morning since E is watching Justice League and I am actually pretty awake. But then I figured I would be really happy if I could spend the day knowing I'd already done my 15.

So here I go...

Anyone else doing this challenge? Let me know and we can cheer each other on. ;-)

First of all, thank you so much for the lolcats. You guys have made us (me, Theo, Tony, all our friends) laugh and laugh. It was really hard to pick the winners, but after careful consideration, here they are:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER (DVD plus Spiderwick boxed set):opal16


The rest after the cut. ( Read more... )

To claim your prizes, please post your address in the comments (if you are an LJ user). All comments are screened and I won't unscreen them, so no one will see your address but me. If you aren't an LJ user (I think one of you isn't), I will contact you through email.

Congratulations to the winners! And thank you again to everyone for your hilarious entries!

In the spirit of hopelarson and sumoandso* I am doing a JANES IN LOVE arc giveaway!

The rules are simple.

I have four copies to give away, so as always there will be two over 18 winner and an under 18 winner. Make sure that you say which age category you are in when you enter!

OPTION #1: Email me an embarrassing school dance story or, if like me, you've never been to a school dance, an embarrassing encounter with a crush story. Best story wins the book.

OPTION #2: Email me a piece of PLAIN Janes fan art. Best drawing wins the book.

Please make sure to mention if you are entering the over 18 or the under 18 category and email to misscecil (at) gmail (dot) com

Remember that I will post the winning stories and the winning art on my blog. (So make sure with the art you include a © your name 2008)

The contest will be open til the end of the week. Have fun!

You can download preview pages from The PLAIN Janes for reference at the MINX website.

or here are our girls for immediate reference.




*And yes, it's true, I am ripping off two of my fave ladies (and gal pals) in comics - Mariko Tamaki ( sumoandso ) ( read SKIM and EMIKO SUPERSTAR) and Hope Larson hopelarson ( read CHIGGERS) who ran similar fabulous contests on their blogs.

"There is always a point in the writing of a piece when I sit in a room literally papered with false starts and cannot put one word after another and imagine that I have suffered a small stroke, leaving me apparently undamaged but actually aphasic." --Joan Didion

(Mind you, this may well be the only thing Joan Didion and I have in common, but still, that's a start.)

I really love all the photos cynthialord and friends are posting of their hometowns. Sorry not to participate, Cindy! But I won't have an opportunity to go to my hometown until the end of the week. :-)

Here are some photos I took during our vacation though...

Mom and Dad, with champagne and sparklers (sorry it's a little dark):


And here is the last castle (click on it to make it bigger):


Every day, my brother-in-law and his helpers made a HUGE sandcastle for the kids to play in. At the end of the day, we'd all watch the kids try to defend the castle as the tide came in. This one was by far the longest-lasting. Usually the kids put something at the highest point, such as a shell or a stick, and insist that the waves hadn't won until the object fell.

On that last day, there was a seagull feather, and E kept yelling, "It's not over till the feather falls!"

It took a long time, but the feather fell to a collective, "Ohhhhhhhh!" from all of us standing there watching.

What's really funny is that passersby can't seem to resist coming over to watch. I guess there's always that tiny bit of hope that the castle will prevail. Or maybe people just like watching children screaming orders at each other, desperately (and gleefully) trying to fight a losing battle. Who doesn't like seeing that magic determination and optimism the rest of us seem to lose somewhere along the road.

Thanks for your kind replies to my last post. :-)

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Monday Morning Warm-Up:

Write to the prompt, "I knew it was over when..."

More! Fun! Neat! Photos! are over at my flickr page.

Love note from handed to me by a waiter while dinner with the LAYAs.
I love librarians! I love you, Maria!


Los LAYAs (Heather Tomlinson, Me, Amy Goldman Koss, Carol Tanzman, Susan Casey and Mark London Williams) eat tasty Indian Dinner


Finally! We have the proof we need to show that John Green and MT Anderson are very tall and know how to loom.


The divine Ms. Holly Black


Librarians, make sure to get your d20 gaming books from Chris and Nicole from Green Ronin Publishing. They also have a great book called Hobby Games: The 100 Best


LAYAPALOOZA Game Show!

1.  I'm not at ALA.   I don't really mind because in just over two weeks, I will be boarding the Auto Train (to save on gas, car rentals, and so my daughter, Meredith can pretend she's on the Hogwarts Express) to go to my mom's place in the Adirondacks for three weeks, and that is my favorite place in the world.

2.  Also, I'm writing.  I have 34 pages of a new book on my hard drive and about 20 45 (I just counted) more in a notebook, most written in the last two weeks after writing virtually nothing the past 6 weeks.  It is amazing how much better I write when the kids are at camp than during the school year, presumably because I'm not worrying about whether they handed stuff in or volunteering for bake sales, the school clinic, or feeling guilty about not volunteering, etc.

3.  However, I was bummed to see that the 2010 ALA is no longer going to be in Orlando, which is the only possible ALA location within driving distance of my house.  

4.  I went to see Barbara Ehrenreich at Books & Books in Coral Gables last night.  She was funny, and she praised the bookseller for still being in business.  There were close to 200 people there in the summer when everyone is out of town.   I think the reason for B&B's success is having sooooo many events, including not shying away from local first-time authors (who usually have friends who buy stuff). 

5.  I really want my cover art for A Kiss in Time.  I once got cover art for a spring book near the 4th of July of the previous year.  Could it happen again?

Last night we celebrated my parents’ 45th wedding anniversary with strawberry shortcake, champagne and sparklers. We sat outside at the picnic table in the dark, listening to the ocean. The kids were tired but we kept them up for a great fireworks display about a mile down the beach. E told us some stories about Echo and Hermes and others while we waited. It started out cloudy but soon you could see the stars and we all looked up with thoughts of Orion and the Scorpion and the wonder of a good story.

This morning I opened my file again and thought about my own story and where it is now and where it may go. I’m writing about a somewhat eccentric family which is not mine, but which certainly reminds me of my own childhood days, growing up in the chaotic world of the restaurant business. It reminds me of life with my brother and sister and the adventures we had, as well as the fights and the anger and the celebrations and the joys.

I remember those days with gladness, but there are also pangs of sorrow.

When the family is together now, there is always the unspoken emptiness moving around us, and the thoughts I always have when a moment of love springs up—like when I'm taking a picture of my parents, holding sparklers in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other: Scott should be here.

And almost at once, as that quiet moment slows down, as if I’m waiting, I feel that he is.

This morning, just like every morning, the waves crash forward outside my window. I can feel the thrill and fear as each one breaks apart and rolls onto the shore, then recedes back. Maybe one of the reasons I think the ocean is so healing is because there’s such endless promise in those constant, reliable waves. Life throws so much at us, we never know what’s around the corner. But the waves are always there, will always be here, waiting to be lept over, dove into, ridden, braved.

Today, I’ll get my fill of them, then say good-bye. It’s so nice to know they’ll be here again next year.

This morning the sun continues to shine, but I suspect it's short-lived. The local weather guy said we'll be getting showers and thunder today. Rats.

The boogy-boarding with the kids was fun yesterday, but the tubes were even better. The waves were huge and we'd let them crash over us and try to knock us off. We also formed a little raft/barge kind of thing by holding hands and letting the waves get us all at once. There were some amazing wipe-outs.

I didn't write yesterday because even though I said I was just going to move forward, I let myself look back and cringe at this one chapter I really hate. So I sat and stared at ugly words and shook my head. I already did the same thing this morning, but I've also scrolled to the end of the file where there is some clean, white space. Moving on...

In four days, it'll be back to the grind. Freelance writing by day, fiction writing by whatever means I can find. Sometimes don't you wish you could slow time?

For everyone going to ALA, have fun! I hope you all take lots of pictures and post about your adventures!!

:-)

Anaheim, here I come! As usual, my conference will be a mix of librarial and authorial. Two highlights:

Saturday June 28th, from 1:30-3:30 pm: I’m on a panel — “Teens at Your Branch Library: From Trauma to Triumph?” at the Anaheim Marriott, Platinum 3/4 (Spoiler: Yes to triumph.)

Sunday June 29th, from 9-10 am: I’m one of the featured authors at the Young Adult Author Coffee Klatch at the Hilton Anaheim, California Pavillion B.

Otherwise I will mostly be at YALSA programs & meetings. If you’re reading this and we haven’t met in real life, please say hi and introduce yourself! And if we do know each other, I’m looking forward to seeing you!

Also: if I actually had an “author hat” and a “librarian hat”, what do you think either/both of them would look like?

Originally published at sararyan.com. You can comment here or there.

Vacation is halfway over.

*sigh*

Peter leaves today so it'll be just me and the boy with the rest of my family.

The sun is out again, thankfully, so today I promised to go boogy-boarding (I have no idea how to spell that) with the kids. Me on a boogy-board is probably not going to be a pretty sight. Amusing, though? Yes.

Not far down the beach there is a creek that runs into the ocean. The current changes depending on the tide, and it's only a few feet deep. The kids have been having a blast riding the current and I can't wait to try it!

Yesterday my mini retreat at jeannineatkins was just wonderful. cfaughnan and cynthialord came as well and we sat on the screened in porch and wrote to the sound of waves and clicking keys. I love working in a quiet spot like that with other trusted writers. There's something so comforting and inspiring about creating with writer friends. It's almost as though the air around you is... gentler, even encouraging somehow.

I finished a bit before everyone, so I took a quick walk down to the water before lunch. There were some fishermen on the water but they weren't having any luck so they motored away. I sat on the warm stones, all smooth from being tumbled by the sea, and I soaked in the moment. I just knew yesterday would be good medicine and it was.

Lunch was delicious and so was the conversation. I also got to see Jeannine's dear friend Pat, who has also become my friend. So that was a nice treat. Before we left, we took a group photo: (Cindy Lord also posted our view from the porch, which was breathtaking)

That's me in the back, Cindy Lord with sweet dog Louie, Cindy Faughnan and our generous Jeannine Atkins. Thank you Jeannine! I love you guys!!!!!!