The Pictures!

My apologies that the last post did not have any pictures. Something about the Wi-Fi in the Denver airport would not let me upload pictures. *shrug* No idea why.

So as promised, here they are!

LA was gorgeous. We are suffering experiencing a lot of snow and very cold weather here in Utah so I was so overjoyed when I walked out of the airport into light sweater weather and saw green bushes. Sure, they were just bushes, but they were green!

I was lucky enough to have a great view from my hotel room not only of the skyline where I could see a strip of the ocean . . .



but also a beautiful garden in the courtyard behind the hotel.



I could have looked at that garden all day! It was so beautiful and I really enjoyed having a break from winter. (On a colder note, it is supposed to be freezing in New York next week. *sad*

The dinner was amazing. It was at this quaint little restaurant called Derek's Bistro and had lovely ambiance. And we got to meet Derek himself while we were there!



It was really a lovely, lovely dinner.

In Denver I stayed at an older and very beautiful hotel. Denver has a different feel to it. I don't even really know how to describe it, but I really liked it. My view wasn't quite as green as the LA view (ha!), but I really enjoyed seeing the Denver skyline.



I love how things like views can be so different and equally gorgeous.

The lobby of this hotel was so homey and beautiful. I wish I'd gotten a chance to sit in it longer. especially in front of that warm fireplace!




And look at that wood floor. SO incredibly gorgeous!

We had dinner that night in downtown Denver at a restaurant called Bistro Vendome. Really, really incredible food! I forgot to get a picture inside the restaurant, but John (Harper's rep and the fabulous host!) took some pics of me a couple of the guests.



It really was such and amazing, beautiful, delicious, unforgettable trip and I hope you guys have enjoyed sharing part of it with me.

Ciao!

First Leg Done!

Oh my lovely readers! I have missed you! Or perhaps I have simply missed the internet connection that leads to you . . . or some of both.;)

I am back from the first leg of my pre-publication tour and it was . . . is there a word better than marvelous? Stupendous maybe? Glorious! Electricying! Stellar! Pick a word; they all apply.:)

This week I hit Los Angeles and Denver. Oh, they were so awesome! Each dinner had about ten people there who were all bookstore workers or librarians. (And in LA there was a teen reader! That was so cool!!) Basically we all sat around for four hours talking about books and enjoying excellent food. It just doesn't get much better than that!

And I signed ARCs! I actually signed my books! That was quite surreal. Of course, it's a bit surreal that strangers are even reading my book at all. I mean, my family and friends HAVE to. But these people? They read it on their own AND came to a dinner to talk to me about it! The ultimate compliment, IMO.

We talked a lot about the Newbery's and, since Neil Gaiman is published by my house, the Harper reps in attendance were particularly excited! It's an honor for the publisher as well as the author when a book is selected for such a prestigious award, and I will count myself in good company just to be included in the stable of authors at his house.:)

Books that were also talked about heavily at both dinners: Savvy, by Ingrid Law, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (you just say the words "Hunger Games" and everyone at the table bursts into chatter!), Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, and Blueberries for Sal, which everyone lamented going out of print.:(

Books that were heavily recommended to me: Death By Bikini and Death by Latte, Gossip Girls (if you believe it!), Arrival (a wordless graphic novel!), and Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, which is apparently selling like popcorn in the south.

Things that I learned: if anyone hands you a bottle of water, take it! There were bottles of water in all of my car rides and they were a lifesaver. I knew that flying made you dehydrated, but I've never flown this much in so few days so I'd never experienced it. Water=good.:) My hair always takes ten minutes longer to do than I think it will. I will plan accordingly next week.:D Just hold still when the car stops. If you and the driver are both trying to open the door, you run into each other. (I feel a little strange always having someone open my car door. Fun! but a little weird.)

I am SO stoked to go to New York next week! I went for three days last summer and found my true love. I am anxious to go back! I am also anxious to see my editor and agent and to meet my publicist! The team behind the book is truly what makes a book shine and I love, love, LOVE my team!!!

Till then, I have tons to do. My pages arrived on Tuesday and rather than 1000 pages, there are 1371 pages. Whew! There will be much signing and when I get home (I am sitting in the Denver Airport at the moment . . . BEST airport I have ever flown from!!!!) there will be pictures.:)

Ciao!!

EBay Goodness and Where to Start

This morning I officially became a REAL author!!!

How, you may ask. Did my book come out? Nope--still waiting for Cinco de Mayo. Did I get my first review? Nope--look for those in late March or April. Did I get my first publishing contract? Don't be silly. That happened AGES ago.;)

So, what's the big deal?

I'M ON EBAY!!!!!

Yes, yes. My ARC is now on sale on EBay. Whoo-hoo! This is totally a rite of passage I have been waiting for since my ARCs first came out. Please don't be enraged on my behalf, as some authors are. I think it's awesome!

A bit pricey though. What happened to five buck ARCs???

Also, we are down to double digits till release day! 98 days!!! I am considering making a paper chain . . . but we'll see. You want to hear about my February? It's CRAZY!!

I am touring for the next two weeks, sometime this week I will be getting 1000 title pages to sign (special promotion) that are due in three weeks, I will be recording a 25 minute podcast *nervous*, and I should be getting an ed letter for the sequel to Wings soon. Good thing my hubby has a light class load. I sense much child-watching in his future.:)

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I am *so* excited that promotion is really starting to roll! I've been looking forward to the next three months for a year and a half!! Bring it on!!!

Okay, in some semblance of seriousness, two posts ago, Miranda made a comment and asked, "If I want to write a book, where do I start?"

It's a great question.

The answer is!!!!

I don't know.

No seriously. I have written five books (well, six, technically, but after I finished two of them, I put them together and cut about a third of the words and made them one book instead.) and I have started all of them in different ways.

Book 1 (which is the 2 book hybrid)= I woke up with a magic system and the vague wisp of a plot. I started writing immediately.

Book 2= I decided I wanted to write a romance and I sat down and thought up a plot. It simmered for weeks before I started writing.

Book 3= Wings, I came up with a mythos and a hint of a MC. I also started writing this one immediately.

Book 4= I woke up with a very clear first chapter and the MC's voice. Not his face, not his hobbies, not his character. Just his voice. I wrote that first chapter within hours and then sat on it for a long time until I slowly developed a plot.

Book 5= A sequel. It was a plot that has been in my head for a long time, but it did a lot of changing as book one changed in edits. It was in my head for over six months before I wrote the first word of it.

As you can see, I don't have a hard and fast answer. The simple, and perhaps too obvious answer, is that you just start. I don't even know exactly what that means. Start thinking? Start outlining? Start writing?

Yes.

Whatever works for you, for this story.

I have a degree in Creative Writing; do I think you need one? No. Do I recommend that you take a creative writing course or two? Sure, if you want to. But every author and every story is different. All I know, is that at some point, you DO have to start. I know so many people who say, "Yeah, I want to write a book someday."

Do it! Just start! Sometimes I think starting is the hardest part.

Then I remember edits and realize that starting is only the second hardest part.;)

But the point is that writing is a personal thing and you have to figure out for yourself what works.

Some advice that I think applies to everyone: read. You can't write a good story if you don't read a good story. And in addition, I think everyone should read some bad books too. Force your way through a really terrible book once in a while to remind yourself what NOT to do. But no matter what else you do, read. You have to read to be able to write. Absolutely.

In accordance with Steph (Reviewer X)'s request (LOL!) there will be plenty of updating this week as I share a bit of my travels. So stay tuned!

Ciao!

Foxfire and Hauntings and Spellbooks, oh my!

Welcome to the first in the DebsTour 2009!!! In the spotlight this week, a book that is probably fairly familiar to you, Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell the magnificent!:)

"Nothing ever happened in Ondine, Louisiana, not even the summer Elijah Landry disappeared.

His mother knew he ascended to heaven, the police believed he ran away, and his girlfriend thought he was murdered.

Decades later, certain she saw his ghost in the town cemetery, fourteen-year-old Iris Rhame is determined to find out the truth behind "The Incident With the Landry Boy."

Enlisting the help of her best friend Collette, and forced to endure the company of Collette's latest crush, Ben, Iris spends a summer digging into the past and stirring old ghosts, in search of a boy she never knew.

What she doesn't realize is that in a town as small as Ondine, every secret is a family secret."

I've been lucky enough to read this book in ARC form and it is one of my very favorites of 2009. It is also a Junior Library Guild selection and had a very nice review from Kirkus! And for your reading pleasure, a few questions for the author, Saundra Mitchell!


What kind of soda does your MC drink?


It's in the book I swear- Iris Rhame drinks RC Cola, and a wicked lot of it, at that.


What is your MC's favorite kind of flower? How about yours?


Iris' favorite kind of flower is swamp mallow, AKA scarlet hibiscus. My favorite kind are orchids.



Does your MC believe in magic? Do you?


Oh yes. On both counts.


Superman or Batman?


Batman. Always. Ever. (But not Batman Forever.)



Give us one line from your book. You don't even have to give it context.:)


"Wind kissed my ear, cool and soft, and I heard a voice. It sounded like clover tastes, green and new and sweet."


Look for Shadowed Summer in a bookstore near you on February 10!

Ciao!

The Idea . . .

Dear Book Idea,

I'm so glad you came to visit. I've been looking for a new idea! And so complete too; a whole storyline! You've been very generous. And I am grateful, don't get me wrong.

But did you have to come at 5:00 A.M. on Saturday morning? I was sleeping!

Was being the key word.

*yawn* *sigh*

Ciao!