Friday Seven!
1. Sent first half of SEA edits in yesterday! One day when I have time I will write a long studious post about the importance of revision (b/c revision really is just the key to everything), but today is not that day. Lucky for you! Basically, I’m really happy with it. I toiled. I managed a tense change. I. Celebrated by… going to Target? Okay, that’s so lame, but it’s true. As I needed allergy medicine and Super E need bacagans (sp?) to celebrate his Certificate of Effort he got from school! Yay, E!
2. My fabulous editor said more notes will arrive Saturday and my deadline is Tuesday so today I’m messing around— but the exciting news is That. She.
SAW COMPS OF MY COVER!
(omg!)
3. There’s a funny story behind it, which I’ll share later, but she said they are happy with what they are creating and I should be able to see something soon! I’m so excited about this that I really can hardly think about it without chair dancing and that’s a bit dangerous what with a giant bound book on my lap…*
4. *You know my rad mom and her spoilers and eggplant-hued comments? Well JADE arrived on my doorstep yesterday all prettily bound with her comments. They are actually really good! Go Mom!
5. You know that band I mentioned, Coastal Sage, the other day? Well. They may write an original song for SEA for my book trailer, and this makes me so many kinds of happy I can’t even tell you.
6. My honey, Doctor D, was interviewed on the BBC for his work in Cambodia yesterday. I wish I could share more about what he’s doing, but it’s sort of confidential. Let’s just say I’m really proud of him, miss him, and the work he does boggles my already boggled mind.
7. Does Jamba Juice deliver? I wish, because I’m way into the blueberry smoothies these days.
That’s it. Have a great weekend, all!
Another Teen Reviewer Blog To Check Out!
The blog author sent me the sweetest email yesterday sharing that she highlighted SEA in her Waiting on Wednesday column. It made my day! Here’s the link:
http://readingkeepsyousane.blogspot.com/2009/04/waiting-on-wednesday-17.html
(I love her blog title too; tis a truism for sure!)
Dear Earth,
Thank you for our mountains, our jungles, our forests and our seas.
Thank you for baby blue glaciers, bright-eyed creatures,
and redwoods that grow up to the sky.
I’m sorry we’ve mistreated you.
We are trying to do better.
Love,
Your Grateful Human Tenants
May I Introduce…Coastal Sage!
Wikipedia’s definition: Coastal sage scrub (or simply coastal scrub) is a low scrubland plant community found in the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of coastal California and northern Baja California. It is characterized by low-growing aromatic, and drought-deciduous shrubs adapted to the semi-arid Mediterranean climate of the coastal lowlands.
Heidi’s definition: A totally original, eclectic, smile-inducing new band from Santa Cruz california, made up of five (adorable) 20-something boys (three of who are alumnus of my original musical children’s theatre!) For fans of Jack Johnson, Brett Dennen, Maxi Priest, Plain White T’s, Dave Matthew’s Band. Coastal Sage, IMO, is like alt. rock/raggae/surf music blend. Very girl friendly. =)
Where can you find them? Live in Santa Cruz county and the Bay Area, cyberly located on MySpace/Facebook and they are now working on their first CD, which I will link to at a later date. Their lyrics, most of which are written by their sweet-voiced front man Kyle, are so tenderly poetic, that I pledged my allegiance (hand over heart) while listening with one of those cock-headed smiles. You know what I mean. I may even use one of their songs for SEA’s book trailer. I saw them on Saturday night and it was an absolute treat. I’m so proud of them and can’t wait to see them again!
MUST LISTEN SONGS (three of my faves)
*Made to Fly (try not to smile while listening!)
*Disappearing
*Sand Castles
Please friend them and tell them I sent you!
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/coastalsageband
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coastal-Sage/41584651856?ref=ts
Thanks for checking them out!
Thankful Thursday Twist Twist
Man! I was going to do a whiny post but realized it’s TT so instead I’ll spin it so I can still complain a bit.
1. I’m thankful for my son. Even thought he stayed up until 10:30 p.m. last night because he felt, “Wiggly and missed Mommy after his long long play date” and then needed to stay home from school today because he is so wiped out, it means he’s still little, and still loves being at home with his family and I love that.
2. I’m thankful for my beautiful baby girl. And the vampire fangs she is sprouting. Because even though she was up last night griping from 4:00 a.m. until 7:00, it means she is healthy and growing, and that one day she may be adopted into the Cullen family and I may be invited into that glass forest house for dinner and classical piano. And I am a sucker for Bella’s Song.
3. I’m thankful for my husband’s dedication to humanity. Even though he is leaving for Cambodia tonight for 10 days and I won’t rest easy until he is home safe. (*Please vibes/prayers/blessings for a safe trip for Dr. D!*) On that note, I’m so so so thankful for my in-laws who are arriving soon to help while he is away! Yay!
4. I’m thankful that the city we live in and love is so Outrageously Overpriced and Unaffordable that we are forced to search the coast for “affordable” housing. (Please don’t throw me into the briar patch!)
5. Even though this is going to sound crazy, I’m thankful for the year off from revising SEA. Because revisiting it again is like meeting up with old friends that I’ve missed. And while it’s not an easy task (I’m talking to YOU tense change!) I’m coming to the story with more insight and experience and so far *knock knock wood* I’m really happy with it. Almost halfway there. We shall see.
What about y’all? What are you all thankful for today?
Digging in sand
Hi all-!
Some newsies:
1. Deadline April 24th for SEA revisions=not much time online.
2. Househunting! Specifically….BEACH HOUSE HUNTING! Equals much crazy, but also much awesome potential. Stay tuned.
3. I wrote this silly post about meeting an Agent Sister IRL on Crowe’s Nest. Please read it, because I always feel first-day-of-Kindergarten nervous when I post there. Why? Don’t know. Maybe cuz it’s my agent’s blog and cuz I think she’s great. http://acrowesnest.blogspot.com/2009/04/hanging-out-with-my-agent-sister.html
4. Pirates! Beware! I’m so happy Obama’s going after them. Pirates are only cool if you’re trick-or-treating and/or if you are Johnny Depp in costume.
Okay. Breaks over.
Time to bury my head back in the sand.
It’s hard to edit in the dark
Mom’s Adventures in Reading Continue…
Just discovered this gem on my answering machine:
MOM: (giggling) “I’m having so much fun making comments in the margins of JADE! You know how the sword handle is purple? Well, I decided to change it to ‘eggplant hued’ because doesn’t that sound so much better? I’m having so fun with the descriptive wording. Also? *insert character name here=spoiler* deserves the DEATH PENALTY! I can’t believe she did that! I added some descriptive words to call her too!** Okay, back to editing!”
I’m keeping these messages forever.
**Can’t wait to see those.
The Cheesy Post Where I Brag That My Mom Likes My Book
So my mom is the first FULL reader of JADE other than Super Agent S. (Including my husband who keeps promising to read it *shakes fist*) Other writing buds have read parts, but she’s the first FULL length, entire-document reader.
I get home from teh wedding (which was SO awesome by the way! Beautiful, lovely, my boy did his ring-bear job perfectly w/ hardly a growl), to this crazy-cool message about How Much She Loves My Book. And She Loved It So Much That She…
SKIPPED ahead and read the end!!
*headthunk* MOM!
She was all guilty: “I just had to know what was happening, so I, well I just sped ahead and read the end, and…oh my gosh I loved how you *spoiler* *spoiler* *spoiler**spoiler* and I loved how it wasn’t like *insert popular book here* and…
I’m so happy she has no idea how to use the internet.
Then she’s like, “Now I’m going back and re-reading all the stuff I missed while I was skimming it~! And I love it even more!”
Oy.
All kidding aside, And I’m super super happy and relieved she liked it. Because she is not the average, “I love everything you do” kind of mom. She’s frighteningly honest and she’s an avid reader. If she thought it was lame, she would try and lie and say something nice, like, “Yeah, it was…er, good.” So I know she really liked it, and now I want to tell my agent, “Squeeeee, my mom loved my book!”
But I won’t.
Cuz that’s not allowed.
=;
PR Tips From A Frightened Sock Monkey, I Mean Awesome Debut Author/PR Goddess Saundra Mitchell!
5 Things Anyone Can Do to Promote Their Book
Heidi invited me to guest blog today, and encouraged me to talk about self-promotion. Though I’ve talked about this subject at length, I think sometimes we manage to scare ourselves into inactivity because of an excess of information. That’s why I’m going to pare down my promotion advice in this entry to five things anybody can do. Just five! Anybody! Monkeys! (What? I like monkeys.)
1) Maintain a Web Presence.
There are zillions of online promotion opportunities, and you’ll find out about none of them if you don’t maintain a web presence. Connect through mailing lists, communities and blogs- and keep a blog of your own. Not only will this give you somewhere to make announcements (My book is out! My book won an award! My book is on fire!) it will give you a home base for readers, booksellers and librarians when you…
2) Give Books Away.
I like free books; my guess is, you like free books, too. So in the course of your regular blogging, give away some books already! Not just your book- make it a habit to give away other people’s books, along with yours, and make it easy to win. Yes, you can have haiku contests and scavenger hunts and whatnot, but nothing beats a totally simple post where readers leave a comment, and you randomly choose a winner. We all like to win- and we all come back to a regular fount of awesome free stuff, so be one of those awesome founts.
3) Make sure your indie bookseller gets a copy of your ARC.
Your publishing house may contact your local independent booksellers as a matter of course. Doesn’t matter- take a copy of your ARC to your favorite indies anyway and introduce yourself. These businesses serve your community, and they should be your first stop when planning a book launch or signing. Don’t leave it to chance that your favorite bookstore will know about your book. Go in, introduce yourself, pony up the ARC.
4) Listen When People Tell You They Want Your Book
Pay attention- book bloggers often post about books they’d like to read, or kinds of books they’d like to read. And yes, it’s flattering to see your book! Your title! Your monkey on fire! On a stranger’s website, but *tap tap tap* that’s an opportunity. If you have lots of ARCs, ask if you can send them one! If you don’t have lots of ARCs, finished copies are awesome, too. If you see somebody who loves and talks about books pining for yours – give them one!
5) Invest Yourself in Someone Else’s Success
Seriously, we spend so much time scrabbling and scrambling and trying to figure out how to promote ourselves, that we can end up feeling very empty indeed. That’s why I encourage debut authors to join groups like Debut 2009 debut2009 or The Tenners 10_ers; that’s why I encourage you to find a publishing buddy- or a bunch of publishing buddies. Whether it’s one person, or a whole group of people, when you can invest yourself in other people’s success, it feels good. It feels good on days when you get bad news; it feels GREAT on days when you get good news. I have often had my happiest experiences in publishing when I had the chance to talk up my friends’ books to someone I think will love them. Or thinking up fun ideas *they* can do to promote their book. Or helping them implement those ideas.
There are going to be ups and downs every day- sometimes every hour- as a published writer, and there will always be promotional tasks ahead of you. So invest in your own success- and invest in someone else’s. That way, you have something to celebrate every day.
Want more Saundra?
http://www.shadowedsummer.com/
Her fabulous ghostly-awesome novel is available now in bookstores everywhere!
Life!
It’s attacking me from all sides, but it’s all good things pretty much.
1. Princess B is WALKING at age 10 months! For awhile now she’s been cruising around walls/furniture/dog–anything her height that she can grasp onto, but last week she took three independent steps right to me! It was the cutest thing ever–arms outstretched She-Frankenbaby style, big old smile on her two-tooth face. I actually broke down and borrowed a friend’s nanny (who I know really well) to take her on walks to the park two mornings a week so I could work because… (see #2)
2. SEA notes arrived! I’m on deadline! And as my editor said, “Consider yourself in full publication mode now–covers, jacket copy, edit questions and…start thinking about author photos!”
SQUEEEE!
April 24 the manuscript is due so that means blogging time/cruising your blogs will be nil, and I apologize for that. But it’s great diving back into SEA and sparkling it up (hopefully) after all this time away from it.
3. Library Lovin’! I got lots of comments and will be matching them (since I went through each of the 60 and replied to my commenter) we’re looking at $30.00 going to my local Children’s Library. Thanks for commenting and thanks for the great idea, Jen!
4. I’ve been invited to a sure-to-be-awesome secrit writers retreat which I cannot announce details about yet. But I’ve gleefully accepted the invitation and am very excited about the possibility of 5 days without my kids–I mean, 5 days of excellent authorly company, fabulous food and creative writings. =;
5. We’ve barely unpacked from Birthday Weekend and I’m packing The Giant Suitcase again for a hippie wedding in Petaluma. We have one of those family suitcases that everyone makes fun of that cost extra to put on a plane. Yes, I’m *that* lady sad lady you don’t want to be at the airport. Anyway, the wedding is our wonderful sweet friend who is one of our formal drama students and his lovely fiance’. I am tickled cuz I sort of played Emma in their matchmaking. =) The bride and groom are getting their hair done together with matching flowers weaved in and are wearing flip-flops. Gotta love Cali. Super E is the ring bearer and I bought him a styling Cuban-style white shirt with embroideries (to match the wedding party). He’s a bit confused on his duties and thinks his job is impersonating a Ring Carrying Bear. Let’s hope he doesn’t go rogue with the ring.
Wish us luck. =;
Great weekend all!
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