The definition of awesome

Wanna know what’s awesome?  When you go to lay down in bed after a long day and stick your leg into a big wet mess of dog pee.  And it’s even better when you have to strip all the sheets off your bed and your only potential replacements (due to the fact that your good sheets got peed on two days ago and are still damp from the dryer) are your husband’s sheets from college (which don’t fit the bed) and the sheets you bought for guests and used before realizing they were also a size too small for your bed.  Yeah.  Awesome.

As of August 1st…

I just want to say it brings me continued joy to see that someone found my site by searching for “ian smells.”  Happy first anniversay Mr. Grant.

Tanya vs. the Crab

A revealing look at the inner workings of my mind: here’s what I scribbled in the margins while sitting on the boat launching dock to write while my husband kayaked:

A crab appears on the boat ramp, staring me down, clicking his claws.  My arch nemesis.  Oh my god, he waved.  Or was that signaling the troops?  Advance, retreat.  Advance, retreat.  He’s playing with my mind.

Resource Thursdays: Day By Day Writer

I came across the blog of Day By Day Writer while browsing around yesterday, and really liked it.  Written by Samantha Clark, the blog talks about the day to day life of a writer.  She’s sort of in the same situation as me, as her tag line says, “balancing work. life, and the desire to create.”  Well said.  What I love about the blog is seeing someone else’s point of view as she goes through the writing process – what keeps her motivated, her take on submissions, rejections, and the market.  Samantha also has author interviews and links to lots of informative articles and posts out there in internetland.  This may not be a site by “industry experts” but it’s motivation.  That’s enough resource for me.

Faraway storms

First of all, I want to give a quick shout out to my awesome husband, who in the interest of keeping my blogging streak going, updated for me yesterday.  What a good husband I have.

Yesterday at lunch time, the internet, email, and operating system at my work crashed.  Our IT manager was out of the office.  So was the back up IT guy.  We were down for the whole afternoon.  All this was due to storms in some far-off state, leaving me lots of free time.  Lots of good writing time.  I confess to nothing.  But it was a good day.

My Dolphin Friends

Tanya forgot to update today, so here’s a video of dolphins trying to flip my new kayak!

I’m a crier

This weekend at the wedding Ian and I shot, I got teary-eyed a few times.  During “Amazing Grace” at the ceremony.  During toasts.  I almost always get teary-eyed at toasts.  What can I say – I guess I’m a crier.  I also get teary-eyed during really good books.  The books that make you feel real emotions – good or bad – are the kind of books that stay with you long after they’ve been read.  I mention this because I saw the ad for the movie version of Time Traveler’s Wife yesterday.  The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger was a delightful book.  I acutally picked it up in the airport on my way home from France a few years ago, and I loved it.  The story is about a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel, and his wife who must deal with his absences.  The end of the book, well, it made me cry.  So now that there’s a movie, I’m curious if it will be any good.  It does star Rachel McAdams, who I like, but it’s still an adaptation.  And the movie version is almost never as good as the real thing.  But if I do see it, it will probably still make me cry.  Maybe the trailer did too.  You’ll never know.

So I’m a little tone deaf, so what?

It’s gotten to a bad point – I’m writing a book that takes place at summer camp, and I have the camp’s alma matter stuck in my head.  I keep singing it, and every time I do, my dog walks out of the room.  Tough critic.  Girl can’t get a break around here.

Resource Thursdays: The Purple Crayon

You know what makes me happy?  Reeses Peanut Butter cups, getting chapters done, and, oh yeah, comprehensive writing resources.  You may not get the peanut butter cups from your visit, but you sure will get a ton of information out of The Purple Crayon.  This website, run by children’s book editor Harold Underdown, is a treasure trove of good stuff.  The site started out as Harold’s own material, and now includes references from other industry experts.  From manuscript basics to avoiding the slush pile, the site has articles for writers at every stage of the game.  I also love that it’s easily searchable, which can help make navigating the many pages a lot easier.

I like when birthdays last all month

Yesterday I got my birthday present from my parents in the mail.  The Harry Potter Box set only without the box.  Hardcover.  Sigh.  Are you jealous?