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?

Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee

To say I’m a fan of Lisa Yee’s writing would be like saying I’m a fan of sugar – I love them both in a big way and can’t get enough.  My local bookstore keeps selling out of Yee’s books, but I managed to track down a copy of Millicent Min, Girl Genius the other day.  I’ve enjoyed Yee’s blog for a while, and I’m happy to say I loved her book as much as I thought I would.

The story follows Millicent Min, a super-smart but socially awkward girl.  At eleven years old she has nearly completed high school, but she doesn’t really have friends.  The summer before her senior year, her mother signs her up to do two dreadful things: tutor Standford Wong and join volleyball.  The results are sometimes disastrous, sometimes painful, and always funny.  This book made me smile all the way through, and Millicent has such a great voice.  Please, please read it.

Feeling the burn

Yesterday my husband and I decided to take our new kayak down to the marina for a little ride.  Ian had previously taken it out a few times, so it was my chance for kayaking glory.  We launched off a little boat ramp and away I went.  The good news is, I was able to ride out to some rocks to see seals.  A few of them were playing around and jumping all over the place, but when they started swimming towards me out of curiosity, I decided to let them be.  Odds are, they’re much better in the water than I.  The bad news is, after a long ride out, the ride back to shore felt considerably longer.  I’m feeling the burn and I’ve got blisters on my hands.  Which makes typing this considerably harder.  It also rules out handwriting my next book sections, so I’m going to try writing things directly on the computer.  It doesn’t flow as well for me, but hopefully it’ll work.  Things are coming together nicely in my WIP, and I’m hoping to have something in shape for the conference next month.