Utter darkness was never so annoying

Yesterday morning I woke up at 4:15 to the sound of my computer’s battery backup beeping away because we had lost power.  In my half-awake, half-blind state I found a flashlight and made the beeping stop so I could go back to sleep.  I kept hoping the power would be on when I woke up for real, but alas.  The hot water wouldn’t work and I didn’t want to have a cold shower in the dark, so I ate breakfast in the glow of my laptop and then just went to work.  It was an inauspicious start to the day.

Here’s the thing though – when I was little I used to love power outages.  My family would light candles and huddle together on the couch and tell stories while some storm or another raged outside.  I miss that.  But sadly, a power outage on a work day doesn’t seem as glamorous.  Especially when it’s not caused by a storm.  And when the DWP is literally across the street from you, it’s kind of a slap in the face.

There I go apologizing again

I’ve been bad at this blogging stuff lately.  I’m blogging, of course, but I haven’t had time to sit down and do the super awesome posts I had planned.  For example, last night I was all set to write a scintillating Resource Thursdays post but then, alas, photo business work caught up with me.  I love the business that my husband and I run but whew, it sure gets busy sometimes.  So, I have no special post for you today but you’ll forgive me, right?  Have a great day!

I’m jealous

My husband is going to Switzerland today.  I’m taking an exam on the philosophy of metaphysics.  Fair?  Not so much.

Eating

On a completely random note, here are a few pictures I pulled off my camera the other day.  Not surprisingly, my family loves food.  What’s surprising is the kind of things they go after.  Case in point, my cat.  I discovered him on the counter after attacking cornbread.  Cornbread?

When Bunny gets a carrot, my dog has to have a carrot.  His jealousy has made him fat, but I figure vegetables are good for him, right?

Close-up of the rabbit.  I couldn’t resist.  Note the carrot juice-stained lips.

2009 SCBWI Summer Conference

As promised, here are a few pictures from the 2009 SCBWI Summer Conference.  I know they’re long overdue, but I hope you enjoy.

Mara Bushansky and me.  This was day 1, still bright eyed and well-rested.  That would all end soon.

Writers Sara Wilson Etienne, Mara Bushansky, Rita Crayon Huang

Here’s half of Israel Sanchez, who won the Illustration Portfolio Showcase, writer/artist Andy Mitchell, and writer Charlie Cohen

Rita and illustrator Ken Min

Jennifer Bosworth and me

There were a lot of creative costumes at the Blue Moon Ball, including the Blue Man Group!

Sara enjoys the wild rumpus in her fantastic Where the Wild Things Are costume

Me and Esther Hershenhorn

Me and Edith Cohn

Rita and me

One of my favorite parts of the conference was a mini lesson on plot and structure from Holly Black. Here are Rita, Holly, and Lee Wind

Revision

For the first time this week I finally feel productive, at least writing-wise.  I’m still working on a first draft of my book, but since I have a manuscript consultation coming up, I put a little time into revising the first chapter.  Some of the conflicts in my story have changed since I first wrote the opening, so I went back and made everything work.  I feel pretty good about the result, but I’m so used to seeing the words one way that it feels weird too.  Either way, I’m feeling better about the revision process than I ever have.  Someone once said it’s easier to revise than to write, because when you revise you at least have material to work with.  I’m starting to see the light.

Resource Thursdays: Holly Black

I am a huge fan of good surprises.  Often, some of the best surprises are meeting people who make you think about the real or fictional world in a different way.  At the SCBWI conference I was surprised and delighted to meet Holly Black.  Holly, along with Tony DiTerlizzi, is the author of the Spiderwick Chronicles and YA fantasy Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside.  After dinner one night, a few friends and I got a mini lesson from Holly on fantasy plotting.  Though I don’t write fantasy, the things she talked about definitely apply to other types of books and I was super pumped.

Holly also has a ton of great information on her website about writing and research.  It’s really fun to read, so be sure to check it out.  Don’t forget to read her books too!  I finished Tithe:  A Modern Faerie Tale a little while ago and was so hooked I now have the rest of the series on order.  Read.  Enjoy.  Repeat.

My excuse for slacking off

As you may have noticed from my husband’s posting a blog entry for me (sneaky, he is) I was dead tired last night and in no mood to blog.  I have a good excuse though!  My husband and I had purchased tickets to see Neil Finn play at Largo, and after our weekend to San Francisco, we completely forgot about the concert.  Luckily I remembered that afternoon or we would have been doing laundry and grocery shopping while the band played on.

Before the show we grabbed a bite to eat at Kings Road Cafe, and overheard one of the funniest conversations in awhile.  Some musician, who wasn’t famous enough for me to recognize, sat down across from his friends.  He launched into a story about how when he was in Milan and Donatella Versace recognized him.  “Come to my store,” she said to him.  “I’ll close it down for you.”

The musician thought it would be a trip, so he and his friend went.  “Come,” Donatella said, “pick what you like and take whatever you want.  You can have what you want.”

“Sweet,” this guy thought.  “It’s free.”

He and his friend went on a shopping spree, picking out things they would never wear, like leather shirts with gold studs, all because he thought it was free.  When it was time to leave the store, Donatella says, “Let me just take your credit card in case.”

“In case what?” the guy thought.  That’s when he realized that what he thought was free wasn’t free.

He and his friend walked out.  “Holy cow,” his friend said.  “I spent 35 million lira.”

They did the math.  “That’s thirty five thousand dollars.”

The musician sighed.  “I guess I got off lucky.  I only spent seventeen grand.”

There’s a lesson to be learned in there.

Motorbike

This is Tanya in Cozumel, which is an island. She was going through her motor-bike phase.

Back to the daily grind

You know what’s ironic?  At the airport you need to be at your gate at a certain time, and yet there are no obvious clocks in the entire place.  This is not just one airport, but nearly every one I’ve been to. Seems odd to me.

That tidbit aside, this wedding weekend in San Francisco was fun but brief.  I didn’t get as much writing done as I would have liked, so I’ll try to play catch up this week.  I’ve got added incentive to work efficiently – at the SCBWI summer conference I was a door prize winner for a manuscript consultation with Stephen Mooser, President of the SCBWI.  I’m beyond excited, but I have to pull together a synopsis for my book.  This is harder than it looks, since my book isn’t actually finished.  That and I want to make a few changes to the first pages, since some plot lines have changed from when I began writing.  All in all, it’ll be hectic but fun.  Let’s just hope life doesn’t throw too many other projects at me.