Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Inspiration

I'm very happy to report that we are all set for Halloween tonight. Lighted skulls adorn our walkway, and Lightening Jack (Ed's fabulous jack-o-lantern creation) is carved and ready to scare trick-or-treaters. We've got Baby Ruths, eyeball gumballs, and Nerds to pass out. I can't wait.

Had a really great time at the Texas Book Festival this past weekend. I had the honor of being a judge for the UIL short story contest (11th and 12th grade) and had the pleasure of meeting the lovely girl who took first place for her remarkable story, "The River Cantanha." What captured me the most was her voice - sad, mysterious, and haunting. Also, I was able to sit in on a session of one of my favorite writers, Janet Fitch (White Oleander, Paint it Black), and received mega inspiration. When Janet was asked if she outlines her books, she said, no, she enjoys the element of surprise and watching her characters unfold. Great news for me since I still don't know what Dylan Fontaine is going to do in my next chapter.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Hooray!

Just got a call from my lovely editor at Random House. She really likes the 120 pages I sent her of Dylan Fontaine, and is scheduling the book for a 2008 release. So happy. Now, the hard part. I have to finish it. Back to work.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Edits, Gigs, and Campouts

Let's see ... much has gone on since my last post. I received the typeset pages of Brothers, and after much back-and-forth with the proofreader my copyediting journey has finally come to an end! (I think.) Anyway, now I must worry about all the mistakes (caused by yours truly) packed into my bound galleys that go out to yes, the reviewers. Oh well, hopefully they'll be so taken in by the story that they won't even notice. Right.

I'm happy to say that I survived my first girl scout camp out. I was sort of dreading it - even thinking of sending Ed in my place (that would have gone over big)- but in truth it wasn't too bad. Korina had a blast with her friends and I managed to sleep, well, a few hours. While I was toughing it out in the wilderness Jonny and his band had their first paid gig at the coffee shop up the road. Apparently they had a big turn out, and now the rock stars are taking a break while I get a short reprieve from the all the noise. Yes, they practice in our game room.

Oh, also received some very nice news from my agent the other day. An editor from a NY publishing house is interested in my YA summer camp novel! She is going to send me a revision letter. Very, very excited.