Robbed

My eighteen year old son was robbed on the bus yesterday. No, there wasn't a weapon involved, but the punk threatened him, took his money and bus pass and stole my son's sense of safety.

My son is a pretty big kid, 6'2 and 220 pounds. The guy who robbed him was shorter, but he was also high and wearing a jacket that made it hard to tell if he was armed or not. So E opened his wallet, handed him his money and the guy told him he wanted his bus pass, too. So E gave it to him and said, "This is my stop, can I get off?" The guy moved out of the way and E asked, "Where are you getting off at?"

The idiot told him.

E was on the phone before the bus was out of sight and the cops got the guy as he got off the bus.

As a mom, I'm proud of the way my kid handled himself. He didn't try to play the hero, but was smart enough to take in the details of what the guy was wearing and ask where he was getting off. I am also angry that my son isn't sure how to feel about riding the bus... his sense of safety has been breached. This from a kid who loved the sense of freedom the mass transit system here gave him. We live in a suburb of Portland where the cops are so bored that six of them showed up for a petty robbery. This doesn't happen here. Except, I guess it does.

Pretty sad.

Funny Stuff

Thought I would post a few things just for fun.

Dh saw on bumber sticker: I don't have hot flashes, I have power surges. LOVE IT!

Another one: I don't skinny dip, I chunky dunk.

How about: I gave up jogging because my thighs kept rubbing together and setting my panty hose on fire.

Aging is fun, isn't it? Luckily, I'm still in the prime of my youth.

A Wonderful Weekend

Dh took me to Starbucks on Saqturday morning. He read the newspaper while I did writing practice. It was amazing... like what it will be when the children are gone. Then we went grocery shopping and then started on the yard.

You know how sometimes you start a project and say you are only going to work on it a couple hours and the next thing you know you're in Home Depot buying stuff? Yeah. It's kind of like that.

The upside is that the front yard is almost finished except for the mulching and we made somewhat of a dent in the backyard. I know many of you still have snow on the ground, but here in Western Oregon, spring has sprung. Last fall, we left our backyard a semi-tidy area. For the past four months we've done nothing but rushed out to grab firewood, ignoring the torrent of water running through our yard. Now that the sun is peeking out on occasion, we step out to see what is left after the winter's flooding. And it's a jungle, because nothing except the flowers have stopped growing. Nothing. Weeds, grass, unruly vines, you name it.

We go to the mulch place to drop off our fourth load of clippings of the season and there are fifteen other people dumping the winter's load of growth as well. How unnatural is that? And now that it's almost spring, everything grows even faster. it's a never ending chore to chop, pull, hack and otherwise try to keep the vegetation in line because it WILL EAT YOUR HOUSE! We have to demoss our roof every year! I've seen people with trees growing from the gutters... it is a never ending race against plant growth.

So it was a wonderful weekend, because we got to spend time in the yard together and put up a good effort in our fight against the green stuff.

Coming At You Live!!!!!

Last night they rocked PORTLAND!

So my hubby and I were totally exhausted, he from working all day, me from a combination of surgery and a cold from hell and we just weren't up the the concert. But hey, it was Tesla and we aren't too old yet, though we felt like it. We figured we could listen for an hour and head home if we were too tired.

AS IF!

From their opening power chords, we felt as if we had been transported back to 1988. The quality of sound spoke volumes (no pun intended) to the expertise of the sound men and the fact that they rocked without falling into trash mouth and stupidity testified to their class.

I completely abandonded myself to the music and head-banged beyond belief. It was fabulous seeing other people our age rock out. They opened with Coming at You Live and finished with Signs. After throat ripping screaming from the audience, they came out and finished with my personal favorite, Little Suzy's On The Up.

She sure was. This is an original video... couldn't find a live one that had as good of sound quality as they showed last night. Enjoy.

Natalie Goldberg/Writing Practice

I have been rereading Natalie Goldberg's books, Writing Down the Bones and Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open the Writer's Craft.

This makes me happy for several reasons.

1. She's a fab writer and it's fun to read her work.

2. It makes me feel like I'm digging deeper into my craft. You know, a serious writer.

3. It's very inspirational. Makes me want to write.


But the whole writing practice thing is creating a bit of anxiety. Writing practice as she portrays it, includes heading for a coffee shop or other venue and writing for thirty minutes without stopping. I haven't started practicing with topics yet. I kind of just wanted to let loose for a while. I have discovered several worry-causing things about myself.

1. Damn, I'm self centered!

2. My hand won't last for thirty minutes of nonstop writing with a pen. Now thirty minutes of typing is a whole nother ball game.

3.I'm afraid that I'm just not really that deep and this seems to be for deep literary types who get off on phrases like, "the ball rolled," and make it all metaphorical, while I'm just like, "Well, yeah, that's because it's round, dumbass.

But it is pretty cool to cart her books into my fav stbux (next to the book store), along with my notebooks and set up shop.

Just the fact that I care about cool makes me uncool doesn't it?

Violet by Design

Isn't that an amazing cover? I am dying to read this book. Melissa Walker is a great writer and a fab person. I am delighted to showcase her work today!

The girl next door is going places…
VIOLET BY DESIGN (Berkley Jam Trade Paperback; March 4, 2008; $9.99) is the second in a three part series by former magazine editor Melissa Walker about Violet—the sweet wallflower who blooms within the glamorous world of fashion and modeling.

Last year Violet made a decision to get out of modeling for good, but then the lure of international travel changed her mind. Now she’s thinking that she should have stuck with her original decision. If she had, then she never would have caught the eye of a hot guy like Paulo, she never would have gotten into trouble with the press for speaking out about eating disorders, and she never would have anguished over her body the way only runway models do.

But she also never would have seen Brazil or Spain—or now, France! Violet wouldn’t know the thrill of international runway and maybe most importantly, she’d always wonder, what if?

Melissa Walker has created a character that teens as well as adults can embrace and relate to. Readers will follow Violet though the highest highs and deepest lows of the modeling industry. This wonderful series is a fresh take on the real voice of one girl in the designer spotlight.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As a former editor at ELLEgirl and Seventeen magazines, Melissa Walker knows first hand the ins and outs of the fashion world. She hails from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at melissacwalker.com, or at myspace.com/melissacwalker.

I Wanna New Nose

Because this one is pretty much broken. Don't get me wrong,I'm grateful to have a functioning nose AT ALL! The fact that I have no tumor deep in the recesses of my nasal passages delights me to NO END! I just wish that they had left the only nose I have feeling a little less like something the crypt-keeper sleeps in and a little more like a breathing device.

Honestly, I think they used a cheese grater to get up there.

Ahem.

In writing news... Spent the weekend in a happy stoned state of creativity. I knew stringing words together would be dumb since my language skills had been reduced to that of a visiting martian, so I went another route. This is what I came up with-- My Looking for Laguna collage.



In the center, I have some key plot points and chacterizations that I inked out with my Inspiration program. Then I did cut, paste, and pin for the rest of it. I had a blast doing it, but with the amount of pain meds I was under, I would have been happy doing almost anything.

In other writing news, I have several articles that need to be worked on this week. I'm in a holding pattern on my fiction until I get some feedback from my agent, but that's okay. I have enough on my plate. Maybe I'll make some pie. Only problem is... I can't smell anything!

Dodging the Bullet

I dodged the bullet this week. Last November, I went into my regular MRI appointment to see if my brain tumor had grown. The same one that we "removed" and then killed with radiation five years ago. It has been dead for years. But this time they found a mass. It could have been the same tumor, a new tumor caused by radiation or a mucus sac. Last Thursday, they put me under, opened up my little nose and went on up to find out. I am pleased to announce it was only SNOT! Trapped behind a wall of scar tissue left behind after the original surgery.

No new tumor!

I feel like I dodged the proverbial bullet.

I was so sure it was the tumor again, or perhaps another, more lethal, tumor. But it was not. I'm good to go except for the pain in my face, which is made more bearable by copius amounts of pain medication.

So I can begin writing again, knowing that my books will see the light of day, that they can be submitted, and that all is well in my world.

Peace Out

I have some health stuff that must be taken care of so I will be out of the office for the next few days. Leave me some love people!
Teri

Books, Books, Everywhere I Look

I finally organized my books last night. It was getting way out of control. I took every book I have off every bookshelf and stacked it on my bed, sorting as I went. What kind of piles did I sort them into you ask?

YA

Women's fiction/romance

Antique

Nonfiction

Picture books my children would murder me over if I got rid of them, like Ameilia Bedeila, Scuppers the Sailor Dog, etc.

Then I further sorted them.

YA
YA by Arcs
YA signed
YA author groupings
YA classics

Women's fiction/romance
Arcs
signed
author groupings

Oh, and I also had a to toss pile of books I will never read.

I have one lovely bookshelf in my livingroom and I now have enough YA that I brought them out and used that one. I love my YA books. I also have all of Jane Porter's single title books, which makes me happy cause she is a fab person and writer. I only have two Jennifer Crusie books, which is odd...I know I have more! If anyone wants to give me a gift... that would be it:)

All of my books are now cleaned and dusted, sitting perfectly at the edge of the shelf. What a huge sense of accomplishment. I have been wanting to do that for ages!And I have room for more books!

Get Out of Me House!

I love teenagers. I really do. I have them. I write for them. I've even mentored them. I love their sweet vulnerable insecurities. I love their blustering and posturing. I even love the way they change their minds about things depending on the set of circumstances they find themselves in.

I do not like the way my own particular set of teens expects me to rescue and save them from everything. "Mom, I left my makeup at my best friend's house, get dressed at 5:30 am and run over and get it!" "Mom, I have to be there in fifteen minutes and I know I forgot to put it on the calendar or tell you, but I have to or I'm off the team and I need a fifty dollar check, too!" Or my personal favorite, "Mom, my teacher hates me. Go beat him up!"

I know, I know. I've read the books. It just seems like independence is two steps forward and five steps backwards, right over the top of me. I am ready for empty nest syndrome. Of course, I'll probably bawl like a baby, but right now, it's looking pretty good. I'll probably never leave the house again!

Diablo Cody

Seriously, chick is my new hero. Yeah, I know. Unlikely hero for a woman of a certain age, but hey, anyone who walked the red carpet with both animal print and tats, and wrote an amazing young adult character like Juno, has my loyalty. So she was a stripper, (a profession that pretty much enrages and saddens me), so what... the woman can write and won an Oscar, so this Bud's for you, Diablo, woman who wears thigh flashing animal prints in front of millions of people. You rock. (Of course, if you prefer vino, martinis or a bucket of gin, that can be arranged as well. When it comes to alcoholic beverages, I'm pretty easy)


In other news, the secret countdown ends today. Wonder what's going to happen. And no, still can't tell you. Today is pretty packed. I have a month's worth of blogs to plan for the Class of 2k8, Laguna to go over and send in to my agent, and articles to get started on. Also have a doctor's appointment smack in the middle of it. Woot.

Happy Monday!

PS. Check out the snazzy new icon to the right, if you will... I am excited to be a part of the first annual Pulse Blogfest!

Uh huh

Secret Countdown 64 hours

The Killer Queen

Linda, help me out here... right now I am trying to be Martha/Bri... what did I used to call my perfectionistic tendencies? Martha fly by? What? (Sorry to confuse my most recent readers, but this was back in the day of the humorous tumorous blog)

Anyhoo...

Like proverbial Proverbs 31 woman (and if you haven't read this, you really should, if nothing else then to give a serious case of the inadequacies, which are kind of like the heebyjeebies with a dash of guilt thrown in.) Martha/Bri performs a series of duties each day that would kill most of us. And I really think our job is much more difficult in modern times because we have a lot of self care shit we're supposed to do too. Let's look at what the Martha Bir's of the world have going on...

*Wake children up with the patience of a saint and make sure they get off to school or started on their homeschool work. (I admit to screaming at my teenage daughter. That scene in Freaky Friday where Jamie Lee Curtis is pulling a comatose Lindsey Lohan out of bed? That's for real)

*Look over that day's to do list, while making coffee, baking up breakfast, Getting dressed (looking together, mind you, not in track pants and a holey t-shirt)

*Do that day's work which includes, making your bed so you have a nice place to relax with your significant other at days end, dishes, planning meals, grocery shopping, straightening up the house, doing some yard work if need be, (I live in Oregon and it always needs be) juggling the calendar,(remember birthdays!) driving, driving, driving, laundry, and errands. And that doesn't include your oh-so-fulfilling career.

*Also, don't forget relational care like spending time alone with and nurturing each child, having a fulfilling romantic relationship with your spouse and having girl time with your best friends. (And I don't think that a rushed thirty minutes for coffee where you both bitch as quickly as you can, counts. Sorry Ann:)

*Don't forget self care such as getting an hour of exercise daily, meditation/devotionals or some other spiritual fulfillment, looking your best, flossing your teeth, taking off your makeup every night before bed, and have I forgotten anything? Oh, right, scheduling your mammagram, pap, and teeth cleanings. Hair appointments, and brow appointments

All that is doable right? Notice it doesn't say anywhere in that list, downtime to watch The Biggest Loser and American Idol. I need my reality TV.

As a side note, not really relevant to anything, but don't you hate it when you can't find your book? I was reading a book while eating lunch yesterday afternoon and couldn't find it when I went to go to bed last night. I swear, I was ready to kill! KILL I tell you!

Secret Countdown: 77 hours

Books, Books, Fabulous Books

I have read some great books in the past couple of weeks... thought I would share them with you.



Mari Mancusi gets it right with this fun and energetic San Diego romp. Very witty and funny. Love the news stories she comes up with here.



A very different and funny look at love and obsessions. I won this book on a blog and I'm so glad I did!




I think I mentioned that I scored an arc of this one before, but it's worth mentioning again. So fabulous.


Secret Countdown: 112 hours

Kitchen Remodel...

In my quest to become more perfect I've decided that we need a kitchen remodel. Actually, that's a dirty lie. I've been panting over remodeled kitchens since about year five in our ten year residence in this charming 1970 ranch style abode. "But Teri," you ask, "why would anyone one want to remodel a kitchen with such obvious retro allure?"

"Good question, dear internets. Perhaps I have simply tired of trailer park chic. Or maybe I would like to have a wall without visable wiring plastered and sanded into it. (a little gift we found when we removed the delightful blue and pink farmhouse wall paper, gifted to us by the previous owners.)"

At any rate, we had a contracter in last night and we told him what we wanted and what we didn't want. Would have been easier if we had a clear picture of what we wanted and didn't want, don't you think? Poor guy. So we should be getting the quote from him by the end of the week which will make my husband have a major anxiety attack and will take all my wiles to talk him down.

I really wanted a tuscan look...but now am realizing a tuscan look would look fairly absurd with my transitional/modern livingroom/office/diningroom. There is nothing old world looking about my house except for perhaps the siding and the roof.

I would love to have a kitchen with a more modern design without losing the warmth... and for the next big question... my walls are a very dark/deep red. The kitchen is open so it's really apart of the livingroom and office/diningroom... what color should I make the kitchen???

Secret Countdown: 134

All Over the Place

This is pretty much a random blog filled with random ass notes.

Writing wise, I am kicking butt. After spending three weeks on chapter two of Laguna, I spent Saturday writing and finishing chapter three. Go figure. Maybe it really was just a tough place and not my secret inability to string words together.

Maybe I'm not losing it! I still have quite a bit of polishing to do, but hope to have it out to my agent by next Monday.

Promotion wise, I am not kicking so much butt. I still have to start my contacts data bases (detail work that I hate),plus, I need to follow up and make sure that my school people got an arc. I need to figure out a way to do my own website updates, etc. I am also pretty bummed that I can't do RSS feeds from here to my MySpace/LJ without doing a lot of frightening techie stuff that makes me sick to my stomach to think about. No bueno.

Home wise, I am still working on my bid for the most improved Martha Stewart/Bri Van De Kamp clone. House is clean, cupboards are getting organized and for dinner Saturday night, I created fabulous chicken and black bean quesadillas from Friday night's orange roasted chicken leftovers. Served with mango salsa and icy cold microbrew beer and you have a meal fit for TV.

Friend wise, I had a good weekend as well. Had coffee yesterdday morning with my fabulous CP Kerry Blaisdell and then went back to the same coffee shop several hours later to have coffee with a new friend, a young YA writer who just moved back to the area from New York.

I was uncomfortably caffeinated, but recovered now.

Who wrote the album I used for my title?

Secret Countdown: 184

Secret Countdown

207 hours

Secret Countdown

232 hours.

Beyond Words

I am shocked, saddened and enraged by the tragedy at NIU. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. I am beyond words.

Seven tips for Great Soup

So I'm going to have to bail on the soup writing analogy because it would just take up too much brain power that I desperately need for like... making cranberry oat muffins, polishing the bathroom fixtures and writing another article on potty training.

But I will give you some soup tips.

1. Never use straight water. Use stock or broth. Though you can add water if you want.

2. Always saute meat and veggies in olive oil before adding to the pot for an extra layer of flavor.

3.For Mexican or Italian inspired soups, add a fresh tomato at the end. I do use canned tomatoes, but the tomato at the end adds in another layer.

4. You have your meats, your starches, (potato, bean, rice or pasta) and your veggies. You can use any combination of those, but I tend to stick to one meat and one starch. The exceptions are Minestrone, which uses beans and pasta and Italian sausage soups which can call for more than one type of meat. Oh, and Cajun inspired soup can use beans and rice.

5. At the end of almost any soup you can add a splash (just a splash and no, I do not know what a splash actually is) of balsamic vinegar and that adds another layer to the soup.

6. Know your herbs and spices. Fresh parsley and cilantro can MAKE a good soup:)

7. Get some kind of simple chopper. I got one from the Pampered Chef, but rarely used it till my dh showed me that I didn't have to use the rubber bottom, I could used it right on my plastic cutting boards. Now carrots, onions, peppers, etc. are easy to cut. Otherwise, I'd never make soup because it takes too long:)

There you have it. Now pretend I talked about the plot being the soup base, etc and you will have had your analogy:)

Oh, and Rinda, the toscana soup was out of this world and my whole family thanks you!
Teri

No soup today

I must finish my proposal asap and will be working like a mad woman all day. But I leave you with this little prize for not knowing Emmerson, Lake and Palmer was the creater of yesterday's album title.

http://www.cracked.com/article_15856_7-most-unforgivable-grammy-award-snubs-all-time.html

This article is hysterical and clued me in that Amy Winehouse is just one in a long line of grammy flubs... I mean, giving A Taste of Honey best new artist over Elvis Costello? Or, get this one, out of Frank Sinatra, Barbara Streisand, Pink Floyd and Billy Joel, they give album of the year to... Cristopher Cross????

Snicker... enjoy!

Brain Salad Surgery

PJ got yesterday's album title... I'm going to have to party with that girl.

I wanted to get back to writing a bit on my blog. I've been so occupied with perfection (you should taste my cream scones!) that I've not blogged as much about what I do for a living. That is, write.

Probably because my writing has sucked. I am still stuck on chapter two in Laguna. Lest any of you think it is some kind of writer's block, I hasten to add that I think I can write, my desire to has just lessoned for the moment. (HA! I used lest and hasten in the same sentence. Do I get any points for that?) It's a very odd and disturbing feeling not having the urge to write, to be immersed in your character's lives. I feel like I'm letting them down. Which is pretty much mental. I have enough people to please without worrying about the feelings of people who do not damn well exist. "Shut up, Jaci, I will get to you in a bit, I promise! What's that? I've been promising to get you out of the car for two weeks? I know, I know, I'm trying!"

Ahem. And yes, Jaci Burton, my MC has your first name. I'm sorry. I tried to tell her that name was already famous (or infamous) in the writing world, but she just rolled her eyes. What can you do with teenagers?

Anyhoo.... back to topic. I have learned to make a restaurant quality soup. Honest, I have become the soup nazi. (NO SOUP FOR YOU!) I have learned to layer in flavors, making the soup far more tasty than just regular soup. There are several secrets to making a good soup just like there are several secrets to writing a good book.

Sigh. Okay, I had this whole analogy planned where I likened good soup to good writing and it's really brilliant, but honestly, I am having a hard time waking up and it would make the blog way too long, so you are just going to have to trust me on this. Oh, wait. maybe I will finish it up tomorrow. That's it. A two part blog! So come back tomorrow. It's really good. I think.

And today's album title was before my time, but I thought it kind of went with the blog. Sort of. Okay. I'm gonna go have another scone.

Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy

This is another patchwork quilt of blogs. The closest I'll ever get to actually making a quilt because I don't sew and have no desire to do so. (Does that mess up my Bri Van De Kamp/Martha Stewart aspirations?) So here goes:

1) Apple Crisp for breakfast is always welcome.

2) I love my agent. Enough said. No, wait. I need to say it again. I love my agent. Jenny Bent is a rock star. There. Done now.

3) Rachel Vincent absolutely rocks. I got a hold of an arc of Rogue and it blew my mind the F&%$ out. Left me almost speechless. I will tell you one thing... it is far more complicated and heart pounding than the first one. Several surprises. Lurve those werecats. You must buy this book. Preorder the sucker. Trust me.


4)Internet scandals blow up quickly. Hope they die down just as quickly. Oy.


6)The Grammys. Amy Winehouse? PUL-ease! My daughter and I were discussing it this morning and I accidentally committed musical terrorism and sang a few lines of Rehab which then got stuck in my daughter's head. Since she detests the song, she was pretty upset about it. So we hummed Gilligan's Island until Rehab went away. See, Gilligan's Island will clear out your mind, but is inoxious enough that it leaves on its own. Rodgers and Hammerstein Show tunes do the same thing. Just so you know.

7. In order to continue on my quest for perfection, I went through my family and work files and reorganized. My dh has the big important home and fmaily files... I generally take care of school stuff, classes, scheduling etc. Instead of having a file for each child, I bought a couple of big binder, put their name on the back and put everything in there. That left me a lot of room to expand my work file into the "home" file underneath it. I got all of last year's tax stuff together and ready to go over and made room for this years tax stuff which was on the top of my desk in untidy piles. I also bought a rotating desk organizer! I love it! I'm now tidy and organized, except I am thinking I need another binder for all the fabulous Internet recipes I'm amassing.

Off to work! Oh, and I saw the band who put out that album twice. Who is it?

Girls! Girls! Girls!

Yesterday was the big boob bashing appointment, also known in refined circles as the mammogram. I've reached the magical age of forty and am supposed to have one every year or so. I'm in the "or so" camp and it took me three years to get up the nerve to go back after the first one. I have one word to say about the entire experience...

OUCHIEWAHWAH!

Plus, the emotional havoic it wreaks... the tech is just so matter of fact about it. She grabs your nekid boob and just slaps it up on the little shelf, like she does it all the time. Okay, she does, but I certainly don't and would like a little dignity, please. I'm the one standing there with my chest exposed. She moves you here and moves you there and then starts screwing down the top shelf. Her goal is to smash your poor helpless boob flatter than a pancake!

"We have to get the breast away from the rib cage," she says.

But it's attached to me, by way of meat and flesh and nerves!

"Okay, don't breath," she says.

Trust me. I'm holding my breath.

I was complaining to my daughter about having someone manhandle my breasts and she told me, "Come on, Mom, they're just boobs."

Okay, this is NOT the sentiment you want coming from your seventeen-year-old daughter.

"No, they are not just boobs. I hexed yours when you were a baby. If anyone touches them besides you, they turn into toads!"

She raises her eyebrows and snorts. I'm going to have to do something with that child.

Speaking of that child. I want to give my baby a big shout out as today is her birthday.





HAPPY BIRTHDAY,BABY!

And today's album title is pretty easy... any guesses?

Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy

I heart me some Biggest Loser. Those fat people show up on my television and my arse is crocheted to the chair for the next two hours. And no, I don't have a snack while I watch. That would just be tacky.

I just love seeing them pumping iron, climbing the stairmaster, running (running!) on the treadmill and doing core body work. I love to see them with sweat trickling down their foreheads and the intense look in their eyes as they curse every damn cheeseburger they ever chowed on.

And I especially love that they are all fatter than me.

Well, until the next couple of weeks of the show when the women start dipping under two hundred. Then I start getting nervous. What the networks need is a show called, Not Quite Fat Enough. Because I'm too fat to wear those cute little flippy skirts, but not fat enough to get on TV. The no man's land of fat.

And I love the new emotional component they have on the show, where Bob and Jillian dig deeper to find out why these people are fat. What I want is for someone to look at them and say, "Look, I eat because I love food. It's tasty. It makes me happy and it is pleasurable to have something delicious doing the snoopy dance across my tastebuds."

Am I the only person in America who is overweight because I adore food? According to the Biggest Loser and Oprah, I just may be.

And I have to add that it would be easier to lose weight if I had Bob and Jillian with me all the time, though Jillian kind of scares me!

I have been going to the gym and walking, but honestly, it's hard when I'm so busy trying to be perfect (see last weeks post). Of course, being perfect means being in shape too. Sigh. I guess I'm going to have to work on it harder.

Who put out today's title?

Stained Class

So my daughter brings home this history test she is supposed to give her parents. I took mine over a glass of vino. Not because I don't like history or anything, but because it reminded me of school and anything that reminds me of high school makes me run for the liquor cabinet.

The questions came at me fast and hard. Things like, Who shot Ronald Regan?
"Um, Mark Chapman? Oh, crap, no. That was John Lennon."

What country held American Hostages for 444 in the late 1970's?
"Iran" I knew that one cause I kept a scrap book.

What is a pet rock?
Blank stare. "Um. A rock?" My daughter shakes her head. "A fad!" I yell, triumphant.
"No, a marketing scheme," she says.
"Trick question." I take another sip of vino.

The tension increased once I realized that the Dh had already taken the quiz.

Who said "I am not a crook!"

"Richard Nixon."

My daughter giggles. "You know what I put? Mrs. Doubtfire. You know, because at the beginning of the movie when they are making her over she says..."

I take another sip because I'm raising Jessica Simpson.

Actually, I did really good. Out of 40 I got 38. Damn pet rock. I even guessed that Oliver North was involved in the Iran Contra scandal. Where that came from I have no clue. But I did get more than my husband. Snicker.

In other news... I'm going to San Fransisco! It's official. I registered:) I am staying with fellow young adult writer and critique partner, Brook Taylor. She pretty much rocks and her book Undone has one of the coolest covers evah. I have been wanting to go to the RWA National conference for ages. Woohoo!

And what heavy metal band put out Stained Class?

Notes from the Cultasauraus Erectus

Smashing a lot of unrelated events into today's post. We'll see if it actually makes one good post or falls short.

Super bowl: Damn, that was a good game. Even watching them grind against each other without a score for quarters on end was fascinating because you got to watch Tom Brady get flustered. Also worth it to watch Eli Manning look around with his cute little pretend-a-stash as if thinking, "Am I really in the super bowl? Mom? Dad? Peyton?"

The last couple of minutes had us (and the whole bloody country) on their feet. The only problem was I wasn't with my son to watch it. We kept texting each other through the entire game.

Commercials were hysterical. Okay, not all of them. But the tiny head crack had me rolling. Loved the Clydesdales, as always. Who can resist bigass horses with heart? Speaking of hearts, what the hell was up with that heart that jumped out of that woman and stalked across the room with it's little ventricals a waving. That's just sick and wrong, people.

But Eli Manning is adorable. Someone give that boy milk and cookies. He and his team won the super bowl.

Fiction: She loves it, she loves it! My agent is reading Spell and loves it. YAY! Worked more in Laguna over the weekend, but didn't finish chapter two. Am a great big fat failure cause I should have finished it. Bah!

Nonnfiction: Going well. Have what I need to polish off two articles this week and get paid. Hoorah for getting paid!

See, I told you I just had wee bits and peices of a blog. Can anyone tell me what the title of the blog is from?

Do More (Cause you aren't doing enough)

Dh and I were at the grocery store checking out the magazines. Okay, I was checking out the magazines, he was loading groceries cause I can't do it right. (Bummer) And I noticed that 9 of the 13 magazines had a headline about losing fat. Of course, it was January, so that's understandable. But the next most popular topic was efficiency. How to do MORE in the little time you have.

I just want to tell these magazine editors thank you, because I for one, need to do more. I need to be more efficient, so I can get even more done in a day, because as we all know, therein lies the way to happiness. At some point, if I take their expert advice, my home projects will be done, my children will be perfect, my marriage will be filled with romance and great sex and I will have that perfect perky butt.

You know, I could really use a perky butt.

Even MSN got in on it this morning. I logged on and there it was... The Busy Mom's Guide: 50 Tips to do Everything Better and Faster.

I loved this one: Designate 30 minutes after dinner as a cleaning time... have everyone get in on the action!

Sorry, by the time dinner is over, my family is pretty much an inert mass. By that time we have been up since about 5:30 am, went to school or work, fixed food, ran errands, took care of animals, cleaned up the dreaded leaving-the-house-mess and fixed more food. We get the dishes done and collapse in front of the television like any normal American family. The only one who is ready for more action is my 17 year old daughter and it's selective energy... it only appears when her boyfriend is on his way over to pick her up.

As much as I would like to be perfect, I'm not sure I want to pay the price. I'm already tired. But in a Martha Stewart like impulse I did get up at 5am this morning to make sweet cream scones and mock devonshire cream.

I'm never gonna have a perky butt.

Perfectionism

See, I told you I loved this subject:)

Did anyone read that old book, Diary of a Mad Housewife? I read it ages ago and loved it. It's about this woman who is having all sorts of middle-aged angst in upper middle class 1960's New York. Her husband is a social climbing pompous ass, her children are snobs and the man she ends up having an affair with is mean. Really mean. She thinks she's losing her mind and keeps a diary about her experiences. In a wonderful twist, her husband goes to her old shrink, who in turn tells him that Bettina isn't the one who is nuts, he is. Bettina realizes that the person she really wants to be is a homemaker... not the modern, social climbing version of the word, but the organized, motherly type. I thought it was fabulous that a feminist book would have the woman making a choice like that because it isn't very PC. But I think the operative word here is choice.

So what does that have to do with perfectionism? Well, when Bettina couldn't sleep she would think of this woman, (I can't remember the name she gave her organized alter ego) and keys... the keys to the perfectly organized pantry, the cupboards of dishes, put away in just the right place, the polished silver... this would make her feel warm and fuzzy and put her to sleep.

I know the feeling. I would love to have my linen closet be full of perfectly ironed and folded linens. Hell, I would just like a linen closet filled with something besides limp, hairy blankets and old movies. I want my hutch to be filled with lovely vases, wine glasses, and silver trays for entertaining.(Right now, the hutch is a drop off place for everyones crap, broken sunglasses I plan on fixing someday and the dog's leashes) I would love to have printed out list of things to do in the garden each season, and then actually do it. I want my home filled with freshly cut flowers, arranged by me. (If I do manage to get some flowers, I usually leave them out way longer than the pull date.)I love the thought of actually washing and cleaning your winter clothes and putting them away.

I really, really, really love the thought of being that person. I just can't quite seem to make it. I'm too tired for one. I'm too busy for another. I mean, who would write while I was planting bulbs for drifts of spring daffodils? And three, it would give my perfectionistic, type A little superman of a husband WAY TOO MUCH satisfaction.

And I'm just too much of a rebel to allow that.

But I did make homemade granola yesterday.

Forgetting the Sugar....

I want to be perfect... those of you who know me know that I tend to throw myself 150% into whatever it is I am doing... motherhood, writing, community service, whatever.

But I have yet to achieve perfection and it pisses me off. The odd thing about this is that I'm not really a perfectionist. Believe it or not, I have an award winning, "oh, well" kind of attitude. I can live with good enough... especially when it comes to home stuff. I know I'm not a real perfectionist because I live with one. Now my dh... he's a perfectionist. A true blue, sees every little flaw, kind of perfectionist.

Not me. I have selective perfectionism. I don't care that I have a dust bunny the size of a shetland pony inhabiting my bedroom. But I am flaming mad that I forgot to put the sugar in the cranberry oat muffins this morning. I got up at 5am to make my family nutritious, fragrant muffins before they head off to school and work. I whip it all up, bake them to golden perfection and serve them, only to find they taste more like cranberry oat biscuits. Gross. Muffins need sugar. In this case, a half of a cup of brown sugar.

It's kind of the story of my life. Great intentions, but I just can't seem to achieve what I want to. Like Anne of Green Gables and the perfect pink cake-- seasoned with liniment instead of vanilla.

I really do want to be one of those moms who's lives seem effortless. Who somehow manage to do everything and keep a svelt size 6 figure. I see them on my way back from taking megs to school, all dressed up in their SUV's, on their way to work, having just delivered every child to the proper school, dropped off the blockbuster movies, arranged a playdate for afterschool and ordered dinner from Dinners Done Right.

I can't even manage to remember to put sugar in the muffins.

I like this topic. I think I'll make a week of it. You have been warned....

I'm Back with a To Do List...

Can't even tell you how wonderful it was. We are back and very relaxed... so not ready for work, but it is Monday. I have nonfiction work and fiction work and need to make a list...

Get sources for Coffee and Pregnancy
Finish revising chapter one of Laguna
Write chapter two of Laguna
Get sources for ovulation detective
Get sources for negative thinking


We have JA Konrath answering questions on my fiction writer's discuss publicity list... I am very excited to have him on. If you want to join the conversation send an email to fictionwritersdiscusspublicity-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Happy Monday!

Goodbye my Friends!

Am leaving in a few short hours for the wilds of the Oregon coast where my Dh and I will be snuggly ensconced in a Victorian bed and breakfast. There we will watch the storms come in, drink loads of tea, coffee and pinot, read, cuddle and watch movies. No one is going to be there tonight except us, snug in the starlight suite with our fireplace and hot tub.

Have a great weekend!

Wappoos part deux....

Does anyone remember the great waffle debate I had with one of my foster children? My beloved Zoe Monster is now with my best friend... I had to let the children go after my mom moved in with lung cancer, right? She still has them because... lots of reasons.


Here is the original breakfast conversation I had with Zoe Monster last March.



As heard from the breakfast table this morning:


What you doing?
Making waffles for Karen.
Why?
Cause she's hungry.
Why?
Cause she just woke up.
Why?
Cause she was done sleeping.
So she huny?
Yes.
Zoe huny too.
Zoe already ate.
Why?
Cause you woke up at 6am.
Why?
God only knows.
What are you making?
Waffles!
I have wappoos too?
Okay.
Why?
(gritted teeth.) Cause you wanted some.Here.
Tank you.What are you doing?
Making a waffle for Karen cause the one I made us was too hard for her so I am making her a soft one.
Why?
Cause she can't chew a hard one.
Why?
Cause she doesn't have enough teeth.
Auntie? What are you giving Karen?
Waffles!
Why?
(Silence)
Auntie?
What Zoe?
What are you eating?

This is my dear friend Ann having a morning conversation with the Zoe Monster just this morning. (as taken from her blog http://afriedrick.blogspot.com/)


Monster: Teri had that kinda cereal

Me: Good

Monster: It good cereal

Me: Yep

Monster: Teri sit on the patio with me and eat her cereal

Me: Yep

Monster: Teri nice

Me: Yep

Monster: I like dat cereal

Me: silent

Monster: Can I had that cereal?

Me: No

Monster: Why?

Me: You wanted Life

Monster: I don’t want life. I want dat cereal

Me: Sorry, you’ll have to eat what you asked for

Monster: Teri give me dat cereal afore

Me: I’m sure she did

Monster: What it taste like?

Me: cereal

Monster: Teri like dat cereal

And on and on and on it went. I am not a morning person. Someone shoot me please.

Proof positive that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Monday News!

First off, sincere felicitations to the talented Lisa Schroeder who is celebrating the release of her YA book, I Heart You, You Haunt Me. I picked up the book and read it in one afternoon... it is that amazing, and beautiful. You can congratulate her here: http://www.classof2k8.blogspot.com/

The Deb Dixon workshop was out of this world, though I've decided no matter how good a class is, I'm good for two hours and then I'm done. Can't process anymore information. I need about a two hour break and then I'm good for more. No wonder I skipped school all the time. I bought Deb's book and got it signed and it is blowing me away. While skipping, I filled out a GMC chart for my MC in Laguna. Great stuff.

In other news, I'm taking off on Thursday for a four day weekend at the Sandlake Country Inn Bed and Breakfast. I need it. He needs it. Plan on taking books and magazines and no work. Pure relaxation, baby!

Celebration!

I finished that scene I was having so much trouble with, thereby finishing the chapter.

Celebrate with me... Because I'm soooo happy it's done and pretty pleased with how it turned out. We'll see what my Cp's think!

This weekend I'm going to a Deb Dixon GMC workshop. Am so excited to hobnob with writers and I have heard she is fabulous.

Have a great one!

Seven Random Facts About Moi

Jaci Burton tagged me, so here' goes...

1. My name isn't actually pronounced Teri it was supposed to sound like Teree... like Marie, but everyone started right out calling me Teri, so my poor mom gave up.

2. I skipped school like a wild thing, My teachers never believed that I would sneak outside on good days to read. Sorry, but SE Hinton is just so much more fascinating than math.

3. Unlike Gena Showalter, I think cowboys are hot. But then again, I was raised in Alfalfa, Oregon.

4.I didn't get my driver's liscense till I was like 26. I still have a irrational fear of driving in big cities. Oh, and I can never spell lisence right. Never. Ever. My brain won't remember.

5. I have trouble spelling certain words. Like conscious. Or is it consious? Anyway, I have a whole list of words my brain refuses to remember.When I do spell them right I can never remember if that is the right way... very odd.

6. I have discalcula. It's like dislexia only with numbers. I can't even take phone numbers down right.

7. I almost never do memes. I think I'm pretty boring and the things about me that aren't boring... well, I don't know you nearly well enough to tell you!

Oh, and the scene still hasn't jelled for me yet. Maybe today....

Scene by Scene

So I'm working on my new proposal and I'm having a little difficulty. I was unsure as to where the best place would be to start and now that I think I have a place and have created a great first scene, I'm having trouble getting it just right. It's a break up scene and not a lot happens... She is breaking up with him because she's running away, but he doesn't know it. I want lots of conflicting emotion here and it has to be a fully realized scene, if you know what I mean. It's the second scene of the book and this guy won't make another appearance till the end of the book... but he is the primary love interest. So this is the only live appearance he's going to make for a couple of hundred pages, so he has to be compelling even though she's listing the reasons why they can't be together.

It's hard as hell.

I want all the physical and emotional tension that comes with being a teen and being conflicted about someone you love. I've made a start on it, but am not completely happy with it. This proposal has to be fantastic and that may be another reason why I'm so obsessive about it.

I'm hoping it will click today. I'll let you know.

Monday Stuff

A bunch of wee announcements today... well, actually, some of them are pretty big and pretty darn cool:

1. 2k8 is officially in session! Check out our website here: www.classof2k8.com to see the group of 28 talented middle grade and young adult writers who's debut books are coming out this year. Check this out!



Pretty awesome, eh?

2. Am blogging up at Teen Fiction Cafe today. Are you a rereader? Check it out at http://www.teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com/

3. I wrote 2 1/2 pages on Laguna, but not sure if I'm going to keep them... I may start the book someplace else. Not sure where though. HA! Sound familiar?

Okay, must run. Have tons more stuff to do!

Another Synopsis Finished!

So I finish the synopsis for Looking for Laguna. And It's pretty good. Then more ideas come and it's better. So I tweak somemore cause I am getting really excited about it and little bits of dialogue are coming to me as I drive and the characters are revealing themselves in all sorts of ways. So I post to my CP's (haven't heard back yet)but I know this is a good one and I am sitting in front of the computer screen all giddy cause it's turning out so well and then it hits me. The Twist. The twist to end all twists. So I pitch it to my daughter. And she loves it and gives me a couple more ideas. Told me she can see it as a movie.

So without even talking to my CP's I send it out and my agent loves it.

And I am so excited to start working on it.... But I have a wee girl today and a hundred other things.... so it will have to wait.

How do you get your inspiration? Usually inspiration doesn't come this fast for me. I only hope the book is this easy!

Update on moi

Spell is out the door to my agent!
Rough of Exchanged synopsis is finished and to CP's

Those are the two biggies. My first synopsis of Exchanged is pretty dry. Not a lot of emotional growth. But honestly, it's such a far cry from the type of stories I usually do that I haven't really gotten into the style... probably because I'm still not sure what kind of style I'm going to be using. My son and I still don't know if we want to do it in third person or first. He isn't sure what his style of writing is so that's no help. I'm pretty used to first person, though my romances are done in third. And it's pretty serious as the kid is in the middle of an unexpected war zone.

I bought a three ring binder and a notebook for the book yesterday. Since it is set in Slovakia, we have a lot of research to do and I want the notes to all be in one place. My son is a genuis at research, though I wish we could actually go there!Anyone familar with Slovakia?

No word on the nonfiction front. Still waiting to see if I have to go to McDonalds and get a job or not. HA! That'll cut into my writing time.

Looks like I'm going to be pretty busy this term, though. Ethan has to be taken to school all this month because we didn't buy a bus pass. He also has extra math classes twice a week. Plus Driver's Ed on the weekends. I'm also taking advantage of the National Body Challenge's Free Bally's pass and going to the gym a lot. Add in the interior decoratoring class I'm taking with my mother and I have a pretty full schedule without working on Non-Fiction or getting a job.

Right now, I could really use another book contract, so wish me luck!

Back to Work (Or Not)

You know, when I was trying to think up a topic for today's blog post all that kept coming to me was how overwhelmed it made me feel.

Not a good start to the week if the thought of a blog post does you in. I check the calendar. Ahh. PE-EM-Es week. That would be why I woke this morning with a special irritation toward my beloved dh. (And here I thought it was because he set the alarm clock 20 minutes early for some odd, inexplicable reason) Of course, waking up to your dog dragging yesterday's garbage all over the floor doesn't help either. (Yes, the same garbage you asked your eldest to take out last night.) So now I'm pissed at the dog, (in the corner looking at me with big brown eyes) the dh, (who ended up cooking his own damn breakfast) and my eldest. (Who at the moment is sleeping away, not knowing that he's getting up to mommie monster.)

Sigh. Please God, let my final revisions go better than this.

Of course, this is the first real day back to routine after the holidays. I'm sorry if you had to go to work last week after New Years, but for those of us who's clocks are set according to school, this is the first day back. Really hard on Moms who spent the break staying up too late watching movies with their teenage daughters, eating and drinking too much, and sleeping in too late.

I wasn't ready for vacation to end. By the stomping from her bedroom, neither was my daughter.

For those of us who write, it's truly the beginning of the new year. Editors and agents are back at their posts and hopefully getting to MY manuscript. Deals will be made, submissions will be sent and marketing campaigns will be launched.

As soon as I send this manuscript to my agent, I will be starting on a new project. One that I haven't been over and over and over. New stuff. For the new year.

The Class of 2k8 blog and more

The class of 2k8 is a group of 28 debut middle grade and young adult authors who have banded together to reach librarians, teachers and booksellers. I am lucky enough to be a part of the group. The website isn't quite ready, thanks to technical difficulties, but our blog is hopping! Check it out! We even got a mention in Galley Cat!

http://www.classof2k8.blogspot.com/

Along those lines, I have realized that my book comes out this year and I must start the promotions wheel turning! I am both excited and daunted by such a huge undertaking. I know I'm not reinventing the wheel so I started a yahoo group called fiction writers discuss publicity. That way we can put our collective heads together and come up with some great ideas.

Here's the blurb about it: This group is for contracted or published novelists to discuss publicity tips on promoting their books. Included will be branding, methods, how to create successful events, cross promotion and other publicity tips. This is not for spamming the list with book advertisements, but rather a place to brainstorm and get tips on promoting your book.

If you fit the description, you can sign up by sending an email here: (keep in mind that you already have to be signed up for yahoogroups for it to work:)

fictionwritersdiscusspublicity-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Have a list as long as my arm to do. Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

DONE!

In a flurry of writing and a grand total of 22 pages for the day, I have finished the first draft of my tween novel.

Lots of revising to do, of course, but it is so nice to have completed the first draft. Now for the celebration!!!

My Holiday Season in Pictures

I've had a very busy holiday season, which is probably why I am not finished with my fiction to do list. Here are a few pix of what I've done:


Trans-Siberian Orchestra


The Festival of Lights at the Grotto


The Nutcracker Suite at the Oregon Ballet Theater



Eggnog with Dh on Christmas Eve


Tree trimming party with friends



Hot buttered rums with family after my birthday dinner

We also went to midnight mass at a catholic church for the first time ever!





No wonder I didn't get enough writing done!

Best Christmas Present Ever!

My wonderful husband gave me a gift that made me cry... He had the cover flat to Read My Lips professionally matted and framed to put up in my office. How sweet and thoughtful is that? I can't believe I didn't notice it was missing! Here it is:



Isn't gorgeous????

Hope you are all having a lovely holiday!

Happy Birthday to me!

It's my birthday and I won't be crying.

Well, actually tomorrow is my birthday,but will be too busy to blog. Too many Christmas and birthday festivities to attend.

Today I have to finish Christmas errands, go the the Nutcracker Ballet with my Mom (with the Oregon Ballet Theater, woot!)Go to a Christmas gig tonight, Go out to coffee with my best friend tomorrow (hint hint... come on Ann, you knkow you want to) and go out to the family birthday dinner tomorrow night.

Then all church and family holiday stuff until Christmas. Have a wonderful few days people. I know I will!

So close...

Within striking distance of Spell's finish. I think I have four more chapters according to the desperate-end-of-the-book-outline I drew up to help me make sure everything comes together.

Then revising, of course.

What else? I'll be blogging over at Teen Fiction Cafe. The topic is current events and I have a hot button issue to tackle.

My 2k8 group is on the verge of launching their website... This is one talented group of people! Our year is almost here. Will post when it comes up.

The only thing I have to do is make fudge and my holiday duties are pretty much over till the actual day. I am taking my 91-year-old dad shopping today. Don't know where he wants to go, but it should be a riot. Maybe I'll take him to Hot Topic just for ducks...

Twelve Things that Make Me Happy

Okay, I'm better. Well, those twelve things are still haunting me, but I do have the power to ignore them. So let's try the twelve things that make me happy this holiday season.

1.My husband. Sure, he's an anal retentive little perfectionist, but he does laundry, has a great job, keeps the cars running, makes lists of all the supplies we need, cooks several times a week, and absolutely adores me. I'll keep him.

2.My teens. Neither of them do drugs, smoke, have sex, or engage in any other illegal activity. They both report in on a regular basis, come home on time (for the most part) have good friends, do well in school (except for math, but that's my fault... both nature and nurture:), care about other people, and tell me they love me everyday. And even at eighteen and almost seventeen, not a day goes by that they don't hug me or seek out some kind of loving physical contact with their mama.

3. I SOLD A BOOK! To a major publisher! (A fiction book, because I have already sold two nonfiction books.)

4. I make money writing!

5. Both my Mom and Dad are alive for another Christmas. My dad is 91 and my Mom had a brain tumor and lung cancer this year, so that makes me very happy!

6. I own a home in one of the most expensive counties in the US and we have managed to hang onto it for almost ten years now! (I won't think about how it's falling down around our ears and everytime we go to do something, the water heater goes out or the furnace blows or...)

7. I am fairly healthy except for a reoccuring health problem, being a bit overweight, having high cholesterol, acid reflux, an on again, off again love affair with nicotine and a thyroid problem. Oh, piss it. I'm a mess. A veritable walking time bomb. But I am alive and much better off than many people.

8. My hubby and I are going back to the Sandlake Country Inn bed and breakfast at the end of January for three days! And they saved the very last bottle of our favorite, special vintage, pinot noir for us!

9. I have some fantastic friends and critique partners... They not only make me a better writer, they make me a better person.

10. Mrs. Annie-- my best friend doesn't even cover the relationship we have now. More like sisters without the messy family connection... which is good cause we can bitch about one another's family and have only sympathy.

11. I am a far better writer than when I first started in a critique group with Kristen Painter. She and the others in the group whipped me into shape. Now that I have gone on to other groups, I am always thankful for the advice she gave me.

12. A sense of humor. Where would I be without the ability to laugh at myself? To laugh at my mistakes and my weaknesses? If you only laugh at others and not yourself, you run the risk of becoming self important. Then you get bitter and twisted because others don't pay homage to how important you are. I've done things so catastrophically stupid, it boggles the mind. I have to laugh, because that's all that's left:)

The Twelve Reasons for Stress

Reasons I am stressed even though I am not working on any nonfiction deadlines:

1. Health stuff reared it's ugly head again.
2. I haven't started the Christmas cards.
3. The outside Christmas lights haven't been put up yet.
4. I can't sleep at night. I wake up about 2AM and end up getting up because I can't fall back to sleep.
5. I'm not done with my MG book yet.
6. Someone just sold their debut MG book for a huge amount of money. We're talking $200,000-$500,000.
7. My best friend is having trouble with the girls and since she took them for me when Mom came up with lung cancer, I feel like I should take them more, but just can't. (See number 1 and 4.)
8.I haven't started on the proposal I'm doing with my son yet and I wanted to get that done over vacation.
9. My main nonfiction client is now a part of the Disney online family and isn't taking assignments for January and I don't know what I will do if that income source dries up.
10. Neither of my teens have a job yet in spite of repeated looking.
11. Our washer is leaking and we have to buy a new one.
12. I haven't been able to make any significant progress on updating our home yet. Same old ugly kitchen, same 1970's windows and same chewed up bathroom floor.

Will someone please wake me up when my next book sells?

Progress

I am making some progress on fiction December!

My galleys are done and out.

I have written 4000 more words in SPELL and have plotted out the rest of the book.

My son and I had a brainstorming session and learned more about the book and what our roles will be. (That was interesting! Talk about two stubborn people butting heads!)

I also got a large portion of my Christmas shopping done, the Christmas tree up, the house decorated, (both thanks to my daughter Megan and her best friend Raines. see pix)

So things are going along swimmingly.

It's been a while sinc ei did a Monday To Do so here is one for ya:

Write in Spell
Plot out more on Exchanged


That's it!!!!

My Arcs Came In!

Okay...

They came in last night and I couldn't believe how beautiful they are, how lovely, etc. I was elated.

Then I was struck by a sinking feeling. This is real. My writing is going to be out there for the world to see and what if it sucks?

I mean, I almost had an anxiety attack... has anyone else ever felt like that?

Vacation from Nonfiction!

I finally did it. I am all done with my nonfiction articles until the new year. I was offered five assignments already and turned them all down, because December is all about FICTION!

Things I want to do in December:

Finish and Polish SPELL

Finish and return my galleys.

Work on EXCHANGED with my son.

Write the LOOKING FOR LAGUNA proposal.

Finish all work for my 2K8 group

Notice how that is all fiction?


Today was my first official day of vacation. I attended my RWA's chapter holiday party and then went from there to a family party. Tomorrow we are going to see Trans Siberian Orchestra! Yeah baby! Vacation is good. Now off to work on Spell for a bit tonight:)

Recovering from Thanksgiving

We are still recovering from Thanksgiving and it's not what you think. Yes, we had an exceptionally good time-- the food was great, my relatives were on their best behavior and I polished off a bottle of wine while cooking, but it was the aftermath that did us in.

My daughter came home from a friends house feeling queasy which soon turned into uncontrollable spewing. She was so sick Friday night that I almost took her to the docotrs. If it wasn't for the fact that she is possibly the most whiniest person on the face of the earth (she faints over hangnails) I would have. Then my dh got sick Friday night. The second whiniest person on the face of the earth. Seriously.

Then my son came home Saturday after staying the night at a friends... sick as a dog. Turns out some of my relatives brought their sick baby with them as a little Thanksgiving hostess gift. I spent Saturday cleaning up after three sick people. Sharing the bathroom was interesting.

I came down with a mild case on Sunday night. Spent Sunday and part of Monday sick. Feel much better, though my stomach is still sensitive. Daughter is back to throwing up after feeling fine on Monday and Tuesday and son is relapsing too. Sigh.

The bad thing is that none of us ever want to see another Thanksgiving turkey dinner again. Just thinking about it makes me shudder.

So we may have ham next year. LOL

Winner Announced!

The Winner Announced!


Hi all,

I had some great names entered in the Name My Newsletter contest. My minions and I chose the one that best describes me and the newsletter. The winner of the newsletter contest is...

(imagine drumroll here)

Melissa Walker!

The name of my newsletter is...

(more drum roll please)

So Very Teri!

This describes me to a T as my aim in life is to be as authentically me as I can, always.

You can sign up for the newsletter by sending an email to:

soveryteri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Thanks to all the entrants!

Time Management

I think I pretty much suck at time management. I'm horrible for putting things off. I'll think about doing something and then won't do it. Does that make me lazy? I'm really bad about keeping my prescriptions updated, my MRI appointments current and getting in for my blood tests when I need them. I'm really bad about making sure things go on the calendar, but I don't check the calendar every morning, so what does it matter? I've been putting off exercising so long my Nike's have spiderwebs across the top.

So how on earth am I going to learn how to manage a busy career? I have an article due today that I could have done yesterday, but I was having so much fun working on Spell and playing with the new Yahoo group that I just put it off. I have to fill in the gaps in my marketing plan and... well, you all know. It never ends, which is fine and what I signed on for, but still... I would like to be somewhat organized.

I generally make a weekly to do list that I keep on the desk, as well as my articles to do list and my tracking list to track when I invoice and get paid for articles. I would love to have a fiction list to track how many pages I write in an hour, but I don't have Excel and haven't made one in Works yet.

Does anyone have any tips? Do you work on email for so long and then close the program and write? Do you devote so long to promotions before or after writing?
How do you stay sane?

New Yahoo Group!

Title: Fiction Writers Discuss Publicity
Description: This group is for contracted or published novelists to discuss publicity tips on promoting their books. Included will be branding, methods, how to create successful events, cross promotion and other publicity tips. This is not for spamming the list with book advertisements, but rather a place to brainstorm and get tips on promoting your book.

Sound good? Then join us! Send an email to: fictionwritersdiscusspublicity-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

See you there!

New Website!

This is my very own website! I am using this one for my YA and MG books... I figure my romance site will be under another name and won't need to have all the flashy stuff:)

Check it out at www.teribrownwrites.com

YAY!

Let me know what you think!

Name Game

Okay, I have a CP. My most beloved of CP's who really makes me work for it, says the reason people are having trouble differentiating the voices of my two tween main characters is because their names are too similar. I don't think they are at all, but she is INSISTING.

So in spite of the deep regard I hold this CP in, I have to get more opinions. After all, she is asking me to change the names of one of my own children, halfway through their life!!!!

Their names are Cady and Addison.

Your thoughts?

Happy Eighteenth to my Son

Yes, you have to go to class today. Welcome to adulthood, sport.

The following video is long, but worth it.







I love you, buddy. You have been a joy to raise and to know. I love the way you make everyone laugh. I love the way you think deep thoughts. I love the way you say out of the blue, "I love you, Mama." while sitting and watching TV. I love the way you love to read and write. I am excited to see what you do with the rest of your life.

A Productive Weekend

I wrote 14 pages in Spell over the weekend! Am so excited as I have passed the halfway mark and am closing in on the end. Well sorta. But still enough to get excited over! It's coming very easy right now. Not that it always will, but hey, I'll take what I can get!

I have a couple of articles to do this week and have to finish the marketing plan for LIPS, but other than that will be working mostly on Spell. I need to put this one away.

My son and I have also been working on our book. Talked to my agent about it on Friday and she's really excited about the idea. Great concept:)It's kind of fun working on a project with my son... let's see how I feel about it halfway through the actual writing part.

Not sure when we are going to get that far though... am thinking of doing the proposal for my next Pulse book first. And then I have a HQ romance to write... sigh.

BUT... I am hoping that 2008 marks the last year of having to write nonfiction articles! Wish me luck!

Short YAYS!

Hey, all. I'm blogging over at teen fiction cafe today... check me out:)
www.teenfictioncafe.blogspot.com. YAY teen fiction cafe!

I have written about 14 pages so far this week, cleaned up my bedroom (which means organizing my books) finished two nonfic articles, did a lot of fall yardwork, cooked both breakfast and dinner for my family all week, and took care of a lot of errands. YAY everyone being gone during the day!

I actually got the first advance check. YAY paying off bills!

My 17-year-old son and I are thinking of writing a book together. YAY family togetherness!

For the First Time Ever...

I'm going to be alone every day on a regular basis. To work. To write.

Because the dh and I made the decision to homeschool our kids till they were ruined beyond belief (You should hear my teen daughter rail against have to ask to go to the bathroom. My son, who chose college over highschool, is much happier with the transition:) I never really had that old fashioned, stick them on the bus relief. Then in the past year that they have been going to school, My dh was home cause he worked swing. So I was ready to seriously get down to work at 9:00 and he was up about 10:30-11:00. To say that my dh is noisy and disruptive is an understatment. He would leave for work at 2:40 and I picked up my daughter from the high school at 3:00.

But today, he starts days. From about 8:30, when DS catches a bus up to the college, to 3:00, I am on my own, working, writing. Everyday.

Since they all leave at different times, the morning crunch isn't really that bad.

So I have high expectations of myself to really get some writing done.

NO NAPS!

Promotional Angst

I've never written a promotional plan before. Not coming from the world of big business, (unless you call diapers, homeschooling and sippy cups big business)I had never really given promotions much thought. Now, of course, I am. There are several schools of thought out there concerning promotions for writers.

1. Do everything you can. The publishing houses are no longer doing it for you, so you have to be out there on your own, pitching your book, if you want to make a difference in your sales, and as we all know, big sales, is what you're after.

2.You can't make that huge of a difference so just write your next book and make it the best you can. This school of thought stems from not knowing for sure if any of your efforts are making a difference at all, so you should control what you can and make the next book great.

3. Do everything you can and write the next book. I think this is the one I am subscribing to.

I had a chance to talk to Jane Porter and Serena Robar at the Emerald City Conference. Jane is a promotional dynamo. She is personable, well-spoken, and smart. She's also lovely, which I think helps. Serena asked her if she thought book tours help. Jane is in the middle of a grueling book tour and said, yes, she believes it does. But it isn't the signings that make the difference, though Jane is all about making face to face contact with her readers. It's signing stock and making contact with booksellers. She makes sure her media escort(and yes, Jane now rates a media escort)takes her to four or five book stores in every city and she always remembers to send a thank you note after she's home. She also says that signings are much more successful if you can get a media appearance beforehand.

After Jane had to leave, Serena and I talked about the differences in promoting YA as opposed to adult books. It's hard to get young adults to attend an event. (Unless you are JK or Stephanie Meyer)So how can you reach them? Serena told me about the theory of hubs. There are people who know everyone, who have their very competent finger in every pie and still write fabulous books. If you don't have the temperament to be a hub, you want to know hubs. They will help you promote your book. You pay them back by promoting and buying theirs. Who are some hubs in the book world? Jane Porter--hub. Alesia Holiday also comes to mind. Jennifer Cruisie is another one. Though not published as yet(she will be!)Kristen Painter is another one. People who make things happen, know everyone and are genuinely giving of their time and knowledge.

So do you know any writing hubs? And who are the hubs who are specifically YA?

What I Learned at the Emerald City Writer's Conference

1. It is possible to ride the elevator up and down to your room on the tenth floor a dozen times in one hour.

2.Forgetting your promotional material is a very, very, very stupid thing to do.

3.If you find yourself (by chance) sharing gab and coffee with Julia Quinn, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Stella Cameron,(all at the same time) you quietly wipe your workshop schedule clean and DO NOT MOVE.

4. If you want to liven up a workshop presentation, take your husband. Elizabeth Boyle brought hers to help on project management and it wasn't only funny, it was fabulous. Especially when he asked a crowd of writers the same questions he'd asked his wife, "How many pages do you write an hour? How many do you write a day? How long does it take you to write a book?" You should have seen the freaked out, horrified, or just plain baffled looks on the faces around me. We no know!

5. It is possible to drink four cosmos and a glass of wine and still remain completely unfazed. Right?

6. Okay, this one is a little obscure because I can't name names or the blunder...but just be warned-- If you're sitting there at breakfast and a chapter mate (you know who you are) makes what seems like a perfectly reasonable little suggestion/challenge... walk away from the table. Have some more coffee. Take a deep breath and thank your lucky stars you escaped. I'm just saying.

7. Kerry Blaisdell makes the best roommate evah!

8. The Greater Seattle Chapter Rocks!

This and That

Here's the bio I actually sent:

Teri Brown turned to writing in a desperate attempt to keep from having to get a paying job at her local McDonalds. Fortunately, she's been successful, and her book, Read My Lips (Simon Pulse), stars a deaf girl who uses her amazing lip-reading ability to infiltrate the popular crowd, take down a secret sorority and tame the school rebel. Teri lives with her husband and children in a dilapidated 1969 ranch style house in Portland, Oregon

Still me but not quite as offensive:)

Am leaving tomorrow for Emerald City! YAY! My friend Kerensa and I are heading up and sharing a room. Am too excited. I plan on staying up too late, meeting up with friends, drinking too much and maybe even pitching an editor or two.

My friend, Kerensa, is also responsible for getting me tickets to see The Portland Opera's rendition of Cinderella! WOOHOO! I am taking my best friend as she has the girly girls and needs a break.

Writing wise... am having trouble with sources and that means I am not getting my articles doen on time. Fiction is going well and am developing a new concept for another romance. I know. I already have tons of ideas I need to work on, but the ideas keep coming!

What do you do with all your ideas?

My bio

I have to write a bio for my Class of 2k8 group. The bio is to try to lure conference coordinators and teachers to ask us to come talk. I read some of the other authors short bios(85 words or less) and was intimidated by all the degrees from fancy colleges. So here is my bio. What do you think? ;-)

Teri Brown is an uneducated mother of two with no real job skills. In a desperate attempt to keep from having to get a paying job at her local McDonalds, she turned to writing. Fortunately, she was successful, and her book, Read My Lips, starring a deaf girl, will be out in 2008 from Simon Pulse. Brown lives, writes and drinks major quantities of alcohol in Portland, Oregon.

So? Send it?

snicker.

Sweat with Sven

So I decided to do the 70 day challenge with several hundred other writers. 750 to 1500 words a day. I can do that, right? I will be finishing up The Sister Spell to show my optimism that it's going to sell and sell soon. I reread the first three chapters and worked on four and five a bit and it's a good story. Funny, engaging and a bit different.

Of course, I'm taking on a lot more nonfiction articles right now, too. We really want new windows and a new kitchen. We've been here for ten years and it is time to invest a little money into the house. We decided on new windows for several reasons. One, it adds value to the home. Two, it will save us a ton of money in heat and three, we get a tax credit and we can use all the tax help we can get. We need to redo the kitchen because it's awful.

Now I just have to stop spending money.

I'm going out to dinner on Thursday with Jane Porter. She is awesome. Honest, funny and a grand author. She's in the middle of her book tour for Odd Mom Out and wants to relax with some fellow writers.

Then the weekend after I am going to Seattle for the Emerald City conference with one of my best friends. I am so looking forward to the break.

I'll stop spending money after that, okay?

1200 miles

That's what the tripometer said by the tim e I had made it back home. I did all the driving. My Mom said she'd spell me, but at this point... um no.

So I came home exhausted, but happy because I have my next series romance all plotted out. Not sure when I will get started on it, but at least it's in my head.

I also got a bug on that 1200 miles because I was so sick yesterday I wanted to die. Mind-bending headache and upset stomach. I slept and slept and slept. This morning I'm going to cautiously say that I feel better. A little sore, but after all that time in the car and then lying down yesterday, that's to be expected.

Must work on tween book.

A long weekend

I'm taking off tomorrow with my mother and daughter to Spokane. It's about a six hour drive. Will be back on Sunday. Sigh. I'm sure I'll have fun, it's just... I have so much to do.

But the copy edits are finished and are winging their way across the country right now. And the book doesn't suck after all. That's nice to know, because in about eight months people will be reading it. Actually sooner, because the arcs will go out in January.

I'm enjoying the new fall season of TV. I know, I'm showing my PWT roots here, but I don't care. As far as new shows, I am LOVING Dirty, Sexy, Money. It looked so stupid and crass when I saw the previews, but it is incredibly well done. (Still crass but fun!) The Darling family: Donald Sutherland, Jill Clayburgh, William Baldwin, and others, are all incredibly talented actors. They're basically nutcases who rely on Nick George, their family lawyer, to bail them out of all sorts of wacky and strange situations. The guy who plays the lawer, Peter Krause, is perfect. He has this inner sense of fun that peeks through, as in, "Isn't this whole concept absurd?" that absolutely makes the show. I love it and hope enough other people do too, so it doesn't crash and burn.

Okay, am off. I have two articles I want to finish today. Am trying to stay ahead so I can enjoy Emerald City in a couple weeks without having to worry about missing deadlines.

Copy Edits!

I got my copy edits. Wow, I had heard people talk about them and was so excited to see mine arrive. That is until I realized I wasn't sure how my editor wanted me to do them... make all the changes in the file and send it to her email and ship the original manuscript back, or mark the changes on the hard copy... so I wrote my editor and asked only to find that she had left for the weekend.

So.

I sent a panicked email out to a couple of my lists and the answers ran the gamut. But one woman, also with Pulse, told me she did it all on the manuscript and so that is what I did all weekend. COnsidering that they are due on Friday and I am leaving on Friday, I was really hoping that was right. Got an email from my editor and YES! That was the right thing to do. So, hopefully, I will have them done by tomorrow and will be able to send them back.

And has anyone gone through copy edits and realized that their book sucked?

All is well

Email is back. I don't know how I existed without email.

I really have no writing news of note. Am meeting a fellow YA writer tomorrow for lunch. She is flying across the US for a job thing so I am going to rescue her from a particularly boring meeting.

Everything else is pretty boring. What kind of writer am I if I can't even add life to a blog?

A tired one who was woke up in the middle of the night by cat fights.

Mahem! Madness!

I cannot get my EMAIL!

WAH!

Did everything I could think of then called Verizon. Walked me through a gazillion things, tried to computer share, but that didn't work and then finally told me that they are updating the website with some new windows updates and to try tomorrow. TOMORROW!

I feel so alone. Oddly enough, a friend of mine from three miles away can get it and I can get it at my mom's house.

WTF!

Everyone knows you can't really write without checking your email every few minutes! What am I gonna do????

A bit about me

Instead of my useless to do list, I thought I would write up an equally useless list of things about me! HA!


1:What I was doing 10 years ago:
Homeschooling my kids, moving into our first house.

2: What I was doing 5 years ago:
Fighting a brain tumor, dealing with the deaths of four loved ones and writing for real money. Had my first nonfiction book published.

3: One year ago:
Waiting for a call on my teen book, Read My Lips.

4: Yesterday: What did I do yesterday? LOL Went to Octoberfest with a friend. Cleaned out the linen closet.

5: Five snacks I enjoy:
M&M's, beer and peanuts, apples and peanut butter, Kettle Chips (honey mustard. The things should be banned!)

6: 5 Things I would do if I suddenly had $100 million:

Put together the splashiest marketing plan ever seen for Read my Lips. Send both my kids to college, remodel my house, write my next book over-looking the ocean in the South of France. Write the next book over-looking the canals of Venice.

7: 5 locations I would like to run away to:
France, Venice, The Sandlake Country Inn outside of Oceanside Oregon.

8: 5 bad Habits I have:

Capitalizing random words in a sentence, procrastinating, spending money I don't have, staying up too late then having to take a nap, not letting my teens finish a sentence before I get mad.


9: 5 Things I like Doing:
Writing, Reading, hanging out with my teens, playing pool with the dh, playing with my dog

10: 5 TV shows I like:
Desperate Housewives, Gray's Anatomy, House, The Biggest Loser, House Hunters

11: 5 Things I hate doing:
Missing a deadline, Dealing with PR people, Saying goodbye, Getting my picture taken
Dieting

12: 5 Biggest joys of the moment
My husband, My kids, Selling a manuscript, Writing a book, Having coffee with Ann or Kerensa