Yo

Wow. Okay, so THAT was a busy time.

There was the two weeks in Hawaii--and then we got back there was the workpileup + ChildFPSReport + ChildMacbethRehearsals/Performances + Husbandworktrip + ParentsGoneCoverage + Shows + PersonalStuff. And I discovered that in the two weeks I was gone, my boss had announced his retirement and 3 of our top people had all changed jobs...and yeah. My brain exploded everywhere, and it wasn't pretty.

But you don't want to hear about that stuff, because it's probably too close to what's going on with you, right? You want to hear Hawaii Highlights?

I...um...don't really have pictures. We were all relaxing and enjoying the moment too much to take pictures, believe it or not! But it was all about hanging out in the warmth and doing stuff in the ocean. We lived in bathing suits all the time. Child and I joked that we perpetually had sand in our EYEBROWS. We snorkeled about 7 times, in various places, and that is just amazing. We all are becoming snorkeling freaks! We saw the caldera of an active volcano, and a coffee farm in Kona, and lots and lots of lava and black sand and white sand and green sand and all colors of coral. But the highlight of this trip, really, was the animal life we saw and/or experienced.

Animals we encountered or witnessed:

--Humpback whales: they were migrating, and at any time you could see pods moving across the ocean from our hotel on the Big Island. Spouts and breaches!

--Dolphins: our hotel (the amazing Hilton Waikoloa) has trained dolphins ON the resort, in a lagoon that happened to be right under our balcony. So we'd go out at night or in the morning and watch the dolphins swimming, leaping, and playing. It was SO FREAKING COOL.

--Sea Turtles: Hubby and I had an extremely close encounter with a huge turtle in the ocean, when we were snorkeling a ways out from the beach. We were holding hands, and he pulled up short and *squealed*, I swear. I looked up, and there was a turtle right in front of my face that was almost as big as him! We swam behind it for a little while. In the hotel they also had 6 or 7 turtles that liked to hang out in the lagoon, and they didn't even take notice of people (or move to avoid them). Child accidentally smacked one in the face when she was swimming. ;)

--Seahorses: Child really really wanted to go to the seahorse farm she saw a brochure for, so of course we did. They raise seahorses as pets so they won't be taken from the wild. We all had a seahorse curl around our fingers.

--Tropical birds: Child had her picture taken with a parrot--it was meant to be on her hand, but it used its beak to climb right up on top of her head. Twice. There were some funny pics in there of her reacting...

--Eels: Man, these things are even creepier live in the ocean than they are in aquariums. They kind of make me shudder. But still, cool to see.

--Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of tropical fish, while snorkeling. Every kind you can imagine, pretty much. Child even saw a little octopus!

--Hawaiian monk seals: Okay, this one was in the Honolulu aquarium. Cheating. Still, Child had read a book about them, so she was thrilled.

--Chickens and roosters: are everywhere on Oahu, running wild. EVERYWHERE.

--Wild goats

--Marmots

The animals turned out to be the focus of the trip! Well, aside from the sun and the ocean.

Hope you're staying warm where you are! (It was 6 degrees F here this morning, but I am still basking in the memory of Hawaiian sun.)

Aloha!

Incarnate Theater Treasure Hunt

As I am a HUGE fan of Jodi Meadow's INCARNATE, I am so happy to be participating in the:

 

Welcome to the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt!

This week, 48 bloggers are celebrating the release of INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows by participating in a treasure hunt with clues, activities, and lots of prizes including signed books (!) and handknit fingerless mitts (you want both of these). You've reached a CLUE blog, which means somewhere on this page is a clue to finding the hidden page and grand prize entry form on Jodi's website. Follow 26 clues to get there!

For more information on the INCARNATE Theater Treasure Hunt, check out Jodi's post. And look at my picture!!

Hee! I LOVE this one! Can you tell what's going on here? :)

And I am so excited to show you the trailer for Incarnate!

My clue for the password is: Second word: t

Now head on to the other bloggers participating in the Treasure Hunt:

Esther's Ever After
365 Days of Reading
Literary Exploration

What kind of a post is this, anyway?

This is what I think about when considering my blog these days.

Oooh, I wish I could talk about secret stuff that happened!

No. Can't talk about that yet. Drat. Well, that's past anyway. I REALLY want to talk about secret stuff that's going on now.

*sigh* No. Oh, I know. I can talk about what I'm working on! It's super secret and all that.

*stares at blog*
*doesn't blog*

Yeah. Let's see. Erm...I'm going to Hawaii next week with my family! Yes, I can say that! And...um, we've got winter again here, so it's really cold...hence the Hawaii...

Man. I'm just going to show you pictures of fuzzy kittens.

 And this little guy.

And...I don't know how he got in here, but let's go with it.

Why I Love Twitter

There's a lot of mockery out there about Twitter. Talk show hosts have sarcastic bits about tweets, making us Twitter-users sound ridiculous. People who don't really understand it relate celebrity tweets with scorn (or, equally bad, with awe). My husband thinks it's a complete waste of time.

Okay, yes, it can absolutely suck up time and energy that you should probably devote to something else, if you let it get out of hand. But as a working writer, as long as I tweet with a sense of balance, it is SO not a waste.

Here's what I get from being an active, thoughtful participant on Twitter:

• A crazy-wonderful sense of community. I have different groups for friends, YA writers, agents, and editors. I can post about writer struggles and talk to people who UNDERSTAND, real-time. While I love the people in my real life, they just don't get most of those struggles. Or joys, for that matter. On Twitter, you can post that you finished a rough draft and friends will celebrate with you!
  
• A bonanza of information as a reader. Daily I see new books I want to read, or reviews of books, and find new (or seasoned) authors I want to support. Half that stuff I'd never know about without poring through a hundred blogs. I don't really have the kind of time you need for blogs. But with Twitter I can dip in and out, and find out what I need.
  
• Connections. I am VERY anti-schmooze, and I would never (ever ever ever) connect with someone for what they can do for me. But my friends on Twitter have helped me tremendously in this whole publishing process, in ways I couldn't have even imagined. And usually without my asking. (Twitter peeps, you are amazing!)
  
• Crowd-sourcing for information. Whether you need to know which show to go to in NYC or which office supply store has the best service, or you want to hear some new bands, you can Ask. And you will Receive Answers.
  
•  Effecting change. Yes, we don't win them all. But when a strong Twitter community (like the YA lit crowd) sees something Wrong, sometimes we can do something about it.
  
• FUN and DISTRACTION. Tiara days. Sparkle exchanges. Pun wars. Silly hashtags. It's like joking around with your favorite people whenever you want.

Wait. It kind of IS joking around with your favorite people whenever you want. And as long as you don't do it all day long, that can be pretty awesome.

So there, doubters. Did I convince anyone, or were you all convinced already? If you want to check it out, I'm at @susan_adrian. See you there. #TwitterRocks

Marinating

I'm marinating.

It's the best word I have for that period between books, soaking up ideas, letting everything meld together until it's ready. Or steeping, maybe. I'm waiting for some things on Happy Sauce, so I can't do anything with it, and it's not the right time to work on the (possible) sequel. To keep active, I'm brainstorming something Entirely Different. I've got the basics of the idea, but I'm not ready to put fingers to keyboard quite yet. I'm pondering the situation and the characters, doing research, working out the kinks in my head. Reading, watching movies, absorbing ideas and thoughts and what I want. Usually I do this for a while until I'm so ready I'm bursting with it--I HAVE to go to the page.

It feels slow, though. It feels unproductive, after the rush of sending something out. But I have to remember that it's an important part of my process.

And it's fitting, I suppose, with all the waiting and drip-drip-drip of time during this week between Christmas and New Year's. Fortunately I'm getting lots of good reading in.

I know many of my writer friends are spending this time frantically doing edits or copyedits. What are YOU up to this week?

If I don't talk to you before this weekend, hope you have a WONDERFUL New Year's. May 2012 be happy and productive for you!

Nutcracker

Come Christmastime, like many people I crank up Pandora on the Christmas stations. I like to listen to the old classics, the carols, and the classical holiday music. But that last one I only do sparingly. See, that one comes with a little risk. They might play Nutcracker music. And Nutcracker music instantly swirls me into memories.

Oh, God, it came on just now, as I'm typing this.

I first saw Nutcracker performed by the Sacramento Ballet Company when I was 8. I'd taken little kid ballet in L.A., but nothing serious. It didn't matter. I told my mother I WOULD be in that ballet. I started lessons at a local studio the next year. I worked hard, I learned. I tried out for the show in Sacramento when I was 9, and didn't get a part.

I tried out again when I was 10, and I did. One of the easiest parts in the show--Marshmallow Child, 2nd cast. (There was a definite pecking order for casts.) But only 2 years after my declaration, I'd done it. I was thrilled.

I worked harder.

The next year I got in again, as one of the party children in the first act. 2nd cast. That year, for Christmas, I got regular lessons at the Sacramento ballet school, instead of the local school. It meant a 40-minute commute, and at first it was only a couple days a week. But I was serious now. Nutcracker auditions were in September, and from that point until December rehearsals got progressively more demanding. We did 2 full weeks of shows at Christmas, and I had to take off school. My whole class did a field trip once to come see me.

The next year, as a Sacramento Ballet school student, I got a party child part again--1st cast. And a lamb in the Sheperdess dance. I started taking more classes. By the end of that year I think I was up to 5 days a week, maybe 6. I tried out for the apprentice company, and I got in.

The next year, 1984, I got to be Clara.

If you don't know the show, Clara is the lead. She's in nearly every scene, at least on stage watching. She gets to be on stage entirely alone during the most magical part, when the Christmas tree grows. It's an amazing opportunity, and I was ecstatic. I had to share with two other Claras--I was 3rd cast--but it didn't matter. I was freaking CLARA. When I wasn't doing that part, I was also a flower, and a soldier in the battle scene.

The next year I was in the full company. I was dying to be Clara again, but our director said it was time for other kids to have a turn. I was going to classes 6 days a week now, three hours at least on weekdays and all day on Saturday. But I was also starting to get injuries. I had Achilles tendonitis, and shin splints. Politics at the studio were insane, and the driving time was ridiculous, and my parents were getting a divorce. I was starting to be unhappy. I was 15. I got Chinese ( a very good part), and a snowflake, and a flower again.

And the next year, when I was 16, I made the decision, with my mom, to stop.

I was immensely relieved. My injuries weren't getting better, and with my body type (really small, in case you're wondering--I'm 5'3"), it would be a very tough go for me to be a dancer professionally. I did acting at school instead, and went away to university, and discovered writing, and all turned out well. It was the right decision.

Except for when I hear Nutcracker music, and it kills me.

It's funny, because I LOVE Nutcracker, still. I know every beat of every part of that music. I  remember almost all the dances I did, for all the parts. I remember with vivid clarity being on stage as Clara, during a matinee performance, when one of the huge mice was sneaking out behind me and a child from the audience yelled "Watch out, Clara!" I remember paper snow sticking in my false eyelashes, and that tremendous swell of joy as the Christmas tree grew and I held up my candle to it.

But it hurts, too. I'm not sure why--I guess because it's part of the past, and I loved it so and it's over. Has been for many years. I don't regret the choice, but I miss it. And the music--that much beloved music--brings me back. Makes me feel it all, remember it all, just by listening.

I think I *might* be getting to the point where it hurts less than it pleases, though. Where the good memories win out over the loss, and I can be purely glad that it happened. I have my Nutcrackers--I got one as a gift every year--out in a row at home, and my daughter, who is 9, loves them.

Maybe I should go listen to it again.

Theme Song

Last night hubby and I were watching Stephen Sondheim's Birthday Concert together
(http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/sondheim-the-birthday-concert/preview-the-concert/1041/), and when this song came on I stopped and listened, rapt.

This is my theme song right now. Every word of it.



Of course I'm not sure how well it works out for the character--he finds the love of his life, but doesn't he die within 24 hours of singing that song?

I won't think of that side.

Could it be? Yes, it could. Something's coming, something good. If I can wait...