Happy Sauce!

Related to the New Agent news, I have to pop in to confess how THRILLED I am to be back at work on Happy Sauce.

While I was querying agents I tried to put that whole book world aside and work on other things, like you're supposed to. I bounced around a few good ideas before settling on one, doing some research and planning, and I was about 3k in when all this *waves hands* happened. Yes, that'll be a fun book, and I'll get back to it eventually, and maybe I'll fall in love with it too.

But Happy Sauce fills me up differently. It's my love book and always has been. And I'm working on it again. Right now! Yay!

/this message has been brought to you by the Insane Writers Society of America. You're welcome.

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!

Love Day Monday

It's time for a Love Day, because Monday needs a little brightening. Especially today--I can't even see the mountains outside, it's so cloudy/foggy/rainy. *peers at mountains*

Today I love:

FALL. Pumpkin-scented candles and salted caramel mochas, sweaters I'd forgotten I owned and everything orange and yellow. Halloween parties crammed with ghosts and vampires and witches.

BOOKS. Specifically, both books I'm reading right now: SUPERNATURALLY by Kiersten White and THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson. Supernaturally is light and fun and escapist, and I love Evie. GoF&T is amazing in its worldbuilding. Once I started the sample on my Kindle I did NOT want to stop. In fact, it's calling to me right now...

FRENCH COMEDIES. Hubby and I have this thing for watching French screwball/romantic comedies every once in a while, and I really enjoy them. They don't do the same plot twists/character developments as American romcoms do, and I love that unexpectedness. I Do is a particularly good one we saw yesterday.

BRITISH DRAMAS. Downton Abbey. Sherlock. Luther. Oh, BBC, I adore you. But PLEASE COME OUT WITH NEW MATERIAL FASTER. Oh my god, the second season of Luther nearly killed me...it was *almost* too dark. So close to that line. But in the end I want more.

HAPPY SAUCE. I hope to finish revisions today or tomorrow and get it out to one more beta reader for a fresh post-revision opinion. Then...the synopsis. Dum dum dum. But I still love this book.

What do you love today?

Mascots

Each book I write is a very different experience--which makes sense, as they're all unique and lovely speshial snowflakes. *pets manuscripts*

No, seriously.

They each have their overlying themes, their "moods," their music, their various levels of beating the heck out of me--*glares at last book*--and their own mascots.

Mascots are for me to look at as I write, then later as I submit and bite my nails. When I'm first-draft writing I look at them often (or touch them, if appropriate). In the later, more difficult stages they remind me of that first-draft time when I was happiest with the book.

Much, much later, as I move on to yet another book and the old mascots sit on the shelf like abandoned toys, they remind me of what I've accomplished. But it's interesting to see how they change, and what they say about me at the time, and the books they represent.

Book 1: The Murderess's Tale
Didn't have one. I was flailing around, didn't know what the heck I was doing. It wasn't ready for a mascot. Anyone want a first novel YA historical based in 1387 England? *crickets*

Book 2: The Weirdest Thing about Jenna
It had flying monkeys. Hence, this lovely:

It's eyes actually lit up, once upon a time! It's also holding in its lap the mascot for a not-long-for-this-world manuscript, Book 3: Ghost Girl. (I had that title before the published book! I swear!)

Book 4: Salvaged
Did not ever have a mascot either. *shifty eyes* I think there is a reason for this.

Which leads us to:
Book 5: Happy Sauce (not its real name)
This lovely, which I am currently doing edits for, has TWO mascots because one could not contain its fabulous juju.

Mascot #1 is a monster that Child designed and sewed for me. She named it Annabelle.

 She is a little creepy, I admit. But heck, the book's a little creepy too. In a GOOD WAY.

Mascot #2 I bought for myself. I saw it at the gem and mineral show, and when I lifted it, it made me happy. It is so smooth and slick, and just the right weight. It is also gorgeous, from all angles, with greens and whites and pinks that shift. It looks like clouds trapped in stone.

I use this one like a worry ball--when I'm pondering plot twists or what to leave in/take out, I roll it in my hands and it HELPS.

I can't be the only one who does this sort of thing, am I? Do you have mascots for your books?

The Unexpected

Happy Monday, y'all.

Good news today: I'm in the middle of the 4th round of revisions on Happy Sauce, and I still love this book with an unholy passion.

Bad news: ...Yeah, I don't really have any bad news.

Child is back safely from her 3-day school campout (they always make me so nervous)--and even though they got rained out at the end, she had a good time. I have new, sexy ankle boots. I have coffee and chocolate. The sun is out, after a week of rain.

All in all, pretty fabulous.

Also, I wanted to tell you guys about this amazing show husband and I saw last week. It was an acrobatics performance, kind of like Cirque de Soleil except based in the old west. It's called Boomtown.

http://www.birdhousefactoryshow.com/BoomTown/index.htm

There were lots of flips and amazing balancing feats:

I actually gasped more than once. But my favorite part--the part that made my husband and I both laugh so very hard it HURT--was when they brought an audience member up on stage to interact with the clown, and he totally flubbed it. More than once, in a hilarious way. It really made the evening.

So there are two morals, one for writing and one not.

One: Go see BOOMTOWN if you get the chance.

Two: Embrace your mistakes. Embrace the unexpected. Sometimes what you think is a disaster--just when you're panicking that you've totally messed things up--it turns out to be the best thing you could've done. It twists into the highlight of the show, or the book.

It's been so long since I posted here, Blogger has completely redesigned and I can't figure out where anything is.

*flails*

How are you all, my lovelies?

I've seen many of you on Twitter and such, which I've been sucked back into been visiting again now and then, so I'm not completely off the map. Just haven't gotten back here.


The good news is that I've been busy with: 


1. Vacation! We went for a lovely, restful week to the Oregon coast and a tiny smidge of a visit to Portland. The week included 3 visits to the science museum, 2 visits to the air & space museum, 2 visits to the Tillamook cheese factory, 2 evenings at the waterpark, 2 days at the beach, 1 steam train ride, 1 jet boat ride, 1 motor boat ride up the river, and lots of fudge, ice cream, and cheese. *happy*


2. Book! Still working away on self-edits for Happy Sauce. I'm doing line-by-line now, which is by turns excruciating and exhilarating. Sometimes I forget what I'm supposed to be doing and just read. I like it when that happens.


3. Back to school/dance/art class. This one's mostly for Child, but it does involve a great deal of parental participation. I admit I might have been a bit late on getting the rides scheduled/tap shoes bought/art supplies ready etc., but I *think* we're there now. And Child wasn't going to audition for Annie, but now she's not sure. We may be adding more to our schedule!

Hope you all are well!! I will try to be back here more often...

TWO fabulous things!!

I know it's Monday, but I have GOOD THINGS to tell you!

Good things are always more necessary on Mondays, don't you think?

GOOD THING #1:

On August 2nd, the rest of the world will be able to read THIS utterly magical book:

 

by THIS utterly adorable and extremely talented person (on the left below. Yes, VICTORIA SCHWAB!):

To celebrate, this Wednesday July 27th, I'll be hosting an interview and CONTEST to win a copy of The Near Witch mailed to your door! It will be fun, people. Stay tuned.

GOOD THING #2:

On Friday I finished the first draft of Happy Sauce!!!!

*dances*

It feels a little false to celebrate because:

(1) it only took me 8 weeks to write--it gushed out--and it's really really really rough. I'm already making lists of plot points I didn't thread through or people I kind of dropped or need to re-work.

(2) it's not like Jake's even taken a break from my head. See above RE lists. Also, ideas for how to make everything deeper, more intense, etc. are spilling in. And then there's Book 2, which I'm not allowing myself to think about yet but HE is ready to get on with. And the research I need to do in the next few weeks...

But still. Rough as it is, it's a whole story start to finish, and I still love it, and love Jake. So yeah. We can do a little dancing.

See you Wednesday!!

Things I learned over the weekend

This weekend was, in general, FABULOUS. It is perfect summer here at the moment. Highs in the 70s and 80s (mostly), sun, afternoon thunderstorms.

I love thunderstorms. It's left over from childhood.

But I did learn a couple of things, in our Summer Adventures. There's always more to learn.

1. The middle-of-the-night sprinkler breaking thing can happen again, exactly the same, three years later. Down to the time of it breaking (1:30 am) and the depth (and coldness) of the water under the house when I had to jump down there. Ugh. I'm calling the sprinkler people today.

2. It is an absolute glorious high to catch a big, fat brook trout on the first cast with a new lure. Even more of a high when my husband and I caught 25 fish between us. (20 rainbows and 5 brooks! It is a RECORD!)

3. If I realize, after we've been out on the boat on the lake for about an hour, that we both forgot to bring our cell phones, we WILL have engine trouble. It is fated.

4. No matter what husband says, I am not quite strong or big (or coordinated) enough to row a metal boat with three people and gear on it by myself. I can, however, manage one oar if he does the other. For a really short distance. And am sore afterwards. *ow*

5. Almost six hours on a rowboat is a long time, especially when for the last hour you have serious concerns about getting back.

6. Still, those 25 fish--and a full day in the sun, on the water with hubby and Child--are worth it.


Hope y'all are doing well! Still working away on the first draft of Happy Sauce (58k today!), and other Things. Wish me luck, and I'll wish you the same.

OH. And GUYS!! Did you know that Victoria Schwab's wonderful book THE NEAR WITCH releases in 2 weeks??

Did you know that I'm going to be hosting an interview and contest in this space, soon, where you can WIN A COPY of said book?

Stay tuned, lovelies.

Things that Make Me Happy

*waves*

Let's not discuss the whole continued absence thing, shall we? It's for a good reason, so we'll just leave it at that. I STILL LOVE ALL OF YOU. *~*~*~*~

Now. It feels like time for a Love post, or things that are making me happy right at the moment. Because we should recognize and celebrate happiness when we find it! So these are things I have found recently that I love and can't resist sharing:

EDITED TO ADD A NEW NUMBER 1: THIS: http://tiffanyschmidt.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-wonderful-thing.html

Yeah, that's right. Another sparkler rocks a book deal!! Go T!!

1. Sherlock, from the BBC.

You GUYS. We ran across this accidentally on Netflix and watched the first episode on a whim...and I fell in absolute nerd-love. I didn't even read the books (I know, shame), but this series is SO GOOD. It's Sherlock moved to modern times, but so very cleverly: the writing and acting are both top-notch. Unfortunately there are only 3 episodes so far, with a promise of three more to come, probably next year. *sigh* WANT. NOW.

2. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak and Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell.
Yes, I'm combining them. Yes, one is theoretically YA(ish) and one is absolutely not, but they remind me of each other, and I love them both. I am in a very boy-narrator sort of mood at the moment, and both of these characters are so authentic and original. Thanks to Martha Mihalick and Janet Reid for those recs! (ages ago, in one case, but I don't read fast...)

3. The weather, today.
Today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Other than that we've had cold, windy, rainy weather pretty much every day. But today is supposed to be 77 and sunny. Finally, a real Montana summer. Aaaaah.

4. Last but not least, HAPPY SAUCE.
Which is taking up all of my time and my brain, but making me HAPPY, hence the code name. *pets*

Now, I also want to throw in Things I'm Looking Forward to. I am getting desperately behind in reading (because of HAPPY SAUCE, mostly), and there are SO MANY books I am dying to get my grubby hands on and devour, but just can't. Yet. They are tantalizing me. Here is the LIST of must-haves that I already know I will love when I have a second (this is embarrassing, I am so behind):

• Imaginary Girls by the lovely and extraordinarily talented Nova Ren Suma, with whom I have shared a cupcake and many good conversations. YES. I can't believe I haven't read it yet. I've been waiting for it for ages, and now it's staring at me reproachfully.

• Divergent by Veronica Roth. Edited by the fabulous Molly O'Neill. Again, glaring at me, daring me to just crack it open. 

• Hourglass by Myra McEntire

At least I sort of have an excuse for this one, as it just came out. Still, it's waiting. I hear wonderful things.

• And last (on the TOP of the list), but not least...Vicki Pettersson's The Neon Graveyard, the last in the glorious Signs of the Zodiac series. I've followed Joanna's adventure since that first manuscript, before she was published, and loved every minute. Now I get to see how it ends, finally.

Well. When I come out of the cave. Whenever that is. Or maybe I'll just go into a reading cave instead?

Oh, HAPPY SAUCE is calling me--I'd better go.

Please tell me, lovelies, what YOU are loving right now. What are you reading/writing/watching/doing that makes you giggle?

Yes. I've been giggling a lot.

I KNOW. It's a good thing.