Small Pleasures

I am currently listening to Julie Andrews sing "Edelweiss"...and it just makes me smile all over.

Yes, that is all for now; I just felt like sharing. I _did_ have something I wanted to blog about, last night, but it's been completely escaping me all day...

The envelope, please

And the super-cool zodiac pendant goes to...

DANNE!

Congratulations, Danne! E-mail me with your "sign" (or the one you want on the pendant, anyway).

Thanks for entering, everyone--and even more, thanks for supporting The Scent of Shadows! It was a kick to see photos from all over the U.S. and Canada.

Don't forget that Sara's contest is still open, until March 30th!

More...

From Sara at Cole's in Lindsay, Ontario:

Today's the day! But you still have time...

You've got till noon mountain time to enter your picture. Here are 2 more sets--and I hear more are coming!

From Diana, at a Borders in Silver Spring, Maryland ("a nice front of store display"):
From Julie, at Hastings in Butte, Montana:


Note that she seems to be getting a lot of displays and face-outs. Yay!

At noon I'll do a random drawing, and announce the winner shortly thereafter. Good luck!

Books meme

And a quick meme I got from Stephanie, because I found it interesting:

Look at the list of books below: *Bold the ones you’ve read* Italicize the ones you want to read* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)

2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)

5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)

6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)

7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)

8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)

9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)

10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)

11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)

12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)

14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)

15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)

16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)

17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)

18. The Stand (Stephen King)

19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)

20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)

21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)

22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)

23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)

26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) Alternate TBR

27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)

28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)

29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)

30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)

31. Dune (Frank Herbert)

32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)

33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)

34. 1984 (Orwell)

35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)

36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)

37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)

38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)

39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)

40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)

42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)

43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)

44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)

45. The Bible

46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)

47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)

49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)

50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)

51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)

52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)

53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

54. Great Expectations (Dickens)

55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)

57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)

58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)

59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)

60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)

61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)

64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)

65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)

66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)

67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)

68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)

69. Les Miserables (Hugo)

70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)

72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)

73. Shogun (James Clavell)

74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)

75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)

77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)

78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)

79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)

80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)

81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)

82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)

83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)

84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)

85. Emma (Jane Austen)

86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)

87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)

88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)

89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)

90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)

91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)

92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)

93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)

94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)

95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)

96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)

97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)

98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)

99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I've read 43/100. Mostly for that English degree...it was interesting to me how many I really just don't want to add to my reading list, though. It's too big already!

And from Canada...

From Pam, captured at Chapters in Pointe Claire, Quebec:



Pam has a doozy of a story behind it, too. I've begged her to let me post the story here, but we'll see.

Back to reality

Another Scent sighting, from Davis-Kidd in Memphis. Thanks, Erin!

REMINDER: You only have until tomorrow, noon mountain time, to send me your picture and enter the contest. Details here.

We had an excellent weekend. Saturday was Date Night, and hubby and I went to see the movie Music and Lyrics (thumbs-up), to dinner, and then to see a marionette show. Yep, puppets for adults. Seriously, this man was amazing...the marionettes were so very lifelike in their movements, in the exquisite detail of everyday actions. As a writer I would do well to understand human actions as well as he does.

And Sunday we slept in late, then picked up Child and went swimming at the Hot Springs. Ahhhhh, the life.

Must go work now. Perhaps more later, after writing at lunch!

Hello...

FTD update: They still suck. But after 3 10-minute+ calls, they at least gave us our money back. Good thing, as when I got home yesterday all the flowers were completely dead. The left is a photo of the bouquet he tried to buy for me. Somebody suggested I just print it out and put it on the wall. :)

This morning I got to hear the governor of Montana speak on energy resources for an hour...dayamn the man is a good public speaker, and very smart and capable. Watch out presidency in a couple of years.

Ya know, I was thinking this morning that this blog's been on the boring side lately. Sorry about that, if so. I've been having some inner journeys {g} and haven't been very social as a result, even online. We'll see if I can be a bit more open as we go along here.

In other news, I just received a photo from Linda, from B&N in Reston, Virginia:


Reminder: Y'all have until Tuesday (noon my time) to send me a picture, to enter for the cool zodiac pendant grand prize. Send 'em in!

Another picture...and holding

From Barnes & Noble in Lincoln, Nebraska:

Thanks, Jen! Who else has a bookstore and a camera?

I had a super-cool, amazing quote from STORY picked out to post today...but I forgot to bring the book to work. Ah well. I'm such a tease. You'll get it...um, another day.

In other news, I'm currently on hold with FTD.com, because they suck. My wonderful husband ordered flowers for my birthday FIVE days in advance, and the idiots decided to ship them instead of using a local florist. So my poor flowers came from Denver, to Memphis, to Great Falls, to Billings, where they got stuck in a snowstorm and did NOT come for my birthday. He was Very Sad. When they did come (yesterday) the bouquet and vase were not even close to what he ordered (beautiful orange and red roses), and they were all brown and kinda smelly. Did I say that FTD.com SUCKS? So now I am calling to tell them that no, I am not "very satisfied with this gift and that it has arrived in excellent condition". I've been on hold for 10 minutes so far. Grrrrr.

However, I must remember to still be pretty pleased that he sent me beautiful roses for my birthday....even if it didn't work out quite right.

Send me your pictures!

Scent on the Shelves

At Barnes & Noble in Phoenix, Arizona:


Thanks, Danne! You're entered to win the cool grand prize.

What does it look like on your shelves?

SCENT contest!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear Suuuuuu-san.....

Oh, right, you want to hear about the CONTEST.

Today, other than being my birthday, is the official release date of Vicki Pettersson's THE SCENT OF SHADOWS. Y'all, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time--and I'm not saying that because she's my friend. It's absolutely-frickin-true. The pacing is impeccable; it's one of those books you can't drag your eyes up from, even when the kids are calling or someone's waving chocolate in front of you. The main character, Joanna, is flawed, but in the same way that real people are. She got into my head, and I worried about her even when I wasn't reading. The setting is kickass and original, and will totally draw you in. In short (too late, I know), you'll love it. You've GOT to read it, as soon as you possibly can.

So I'm going to help you. The contest:

SCENT should be on the shelves in at least every major bookstore, starting today. But that abstract knowledge isn't enough--I want to see it, on the shelf of your bookstore. So....

1. Go to the bookstore and find SCENT OF SHADOWS. If you can't find it, ask your local friendly bookseller. And, you know, feel free to talk up all the great things you've heard about this book. Booksellers can be some of the best advocates in the world if they like something.

2. Take a picture of SCENT on the shelf, in all its glory. I don't care if you take it with the camera on your phone or a Canon Rebel, or what. Just so we can make it out.

3. Send said picture to me at susan . adrian @ yahoo.com (run together, of course) and tell me the name of the bookstore and your town. I'll post 'em as I get 'em. (I'll only use YOUR first names or online IDs, though, I promise)

(Er...if you want to buy a copy or two in between steps 2 and 3, that wouldn't be bad either)

4. I'll give you a week to send me pictures. Next Tuesday I'll do a random drawing among those who sent me pictures, for the grand prize:



A super-cool zodiac pendant, in keeping with the Zodiac theme of Vic's series. Yep, I'll even let you choose your own sign, though Joanna's Archer glyph is pretty darn cool....

So what are you waiting for? Celebrate a fellow author, check out a cool book, AND win a prize!

(I'm really looking forward to seeing these pictures)

Edited to say two things:

1. If you're not US-based and SCENT isn't released in your area yet, let me know. We may have a non-US-people rule.
2. Sara Howe is having a parallel contest for the SCENT release, where you can win cool personal scents. Go see her too!

Small, knowable world

The party went really well on Saturday--big relieved sigh from Mommy here. Not as many kids came as I expected, but it worked out perfectly, and they all made their crafts (homemade windchimes), played Hullabaloo with great joy, and scarfed down cheese pizza, super-frosted cake, and pink punch and apple juice. We have videos of them all bouncing up and down after balloons, and photos of all the Art etc. She'll remember this party fondly, and I'm so glad.

My birthday's tomorrow, but whatevah. We'll do something fun, but I don't have to worry about it!

I'm reading STORY very slowly due to Life, but ran across a very true bit from it this morning that I thought I'd share (small bit copied under fair use):

"Limitation is vital. The first step toward a well-told story is to create a small, knowable world. Artists by nature crave freedom, so the principle that the structure/setting relationship restricts creative choices may stir the rebel in you....The constraint that setting imposes on story design doesn't inhibit creativity; it inspires it."

This immediately struck me as true. A vast, ill-defined, or vague setting puts the reader off. They can't picture themselves in it, imagine themselves as part of it. Think of books you've loved, books that have made you spin off in your imagination into that world. For me an example is THE DARK IS RISING by Susan Cooper. The setting is very specific, a small village in north England. But it's clear that it's "real" to the characters (and the author) and I can completely picture myself there.

I'm feeling confident that I can create this small, knowable world a heckuva lot better in this book than I could in any of the ones I've worked on before.

What do you think? Does this bit ring true for you?

OH, and there will be a major Announcement tomorrow relating to the release date of Vicki's book, THE SCENT OF SHADOWS. Watch this space.

5 years

Five years ago today my daughter was born. At the time I knew nothing about babies but what I'd learned in our hour-long parenting class at the hospital, and here we were presented with this little, fragile, red-faced, wrinkly person, who we were supposed to protect and care for well. I had the urge to hand her back, in panic. Shouldn't somebody who knows how to do this take her? What were we supposed to do now?

But we made it through the first couple of days at the hospital, when she was so hungry we had to supplement with formula...bottle after tiny bottle. We made it through the first 3 weeks of torturous breastfeeding. We made it through the fact that she never slept for longer than 45 minutes at a time, for nearly her first year. We proceeded on through her first cold, colic, an ear infection, through falls, cuts, bruises, and tantrums. Through a move, and preschool, and separation anxiety. Through time-outs and tears.

Along the way we also experienced the inexpressible joy of seeing her first smile, hearing her first laugh. Getting open-mouthed baby kisses on the cheek. Sleeping with the sweet, heavy weight of her on my chest, or curled next to us in our bed. Helping her learn to eat with a spoon, suck from a straw, walk. Hearing her first words grow into more, and more...until now, we can have real conversations together. Seeing her concentrate fiercely on a puzzle, and then leap around the house with joy when she did it--by herself. Reading to her, and now listening to her read. Singing to her, and then with her. Dancing. Playing. Getting daily hugs and kisses. Hearing her say "I love you" and watching her sleep.

She's not my baby anymore, I guess. But I think she's probably the coolest 5-year-old in the world. And these have been the best 5 years of my life.

A little bit of pixie dust

Writing is going well. I'm having that feeling again where I'm thinking about the book often; I can't wait to get to it and find out what happens. Of course it helps, for suspense, that I have a MC who won't TELL me critical parts of the world. I ask, there is silence. I planned and brainstormed, and it immediately morphed on me. So I'm going with the flow. This might be one of those things I need to write to see.

In other news, planning is hot and heavy for Child's 5th birthday party. Birthday is Friday, party is Saturday. We did something Completely Different for here and are having an Art Party at our new Arts Center (otherwise known--heck, ubiquitously known--as "the Old Y"). We hired an artist for an hour, and she's going to do a project with the kids where they paint clay animal figures and then string them with beads and bells to make a windchime. Sweet! (Bonus: these are our party "favors" for the kids to take home.) We also will have a table with paper, stamps, stencils, crayons, markers, scissors, etc. to do with as they will. Plus pizza, a Tinkerbell cake, and games. Doesn't that sound awesome? Yesterday we went and bought Tinkerbell plates, cups, and napkins, and Happy Birthday banners and stuff to decorate.

We originally weren't going to have a party this year--we thought maybe we'd have one every other year--but then we looked at each other, realized she's only 5 once, and said "why not?" Requested birthday present: a fish. Our first pet. (We're allergic to furry and fuzzy animals.) We'll see how we do with pets!

I have meetings and class today, so I'd better go--though I really wish I could just open up the Word file and hunker down. Maybe later.

Further progress

Well, hello out there.

Had a full and satisfying weekend and am now back at work, if not fully awake. Senator Tester is on campus today, so I'm going to hear him talk in about 10 minutes. (Hmmm, must put on shoes for that.)

I'm still reading STORY, and continuing to flag wisdom I want to remember. There are flags all over the place!

I also had a plotting breakthrough on The New Book this weekend that I'm very excited about it. It's all going to tie together--and I love it. AND...drum roll, please...I started writing today. Yay, me! Yay, New Book!

That is all. :)

Story, first read

I got my copy of Robert McKee's STORY through interlibrary loan today (one of the benefits of working on a university campus).

I only read the Introduction, but I already found two lines I love:

--"The archetypal story unearths a universally human experience, then wraps itself inside a unique, culture-specific expression."

--"Rather than agonizing over the odds [of publication], put your energies into achieving excellence."

This man knows what he's talking about.

Tag: 5 things

Hey! Right after I posted I saw Diana had tagged me. So 5 little-known facts about myself, eh? I don't know how "unknown" these are to my blog readers, but here ya go:

1. I was, for a brief period, a professional ballet dancer.

2. I have a thing for dangly earrings and pretty watches. Really the only girly things I wear.

3. I believe in ghosts and have had several paranormal experiences. I don't talk about those much because people think I'm crazy enough already.

4. I have an autograph somewhere from Dorothy Hammill.

5. I can flip a goat to check its teeth.

Moving On

I've simply had no time to blog the past couple of days--Tuesday I went on a ski trip with Child's preschool, and when I got back I had a work "emergency". Fortunately it's turning out fine, almost done.

I've had a couple of people ask me how I'm doing with the Big Change, and whether I'm feeling a sense of loss.

Short answer: Nope!

I rather thought I would. After all, I've let go of my first book, shoved the poor thing under the bed for now, and am dangling over the precipice of the unknown. Right? I should be mourning or something, shouldn't I?

Actually I was Without WIP, honestly, for about half a day. The very night I "let go", I couldn't sleep for all the ideas pouring into my head. A MC popped in whole, made herself comfortable, and settled right down to tell her story. So far it's pretty interesting, too. I'm not actually writing story as yet, but I'm doing a daily writing journal where I brainstorm the character/plot/world etc., and it's working. (Yes, Vic, I have brilliant friends.)

I'm going to keep it to myself for a while, but thought I'd let you know that I've already moved on, and yes, it's fun again. Yay. I think that transition might have been one of my best writing decisions yet. Onward!

A good rant

Bookseller Chick has a top-notch rant today about chick lit, urban fantasy, "women's fiction" and our own right to read whatever the hell we want. Go read it.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

There are some big changes going on...in my head. {s}

On Friday I took a hard look at what I'm doing--what my writing goals are, what I'm passionate about, what kind of career I want to build. And what's not working for me now. With the help of a good friend, I realized that if I want to change course I need to do it NOW, before I get stuck on a track I don't want to be on.

In short, writing historicals isn't making me happy right now; it's making me UNhappy. I dread the research, I'm bored with characters whose lives I already know, in a world I can't experience yet have to stick to. I feel like I'm writing with both hands tied behind my back, and it's stopped being fun.

I'm yearning to write something of my own, a story that's wholly mine. Where I don't have to stick to a script--I make up the script. Where I can include elements that excite me, where I can let go and use my real voice, instead of trying to re-create someone long dead.

And I was thinking, la la la, I can write this new book, in a new genre for me, and still try to sell TMT.

No.

If I sell it--and I still think that I could, if I spent some time really improving it--I will be expected to write historicals for a good long time, to build my career. And I don't want to do that.

I made a list of all the things I love to read about, to think about. Of the things that I love from my favorite authors of all time (the humor of Douglas Adams; the other worlds of Susan Cooper; the adventure and pacing of Mary Stewart, etc.). And folks, I am going My Own Way.

So you will see a change already in the blog...the Book 2 counter is gone. The references to historical fiction are gone. And guess what--instead of that medieval lady over there in the profile that I was hiding behind? There's me. (Well, a cartoon representation of me, but that's the closest you get for now.)

And the Medieval Word of the Day? That was nice, wasn't it? But I'm sorry, that has to go too.

My word of the day: transform: To change the form of; to change into another shape or form; to metamorphose.