Western New York is a windy, windy place, especially in November. The grocery stores have high wind warning signs in the parking lot asking customers to corral their shopping carts, it's not unusual to find your garbage can in your neighbors yard, and some days, it feels like the whole house might pick up and blow away. After a morning of finishing up a bunch of odds and ends, I'd finally settled into writing. I had my coffee, water, and snacks lined up. The ringer was off on my phone, and the perfect writing music was playing on iTunes. Then I heard glass breaking in the garage. I'd … [Read more...]
Don’t Look Back . . .
I don't know if it's a personality quirk, a survival mechanism, or a symptom of the fact that I spend so much time living in my head, but wherever I go, there I am and I just accept the parameters of it. I'm insensitive to being uncomfortable. Sometimes, J comes home from work and complains that the house is freezing, and I suddenly realize I can barely feel my fingers and my teeth are actually chattering, but it hasn't occurred to me to turn up the heat or put on an extra sweater. When I'm sick, I have a hard time recognizing that I'm sick - I'll carry on like everything is fine until I … [Read more...]
Did I forget to mention we live in the Arctic?
IMG_0445 Originally uploaded by AlliesAnswers Oh, another week of meaning to blog and not quite getting to it, so here's a pretty picture, and now I'm going to do one of my rundown lists on the events of the past week. :) Last Sunday, J and I grabbed our very underused crampons, and went out to Chimney Bluffs on Lake Ontario to climb around on the ice and pretend to be Arctic explorers. We took tons of pictures on our phones, and if you click on the link above, it should take you to them -- if, you know, you're interested in seeing 60+ pictures of ice. I'll have to steal J's camera … [Read more...]
We don’t have any unicorns either.
Nothing says Thanksgiving like major bathroom renovations, right? The in-laws were ever so brave and kind and came all the way out from Michigan to help us. The Larkin men finished demolishing the bathroom and even got the new tub/shower combo in (and it's beautiful!), and I served up a dinner made by Wegmans (because finishing book edits, coming up with new book ideas, and demo-ing a bathroom really don't lend well to cooking a beautiful Thanksgiving feast and no one makes better mashed potatoes than Wegs does anyway). But the holiday weekend was not without its hiccups. On Wednesday, … [Read more...]
My Whirlwind Week
Last Tuesday, I turned in my copyedits. On Wednesday, I got on a plane and flew to NY. So, you know, it wasn't hectic or anything. :) I got in Wednesday evening, made my way from JFK to Hell's Kitchen and had dinner with Neil. Sadly, no fingers were put in noses, but we did have really good Thai food. On Thursday, I met Wendy for coffee, which was delightful. It is always nice to have a chance to talk shop with other writers, and Wendy is so kind and absolutely hysterical! Then I went to Dutton (Oh! The books! Everywhere!), got to meet a whole bunch of wonderful people, and had lunch … [Read more...]
I am not good at relaxing and it stresses me out.
I turned in the manuscript for STAY on Wednesday. It was the second round of revisions. There may be more changes, but this is probably the last round of major changes. Everyone I've talked with since has encouraged me to relax, take some time off, and/or chill out. The problem is that I can't. Firstly, while working on my manuscript, I left a lot of things undone. There's a small forest growing in gutters. The weed situation in my garden is completely and totally out of control. Bills must be paid. Laundry done. Dog hair vacuumed. That kind of stuff. And then there's the exciting stuff. … [Read more...]
“I went to bed with gum in my mouth…”
Do you remember that book? I didn't wake up with gum in my hair yesterday, but I wasn't having the greatest of days. I woke up feeling kind of eh all over, and then a bunch of stupid little things went wrong. Everything was getting to me and I was feeling like I was on the verge of tears even though I couldn't pinpoint any one single thing that was really worth crying about. When I was out running errands in the morning, I decided, as an attempt to cheer myself up, I'd buy a six pack of fancy root beer, even though it was way more expensive than what I would usually pay for junk food. It … [Read more...]
Um. . .
So, you know how yesterday I said that CALIFORNICATION was excellent? Well, the first six episodes were. There were subtle complextities in the characters and their relationships. The story lines were interesting, moving, and funny. The second six? Total nosedive. It all just became gratuitous. And I'm not even talking about the nudity or the obscenities. I'm talking about the stiff scenes, overly "clever" and smarmy lines, and the forced storyline. When we got to the end, we thought maybe the show had gotten canceled and they were trying way too hard to tie up all the story lines. But there … [Read more...]
I just like being blonde
I'm not a very girly girl. I don't tend to leave the house without a little eyeliner and mascara, but that's pretty much where it stops. I loathe shopping. I never get my nails done. And for several years getting a haircut meant holding my hair behind my back and lopping the ends off with a pair of kitchen scissors (it was really long and curly and didn't much matter if it was a little uneven). I'm kind of low-maintenance, (although, if I'm being brutally honest, I'm probably "the worst kind." ) I've celebrated this level of not doing things for me like it's something honorable. Like not … [Read more...]
Back to Work
I didn't mean to drop my big news and then disappear from this blog for a week. Honestly, I've just been overwhelmed (in a very very very good way) with all of this and haven't been able to think of anything to say (aside from thank you - your kind comments mean so much to me!). So, all of a sudden, my entire life has changed, except it hasn't. When it all boils down, it's still about the work. It's still about crafting the best story I can, staying true to my characters, and putting the time in. I'm putting aside my folk singer project for a few weeks while I take a stab at my editor's … [Read more...]