On not attending BEA

A short time ago, thousands of people in the publishing industry descended upon a single convention center in New York City for one mother of an expo. It's one of the largest "book" events of the year and it attracts authors, editors, agents, librarians, book sellers, bloggers, superheroes, villains, cab drivers...the list goes on.

I did not attend Book Expo America, but being attached to someone who was attending, I did travel to New York at the time of BEA and I did reap a few benefits.

It ended up being one of the most surreal five days of my life and not only because I encountered Spiderman on the street, and ate more cupcakes than in all the years of my life combined.

Possibly the surrealitude of the week could be contributed to the total lack of sleep one can achieve while renting an apartment with friends you only see a few times a year. Possibly it was due to the fact that in said apartment, two blocks from Central Park, the noise of the city barrels through the windows at all hours of the day and night to throw erratic parties on your eardrums. Possibly it was due to the lack of actual oxygen in the air…

 

Possibly it was the cupcakes.

Either way, three things happened in New York which have altered my life in slight, yet significant ways.

First – In a little coffee shop on Tenth Avenue, I met three incredible women and I'm still surprised the shop survived our impact. The first, my agent, who is as kind and dynamic in person as she is via email. The second, my editor, who impressed me all over again with her passion for the work and BEWARE THE WILD. The third, my editor's assistant, who was insightful and equally as excited about BTW. Sitting there, with a small group of people who had found a way to love this story as much as I do, who are every bit as committed to putting in the time and energy to making it better, I realized again just how incredibly lucky I am.

Second – This one requires a modicum of backstory. When I was fourteen years old, I left my childhood home in Virginia and moved to Yokosuka, Japan. I was only there for two years, but I never made it back to the east coast and eventually fell out of touch with all my childhood friends. Such is the life of a Navy child. But – prepare yourselves, I’m about to say something NICE about Facebook – Facebook (for all its faults) changed that.

I fell back into touch with M and after nearly two solid decades of estrangement we had a four-hour reunion in the middle of New York City. We spent much of the time staring at each other in amazement saying truly profound things to each other.

Me: I can’t believe you’re in front of me.
Him: I can’t believe I’m taller than you.
Me: ……*goofy grin*

We were so wrapped up in nostalgia that after 20 minutes of walking way too fast, I felt the axis of the world shift and suddenly ALL THE PEOPLE were around me.

Me: M! ARE WE IN TIMES SQUARE?
Him: *slow blink* Yes.
Me: HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Him: ….we…walked?

Which brings me to the third life-altering experience I had in NYC.

There’s really no way to be tactful about this, but I’m going to try because this is something that may save your life in the future.

If you take away nothing else from my non-BEA experience, take this one lesson: NYC DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR BLADDER.

No. It’s true. And it’s important you know this because discovering it when you’re twenty blocks away from your apartment, all the Starbucks are closing because it’s 10pm, and you’re too stubborn to hail a cab isn’t something I’d recommend.

I mean, it might change your life, but not in a Hunger Games sort of way. Rather, this will change your life in a Trainspotting sort ofway where the world is suddenly very loud and very strange (which is really saying something for NYC), and all the doors are locked and the shopkeepers all look like Delores Umbridge, and then you discover you don’t even have a key to your apartment and no one is answering your texts so WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET HOME? WHAT HAPPENS THEN???

It is FAR from pleasant.

So, there you have it, my recipe for how to have one singularly intense day in New York City. Passing ife-saving advice on to you is really just a bonus.

What happens at retreat...

...ends up in one of Jackson's videos. This is something of a cautionary tale.



As you may have deduced, this was the retreat at which I learned I love to chop firewood, some houses really are like little countries, and nothing delights like Carrie Ryan story time.

When dogs listen

At some point this afternoon, Victoria Schwab posted the following video on Twitter:





And while we watched, we noticed Grendel doing this:

A disjointed post of seemingly random things

First of all, there is a spaceship in the office below me. A veritable 1950's style spaceship complete with it's own 1950's style ringtonemusic that has been looping for 15 solid minutes. It is driving me c.r.a.z.y.

o_O

At first, I thought it was somewhere in the bottom of my purse, but soon discovered that the sound is coming up through the vent in the floor and straight into my brain.

I need tinfoil. Obviously.

Or a lock pick. Or a hammer. I'd settle for a hammer. Anything to save me from Plan 9 From Outer-Space!

*ahem*

And in other, totally unrelated news, I have two things to share.  The first is that Tessa Gratton  is giving away a copy of BLOOD MAGIC along with a few other upcoming releases, THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES (for a dose of zombie love) and WITHER (for some sweet, dystopian sugar in your coffee). Go! Enter! Read! You can also watch her read the complete first chapter in character. You don't want to miss it.

The second is that I totally fail at fire building and now there is proof. But what didn't make it in to this video was the moment I breathed fire.

Twice.



Aaaaaand the spaceship is still going. One of us will not survive this day . . .

Cello, Blogs and Dogs

I have three things to talk about here, two of which are linked, and one of which is a complete non sequitur, but funny.

First - Thank you to everyone who posted links to my Cello Project vlog. If I had strings enough to make you each bracelets, I would. Alas, I have two, so my randomly chosen winners are:
 
apocalypticbob & Bea

Please email me via LJ with your snail mail address.  :)

Second - It's January, which means people are kicking off the new year with resolutions and goals and intentions up the yin and down the yang. I'm extremely interested in projects that, like the Cello Vlog, are creative and structured and totally attainable. There are many such projects going on this year. I have a few that you might like to check out and here they are:

Adam Posadas - The Proving Ground, where he will post short fiction and essays once per week. He's my brother, so I'll admit bias, but he's a talented writer with stories to tell. He's off to a strong start with one short and one essay to his name, both of which are pretty fantastic. Check him out!



Another LJ native, the_themiscyran has set a 52 challenge for herself - 52 creations in 52 weeks. I think this is a fantastic idea. There's no limit on what craft she picks from week to week. She might sew a skirt or write a haiku or perform death defying feats of ikebana (um, maybe not that last one). The sky's the limit and I know for a fact she has more than a few crafty skills to employ. 



2011 debut author Karen Mahoney (THE IRON WITCH...check it out) has resolved to write 250 words each day. That's roughly one page a day, or as Kaz says, "One. Stinkin. Page." This is one you can play along with so if you're a writer or working at becoming a writer, this is a great way to get yourself MOVING by staying STILL. Join Kaz's gang and put some words on paper! 



jenniferkos  - The Chrysalis Experiment, where three writers (Trisha, Jennifer, and Winter) will be posting one short story per week in 2011 using common prompts. They invite other writers looking for an opportunity to practice the craft and interested in finding beta readers and crit partners to participate. You can find details on how to join on their site. It's an excellent opportunity for writing in community, so check them out!



And third -
My dog on a vlog.
In the snow, don't ya know.
Because he won't
play the cello.

Reminders marching two by two

"To draw, you must close your eyes and sing." - Pablo Picasso

Just a quick reminder that the final edition of The Cello Project is up (here!) and comes with a small contest to mark the occasion. In addition to announcing the winners tomorrow, I'm also pulling together a blogroll of year long creative projects going on in 2011. If you've got one and you'd like to be creative in community, drop a link here or in the contest post and I'll include it.


"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." - Maya Angelou

We're posting like mad on Tangled Fiction. We kicked off the year with a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood called Lady of the Ax, and I've started a new piece this week called Strange Tongue. It's here, if you missed it, with more to come later today from Valerie.

The Cello Project - December Edition

Finally, finally, finally! Ta-da!

 

As I said, I'm having a little contest with the dual goals of encouraging everyone kicking off the new year by activating creative powers, and doing something uniquely significant to the cello project. Though the Hairy Coo did a fabulous job of modeling one of the prizes, I'm posting pics of the two bracelets I'll be giving away for sure. 

Enter the Disclaimer!
I am not, nor have I ever been, a jeweler. I am a tinker and an optimistic one at that, so last night I chopped up two of my cello strings and made two bracelets.  I'm naming them after the strings they once were.

Bracelet in the Key of A...made first with nothing but the steal of the string.  This one is very flexible.


And Bracelet in the Key of C....made using the very end of the string to change things up a bit.  This one is less flexible due to girth of the string.


Leave a link to your qualifying post in a comment below.  Also, if you are embarking on a year long creative project of your own, leave me a link in the comments.  I'll be putting together a collection for a post at the end of January because blog projects are more fun in company.  Help me pimp your project!

And it occurs to me that I should have a deadline for this contest, so lets say one week - end of the day on Wednesday, January 19th.  Winners will be announced on Thursday.

And again, thank you, everyone, for making this such a fun project!  <3

The Cello Project - November Edition

Of the several deadlines converging upon me at this time, this is one I'm crossing off the list!

The November Edition of the Cello VLog staring Greek Myth, a desire for better sound quality, and regret over the wide-open closet door! Now, I really understand why my mother was upset with me for leaving the vacuum cleaner in the background of the BonusKoto Edition of the VLog. :/

Ah, well, I'm over it. Video, Ahoy!



Missed previous editions? You can find them here!