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No longer the ugliest thing in my house
I LOVE fan mail from kids. Not to insult fan mail from adults in any way, but lately I’ve been getting emails from readers of the Eighth Day series. I especially love answering questions that show in-depth thinking about the book. (ex: “Why didn’t Giana’s hostility to Jax wear off after he accidentally used his compulsion talent on her, the way Jax’s hostility to Riley wore off after a couple days?” Answer: Giana wasn’t a nice person to start with. She was a bully who enjoyed being mean to people.) And I love hearing from readers who are worried about my characters and what’s going to happen to them next.
- Sometimes, you look at something in your house that has needed painting for years – let’s say, a window pane and sill that’s water-stained from a leak that was fixed a long time ago. And you say, today’s the day! So you get out the sanding tool and the trim paint and the brush. You finally paint over all the flaws, and you stand back with satisfaction and say, “There! I just fixed the ugliest thing in my house!” Then you turn around and guess what? The second ugliest thing in your house is now glaringly obvious. Dang it.
- I’ve been asked to do something really fun next summer: Be one of the guest authors in Fiona Claire’s Ireland Writer Tours. Julie Dao participated in this writing conference/Irish tour this summer and has been blogging about the experience, if you want to check it out. Basically, this would be a working vacation for me – running workshops and classes in between tours of beautiful Galway, Ireland – with someone else paying my expenses. How could I say no? I’ll share more as details become available.
- Nothing’s funnier than watching a small cat chase a large spider around the inside of a big mopping bucket. Especially when sometimes it looks like the spider might be chasing the cat. I’m really, really sorry I didn’t get a picture/video of this. I was too busy laughing.
- The Baltimore Book Festival is coming up at the end of this month – and that makes me really happy! If you live anywhere near Baltimore and are available September 25-27, come visit me at the KidLit Author booth in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It will probably look a little like last year’s booth:
- Except that after having “banner envy” over Timothy Young’s eye-catching banner (see it behind the lady on the right?), I asked him to design one for me, too. And it’s awesome!
- Plus, my husband is threatening to decorate our booth with some flashy lights. Can’t go wrong there! I hope the weather is as gorgeous as last year, except maybe just 10 degrees cooler.
That’s how my September is going. How is yours?
Hi Dianne – gosh that will be wonderful to visit Ireland and to be able to take some time out to visit other parts of the island – it’s stunningly beautiful. Sounds like you’re getting things done and moving forward with the writing ideas … the booth would be amazing with fairy lights or even flashy ones!
September is fast moving isn’t it – must settle down .. but I am back blogging .. cheers Hilary
Ooh you lucky dog! Ireland will be gorgeous and I’m extremely envious!
How awesome you could go to Ireland. And have fun at the Baltimore conference.
Congrats on the chance to go to Ireland, and go! It’s beautiful. Love the banner and I had to laugh at the lights. Sounds like my husband (he loves his lights.) It’d be great to see a picture of it.
Do ALL of my friends get to go to Ireland? So jealous!!!
Can’t say no to a trip to Ireland!
That’s what I hate about home repairs. You fix one thing and it leads to something else and so on and so on…
Want to come fix all the ugly things in my house? Oh, you clearly wouldn’t have time. You’re having a much busier September than I am. But I’m knuckling down and writing, so that’s a good thing.
How fantastic that you get to go to Ireland next summer!
Nothing beats fan mail from your target audience. Nothing. 🙂
Great that you’re getting fan letters! That has to feel wonderful. And Ireland? Just was there in June for my third visit. It’s a beautiful place. Enjoy your time there.
So I just almost died laughing from you window/paint experience. I so do that! And then it seems like everything else that needs work is glaring at me. Ugh!
That sounds so awesome. The fan mail part, not the ugliest thing in the house part. That’s always just insanity inducing. The large spider scares me, though. I hope the cat caught it (and not the other way around!).
Ha, ha! The cat is still here. No sign of the spider. However, every time we go down to the basement, the cat cautiously rears up on her hind legs and peers warily into the bucket.
I suspect it got away.
The Ireland thing – yeah cool, can’t turn that down!
The whole things about the ugliest thing and then the second one rearing it’s ugly head made me giggle. Sorry.
I grew up in Baltimore so I’d love to do the book festival there someday! But alas, I’m in the midwest. I should try to make that happen someday. 🙂 Looks like you’re having a great Sept so far!
The banner looks fantastic! Have a great time at the book festival. What a beautiful way to spend a weekend.
And thanks, you’ve just encouraged me to continue ignoring the door frame that needs sanding and repainting. 😉
It all sounds so positive and fun. Have a great September. 🙂
Anna from Elements of Writing
Fan mail is the best. I adore Fiona, and her Ireland fling would definitely rank on my top list of things to do…if I could get away. What a blast!
You know I’d be there if I was closer by. Awesome that you’re doing the Ireland Writer Tour. I have Irish roots, so I better check this thing out. 🙂
I am wholly jealous of both your promotional materials and your upcoming trip to Ireland. 😛 My September’s going well so far – I’ve officially finished training and started in my actual position at work, and I’m about 1/3 done with massive revisions on my book.
…and I am so tired. O_o
A trip to Ireland all expenses paid? YES! That sounds wonderful! I hope you go. I love your new book banner for the festival. I avoid doing any work in the house. I just pretend the dust elephants and layer of junk aren’t there…