Press Day

Today's the day. I wish I had some artwork to show you, but I haven't seen my cover yet. I'm starting to think I'll see it when I see my book for the first time. So here's hoping for the best.


But, consolation prize, this is how the title will actually appear in the book. I know. You are super impressed.


I thought it was cool.


In three to four weeks the book will be out! It seems like forever. The time might fly for you, but everyday seems to be getting longer around here, and it's not because I'm getting a ton done.


Today is an important day for a lot of people. Tax day. My more favorite way to celebrate is my sister-in-law's birthday. I love her. Mitzi has more talent in one little finger than I'm ever going to have. Her oldest daughter started clogging with me almost seventeen years ago. Wow, I must be old. Eventually Mitzi decided to learn how to clog too.


It wasn't long before she became one of my teachers. She is amazing with kids. And costumes. She designed my costumes for almost all the years I've owned the Boise Cloggers. She moved to Rigby, Idaho over a year ago and I've been on my own to figure out costumes since.


I miss her, and not just because I lost my costume designer and my teacher- she is just an amazing person. She and her daughters came to my house to dance every week. Her then fourteen year old daughter was the first one to read Alvor. She would come in every week and read what I had written and offer suggestions and comments. For the record, she is responsible for inventing the Living Garden. You'll understand what that is when you read the book.


So, their off to the other side of Idaho dancing and blessing lives over there. I'm still selfish enough to wish they were here instead.


But, happy birthday Mitzi! I won't tell anyone how young you are.

Hope is...

With April moving at an injured snail's pace, I wanted to share some of my thoughts.


Hope is....


-realizing that no matter how many people you don't get a chance to talk to, you're not alone.


-writing almost everyday because you are going to sell that second book, after your first one has taken off like wildfire.


-seeing how many people you have never met in states you've never been to that come to your blog spot to either commiserate, laugh with you or learn.


-doing the laundry even though you know darn well it's just going to pile up again.


-walking outside to get the mail and noticing that the buds on the magnolia tree are blooming even though there still aren't any leaves.


-doing your hair and make-up even though the only people that will see you that day are your husband, kids and dog.


-getting through the next ten minutes because they might be even better than the last.


-laughing with people


- being proud of others' accomplishments even when your own don't begin to compare


-finding something funny in something that makes you nervous, scared or horrified


-realizing that you already have tons of good things in your life


-getting up in the morning and starting over sure you're going to be even smarter, brighter, happier and better than the day before.


Here's to hope. I know we all could use a little more.

Easter Aftermath

It was amazing. The sun was shining and it was almost warm outside. Beautiful.

It seemed like it was going to be a typical Easter. Saturday was wonderfully uneventful. Until 10:00 PM when my husband called and said that he forgot to call speakers for church the next day. Okay. I ended up going to bed at 1:00 AM. Some of my kids are night owls like me, and even though I put them to bed at a decent time, they are often found wandering the house until late. So I was waiting for everyone to go to sleep to fill the Easter baskets.

But I was going to get to sleep in on Sunday. It would be fine. 7:30 AM rolls around and the kids are making all kinds of noise. They got up early on Sunday because they knew that there would be an Easter surprise waiting for them. Maybe next year I'll wait until after church to give them their candy. Hmmm. Why didn't I think of that before?

Honestly, the talk part wasn't that bad. I got to sit by my husband and hold his hand for most of the meeting, and my friend was watching my sugar hyped kids. If anything, it was a really nice Easter present for me.

So, we got home, had a super fast dinner- thanks to pre-cooked ham- and attempted to have some of the little people take a nap. Around 6:00 we did the annual Easter egg hunt in the pasture. We haven't let the three mini-horses in the pasture for over a month just for this. The fewer horse pies, the better.

Everything was going pretty well until the neighbor's dog decided she wanted to eat our little maltese. It was a puppy black lab, and somehow in her enthusiasm, she managed to wiggle under the broken fence. My normally fearless-of-dogs- kids thought that if the black dog wanted to eat our puppy, she probably wanted to eat them too. Lots of screaming. It took a few minutes to catch the lab and the neighbor managed to get her back home.

So we relocated to the front yard. Safe, right? No dogs to terrorize innocent children. It's amazing what kids find when they're looking for eggs. In this case, it was three snakes warming themselves. Yuck. Not a big snake fan.

But here we are, the morning after. The front of the house is littered with candy wrappers and plastic eggs. And toys. And we're back to normal. And you know what? It was a good Easter.

Something to Talk About

I feel like I've just been through a whirlwind. My hair's a mess and so is the house. Well, I guess the house is usually a mess and as for the hair, I'll get to it later.

Yesterday was crazy. Good crazy. I'm trying to remember what I spent all morning doing, but it wasn't writing and it wasn't very much cleaning. Hmmm. Then, in a flash, the morning was gone and the craziness began.

I hadn't had time to check my e-mails most of the morning, so when I finally sat back down at the computer, there in my inbox was my book. Do you hear the choirs of angels singing?

I looked at the first couple pages and the whole book thing seemed more real than it has this whole time. I love the font for the title. The page that hit me the hardest was the one I didn't write. You know, the page that tells you the copyrights, publisher and a mini-synopsis. That page. That's when it hit me full force. In one month, I'm going to be holding my book in my hands.

So I kept reading. Very excited about the not girly butterflies that grace the chapter headings and breakers. Oh yeah. Perfect.

I haven't read this book since my very last time editing it in, I'm thinking it was October. Back then I was so sick of my book I never wanted to see it again. Call it editor's fever. I edited until I couldn't edit any more.

When I started reading it yesterday, I started reading it like an editor, but then I got sucked in. I lost track of trying to find mistakes and found myself living the story. I couldn't believe how fast everything happens. When I was writing it, it took three or four months just to get half way through, and yesterday I read half the book in a couple hours.

The funny thing was, yesterday was the first time I had ever read the story with my editor brain turned off. It felt more like fun reading, you know, the kind you do with stories that you like to read. I was amazed that my former disdain for the book was completely gone and I fell in love all over again. If you didn't know how psychotic writers were, I'm sorry to be the first one to break it to you. Writing has a lot of love/hate in it. You love it, you hate it, you are a fabulous writer, you suck. It's a cycle. I've been told I'm not the only one who goes through this. For my own sense of well-being, I try to believe it.

I didn't want to stop reading, but it was 5:30 and no one else around here was going to make dinner. We had spaghetti. It took me a whole ten minutes to make. Thanks Ragu! Then my boys and I were off to Barnes and Nobles for Brandon Mull's booksigning.

I was an hour early. I would get a great place in line. Yeah, right. They gave us #116. I found a chair and let my boys wander the store picking out hundreds of dollars worth of books I wasn't going to buy right then. 7:00 came around and they called for numbers 1-25. At 7:20 they called for #10. #10? You've got to be kidding.

A family standing in front of me was trying to do the math. Their number was 248. The dad asked the daughter, what's 248 x 2? "I think I have time to get a hamburger." The girl never did figure out what 248 x 2 was. I was still trying to figure out what 116 x 2 was. That's like 3 and a half hours?

At least I had a chair. My boys spent a lot of time laying on the floor reading.

And then, a face from the past, and I still can't remember her name, comes up to me and hands me her #10. She told me she accidently got two numbers when she came in earlier that day. She didn't know it was one number per family. She was looking all over the store for a familiar face, and mine was the only one she knew. How sweet!

I got in line and was out of there by 7:45. Sweet!!!!

And, just for the record, Brandon Mull is a really nice guy. It wasn't his fault the line was moving so slow. The store manager was allowing for pictures, questions and all sorts of time-consuming things. He told me things would probably change after they figured out how long it would take.

My boys were pumped about the dragon poster. That thing was like gold to them.

Then I came home and sat down at the computer where I stayed until I read every word of my book. I'm so proud of my editor. She did awesome. Everything is exactly how I wanted it. The only things that are different are the things I never did figure out how to fix. You can read my book knowing that I wrote it, and that it's not a product of an editor's point of view.

She did great. I think I have a new best friend. Now I just have to meet her.

And so, now I have butterflies in my stomach as I wait for the cover art. I'll let you know how it goes.

"Your Future is as Bright as your Faith"

It's my quote for the year. Is that good, or what? I love it. President Thomas S. Monson said that yesterday. Easy to remember, easy to apply. I know that right now the world is a scary place. Life is hard.

And yet, it's not that bad. The flip side of the bad stuff is how many really good things we have in our life. Everyone does. I think the people that realize their blessings the most are the ones who are dragged to their limits. It's an interesting thing. Maybe the ones dragged to their limits are also on their knees. It's hard to not be thankful when you start to think about what's good in your life.

And then there's the law of the harvest. You can't get something for nothing. I love that too. Maybe it's because I've been working so hard and hoping that someday it will pay off. I don't expect something for nothing, I'm sort of hoping for at least a little something for a whole lot of work. The funny thing about putting your whole heart into your work is that there is a sense of satisfaction at the end of the day. It might not be in the form of a dollar, but you still get something for it.

What can I say? It was an inspiring weekend.

Now that it's Monday, I'm trying to get my head back in the game. I think the next couple weeks are going to feel like a whirlwind, followed by a month of sitting around and waiting again. I'm going to see my edited proof anytime now. Kinda nervous. I have no idea how much is changed. But I'm optomistic. Forever hoping, always believing.

It's Working

Now that April Fool's day is over, I'm not related to President Obama, the twins are officially registered for Kindergarten, and the house is clean, I'm back on track. Whew.

I'm on 29,753 words in my sequel to Alvor. I was really hoping for 30,000 by now, but it's been busy.

This story has taken me places I didn't know I was going. Before I wrote the sequel, I outlined the whole book chapter by chapter. And I was excited about the story then.

Now, all kinds of cool things have come up that I didn't see coming. And I like it even better. It's twisted and different than the original plan, but in a good way. It's just working.

I don't know why my stories always seem to write themselves. I think I know what's going on, then they take me somewhere new. I even ask myself along the way, "Are you sure?" and the answer is usually, "yes".

I don't know if it makes me schizophrenic or if all authors have this unknown variable they work with as they write.

Sometimes I like to think of these moments as pure inspiration. It's better than being crazy. And, hey, some of the best stuff I write was things I didn't plan to happen. It's like the characters know what they need to do better than I do.

I know. It's weird. Unless you write, you probably wouldn't understand.

Wow! Good news! I'm totally excited. I should be getting the edited proof by Monday and April 15 is still the scheduled press date, so..... drum roll please.....My book should be available the first or second week of May. At least in Utah, and definitely in time for me to do book signings June 8-12. Yah! Happy happy happy. I'll let you know when I get the really exciting stuff- the artwork for the cover. Ahh. Now on with the day.

And the Fool goes to...

Yeah, it's April Fools day. I got up and stumbled into the kitchen with my cranky almost two year old who has a cold. I'm not a morning person- see below post for details.

I turn on the water to wash my hands only to be sprayed. It's the oldest trick in the book. My twelve year old son lovingly wrapped a rubberband around the sprayer. He didn't even try to disguise it. You don't have to when your mom's not a morning person. I have terrible reflexes before 10:00 AM. I got pretty wet.

My already cranky daughter immediately slips on the wet floor and now she's really crying. I wasn't laughing.

The pranks started a couple days ago when someone scotch taped the microwave shut. Fatal mistake- they did this at night. I caught it right away.

So, I told myself that I was going to have a good attitude about the "pranks" even though I'm not really the type.

Then I checked my e-mail. I've been laughing all morning.

About a month ago I had one of those super weird dreams. President Obama was related to me and decided to come to one of our family functions. I don't know why I dreamed that. It might have something to do with the fact that I knew I was related to President Bush. My grandma's maiden name is Bush. I've been related to the president of the Unites States for as long as the Bush family has been in office. That's a long time.

And no, they never came to any family events. We're pretty distant.

So when I dreamed that the Obamas were related to me, it was just plain strange.

Then I get an e-mail from Washington D.C. this morning. They have confirmed that I am fourth cousins once removed from President Obama.

Why? Did they read my mind? I hadn't asked for this information.

And at the end of the day, I finally find out that it was a prank too.

I guess I'm the fool.

And just for the record, I'm looking up before walking through doorways. This one has already paid off. My twelve year old isn't finished with me yet. Ha ha ha