Epic Book Survey '09

Just this last thing before I give you das boot, 2009. The YA Highway Epic Book Survey (you should do this on your blog - you could win a copy of Kristin Cashore's FIRE!).

I read a lot *last* year (and, omg! I forgot a few books! Check out the additions . . .), so I've got lots to choose from for this survey. :)

BOOKS

Funniest: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie; Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
Edgiest contemporary: Impulse by Ellen Hopkins; Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Creepiest SF/dystopia: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff; The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Most evocative historical: Revolution is not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine
Best love story: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta; How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

SCENES
Most disturbing: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott; Beautiful by Amy Reed
Steamiest: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Most exciting: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Biggest tear-jerker: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak; Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
Best plot twist/revelation (no spoilers!!) : Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

CHARACTERS
Best couple: Taylor and Jonah in Jellicoe Road; Daisy and Edmond in How I Live Now; Will and Elizabeth in The Luxe series
Who you'd want as your best friend: Blackberry from Watership Down by Richard Adams; Dashti from Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale; Silas from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman; Frankie from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Who you fell in love with: Jonah and Edmond and maybe Seth from Wicked Lovely and Po from Graceling
Worst (best?) villain: Humbert from Lolita; Titus McNeal from Feed
Best character twist (who you loved, then hated, or vice versa): Parker from Cracked Up To Be - disliked her, then loved her; Mary from The Forest of Hands and Teeth - started out liking her, then didn't
Worst character names: Peeta from Hunger Games; Po from Graceling
Favorite all-around kickass female: Vidya from Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
Favorite all-around kickass male: Po from Graceling

MISCELLANEOUS
Best book cover: Venomous by Christopher Krovatin; What I Was by Meg Rosoff; The Hollow by Jessica Verday
Best title: A Great and Terrible Beauty; A Certain Slant of Light; What I Saw and How I Lied
Most memorable voice: The Sky Always Hears Me (and the hills don't mind) by Kristin Cronn-Mills; Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
Best setting: The Shifter by Janice Hardy; The Luxe by Anna Godberson
Most beautiful writing: Jellicoe Road; How I Live Now; Looking for Lions by Gloria Whelan

LAST BUT NOT LEAST...
Will any of the books you've read in 2009 make your life list of Favorite Books? Sure. How I Live Now, Jellicoe Road, The Brothers Torres . . . I loved several of the books I read in 2009 for a variety of reasons and many of them still stick with me.

Cheers to a New Year

Out with the old, in with the new! It was the best of times, it was the worst - well, really it mostly was *teh awesome* of times.

2009, you tried hard. I saw you sweat. You did some really, really great things!

Sending me the BFFs to bodyslam all other BFFs! My YA Highway girls - you are the best. Michelle and Kirsten and Amanda and Kaitlin have made the bulk of this year a veritable Thelma and Louise of a ride, without the cliffjumping ending. And Lee and Leila and Kate and Kody and Kristin the Barely Younger and Emilia are decorating the convertible (the thing's a boat, man) with their own brand of graffiti and growing the love and hilarity - and I adore it!

2009, your executive decision-making was not amiss when you brought me my agent, Suzie (old year, you don't mind that you share this exalted position with Jo, do you?). Suzie is a writer's dream: enthusiastic and editorial mad skillz wrapped up into one way cool package.

You brought me home to Seatttle, 2009, and I'm forever grateful for that. You kept me and my family healthy and presented lots of personal and professional opportunity. You watched with me as the pixies grew faster and smarter than I thought possible.

There were lows, of course, but when friends are departing, I'm apt to let bygones be bygones.

(Except when you let the Yankees take the championship. Yeah, that was real low, '09. I expected better from you.)

And so, dear 2009, pick up your cane, crack that crick in your back, and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I've got a new friend to snuggle with.

2010 my friend, we are going to RAWK! Here's what we're going to do:

Write like I don't actually need medication!

Sell four books! Um, is this even feasible, oh agent of awesomeness?

Travel to . . . places! Cool places!

Hit up some Angels games!

Not read 112 books! (it just . . . was a lot - I need a breather) Edit Alert! It was actually 122 books! Egad!

Learn! Burn! Yearn! Fern!

Use fewer exclamation points!

(heh. heh. yeah right. that's not happening.)

But mostly, we are going to keep doing what I've been doing. We're going to love. Love this journey, love this life, love serendipity, love inescapable beauty. We're going to love more than ever before - more people and more ideas and more potential.

And so, 2010, pull out your 'fro, cuz I'm gonna grab my sequined boots, my disco ball and do this with every other awesome person out there:

Who's with me?!?!?!

Rock on, awesome peeps. And have a brilliant 2010.

2009: The Year My Eyeballs Fell Out

AKA: The Year I Read. A Lot.

Early in the year, Kirsten Hubbard, of Wandergirl superhero fame, challenged the AW community to read 100 books. Not being one who can turn down a challenge (really. See also: The Great Lemon Bar Derby of '05. Yum), I dedicated myself to reading a full 10x10. I mean, why not? I'm a writer and it's muy importante to keep abreast of the things publishing's tossing at us.

And, I figured, who knows - I might learn something about amazing writing and crappy writing.

I did. I really did.

Some of the books I read this year were truly, truly outstanding. How I Live Now, Jellicoe Road. Others were dreadful. Do I have to name those? Course I don't. I would say that most of the books I read over the past year fall into the "more or less liked it" category. There were things memorable and things forgettable about each.

Not included on this list are the amazing books I've beta read (or, at least, read well in advance of publication). Kirsten's Like Mandarin and Kody Keplinger's The Duff are ones I can't wait to read again in hardcover version. And there are others, but I'll save those for later.

So, without further ado, a list of the books I read last year (in more or less chronological order), with the particular notables . . . um, noted:

1) How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff *absolutely brilliant. a favorite, easy.
2) What I Was by Meg Rosoff
3) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
4) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen *love Jane and now have read her entire oeuvre, yay!
5) The Wheel of Time series: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
6) The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan
7) The Dragon Reborn by Robert Jordan
8) The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner
9) Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins *great pace, great story.
10) Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
11) Just In Case by Meg Rosoff
12) The Dancer and the Thief by Antonio Skarmeta
13) The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
14) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
15) Stuck In Neutral by Terry Trueman
16) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie *funny and wise and heartbreaking at the same time.
17) Plainsong by Kent Haruf
18) Watership Down by Richard Adams *loved this classic fantasy
19) Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
20) The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
21) The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
22) The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall *delightful classic.
23) Before I Die by Jenny Downham
24) The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters
25) The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
26) The Brothers Torres by Coert Voorhees *great voice, great pace.
27) Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi
28) The Disappeared by Gloria Whelan
29) The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
30) Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
31) Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta *stunning, masterful, one of the best books of the year
32) Once Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris *clever
33) Twice Upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris
34) Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar *ick. T.V. show so much better.
35) I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
36) That Summer by Sarah Dessen
37) No Talking by Andrew Clements
38) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
39) Graceling by Kristin Cashore
40) Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick
41) Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
42) Haunted by Meg Cabot
43) Candyfreak by Steve Almond *hilarious non-fiction
44) The Fruit Hunters by Adam Gollner *non-fic that read like fantastic prose
45) Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan *beautiful writing.
46) Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin
47) Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
48) Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger *bleh. what was I thinking?
49) Feed by M.T. Anderson *good story, mc on my list of all-time most hated.
50) Twilight: The Sixth Book in the Mediator Series by Meg Cabot
51) Venomous by Christopher Krovatin
52) The Year My Sister Got Lucky by Aimee Friedman
53) Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson
54) Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
55) I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak *felt like I was reading a story from the point of view of an 80 year old man who spends his days playing ca'ds and smoking ciga's.
56) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare *not a rabid fan, myself.
57) Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock *cows and football, what's not to love?
58) Lucky by Rachel Vail
59) Top 8 by Kate Finn
60) Impulse by Ellen Hopkins *so intense.
61) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman *fascinating.
62) Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
63) Depletion and Abundance by Sharon Astyk
64) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
65) Evernight by Claudia Gray
66) Eat my Globe by Simon Majumdar
67) Waiting For Normal by Leslie Connor
68) The Last Summer (of you and me) by Ann Brashares
69) Break by Hannah Moskowitz
70) Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott *haunting.
71) The Shifter by Janice Hardy *great world-building.
72) Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers *loved.
73) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
74) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini *lovely
75) The Town that Food Saved by Ben Hewitt *engrossing non-fic
76) Being Nikki by Meg Cabot
77) What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell
78) Lolita by Vladimer Nabokov *humbert also on most hated list. perv.
79) The Luxe by Anna Godbersen *guilty pleasure
80) Rumors by Anna Godbersen
81) Nation by Terry Pratchett
82) Revolution is Not a Dinner Party by Ying Chang Compestine *girl in revolutionary china = win.
83) Renewing American's Food Traditions by Gary Paul Nabhan
84) The Hollow by Jessica Verday
85) Selkie Girl by Laurie Brooks
86) Wake by Lisa McMann
87) Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson *v. good, v. troubling.
88) Inexcusable by Chris Lynch *amazing how lynch tackles the tougher p.o.v.
89) Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
90) Tales From Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan *brilliant.
91) The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
92) Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture by Ellen Ruppel Shell *fantastic reporting.
93) A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
94) Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
95) The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
96) Beautiful by Amy Reed
97) The Sky Always Hears Me (and the Hills Don't Mind) by Kristin Cronn-Mills *amazing voice. loved.
98) Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
99) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky *classic.
100) The Year of Secret Assignments by Jacklyn Moriarty
101) Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
102) Stargazer (Evernight #2) by Claudia Gray
103) The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff
104) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
105) Tithe by Holly Black
106) Crunch Time by Mariah Fredericks
107) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
108) A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
109) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
110) Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard
111) Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder
112) Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers *superfantastical so far (halfway through as of this posting, but will finish before 2010).

Eek! I forgot a few!

ETA:

113) Looking For Alaska by John Green

114) Impossible by Nancy Werlin

115) The Giver by Lois Lowry

116) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

117) The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer

118) Candor by Pam Bachorz

119) The Book of Story Beginnings by Kristin Kladstrup

120) Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter

121) Airhead by Meg Cabot

122) Bog Child Siobhan Dowd

CHASING BROOKLYN

Coming soon . . . a post about aaaaaalllll the books I've read this year. But, for now, get a taste of my most recent read from my review of Lisa Schroeder's CHASING BROOKLYN over at YA Highway.

A Very Merry Christmas From Our Home to Yours

Colonial Christmas "Sugarbread" House 2009 ( yes, made from sugar cookie dough - I don't like gingerbread . . .). I'd like to finish up the windows (I have some pretty trim/cross line thingies to go through the middle drying on the counter) but, for now, here's our edible house for this year. I wish all my lovely readers a wonderful holiday and fantastic New Year to you and yours. :)

Get Me My Dramamine, STAT!

Ah, the revisions roller-coaster (tell me that image doesn't make you at least a little bit ill).

I packed up and sent away the pixies so I could have an entire day and a half to make out with my WIP and, let me tell you, we got it on! I pulled out my trusty red (okay, actually black) pen and turned on my teeny tiny playlist-so-far and grabbed that manuscript like a bull by the horns (as you can see, I kindly did not use them all up in the ms, but have saved some extra cliche-riddled metaphors for this post). We fought, long and hard, but I emerged victor (small v), blissfully circling the typed out "the end" on the last page so many times my pen went through the paper.

And what a joy it is to have this first draft complete. I have a definite love/hate relationship with this novel and the love/hate moments are very specific. Lots of love for the beginning and end, some hate sprinkled throughout the middle and the possibility of even more questions to answer and world-building awaiting their favor or dis, as to be determined.

The most important thing? I ended the draft with a smile on my face and a tingle in my chest (and it wasn't because I gulped my steaming tea down too fast, either).

I'm disembarking this roller coaster (and looking for a trash can to puke in - oops, sorry about your shoes, Goofy) and finishing the techno version tomorrow so that I can make good on my promise to get it to La Agent Amazica before Christmas.

Keep an eye on that inbox, Suzie! One flaming pile of . . . uh . . . manuscript, on its way.

More Awards

I've put it off and now I have to catch up. I like getting awards, but I'm less in love with blogging about it. Maybe it seems ego-centric or something. However, I like having the cute little badges in my sidebar and I'd feel guilty putting them there without at least acknowledging the wonderful persons who gifted (haha, for you Susan) me these awards.

So, thank you to Lisa, my agent-sister, who is clever and awesome and has something she needs to tell me soon for the Honest Scrap Award, which, in my mind really says Honest Crap award and, therefore describes me perfectly! This award requires I mention ten (true) things about me, but since Lisa divided her ten into five, I'm going to divide her five into two-and-a-half. Yay! Here ya go:

1. I baked so much this Christmas season that I broke my KitchenAid professional mixer. Yup, sure did. Luckily all I did was strip the teeth on one of the gears and, actually, I know how to fix that.

2. I'm one of those people who likes to fix things rather than throw them out. Especially when broken thing is rather expensive. You might say this makes me handy, but I don't really think I am. Given the choice, I will always make my husband do the handy stuff. So I guess it just makes me a last-resortist. Maybe lazy, too.

3. The ONE thing I want for Christmas this year is something I saw when I was shopping downtown. It's a -

Okay! Hope you enjoyed learning two-and-a-half things about me.

The second award is from the lovely, the talented, the hilarious Kate, who gifted me with the Humane Award. I don't know what this award is for. I try to be humane all the time, but I can't recall saving a fluffy bunny recently and it's been seven years since we adopted our dog from the shelter. I do intend to fully brake for animals once I get my license and I have spent countless hours helping two lonely people fall in love - oh, wait. That wasn't me. I do donate to the ASPCA every year, so maybe that's it. Gah, they'll sell their donation list to anyone.

In any event, it's way cool to be recognized with these wonderful awards!

Now I get to pass them on. I choose . . .

Kaitlin, who has been all over her blog lately, posting about writing and stuff.

Kody, who is adorable and talented and who has an awesome book coming out next year.

Becca, who tried but can't stay away from writing.

Kristin Jr., who is the queen of revisions and who, for some reason, is actually getting older than me.

Michelle, who mixes music and travel in with her writing to get this who whirlwind of artsy going on with her blog.

Caramel Apples

We're taking a holiday from Road Trip Wednesday over at YA Highway, so I thought I'd use the time to post a few pics of some of the caramel apples I made over the weeked. There were more than this, but they have been shipped out into the world to those I adore and I forgot to take pictures, so these three are all you get. :)

Everyone loves Triple Chocolate with dark, milk and white chocolate over caramel.

Apple Pie is so good - caramel, white chocolate and a roll in graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon and sugar.

It's not Christmas until something is decorated with red and green M&Ms. Caramel, dark, milk and white chocolates and a pretty border.

Have a tasty Christmas!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Holidays Edition

Christmas is nearly here. Less than two weeks away until my children wake me even earlier than usual (is this possible?) with the threat that they WILL open all the presents before I've grabbed the camera. These are the kinds of threats that get me to dive out of bed and roll down the stairs, blurry-eyed because I left my glasses upstairs in my haste. As often happens, I will discover the batteries in the camera are dead and the dog spent the night drinking from the tree stand (even though his bowl is full to the brim) and dripping water all over my beautifully (and matchedly) wrapped packages, causing the dyes to run into the carpet.

And yet, there is joy. The holidays are sparkling lights and Christmas music, cookies and glittering stockings and big kids' (and kid) smiles. Oh, the things I love about the holidays. Here they are:

1) Getting past the trip to the post office. If Christmas is a mountain, 3/4 up the peak is the post office. I prep and package and tape and find someone to watch the kids while I stand in a line out the door only to get to the counter to have six different labels to fill out and, by the way, these are all cheaper to ship if you use the flat-rate boxes, so go ahead and re-address them while the fifty people behind you in line glare razor sharp daggers at you because you're hogging the counter. It is a true, beautiful rush of relief to know my packages are off into the world, ready to give the recipient pleasure (assuming everything isn't broken when it gets there - as it invariably is). BUT, once this pilgrimage is over, my shoulders feel ten pounds lighter. Finally, I can enjoy the rest of the holidays.

2) Baking. Sure, I do it all the time, not just when the weather outside is frightful. But this is the time of year when those Christmas-designated recipes come out of hiding. The cookies that are too time consuming or expensive or special to whip up at any old time of year. The fudge, so rich and creamy, the caramel apples with layers of chocolate and nuts, the traditional family recipes. I love bringing them out again, and I love getting together with family on the Big Day of Baking to make it all.

3) Lights. Sure, they are a waste of electricity, but the sparkle of lights, white and multi-colored, blue, icicles, bush nets, lampposts with fat red velvet bows, all signal a return of magic. We only just got our lights up this weekend and I'm so glad. The house looks pretty with its row of colors on the roof and swags in the trees and bushes. We are the family that takes trips to see lights - at specified light productions or just around the neighborhood. Pretty, pretty.

4) Stockings: I couldn't care less if there wasn't a single present for me under the tree, so long as my stocking's full. It's not like the red and gold stockings hold the most expensive gifts; our classics are socks and toothbrushes, hairbows and deodorant, nuts and candies and, of course, the orange down in the toe. There's nothing like digging into that oversized sock, sifting through the treasures and pulling them out, one by one. Sometimes there will be a surprise, something new. A strip of lottery tickets that just might be million dollar winners. A pot of glittery eyeshadow. I love stockings.

5) Christmas Music: Be it the true classics, like Handel's Messiah or contemporary classics like Bing Crosby or true contemporary by the likes of Fuel and Martina McBride, I love Christmas Music. These songs that never fade in a out of popularity but instead return year after year. The jazzy, the dramatic, the melancholy, the rockin'. Give me a holiday song to sing and I'm happy.

6) Charlie, Rudolph, Tim Allen: And all the other stars of Christmas movies. It's so fun to turn on the T.V. in the evening to find a holiday cartoon I grew up with and can now share with my own tots. Has there ever been a more interesting place than the Island of Misfit toys? Forget going under the tree, I always wanted to be a misfit.

Caveat: Don't get It's a Wonderful Life anywhere near me. I despise that movie; it wasn't even supposed to be a Christmas movie to begin with.

7) The Tree: We're real tree folks. Sure, as the task of tree finding and decorating approaches each year, I find myself occasionally thinking about the possibility of getting a fake tree (*gasp*), but I can never give up the beauty, the smell, the changing variety, size, shape every year of a real tree. Swathed in lights and tinsel, bedecked with ornaments, it is the centerpiece of a home that loves this time of year.

There are more things I love about the holidays, but these are some of my favorites. What are yours?

Ode to Awesome Agent

The paragon of adorableness, Kody Keplinger, brainstormed and organized this whole interwebz-wide LOVE FEST for authors to send virtual *sparkly sparkles* to their brilliant agents. And Lisa and Laura of the Way Cool Lisa and Lauras have kindly posted the links to tons of ubersuper writers on their blog. Check it out.

Now, I know there are lots of amazing agents out there; however, I'm rather partial to mine and I think she's THE BEST EVER!! (*sparklesparkle*) So, to illustrate how flipping fantastic Suzie Townsend is, I've arranged a heartfelt tribute to the tune of that most revered, most loved, most sung by obnoxious classmates who are teasing you because they really have a crush on you . . . The Anna Banna Bo- whatever it's called song!

Okay. *clears throat* Here I go. *deep breath*

*cue back-up singers*

SUZIE SUZIE BO BOOZIE-----

ACK!!

*blinkblink*

Suze, I wonder how many slobbering Kindergarten classmates with a crush on you freaked out when they realized they were calling you a lush. Two? Three? Just the ones with teenage siblings?

I bet it was traumatic. For you. *virtual sparkles*

Let's move up a few grades, then, to the poetry years. You all remember them, right? You learned how to write haiku by jamming together whichever words fit the syllable counting puzzle, not giving a rat's if the thing actually made sense. After school, of course, you made up limericks about Blueberry Hill and Nantucket.

But your favorite poem was the exalted acrostic, that fun little worksheet with a word down the left side and a line after each letter just waiting for you to fill in. You breezed through it, hardly pausing to label the "O" in "S-N-O-W-M-A-N" with "Octopus" because everyone knows snowmen and octopi have lots in common. Or, go jogging together. Or something.

So, in honor of that favorite of poem stylings, to you Suzie, I fashion the acrostic:

S - Stupendous!

U - Unparalleled!

Z - Z--Z---ZZZZzzzzzzzzzz-------zzzzzzZZZ Crap.

Crap.

I mean, what did you always put when you had to do your own name acrostic, Suzie? Zipper? Zesty? Oh, I hope it wasn't zesty. It makes me think of flavored croutons.

Zoological?

Whatev.

Moving on.

You know, in middle school mixed tapes were the thing.

Shut up. You know you were all over them, too. So what better homage than to post *the Suzie song*?

Mmm, oh yeah. CCR is so bluesy. Love it.

Except, I know sometimes people hate when folks refer to *that song about them*. Is that the case with you, Suzie Q?

Sorry. Can't help it.

Suzie Q.

Yeah, you probably hate that song.

Just so you know, I do like the way you talk. And I've never seen you walk, so jury's out on that one.

Suzie Q.

*sparklesparkle*

In high school, I would have passed you a note. It would have said: YOU ARE AWESOME!! *sparklesparkle smiley face x 3 bubble hearts x zillion and a puppy dog* and would have been folded in some intricate sanity splitting way that would bust the brain of an origami master. Srsly, it would have started as an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and finished as a 1 cm x 1.5 cm rectangle with six secret entrances, two slides and a booby trap that picked you with cyanide should your fingerprints not match with the scanned version embedded in the note.

The virtual world destroys everything fun. :(

How bizarre our childhood methods seem now! How simple! How innocent and hopeful!

*sigh*

*sparklesparkle*

I suppose I'm going to have to fall back on words. Which . . . really . . . shouldn't be too hard. I am a writer, after all.

*pressurepressurepressure*

You really are *teh awesome*, Suzie. Your enthusiasm in general, and for my work in particular, is catching. I can't begin to express what it feels like to have someone so well-read and so respected be excited about what I write. And that's in the face of scores of flaws!

Your eye for catching what a manuscript needs to be better has elevated my work and made me treasure the comments and suggestion you give me. From day one I've been impressed with what you've been able to see and how you've been able to coax it out of me.

You have such a generous spirit - both in the work you do and in the kindnesses you show (and send) to me. I think you have an infectious, winning smile and personality and it's perfectly evident how much you're loving the work you're doing.

I'm grateful to Joanna for referring me to you and grateful to you for being my advocate in publishing. And grateful that you want to beat me up (I know you do - don't pretend) when I seem pessimistic (just realistic, remember :D). I look forward to a long, bestselling, multiple movies, billion dollar, rise to stardom career together. :D

Your Devoted Client,

Stephen King

sorry to get you all excited. it's really just me. kristin.

*sparklesparkle*

Road Trip Wednesday: Books, Books, Books

We're looking forward to getting to know our new followers over at YA Highway, so this weeks Road Trip Wednesday is a short poll that tells us a little about which books and authors our friends love best. Head over to YA Highway to read about the rest of the Highwayers' thoughts and add your own.

1) What are the three best books you've read this year? Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now and Melina Marchetta's Jellicoe Road easily take the top two spots. After those, though, there are several books that could make the top three. Tales From Outer Suburbia; The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; The Hunger Games; The Sky Always Hears Me (And The Hills Don't Mind); Cracked Up To Be; and Impuse were all highly memorable reads.

I know. I'm cheating. Get over it.

2) If you could meet one author (living or dead), who would it be? I'm going old school, here. It would either be Mark Twain or Jane Austen. I adore their brand of humor. Jane might edge out Mark because she'd be easier to take into polite society, but I'd be happy tromping around with either of them.

3) What book are you most looking forward to in 2010? The conclusion to the Hunger Games trilogy.

Tuesday Teaser

I told myself I would get my teaser up early this week, and so I shall! It's (barely) Tuesday here on the West Coast, so here's a bit from one of my WIPs. This is from The Fix It All Shop, a Middle Grade magical realism currently waiting its turn to be finished/edited/etc. It has been beautifully patient as I work on other projects, but opening it now makes me want to read through it again. In due time . . .

Thanks again for dropping by and taking a gander at my work! :)

Lazy Sunday Morning Treats

Some mornings are made for cinammon rolls. Slow, chilly mornings, when it takes a spicy, earthy aroma wafting through the house to get everyone out of bed. That was our morning yesterday, so it was a good thing I had cinammon rolls ready to simply come to room temperature and pop in the oven for a final baking. You don't have to worry about getting up at 5 A.M. to get these ready for breakfast: prepare the dough (I used the rest of the potato roll dough I'd prepared earlier) the night before through the first rising, roll the dough into a large rectangle, slather with softened butter, sprinkle with brown sugar and real cinammon, roll and slice then let rise again. Once the rolls have risen, cover them and put them in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, sneak out of bed to put the rolls on the counter to come to room temperature. Also, pull out your cream cheese and butter for frosting at this time, so they are soft when you're ready to make the frosting. Jump back in bed for another hour of snoozing. When you get up again, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the rolls until golden brown and crusty on top (app. 25-35 minutes). Whip up some cream cheese frosting. There are any number of cream cheese frosting recipes on the internet, but here's the one I used for these rolls, taken from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook:

6 ounces softenend cream cheese
6 Tablespoons softened butter, unsalted
3 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Blend all the ingredients together on low speed until combined, then raise the speed to meduim and beat 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Let the cinammon rolls cool for a bit before frosting, or else the frosting will melt into the rolls.

So good. Fluffy and tender and sweet and spicy all wrapped up into one morning treat. I'd like to know: What are your favorite lazy morning treats?

Road Trip Wednesday: Gilbert, My Gilbert

It all started with a boy who called a girl Carrots.

Gilbert Blythe, you were infuriating, apologetic, smart, hard-working, persistent and pure in the midst of a fast set. And you were played by Jonathan Crombie, whose puppy dog eyes and Canadian-accented "sorry" (sore-y) stole my heart. You were my first literary love, my always steady flame, my current yardstick to measure others by. I spent countless nights swooning over your movie visage with my best friends in elementary and middle school and countless hours reading about your exploits even now. That time you first propose to Anne on the bridge in your movie? I still, yes STILL, holler at Anne to say yes. And my heart still breaks a little each time she doesn't. Heavens know I would have said yes.

But that's the movie. I saw, as I read the books, every hurt, shadowed look of adoring longing you gave Anne as she flaunted her college beau, the drippy Royal Gardner, in front of you. Shame Anne! Shame! But all was well in the end. Anne repented her silly ways when you fell sick. Ah, how the threat of death brings suppressed love directly to the surface.

Gilbert, you sustained me for years. Those who came after cannot hold a candle to you. Sure, there was that infatuation with Tanis Half-Elf after a friend passed along the Dragonlance books. And perhaps an even bigger infatuation with anti-heroine Kitiara, for whom riding a dragon into battle and breaking boys' hearts was all in a day's work.

There was that quarter of college with the Romantic poets, when I fell head over heels in love with Keats - the man and the poetry - and wept for his tragic early demise (and told my professor, when he asked what I thought of him, that I would have loved him desperately had I lived in his time. Grin). And there have been, over the years, a few other hapless objects of my affection, but none have the staying power of you, Gilbert.

Even unto this year, a year spent reading more than one hundred books, many of which featured romances that made my heart soar, you remain number one. Sure, Griggs, you made me want to get lost in a forest with you. And Seth, you are the perfect blend of tattooed outside and softie inside. Po, you are one serious bad@$$. Antonia, I long across the plains for you, too. Edmond, your mysterious magic and desperate need for Daisy spoke to my soul. Mr. Darcy, you may chalk up yet another charmed lady on your scorecard. Siruis, your dark and your light hooked me (and JK herself said you were hot, so there).

To all the good boys and the bad boys (and all the badder girls), to all the ones who longed desperately and fought majestically for love, I adore you. I adore you for letting my heart soar and I adore you for wishing, for a moment, I was the object of your affection.

But, alas, you are not Gilbert.

For Gilbert there is more than a moment, more than a bit of flutter. For Gilbert there is a steady flame that has not changed in many years. More crushes will come and more will go, but Mr. Blythe will always remain.

Take a moment to see what the rest of the YAHighwayers wrote about their crushes and you'll see that I'm not the only psycho around crushing on fictional characters. NOT. ONLY. ONE. Heck, you can even write about your own crushes and let us know who they are.