jenniferbrown09

Originally published at MalindaLo.com. You can comment here or there.

I discovered via Facebook (the font of all knowledge) that the Italian cover for Ash is now available. Here it is:

And today, the Ash cover is also on the home page of my Italian publisher, Elliot Edizioni. If you click on this link, you can download a PDF of the first 32 pages translated into Italian by Veronica La Peccerella and Giorgio Rinaldi.

How cool! I can’t read Italian, but if anybody can, I’d love to know what the catalog copy says (not the translated PDF, but the website itself — any indication of when it’ll be out in Italy?). Also, I’m just wondering: Is there a good Italian bookstore online that I can link to?

Hope you are all still enjoying the holidays. I’m trying to get some work done between Christmas and New Year’s … but it is hard.

My drugs:
- One that's once a day
- One that is every four hours
- One that is three times a day
- One that is no more than every 12 hours
- One that is no more than every six hours. This one is the best drug and also interferes with driving and sleeping.

Don't even get me started on with food or without.

So last year, I had the same title post except it was 2009 shall be mine, dammit! 

Except 2009 wasn't mine...at all. 2009 really sucks/sucked. I've been ready for a new year since about March, and finally it's about here.

I had two goals for 2009.

1. Lose 30 pounds (BAHAHAHA!)

2. Write a novel (BAHAHAHA *falls out of chair*)

Yeah...those things didn't happen. I did loose weight then I gained it back. Then I lost it again. Then I gained it back and then well, I think I might have gained a couple more pounds after that. BUT I did accomplish a couple things that I didn't even set for 2009. 

1. I really quit smoking. I started to quit smoking at the end of November of 2008. If you knew me well enough, you would have laughed in my face that I said I was going to quit. Because I ALWAYS for years said I was going to quit. But I did it! Sure, I've snuck a few in, but I haven't had a real smoking habit for over a year now. And that feels pretty damn good.

2. I'm going back to school. Me, the girl who completely hated school is going to school. It's not a "real" college as in I'll be spending four years in a place taking a bunch of classes I'll never in my life have any use for. (Can you see why I never went to college?) Instead I'm going to a tech school where I'll focus on everything I will need for working in the medical field. I'm shooting for billing & coding cause they make a pretty penny. And I would like to make a pretty penny.

3. I've realized what story I should have been writing all along. Thanks to NaNoWriMo, I wrote a whole bunch of crap that I could turn into something more. I also realized while going through the crap that Gracie and her crazy ways isn't the novel I should be writing. I can write humor - at least, I think I can. But I need more in a book. I need drama, I need laughs, I need angst, and there's gotta be some death. So I've been focusing a lot on Gus's story. My girl who goes back home after seven years and faces everyone she left behind. And plus, I've missed the hell out of Memphis. He's so fun to write. So yea, one short lived vampire novel and one crazy fun novel and I realize that's it's time to get my ass in gear and get the one story I've been running away from, done.

There are some other things that I hadn't exactly accomplished, but I learned about myself. Big things (not just my weight here) that I know I plan on working on. Because if I don't, I'll be miserable. And who the heck wants to be miserable? Not me!

So what's going to happen in 2010? I have no clue. I'm not setting any goals here to look back on and feel like crap I didn't accomplish.  This year I'm just going to live life, write my heart out, and get off my ass about so many things. Cheers!

PS- Sorry if this is rambly. I'm sick and I'm doped up and I'm so tired of lying in bed.

Accelerated Reader says it “guide[s] students to the right books.” It is “a ‘reading management’ software system that helps teachers track student reading through computerized comprehension tests and awards students points for books they read based on length and difficulty, as measured by a scientifically researched readability rating.”

Sounds good, right?

But one author who is also a mom looked closer. The fifth installment of the Gossip Girl series, I Like It Like That is given 8 points - which means it’s worth more than Hamlet (7 points). The author’s daughter pointed out that if students really wanted to get a lot of points, they should read Harry Potter. The Order of the Phoenix was worth 44 points. Another daughter, in an Advanced Placement class, was reading Frankenstein (17 points), The Remains of the Day (13 points), Heart of Darkness (10 points). Notice how together they don’t add up to the Order of the Phoenix?

Teacher says kids often won’t read books that aren’t on the list because they won’t get any points. And some say Accelerated Reader has increased reading among students, who like collecting points and getting prizes.

You can read the whole article here. If you are a teacher, I would be really curious to hear what you think about Accelerated Reader.

Curious after reading the article, I looked up Shock Point. 7 points. So not as that Gossip Girl (8 pts), but better than Hamlet (7).

Somehow through some mystical force of babysitter availability, I was able to see not one, but two movies over the holiday weekend. (Seriously, that's more than I've seen in six months.)

The first I saw was It's Complicated which I thought was hysterical and very entertaining. And even though Alec Baldwin was a bit of a snake in the grass, he was so charismatic and funny I couldn't help but love him.

The second movie I saw was Holmes. Now I've never read Sherlock Holmes so I while I was watching the movie, right from the beginning, I started noticing parallels between Sherlock and a certain doctor I know and love, Gregory House. By fifteen minutes into the movie my brain was sparking and sizzling (I'm surprised smoke wasn't steaming out of my ears) as I tallied evidence of the two character's similarities: There's the obvious - the names - Holmes, which sounds like Homes and House. The two sidekicks, Watson and Wilson. The extreme intelligence, the meticulous note of detail, the ambush of the sidekick's love life.... By the time my husband and I were exiting the theater I was bursting with revelation. My husband was equally impressed, 'nice deduction.' I felt so smart.

Of course when I plugged it into the computer about a billion hits showed up with this comparison that was noted way back from the inception of the TV show many years ago. Oh well. At least I picked up on it. Eventually.....

It's that time of year! Time to look back on 2009. I just looked up the goals I posted last January:

THINGS I CAN CONTROL:

1)Meet all deadlines!  Whew. The deadlines definitely ended up being more intense than I  had expected, but I kept up!
2) Complete Book 2 for razorbill (including all edits)  Yay! At the time I made the goal, I didn't even know what the book would be. It's now known as YOU WISH-- coming August 5, 2010!
3) Complete my nascar harlequin book  CHECK!
4) Increase online presence-- host at least 3 contests, increase facebook activity.  Check!
5) Guest Blog or interview on at least a dozen blogs.  Check!
6) Complete a totally fresh book to be shopped in 2010, possibly as my option book.  Check! My agent should be sending it over in a couple more weeks....
7) See SHATTERED shopped. Revise if neccessary.  Check! Not only was it shopped, but it sold to Flux as part of a two book deal. And yes, on the pen name: Amanda Grace.
8) Hold a book launch for Prada & Prejudice.  Check! It was lots of fun, too!


THINGS I CANNOT CONTROL BUT I'D REALLY LOVE TO HAPPEN:

1) Sell in another foreign country  Check! P&P will soon be available in Indonesia and Spain (in addition to France)
2) See Prada go into its second printing.  Check!  P&P is now in its 5th printing.
3) Sell SHATTERED, likely under a psuedonym  Check!! WOOT!
4) Sell option book to Razorbill  Hopefully I'll have more on this in a month or two! I've done my part!
5) Win every award ever invented.   Hmm. Looks like that one is a doozy.

 

I do love goals, and I was really amazed at the fact that I could actually cross off so many of them. 2009 has been a really, truly incredible year for me, and I can only hope 2010 is just as eventful! My goals for 2010 will be posted soon!

2

Take a winter walk in the woods with Lizziebelle. You're welcome. ;-)

I love these days between Christmas and New Year's. I get to spend more time at home than usual. The trees are bare, the woods are quiet, the December light is pure. Yet the world is still dressed up in holiday finery. I share this affection for holiday finery with my character Julia in The Secret Year. As she says, "I love the lights and decorations, the red and gold and glitter. I've always hated it when they tear everything down in January, when everything goes gray and white again."

This December has been more than usually eventful, in good ways and bad. I'm looking forward to the peace of the coming week, and more hours spent with my current writing project. The Secret Year goes out into the world in just 11 days. In the meantime, I'm doing what I can, which is to write something new.

But man, I just got splattered all over the walls trying to heal a PUG 25-man Ony. Ug. Lee.

Originally published at MSUFaL. You can comment here or there.

- Tessalon pearls cough suppressant
- Mucinex DM
- Nyquil
- Sucrets Extra Strength
- Halls Lemon Cough Drops
- Fluconase
- Amxoicillin
- Hydrocodone cough syrup
- Generic DM cough syrup
- Bleph 10 eye drops
- Tylenol PM

Don't worry, I'm not using all of these now. Although if it would help me sleep, I would take them all. I haven't slept more than a few hours for five nights. I haven't been this sick for a long time.

Had my second visit to urgent care today. The first was on Christmas Eve. Not a great time of year to be sick. On the plus side, the most pressing deadline I have is a line edit due Jan 15, and I am 75 percent finished.

If you're healthy, enjoy it!

...or in my case try your hardest to be. 

I definitely haven't taken on the Christmas spirit this year. I put together a cheap little tree for here and out at my grandpa's. I haven't even watched a bunch of Christmas movies which is abnormal for me.  It's just been a very hard year and one I hope will never repeat itself. Next year I plan on creating such a jolly attitude everyone will want to stick me in a closet.

But even with how things are, I am very thankful that I get to spend tomorrow with my wonderful, whacked out crazy family. Where we'll all more in likely get into over something and at one point my mother will stomp outside wishing she didn't quit smoking. My sister and I will probably trade gifts and my brother-in-law will gripe. And my niece will get so bent out of shape over something, she'll take off running to the bathroom where my mom will baby here. All the while, my grandpa will probably be telling everyone to be quiet and my dad will be begging someone to take him home. But that's okay, I really wouldn't have it any other way.

So I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas where you'll be surrounded by loved ones. To add to the Christmas spirit that I have been severely lacking in, I give you some of my favorite Christmas songs:

No one does Christmas carols like Bing Crosby. 


And because this is the coolest Christmas 'duet' ever:



Not exactly a Christmas song, but right next to Rudolph, this is my all time favorite Christmas movie. This is actually the only Christmas movie besides snid bits of Christmas Vacation I've watched this year.


And because I simply couldn't resist....

Thank you to everyone who participated in my blog challenge to benefit Heifer International. Thanks to you, I ended up donating $60. Some of the challenges are still ongoing, so please stop by Nathan Bransford's blog if you haven't already, to click through the links and leave comments on the participating blogs.

I must say, participating in the challenge and giving and receiving those lovely comments really helped put me in the Christmas spirit.


Today, if you're in a humorous mood, I suggest Karen Healey's post, "Back away from the novelist, buddy," for a look at what it's like to have your family members read your work through copy-editor spectacles.

If you're more into homemade cookies and holiday wishes, see Lisa Schroeder's Little Corner of the Internet.

If you'd like to watch the new Tenners trailer, follow this link.

If you just want to gaze at a pretty picture, here you go:


Wishing you peace and joy in the coming days, however you spend them.

Taking a break from the Christmas Eve dash for some eggnog lattes. YUM. Here's the recipe if you want to try. Have a fabulous holiday everyone!!!

Just wanted to take the time to send out much love to all those that supported Shrinking Violet this year! I certainly couldn't have done it with out you guys.
I'm talking, authors, bloggers, librarians, teachers, booksellers, readers, jugglers, you name it!
I have also been fortunate to have met so many lovely and talented authors through The Debs, www.feastofawesome.com, Class of 2K9, www.classof2k9.com and my fellow MTV peeps at mtvbooks.blogspot.com/

I wish everyone a very happy holiday season and I will be back with New Year's resolutions!

I never make New Year’s Resolutions, mostly because I’m bad at it. It’s hard for me to tell the difference between what I want and what I can actually achieve on my own. (Resolution 1: Sell a new book this year.)

And though I thrive on writing deadlines, life deadlines just make me anxious. (Resolution 2: Get to 2 miles on the walky-steppy thing at the gym.) Instead of chopping my life up into specific things to do this year (Resolution 3: figure out Grandma’s fried chicken recipe once and for all,) I keep an everyday resolution, which is:

Keep going.

It applies to everything. To writing, to family, to hard times, to the walky-steppy thing at the gym- I’m okay as long as I keep going. And there are some years when this is harder than others. But I find it encouraging when things are going great- all right, yeah, this is awesome! Keep going! and inspirational when things suck- I may well die from all this, but glar, to spite the universe, I’m going to keep going!

Everything else is dreaming- I want to sell another book, I want to find out what that thing at the gym is really called, I want to actually make my Wee’s Halloween costume this year- and if dreams come true, it’s fantastic. But if they don’t, I haven’t failed. I’m disappointed, but it’s okay- I just keep going.

So this December, I wish you all the best of luck on your resolutions. I can’t wait to see you guys mark them off! And until you can mark them off, I wish you good luck and hope that no matter what, you’ll also keep going.

Originally published at MSUFaL. You can comment here or there.

create goals for 2010

prepare for TT's launch

spend time with family and friends

watch CC experience the first Christmas that she (kind of) understands

enjoy all that is sacred and special about the holidays.

See you next week!

Originally published at MalindaLo.com. You can comment here or there.

I’m starting the holiday weekend a bit early today, yay! Over the next few days I plan to indulge myself with some holiday traditions, both old and new.

Old: I’m rereading a favorite comfort read, Witch by Barbara Michaels, a romantic suspense novel about a creepy old house and, obviously, a witch. Every Christmas I reread a couple of old favorites, usually a Barbara Michaels/Elizabeth Peters (they are the same person), and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. They never cease to entertain me.

New: I’m making peanut butter cookies and braised short ribs, because I’ve never cooked them and I want to.

I’ll be back next week with a 2009 retrospective. Happy holidays!

Remember our library-lovin' blog challenge? (I included the link just in case you don't!) My agent, Nathan Bransford, is currently running a similar challenge to benefit Heifer International.

The challenge is today-only, and this is impromptu, but I'm joining in. I'll also donate $1 per comment on my blog for the first 50 unique commenters (no 50 comments from the same person!).
EDITED TO ADD: Since I exceeded my goal in the allotted time, I decided to give $1 per comment for ALL the comments, and then round up. So you inspired me to donate $60 total! Which I did through Patrick Rothfuss's Team Heifer page, where there was a matching donation.

My challenge is now closed, but several people are still raising money, so you can still help!
This costs you nothing. If the spirit moves you, please do any or all of the following:

Go to Nathan's blog (I provided the link above); his own comment challenge is closed, but he has the list of all the other participating blogs, many of whom will have their challenges open for days to come.
Visit those other blogs listed at his post and leave comments there. Make them donate too! You have the power! ;-D
If you're still inspired to do more, spread the word about this via Twitter, Facebook, and whatever magical elves you may know who spread information.

This also won't be the last challenge you see from me: I'm planning to do a mini-library-challenge during my launch week in January, and then we'll reprise the big library-lovin' blog challenge later in the spring.

It’s been a busy week and it’s just going to get busier, but that’s all part of the fun. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, whatever you celebrate, filled with family and friends and good food!

And a special thank you to those who are giving GIVE UP THE GHOST under the tree (or however you do your gifting)! Even Cass appreciates a little holiday cheer.

Originally published at Megan Crewe - another world, not quite ours. You can comment here or there.

Teen had two friends over last night. At 6 a.m. I realized they were still awake. I had to insist they go to sleep. They were teaching themselves how to count cards. Yes, Teen has a future in Vegas.

Meanwhile, I am on day five of being sick. The days are tolerable, but at night I can't sleep. First it was my throat hurting, now it's a non-stop tickle cough. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open. Last night I tried sleeping with a cough drop in my mouth, frequent drinks of water, tenting the blankets over my head, and sometime in the middle of the night, a stiff gin and tonic.

I got maybe a total of two hours of sleep, in increments of five or ten minutes.

Originally published at MalindaLo.com. You can comment here or there.

Just popping in to mention that in this week’s Publishers Weekly, I am interviewed for their semiannual “Flying Starts” feature, which profiles a handful of new children’s and YA authors.

Go here to read it.

Hope you’re having a great week before Christmas!