Blog: Photos and more of Five Tenners on October 30th!

On the day before Halloween, Chelsea Campbell (THE RISE OF RENEGADE X), Denise Jaden (LOSING FAITH), Karen Kincy (OTHER), me, and Kimberly Derting (THE BODY FINDER) all got together to talk about writing and books at Uppercase Books in Snohomish, Washington. 

Look!  Here's proof!

It was fun to get to see all of these ladies again! We first met up almost a year ago for lunch in Bellingham (along with Caitlin Kittredge and Phoebe Kitanidis). At that time, we were a month from the start of our debut year.  Since then, I feel like we've all bonded a lot.  Some of us have been able to make it out for each other launch parties and we've had endless contact online through the Tenners.  Denise and I, especially, have had a lot to talk about in the past year since we're both Pulse authors with the same publicist and release dates that happened to be only one month apart! 

Karen set this event up for us, and I am very appreciative!  We each spoke a little about our books, and then the rest of the time was spent taking LOTS of great questions from the audience.  We kind of got a rhythm going where we'd start at one end and then work out way across so that everyone could hear from each of us on the topics at hand.  I, personally, found it really interesting getting to hear about the similarities and differences in each of the publication journeys and creative processes. I think we probably gave the audience a pretty good variety of answers to mull over.

Since it was the day before Halloween, we all decided to be a little bit festive and decorate our heads.  Here's a more close-up group picture so you can see:

Chelsea is wearing a pumpkin hat that she knitted (or crocheted?),  Karen has a witch hat, Denise has a fluffy halo, I'm in black cat ears, and Kim has little bats above her head!

Thank you again, to Karen, for organizing and to Uppercase Books for having us!  And thank you to the people who came to see us and chat with us.   I hope we can all do it again soon!

Blog: Holly Cupala & Conrad Wesselhoeft book event photos!

I've been remiss in updating my entries requiring photos.  I couldn't find my camera charger after I got back from NYC.  Turns out, it was in my suitcase all along!  Excuses, excuses, I know.

A couple of weeks ago, I went out to see Holly Cupala and Conrad Wesselhoeft give a presentation together at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park.  Part of what they talked about in time they were allotted was what inspired them to write these stories and also some similarities between their books.  For example, Holly's book, TELL ME A SECRET, is about a girl who is an artist (painting and drawing) whose sibling (sister) passed away while Conrad's books, ADIOS, NIRVANA, is about a boy who is an artist (guitarist and poet) whose sibling (twin brother) passed away.  Both stories are set in Seattle, Washington. Very interesting!

Dwayne tells me that there is a (positive) Goodreads review in which a reader indicates that FREEFALL reminds her of a combination of these two books.  Which, I suppose makes sense since it is set (in a fictional town) near Seattle, and my character is a bassist whose best friend passed away. 

After the presentation, I had them each sign a copy of their books for me and I took a cookie!  I also posed for a picture with them, but my photographer (Dwayne) didn't let on that it was an extremely unflattering pose for me.  And, yes, I am exactly the right amount of vain to not show it on the internet.  You'll have to trust me that I was actually there.  Or you can ask these authors to confirm it!  ;-)

Here is a lovely picture of the two of them (along with Random Bookstore Bystander):

It was fun to see Holly again and great to meet Conrad.  I've heard awesome things about these books and am very much looking forward to reading them! 

Blog: The first time I fell in love.

When I was in second grade, a boy named Steven was in love with me and with a girl named Trisha.  He wanted both of us to be his girlfriends--which would have consisted of chasing each other at recess more than we chased anyone else--but I wasn't interested.  I liked Steven, but I didn't love him. 

One day, my teacher asked me to stay in for part of recess to help a kid named Willy with some schoolwork that he didn't understand. I don't remember which subject it was; it could have been anything, though.  Back in second grade, I was pretty decent at most subjects, even math.

The teacher presented it in a such a way that I didn't want to say no.  She told me that I was so good at it and could I show Willy how to do it, too?  I was flattered enough not to mind missing out on chasing and being chased on the playground.

I moved my chair next to Willy's desk and explained how to do whatever it was.  I read some stuff aloud, he asked questions, and then I explained further.  After a few minutes, he was getting it.  I was helping him figure it out! Then he started doing the work on his own while I sat quietly and watched.

With all the silence and Willy and me sitting so close, completely alone in the classroom, I started experiencing weird feelings.  My head got all tingly and my heart was beating fast and I became really, really warm. 

Willy had pale skin, freckles, and big teeth.  His hair looked like maybe some gum had gotten stuck in it while he was sleeping, and someone had had to use scissors to cut it out. 

Right then, as of that moment, I was in love with him.

I loved Willy.

When he finished his work and we went outside for the last few minutes of recess, I felt sort of floaty.  I was going to chase him. Because I loved him.

I skipped over to my group of girl friends.  He raced over to his group of boy friends.  The boys all huddled together to talk about something.  They were planning their next girl-chasing strategies, I figured.  But then Steven yelled, "Hey, everyone!  Willy loves Mindi!" 

All the girls stared, wide eyed and open mouthed.  Because this was Willy that Steven was taking about!  He had never loved anybody and they hadn't loved him, either. 

I looked at Willy.  He was watching me with this look of pride and excitement.  There wasn't even a trace of embarrassment on his face.

Those feelings.  The ones I'd been having.  Willy had them, too.  We'd had the same feelings at the same time.  Both of us. 

My chest got tight and I wanted to cry.  Loving him had been one of the tingliest feelings I'd ever had, but being loved by him was just too much.  I couldn't handle any of this anymore.

The chasing began.  I ran fast and I ran far.  I didn't let the boys catch me on purpose like I usually did.  I didn't chase Willy. 

After that day, I couldn't bring myself to chase him ever again.

Vlog: What's in the Box (Part 2)

As promised, here is the second part to my What's in the Box video from yesterday!

Fun facts, do I have them today?  Hmmm.  Well, I have now seen yesterday's vlog and today's and I didn't die of humiliation, so that's good news!

Vlog: What's in the Box? (Part 1)

Look! Another Vlog!  With all the book release and events excitement, I keep forgetting to post these.  But here you go!

Fun facts about this video:

1.  The theme is "What's in the Box?"  In it, I pull various mementos from boxes and discuss their significance.

2.  I haven't watched this vlog.  Back when I was posting these every other week during the summer, I was becoming desensitized to that whole seeing-and-hearing-myself-on-video thing.  As it turns out, just a few weeks of not doing it can make that anxiety come back with a vengeance.  And, in fact, the reason I didn't post this last week isn't because I kept "forgetting" like I stated above.  It was actually because I couldn't bring myself to watch it.

3.  However!  Even though I haven't watched it, I do remember it being the easiest of all the vlogs for me to complete.  Almost every scene was done in just one take.  As I recall, I was speaking more naturally and in a less rehearsed way.  Whether this comes across as better than the others, I don't have any idea.

4.  As it turned out, I had a lot to say about things in boxes.  There is a What's in the Box (Part 2) video coming out tomorrow!

5. One of the boxes that I discuss includes all of my items which are relevant to Freefall.  I think it's in Part 1 (since Part 1 is longer), but don't hold me to it, okay?