Seattle-Area Man Becomes Weirded Out By Wife's Cartoon Crush.

Dwayne and I had to do various yucky shtuff over the weekend including going to Walmart to buy cereal galore as well as various toiletries and other household items.

While we were there, we stopped in the toy section to check out The Clone Wars stuff.  I was beyond pleased to see this awesomeness and made Dwayne take a picture of Anakin and me together:

I know, I'm too old for him.  Also, I'm not wearing makeup.

Later, I saw a Clone Wars comforter on a clearance table.  Only $30 for the full or $21 for the twin.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!  I tried to convince Dwayne that it would look way super cool in our room.  Never mind that we have a queen-sized mattress.  He was not at all down with having cartoon Anakin anywhere near our bed, though.  (LOL.)  I asked if he could at least take a picture of me with the comforter, but he refused, saying that my strangeness was getting a teeny-tiny bit out of hand.

Sigh, sigh.

Seven more days until I get to watch the premier of season 3!  I'm going to be so pissed if it's a Yoda, Mace Windu, or Obi-Wan centric episode...

Character Analysis

Kari at A Good Addiction wrote about YA characters this week:  The Good, The Bad, and The Real.  Seth McCoy from Freefall is the first example on her list of characters she finds memorable and realistic. I loved reading Kari's take on  all of these characters' strengths and flaws and am so pleased that Seth is one of them!

9/11 - My recollections.

Nine years ago. 

Dwayne and I were married in Las Vegas on September 8, 2001.  We flew home September 9th, knowing that we had to survive four days of work and then we'd be heading to Arizona for our week-long honeymoon on Friday the 14th.

On September 11th, I was driving to work, listening to The Morning End, which was a radio show comprised of Andy Savage, Jody, and Steve the Producer.  As I was making the turn at my building, someone on-air announced, "They're saying that someone crashed a plane into one of the Twin Towers."

The DJs were confused.  I think one of them even said, "How does that happen?  How does a pilot get so off-track that they fly into a huge building like that?"

I was wondering the same thing.  Was s/he drunk or something?  As I was parking my car, someone on the radio said, "Wait!  Now they're saying that a second plane has crashed into the other tower!"

And that's when they (and I) knew that this was not accidental.

All I remember of the rest of the day was that there was a tiny black and white TV in one of the back offices and we all kept going back there to check the news.  There was a lot of worry and confusion.  Schools were closing.  The malls were closing. Seattle is on the opposite coast, but everyone was in a panic because no one knew what sort of attacks might be planned for the rest of the country.

As it turned out, Dwayne's and my flight to Arizona was canceled and rescheduled for Saturday instead.  We didn't know if we should go.  But we also didn't know how we couldn't.  So we did. 

Getting married was a big step and a big change for us.  And three days after our wedding, the whole world changed . . . in a multitude of ways.

Friday Five: The Countdown Edition

I've spent most of 2010 waiting for things to happen.  And here we are, September 10th, and the things I've been waiting for are finally... happening!

Here's a list of some of the things I've been counting down to:

1.  September 10:  SHORECREST HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL.  Tonight!  Okay, I've actually only been waiting for this since June.  But, man oh man, am I excited!  One of the big reasons is because the girl in my current manuscript is on the dance team at her school and I am looking forward to watching those girls.  But really, this will be our third season of devoted football game attending and it just gets better and better.  Now, Dwayne isn't going to be here for the first game (and yes, I am bitter, if you must know), but my friend Matt is coming with me and we are going to have all the F-U-N. (I wrote more about why I like going to these games here.)

2. September 17:  THE PREMIERE OF THE CLONE WARS.  My favorite TV show.  Because I am in love with Matt Lanter's voice and cartoon Anakin Skywalker is The Sex-ay.  I'll actually be at a football game when the first ep airs (see #1), but I'll catch it on Sunday night instead.  Eeeee!  (Read more of my thoughts about my cartoon crush here.) 

3.  September 21:  Glee.  Okay, you'll notice that this isn't in all-caps like the others.  Because Glee kind of let me down the second half of the first season.  What's up with that? Usually shows will wait until they're into season two before screwing everything up!  Anyway, I'm going to give it another chance here, but I'm a little hesitant, I have to admit.  *fingers crossed*

4.  October 3:  MY 33RD BIRTHDAY.  My birthday gets no love this year because That One Book That I Wrote That One Time comes out two days later (see #5).  But really, it's a cool thing.  Having a birthday.  Getting presents!!!!

5.  October 5:  THE RELEASE OF FREEFALL.  I've been waiting for this moment.  All my life.  Also?  While I was revising this bugger back in the olden days, I became paranoid that I would die without finishing.  After it sold, I became paranoid that I would die before it would hit the shelves.  Twenty-five more days, people!  If I can survive the next 25 days, Pedro will finally make all my wildest dreams come true. *knock on wood*

Bonus:  October 9-13 will be super-special, too, because I'll be in NYC visiting my publisher and whatnot.  And by whatnot, I mean that I'll be having my first ever booking signing at Books of Wonder!!!

But I have to get through #5 before I can think too much about this one.  ;-) 

Have a great weekend, everyone! 

Coming to a Borders and Barnes & Noble near you!

I received news this week that all the major chains will be carrying Freefall in their stores. !!!!!!!!!!!

Now, they were always going to sell it online (and, of course, it's available for preorder at those sites and many others already), but what this news means is that when one visits a bookstore, it should totally be there! On the shelves! Looking all sexy alongside the books of Elizabeth Scott, Inara Scott, Kieran Scott, and/or Michael Scott!