GWENDA BOND

Pretty Good Year

In fact, it was a good enough year that my head, heart, hands and at least one foot are in 2015 already--forward momentum is always a good thing. Or as Jules puts it in Girl on a Wire:

With motion comes purpose. With motion comes discovery.

But there's a value to taking stock and keeping a record too. And the amusement value of looking back from another year on, as I just did to last year's post (pretty on point, actually, though as always some things took longer to get to than I expected). I said last year that 2013 felt transitional, and it did. And so this past year, 2014, was more settled in many ways. Oh, sure, there was the usual anxiety and upheaval, but I also had a building sense that I was doing what I wanted to be, telling the stories I wanted to tell, with a better idea of how I want the story of my career and my life to take shape. Those are truly stories only we can tell, after all. On the practical side, it's also really nice to be paid well and have teams of people to work with who take care with and support your work.

I stopped feeling like some sort of fraud writer whose career would be snatched away--most days anyway--and like someone who just kept their eyes ahead and focused on doing the work. And that's my plan for 2015--to keep telling the stories I want to tell, while trying to get better at telling them, always, and to keep working with great people. I'm having more fun as a writer than I ever have, and I hope that translates to more fun for you as readers. Without you, I don't get to keep doing this. So please know your support means the world.

Another discovery? Lois Lane fans are truly the absolute best. I can't wait to get to share Fallout with you guys.

I only managed to finish two books last year, and one of them was a collaboration (which just got done literally yesterday, so cross everything; I'm really proud of that one). Amid doing a bunch of other things. There were swathes where not much writing got done, but that was tied to the not-good parts of 2014, which involved both my parents having serious surgeries at an overlapping time. They are both in much improved health now, and that's a huge relief and something I'm grateful for every day. (It also taught me a real lesson about how fragile my routines are and reaffirmed the lesson of always working ahead.) But I came out of the year with several projects I'd like to tackle at some point in the future and energy for the ones I'm working on now. And we took a marvelous trip to Portugal.

Writing stuff:

GIRL ON A WIRE - Thanks to all of you who've bought and read and recommended it to others. And please keep on doing so! It's hard to believe, but it's only been out for a handful of months and I've been too busy writing to do that much promotion, other than a few events and a tweet here or there. But people are still finding it, and that's all due to the publisher and you guys. The reception to this book makes my heart feel many sizes bigger. The Cirque thanks you guys. Significant events in blog posts: Kindle First launch  and Release Day.

The announcement of LOIS LANE: FALLOUT - What a whirlwind that was! And we're just four months away from the official release now, y'all. Four. Months. I'm so grateful for the early reactions this book has gotten. Significant events in blog posts: The Secret is Out (!!!) and Media Round-Up. (Having been the recipient of many excellent Superman-themed T-shirts and sweaters and pajamas over the holidays, I'm hoping this is a hit at least partly so maybe we could get some more Lois-themed garb. Who's with me? Even just the cool name treatment from the cover. A girl can dream. ;-)

Looking ahead...

LOIS LANE: FALLOUT - This is going to be my year of Lois, and there'll be much ado from me around the launch, I'm sure. This is going to be a year of firsts--my first Winter Institute, my first BEA appearance, my first Many Other Things. I'm so so excited, still, to get to contribute to the legacy of one of the most iconic, incredible characters ever and, oh, do I hope you guys enjoy this book. Also, Lois is one of the funnest characters to write, period. When stuck, I just ask: What Would Lois Lane Do? Voila! Solution. Hashtag: #WWLLD

And I'll also be writing TWO MORE BOOKS in 2015 that I can't tell you about quite yet. (Hopefully soon, at least for one of them!) But there will be at least two new books by me for you in 2016. And I can't wait to get them written.

More surprises coming this spring! Including a completely revamped website (finally!). Other things I'm looking forward to: a retreat in Mexico in February and a retreat in South Carolina in April. I'm hoping life will also surprise me (and Christopher!) in good ways, and that maybe a leap I've been eyeing for a long while will become possible.

Other Significant Blog Posts of the Year:

I didn't blog that much last year, but there were a handful of longer posts people seemed to enjoy, in chronological order.

• Battle of the Sexists (aka Let the Self-Promotion Roll, Ladies)
• Call the Reading Police
• Outtakes from my interview with John Green for the LA Times
• Ten Reasons to Read YA (No Matter What Age You Are)
• This Crazy Biz We Call Pub
• Ten Reasons to Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper (or, Go Team Writers)
• I also just did a newsletter, so if you missed that here 'tis.

Happiest of New Year's to you all. I hope 2015 is a time of marvels.

Miscellaneous Hijinks and Upcoming Event

Ah, World Fantasy was such fun -- so many of my favorite people in one place. While the usual woes of not getting to meet/see everyone All The Time exists, I got to spend a happy-making number of hours hiding out and gabbing with dear friends. Yay.

Also, writing Catwoman has changed my dear Genevieve... Here she is stealing my earring at the mass signing:

A #DCLadies pic with @Gwenda at WFC: "Writing #Catwoman has changed Genevieve." (Sorry, Lois!) http://t.co/1HpxvUKMct pic.twitter.com/9wRYm45I4s

— Genevieve Valentine (@GLValentine) November 10, 2014

We had two fabulous meals at Jaleo, both of which required sampling of the featured cocktail -- the Mascieta, a concoction of brandy, lemon, saffron syrup, muddled plum wedges and egg white that instantly transports the drinker to the 1930s, specifically The Thin Man movies.

The second time it was so good that we promptly came back and bid on these fabulous papercut pieces by the amazing Kathleen Jennings in the art show. And we won them. Yip!

I regret nothing.

Upcoming event! I'll be at the Kentucky Book Fair this Saturday. Come get a copy of Girl on a Wire, which I will scribble in. They make excellent x-mas presents. (As always, if you're far away or can't make the event, you can get signed copies from Morris Book Shop and Joseph-Beth Booksellers, and I'm happy to stop in and personalize 'em.) I'll be on Curtains @ 8 on WUKY tonight, along with some other authors who'll be at the book fair.

And I have some news, which I cannot talk about yet but yay:

Just signed, scanned and sent back to @literaticat the contract for a new book. *wriggles* *rolls up sleeves* *starts outlining* #yayyyy

— Gwenda Bond (@Gwenda) November 11, 2014

Last but not least, the wonderful Catherine McKenzie (have you read Hidden? soooo good) named Girl on a Wire one of "5 Great Reads for Your Book Club" over at the Huffington Post recently: "To paraphrase The Princess Bride, there's mystery, wire walking, trapezes, fights and a great kiss. Highly recommended for YA focused book clubs, particularly." *beams*

Miscellany + Local Event

A few more Lois-y things:

• From Alison Flood at the Guardian (!) (complete with Margot Kidder pic, which made me happy--my first Lois, and still a great one);
• Erin Keane of WFPL talks about the Lois book and says nice things about my others (Ky. represent!);
• Some Waiting on Wednesdays from today that rightly give the cover some love-- Books, Bones & Buffy and Mostly YA Lit, plus you can vote for it in a cover battle at the Sirenic Codex. Switch Press did a beyootiful job with it; the cover deities have smiled upon me once again:
  
  
  
• DragonCon was a blast. Saw many friends and met many excellent readers, and all the panels I was on and went to were great. Kudos in particular to the team that put the YA Lit track together. I also met quite a few Lois fans there and I put up some photos on Instagram, including a Super-backpack I covet, a building where Jules does a walk in the circus book, and Leigh Bardugo and I being (charmingly? hopefully) disruptive in a Harry Potter panel that was a little too harsh on Snape:

  "@LBardugo: .@Gwenda a Slytherin's work is never done" We can't behave. Send help.

  — Gwenda Bond (@Gwenda) August 29, 2014

Hmm, what else? I have an event this weekend at the Woodford County Library. These are always fun, not least because our PENS ARE ON FIRE (not really, that would be dangerous). The details:

• Pens on Fire - Young Adult Authors: Come hear popular Young Adult authors talk about their work, writing tips, and paths to publication. Authors include Gwenda Bond, Sarah Combs, C.C. Marks, Katie McGarry, and Heather Sunseri. Free - Sign up today! 9/6/14, 2-4pm, Main Library.

And last but not least:

You can still enter to win the fancy Paperwhite with the custom cover featuring the gorgeous Girl on a Wire cover illustrated and designed by Neil Swaab: just sign up for the newsletter or comment on that post with something you love or hate about the circus. Contest ends Friday at noon.

If you snagged the book on special, read it and like it, please consider dropping a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads or spreading the word wherever you like best. And if you haven't snagged it, well, what are you waiting for? Lee Child totally edged me down in the rankings. *wink* I kid! Feel free to wait and buy a hard copy. Or ask your library to order it. Basically: please to buy or otherwise legally procure wherever you like, read, and let me or the world know what you think. Without you lovely readers, I don't get to do this. And I like doing this.

Now it's our tenth wedding anniversary, so there must be a little celebrating, and there's another book to finish. So *poof*.

Writing Process Tag

I'm doing something I hardly ever do here, a blog tour post--but it's an interesting twist on the concept. It's not a blog tour, per se, it's a tour of the same questions to the blogs of various writers.

So, when my former VCFA classmate Anindita Basu Sempere ("We Survived Tim Wynne-Jones"--our T-shirts would read, since we shared him as an advisor the same semester; Tim is an amazing teacher and mentor, and a tough one!) asked if I was game to be tagged, I said yes. Anindita is a wonderful writer--I think back to her graduate reading and have chills. I can't wait until we can all read her books. You can read her process post and see what delicious things she's working on here.

And now I will answer the questions, with apologies for caginess, because I can't say toooo much about the projects I'm actively working on at the moment (I don't want to spook them). But I do so love process talk, so here goes.

1.     What am I working on?

Usually I'm only working on one thing actively, with some other things either in stages that are further along and which I might be waiting to get edits or copyedits or notes on, because I've always found it difficult to shift focus from one book to another on a daily basis. When I'm working on a book, I tend to be working on it pretty much whenever my brain has downtime, even if I'm not sitting at my keyboard. I try as best I can to hold the entire book in my mind, turning it this way and that, until new things come into view--usually for the next scene(s) or chapters, but sometimes further ahead. The ability to be IN whatever project I need to be in has always been relatively easy for me, but it has also tended to be one at a time.

But at the moment I'm attempting to work on two things at once, which is going okay so far, probably because they're at different stages. One is a collaborative middle grade fantasy novel I'm writing with my husband, which features all sorts of intricate setting details and unique characters and a chef's kid with a secret even he doesn't know. We wrote the first draft last year and are now revising and rethinking and generally embiggening and embettering it, and so that's taking the most time and attention. It's also different because this is our first collaboration, and learning how to revise together is the same kind of new endeavor that learning to write together was. But we're figuring it out and it's fun even when it's hard and we're stuck on something. We surprise each other, live the "two heads are better than one" principle for thorny plot or character or worldbuilding issues, and are constantly brainstorming and talking things out. We change our larger outline as we go, shifting as it needs to be, and discuss in depth each coming chapter, then alternate who writes, with both of us adding to the revision each day. (For the real nerds: while we wrote the first draft in Google Drive, now we're using Scrivener, with Dropbox syncing--the only hassle is just one of us can have the file open at a time; my kingdom for the functionality of Scrivener with the collab-syncing capacity of Drive).

The other project I'm working on is a YA twisted take on a fairy tale (of sorts), about which I can't say much, because it's just being born and I haven't even told my agent anything much except that yet (*waves to agent*), but also because it's a big twisty dark mystery too. I'm waiting until I have enough pages to show her. Of things I can say about it--hmm, there will be a strange city, and teens who live beneath it, rumors of magic, a glimpse of the contemporary art scene, and some thievery. Best to keep its secrets for now. Process-wise, I'm refining my outline and adding words to first few chapters when I have time. Drafting is always the hardest stage for me. I much prefer revising. But you can't do one without the other.

(I am so sorry that is SO long with so little description of the what. Annoying fact of writing life is that sometimes you can't say much.)

2.     How does my work differ from others of its genre?

 This one's even tougher to answer, I think. But, if pressed, I'd say the revision of the middle grade is pushing it even more into our own personal tandem weird zone, while also trying to keep it inviting. And likewise for the new solo book of mine; it's maybe a little different because while I love *some* fairy tale retellings, I'm super-picky about them. And this one is as much an inversion or subversion as a retelling. So. And it's as much realistic as fantasy. Like my book that comes out this fall, I find myself more inclined lately to treat magic in my YA stuff in a slightly less traditional fantasy way, more as a question that may or may not exist until the characters know if it does or not.

I hope it doesn't sound like I know what I'm doing. ;-) I just try to follow what feels right for the story. And then revise, rinse, repeat.

3.     Why do I write what I do?

 I hope because these are stories that only I can tell, that come from the idiosyncratic nature of everything I  live and read and watch and listen to and am interested in and am. But also that other people can step into them too. (And for the collab, the same, but for both of us. Part of the fun of that project is trying to delight each other; the revision is mostly about doing the best we can to make sure it delights others too.) (Okay, so that probably applies to my solo stuff as well.)

4.     How does your writing process work?

Routine! If I'm not getting enough done, I fall right back on my routine. Which, for me, most days, means my best hours are right after I get up. The absolute best is if I can forgo looking at the Internet--no email, no twitter--until after I have done a couple of hours of morning writing or revising. Walks during the day are spent trying to solve story in my brain, and then dog walks at night are for talking out problems with Christopher (whether it's on our collaboration or our solo stuff). I also try to write at lunch, and more in the evening if necessary. I could revise round the clock, if it wasn't a) not workable at the moment with my schedule and b) probably unhealthy. I always try to take evenings off, but when it's my writing time, I'm writing, nothing else. So long as I'm meeting my daily goals, whatever they happen to be, I cut myself some slack.

This is probably the most important thing I've learned as a writer, and I know that endless or deadline crunch round-the-clock style works for some people (just not me). But I used to spend way too much time thinking I could and should be working even more, that there was always something else I could be doing to further a project, every second. Now, I do what I intend for that day, and then I feel no guilt for anything else. If I'm getting behind on email, I don't feel guilty, so long as I'm answering urgent things and getting my writing done. Etc. I have to have hours off to watch TV or read or just be lazy or I am not going to do good work or have a life that works. I need the time away, the outside stimulus--and I have a lot of other work I have to do too. So, I try to catch up on the other stuff in between projects, or once a week (or two) for email. But my operative philosophy is: following routine = check, then guilt = no. It's made all the difference.

I could talk about outlining and things, but I've already written, ahem, a book here, so I will instead tag the next victims! Who will post next Monday on their own sites. These just happen to be two authors I think you should be paying attention to. (Theirs are the only two books I've blurbed so far, actually. I did not do blurbs while I was still reviewing for Locus--it just didn't feel right.)

- Jackie Dolamore (well, Jaclyn, to be precise and fancy). Jackie's next book is Dark Metropolis, which I thought was a wonderfully executed dark fantasy where society itself is hiding a terrible secret. Months later, I still think about the characters and the world.

- Whitney Miller. Whitney's first novel The Violet Hour is a gripping supernatural thriller with some of my favorite things: a cult, a global conspiracy, creepiness galore, and a smart heroine. I am very much looking forward to the sequel.

I can't wait to see their answers.

Rebel With A Pink Bike + Links

How is it already Thursday? How is it already mid-March?

Been trying to get back into my 6 a.m. drafting/revising groove, and have done so successfully... But I had forgotten how sleepy I get during the day at first. So I'm probably yawning right now as you're reading this, no matter when it is. And if I'm not, it's because I resorted to extra coffee.

I also have an exciting afternoon on the way which involves getting a filling replaced at the dentist (ready to hum my favorite dentist song as always--thoughts of Steve Martin are the only pleasant thing about going). The tooth in question is one of my front bottom ones, and broke cleanly in half and went through my lip a bit below my mouth when I was in fourth grade. It was a very exciting day, and I remember it well, because this was one of the only brief times in my life I thought perhaps I was coordinated in the hand-eye way. I had discovered that I could fly down the steep hill on the dirt and gravel road behind our house on my bike--a pink Huffy--and jam on the breaks at the bottom, whipping around to stop with an enormously satisfying skidding sound and leaving a giant dust cloud in my wake. Obviously, I was super-cool. 

Until, oh, the third or fourth time I did it and had a catastrophic dismount--in front of kids my own age who were visiting the neighbor whose house I was riding in front of, and probably trying to impress with my badassery. I remember the neighbor coming out and asking with great concern if I needed them to help/call home/etc, but not to be completely shamed from my Evel Knievel fantasy, I forced myself to get on my bike and ride home.

All the drama ensued, though it was determined I didn't need stitches because of where the wound was. The tooth came all the way through, and I had picked it up, but alas, it could not be put back on, so filling. But, you know, flaming disastrous dismount aside, this was the grade where if you had a broken arm or leg or stitches or any kind of visible injury you were a mini-celebrity for at least a day at school. Of course you were! You'd survived a brush with DEATH. And so, I took the pain in stride, expecting my moment of glory.

It was not to be. Because what I had was not cool stitches or a cast people could sign. What I had was a giant scab above my chin. Which, unbeknownst to me until the straightest of the straight A students in our class turned to tell me, looked not like a battle scar but like "You have chocolate on your face."

And scene. 

Anyway, I actually dropped in not to tell you that story, but to point you a couple of other places I am today.

•  First up, I talked to Jeffrey Lee Puckett at the Courier-Journal about YA and dystopians and Divergent in particular earlier this week. We discussed all sorts of things--dystopian themes, gender politics, some of our favorite YA and children's books. But I had no idea I was going to be my own sidebar. And I'm a writer and scholar, which sounds very fancy.* The story is here.
  
  
• Also, the wonderful Sandra Nickel invited me by her place for her "What's on..." interview series, which I love reading and was honored to be a part of. You can find out what's on my mind, reading stack, windowsill, TV, playlist, and in my catalog of fears thither.

*Remember the pink Huffy.  Never forget.

Pictorial Hijinks

I promised I'd share some new author photos soon and soon is now (unless you already saw them on facebook, that is).

So I'm not that much of a procrastinator, not where work is concerned. But I can definitely put off other things that need to be done but aren't critical for a looong time. *hangs head in e-mail shame* Another example that demonstrates what I mean would be this website, which I've intended to overhaul for years now. Or, say, the fact that Christopher and I got wedding bands...for our fourth anniversary. At least, I think it was the fourth. The jewelry store people were flummoxed by the delay--and by the fact I didn't care about diamonds (but that's to be expected).

The photo I've been using as my headshot is also an example. I had to come up with a high res shot on a tight timeframe in 2010 for RWA to run with a Q&A they did with me when I won that year's Veritas Award for a PW piece. Christopher gamely agreed to shoot a quick picture in the backyard, and that's exactly what we did. We didn't even bother to crop the thing. Which has now appeared in the back of both Blackwood and The Woken Gods, as well as many other places.

I'd been intending to get some actual professional author photos taken (which I really do believe authors should have) for ages, but finally decided about a month ago to Get It Done. After gathering a number of suggestions, I ended up going to the site of queen of dessert Stella Parks, aka the Brave Tart, an amazing pastry chef and an amazing writer (you'll be wanting her first cookbook as soon as it's out, trust me) who I knew had great photos. Those turned out to have been taken by the wonderful and conveniently local Sarah Jane Sanders, a frequent collaborator of hers on food photography, who also has an excellent body of portrait and other work. 

I was beyond delighted when it turned out Sarah was available and would do some photos for me. She prefers to shoot in natural light without any sort of elaborate set-up--though we did tidy our bookshelves for the first time in years in preparation--and she made the shoot fun, despite the fact that getting my picture taken is not my favorite. She even laughed at my smizing jokes. She's fabulous.

Local folks who need portraits, take note.

I'm sticking a few of the new pics behind the cut tag:

Tap, Tap, Is This Thing On?

Didn't mean to vanish here, but winter and deadlines and did I mention the WINTER? (Someone please appease George R.R. Martin with a suitable offering to make it stop--I expect the White Walkers to show at any time otherwise.) And surely today is our last snowstorm of the season, she said, with a tiny measure of hope. When I'm not here, you can almost always still find me tumbling random things and on twitter, of course.

Lots of quietly exciting things have been happening. I just turned in a draft of secret project, the first new book I've finished this year (obviously, since it's only three months in!). I got to see some possible cover looks for Girl on a Wire and they were AMAZING; I can't wait to see how the final version turns out. I just broke down and made an exception to my long-time Groucho Marx, non-club-joiner policy to join SFWA, because so many people have been doing such good work the past few years to change it and keep it relevant and I want to support that. I taught a group of amazing teen girls about SFF over the weekend, and since so many people pitched in great exercise ideas over on facebook I'll try to do a devoted post about that and share some of those. What else? Christopher also finished a novel draft last month (very exciting). Oh, and I had some new author photos taken, which I'm sure I'll be showing you soon.

Right around New Year's C and I started watching Person of Interest, after seeing it recommended by many, many trusted sources as an excellent science fiction show--most notably the io9 recs, and those from Molly Gloss, Ted Chiang, Chris McLaren (source of its excellent nickname Hobo Batman), and Adam Christopher. They were right. Though it took us a while to fully commit, and I definitely think there are some skippable episodes in the first season. That said, I'm glad we didn't skip them. It truly is one of the most excellent, provocative SF shows around, with sharp, thoughtful writing. We'd have so caved and started watching earlier if you'd told us there was a dog. We're suckers for a dog (especially Bear, above). And we're now all caught up with the current season, which is a little woeful, because it was so nice to feel like there was an endless supply of episodes.

Anyway, I'll be back later this week with a round up of recent reading and many accumulated links and fewer excuses. Probably.

Monday Miscellany

I've been deep in the mines they call copyedits, where the grammar is fixed and the style sheet is set and precision is queen. This is one of my favorite parts of the publication process. Despite the terrifying part of it—that it's pretty much the last time significant changes can be made—it's also the last time someone goes through your words with the fine-tune comb designed to save you from yourself. Because, no matter how magical a book, even one you wrote yourself, feels when you hold it in your hands, and how contained at the same time, it has worlds in it. Well, at least one, hopefully, and that does not come easy or without mistakes.

Which is why editing at all its various stages is so important. Honestly, when I think about what I want from this crazy game we call pub these days, the topmost thing is the best editorial support possible for the book in question. That's the most important thing to me. And I've been fortunate in this respect.

Anyway, even though I've done some light copyediting myself, and lots and lots of proofing, this time around I learned that I can default to a "try and" construction rather than the "try to" construction, among other things. Gripping for you, I know. But while I was looking up something minor to double-check it, I fell down a rabbithole (yay, internet; I will never tire of these particular breaks in the space-time continuum) in the form of Tiny Kline's memoir, Circus Queen and Tinkerbell. And I quote the section in question:

It was 5 pm when I got back to Madison Square Garden. I missed my turn in the races, but that was okay. I was on a special job, therefore, and not subject to fine, according to the rules regarding absenteeism. My two opponents, Butch and Strawberry Red, carried on without me.

With her wire rigged up spanning Wall Street, Bird Millman, billed as 'A Fairy on a Cobweb,' opened the drive, selling the first bonds to the highest bidders while balanced on the fine metal thread as if suspended in thin air. Attired, appropriately, in a costume along military lines, she looked breathtakingly lovely in that nifty officer's uniform, a preview of the Women's Allied Air Command of twenty-five years hence.

Bird is my heroine's idol, and there are lots of photos of her doing astounding things I've been able to get my grubby eyes on. Even one video I've found (don't worry: plenty of time for that when the book's closer to coming out). But I can't seem to find a photo from this particular appearance to sell war bonds,* and I so wish I could. But this is almost as good. A photo, of a different kind.

Back later this week with an entry. Swearsies. (You can always pre-order the circus book, if you feel so inclined.)

*If you know of one, please send or link below, because I'd love to see it.

Monday Nattering

I'm going to give this site a real makeover at some point this year, but I gave it an in-the-meantime one over the weekend. I did an abysmal job at tracking my reading last year, so I'm also reviving my reading log page; will also try to remember to point to it occasionally.

Totally overwhelmed by the number of people who shared and visited the post about sexism and self-promotion and related thoughts over the weekend here or over on tumblr. I almost didn't post it, and am now really glad I did. Look for more Actual Bloggery to happen here, and more little things over at tumblr (where I'll continue to mirror bigger posts). At any rate, I propose a blog renaissance for 2014. And will do my part, even while deep in Secret Project Land, as I am currently.

Speaking of the self-promote-y, I completely missed this lovely mention of The Woken Gods from Erin Keane as part of the WFPL staff year-end reading round-up: "Bond's D.C. is a world of powerful tricksters, ancient relics, and spooky rituals that feels both mysterious and familiar at once, and like her first novel "Blackwood," (listen to an excerpt on Unbound) this whip-smart heroine-led adventure is equal parts creepy and fun." *beam*

Two things I suggest you read today, if you haven't: Genevieve Valentine's fashion round-up from the Golden Globes (always a highlight of the day after any awards show) and Sarah Weinman's great NYT Magazine piece about an award-winning crime manuscript written by a man currently in prison for murder.

And, finally, having eaten in enough restaurants in the last week to last me through the next couple of months in deadline-ville, I'm looking forward to bunker life with the secret novel and our foray into Vegan Before 6 (so far so good, er, on the first day). The fabulously fun winter residency of the Bluegrass Writers Studio definitely also yielded enough social activity to hold me for a good while, but was, in fact, too fabulously fun to pass up most evenings--especially given that it's C's final semester in the program (thesis novel!). Finally met the delightful (but in a noir way) Kelly Braffet in person, along with her editor Zack Wagman (who I interviewed once upon a time), as well as Alissa Nutting, who it turns out we have several common friends with, and the very funny Sam Lipsyte. Plus, the usual program suspects like Derek Nikitas. And, of course, we got to hang out lots with Maureen McHugh, one of my favorite favorite people, who was here teaching a workshop. Witness this evidence from an evening meal at Table 310 with Maureen, Christopher, (the lucky-for-us currently local) Andrew Shaffer, and a former program student who turned out to also be a former small town funeral director and made the best conversation (sample: "We call that 'creating a beautiful picture' "):

Two of my favorite people at dinner. pic.twitter.com/dUFk0jiy0K

— Gwenda Bond (@Gwenda) January 9, 2014

In short: I like 2014 so far.

Battle of the Sexists (aka Let The Self-Promotion Roll, Ladies)

So...I almost talked myself out of making this post, but then, hey, I said I was going to start blogging again and these are the kinds of things I'm interesting in blogging about. Even though it is a little scary, for reasons the post will make clear. The thing is, publishing books is--even though our books are not ourselves--extremely revealing, by which I mean it opens us up to lots more casual judgment and criticism, especially when we voice opinions that not everyone agrees with or wants to hear.

It's probably one of the reasons I've talked less in depth about anything except writing and interesting bits and bobs I find on the Internet here, since Blackwood came out. The other is that it takes time, time away from writing fiction and doing other work and living, which is time and mental space I don't have much of. I like watching TV too much. So, there will probably be a lot more nattering type "this is what's going on" posts. Pet pictures and the like. But I'm not happy with confining all discussions of other things to twitter or facebook, and so here we are. And I come to you with a ranty ramble.

What prompted this post is a stew of things that happened to appear in concert this week, and some of which I've been stewing about ever since.

The first was the Jennifer Weiner profile in the New Yorker. I only just got time to read the whole thing last night. It's a fair, thoughtful piece, and definitely worth your time. 

I saw a few tweets flying around, which notified me of its existence, but the actual first direct impression I got of it was a secondary one. My friend Erin posted a link to a Slate reaction piece to it, one which had rightly piqued her ire. Reader, this piece makes my blood boil. The headline: "Jennifer Weiner Critiques Sexism in Publishing, Promotes Self." But, you know, writers aren't always in charge of the headline, and they often seem written to troll for outrage clicks, so I was prepared for the actual piece to be a little more balanced. It honestly isn't, and then there's this:

All of this means that Jennifer Weiner is an imperfect vessel for confronting sexism in the publishing industry. What it doesn’t mean is that Weiner is unique in her strategy of leveraging critical analysis to self-promote.

Just take in the wording for a second...see if anything jumps out at you in the wording, like, oh, I don't know: IMPERFECT VESSEL.

Look, I know, I know, there's a larger point being made, etc., et al., but as a writer, I believe words matter. The choice of words reveals so much here; it is the crux, the entire red effing wheelbarrow of the matter, as far as I'm concerned.

Don't be an imperfect vessel, kids. Which seems to mean, among other things, don't self-promote, don't believe your own work is worth promoting, and for eff's sake, don't imply that it's worthy of critical consideration OR that which books get attention really does often come down to initial perceptions of the people who make those decisions... Perceptions which are undeniably colored by impressions created by the track record/history of the author and the packaging (and I'd include marketing push there). And if you believe that women's and men's work are packaged the same, or that women authors whose works are or are perceived to be primarily about and/or for girls or women are on equal ground in this equation, then I have some lovely beachfront property I'd love to sell you with a library full of Franzen the Grouch novels. Just send me a cashier's check.

Ditto if you believe that women aren't perceived and treated differently when they  self-promote.

Some people are rubbed the wrong way by Jennifer Weiner, some are some of the time (I agree with her way more often than I don't and find her frequently hilarious), but what KILLS me about some of the reactions is just how much they are about her. Again, look, I get it, it's a reaction to a profile piece, also about her. But it is also absolutely typical and predictable to sidestep the points she's making. It's far easier to criticize her for self-promoting or talk about her shortcomings--whether perceived or real--than it is to address the substance of her arguments. Her arguments which are not only about the books of Jennifer Weiner.

Who, by the way, is an actual human being and author, not a vessel, perfect or imperfect or otherwise. The very phrasing in that sentence may have been what caused my blood to boil. (By the way, I have enjoyed some other pieces by the writer of the Slate one. Just decidedly not this one.)

Like Weiner, I would love to see more attention devoted to the work of women and especially that perceived to be aimed primarily at women and girls. I read category romance (I LOVE category romance) right beside mainstream literary fiction right beside mystery right beside YA right beside SF and I do my best to judge the books based on their merits. I try not to do that pre-slotting of things into Worthwhile and Not Worthwhile, but make that decision based on the book in question. I know my own likes and dislikes, which means not assuming that because something isn't my cup of book, it shouldn't exist or be talked about. This is also not to say that everything is equally "literary," but there are other measures of worth that are, um, worth discussing, too, and can we just admit that the term itself is pretty squishy and seems to stick to most of the things it's applied to, as long as the right person is doing the applying?

There are certain kinds of books the word is far less likely to be applied to. Sometimes, that may be because of the quality of the books. Sometimes, it may be for other reasons--lots of them. (I have seen people claim, for instance, that literary YA doesn't exist. Which is crazypants.)

What I wish as a reader is that I could find more smart writing about all those types of books I mentioned above easily, instead of the typical uninformed scarlet-rage inflammatory or blush-rosy nostalgic pieces about YA, or the terrible pieces implying women who read romance aren't feminists and all romances are identical, or calling out the one or two SF books this year that stand above the trash heap.... I could go on with examples, but this is getting long and I doubt I need to. This is why I believe blogs are still so important, and why I read so many, and oh romance and YA blogosphere in particular you are THE BEST. You write such smart pieces, about so many different kinds of books, taking them seriously. You talk the things I'm talking about here. But oh how I wish there were more opportunities for you to write about it for professional outlets and be paid.

(Aside: This is one of the main reasons I regretted leaving my regular reviewing gig at Locus. I want to see more women writing about books, period--also why I try to read every word about books people like Laura Miller, Charlie Jane Anders, Annalee Newitz, Sarah Weinman, Roxane Gay, and Carolyn Kellogg produce, to name a handful, in addition to the blogs I follow.)

But, I digress. I wanted to talk a little bit about this idea that self-promotion is somehow inherently shameful or deserving of a call-out, especially when women are engaging in it.

Because at the same time the profile conversation was going on, this week there's been a bunch of talk in the SFF field about whether people should mention awards-eligible work and the associated discussions about self-promotion that engenders (not an accidental word choice). (Read those links.)

To publish is to self-promote. Putting work into the world = implied assertion: "this is worth readers' time and attention."

— Jennifer Weiner (@jenniferweiner) January 9, 2014

Not too long ago, two fabulous YA authors I consider friends wrote essays about the experience of being a woman writer and self-promoting, about the reactions that they get and see, and how those might be different toward women than men. Here's Sarah Rees Brennan's and here's Malinda Lo's.

I watched for reactions to these pieces with interest at the time, and I meant to post at length about them, but see above, avoiding rants. While most of the reactions I saw were quite positive, recognizing their valid points, I did also see a few really clueless mansplaining and nasty ones. I won't point to them, because...reasons, but ugh. Reactions like the one to Weiner in Slate tell the story just fine.

And before it comes up, I am not at all saying that men don't feel weird about self-promotion too, that they all feel completely comfortable and natural doing it. We're all humans here. Of course, it feels awkward. It feels awkward when I do it.

I'm also not saying there shouldn't be a balance, and that it's not possible to overdo it. It is, of course it is. In my experience, if you're someone who worries about that, you're probably not anywhere close to the line.

And yet.

Like most writers I know, I often experience doubts and bouts of imposter syndrome. But at the same time I am proud of my work, and it's work I, in fact, work really hard on. I want to be able to keep doing it. I also believe that women absolutely should not think twice about self-promotion. All the data suggests it's harder for the work of women, especially in certain genres, to get attention. That makes self-promoting part of the job for most of us, whether we like it or lump it. So if I catch myself hesitating on a RT or about posting some news related to my own books or trying to get an invite somewhere, I usually go on and do it, because I want to contribute to an online and offline culture where women don't hesitate and then decide not to speak up about their own work. Speaking up hopefully encourages speaking up. In case it doesn't: speak up.

When you write popular fiction -- especially pop fic for women -- you have to blow your own horn. Critics won't blow it for you.

— Jennifer Weiner (@jenniferweiner) January 9, 2014

Generosity of spirit is where it's at. Let's give each other the benefit of the doubt, and stash the judging on this point. I've always tried to help draw attention to other people's work I feel deserves it, but I pledge to do more of that, too.

Mostly, though, let's all try to call b.s. like this when we see it, by which I mean the attitudes about self-promotion and other things that help preserve the percentages in the VIDA count, that stoke the inequity in certain bestseller lists, and that make women not feel okay about trying to get attention for their work. Let our self-promotion truly be shameless.

End ranty rambling.

Speaking of promo, I'm determined to get a newsletter out something like quarterly this year. The first one will be sometime in the next week or so, and sign up if you want it.

The Old & The New Year

Yes, yes, I'm finally getting around to that year-end wrap-up thing so popular...at the end of the year. For whatever reason, I'm feeling little inclination to reminisce and completely excited to greet 2014 and whatever challenges and surprises and etcetera it holds in store. But I do love reading other people's posts, and I like having a semi-official and revisitable record, so here I am.

This'll be a days of past and look to the future post, as a result though, kind of like the new X-Men movie. (I call Storm. Or Rogue. Or Kitty Pryde.) (Yes, I realize most of them aren't going to be in that movie. Mystique then, especially since she's not-so-secretly a Kentuckian.) (Note from Christopher: He heard all of these characters were to be in the movie, except that Rogue ended up, and I quote, "on the cutting room floor." Sounds painful.)

Things I wrote and/or revised this year:

• THE WOKEN GODS - I spent much of the spring wrestling this book into novel shape, and then it came out in the fall. I don't want to hem myself in (as if that's possible), but this might be one of the weirdest books I ever publish. And, hey, look at that: I published a second book. Wow. That barely feels real, still.
  
  
• GIRL ON A WIRE - I finished my second (first solid) draft of the circus book and sent it off to my agent about this time last year; then I did a little revising, and then we sold it. I spent this fall working with my fabulous editor on doing the real revising, and I still have copy edits ahead. It's been such a great process on this one, from starting it feeling like I was a little crazy, to taking it to Bat Cave, to now. And, my pretties, looks like it's probably coming in October 2014. I'm nervous, but oh very excited for this one. Much more to come. ETA: Okay, so I added some info and a description (subject to tweaking) to the book page and looking for the ISBN discovered the pre-order page and freaked out just like I did for Blackwood's. Maybe more, I don't know. So. Excited. (!!!) (Total nerd out moment.)
  
  
• Secret Collaborative MG Project - Christopher and I did write a book together over the summer, and we had a BLAST. Now, we're both embroiled in other projects and deadlines for the next while, but I'm hoping we can get back to it relatively soon and then find it a good home. Because: So. Much. Fun. And really creatively rejuvenating to do, all round. A definite highlight of the year.
  
  
• Other TOP SECRET Project - Well, this one isn't written yet, but it is Well In Process. Not sure when I'll be able to divulge the details, but I'm writing it now and on deadline and I pinch myself because it's such fun and I can't wait until you are all in on the secret. One of those things that comes out of the blue and demands a yes.

And there was also a proposal in there, and a whole bunch of reviews for Locus, and several features for PW, and I got to interview one of my favorite writers for the LA Times.

Places I went this year:

• Mexico! And we got to stay with some of the loveliest people in the universe in one of its loveliest houses. Plus, afternoon margaritas, courtesy of Raoul. Magnificent.
• Bat Cave, where I did more planning and plotting than anything else, but which was also magnificent as always.
• My very first ALA annual, and what a blast that was. Librarians, I love you. That is all. (And thanks to Wes Chu again for playing host. With single malt. He's such a bad influence.)
• California! My first trip to the West Coast in a long while. C and I went to museums and hung out with Doselle and Carolyn and other friends, and I got to visit Mysterious Galaxy, and then go out to the beach with Jenn and some of her other wondrous clients. A great mini-vacay.
• And there were fun events here in Lex, Asheville, and Ohio to round things out.

I hope to get lots more places this year, like RT in New Orleans and etc etc tk.

In sum, 2013 was a year with a little of the expected, a lot more serendipity. A year I can't complain about, and which in many ways felt transitional. This was a year in which I figured out a lot of things about how I want life and my creative life and career to look going forward and how to balance those things so I don't feel utterly overwhelmed. In which I remembered to stop and be grateful slightly more often. I'm really looking forward to 2014 and seeing what lies ahead.

Resolutions of a sort:

• I'm not much of one for resolving to do things. I typically just either do them or decide not to. But I find I do have a few this time. The first is to blog more regularly again. I miss it, and having said farewell to my regular reviewing gig for reasons of time and the need for reading freely (and believing in Ron Swanson's admonition to whole ass rather than half-ass), I feel like I'll have the headspace back for it too.
  
  
• Christopher and I are going to try that Vegan Before 6 thing, which I know, vegan friends, is not really and truly vegan, but feels doable nonetheless. I want to do that, and get back into truly regular yoga. More attention on health, in other words.
  
  
• Keep writing, of course. I hope that the new year brings more surprises and opportunities. And that I can keep up with them. I'm so grateful for all of you who cheer me on in any way whatsoever, and who are along for the ride. Speaking of which, yes, I'll actually do a newsletter at some point(s) this year. Promise.

I raise a glass to all of you, and to 2014 being fabulous for all of us.

Random Friday Five Things

1. Busy times, my darlings! I spent the Thanksgiving week mostly muttering to myself, wearing various pairs of pajamas, eating low-fat red velvet-flavored ice cream sandwiches, and having weird story-related dreams. In other words: turning around the final revision pass on the circus book. And that revision has been slain, book delivered to super-wonderful editor and publisher, along with dedication and acknowledgements. That's right: GIRL ON A WIRE is in, and on to copy edits. I'm really excited (and only moderately terrified) for you guys to read this one next year. Then I polished up a proposal and sent it off to agent for a look. And and and I will start working in earnest anon on the TOP SECRET PROJECT, meaning very, very soon, and I'm really looking forward to that. No rest for the wicked.

2. That said, I am attempting to make space for more concentration on noveling and related activities, because, well, they require it, and that's where I need and want to be spending as much time as possible. Which means that while I'll still do other freelance stuff as it appeals and I can, I'm turning in my final reviews to Locus later this month. It's sad whenever you have to give up a gig that allows you to work with such genuinely lovely and awesome people as the Locus staff (who also gave me such freedom in choosing what books to write about). But, alas, I just don't have the time or, really, honestly, the inclination to do the job as it should be done any longer. It's been an absolute pleasure, though. And the good news for you, blog readers, is that this almost certainly means I'll talk more about books here again, since I can't quit that.

3. Want to buy some books for those who need them this holiday season? The Ballou Sr. High School has a wish list of holiday books for its library you can find out all about over at Guys Lit Wire (I did my shopping last night) and Oblong Books does a great Book Angel program every year, where they let people make a donation that goes directly to gifting a new book to a local kid who might not get one otherwise and I believe all you have to do is phone them up to participate. I'm sure there are many more such opportunities out there. I'll be making our annual donation of new books we don't have room for to a program that provides them to foster children this week.

4. The fabulous Colleen Mondor included a glow-inducing review of THE WOKEN GODS in her December column--her hundredth (*cue applause*)--at Bookslut. Congratulations on the achievement, Colleen, and for everything you do to bring attention to books and reading (like the aforementioned Ballou book fair!). Gratuitous review snippet: "The Woken Gods is a fast-paced tonic for curious readers who seek multi-layered mysteries and a salute to smart under-appreciated kids everywhere. ... Bond has her characters growing up in a strange new world, in a bold brave way. The Woken Gods is one mighty fun read, and thus a perfect respite from holiday madness. Smart equals good in any adventure, and this is a very good read."

5. I really will start posting here again with a bit more regularity. I promise. In fact, I'm just about to undertake a little site make-over in the near future and a shiny new design always encourages posting. Right? Right. Have a great weekend, and stay safe if you (like us) are in the path of Storm of Doom Cleon. I suspect it's just mad at being named Cleon instead of, say, Cleopatra.

Weekend Update

Has it been less than a week since my last post? And yet less than a week filled with excitement! Most of which is still of the TOP SECRET variety. (Okay, okay, I'll stop being obnoxious now and just get to work.)

Many thanks to everyone who came out to the Malaprop's panel last week, which was such fun. Not that it's possible for a visit to Malaprop's to be anything else. And how can you go wrong when talking about girls and monsters? It would be exceedingly difficult--especially with the delightful Megan Shepherd, Meg Spooner, and April Tucholke. Afterward we went to the Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar (yes, it is in fact one of the most perfect locations on the planet).

Last couple of appearance-y things for the year: I'll be on WUKY's Curtains @ 8 tonight (Tuesday), talking The Woken Gods in advance of this week's Kentucky Book Fair. Annnd I'll be at the book fair for the first time, both Friday for Children's Day and Saturday for the main event. If you're attending, come by and chat. I will sign anything you put in front of me, but especially books.

And, last but definitely not least, I had the immense pleasure of interviewing Nicola Griffith, who long-time readers of this blog will know is one of my favorite favorite authors, about her newest novel HILD (out today!) for the LA Times. Snippet: "Women of the past, we're told, were objects not subjects, they had no agency, they were submissive. What a load of rubbish. Women are people — as human then as you and I are today. People find ways around their constraints, whether it's gender, status, physical ability, and so on. What counts is how you use what you've got. Hild has a singular mind." Go read the whole conversation and then get yourself a copy. You want to. Trust me.

*tap, tap* Is This Thing On? And Asheville Event!

Well, I didn't mean to disappear, but there was a California vacation with lazy sea lions and gobsmacking art and excellent people (including a lovely stop by great bookstore Mysterious Galaxy Redondo Beach) and an edit letter and then a massive trip to the revision cave and car trouble that meant being stranded at home in the edit cave (serendipitous). Somewhere in there, I wrote a piece for PW about bullying, for which I interviewed many smart, excellent people, and and all the other things.

Busy, in other words, but life is good.

I have a couple of events coming up. I'll be in Asheville this Thursday night, talking about Girls & Monsters with a group of fabulous YA authors. The details:

• Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.: Girls and Monsters Panel Event with Megan Shepherd (The Madman's Daughter), Meagan Spooner (Shadowlark), April Tucholke (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea) at Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, N.C.

And November 17th I'll be at the Ky. Book Fair in Frankfort.

You should come to these places, if you're nearby.

More soon, including that The Woken Gods extra I promised but haven't put up here yet and many, many hangovers. In the meantime, I leave you with this image from the Tar Pits Museum, called My Genre As A Saber-Tooth:

(You can find other pictures of random horizons and pieces of art and things snapped with phone here.)

Five Things Make A Friday Post

1. Heading out this weekend for this year's Bat Cave retreat. It's set up exactly like this:

(Image from here.)

Except replace the underground stream with a hot tub. There's really nothing more energizing, wonderful, and magical than spending a chunk of time holed up in a scenic locale with a gaggle of writers talking fiction and being silly and sharing war stories and in-jokes and, yeah, I can't wait. Especially because I am still being attacked by rogue deadline and have to rewrite some more words to escape its clutches. But! Nearly finished.

2. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to teach a day-long workshop to this year's class of the Young Women Writers Project at the Carnegie Center. I can tell you that these are some amazing writers, who you'll be hearing lots from in the future. And I'm so sad to miss their big reading. If you're in the Lexington area, however, you should go: it's next Friday, April 19, at 5:30 p.m. (during Gallery Hop) at the Carnegie Center. Go support them.

3. I can't remember where I saw this regional dialect map first, but it is fascinating.

4. A typically wise post from the fabulous Robin LaFevers on the ups and downs of life in publishing. The creative life is definitely not for those who are afraid of heights or lows.

5. Speaking of which, this week has obviously been a high point for me. When you sell your first book(s), it's impossible to know if you'll publish more of them after that. It feels, often, that this must be an accident or a mistake, and to expect it to happen again, well, that's some nerve. That's tempting fate. But you keep writing anyway, of course, because you can't stop and there are stories to tell and what's fate for, but to tempt? (See also: Chuck Wendig's post on imposter syndrome.) Girl on a Wire was a book I started not thinking at all of the market, before I sold Blackwood, just because I wanted to tell this story, and it would be worth it even if it never saw the light of day. And then I finished it and revised it because I still felt that way, despite the shadow voice whispering that my first sale was a fluke. To have that book find such a great home is just as surreal and marvelous as selling Blackwood and The Woken Gods (eep! hope you like it too) was. In some ways more, because of all of the above. I can't wait to get back to work on it. But I just wanted to say again THANK YOU, sincerely, for the overwhelming flood of congratulations on twitter, tumblr, facebook, email--wherever congratulations are possible--this week. It means more than you can know.

So, love to y'all, and happy weekend.

A Few Things & The View From Here

A few things:

• Blackwood made the Locus recommended reading list in the first novels category. Sharing company with the other people on the list (including one Mr. Rowe in novelettes!) is an honor indeed. Completely thrilled.
• I'm over at The Mortal Instruments Examiner today talking about why I love these books so, my essay in Shadowhunters and Downworlders, and other things. Check it out.
• A couple of lovely posts about Blackwood that made my respective days: from the wonderful Mette Ivie Harrison and Kate Ormand.

We are all getting lots of work done, talking about books and publishing and silly things (my favorite). I am revising my heart out or, at least, starting to. This is the view from here.

Friday Nattering Et Hangovers

Helloooo! I didn't meant to go poof vanish-y, but I did. And I'm afraid the next week or two is likely to be more of the same.

However, I didn't want to miss saying that the Bluegrass Writers Studio faculty and students showed Jenn and I a fabulous time last weekend. And it was so nice having her here. If there's any agent on the planet who is more willing to answer questions and be candid and explain how this crazy business we call pub works, well, I don't know them. (And this is just one of the many reasons I feel so lucky she's my agent. And my friend. <3) We also talked about the new secret book, which I'd just sent her to read, and much of my AWOL-ness this week has been because I'm revising (spoiler alert: she likes it; whew). After a bit from Blackwood, I read a little section of it at my reading--audience choice, and in my experience, people always want to hear from the new secret thing--and burbled about it afterward and was very much relieved at how enthusiastic people were. And they sold out of copies of Blackwood after the reading, ever happy-making. My husband, the original Christopher Rowe, is in this program, and so I went back last night to see Justin Cronin read and hang out and people still wanted to talk about the new novel. This is the kind of thing that makes a writer happy.

Having Jenn in town meant I finally got to meet a couple of other local authors previously only known on the twitter machine: Andrew Shaffer and Tiffany Reisz. Not to mention, one of my favorite things in life is taking visitors to our fab local bookstores and favorite restaurants, and I got to do that too. Puck the Dog, who is famously picky and hates everyone, loooooves Jenn. So there. A great weekend.

Anyway, I'm busily trimming away bits of research loveliness that aren't strictly speaking enhancing the story (or unstrictly, let's be honest!), and doing a bazillion other things, and still trying to catch up on reading I owe people and wearing the wrong earrings together by mistake, etc. But I shall return victorious or triumphant or something or other. I also managed to take no pictures, so no pictures to share.

But I do have a few little Friday hangovers:

• The Woken Gods was included in i09's 2013 Essential Science Fiction and Fantasy Books Preview. Yay. (Also, panic. Let's be honest. That's THIS year. It's okay, though, months and months away. Breathes.)
• The Gandalf Problem-Solving Flowchart. 
• What a story does to the brain.
• Anita Silvey's daily children's literature almanac has a fascinating entry today, about Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH author Robert C. O'Brien, who never appeared in public because his contract with his employer, National Geographic, had a non-compete that forced him to write under a pseudonym and keep his identity secret--even when he won the Newbery.
• Toby Buckell kindly posted some thoughts he shared with his intern about being a writer. This is a must read. Bookmarked, to point people to.
• Chronicling teen bedrooms.
• Saladin Ahmed wrote a great piece on worldbuilding for ye olde NPR, "At Home in Fantasy's Nerd-Built Worlds."
• Pickpocket profile in the New Yorker. (Hat tip to Matt for the pointer.)
• "Exhaustion is not a status symbol"; thought-provoking WaPo piece.
• And, the post of the week without question, Jo Knowles' beautiful blog entry about living your life.

Resolving, Etc., And A Reading

Welcome to 2013, dear readers.

I've been really enjoying everyone's resolutions posts this year, but don't have much more to say here than what I did already. I really only have one overall resolution* this year: to play more. Which isn't to say I intend to do less work--I enjoy working (plus, I can't afford not to)--but that I want to have more time for play. This is harder than you think for someone who likes work and perhaps, at times, is guilty of saying yes too often. I suspect that won't change, but my plan is to say yes to Actual Fun Things Too. So there.

I sent off the secret book to mine agent on New Year's Eve, just barely making my own personal deadline. So now I'm trying to catch up on everything else--email, manuscript reading, etc. etc.--before I travel back to revisionland. If I owe you something, it'll be coming in the next week or two.

A few other things:

• I also have a literary resolution in terms of reading this year, which you can find over at the LA Times' Jacket Copy, along with 14 other people's. And, hey, it fits in with the other one too; approaching book selection as play now and again sounds like fun to me.

• Colleen Mondor's year-end reading round up is as wonderfully eclectic as always. I'd point to it anyway, as I always find new reads from Colleen's recs, but she also had some very kind words for Blackwood (made my day when I read it). And SFF reviewer Rob Bedford also kindly includes Blackwood in his year's favorites (day made again).

• And I'm particularly excited to be starting off this new year as an official guest author at the Bluegrass Writers Studio winter MFA residency this coming weekend in Lexington. Aforementioned lovely agent Jennifer Laughran will be there as well, so we can do a panel for students on Saturday. BUT there is also a free and open to the public reading event featuring yours truly that evening at 7:30 at the Hilton downtown. I'll be reading some combination of things--while I may read a snippet of Blackwood, I'll read from either The Woken Gods or the secret book too. And I'll be around after to chat and sign any copies of Blackwood people want (I believe there will be some for sale). All the details here. If you are local, there's lots of other great evening events happening too. So, check out that schedule.

And now I must crawl back into the catch-up cave.

*Other mini-resolution: Hopefully, at some point this year, I'll get my act together and find someone to help me give ye olde website/blog a makeover (problem is, I just want a design spruce and face lift, but I like typepad's back end and hosting *clings to what I know*). If you know someone or are someone willing to work within those parameters, lemme know. Though I probably won't be ready to tackle it for a couple of months yet.

Season Of Reflection

That's what we're in, isn't it? We're surrounded by lists of things from the old year, and thinking ahead to what we're looking forward to or hope to achieve in 2013. This past year was a crazy packed one for me, in a way I was only tentatively allowing myself to hope for at this time a year ago.

What a difference a year makes--since then I've really begun the career I've been working toward for years by selling two books and having one come out (!),  having that book optioned for TV and then put into development at M-freaking-TV (yeah, I still can't believe that happened), and, in addition to everything else, writing two books this year. (Yes, I got to the end of my revision on the secret book; doing clean-up and it will be off my desk for a while by the end of the year.) You were not apocalyptic, but you were full of surprises and anxiety and busybusyness, 2012.

ANYway, editor Amanda asked us for Best lists of 2012 for the Strange Chemistry blog. As I explain over there, I'm a little fatigued by the whole concept of Best of lists at the moment (though not too fatigued to blow kisses at Kat Howard at Fantasy Matters, Leo Elijah Cristea, and Jenny Davidson for including Blackwood in their end of year reading wrap-ups this week). But one of the things I have learned this year--and, oh boy, I have learned a great many things--is that bookstores are even more important than I thought they were. And I've always thought they were important. I remain thrilled that you can pick Blackwood up at B&N, but a great gift of having the book come out has been getting to meet and talk to so many new book people (book people are the best people) and many of the most special times this year took place at independent bookstores. Each one unique and wonderful, and a reflection of the community it serves. As a new author, the support of booksellers has meant more than I can say. But I tried in my entry about my Favorite Places of 2012, writing about the seven fabulous indies I got to visit this year.

Go check it out, and leave your own indie love in the comments if you like. I'm hoping to get to some new places this year, especially when The Woken Gods comes out (July! soon enough I will start to talk more about this and at some point there will be a cover and ARCs and things of that sort! panic!). And while these are stores I wanted to single out because I visited them this year, please know that I appreciate each and every bookseller, reader, blogger, librarian and generally kind soul who has read Blackwood, reviewed it, put it into someone's hands or encouraged someone else to read it. I mentally give a frolicking kitten wings whenever a copy is handsold or passed on to a friend. And I hope you'll all be excited about The Woken Gods too. I'm excited for you to read it.

But who knows what 2013 holds? Not me. And I'm okay with that. I'll take another ticket for the roller coaster, please.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Tripping Whirlwind

Back from the last travel of the year, which was a weekend so packed it seems I must have been gone for a week. But I know I wasn't, because it was all so quick and there were far too many people I didn't get to see at all. Alas! Next trip to New York will be longer.

The lovely and wonderful Delia Sherman and Ellen Kushner were kind enough to let me stay with them, and we had some great talks and meals and even went to see a play--something I really don't do often enough. (It was Volpone, an acid Renaissance comedy that featured an interesting cast playing truly despicable characters.) I also managed lunch at Tea & Sympathy (yum) with Ellen Datlow and Genevieve Valentine. Then we meandered around seeing holiday sights (and possibly witnessing the birth of RAR--crowd-induced rage-a-hol syndrome), including some fantastic window displays:

 

(Bergdorf Goodman)

(More behind the cut...)

Ghost Stories

Last night's event at Joseph-Beth was a great deal of fun--especially since I fully expected to be talking to my parents and Christopher, given cold, miserable weather, but ended up with a good-sized crowd filled with a few familiar faces and more unfamiliar ones. So thanks to all of you guys who came out and, of course, to the wonderful Joseph-Beth crew, as ever and always. MWAH.

Anyway, as promised, I told a little ghost story, which I had to preface with my general ghost story disclaimer. Which is, the ghost stories I tend to tell people come from my family members--primarily my grandmothers--and like most such stories that come from people relating their own personal tales of spooky happenings (or those of people they know/knew well), they tend not to really be story-shaped in the general way we think of stories. They aren't so much about an arc, a beginning-middle-and-end, as they are about an experience that happened to someone. If there's a revelation or overarching meaning, it's usually on the part of the person who experienced it. But, often as not, it's just a shared incident, a "this happened to me and it was strange and now I'm telling you about it" or "here is a seriously weird thing someone told me happened to them." Not to say there aren't masterfully shaped ghost stories that are stories, but they aren't usually the ones I tell. And I find the open-endedness of these ghost vignettes, let's call them, can be satisfying in an entirely different way. (And, in this sense, I believe in them the way I believe in all stories.)

SO, I thought I'd tell one here in honor of Halloween.

The one I told last night is from my paternal grandmother, and happened to her when she was a kid. It involves seeing a long table laid out with a sumptuous feast and people eating and drinking (but without sound she could hear) in the middle of a usually deserted field while she was on the way to feed the cows. I'm not going to tell that one here, because you can read a probably-more-satisfying version of it in Kelly Link's fabulously creepy "Two Houses," in the Ray Bradbury tribute anthology Shadow Show. (Bonus: There's also a borrowed creepy story of Christopher's in there, too.)

But here's another family ghost story, which I've dressed up a little for the occasion, but not too much...

There was this two-story house way back in the woods, off a certain ridgeline. It's abandoned now, but she remembers when people lived there. That was a long time ago, when she was a little girl. The family was tight-knit, but not from around the area originally. They moved in from somewhere vague, and never really fit in. After a few years living there, someone in the family died--maybe more than one someone--but no one can ever remember who it was. It might have been the older brother, away fighting a war, or the mother from some lingering illness. Maybe it was even the little girl. But the death devastated the family. They lost their money. They lost the house.

They left. The house was in an isolated area to begin with. It was a place that only became more and more isolated as roadways got established elsewhere. The road left to it was basically a deserted dirt track. No one else ever moved in, and no one knows who owns it, if anyone does. The bank might, if they bothered to claim it. The unmowed yard grew up all around it, and the trees kept watch. But mostly it was a forgotten place.

 

(photo courtesy of JanZio, not actual house in question)

Except, of course, not entirely forgotten. After a few years, there were some teenagers who remembered the family had lived there, and thought they'd go check it out. She was with them. One of them claimed the younger girl in the family told him a ghost story about the house. There's a single wide chimney that runs along the far side of it, two fireplaces stacked on top of each other--one on the first floor and one on the second. The girl told him that if you took off your shoes and put them in front of the fireplace on the top floor, then went back downstairs, your shoes would be waiting for you in front of the bottom fireplace. But only if you do it by yourself.

It seemed harmless and silly to try it. So, she said she would. She went in alone while the rest waited outside. She comes out ten minutes later, just as they're starting to worry, holding her shoes dangling from her hands and laughing. She swears to them that she went upstairs and put her shoes in front of the dusty fireplace, then picked her way down the rickety stairs to check. She swears it felt like someone was watching her as she found the shoes waiting there, just as promised, picked them up and came outside. But here she is, fine, holding her shoes.

No one else goes in to try it. Maybe they believe her, maybe they don't. I went and found the house with three friends when I was in high school, many years later. It was still standing, but barely. There were empty beer bottles on the porch. We dared each other to go upstairs and leave our shoes, but no one would go in alone. It was too dark that night, even with our flashlights.

And I don't think I'd have had the guts to try it anyway. I've always wondered, what happens if the house decides not to give them back?

Happy Halloween, everyone.

Update: Joseph-Beth Event, Hijinks Elsewhere

Happy Monday! If you're in the path of uber-storm, please stay safe. Here's hoping this is another one that won't be as bad as expected--though looking at the scary satellite photos makes that seem unlikely. Here in the Bluegrass we don't expect much except some moderate wind and rain (with snow in the mountains), at least at this point. Which means if you are in these pleasantish environs you should DEFINITELY come out to Joseph-Beth tomorrow night for my pre-Halloween event there. 

The details: Tuesday, October 30, at 6 p.m., Joseph-Beth Lexington, me discussing and signing Blackwood. Be there or be square. (Should you be attending the Walking Dead creator event at UK, I think you'll still have plenty of time to get there. Do both!) In addition to talking about Blackwood and taking questions, I plan to tell at least one ghost story and I might, depending how things go, read a short scene from The Woken Gods.

(If you can't make it but want a personalized copy or want to order one if you're elsewhere, then I'm sure the store would be happy to hook you up. Here's their contact info.)

A couple of other quick things:

• Last night I participated in the groupwatch/live tweet of The Flowers in the Attic movie that Leila put together. She has now storified the results over at Bookshelves of Doom. It was fun, and hopefully we'll do it again with another movie soonish.
• And I'm guest posting over at Sons of Corax today about names in Blackwood, their significance and how I came up with a few of them.

And yes! I'm still waiting for the big news to be share-able, which should happen anytime. Keeping secrets is hard. But soon. Soooon.

Bookish Updatery, Tuesday Five Edition

Five things to share today, so a quick update. I'm knuckling down on the second half of this revision and staring down the barrel of jury duty later this month, with more revising of a different project coming soonish...so probably this will be a season of less frequent updating. (But if anyone has requests or suggestions for a particular topic for a blog post, then let me know in the comments or at twitter or via email and I'll do my best to work it in.) Also, hello lovely visitors by way of Vampire-Diaries.net. *waves*

• First things first:

Received confirmation this morning that barring mega-earthquakes, volcanic explosions, or other large-scale protests from the Earth, the release month for The Woken Gods will in fact be next July! (Which means there will probably soon be an official description and maybe preordering type links. Cover discussion has tentatively begun. In the meantime, if you want to know more there's this.) Cue *nerves*. Not that there is going to be time for them.

• Second things second:

Are you in Kentucky, particularly near Lexington? Then you should come out to the fabulous Joseph-Beth Booksellers on Tuesday, October 30, at 6 p.m. I will be discussing Blackwood and telling a scary ghost story or two in honor of Halloween and taking your questions and I might even share a little snippet from the new book, time permitting.  (Signed copies of Blackwood make a great stocking stuffer--and Christmas will be here before you know it. Just saying!) I dropped by the store last Friday and was a bit woozy to see that I have a table display and an event banner:

 

 

This is particularly cool and surreal because this is the bookstore that first taught me what a wonderland bookstores could be. It was basically my favorite destination as soon as I discovered it in high school, having before only had access to a WaldenBooks (which was itself an hour away). And the team from Joseph-Beth has been absolutely wonderful to me. *draws hearts in air* This one should be fun. So, cooome out, okay? Okay.

• Third things third (you see how this is going, right?):

New audiobook review from Bob Reiss of the excellently named audiobook-focused blog, The Guilded Earlobe: "Blackwood is a strong YA tale with themes that permeate the label but are done in a unique and engaging way. The strength of this novel is in its characters. Bond created two engaging protagonists, and a slew of secondary players that are well developed."

Want to sample said audiobook? I thought you'd never ask. The folks at AudioGo have just put up a youtube clip for your sampling pleasure.

• Fourth comes fourth:

Two things absolutely made my day yesterday. The first was a review from Delaney, age 12, in the October issue of the Sacramento Book Review. Snippet: "Blackwood was an amazing book! ... This book was an excellent mystery, full of romance, ghosts, ancient curses, historical figures, betrayal, and so much more. I loved how the already intriguing mystery of the Lost Colony was given some unexpected twists and turns. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery and magic." (Thanks to the one and only Bookalicious Pam for the pointer.) *beam*

• Fifth and final:

The other thing that made my day was this photo from Ballou High School:

Look at this @gwenda - your book has arrived at @balloulibrary twitter.com/BallouLibrary/…

— Colleen Mondor (@chasingray) October 15, 2012

You can see another photo of books arriving and read more about the impact the Ballou High School book fair has over at Guys Lit Wire. To whoever sent my book to Ballou, my love to you, kind soul. And if you haven't sent a book via the Powell's wishlist yet, there's still plenty of great ones left to choose from.

Annd that's it from me today. Have a great week, everybody.

Dept. of Nice Surprises Redux

So, yesterday was a loooong Monday.  I still had some work to do when I got home, but I couldn't get home. All the streets surrounding our house were blocked off for some mysterious race, so I had Christopher meet me at the only accessible pub grub place I could find. As we were--finally--on our way back after the streets re-opened, I was checking twitter on my phone and saw an i09 update that said "What's more thrilling than a fantasy about the Chosen One? How about the Cursed One?" And I actually thought to myself, Huh, the cursed one instead of the chosen one is kinda how I think about Blackwood; I wonder what the link's about?

Wellll, it turned out to be a lovely review of Blackwood by the fabulous Charlie Jane Anders. Snippet:

There have been a ton of young adult fantasy novels lately where one person stands against a dystopian world, or faces a terrible menace, and they're sort of the chosen savior. But Gwenda Bond's YA debut, Blackwood, takes a very different tack: Her heroine, Miranda Blackwood, is the cursed one, who bears the mark of the betrayer, and she's also the most hated person in her small town. Blackwood is a neat spin on all of those YA fantasies about being special — especially when it turns into a story about "freaks in love."

Go there for the rest. I don't read all reviews (because I don't want to go crazy), but it really is amazing when someone has read the book you were trying to write. And that's how I feel about this one. Day = made, in other words.

Also, a new interview conducted by the delightful Megan Whitmer has just been posted at HerKentucky.com. I talk about Blackwood and Lexington's wonderful literary community and Other Things.

And! I'm told that SOON I will be able to share VERY EXCITING NEWS...but not quite yet. *commences secret chair dancing but tries not to be obnoxious about it*

Tuesday Hangovers & Nattering & You Want Some Bookmarks?

We had a lovely weekend with the Small Beer Press contingent--Kelly, Gavin and Ursula--and Karen Joy Fowler in town for the Kentucky Women Writers Conference. Topics discussed included: should we be the first to cosplay or start a tribute band based on The Casual Vacancy (related: I adore J.K. Rowling; she comes across as the smartest and classiest in every interview she does*), socialist credentials, and ice cream. It was LOVELY.

A few links of note:

• Holly Black answered a couple of Tumblr questions on writing, plot and originality, well worth your time.
• C.J. Redwine offers some smart advice for writers on dealing with inaccurate or mean reviews.
• Digital Book World piece on book discovery in a fragmented landscape.
• "The Measure Of What Is Possible" by Molly McArdle at The Rumpus.
• Libba Bray's Top 10 Horror Movies. 

Fabulous books I have read lately: Meljean Brook's Riveted (another excellent steampunk romance), Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken (gothic banter, ftw), and David Levithan's Every Day (just gorgeous).

A few Blackwood things, including free-to-a-good-home bookmarks:

• Nova Ren Suma is running a big international giveaway where you can win a featured debut of your choice, including Blackwood.
• A Fantastical Librarian review: "It turns out I was right to be excited, but I ended up loving the book for completely different reasons than I'd expected. For it wasn't the historical elements that drew me in or the theatrical aspects of the story; no, I got completely taken in by the story's female lead and titular character, Miranda Blackwood."
• Serendipity Reviews review: "I was totally hooked throughout the book. I really love how the author has interpreted this piece of history. An excellent debut where the author has taken a true story and completely made it her own by adding elements of magic and paranormal activity."
• Also, a little reminder that if you've recently read the book, you might be interested in my photoset from our Roanoke Island trip and/or my pinterest board for Blackwood.
• We're almost a month out from release now (ack! hard to believe!). It's a complete thrill when people get in touch to say they enjoyed the book, so please do if you're so inclined, and tell a friend, your favorite teen, a review site of your choice, etc. It is all much appreciated. We live in a complicated bookish world, and the best way to sell books is still through word of mouth. Thanks for any of that you do, and for reading the book. I hope I get to write lots more of them.
• AND, finally, I still have quite a lot of bookmarks, and it seems silly to keep them in the box behind my desk. If you're a librarian, teacher or bookseller (or similar) who'd like 50-100 (or some other number), get in touch. (And if you know same who you think would be interested, please pass this on to them.) They are lovely--this photo doesn't even really show how lovely (Christopher designed them); in reality they are glossy and beauteous and fine, fine bookmarks.

And now back to my previously scheduled cold and trying to catch up on All The Things.

Updated to add: I've seen some buzz about the part about unicorns in this New Yorker interview--it seems like a joke to me? Frankly, I find the need to comment on her make-up and the pop psychology moments and intellectual snarberry (snark meets snobbery) as far more worth getting mad over.

Sometimes You Need To Hear It

Last night we went out to Libba Bray's kick-off event for her tour in support of The Diviners (out now in all fine locations) at Joseph-Beth Booksellers (*blows kisses*). (Rest of schedule here, and definitely catch her if you can. I'll be at the final event in December at Oblong Books with Libba and Maureen Johnson, filling the riff-raff position.;-)

Every time I go to a book event, I'm reminded why I always vow to go to more. Not just because it's nice for the author if there are people there -- though it is; I've been very lucky so far not to have a crickets event yet (I'm sure it will happen) and so grateful to every person there -- but because there's often a moment when something that's said is just what I need to hear at any given moment as a writer.

I'm not and never will be making any claims at being some kind of expert on writing or anything just because I have now published a book. I still feel just as terrified (if not more so) and flummoxed and full of questions when I'm writing as I ever did. At one point last night someone asked a question, I think about advice for writers (but it might have been a different one) and Libba said read everything (YES, completely agree) and also, "Be brave." Paraphrasing, she talked about how a writer she admired said once that during the first draft we protect ourselves, and it's only in revision that we can go deeper, risk more. And that every book you write should change you, when you come out the other side.

Yes, yes, yes.

The book I'm revising, I see this all over it -- the protecting myself in the first draft. Much of it comes from the fact that, as usual, I didn't know the character(s) well enough in the first draft to be true to them. For me, so much of the first draft is just beginning to figure out what the book is, and making many wrong turns along the way. This particular book, which I don't want to talk about too specifically yet (hopefully someday I'll be able too), is near and dear to my heart. It's a bit of a departure (first person, for one) and the main character is something of a daredevil. I've been kicking myself because while she was daring, even in the first draft, she was also not daring in places where she should be -- that's a lot of what I'm working on in this revision. Because true daring? Requires vulnerability. Dropping shields, being open to injury, to falling, to failure... It requires caring enough to risk everything.

Just as being the kind of writer I want to be requires being brave enough to risk all that, too. Every time.

A reminder I needed to hear just when I needed to hear it.

Weekend Update

This weekend was a catch-up weekend, coming off the first week without travel (or a book party) for a while.  The office got cleaned, I read the (brilliant) novel of an old friend in manuscript, mountains of laundry monsters were slain, and we went out for a little light bookstalking, as you do. (Honestly, restraint to have waited this long--only because things have been so busy was I able to.) So, instead of a true and proper update, I'm annotating the weekend's instagrams...

At the local Barnes and Noble:

 

 

(Blur due to furtiveness, as for some reason I was a little nervous about being caught Photographing The Book--though I have found as a general rule that pretending something is forbidden always makes it more fun.)

And then at our largest local independent, the venerable and amazing Joseph-Beth Booksellers flagship store. You'll see one of the reasons I love them so (*waves to excellent, fabulous booksellers*):

 

 

(Why, yes, those are Blackwood bookmarks in the books along the back. ♥♥♥ I'll be doing an event there at 6 p.m. on October 30; can't wait. I love Lexington and its literary community.)

There are SO many fabulous books coming out this week, keep my little paperback debut in mind when you're at the bookstore if you haven't picked it up yet? *bats eyelashes*

Yesterday I finally got down to business on making my real and true revision plan for the secretish new book I'm working on. I have a full first draft, got lots of feedback on it months ago, and am now 15K into making it a presentable book. So, time to make a chart, which is how I spent the non-reading part of yesterday:

 

 

And the result:

 

 

Now I just have to follow it for the next monthish or so.

A couple of people have asked for some elaboration on this chart-making process, so I'll try to do that soon. Basically, it encapsulates the major plot developments and character arc. It's something I've only adopted this year (after first encountering at the Bat Cave retreat), but I really am finding it crucial at helping me feel less flail-y during revision. And you can repeat it however many times you need to. More on that to come, in case anyone else finds it useful.

And that's it for now, I do believe. I'm digging into the aforementioned revision this week, catching up on other things, juggling the usual, hoping for good news on a front or two, and there are several friends coming to town for events of various varieties, all by way of saying I may be relatively thin on the ground this week. 

In the meantime, there are three open Blackwood giveaways still going:

• Stacked giveaway - Signed copy of Blackwood, US/Canada only, open until the end of September.
• Ink Scratchers - Copy of Blackwood, UK only, open until Sept. 21 (and not many entries yet, so get cracking UKians!). 
• Nova Ren Suma's Fall Debut Series - Signed copy of Blackwood and swag duct tape rose pen, US only, open until Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. EST.

Enter and/or spread the word. And there'll be one more super prize pack giveaway with the *last t-shirt* coming up soon. Also, the audiobook is now up on the AudioGo site as well, both US and UK, and it's a little cheaper there at the moment than at Audible/Amazon.

It's back to work with me. Have a good week, everybody.

On the Road, Misc.

I was delighted when Stefan Fergus asked me to do an interview for his Civilian Reader site. It's up now--I reveal a dirty reading secret (sort of!) and talk about genre and writing habits and other such things. Check it out, if you're so inclined.

This "reviewaka" of Blackwood made me happy (and I just love the whole concept of reviewakas). Poetry meets brief reviews.

And, finally, we're on the road! Cue up the Johnny Cash and Jim White! Today we'll hit the Outer Banks. If you're down there (or know people there, spread the word), then do come by Downtown Books tomorrow afternoon, anytime from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Though you might want to come at 1 o'clock--when Eleanor Dare and John Borden from The Lost Colony will be in attendance in costume!)

For now, the interstate awaits.

Friday Five of Random Chatter

1. Christopher is coming home today. YAY. In case you were wondering about the grossness sweepstakes (I know you were, c'mon), the dead bird count is holding steady at three. The tragic bird Okies seem to have gotten their tiny plan together to not fall out of trees into the Dust Bowl and/or Emma the Dog has been unlucky instead of wrathful. Whatever the case, I say again: YAY. Now if I could only stop yawning. (I did reveal on twitter the secret head-tapping trick of wakefulness, provided by Barb at a Wiscon, I believe. It works. At least temporarily. You just tap your scalp with your fingertips and ignore the strange looks. *taptaptap*)

2. So, I didn't finish the draft of the gods book this week, but I managed a respectable 7,000 words. The lion's chunk of that was on Sunday, which is possibly the only time I've ever drafted a chapter in a day. The rest was pecking away. But this was a week filled with family medical issues and hospital trips and ambient stress and running le household solo and tres dead birds and such. I'll take it. Annnd I'm finally in the home stretch, aka the last 10K (I hope this isn't one of those false horizon endings...), so next week should do it. Resisting panic, since I'm really looking forward to digging into the 1.0 to 1.5 or (with any luck) 2.0 draft. For once, I actually have a list of pre-notes for that first pass of revision. Speaking of which...

3. Terri Windling had a typically great collection of quotes (and Tilly photos) this morning in a post titled "The courage to be bad," which says it all, doesn't it? I tumblred a piece of it, and I just saw Kat Howard has a nice process post inspired by it too, in which she talks about how we learn to let go of that idea of perfection in first drafts as we get better at revision. And, yes, what she said. I think one of the most freeing things for me about the First Draft now is that unlike when I started out and would sometimes hand this off to C or others unvarnished as soon as I finished*, I now know that the Real and True First Draft is for my eyes only. It makes the writing go much easier to know no one will ever see it quite so messy, except me. (Barring the bus crash that is one of my greatest writerly fear fantasies; to have left a first draft on the desk and get hit by a bus is only topped by the thought of a half-done revision and getting hit by a bus.) And not that this first revision will be the only one by any means, but hopefully it will be enough to enable the REAL revision that will inevitably be necessary. I think the bones of this draft are pretty solid (the outline more or less held), but it needs some facial restruction and skin grafts and emo therapy here and there. As always. Not that I'm not half-panicked during a draft the whole time, because, believe me, I AM. But I feel like I've also learned to let go of the idea of solving all the problems (especially smaller ones) during a first draft. I can take it on faith now that if I keep writing, those little alarms in the subconscious about reveals or the fuzzy parts of the ending or characters who aren't quite right yet will present solutions or at least that solutions will be able to be teased out of the completed draft (almost goes without saying that's with the help of writer friends, agent and editor, but always worth saying, of course). Not to say I never stop and actively come up with solutions, but I'm way more comfortable rolling with uncertainty now. Once it's complete I can be more efficient about problem-solving. Maybe. Anyway, something I noticed and decided to natter about. Clearly.

4. Remind me of all this when I start panicking during the revision about how it will never be any good and there's no way I'm equal to the task, what is wrong with me for even trying this, etc. etc., okay? (Seriously, this book has been hard for lots of reasons. Because it's big and epic and *hard*, natch, but also perhaps because I'm writing it while careening toward the release of my debut novel--more fun with ambient stress!--and my worry has been deep at times, but now I'm back to loving it, and I just want to finish so I can Make It The Best I Can. Hallelujah. Not a moment too soon.) Those feelings are a completely normal and unavoidable stage, too.

5. But enough process-o-mancy. Some things well worth reading elsewhere: "it's who you are at the core" by Justine Musk (HELL YES); "10 Things I Learned on Book Tour" by Austin Kleon (good stuff in here applicable to lots of situations, not just touring); "The Incredible Resilience of Books" by Peter Osnos (the sky is the sky and cannot fall); Shannon Messenger on figuring out how to deal with reviews and best interact with review(er)s online as a debut author (to which I can only say, yes, and always thank you to anyone who reads my book--I commented there too); and, finally, the Books That Shaped America exhibit at my beloved LOC (thoughts on the list?).

Have a great weekend, everybody. *mwah*

(*Finished as in typed The End, not as in really finished. The whole problem. And, okay, so I totally did this to Beth Revis and Laurel Snyder at our retreat earlier this year, but I had no choice. It was an extreme situation, and there was No Time. Sorry, guys! I sure hope I don't get hit by a bus before I get around to taking another pass at that one.)

Organization Fu

Sometimes I need a weekend that's about putting things back into their boxes, about cleaning and prepping and, yes, organization. I think organization may be my superpower these days, or at least the only difference between feeling like things are under control and manageable or are off the rails and spinning into chaos. (Of course, my brand of organization likes to leave a little room for chaos. Things tend to get stale fast without it.)

This is a summer of writing, both for me and Christopher. I don't know about you, but whenever I'm entering a big push on a project or starting a new phase on one, I go on a cleaning jag. This weekend involved major league office tidying, as well as starting new scrivener files so I wouldn't have visual "clutter" in the ones I'm working in, and some major shelving of TBR stacks. Christopher kindly spent all day yesterday assembling two new bookshelves (the leftmost one below, and another just like it) and we managed to get almost everything off the piano in the front room, the office shelf that's supposed to be for research only, and the guest room floor. Oh, the guest room floor piles, aka my hostess shame.

But now the guest room is looking good. No more piles, see? Come, friends.

And despite all this busywork, I managed to get a good chunk of writing done on the projects I'm working on, one drafting and the other revising. I am hoping this pattern can hold for the next month or two. And I ran all the errands ever. Today started my getting back to early morning wake-up writing, at 6 a.m., which blessedly isn't pitch black at this time of year. Oh, sun, never leave.

Here's hoping you had a nice weekend, too.*

*We did not, however, manage to see The Avengers. And I still haven't seen The Hunger Games movie. Woe. WOE. Maybe next weekend.

Thank You & Some Miscellany

Thanks to everyone who tweeted/blogged/facebooked the cover reveal yesterday. As any author can tell you, the hardest battle for most books--especially first ones--is simply making people aware they exist. There'll be more of that to come and I'll try to make it fun and not obnoxious. And please know that every shout out, recommendation, link/tweet is very, very appreciated.

The Blackwood ARC giveaway at the Book Smugglers will be open until Saturday, April 7, at 11:59 p.m. (PST). All you have to do to enter is comment on the post. So, it's not at all too late to enter or spread the word.

Reading the comments has been truly fascinating--obviously I am so glad that most people seem to be keen on both the cover and the premise, and it's fun to get to share them. The reason the contest is running for two weeks, by the way, is because the ARCs are currently in the production process. Soon they will be winging their way out into the world. This is both nervous-making and exciting...but mostly exciting. I tried to put all the things I like best into this book--mystery, romance, humor, smart characters, creepiness, some subversiveness, a girl who says frak, SPOILER, and etcetera--and so fingers crossed you lovely people like it. I've often said that my favorite kind of book is the meaning-of-life page-turner.* That is, more or less, a book with something to say that's also into giving the reader pleasure. I hope Blackwood is that kind of book.

A teensy round-up of some links from yesterday, besides the Book Smugglers: Heroes and Heartbreakers did a nice post, Leila at Bookshelves of Doom cracked me up (I am no John Grisham, madame!), and Colleen Mondor is too good to me, as always. Also, thank you to the wonderful Book Smugglers ladies for being so, well, wonderful.

I've updated my Blackwood page with the cover and also pre-order links. The cover is already up at Amazon, though for some reason it has kind of a neon glow there (I assure you it won't have that in real life--unless you get a rare radioactive copy), and at goodreads, and I imagine it will show up other places soon too. Bonus points for asking your favorite indie bookstore to order it for you and/or encouraging them to stock it. September 4 will be here before you--or at least before I--know it.

OH, and I just added a new (and soonish) event to the Travel & Events page (note to self: must start thinking about fall events soooon). At 7 p.m. on April 26, I'll be part of the Southern Kidlit Writers Cabal Panel at Malaprop's Bookstore in Asheville, N.C., with a whole bunch of people WAY fancier than me--Alan Gratz,  Carrie Ryan, Beth Revis, Megan Shepherd, Megan Miranda, Tiffany Trent, Laurel Snyder, and Kristin Tubb. If you're in the area, check it out. We'll be almost a week into a workshop by then, and probably a bit punchy.

Have a great weekend, everybody. And, again, all the ♥ in the world.

*As coined by the brilliant Sean Stewart.

I Heart ICFA

Another International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, another fabulous time. I loved Jeff VanderMeer's post about the conference; what he says is true. I think part of what makes it so special is the size--fairly small, very relaxed alongside all the serious and academic conversations, and then there's just some indefinable magic that can't quite be quantified (but which is probably the cumulative effect of having so many amazing people in one place).

In many ways, for me, this year felt like a family reunion--it tends to feel like that every year, but especially this one. Christopher and I actually met at an ICFA just over 10 years ago, introduced by our common friend Kelly Link. Kelly was guest of honor this year (along with the delightful China Miéville). In fact, lots and lots of my friendships if they don't go back to ICFA directly, certainly deepened there. By far the highlight of this particular weekend was getting to see Ursula in action.

Anyway, silly pictures were taken, there was writing talk and gossip, there was me trying to show my cover art to people on my tiny phone screen, there were froofy drinks. I learned important lessons, like that Barb and Kelly will take advantage of my weak swimming with the borrowed water weapons of young girls. And we all--except Chris Cevasco, who already knew--discovered that first edition D&D had a quite detailed...prostitute class. EEP. (Seriously, you must look at the designations on the hilariously-named Harlot Encounter Table.) I stayed up until 3 Saturday night and still made it up for a breakfast at 8:30--I'm usually early to bed, late to rise, but there were just too many wonderful people to spend time with. In fact, as always, there were far too many people it was wonderful to see for any sort of comprehensive list.*

This was also the year we finally got a good look at the alligator, which entertained with some hair-raising growls during the banquet-refugee gathering on Saturday evening. Swamplandia = necessary ICFA reading, and not just for fun.

Other recommended reading: Fantasy Matters will be talking about the conference for the rest of the week. Check it out.

*I will say, however, that Charles Vess let me have a little peek at the graphic/novel hybrid he's working on and, wow, is that going to be *gorgeous* when it's done.

Friday Five

1. This is primarily a Friday Five about why I was MIA all week.

2. Vacations tend to have that effect, don't they? You get home, rested but with all the things you would have done during that time waiting, plus the new stuff of the week at hand. So lots of things. Deadlines swirling, massing, menacing. And I had two episodes of The Vampire Diaries to watch. A girl's got to have priorities.

3. And some of those priorities included line edits! Yay. I do love to edit. Now those are all done and Blackwood is off to be copyedited. I happily clink my glass with yours. And fabulous editor Amanda also sent cover art thoughts this week too, and let me tell you, I am excited. The concept is thematically perfect and I do believe it will be COOLMAZING.

4.  Also this week I've been working hard to nail down all the details of the synopsis for the second book of my contract. Synopses are hard, even if you have a handle on most of the book already (and had a massively helpful brainstorming session with lovely geniuses in Mexico). This book has a pretty seriously involved world, which I want to make sure the story lives up to. So...yes, hard. But it is beginning to fall in line, and once I finish figuring out the exact details of the ending, I think I'll have a good road map for the book. And then I will turn it in and see if we're all agreed. And then--fingers crossed--write like the wind if the wind could write.

5. All of which adds up to: I am taking tonight off. Oh, yes, I am. Couch, Bitterblue, television (Castle two-parter! Fringe!), and a glass of wine. Or two. Here I come.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Sunny Days, Home Again

We're home, and a catch-up on posting is in the offing in the next day or two. In the meantime, I put up some photos on flickr that Christopher and I took on our last full (and sunniest) day, part of my resolution to take more photos this year. Here are my new cowboy boots, aka my book sale present to myself.

They are divinely comfortable, and were purchased on a fun adventure into the wilds of the market of San Miguel led by adventurer-in-chief Theo. My thanks to Robin Wasserman (whose fabulous The Book of Blood and Shadow is out in April and just got a starred PW review) and Sarah Rees Brennan (who has not one but TWO fabulous new books due out later this year) for helping select just the right pair. Said boots have already proved their magic in a mad dash through the Dallas airport, in which we made the flight but our bag did not.

The rest of the photo set is here.

Travel Check-In

So we're down in Mexico on a writing vacation (a vacation for writing, not from it). The weather isn't entirely cooperating; it's been warm-ish and cloudy-ish most days. But the company more than makes up for that. Many writing talks being had, about specific projects and more generally, in that way that kicks the story brain into gear. I just finished my revision pass and sent it in to editor Amanda, managed a couple other nervous-making business-y emails, and tomorrow will start thinking in detail about the plot of the book I'm writing next. I'm hoping to get a synopsis written in the next couple of days, so that I can get into the real work of it once we're home.

There is guacamole with most every meal, and later there will be margaritas. The pool is warm, even if the outdoors isn't quite.

Basically: I can't complain. I wouldn't even dream of it.

The Fast-Talking Smarties

So...I was trying to think of something to post about, and I thought I'd tackle one of the complaints that bugs me greatly (and that I see again and again) about certain types of characters in YA. The contention in question is that given characters aren't "how teens really are," usually said to mean that teens don't think or talk in a complex or sophisticated way, and almost universally applied to bright, precocious characters or a certain type of stylized dialogue. Maggie Stiefvater did a great post about this some time back, on the myth of the "teen voice."

This complaint tends to surface more frequently whenever John Green has a new book out, which is why the topic came to mind. Let me say right off the bat: I haven't read The Fault in Our Stars yet*. I'm definitely going to; I love all John's books with great and huge buckets of love. In fact, one of the reasons I loved Looking for Alaska so much was because I had an immediate sense of recognition when I read it. THESE were the smart Southern** teenagers I grew up around.

But I digress. The problem, of course, being that teens aren't a monolithic group. They--just like adults--are individuals. If a character doesn't work and isn't believable, that's one thing. But I will buy just about any type of speech or action from a character as long as it feels developed, specific, and honest to that character or story. And for every person who has trouble buying into hyper-verbal or branier-than-the-norm characters, I think there's also a counterbalancing number of us who adored, say, Buffy, Gilmore Girls or Veronica Mars because of those qualities (among others).

My suggested rule of thumb is that if you'd never say, "That's just not how adults are" about an adult character (and, really, you wouldn't, would you?), then don't vary the same theme about teen characters in YA.

*This is primarily because I lost a good friend to cancer when we were both 16. I'm so glad that TFiOS exists, because being a bookish girl as I was, back then I really wanted to find a book that might help me understand that loss. And I couldn't. Because most were too saccharine, and not at all funny, and I hated saccharine inspirational (not least because so did my friend) and my people are funny people. So I know this book needed to be written, and believe John was the perfect writer for the job, and I can't wait. I just need a weekend when I can be Completely and Utterly Wrecked, and retroactively grateful.

**My "Southern" cliché rant will be saved for another day.

Of Goodwill

So, you are all kind of amazing. All your congratulations and good wishes and interest in the book--here, on twitter, on facebook, etc.--have been so, so appreciated. I couldn't manage to respond to everyone individually, but please know how much it means. As most of you know, I've been working toward this first novel sale for years (which is not at all unusual--interviewing writers for PW is always a great reminder that we only ever see the tippy tops of people's careers and the iceberg of all the work and setbacks and the rest of it is beneath the water, concealed from everyone but those people in our daily lives). And I always have a tendency to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if things don't go down in a flaming ball of fiery doom.

All this positivity is disconcerting. I'm not used to it.

Anyway, io9 did that great piece (how much do I love those guys? they are so great for SFF and YA and the world in general, so pinch moment number two--pinch moment number one was when the initital announcement from SC hit). And today the deal made it into Publishers Marketplace--and was mentioned in the daily Publishers Lunch newsletter, surreal pinch moment number three. I have read that newsletter every day FOR AGES and to see my book mentioned...my little #nerdromancethriller-that-could. Here's the text of the PM listing:

Gwenda Bond's BLACKWOOD, a young adult novel about a modern-day Lost Colony; when 114 people disappear from Roanoke Island, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back, to Amanda Rutter at Angry Robot, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012, by Jennifer Laughran at Andrea Brown Literary Agency (World English).
Translation: Taryn Fagerness Agency

It's listed as an international deal because Angry Robot is based in the UK, but for those who've asked, like Angry Robot, Strange Chemistry will be a global imprint, and the book will be available in the US, the UK and I believe Australia as both a physical object and as an e-book (and Angry Robot also sells DRM-free e-books at their web store). And for booksellers (I LOVE YOU), Strange Chemistry/Angry Robot's US distribution is through Random House.

I really can't wait for you guys to get to read this book. Which I started, oh, back in 2005, I believe. I had the initial idea then, started it as a screenplay, realized I really should be writing YA and so re-started it as a novel...and set it aside for a lot of years because I didn't know the solution to the mystery. And I felt like if I was going to write a fantasy about Roanoke Island and the Lost Colony, I had to solve it, one way or another. Cut to last semester of grad school, a desperate need for a workshop piece, and I pulled out the opening I had. The group (led by the divine Cynthia Leitich Smith) were very, very helpful, but still, even though I knew the overall shape of the story, I didn't know what was causing the disappearances, so I shelved it again... And then, finally, the third time I started to work on it was the charm. Lightning, research, reading: Alchemy. Though, of course, I'm not going to reveal exactly *how* alchemy figures in.

The title Blackwood is actually from the masterminds of Angry Robot, by the way. My original title was too similar to the imprint name. And I like this so much better. It fits the story in every way and...

I really, really can't wait for you guys to get to read this book. So soon! In September. And I can't wait to get my edit letter from the fabulous Amanda and get to work on it again. And then on book two (which will be unrelated to this one; Blackwood is a standalone).

Also, just an aside: Jennifer Laughran is a goddess among agents. There are agents who wouldn't have hung in there with me, lo, these several years, and continued to be wonderful and excited about my work. Jenn did. So...

PINCH ME. But, don't worry, my head won't stay in the clouds, not when I have this: 

Pirate Hemingway Don't Care About Books

(Note: No actual eye-patches were used in this photo. Am playing w/ Typepad's new photo editor Aviary.)

 

 

And now back to work. More soon.

Trapping The Wild Time Monster

A couple of posts I really liked lately that might not immediately seem related:

• Nora Jemisin on the price of time (and how sometimes spending money to get yourself time is a wise calculation): "So I’ve had to reassess my life as a writer, and decide whether some things that I’d previously dismissed as too expensive on a financial basis were, in fact, costing me far more in the long run due to lost time."
• Miriam Forster on "emotional flu" and taking downtime when you need it, like after finishing a giant project: "When you're physically sick, you need rest. Same goes for the emotional flu. So this week I'm going easy on myself.  No writing, no being productive at home unless I feel like it or it's urgent, like my husband running out of socks. No yelling at myself.  I'm going to go to work and spend time with my husband and pet the cat."

I recommend reading both in full. *waits*

Both of these really resonated with me, because of course we all have our own battles with time. And I get asked a lot how I manage to juggle all the things I regularly juggle (true answer: sometimes with little effort, sometimes with lots, most of the time somewhere in the middle). I definitely use both the techniques above.

I'm not particularly wise on the money front, but I agree that there are some things that it just pays to, well, pay for. For instance, if I have completely wrecked my neck hunching over papers or the laptop on a deadline or it's likely I will, I book a massage because I know I'll need it. (Yes, I realize this makes me sound like a brat, but I have learned from experience that it will often save emergency appointments and days of pain. Worth it.) The DVR, as Nora mentions too, is something I would sob and be very unhappy without...because:

One thing I do is try to give myself nights off. This isn't always possible. But we don't have kids, so more often than not it is. (Seriously, I'm in awe of anyone who manages to write and keep a household with children going, and I know there's often a day job in the mix too. *bows*) So, generally speaking, unless I'm on a major deadline, after 6 or 7 is play time. Brain dead time. Reading time. Going out to dinner time. Having a glass of wine and watching TV time. Twitter, blog reading or writing, etc. Guilt-free, all of it. This isn't exactly what Miriam is talking about, because that's something different--when you need a big chunk of relax, no-obligations-on-self, no-self-recrimination time to recharge. I'm not always so smart about taking that. But I do try to take some time every day that's "off." Otherwise, I go a little crazy.

I get up early just about every day and try to clock an hour minimum and two hours maximum of writing time before work. I also work during lunch. So that's three hours or so a day on the wip on a good day, at least an hour and a half on the bad days. Sometimes other things have to get subbed in here, but if I'm really in the middle of a book, I try to make sure I get the morning writing time in at a minimum.* During my writing time I don't mess around, and I don't have access to the web. That time is for writing only. Generally, that's about all the good time I have in me per day during a first draft anyway, so it's enough. Much more, and I'm burned out the next day. Revision takes bigger time chunks, so that's a little different, but.

Big freelance projects--proofing, PW pieces--mostly get done on the weekends, though they can slip into writing time on days I make word count and have time left over. For me, it's all about prioritizing. It's all about what's most pressing and how can I give it as much undivided time as possible until it's done? Because I find that multi-tasking is largely a fiction. It's a last resort. When I'm multi-tasking, the car is in the ditch, I am in the weeds. (I admire greatly those who can do it.)

And now...I have to go write an article. I'm definitely curious though, if anyone wants to talk about how they manage their days and writing time, feel free to in le comments.

*This is not to act like there aren't times when this gets disrupted because I really need the sleep instead or hit one of those natural pauses where there are a few days off, because there most definitely are.

Star Power

Last night, taking the dogs out for a late walk at my parents' in the country, I was looking at the sky. One of the biggest trade-offs we make living in light-polluted cities is losing the stars. Even though it was a foggy night, there were still plenty of things visible, including a star shining so bright it had to be a planet.

When I came in and said this to one of my nephews, he flipped out and asked if we could go back out and see it. So we did (aside: barefoot in late November; it was chilly, but not bad: what have we done to our own planet?).

I love astronomy and wish I'd held onto more of it, so sad to say I had to google to find out which one it was. (My mom was using an app on her ipad, but I cling to the old ways.) I was able to figure out via the help of Astronomy Central and EarthSky that the planet in question was Jupiter.

(photo from Astronomy Central)

According to this University of Oregon page: "Jupiter is the largest of the nine planets, more than 10 times the diameter of Earth and more than 300 times its mass. In fact, the mass of Jupiter is almost 2.5 times that of all the other planets combined. Being composed largely of the light elements hydrogen and helium, its mean density is only 1.314 times that of water. The mean density of Earth is 5.245 times that of water. The pull of gravity on Jupiter at the top of the clouds at the equator is 2.4 times as great as gravity's pull at the surface of Earth at the equator. The bulk of Jupiter rotates once in 9 hours, 55.5 minutes, although the period determined by watching cloud features differs by up to five minutes due to intrinsic cloud motions." There are lots of other fascinating things about Jupiter, including that if it grew much more in mass, it would actually shrink through gravitational compression. 

Science is awesome.

Afterward, Christopher and I talked about how day lengths govern the entire rhythm of our lives, and the "extra time" at the end of the day in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars books, and whether the loss of cultural interest in space travel has any correlation to more people living in light-polluted population centers.

*

I dreamed a movie that never existed with Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant opposite each other, on an enormous ship. Different kinds of stars.

The Giving of Thanks

As stated elsewhere, I'm attempting to stay off social media (aka The Services, to invoke a more sinister, Skynetish flavor) for the next little bit. There'll probably be a few more posts here in the meantime. It's not that I feel like I've been spending too much time on twitter, etc., of late or that such things are particularly disruptive or a bad influence or anything like that. What they are, though, is noise, and I'm at the point with this book where I need to cancel out as much noise as possible, the better to capture the signal. I think it's a good plan. There are those times when you just need to be in the book you're writing, as much as possible, and cutting down on distractions (like the controversy of the week or, more dangerous by ten times, the fascinating convo of the week--everything but Cute Animal Pictures, really) is very helpful with that, in my experience. Particularly when it's one of those books with a lot of "no one will ever get this, everyone will think I'm just insane, because this is insane" moments, which this one is.

So: Thanksgiving. I hope you had a happy one if you're celebrating, and if you're not I still hope you had a nice day.

Setting the problematic historical context aside, Thanksgiving is the major holiday that stresses me out the least, and the one I typically like best. (Apart from Halloween, of course.) The lack of gifting means lower stakes and less insanity, and at heart I am very down with the concept of pausing to appreciate the good things in our lives. Be it refugee Thanksgiving with friends, as we've done in past years, or lovely days with family, like this one, I feel like one extremely lucky lady.

And, even though I'm avoiding The Services temporarily, I wanted to pop in here to say how grateful I am that I'm able to be a part of such wonderful virtual (and real!) communities, full of people who talk and laugh and grouse and support each other, whether from up close or afar. That is no small or imaginary thing. You're all much appreciated.

Home Again, Home Again

Though I really don't believe in jigs. World Fantasy was great fun, despite the strangeness of being at a convention sans Christopher, and the extreme sprawl of the property, which had the odd distinction of feeling like a set from Dynasty or Falcon Crest, The Prisoner, Dirty Dancing, CSI or Bones*, Swamp Thing, and The Shining, depending what part of it you happened to be in.** Plus, there was a painting of a terrifying girl in a blue dress in every single room. (The one in mine and Tiffany's was between the wall and the TV hutch, where you forgot it was there...until you looked over and its eyes were following you.) Maybe there was a little Addams Family--with palm trees--going on with the property too, actually. At night blown bulbs left the illuminated sign over the convention center saying CONVEN CENTER.

Though I brought my camera, I then discovered it was out of batteries and never bothered to replace them. So these memories of the bizarro Town & Country will have to live on only in the mind.

I somehow managed to miss a few people entirely, which I can't remember ever happening at a convention, and to see others far too little, which happens at all of them. But there was plenty of fabulousness to make up for this--running into dear friends in the bar or the cafe, finally getting to meet some lovely people previously known only in virtual world, an impressive quantity of Korean BBQ, and many, many bits of hilarity, including a spectacular outdoor Couples Theater performance on the other side of the glass at The Cheesecake Factory. Good times.

I came home with a scratchy throat that I originally chalked up to laughing too much on Sunday night, but it seems to be ebbing away as the day wears on. It was probably destined I'd get sick as soon as I told Alice and Alaya--during a conversation about Contagion, natch--that I never get sick at conventions because I compulsively wash my hands and don't touch anything in a communal bowl. Note to self: Refrain from tempting the germs of fate.

Now it's back to work on many things.

*You know, where the murder has taken place.

**And which had lots of other, more serious issues. I also had the good fortune to miss the creeper.

Two Things

1. My long interview with the delightful Beth Revis has been posted at Lightspeed. She had many smart and excellent things to say, so do check it out. (Also up at Lightspeed this week is Cassie Clare's fabulous story from Steampunk!, "Some Fortunate Future Day." Do not miss. And, really, don't miss the whole anthology--it's crazy wonderful.)

2. Gabrielle Gantz interviewed the one and only Laura Miller about many things for the Rumpus, and Laura gave me a little shout out and says to do whatever I tell you. Mwahaha. But, seriously, if you're here from there (hi!), you might be interested in the bar of recommendations from this year's reading over (and down a bit) in the righthand column.

Aside: Off to World Fantasy tomorrow, arriving late afternoon, staying until Monday morning. I have some meetings, but most of my time is blissfully unscheduled. I hope to see you there.

Saturday Randomness

1. I meant to do this yesterday, per the Friday Five tradition, but instead it's the Saturday Six. Yesterday I hit a bleary, exhausted state, chased off only by a block of couch time to consume the first part of the Project Runway finale (Tim Gunn hugs = should be bottled and sold) and Brian Selznick's Wonderstruck. I think my love for Hugo Cabret was no secret, and once again, I just felt drawn in and recalibrated by this beautiful book that no one could have done except this particular author. The old cinema feel of both is outrageously in my wheelhouse, and I'm so hoping the Hugo Cabret movie captures even a little of it.

2. Actually, I've been having a run of reading great stuff, some for review, some for other projects, some just because. About as far from Wonderstruck as possible is Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold, but I thought it was bloody amazing fun. By which I mean bloody and amazing and fun to read, without losing any of its weight. Highly recommended for George R.R. Martin fans who only want to read one book and not a series (this is a standalone, although now I'm going to have to read his trilogy too), and who love a fierce, complicated woman at the center of the narrative.

3. Another really complex, fabulous book I just finished reading is Delia Sherman's The Freedom Maze--I won't say too much at this point, because I'm reviewing it for Locus and I'll have to write that review to truly sort out my thoughts. But this is truly a special book, and one that's perfect for middle grade readers, teen readers, and adults alike. Managing what Delia has managed here is really something. And, OH, I also just read Kelly Barnhill's The Mostly True Story of Jack and it, too, is amazing! Like I said, good run of books. It's odd for me to read this much middle grade in a stretch, but these are really perfect examples of how middle grade--especially with a classic feel to it; I'm thinking of Laurel Snyder's WONDERFUL Bigger Than a Breadbox too--is so universal in its appeal. This is a really great year for both YA and middle grade, in general.

4. Speaking of good things for YA: Lauren Myracle. Can we all just give her a standing ovation? One of the things that ticks off those of us in children's and YA lit is how there are always these clueless representations of the field in the media, from people who really know nothing about it. (See this brilliant Mad Libs version of the typical YA rant.) I've made my feelings about the whole NBA mess known elsewhere (twitter, tumblr). It's the most unfortunate thing, and I HATE that Lauren Myracle was forced to endure it; I felt heartsick for her from the moment it became clear what was happening. I feel terrible for all the nominees now (and Chime really is a truly brilliant book--people at media outlets summing it up as a "teen witch novel" should, y'know, read it), and I also do feel bad for the folks at the NBA. Still, it was their responsibility to clean up the mess, and that's what they should have done, rather than making a Bigger Mess. ANYWAY, what I wanted to say is, the one good thing in all of this, of course, has been the wonderful bright light of Lauren Myracle. YA couldn't wish for a better ambassador to show what it's really about, and her appearances on NPR (I teared up) and everywhere else, not only demonstrated what a class act and wonderful person she is, they made the entire field look good. So, hey, mainsteam media, next time you need someone to talk about YA? CALL HER. (Or someone else FROM the field.)

5. So, well, yes, I've been reading and working lots on various things. And also working on the circus book, which has at last found its footing, but is still by no means one of the easy ones.

6. World Fantasy approaches! And, yes, I'll be there, though I'm not doing any programming. I will also be Christopher-less, but I do have a most excellent roomie. Anyway, I can't wait to see/meet/hang with all of you. Happiness.

Friday Five

Randomness!

1. As usual, am juggling all the things. While keeping fingers crossed for other things. It's hard, though, with the weather changing from Hotter Than The Sun to Oh, Summer, You're So Nice, Come Here to not just go walkabout and ride in canoes and walk the dogs a million times in the woods and sit in the backyard drinking a nice Mulderbosch rosé and reading obsessively. Just having these impulses mostly turns out to be enough to satisfy them, and instead I've been meeting deadlines and getting back into the morning word count routine with the circus book, which has stopped being mad at me for setting it aside for a couple of months to work on something else--at least, I think it has. This weekend: some proofing to do, some interview q's to send, and a Sunday meeting of the YA Books Adult Beverages Book Club (Graceling this time around). Fun.

2. Another truly fantastic piece from Alexander Chee at the Morning News, this time on Tarot. I defy you to resist this essay after reading the first paragraph: "Like many children, I wanted to be more powerful than the world around me, and so I became interested in magic. I read novels of wizards and sorceresses, dragon-riding heroes and lost kings hidden from their enemies, raised as commoners to protect them. I went to the library and read first into the mythology section and soon found myself coming home with The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer. This, I did not know until I got it home, was a famous anthropological work on magic. I’d hoped it was a spell book. All I knew was that I wanted to whistle up a wind."

3. Another fabulous essay, this time at Serious Eats and about the origins of Cookies n' Cream ice cream, by local star and pastry chef of the gods Stella Parks, aka the Brave Tart. She even comes around to the infamous Baskin Robbins Clown Cone, which I'd forgotten existed (!): "Love for Clown Cones related to their rarity. Like diamonds, they existed in abundance, but tightfisted parents controlled the market. Their unwillingness to shell out four times the cost of a single scoop turned the Clown Cone (in all frankness a cheap conglomeration of icing squiggles and horror) into the most desirable of treats." Seriously, go read this. I love excellent food writing and this is. Bonus: Scary Clown Cone photos.

4. Survey says we like spoilers. I don't find this surprising at all, actually. Many of my favorite TV shows are ones I picked up in the fourth, third, or second seasons (Buffy, Gilmore Girls, Veronica Mars, respectively), and one of the unexpected benefits of this was making up the imaginary narrative that explained the things from the past the characters referenced. The actual causes always turned out to be slightly different (sometimes majorly so), but that wasn't disappointing; it was fascinating. It's a good way to learn about stories, reverse engineering them, or even just looking at the engineering as it goes if you're starting at the beginning. A good story should withstand foreknowledge. All that said: sometimes I do like a narrative surprise, but it doesn't have to be a big one, the type that spoilers reference. Often the little surprises are the best.

5. Finally, from Stephany Aulenback, a photograph of a face emerging from a storm cloud. Magic.

The Secrets We Keep From Ourselves

I already tumbled this fabulous quote from Terri Windling's blog, but I'm putting it up here too (not least because, um, cleanliness wasn't meant to stay at the top of ye old Shaken & Stirred for a whole week--oops):

"What you need to know about [your next piece of art] is contained in the last piece. The place to learn about your materials is in the last use of your materials. The place to learn about your execution is in your execution. The best information about what you love is in your last contact with what you love. Put simply, your work is your guide: a complete, comprehensive, limitless reference book on your work. There is no other such book, and it is yours alone. It functions this way for no one else. Your fingerprints are all over your work, and you alone know how they got there. Your work tells you about your working methods, your discipline, your strengths and weaknesses, your habitual gestures, your willingness to embrace.

"The lessons you are meant to learn are in your work. To see them, you need only look at the work clearly -- without judgement, without need or fear, without wishes or hopes. Without emotional expectations. Ask your work what it needs, not what you need. Then set aside your fears and listen, the way a good parent listens to a child."    -- David Bayles & Ted Orland, Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

First off, I'll definitely be seeking out Art & Fear, just based on this snippet.

Anyway, this quote immediately made me think of one of the wisest things anyone ever said to me about writing, one of those lessons that I come back to often. The advice, because I think it does qualify as advice, came from Tim Wynne-Jones (recent Horn Book award winner--yay!) in an early packet response my first semester of grad school. What he said was essentially that we give ourselves the solutions to the problems we encounter in our work. That when really and truly stumped, the answer is often to be found hidden, obscured, embedded somewhere on the page. The subconscious is a tricksy beast. I have found that this is a great and powerful truth.

When I really can't find the answer, no matter how much long dog walking and listening to playlists and banging head against desk and vacuuming I've done, I go back to what I have and I look at it and I think about it and I usually do find the answer in hiding there, right in front of me. Occasionally it's the absence of something that's the answer, or that something feels wrong, but often enough it's a grace note, an image or a line that appeared and that I didn't understand the importance of yet. When I give notes to someone else or talk out my own plots (Christopher is very patient on the dog walks where this happens, and sometimes we talk out his too), often that's what I come around to. It's that "OH! It's already in there! I just didn't RECOGNIZE it!" moment.

We give ourselves the answers we need, we only have to be willing to look for them.* Every piece is its own secret decoder ring.

Unrelated, but amazing, a feature slide show of photographs of aging dogs from Nancy LeVine's Senior Dogs Across America.

*Of course, for this to work you have to make pages where the answers can hide first. That is the Greatest Secret of All: Everything is possible once you make the pages.

On Cleanliness

No, I'm not about to go biblical on y'all, but when I was fishing for a topic over on twitter, Paolo suggested: "How often should the average writer shower?"

This isn't going to go Dear Aunt G, though it certainly could. There are strong opinions.

First off, we're going to have to leave this whole "average" business out of things. Let's just get that out of the way now. Writers are too neurotic to get cozy with that word. "Me? I'm not *average*?" Or, ten minutes later, "I'm not even average. I'm below average. I can't even see average from here." And that leaves aside if we're talking about some mean of age/sex/race/etc. Which we aren't.

So, then we're left with just: How often should a writer shower? Scalzi proposed that if Paolo had to ask, he probably ought to go ahead and do it. This is true. If you're wondering, Do I need a shower?* The answer is almost certainly yes.

But, in my experience, it's the writers who don't wonder about this that truly need the guidance. In our house: I'm saying every one to two days. In your house: I don't care so much.

At any rate, Mr. Rowe (and Paolo and Catherine) can pretend it's about conservation all they want, but I know the truth of the freelance cave. It's the same impulse that leads people to grow beards until they finish a book, or to build elaborate sink pyramids. To order wingzone when the missus is out of town.

On a more serious note: Not completely losing touch with reality, even when you work at home, is important. Bathing regularly is part of that.

Hey, I made an entry. Now I'll just go hug my Lush bath products.

*I, personally, shower daily. At least.

All The (Well, Some Of The) Things

Yes, MIA, I know. I know. May, you are the Enemy of Sanity. But you're almost over now, so ha. If I survive, I win.

At any rate, here are some things:

• My latest Heroes & Heartbreakers post was about how much I love reading scenes in romances: "Readerly Kinks: A Closer Look at Characters, Well, Reading." (I'm surprised at the lack of examples of this in contemporaries, but there must be some out there, right?)
  
  
• I reviewed Erin Morgenstern's (wonderful) The Night Circus for Publishers Marketplace's BEA Buzz Books coverage (account required). All the buzz books reviews were excerpted in the free daily lunch newsletter (which you should subscribe to, if you don't already). And I'm told that non-PM subscribers can access all the BEA content through their handy, dandy app. Go forth and appreciate the amazing Sarah Weinman's hard work (and her colleagues' too, of course).
  
  
• Speaking of which, if you're attending BEA, I did many, many pieces for the Show Daily. I had some really fun assignments this year, including interviews with Anne Enright, Dava Sobel, Alma Katsu, and Charlaine Harris--all lovely to talk to. Whenever I have time during an interview , I ask what people have been reading. Charlaine Harris had just finished Pat Rothfuss's The Wise Man's Fear and Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News? So she obviously has great taste. Looks like the Show Daily content will be on the PW site this year.
  
  
• There are still plenty of stories to come in the Subterranean issue; the schedule is more or less weekly, but with breaks so it's not over too quickly. There's a review posted this week. And catch up on any stories you've missed thus far.
  
  
• Wiscon! Yes, it's here. Now I remember why I tend to skip actually attending BEA. Here's my Schedule of Things:
  
  • Reading: ...And Other Circuses (Sat, 4:00–5:15 pm Conference 2) Richard Butner, Christopher Rowe, Genevieve Valentine, and moi. I will be the nervous one with the ink-barely-dry first pages of the circus book. (Unless I chicken out and read from the creepy island book instead. But the tradition is to read something new, and our reading has circus in the title, so I'll endeavor to be brave.)  
  • Panel: The Trials, Joys and Tribulations of Tiptree Jury Duty (Sat, 10:30–11:45 pm Senate A) Alexis Lothian, Gwenda Bond, Karen Joy Fowler, Geoff Ryman, Sheree Renée Thomas. (No, I actually can't explain what I was thinking when I agreed to a 10:30 PM panel, but it should be fun given the other participants.)
  • Panel: Fringe: How Is Olivia Dunham So Awesome? (Sun, 2:30–3:45 pm Senate B) Joanna Lowenstein, Gwenda Bond, Mely, Xakara, Amy Thompson.
   See you in Madison!

Friday Five

1. Yeah, I know I said things were normalizing and that I'd be here more. That was tempting fate. Especially since I knowwww that pre-BEA season is always the slammedest-crazytown of my year. So, yeah, probably thin on the ground for a couple more weeks. But I'll continue to pop in when I can, and to point to new Subterranean issue stories.

2. Am feeling slightly less overwhelmed after taking all the deadlines I know I have (with awareness there are a couple of floating ones, and some that will likely still pop up) and making a detailed plan for the rest of the month. This weekend turns out to be all about reading (and visiting mom, of course, for Mother's Day), which doesn't seem stressful at all, really. And then I can get a couple of later-in-the-month deadlines out of the way, so as to focus on more pressing things. Voila. I had to take a week and a half off from working on the circus book, which is in a very fragile infancy, to juggle various freelance projects. Getting back into it was harrrrrd. That can not happen again. Thus, the planning. Which will allow me to do my morning writing time (by preventing the overtiredness that leads to oversleeping) and possibly even slip in some extra sessions during the week. One of the lessons we all have to learn is protecting the writing time and how hard that really can be sometimes.

3. Said circus book is terrifying me. See this Libba Bray post, which is brilliant, as usual. I finally printed out the first 30 pagesish and passed them off to Mr. Rowe so he can tell me if I'm just acting insane or if the book is insane. If it is something I should ever allow other people's eyeballs to see, or whether said pages would burn out people's eyeballs in one fell swoop of first-draft awful, and I should really abandon this project and learn the banjo instead. I could get a fancy hat, and perhaps people would toss in shiny coins. I have to have something new to read at Wiscon, though, and I get grumpy when I don't do the writing so*... Sometimes you just have to keep showing up.

4. My inbox. It's a little out of control. But I think I've whined enough.

5. The Vampire Diaries! Spoilery discussion welcome in the comments. I wasn't surprised by any of this week's penultimate episode of the season (SPOILER BUT ONLY IF YOU'VE NEVER SEEN THE SHOW, SINCE THIS HAPPENS BASICALLY WEEKLY) deadings, and thought it was a nicely done, emotional episode. But I want to TALK about it, and I will do so in the comments. I definitely think TVD has managed to avoid the sophomore slump I feared early on in the season. Whew. And tonight FRINGE finale. Eek. Bites nails. Maybe spoilery comments section talk about that one too, after.

In the meantime: Happy weekend. Wherever you are, may there be sunny skies overhead.

*Okay, sometimes there is grumpiness at other times too, but only when strictly warranted.

**There is a lot of sometimesing in this post.

Something Adorable In Denmark

I usually try and indulge my zooborns love elsewhere, but I feel like this is one video I'll need to watch again and again in stressful moments.

Baby buckethead the polar bear at the Aalborg Zoo:

The Fantastics

The alligator at the Orlando Airport Marriott's own private Swamplandia is not quite as impressive as the one on the cover of Karen Russell's book. Still, much time was spent looking for the tell-tale shiny black head drifting along the edge of the waterhole, though mostly what got spotted were various long-legged birds striding around the shoreline and--my personal favorite--birds with necks like periscopes, miniature Nessies, or tiny dragons extending out of the water. Said birds could later be seen sunning themselves to dry their wings. Said alligator never bothered to exit the water. How rude.

I'd post pictures of these things, but, as usual, I forgot-slash-decided-not-to-bring our camera. I never end up using it, though I always think longingly of having photos later. Anyway, yes, we had a grand time at our first International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (aka ICFA) in ages, and give a big thumbs up to the new hotel. As you can probably tell from the paragraph above, I spent a good deal of the weekend hanging out in the gazebo that overlooked the water. This was an excellent place to set up shop, since lots of people wandered out periodically to do their own alligator/snapping turtle/carp check. Among the wildlife present but not frequently spotted were mosquitoes; my ankles and the sole of my right foot are the proof.

I'm a bit terrified to do the list thing, because there were entirely too many fabulous old friends and fast new ones and people I got to say hi to but not spend nearly as much time talking with as I wanted... in the usual conference way.* It was a pure delight to watch Terry Bisson get feted, and to see/meet/chatter with--for various snippets of time--Richard Butner and Barb Gilly, Ted Chiang, Jeff Ford, John Kessel, Andy and Sydney Duncan, Brett Cox and Jeanne Beckwith, Paul Park, Veronica Schanoes, Peter Straub (aka the best-dressed man in SFF), Brian Evenson, Jim Kelly, Ellen Klages, Liza Groen Trombi, Dora Goss, Karen Lord (met by happy accident in the magic gazebo), Deanna Hoak, and Nalo Hopkinson. Oh, and the extra gift of seeing local pals Jackie Dolamore and Larissa Hardesty again. I already know I've forgotten people. Please to forgive and forget.

That's the main reasons I go to these things. To have fascinating discussions with wonderful types (many of whom are like members of an enormous second family). And try to spot alligators.

Unusually, I also went to a number of programming items (and sat on a panel with people far wiser than me--Nisi Shawl, Graham Sleight, Liza, and Gary Wolfe) including: a panel on the fantastic in Shakespeare; one on taxonomies and genre (good stuff, though it got the fun sort of weird); a fab reading by Jeff, Richard and Connie Willis (!); and the world premiere of Andy's harmonica-playing raccoon as part of a panel on the ridiculous. I was sad to have missed the romantic comedy panel that started the conference, but then managed to bend a gracious Connie Willis's ear on the topic before the banquet.** Can you beat that? I sure can't.

*I felt like I had to do at least a cursory con report, because Jeff Ford cheerfully guilted me about all those long stretches where I just post teensy entries about being busy.

**I was both gratified and relieved to discover we are in total agreement about the true nature of good romantic comedy.