What am I doing tonight? Not doing homework, an architecture essay on the history of Neuschwanstein. Not cleaning the house or working on a resume or any number of things I should be doing. Instead, I'm writing Chapter Nine in TDS and making brownies.
And the slacking is wickedly, wonderfully, delicious.
Mm, brownies.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Just Some Updates
With the sun setting at 6:00 pm, I'm so tired I could curl into bed right after dinner. So I'll keep the post short for today and just give anyone who checks in a heads up on what I'm plotting lately.
The Hearthsinger
I got a call today from the magnificent mother of a friend of mine, who offered to help set up recording sessions for The Hearthsinger throughout January. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I am so so excited to finally get the main parts cast. A beautiful friend of mine named Claire has agreed to read Mari for me, and I promised to bake her as many cookies as possible. It'll be worth it. She has a beautiful speaking voice and a perfect one for Mari. I'm going through a heavy editing phase right now, but I'm aiming to get things done by early December. And hopefully I'll be posting more chapters soon!
The Default Sweater
Erin got mentioned in the Figment newsletter this week, and I'm so happy for her! Very excited to make editor's choice, and hopefully I'll be getting a couple more chapters posted over Thanksgiving break!
Both Hearthsinger and TDS have gotten new covers, and they are gorgeous! Thank you to Carolyn Fisher for her work on The Hearthsinger.
Other than that, all's quiet on the home front. Man. I love vacations.
The Hearthsinger
I got a call today from the magnificent mother of a friend of mine, who offered to help set up recording sessions for The Hearthsinger throughout January. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I am so so excited to finally get the main parts cast. A beautiful friend of mine named Claire has agreed to read Mari for me, and I promised to bake her as many cookies as possible. It'll be worth it. She has a beautiful speaking voice and a perfect one for Mari. I'm going through a heavy editing phase right now, but I'm aiming to get things done by early December. And hopefully I'll be posting more chapters soon!
The Default Sweater
Erin got mentioned in the Figment newsletter this week, and I'm so happy for her! Very excited to make editor's choice, and hopefully I'll be getting a couple more chapters posted over Thanksgiving break!
Both Hearthsinger and TDS have gotten new covers, and they are gorgeous! Thank you to Carolyn Fisher for her work on The Hearthsinger.
Other than that, all's quiet on the home front. Man. I love vacations.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Coming to You Soon: The Hearthsinger on Audio!
New chapters of The Default Sweater and The Hearthsinger are up on figment! Hopefully, now that things have calmed down a bit, I'll get around to posting more.
This post is dedicated to revealing my secret project...which, truthfully, has not been so secret around here. Over the next few months, I'll be working with a cast here in Austin to produce a few chapters of The Hearthsinger on audio. I've always loved audiobooks, and ones with full casts--an actor for each character rather than narrated through one voice only--are amazing. I'm incredibly excited! Over the next few months I'll be posting how recording/editing is going, along with the cast and a few more details. Both versions of the chapters--written version and audio--will be posted on my figment account/facebook account/blog, hopefully by January.
The whole process is very exciting for me. I love the cast so far, and soon (I hope) will be able to sit down and meet Michaela, the girl who will be reading the voice of Mari, the main character. I feel so very lucky to go to a school which allows me to do projects like this. There's still a lot to organize, so I'll keep this blog post short and hope to tell you all more in the future. In the meantime--off to go edit the next chapter! Wish me luck!
This post is dedicated to revealing my secret project...which, truthfully, has not been so secret around here. Over the next few months, I'll be working with a cast here in Austin to produce a few chapters of The Hearthsinger on audio. I've always loved audiobooks, and ones with full casts--an actor for each character rather than narrated through one voice only--are amazing. I'm incredibly excited! Over the next few months I'll be posting how recording/editing is going, along with the cast and a few more details. Both versions of the chapters--written version and audio--will be posted on my figment account/facebook account/blog, hopefully by January.
The whole process is very exciting for me. I love the cast so far, and soon (I hope) will be able to sit down and meet Michaela, the girl who will be reading the voice of Mari, the main character. I feel so very lucky to go to a school which allows me to do projects like this. There's still a lot to organize, so I'll keep this blog post short and hope to tell you all more in the future. In the meantime--off to go edit the next chapter! Wish me luck!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Songs for Erin
I mentioned yesterday that the Gumption score is on my playlist for Default Sweater. Here's more of the playlist that I'm starting to turn on whenever I sit down to write another chapter about Erin. Which is coming soon. I promise.
Lonely Lullaby, Owl City
Colgando en Tus Manos ("Hanging in your hands"), Carlos Baute and Marta Sanchez
All About Us, He is We and Owl City
Fever, Michael Buble
Spontaneous Me, Lindsey Sterling
What If, Colbie Caillait
I've Got the World On a String, Frank Sinatra
October Road, James Taylor
Lose Control, Maria Mena
The Bird and the Worm, Owl City
Hamburg Hinter Uns ("Hamburg Behind Us") , Revolverheld
So She Dances, Josh Groban
A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton
Rhythm of Love, Plain White T's
Sunburn, Owl City
Ich Bin Ich, Rosenstolz
I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow, from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Love Song, Sara Bareilles
Both Sides Now, Joanie Mitchell
She's Funny That Way, Frank Sinatra
J'aime a Nouveau, ZAZ
I Won't Say (I'm in Love), from Hercules
Layla (acoustic version), Eric Clapton
Monday Morning, Melanie Fiona
When the Stars Go Blue, The Corrs
Missing You, Allison Kraus
I Can Love You Better, The Dixie Chicks
Lazy Days, Enya
Gumption, from The Holiday
Lonely Lullaby, Owl City
Colgando en Tus Manos ("Hanging in your hands"), Carlos Baute and Marta Sanchez
All About Us, He is We and Owl City
Fever, Michael Buble
Spontaneous Me, Lindsey Sterling
What If, Colbie Caillait
I've Got the World On a String, Frank Sinatra
October Road, James Taylor
Lose Control, Maria Mena
The Bird and the Worm, Owl City
Hamburg Hinter Uns ("Hamburg Behind Us") , Revolverheld
So She Dances, Josh Groban
A Thousand Miles, Vanessa Carlton
Rhythm of Love, Plain White T's
Sunburn, Owl City
Ich Bin Ich, Rosenstolz
I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow, from O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Love Song, Sara Bareilles
Both Sides Now, Joanie Mitchell
She's Funny That Way, Frank Sinatra
J'aime a Nouveau, ZAZ
I Won't Say (I'm in Love), from Hercules
Layla (acoustic version), Eric Clapton
Monday Morning, Melanie Fiona
When the Stars Go Blue, The Corrs
Missing You, Allison Kraus
I Can Love You Better, The Dixie Chicks
Lazy Days, Enya
Gumption, from The Holiday
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Gals with Gumption
Everyone loves a good heroine. I can tick my favorites off without thinking about it: Elizabeth Bennet, Ella in Ella Enchanted, Becky Jack, Dashti, Eliza DooLittle, Katharina from Taming of the Shrew. There's one thing that ties all these ladies together, and its name is gumption.
If you've ever seen the movie The Holiday, there's a certain scene where Eli Wallach describes his late wife to Kate Winslet. "She has gumption," he says. Later in the film, Kate Winslet bursts out to Rufus Sewell, "I don't know, but I think what I've got is something slightly resembling....GUMPTION!"
That line, that phrase, is just so perfect and tender and lovely. I think people love seeing a heroine (or a hero) with a rumpled, wild, human, daring spirit, because they can see themselves in her. That's me, they think. That could be me. That doesn't mean a female superhero, conquering the world (even though that could be awesome). They love to see a character who's vulnerable and uncertain and real, but who forges her way through her story just because she's got....gumption.
I've got the song 'Gumption' from The Holiday on each playlist I listen to while I write, whether it's for Hearthsinger, TDS or Kaleva. It's a little nudge, a little reminder to me for myself, but also for the character I'm writing.
Because it's really, really fun, to write about a gal with gumption.
If you've ever seen the movie The Holiday, there's a certain scene where Eli Wallach describes his late wife to Kate Winslet. "She has gumption," he says. Later in the film, Kate Winslet bursts out to Rufus Sewell, "I don't know, but I think what I've got is something slightly resembling....GUMPTION!"
That line, that phrase, is just so perfect and tender and lovely. I think people love seeing a heroine (or a hero) with a rumpled, wild, human, daring spirit, because they can see themselves in her. That's me, they think. That could be me. That doesn't mean a female superhero, conquering the world (even though that could be awesome). They love to see a character who's vulnerable and uncertain and real, but who forges her way through her story just because she's got....gumption.
I've got the song 'Gumption' from The Holiday on each playlist I listen to while I write, whether it's for Hearthsinger, TDS or Kaleva. It's a little nudge, a little reminder to me for myself, but also for the character I'm writing.
Because it's really, really fun, to write about a gal with gumption.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
I'm Not Hiding
I don't know that I have many people checking my blog, but there might be a few of my fellow figs popping in every now and then, so just an update: I'm not hiding! School has been so busy lately, and I'm scrambling to keep up as much as I can. I had one very difficult course end last week, and suddenly I have so much free time, I don't know how to handle myself. I can read. Sit down at a table to eat meals. Shower. All that good stuff.
I'm very, very excited about The Default Sweater. It's been chugging along so well that I'm trying to keep up. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm a very systematic writer and have to block out the entire storyline before I can delve too deep into writing. With TDS I took an unusual leap and wrote the first few chapters with nothing more than a vague idea of my plot. But now I'm almost done with my outline (and the writing's not going too bad either), and I'm silly with excitement.
Anande Sjoeden, author of Nattie and Finn, very kindly mentioned Erin and me on her blog, and I felt compelled to return the compliment! Nattie and Finn has kept me on nail-chewing tenterhooks since I began reading. It's my daily treat to come home and read a chapter if I get lucky and she's posted (yesterday, I got FOUR!). Figment has a feature where the approximate time it will take to read a certain book is posted on the book's description page. At the point I started reading, Nattie and Finn was at about seven hours. That Friday, I sat at my computer until two o'clock in the morning, not able to go to bed until I finished. She also has several other books posted that I'm really looking forward to reading.
Hopefully, I'll be able to blog more now that the bulk of the year's schoolwork is accomplished. Darn those teachers. Darn their sorry hides.
I'm very, very excited about The Default Sweater. It's been chugging along so well that I'm trying to keep up. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm a very systematic writer and have to block out the entire storyline before I can delve too deep into writing. With TDS I took an unusual leap and wrote the first few chapters with nothing more than a vague idea of my plot. But now I'm almost done with my outline (and the writing's not going too bad either), and I'm silly with excitement.
Anande Sjoeden, author of Nattie and Finn, very kindly mentioned Erin and me on her blog, and I felt compelled to return the compliment! Nattie and Finn has kept me on nail-chewing tenterhooks since I began reading. It's my daily treat to come home and read a chapter if I get lucky and she's posted (yesterday, I got FOUR!). Figment has a feature where the approximate time it will take to read a certain book is posted on the book's description page. At the point I started reading, Nattie and Finn was at about seven hours. That Friday, I sat at my computer until two o'clock in the morning, not able to go to bed until I finished. She also has several other books posted that I'm really looking forward to reading.
Hopefully, I'll be able to blog more now that the bulk of the year's schoolwork is accomplished. Darn those teachers. Darn their sorry hides.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Last Days Caught on Camera
I had a fun blog post in mind for today, but instead I think I'm going to write another Figment chapter for Default Sweater, so here's a couple pictures of what's been going on at home lately:
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