(Abbey)
 

I keep my blog very deliberately away from anything political or polarizing as offenses (intentional and unintentional) can happen pretty damn quickly online, but the article linked below has me really pissed off.

 

Although I couldn't make it to BEA this year, THE HOLLOW did. Special thanks to Michael Bourret and Michelle Zink for taking pictures! (And, um, for letting me borrow them)

Part of the Jack Daniel's process involves draining the whiskey through several layers of packed, dense charcoal made from sugar maple wood. It takes about 4 days for each drop to slooooooowly make its way through and then it's transferred to handmade, fire-charred oak barrels to be aged.
 

But what it all comes down to is one basic fact: Process. It's different from writer to writer, hell, it can even be different from book to book. What works for you one day might not work for you the next. But you have to keep going. Keep working at finding the process that does work for you. For this book. For this moment.

The rewards can be great.

My apologies for enticing all of you lovely new readers to follow me and then ditching you with nothing new to read! I went out of town last week for a quick jaunt to NY and was supremely busy getting everything ready. But now I'm back, and since we DO have so many new faces, I offer you:
 

To celebrate National 'Buy Indie' Day and because May is nice, I'll be holding a Where My Peeps At? contest. This one is easy - all you have to do is follow my blog. (Sorry LJ and MySpace users, this is a BlogSpot contest only.)

Once there, (click the link above) look for the icon on the right that has faces and says FOLLOW. Just click it to join and you're entered!

Contest Begins: May 1st, 2009
Contest Ends: May 15th, 2009
Prizes: One book per person. To be drawn randomly. Open to followers/readers worldwide.

WIN ONE OF THESE:
Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith (hardcover)
You are So Undead To Me by Stacey Jay (paperback)
In Too Deep by Jennifer Banash (paperback)
Raven by Allison van Diepen (hardcover)
Vampire Diaries: The Return: Nightfall by L.J. Smith (hardcover)

12 years ago on this date I was nervously sitting next to an adorable boy, trying to keep my cool and praying that I wouldn't say anything stupid. The auditorium was dark, the seats were uncomfortable, and I had relatives nearby.

A million thoughts ran through my head. Is my outfit cute? Does my hair look okay? Maybe I should have worn different makeup... Then he'd lean in close and whisper something about the stage...Or the seats. Trivial things that weren't important. But in the dark, those whispered words meant so much more. My pulse raced. My cheeks grew hot. He was teasing me, flirting with me, and I had relatives sitting inches away.

Resolutely, I crossed my arms in front of me as a sort of distraction. Seconds later, he did the same. I looked over at him. He looked at me. Back and forth it went, this trading of secret glances. Until finally, I felt the slightest brush against my fingertips. I peeked out of the corner of my eye and he had this secret smile. Then his fingers tugged against mine. I returned the favor.

Arms crossed, fingers entwined, we sat and watched the rest of that show. Secret smiles on both of our faces.

Happy April 11th, Mr. V.

I've discovered there's a secret unwritten rule in Publishing World and it says: 90% of the time there shall be copious amounts of waiting, but when one thing is due, by Law, everything else is suddenly due at the same time.

Which means that I've been working on like 15 billion projects and have been experiencing #lifefail. I have fallen woefully behind on blog posts, replying to comments in blog posts, social site updates...and you really don't want to see my kitchen floor right now.

So if I haven't responded to your email/comment, bear with me. I'm going to try to catch up. Oh, and you know, also finish a hulking massive project called HOLLOW 2 in the meantime.

But! To make sure that I commit to at least a couple of these things, I am going to put them in writing. Coming up on Jibberings:

- Where My Peeps At? Contest
- Traveling ARC pics
- Office/Desk pics
- Writing Q & A
- HOLLOW News Update

Off to make shifty eyes at my kitchen floor!

We've come to the end of this round of the QT blog chain, and my fellow bloggers did not let me down. I asked everyone to write a short story that had a heart involved.

I started off with The Picnic, and was followed by: Kate Quinn, who wrote about sharing a bitter heart, then it was Michelle McLean who wrote a ballad. (An actual BALLAD, people!) I was absolutely blown away by this - it's gorgeous! After Michelle, Sandra penned an entertaining tale inspired by Monty Python and The Holy Grail. Next up was Kat Harris, who gave Norman his heart's desire, and then Christine's spooky story about a doctor who cures heartache gave me the chills! Abi gave us a swoon worthy Scottish hero and Elana Johnson wrote a post about someone who is waiting...always waiting. Terri left us all dying for more with her God of death and libido, and Mary showed us that the little things matter. Heather wrapped up the chain with her lovely story about someone who chickens out for all the right reasons.

Thanks for such a fun round gang! You are all hereby awarded the Axis of Awesome medal. ;)