Laini Taylor's Blog, page 11

Possible year end/new year post

Ooh, yay! I wrote a chapter yesterday! Yippee yippee yay! It's short, but I dig it. Sooo nice to be back in the writing groove after all the holiday madness and travels. We're snowed in, which is awesome, but it looks like a wet snow that won't hang out for too long, unfortunately. Jim and I love to be snowed in -- apologies to those who need to go places. A snow-in is an occasion for a big pot of soup and a pie, yes? Only, we've had too much pie lately, so scratch that this time around, you ...

Happy holidays!!!

. . . from my mom's cat. Doesn't he look ferocious?

I hope everyone had a wonderful wonderful holiday. I certainly did, though MAN why can I not seem to find time to blog or answer emails anymore? Hmmm . . . I wonder . . . Could it have something to do with . . .
Perhaps. The little elf is almost 5 months old. Wow! How did that happen? And yes, time is not quite so luxuriously abundant as it once was, back in the "good old days" (aw, come on, they're much better now, in so many ways!) when I ...

A year older

It's my birthday! I'm spending it partly in an airport -- heading home to Portland right now from a trip to California to see family and friends. (Hence the recent lull in blogging--iPhones are good for many things, but it's not the greatest set-up for blogging, one-finger typing!) Clementine is practicing pteradactyl screeches right now. Hope she doesn't do that on the plane, but I don't really care. It's a short flight.

Birthday cake awaits at home :-)

Have a wonderful day!

Christmas Writing Room

It's Christmas in my writing room too. Here is the pink tree, decorated with cocktail umbrellas and silver glitter letters that spell "Clementine". I'm thrilled to own a pink tree. Thrilled!
And if you're wondering what that little black-framed picture is on the wall, and perhaps that shiny disc hanging from the pillar, then let me show you!
tee hee hee. My favorite new decor :-)

How is your decorating going?

This is not a picture of eggs.

Look at this.
Whyever am I posting a picture of scrambled eggs, you ask. Because it is not scrambled eggs. It only looks like scrambled eggs. Like, exactly like. But it's not!. What it is is a baking disaster. Alas, this heap of rubbery awfulness was supposed to be . . . are you ready for this? . . . clementine chiffon. You know, like lemon chiffon only clementine? Chiffon: light, airy, lovely? Not rubbery and scrambled eggy! Wah! I did various things wrong during this first effort at baking a...

Must. Become. Nocturnal.

Nooo! Not a vampire! Not that kind of nocturnal. I must become a night-writer. Doesn't that sound funky and mysterious? NIGHT-WRITER. Writer of the Night. Ha ha ha. What am I babbling about? Oh, nothing. Just my early morning writing schedule is turning out to be a joke. Here was the plan: get up at 5, write until lunch while Jim takes care of Clementine, with a few breaks in there for nursing. Sounds fine, right? A person could get a lot of writing done! So what's the problem?

Waking up earl...

Lord & Taylor holiday windows '09 + NPR Best Books List!

Arctic morning: 18 degrees. Yow! It's been really cold the past few days, and windy on top of it. I'm up at 5 this morning to get some writing done while Clementine snoozes. Up to write, not blog. Get to work, Laini!

Really quick. I've been saving these pics from New York to post -- the only big holiday window display we saw when we were there. You hear about the amazing holiday windows in NY, but I'm not sure where they are, or when they happen. We just happened to walk by these on our way to...

I [heart] Shiny Brites!

I was slow in coming to love Shiny Brites. It's only been the past few years that I've started buying a few old ones here and there, sorted in little crinkly bags at craft fairs or antique malls. And I've learned that once you start you can't stop! I'm of the school of thought that there cannot be too many ornaments on a Christmas tree, and my "theme" is: no theme! My theme is: put it on the tree! Yesterday I went down to Sellwood (cute little antiques neighborhood of Portland) with Jim and C...

Decorating Season Begins!

I've been on a Christmas decorating binge this week, feeling the need for some NEW to add to the mix (I got a pink tree! A pink tree! Decorated, so far, with cocktail umbrellas, though I plan to add glitter letters too, as soon as I make them), as well as using the old stuff in different ways. You know, a good decorating binge just feeds my soul -- I guess I get it from my mom, who my dad declares is "at least 50% elf." I'll have pictures by and by, but today I thought I'd detour you to an ab...

If I don't blog about it, did it really happen? Or: My National Book Awards post. FINALLY.

The National Book Awards, before any more time passes! I just may not have time to do justice to the experience, but hopefully photos can help fill in the gaps.

First off, I want to say that I was astonished to be a finalist, and I never expected to win. I mean, I was up against books with Important Subject Matter! Of course, I would not have objected to winning, and there's always that moment before they announce the winner that you feel anything might happen . . . Also, the morning of the aw...