Tate Hallaway's Blog, page 35

Happy Yule!

Inky guards the Yule Log, which will be lit tonight! May your life be full of brillance!

Solstace Eclipse

So, I guess Twitter is good for something, after all.

I just found out that there will be a lunar eclipse on Winter Solstace for the first time in 456 years.

That's pretty cool! I wonder what kind of magic Ana or Garnet could cook up on a night like that, eh?

My 2010 Favs

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted. My bad! If you'd like to know what my alter ego thinks are the best books/movies/TV of 2010, check out today's Mind Meld at SF Signals.

Level 2 Swimmer!

Being a parent is so wierd. You bring home this squishy little loaf and eventually, through some miracle (and a surprising amount of hard work), they grow into people. One of the things I'm always astounded by is when children have these breakthroughs. Mason struggled and struggled with learning to tie laces on shoes and then, this year, whammo! He figured it out. Also new this year: independent(ish) swimming. We signed him up for a Red Cross class, and this year, after starting with a six month old "waders" class, all of a sudden, it clicked for him.

I mean, you TELL them that with practice, they'll eventually learn, but it's still kind of surprising when it works!

Timing

In case someone out there wonders about the timing of book production. I got the cover art for ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN on Monday, and turned in the copy edits today. I often see cover art before the book is "done" (though never before I turn in the book.)

Next, I'll see the readers' proof, which may or may not become a galley/ARC, depending on how invested the publisher is in the book's success. And, yes, I have had books that have NOT had galleys made (which means no reviews from any print publication that needs a lead time of a couple of months or more, like Romantic Times, Library Journal, etc.)

All the while, I'm working on the next book in the series, which is due in April a month before ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN hits the stores.

Nice Review

Of, ALMOST TO DIE FOR, check out: http://simpleloveofreading.blogspot.com

New Cover!

Here it is, the cover for Ana's second installment, called ALMOST FINAL CURTAIN, which I like to describe as Glee meets Vampire Diaries. It is due out in stores May 2011!

So.... what do you think??

Another Year Older

Yesterday was my birthday, though I very wisely celebrated the week before. Thing is, because Mason goes to a year-round school, he has a lot of time off around the holidays. Inevitably, his fall break happens over my birthday. This is not a problem, as I like spending time with him, but it means that things like romantic dinners or lunches are out of the question on birthday actual.

So, Shawn and I went out the week before and did all the stuff I like to do on my birthday that doesn't involve small children. :-)

Yesterday I did all the things I love to do with Mason. We went to Adventure Peak. We played video games (actually, more amazingly, he played video games on his own while I *napped*) The only thing that was a bit of a bummer about yesterday was that I woke up with a headache and it kept trying to come back throughout the day.

Now, today is back to normal life. I'll be spending much of the day taking care of the animal duty that I ignored yesterday. I have to clean fish tanks, change the gerbil bedding, and take care of a few litter boxes.

Ah, the glamourous life of a published author!

Hippo Birdy!

It's my birthday. Currently, I'm sitting at "Adventure Peak" (in Edinborough Park) and contemplating what it means to be 43.

Release Day Scheduled

I talked to my editor, and I finally know when the second Ana book will be out: MAY 2011! Whoot!