Lyda Morehouse's Blog, page 106

Long Time Gone

It's been a while, my friends. I was exiled to Valparasio, Indiana for several days, but I'm back now. I did have internet access, but I mostly stayed off the grid in favor of reading and hanging out with Mason and his grandma (who we went to visit). I read all of Amy Thompson's THROUGH ALIEN EYES and enjoyed it tremendously. When I posted about it on Facebook a bunch of folks chimed in to tell me they liked her other two previous books as well (VIRTUAL GIRL and COLOR OF DISTANCE.) I'm g...

Life, the Universe, and Cons

I've been really absent lately, but this time I think I have a pretty good excuse. First, as you know, Bob, I've been frantically working to make deadline for Tate's young adult novel ALMOST TO DIE FOR. I'm happy to report that as of ten o'clock last night, I did (electronically. Now I have to send mss. via post.)

Also, Gaylaxicon was this weekend, and I was in attendance on both Saturday and Sunday. (I actually brought along my laptop and was working on the novel in between panels and, ...

And the Confusion Confounds!

Just so no one is worried -- I did NOT rush into Mason's school with guns blazing after my little encounter with Mason's teacher yesterday.* I told Shawn about the conversation and we drafted a very nice, straight-forward e-mail that simply asks that Mason be allowed to continue where he left off in AR testing and check out whatever he likes from the school library. And that if we're misunderstanding the situation, could we please schedule a meeting?

Two of the parents of equally smart kids ...

Maybe Not So Much

I'd been thinking we made the right choice in not sending Mason into the gifted and talented magnet here in Saint Paul. Now, I'm not so sure.

Mason came home a couple of days ago with a book from the school library. It was a book he'd read last year (part of the MAGIC TREE HOUSE series), one, in fact, he already has at home. We asked him why he took that particular book out. He said, oh, this was his "AR" (reading testing book), and he'd picked something else out but his teacher said he sh...

New Cover for Tate

Well, I asked my editor for permission to post this, and she said that not only was it approved by the publisher, but that she absolutely adores it. Let me know what you think...

Getting Around on Your Knees

According to Mason, he spent yesterday's skating practice mostly just getting around on his knees. (Poor guy, though he sounds like me.)

I feel I can kind of relate. This week is crazy-busy. naomikritzer read my book in about ten minutes, so I was over there yesterday to get critique. I just settled in to get that done by this weekend so Shawn will have a chance to proof it before it goes to the editor, when who should e-mail, but said-editor. Could she send along the revisions for HONEYM...

Kinda Mostly Done-ish

I finished the first draft of Tate's young adult novel on Sunday. Go me! It, however, is not ready to go to the publisher yet. I need a fresh pair of eyes to look at it and tell me the stupid I committed (which, as always, there is at least SOME) and to help bring out the theme, etc. I emailed a copy to naomikritzer who is a phenomenal beta reader.

Now I have to finish up a proposal for the second book in the vampire princess series, which is due (contractually) at the same time as the b...

Adventures and Books

I picked up Mason early yesterday and we headed over to HPB in Highland. He really wanted to see what they had for GOOSEBUMPS and STAR WARS. We picked up a Kevin J. Anderson (Heir to the Empire series?) and the two Horrorland Goosebumps they had. Then I asked Mason where he wanted to go, and he suggested Bass Lake. But he burst into tears when he realized he'd left his stuffed bunny, Sirralbuoyadoh (named after a girl in his class) behind. After a little back and forth, I agreed to turn ...

"Early Release" Always Sounds Like Prison

Mason has an "early release" day today. I have to head out in less than an hour to pick him up. We may go dinosaur hunting or (since I haven't gotten a permit yet) off on an explore of some kind. But, knowning that I'd have only a limited time to write today, I decided to try hanging out at the coffee shop today. I will confess something. I can be pretty distracted when I write anywhere other than home. I'm not one of those people who writes to music. In fact, most of the time I prefer...

It's Cold. Really cold. And I'm annoyed.

I'm cold. I'm typing with gloves on. In about ten minutes, I'm going to go back to the bedroom and hide under the blankets until spring or my book is done, whichever comes first (it better be the book, since it's due in 18 days.)

I'm also thinking that I could eat. I could bake six million cookies and eat them all. Then I'd be warm AND fat.

The book is going well, thanks for asking. I'm struggling a bit with the actually sitting down and writing it part, but then, I always do. I wrote a sc...