Tricia Rayburn's Blog, page 4

Gossip Worth Spreading!

SIREN is "Gossip Girl" Jenny Humphrey's favorite book of 2010!

Check out her other faves here!
http://www.cwtv.com/thecw/gossip-girl-favorites

12 Days 'Till Christmas!

It's December 13, and you know what that means: Christmas is twelve short days away! I've been counting down for about three months, but now that we're under the two-week mark, I think it's finally acceptable to post a few festive pictures.

Last month I was lucky enough to attend the ALAN conference in Orlando. It was a great time with some amazing readers and teachers from all over the country. My husband was able to come with me, so we headed down a few days early to hit Disney World. I hadn't been in over ten years and he hadn't been in twice as long—since before Epcot, which had always boggled my mind. I mean, can you imagine a world WITHOUT Epcot??

Anyway, we were excited to go, and even more excited when friends told us about Mickey's Merry Christmas Party. Apparently, this is an annual affair that takes place in the Magic Kingdom on select nights in November and December. This year, one of the nights just happened to be during our visit, so we bought tickets.

And it was probably the merriest Christmas party I've ever been to! There were decorations and carolers and fireworks and endless hot cocoa and sugar cookies. Cinderella's castle was covered in sparkling white lights. A parade featuring Mickey, Minnie, other characters, AND Santa wound through the quaint streets. And perhaps the best part? The park closed early to non-ticket holders, which meant no waiting on insane lines! We hit every ride in about a tenth the time it'd normally take.

Here are a few shots of the fun.


Hope you're enjoying your own pre-Christmas festivities!

Wednesday Words

I hope to share the Undercurrent cover with you soon, but until then, here's a mini excerpt from chapter 1!

My chest and skin were on fire. I couldn't feel my legs. It took every bit of strength I had left to turn on the water and pry the lid off the plastic container.

And just because pictures are fun, here's how the sequel will look in Germany:

I think it's as gorgeous as the first and hope my German readers like it, too!

More to come!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A quick post just to say how grateful I am to each and every one of you! Thank you for visiting here, reading my stories, and inspiring me to write more. You're the best. :)

I hope you have a wonderful day with friends, family, and lots of yummy food!

News & Updates

So sorry for the recent blog silence! I've been busy talking books, preparing talks for talking books, revising a new project, revising a new project some more...and online Christmas shopping. :) But some fun things have been happening! Following are a few highlights.

Getting the mail has been especially enjoyable lately. In the past few weeks I've received an ARC of the UK version of Siren, audio CDs of Siren, and contracts from Siren's Macedonia publisher. And yesterday five copies of the Scholastic Book Club edition of Ruby's Slippers arrived, which was SO exciting! On these great mail days, I don't even mind getting bills.

So, yes, Ruby's Slippers is in the SBC this month. New readers of my blog might not know that twenty years ago, I spent hours and hours and hours poring over the SBC flyer every month, so this is a huge honor. Accompanying the great news is a great review from Publisher's Weekly. They said: "Rayburn's (the Maggie Bean series) story is a fun romp over the rainbow with a plucky and entertaining heroine." Yay!

Coincidentally, Ruby's Slippers is dedicated to my cousin Lauren, who recently invited me to speak to her Girl Scouts troop about books and writing. And after my visit with the Scouts, I wanted to become one! They were great. Most of them had read the book, and they asked amazing, non-stop questions for two hours. Loved them!

I also had the pleasure of speaking to the Children's Librarian Association of Suffolk County last week, which was wonderful. I'm definitely more comfortable behind a computer than I am in front of large groups, but these librarians couldn't have been more welcoming. They even had Kit Kats on every table AND a chocolate fountain in honor of Maggie Bean!

In other public speaking news, I'll be talking about How I Spent My Summer Vacation at the ALAN conference in Orlando on Nov. 22. If you're attending, I'd love to see you there!

While in Orlando I plan to swing by Disney World and possibly Universal. I haven't been to either in many, many years, so I'm very much looking forward to it. With limited time, though, I'm not quite sure what needs to be hit and what can be skipped. If anyone has tips or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

And finally, the Christmas tree might be going up in our house today. Too soon? I think not. :)

Have a great week!

A Few Things

As we head into the weekend, I thought I'd share a few updates and random happenings.

First, some Siren announcements. I've posted elsewhere but not here that the sequel has an official title: Undercurrent. This was chosen after much discussion with Egmont, my agent, and her assistant; in the end, we all agreed that a powerful, beneath-the-surface force best suggested Vanessa's struggles upon her return to Boston for her senior year of high school. I love the title and hope readers do, too!

In other Siren news, the German edition, Im Zauber der Sirenen, has been released. So hello, new German readers! I hope you enjoy. Also, the audio version is now available for purchase.

On a completely unrelated topic, thanks to dropping temperatures and the upcoming holiday, I've been in the mood for some spooky TV specials lately. There weren't many choices until this week, when my husband and I came upon a two-part, four-hour documentary about the making of Nightmare on Elm Street. When this movie first came out manymanymany years ago, my mother refused to let me see it, and after watching the documentary, I understand why. Twenty-five years later, I'd probably still be traumatized and unable to sleep through the night! But it was definitely interesting to hear how it was made and became such a pop-culture phenomenon. And next week there's going to be another documentary about the making of Friday the 13th, which I also haven't seen. Despite that, I'm already looking forward to the behind-the-scenes scoop!

Speaking of dropping temperatures, I'm in full-on fall mode now. I've packed up the flip-flops, busted out the socks and slippers, and already gone through two pumpkin-scented candles—the big kind, with, like, 100-hour burn times each. And last night, I made butternut squash soup for the first time ever, and it was DELISH! In case you couldn't tell, I'm all about the orange-colored squash this time of year.

Finally, I was at my mom's house this week and invaded her massive stash of Christmas music. I can now listen to the holiday hits of Harry Connick Jr., Mariah Carey, Frank Sinatra, and the Smashing Pumpkins any time I want...which is pretty much all the time! In a few more weeks, I'll be ready for documentaries about the making of Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Story and even Prancer. Especially since I've actually seen all of those!

Have a great weekend!

The Mental Progression of a Work-in-Progress

Yesterday afternoon, I sent my latest project to my agent and her assistant for review. This was accompanied by lots of excitement...and a huge sigh of relief. While writing any new book I always wonder a few times if I'll ever reach The End, and this one was no different!

The rest of the thought process usually goes something like this:

-A new idea! It's great. I love it. Can't wait to get started.

-Have started! Words are coming so fast my fingers struggle to keep up!

-First chapter done. Could be the best one I've ever written!

-Chapters 2-5 also done. Love this story, love these characters, love what happens next!

-Um...what happens next?

-Thinking, plotting, thinking, plotting.

-Three more chapters done. Took longer than the first bunch, but that's okay.

-Long pause.

-Outlining will help.

-Another new idea! It's great. I love it. Maybe THIS is the one I should focus on.

-But I've already written 100 pages of the other idea. Shouldn't I see it through?

-Should go with inspiration when it strikes. Brainstorming New Idea #2.

-Can't stop thinking about New Idea #1.

-Back to first new idea. Words flowing once again.

-Oh! But what if, in the OTHER story, I—

-Nope. Must focus.

-Focusing. Writer blinders on.

-Two chapters to go! Almost there!

-Oops. Underestimated. THREE chapters to go!

-First draft done!

-Big smile.

-Huge sigh.

How about you, fellow writers? Is your thought process generally the same for each book? Do you bounce around, or do you keep writer blinders on the whole time?

The Official SIREN Trailer!

My wonderful publisher, Egmont USA, made this trailer for SIREN—and I absolutely LOVE it! I've watched it about a hundred times and still get chills. Hope you enjoy!

What I'm Listening to When I'm Not Listening to Christmas Music

I've blogged before about how I need music to write, and how this music is usually mellow and/or instrumental so I'm not distracted by other people's lyrics. The Enya and Yanni Pandora stations receive lots of listening love from me, and that's why.

But when I'm in a really good groove, the way I am now, I'm not as easily distracted and other music may be added to the mix. In addition to "White Christmas" and "Little Drummer Boy," here are a few songs currently in rotation:

Rabbit Heart - Florence + The Machine
All to All - Broken Social Scene
I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers
Bushwick Blues - Delta Spirit
Elevator Love Letter - Stars
Ready to Start - Arcade Fire
California Stars - Billy Bragg and Wilco
White Table - Delta Spirit
The Only Exception - Paramore
Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons
I Can See the Pines are Dancing - A.A. Bondy
Blinding - Florence + The Machine

Of these, the ones that get repeated the most are All to All, I and Love and You, California Stars, Little Lion Man, and I Can See the Pines are Dancing. They're are also good for driving at night with the windows down. :)

Do you need music to read or write? If so, do you stick with the same artists/songs, or do you switch it up?

Hope you had a great weekend!

Christmas Music: How Soon is Too Soon?

Christmas festivities have always started pretty early at my house. Back in high school, my friends never believed me when I confessed to listening to Christmas music as early as October—until they came over and found "Christmas with the Beach Boys" in the tape player. This was completely my own doing as my mother, holiday fan though she is, always waited till November to bust out Bing Crosby and Co. And it seems the older I get, the earlier the festivities start.

Case in point: I'm listening to Tony Bennett's greatest Christmas hits as I type this blog post.

Also: I might've switched to the Peaceful Holidays station on Pandora last week. And stayed there.

September's super early, even for me, but I couldn't help but give in to the urge when it struck. Because Christmas music is warm and soothing, kind of like the cup of coffee and lit pumpkin-scented candle with which I'm also writing this blog post. I think it might even help keep me focused and increase my productivity—and if it does, then it can't be wrong, right? As the oh-so-wise Sheryl Crow claims, "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad!"

How about you? Does Christmas music make you happy? If so, how early do you start listening? Any favorite artists or albums? (There are three months till the big day, after all...I could use some recommendations!) :)

Have a great day!