Anne Riley's Blog, page 5

March: A Photo Diary

When you think about it, it’s totally appropriate that I would post on April Fool’s Day after not posting for A WHOLE ENTIRE MONTH. But look! I have pictures! Here’s how we occupied ourselves last month (and I promise I’ll be better about posting from now on!):

I guess the first thing of interest from March would be our trip to New York. We drove to Atlanta on a Tuesday night and stayed with our dear friend Robert.

Robert has been friends with my husband since the dawn of time.

Then we woke up at 3:30am EST (which was actually 2:30am to our CST bodies), fell into a cab, stumbled through the Atlanta airport, and eventually ended up on a New York-bound airplane.

We sent this photo to Agent Emma while waiting to de-board the plane. Pretty sure the caption was something about our imminent approach. #CreepyTourists

Once we reached New York–and this probably goes without saying, but–the very first thing we did was try to find Jay-Z.

Spoiler alert: We didn’t. *sigh*

But we DID have an amazing hotel in Times Square, so we got settled in and then ventured into the city to hunt down some lunch. The great thing about this trip was that each of us had already visited New York twice, so there wasn’t any pressure to do any of The Things You Do In New York, which meant we contented ourselves with pizza and walking and coffee and napping.

Yes, it was lovely, thanks.

Anyway, part of the reason for our visit was the NYC Teen Authors Festival, which happened at various locales across Manhattan, but was mostly focused at the public library and this little gem of a bookstore.

I got to visit a panel/book signing at Books of Wonder!

I was able to attend several panels at the library and hear a lot of great authors talk.

This one was moderated by David Levithan. Great picture, huh?

But the highlight of the whole trip was definitely meeting my dear Emma Patterson in person! We had dinner in Manhattan with Emma and her fiance on our first night. Then we were able to snag her for lunch the next day, and on our last night in New York, she actually MADE us dinner and invited us to her home!

I don’t know a lot of people who get to visit their agent’s house, do you?

I got to visit my agency, Brandt & Hochman, and see their offices…

…and hang out with Emma!

Okay, I kind of lied when I said we didn’t do any touristy things. We did spend one entire morning in Central Park because it was absolutely GORGEOUS and we just couldn’t help ourselves.

Me and the hubs at Belvedere Castle.

And then we also sort of accidentally got a private tour of the American Irish Historical Society, mostly because I’m not afraid to randomly ring doorbells and ask if I can come in and look around.

My husband’s family hails from Ireland, in case that wasn’t clear.
O Raghailligh = O’Riley = Riley.

Oh, and we saw this on one of the trains, and for some reason it just really got me tickled.

[image error]

Written in careful Sharpie print just after the paragraph about how the subway system is always improving: “Hard to look up though, when late for work again.” It’s just so carefully written.

So we had a great time, and it was kind of hard to come home until we saw these little peanuts…

And we realized how worn out we were…

Yeah, I took a little nap on my laundry.

And since then, we’ve been playing outside…

…getting tubes in Baby J’s ears (thank you Jesus and hallelujah)…

…and just generally living our wonderful lives.

I hope your March was equally as fun, and here’s to a fantastic April!

Reality Check

Listen, y’all. There is a MISCONCEPTION going on in Internet-land, and it centers on this one idea:

Everyone has it together except me. 

Now, I’m not talking about ME me. I know for a FACT that I don’t have it all together. But this is a thought that has zipped through all of our heads at one point or another, am I right?

Everyone else’s kids behave better than mine. 

Everyone else’s house is cleaner than mine. 

Everyone else is more attractive than I am. 

LIES.

“Oh, sure,” you say. “It’s easy for you to call these lies, but you don’t know what my kitchen looks like. You don’t know what my kids said to me today. You don’t know what’s in my car, or how terrible my skin looks, or how long it’s been since I cleaned my bathroom.”

DON’T I?

FACT: I recently found hard-as-a-rock French fries wedged between the seat and the gearshift console in my car. HEAVEN KNOWS how long they had been there. And I regularly discover old sippy cups full of what used to be milk that have rolled under one of the seats. It’s all I can do to launch them into the trash can without gagging.

FACT: 90% of the time, I look like this:

Literally took this picture right now.

Please notice lack of makeup, multitude of blemishes, and Katniss braid that MIGHT be cool except that whenever I get pregnant, I lose the hair around my hairline, so now–a year after Baby J’s birth–I have this ring of 6-inch long, scraggly, weirdly curly sprigs of hair right around my hairline. You can see some coming out from behind my ear, and then also on the corners (?) of my head. Yeah…those aren’t bangs. And they look a lot better NOW than they did when they were only an inch long. Holy mother of pearl, that was a pain.

FACT: Only one of my children can talk, but–well, let’s just say we’re no strangers to discipline. The three-year-old might put on a good front when she’s in public, but believe me when I say we have had some CHATS about what comes out of her mouth. My husband once had an entire conversation with a friend at the grocery store while M. kicked and screamed on the tile floor. Don’t get me wrong–she is precious, and we love her and Baby J more than life itself. But just about every morning, we have about a thirty-minute window of screaming and crying while they get ready for school. Lord have mercy at the drama.

FACT: This is my kitchen sink, right now:

See that heart decoration? It’s been up since Valentine’s Day. I just now decided it was probably time to take it down. And if you’re thinking there aren’t that many dirty dishes in the sink–well, you’re right, but it’s only because we have already done dishes TWICE today. And oh look, the trash needs to be taken out, but instead of actually taking it out, I’ve helpfully pulled the trash can out onto the floor.

That’s just great, Anne Riley. Thanks so much for your servant’s heart.

(If you look closely, you can see that I did not bother to paint the inside of the cabinet doors when I was repainting all the cabinets. This is mostly because I want to line them with some cool wallpaper and therefore didn’t feel it was necessary to paint them, but it’s also a little bit because I was TIRED OF PAINTING, MY WORD.)

FACT: This is where we keep our clean laundry:

I mean, sure, we sometimes get around to putting it up. But generally, we end up wearing things again before they ever make it to the dresser, so unless someone’s coming over, this is where we get our clean socks.

And then I threw in a picture of my dresser, just for funsies:

Can we please take inventory of the things lying on top of it?

1) LED flashlight gift box

2) Baby Owl hat for winter (does not currently fit either of our children)

3) A pair of high heels I borrowed from a friend that didn’t fit because my feet grew an entire size during my first pregnancy and I have yet to accept it, so I keep trying to wear shoes in my old size, but it never works, but I keep denying it because I am a nutjob

4) Deodorant (hey! a sign of personal hygiene, that’s always good!)

5) A sweet picture made by M. a couple years ago

6) An interesting musical juxtaposition: The Black Keys sitting on top of Veggie Tales “Hosanna.” Because gritty rock n’ roll paired with cartoon vegetables singing about Jesus is just how we roll.

7) Three different lip balms, a fancy bobby pin whose mate I can’t find, and a flash drive with basically my entire life on it. Good thing it’s just lying around where literally anything could happen to it.

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. A reality check, courtesy of yours truly. My house is not clean, my skin is not clear, I’m irresponsible with my possessions and Lord knows what you might find if you ride in my car.

Happy March, everyone, and I hope you have a fabulous week free of pressure and lies!

Surprise! I Have Not Been Eaten By Zombies

So! It’s been a while, eh?

I can explain.

I knew February was going to be a freight train o’ crazy, and sure enough, it delivered. First of all, my deadline for first pass edits (the big stuff that needs to change before we get into the more nitty-gritty details) was March 1, so that, just by itself, was a giant red flag with BUCKLE UP, SISTER printed on it in a 4,000-point font. Something bold and intimidating, like Engravers, maybe.

(I can name most fonts on sight because I spent four years learning the art of advertising and graphic design. So if you’re ever out in public with me, there’s a solid possibility I’ll point at a sign and yell APPLE CHANCERY! or PAPYRUS! and you will have to decide whether or not to pretend you don’t know me.)

(But really, who CAN’T instantly identify Papyrus?!?)

Look, I never said it was my FAVORITE font.

ANYWAY.

Aside from the revisions on PULL (which, by the way, I finished ONE WHOLE WEEK EARLY, CAN I GET AN AMEN AND A HALLELUJAH and maybe also a nap), I’ve spoken at three different events.

The first one was the Birmingham Local Authors Expo. I did a seminar called “How To Write While Having A Life,” and yes, I can send you the Powerpoint if you want it.

Werkin’ the table.

The second was this past Friday at the Write Connection, which is an invitation-only writing event for high schoolers in the Shelby County public school system. I did four sessions about how I got published and what it takes to become a published author. The students were delightful and I only smuggled three of them home in my backpack.

OH FINE, I didn’t smuggle any of them home. But don’t you think for a minute I didn’t consider it.

And then, just yesterday, I conducted a query seminar/workshop thingy for the Southern Magic chapter of the Romance Writers of America. They were also delightful, though a bit sassier than the high schoolers, which was definitely not a bad thing. I do enjoy a healthy dose of sass here and there. But the really cool part was that I recognized several faces at the workshop, and it turned out they had heard me speak at the Authors Expo back on Feb. 1. And they had decided they wanted to hear me AGAIN.

So that was humbling and really cool, and basically I love them and think they are awesome.

Don’t you love pictures of yourself in the middle of a sentence?

Other things I’ve been up to:

–Attending birthday parties, most recently at Build-A-Bear, where the 3-year-old got to take home a multicolored bear that she promptly named “Rainbow.”

I approve wholeheartedly, having named most things “Rainbow” when I was a kid. (Or “Treetop,” which for some reason sounded like the most beautiful name in the world to my four-year-old ears.)

(Incidentally, I also referred to nostrils as “hippopotamuses.” For some reason I feel like that’s important to note.)

Forward and onward to other things we’ve been doing…

–Cutting the satellite TV. We hardly ever watch TV anyway–not because we don’t want to (WE DO), but because we simply don’t have the time. And if the TV did happen to be on, it was on Nick Jr, and who needs DJ Lance yelling at them about eating their vegetables on a daily basis? NOT US, THANKS.

YOU’RE DONE, DJ LANCE. DONE.

So once we figured out that we were paying $48 a month for cartoons, we decided to cut the satellite out of our lives. Now we’re doing Amazon Prime (which works out to $6.33 a month) and I’ve just ordered a Mohu Leaf indoor HDTV antenna, which has come highly recommended by many people. The one-time cost there is less than our monthly satellite bill. So that seems like a win, provided it works and all.

–Enjoying my new author photos! Have you seen them? Click on my “photos” page, and you get a whole bunch of MAH FACE. You’re welcome.

–I’ve also been approved as a guest/panelist for the Alabama Phoenix Festival, which is sort of a very small, Birmingham-based Comic Con. I’m SUPER EXCITED. That’s going to be in May, but I haven’t added it to my events page yet because I am still recovering from whatever happened in the past four weeks.

–I know I bring this up all the time, but Yellowhammer has REALLY taken off. If you’re not sure what that is, click on the “Yellowhammer” tab at the top of this page and check it out!

And finally…

It’s official–I’ll be in New York from Wednesday, March 19–Saturday, March 22 for the NYC Teen Author Festival (and also (mostly) to meet my amazing agent IN PERSON!!!)! I’m not appearing as an author or anything–just going as an attendee! There’s a great lineup of authors and a wonderful selection of panels, not to mention a Teen Books party on Thursday night and a MASSIVE book signing on Sunday (which, obviously, I will miss). If you’re going to be in the area, holla! I’d love to say hello!

That’s all I’ve got for now. I hope to be around a bit more often now that I’ve finished first pass edits, but until next time, have a wonderful week!

Snowpocalypse, Public Speaking, And My *Real* Author Photo

My part of the country has struggled just a bit this week, and if you’ve watched the news AT ALL, you know what I’m talking about.

On Tuesday, the “dusting” of snow we were supposed to receive actually CAME, which is shocking enough–but when an inch-thick layer of ice formed on the roads within an hour or so of the first flakes, well…let’s just say things got a bit dicey.

And, sure, at first it seemed a little silly that a couple inches of snow had brought the entire Southeast to a grinding halt. But then we realized it wasn’t the snow, it was the ice–and the problem with ice is that it makes driving up and down hills a bit of a challenge.

Guess what?

Birmingham is pretty much ALL HILLS.

Combine that with our distinct lack of knowledge re: driving in inclement winter weather and our lack of things like salt trucks and whatever else can be used to combat icy conditions, and you can see why our entire transportation system disintegrated almost immediately.

Highway 280: the busiest highway on my side of Birmingham.

Over 11,000 Birmingham kids spent the night at school Tuesday night, plus a whole lot of faculty and staff. Almost every family I know had someone trapped in their school or workplace. People abandoned their cars all over the highways because they simply couldn’t drive them any farther, and then not only was there ice to deal with, there were a million cars to dodge.

Some people spent ten hours or more trying to reach their loved ones. Thankfully, we Rileys were able to either carefully creep along the roads or hike home, and we were all together by mid-afternoon. I still can’t believe we managed to be under one roof when so many families weren’t.

This kind of thing just doesn’t happen around here. We deal with tornados, hurricanes, droughts, and high heat warnings. WE DON’T DO SNOW, Y’ALL.

But in the midst of the scary and the uncertain, a lot of beautiful things happened. One brain surgeon walked six miles through the snow and ice to perform life-saving surgery. A few guys from the school where I teach spent all night riding around on ATVs, pulling people out of ditches. Everybody with four-wheel-drive spent most of Tuesday and Wednesday helping other people get to their families.

It was some lovely stuff, I tell ya.

STILL… As lovely as people were during the whole episode, we were all happy to see the sun on Thursday, and yesterday I had to turn on the air conditioner.

It feels good to be back to normal.

Yesterday morning, I spoke at the Birmingham Local Authors Expo. My seminar was entitled “How To Write While Having A Life.”

Like so.

The turnout was great, and because I thrive in situations that involve large numbers of people and public speaking (yes, I am a rare breed), I had an absolute blast hanging out with everyone who came to hear me.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any pictures of the attendees, so you’ll just have to believe they were there. But I do have THIS picture of me standing at my table with my books:

Finally–and you’re just going to have to imagine that there is a transition between the Authors Expo and this new topic–I’ve been thinking a lot about author photos.

I just had new author photos taken (haven’t gotten them back just yet, but as soon as I do, I’ll post a few). My current ones are actually from when I was 26, and since I’m 30 now, I figured it was time for an update.

I really enjoyed the photo shoot and I can’t wait to see the final products, but the whole time my friend Kathryn was taking pictures of me, I kept thinking: This is not how I really look. 

I mean, author photos are NOT REAL, right? Who ever looks that put-together in real life? NOBODY. Certainly not writers. We’re doing good to bathe on a semi-regular basis, never mind get dressed and do our hair.

So even though these are my current “official” author photos from four years ago…

I really feel that if I were to use a true-to-life photo of myself, something that represented how I feel while I’m revising this book, how I typically look when there’s no pressure to come across a certain way–well, I think I would look a little worried. I’d definitely be wearing sweats, and I wouldn’t have on any makeup, and my hair, OH, my hair would be a disaster.

In short, it would be this:

Awwww yeah.

I don’t know about y’all, but I can totally see that on a book jacket.

(And just in case you were wondering, yep, that is me right now, in Panera. I look like this IN PUBLIC.)

(No shame.)

Happy week, Grasshoppers. I’ll see you next Sunday.

In Which I Don A Bodysuit Of VapoRub

Listen.

I have had a lot of colds.

It comes with the territory of teaching at a high school, and also having small children who are around other small children during the day. I’m used to having the occasional bug; it’s something I’ve learned to expect and deal with.

But the cold I caught sometime on Wednesday has a devious streak, and I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit. In fact, I may have to call its mama and have a long chat about just how tricky this little cold has been.

Wednesday morning started the same way all Wednesday mornings start: I woke up at 5:30, got ready for work while my husband tended to the children (bless that man’s heart–it’s not easy to wrestle a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old into non-pajama clothing), and left with the kiddos around 7:00.

At lunchtime, I noticed my head felt a little…buzzy.

There are, to my knowledge, only two causes of a buzzy head. Since I’m not in the habit of boozing it up during school hours, I figured it was the second option: GERMS.

CUE MUSIC OF DOOM.

Normally, a cold is no big deal. I can take some quality medicine, hydrate like a boss, and even take a day off work if I want. So I planned to do all this, but it never got that bad. It just sort of fizzled out.

I should have known something was off, but oh, I was naive.

I went home Wednesday afternoon feeling fine, and even though Thursday morning brought a mediocre round of the sniffles, I thought, “Eh, it’s probably just allergies.”

(Side note: I have never in my life suffered from seasonal allergies, yet this is ALWAYS my first explanation as to why I’m not feeling well. What is wrong with me?)

Thursday afternoon: I felt fine.

Friday morning: I felt fine. I even gave my last Aleve-D to a co-worker who was about to be brought down by a cold of her own.

Friday night: Fine.

Saturday morning: Ehhhhhhh. Okay. My “allergies” were acting up a little, but I had the following commitments to fulfill:

–Our annual family photo shoot at my parents’ 1920s farmhouse (where they actually live, and yes, where I grew up)

–My author photo shoot in downtown Birmingham (the pictures I’m using now are from my first shoot in 2009, so obviously it was time for an update)

–A friend’s 4-year-old daughter’s donut decorating birthday party (!!!)

–Another friend’s 31st birthday dinner (there would be pizza, and I love pizza)

Now, I wasn’t ABOUT to miss any of these. Family photos? PRICELESS. Author photos? NEEDED. Birthday parties? AWESOME.

But midway through the 31st birthday dinner for our friend J (who, incidentally, is this guy), the germs decided to launch a FULL-SCALE AMBUSH on my head.

I couldn’t breathe. I could barely talk through the congestion. I felt chilly, even inside the crowded pizza place. I couldn’t hear anyone because my ears were stuffed up, so I just watched the Alabama-LSU basketball game on the TV while everyone else chatted.

And if you know anything about me at all, I am normally not the one watching sports while other people talk.

By the time Rob and I got in the car, I was pretty convinced I might be dying. And of course, since it was 9pm at this point, none of the pharmacies still had pharmacists on hand. That meant my precious Aleve-D–the ONLY cold medicine that works for me–was under lock and key until the next morning.

(Thanks, everyone who makes meth using cold medicines. This is all your fault.)

The only thing we found that would make any difference in my condition was VapoRub, so when we got home, I slathered it all over myself and crawled into bed, and lo, that is mostly where I have been ever since.

Except I did come down to the living room to watch The Mummy on A&E, because obviously.

My husband was sitting with me when this scene with the beetles came on, and unfortunately for him, it launched me right into a story about this terrifying episode my family once had with an enormous black beetle that burrowed its way into my sister’s bedroom. I’ll tell you about it later.

The good news is, I’ve got my Aleve-D now, and I’m mentally preparing myself to PRETEND I don’t have the cold from hell, BECAUSE:

–In six days, I will be the featured speaker at the Birmingham Local Authors Expo. (It is FREE! Come see me, writers!) And I, um, need to prepare. Because although I often fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to life in general, I always make sure to prepare well for speaking engagements. They’re important to me, and other writers are important to me, and I want it to be a useful, fun, and informative time for all of us.

–My first pass edits on PULL are due March 1. Yes, this is over a month away, but what I don’t want is to look up and find that it is February 20th and I still have a bajillion revisions to work through. That would result in some fairly low-quality writing on my part (think Tarzan-style dialogue), and, well, we can’t have that.

Also? I have two more speaking engagements in February. So I really, really can’t procrastinate the way I used to.

–I have a job, and there are teenagers who expect me to be there, and I like them. This one doesn’t really need any explanation, does it?

–Yellowhammer has REALLY picked up lately, which is awesome! But critiquing other people’s query letters and manuscripts WHILE working on my own edits, WHILE working full time, WHILE snuggling my husband and children in the evenings–you can see why I don’t have time give in to the germs. I have not overcommitted myself at all, but the work is steady, and I can’t just lie around.

It’s times like this when I think a time-turner might be nice.

There’s my ticket to leisure, right there. Somebody make this a real thing kthx.

And because I can feel some of you thinking it (and my husband has reminded me of this at least forty-five times in the past hour), YES, I am resting and trying to recover quickly.

But I’m telling you, this cold? It’s a stinker. And it has hit me at the worst possible time. So if you could send some healthy vibes my way, Grasshoppers, I’d be ever so grateful. And maybe some more VapoRub. And some chicken soup. And–oh, just go ahead and send yourself. There’s nothing quite as healing as a friendly face, after all.

February: Things That Are Happening

Yes, that is maybe the worst blog post title in the history of blog post titles, but mah brain, it hurrrrrts.

I usually try to blog on Sundays, but this past Sunday, I didn’t. So I’m doing it now, because some things are happening that I want to tell you about.

(Oh, if you’re not hooked by that paragraph, you clearly don’t understand effective writing techniques because that was some FASCINATING STUFF, PEOPLE.)

Many of the things I need to tell you are housekeeping-type things and may get a bit tedious, so to break up the monotony, please enjoy a hedgehog photo between each topic.

Here we go.

THING #1: This really has nothing to do with February at all, but several people have asked me why they don’t get email updates when I blog anymore.

The answer is that my Email Subscriber Thingy broke, and I had to put it out of its misery, and then I installed a NEW AND IMPROVED Email Subscriber Thingy, but it did not know anything about the old list of email subscribers, so it failed to notify anyone about anything unless they entered their email address again.

That being said, if you want to get an email whenever I blog, check the widget in the sidebar and enter your email address!

Birthday Hedgehog

THING #2: For a multitude of reasons, I have disabled commenting on my blog posts. This doesn’t mean I don’t care what you have to say–I do!

But I’m SO available online in SO many places (see the icons at the top of my sidebar?) that I felt I needed at least one place where I could post things without getting immediate feedback.

While 98% of my commenters are positive, encouraging people, there are a few who think it’s fun to be snarky and rude, and I just need that to not happen here–especially as I’m preparing for the release of PULL sometime next year.

SK8RBOI Hedgehog

THING #3: If you are a writer in the Birmingham, Alabama area (sorry Michigan, I live in the OTHER Birmingham), then please check my events page! I will be lurking at several writer-type events next month, and I’d love to meet you!

Slightly Miffed Sombrero Hedgehog

THING #4: I’ve been featured in Weld Magazine for the upcoming Birmingham Local Authors Expo. You can find the article HERE. I’m really super excited about this event, and if you are interested in how to write while having a life (which is my topic) then please come! It is FREE!

Swan Lake Hedgehog

THING #5 (last one, I promise!): My freelance editing business, Yellowhammer Literary Services, has SERIOUSLY taken off in the past few months and I am so grateful to all of you who have spread the word! Thank you a million times! And remember, if you need anything edited OR you need help querying, I’m your girl.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Three Fun Things

Happy Sunday, Grasshoppers! I am still collecting myself from the euphoria of last week; getting to announce my book deal was easily the most fun and exciting thing EVER, and I got to share it with all of YOU, and honestly, I think that was the best part: YOU. It meant so much to me to have you all squealing and jumping up and down with me, telling me you were proud of me, saying you couldn’t wait to read the book…

Y’all, you just don’t know. You don’t EVEN know how much that means to me.

I am going to type up the detailed version of how the deal went down and what I’ve been doing since July 16, which was the day Emma called to tell me the book had sold (spoiler alert: I’ve mostly just been sitting on my hands and duct-taping my mouth shut and trying to avoid blabbing it all over the internet, which, GO ME, I managed to keep quiet).

But my brain is still a little on the mushy side, so instead of trying to form coherent thoughts right now, I thought I’d leave you with three super fun things to watch and read and look at today.

FIRST UP: I filmed a reenactment of getting THE CALL from Agent Emma, and I think you’ll find it quite entertaining. Also, my southern accent is weirdly pronounced in this one. So you can at least watch it for that.

SECOND: Whenever a book deal gets finalized, it is always announced on a fancy website called Publisher’s Marketplace. You have to pay to look at Publisher’s Marketplace, and even though I was willing to do this just for a glimpse of my book deal IN WRITING, both my agent AND one of my new editors (squee!) sent me a screenshot!

OH, THAT IS PRETTY.

And then THIRD: Today is Baby J’s first birthday!

Happy birthday, Baby J!

You may remember (or you may not) that I published her birth story shortly after we got home from the hospital, and apparently it was so entertaining that it made several friends pee a little AND it made its way around at least two OBGYN offices.

So if you’d like to read it, either for the first or second (or fiftieth) time, it is HERE. 

Thank you again for everything, my loves. I’ll be back soon with more!

Prepare Yourself For The Muppet Flail Of A Lifetime

I HAVE A BOOK DEAL!!!!!!!!
Spencer Hill Press has offered me a contract for the publication of PULL!!!

OH HAI PUBLISHER.

WOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

*          *          *

Before we go any further, some of you are VERY CONFUSED INDEED.

“But Anne!” you say. “I thought you already had a book deal? For Shadows? With Compass Press?”

Yes. Yes I did. And I still do. But there are some MAJOR differences between the two deals.

I’ve already talked this over with Heather McCorkle (senior editor at Compass) and she agrees that, while the Compass deal was legitimate and also fabulous, it was done mainly to save the story of The Clearing–which later became Shadows of the Hidden–from fading into oblivion (or “Bolivian,” if you’re Mike Tyson). Heather had read the book and loved it, and when I reached the point of pulling it from publication, she offered me a contract in order to salvage it.

Thank you, Heather, for being awesome and believing in my book!

So it WAS a book deal–there was a contract, and my book got a makeover, and I got a lot of amazing exposure. But the way it came about–quietly, calmly, as an alternative to an early book grave–left me feeling like I was still waiting on The Deal. I wanted another agent, I wanted to go on submission, I wanted all the tension and waiting and expectation that comes along with being on sub.

And lo, I got it.

Heather agrees that this deal with Spencer Hill is THE DEAL. It’s what she hoped would happen for me, and now…

IT HAS HAPPENED!!!

So a big CHEERS to Heather for the role she has played in my writing career. Thank you Heather, and thank you Compass Press!

*          *          *

SO!

Now that you are (hopefully) no longer confused, DO YOU SEE WHY I AM MUPPET FLAILING?!?!?!

Spencer Hill is AWESOME. They put out some seriously amazing books, and they are growing like crazy. If you think you’ve heard of them, you probably have–especially if you roam about in Twitterland like I do. Kelsey Macke, Megan Whitmer, and Dahlia Adler are just a few of the fabulous authors debuting with SHP in the near future. So yeah–it’s an incredible press, and I get to be a part of their family!

*Edited to add: I’ve just been told that Anna Masrud, editor at SHP, was the one who first fell in love with PULL. So I’m pretty sure I owe A LOT OF THINGS to her. Thank you, Anna!! I can’t wait to work with you and Danielle!

While I’m talking about awesome people, I’d like to go ahead and mention this lovely gem.

Hello, fabulous Agent Emma!

I’ve fangirled over my agent, Emma Patterson, pretty much every day since I signed with her, and you’re probably all tired of hearing about how amazing she is, but SERIOUSLY SHE IS AMAZING.

From the first day we agreed to work together, Emma has been one of my biggest cheerleaders. She believes steadfastly in my work and always finds the perfect balance between affirming me and spurring me on to better writing. Talking to her is like talking to an old friend who knows exactly what you need to hear, except she also knows everything about publishing and contracts.

(And listen, there is NO WAY I could have handled this contract without her. I can’t even describe how overwhelming it looked to me, but she took the reigns and steered us right through negotiations without even the tiniest flinch. She fought to get me the very best possible deal, and without her, I wouldn’t have nearly as shiny a contract as I have.)

So: THANK YOU, Emma, for your confidence in me and your superhero ninja powers of negotiation. You are the best, the absolute BEST EVER. You deserve ALL THE SCONES. And one day, I will get my happy little self up to Brooklyn and we will go out together, and we’ll talk and laugh, and maybe cry about the fact that we live a gazillion miles away from each other, and your hair will be gorgeous because that’s what your hair does, and I’ll tell you all my crazy stories, and we will avoid Times Square together because I’m still emotionally scarred by that one New Year’s Eve thing, and it will be marvelous.

I also need to thank my dear, wonderful husband, who would absolutely die if I posted a picture of him here.

Oops.

He is just the best, y’all. Lets me go write whenever I want and always reminds me that my writing is important, even when I feel like quitting. I LOVE YOU, ROB RILEY!!!

(Bonus: He’s super cute.)

There are about a zillion other people who have contributed to this day, but I’m too fuzzybrained to even ATTEMPT to thank them all right now. (Don’t worry–I’ll thank you all in PULL’s acknowledgments!!!)

Over the next few days, I’ll post details about how everything came about. But for now, I will leave you with a small token of awesomeness in the form of me, a couple weeks ago, signing my contract:

Thank you for everything, Grasshoppers. This is only the beginning.

Busy Writer Friends: What’s Your Method?

I have tried and tried to come up with a witty first line for this blog post, but I’ve just added 2,500 words to my current Creepy Faces manuscript, so my brain has kind of transformed into an oatmeal-like goo. In light of that, this is my bland yet informative opening line:

I’m ever so honored to be the featured speaker at this year’s Birmingham Local Authors Expo in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday, February 1 at 10:00 am. 

Click the logo for more information.

THERE.

Seriously though, I am SUPER excited about this, and I’m pretty freaking pumped about the topic they asked me to speak about: How to write while having a life.

Because let’s face it, with all the things we do–jobs, families, housework, laundry (the LAUNDRY, MY WORD), meal planning, grocery shopping, car maintenance, pet care, yard work–finding a realistic way to include writing time is QUITE THE TRICK INDEED.

Now, I’ve got a few methods for working in some writing time here and there; I often write after school but before I pick up my kids, and sometimes–like today–I manage to grab a whole afternoon at Panera.

But I’d love to open up the comments to all of YOU, Grasshoppers, because I’ve got a feeling your methods are different than mine, and maybe you’ve even got a really snazzy little tip for others who struggle with balancing writing and life.

So if you’re a writer–even if you’re just dabbling–would you mind leaving me a comment and telling me when/where/how you write? How do you feel about the balance between your writing life and the rest of your life? Do you think anything needs to change, and if so, how do you plan to change it?

And just so we’re totally clear, if you do leave a comment, I’ll assume you’re giving me permission to use it as an example in my presentation. I won’t use names, but I’d love to mention some of your methods.

THANK YOU in advance, and if you’re in the Birmingham area on February 1, I’d love to see you at the Expo.

Happy commenting! I can’t wait to see how you write!

Begin As You Mean To Go On

Well. I suppose THIS is really happening, isn’t it?

It’s funny; I have a distinct memory from about a thousand years ago of my family sitting around the dinner table together (because we did that, because we are awesome) talking about some trip my sister was about to take with some church group. Maybe a youth group or something.

(Yes, I am aware that my “distinct memory” is really more of a “vague impression.” If you’ve been part of my Circle O’ Crazy long enough, you are not surprised.)

Anyway, the slogan for the trip was “Break through in ’92!” because that’s what year it was, and apparently whatever group she was traveling with was going to have a breakthrough. Or else they were going to make other people have breakthroughs. Or they were hoping to break through some barriers. Regardless, they were going to BREAK THROUGH IN ’92!

My family and I spent most of dinner (or maybe just the next eight minutes) coming up with slogans for the following years: Break free in ’93! Break down the door in ’94! Come alive in ’95! Pick up sticks in ’96!

As you can see, we kind of abandoned the whole “break” theme in favor of creative license. We also, to my recollection, did not make it past 1996 because WHO COULD FATHOM THAT SUCH A YEAR MIGHT EXIST?

And yet we have not only surpassed 1996, we’ve now found ourselves on the brink of 2014. What should our slogan be? ”Don’t be mean in 2014!” “Eat beef that’s lean in 2014!” ”Get the canteen in 2014!” “Ring-a-ding-ding in 2014!”

Oh, I could go on all night, people. Never forget: I have a degree in advertising. Slogans are mah BIZ.

(Somewhere–and this has nothing to do with anything, but–I have this recording of myself singing a jingle I actually wrote for Vidalia onions. I would find it and let you hear it, but I still have juuuuust enough dignity to NOT.)

(I know you are disappointed, and I’m a little bit sorry.)

(Will a hedgehog being tickled with a Q-tip help to dull the pain?)

(Of course it will.)

ANYWAY.

Vidalia Onion ad campaigns aside, I should tell you that there is, in fact, a point to this as-yet-nonsensical blog post, and it is this: 2014 is a brand new year, and if you’ve ever had a goal, now is the time to think about making it happen. And one of the most important parts of making things happen is starting. 

So whatever your goal is, take a few minutes tonight to think about how to start. What is the very first step? Do you need to make a list? Draw up a chart? Buy some stickers and a calendar? Do some Googling?

Pick a first step. ONE first step. Something small, not overwhelming, that you can do easily.

And then, tomorrow, actually do that first step. Do it like you mean it. Do it like you’re really going to accomplish this goal of yours.

In other words, begin as you mean to go on.

For me, this means participating in Leigh Bardugo’s #BAYMTGO (Begin As You Mean To Go On) writing sprint initiative. You can find out all the details on her blog, and if you’re not too busy tomorrow, maybe you can join in! I have no idea how many sprints I’ll be able to do, but I’m determined to do at least one.

I’ve also set a goal to write at least 500 words per day. If you’re not sure how many that is, this blog post is currently 568 words, so if this were my manuscript, I would have already accomplished my goal. I’m not saying I’ll write ONLY 500 words per day; I hope to get much more than that most days. But my sticker stars will be worth 500 words each, so as long as I’ve got at least one star for the day, I’ll be happy.

I’ll also be happy because CATS IN HATS.

What are your goals for the new year? If you are a writer, what will you be working on? Tell me in the comments!