Lisa Van Allen's Blog, page 2
July 15, 2013
What I Did On My Summer Vacation!
I’m back after a lovely and busy week of puttering around Oregon and Washington for recvacational purposes.
In Portland we rode bikes, drank beer and espresso, visited Powell’s (at which I found a signed copy of an Alice Hoffman book!), ogled the locals for their ink and artfully messy hair, and checked out the history museum.
Powell’s in Portland
*
Beervana.
In the Columbia River Gorge, we saw an honest-to-God rainforest.
In Astoria, we got our nerd on at the Goonies house (Goonies Never Say Die!).
Two Goonies at the Goonies house.
At Mount St. Helens, I got the shivers and remembered to be very, very grateful for my tiny life.
Such a deceptively pleasant day.
At Mt. Ranier, I almost lost said life on a hike that North-westerners would consider moderate but that was no such thing for this Jersey girl. The park ranger warned us about the bears (black bears, schmack bears), but failed to mention the large ice fields at 40 degree slants above 100 foot drops–
In sneakers!
–or the thousand foot drop on a rail-less trail pocked with ankle-breaker stones.
See the trail along the cliff? This is the LOW part.
Here’s the view from the top…note the ledge in the foreground.
A lovely footpath…if you’re a goat.
But the views (and bragging rights) were totally worth the dreams I had that night of being dizzy in my sleep!
We also learned that Washingtonians generally eschew guardrails. (Luckily, we did not learn this the hard way.)
Our (exhausted) evenings looked pretty much like this.
Wine, books, and fire…the only way it’s okay to enjoy all at once.
Finally, after a trip to see Lily the Baby Elephant at the Portland Zoo, we took a red eye home to a family celebration (nice) and a heat index of 100 degrees (not so nice).
Now, I’m slowly tunneling my way back into my writing.
But it’s a funny thing–even when I’m far from my office, I’m never mentally very far. Lots of good material out there on the West Coast.
Cheers,
Lisa Van Allen
The Wishing Thread, August 2013
July 4, 2013
Congrats to ARC Winners!
Congrats to the randomly selected winners of my advance reader copy contest on Facebook! You are (in no particular order):
Kadeidra Antrobus
Mary N Connolly
Ellen Meister
Gloria Derflinger
Marianne Hopkins Wood
Rachelle Lantigua Rosa
Please contact me via THIS ONLINE FORM.
Send your full name and mailing address; your ARC of The Wishing Thread will arrive in about two weeks (depending in part on how quickly you send over your address). Be sure to indicate in the comments area that you are an ARC winner from Facebook.
Thanks so much to everyone for being a part of the launch of The Wishing Thread!
Love,
Lisa Van Allen
June 28, 2013
Happy News: Free Download of The Wishing Thread
Hi all,
Great news!
My publisher has posted a free download of the first 30 pages of The Wishing Thread.
You can find it here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/150208683/THE-WISHING-THREAD-by-Lisa-Van-Allen-Excerpt#.Ucy49O2eD1g.
And in the meantime, my Facebook contest continues.
Enjoy!
Lisa Van Allen
The Wishing Thread,
June 26, 2013
Want To Win A Copy of The Wishing Thread Before It Comes Out?
If you want to win, just like my Facebook page!
The rules are simple: For every 50 likes by July 3, my publisher and I will give away an advance copy of the book!
The more Likes, the more chances to win–so I hope you’ll share (and of course, you’ll have my eternal appreciation!).
Love,
Lisa Van Allen
June 21, 2013
Cleo Chickens Out
We took the hedgie to the park to see if she might like to explore a little. She seemed like she needed a change of pace!
This is pretty much how our evening went, on repeat. She did come out a little bit, but inevitably, she would get cold feet and go running back to her carrier (perhaps it was all that traffic noise!).
So adorable, though, even when she’s a scaredy cat!
June 2, 2013
Video: You Won’t Believe Where My Hedgie Was Hiding
Cleo (my hedgehog) and I have been hanging out in my office together for months. I hedgehog-proofed the room to make sure she stayed nice and safe (and findable!). She trundles around in the evenings while I read. Usually, it works.
But last night, Cleo outsmarted me. I left the room for a drink (okay, chardonnay. Because what’s better late at night than a good book, a glass of wine, and a hedgie for company?).
But when I returned she was gone. I admit: I giggled a little. It’s a little fun to play hide and seek with a hedgie. We’ve done this before.
But after ten minutes of cursory looking, she was nowhere to be found.
I began to worry. Had I left the office door open by accident? Did she get out?
At this point, the search began to turn frantic.
I turned the whole house inside out. Under beds and sofas, side tables, chairs, towels, shelves, closets… No hedgehog.
When I was done checking everywhere, I checked again. And again.
Full-out panic had set in.
My husband got home from work at midnight, and he started to look too. At this point it was after one AM.
Having a Ball
So…I decided I had to think like a hedgehog. I turned off all the lights and sat very quietly on my office chair in the dark. I sat for twenty minutes in the dark, listening to every little sound, exhausted.
Then—miracle of miracles—I heard something! She was so close I could hear the sound of her smacking her lips (which is pretty much the cutest sound ever).
I jumped up and turned on my flashlight.
No hedgie.
Lights off again.
Twenty minutes later, I heard her scratching on something. Maybe biting.
Lights on.
Still no hedgehog.
At this point, I’m starting to think she’s caught in some parallel universe because she’s nowhere to be found in mine.
I turned off the lights again.
This time, I decided to sit on the floor, next to my chair instead of on it.
Another twenty minutes passed. And then I finally heard her right next to my ear!
Once I took the chair apart, Cleo blinked up at me with this look on her face like “Thank God!” She ran over to me and I picked her up and we cuddled for a while.
My poor girl! She’ll get a few extra meal worms for a snack tonight!
Love and thanks for being here,
Lisa Van Allen
The Wishing Thread, September 2013
February 19, 2013
Review: Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow
Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley by Jonathan Kruk
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A great book for anyone interested in the lore of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown. Some of the folk stories were embellished or stretched a bit with a storyteller’s sensibility, which I personally am okay with, as the author makes no claims to having put together an academic book. Folklore is a living thing and changes just a little in each teller’s hands. I really loved this–enjoyable, fun, informative.
February 13, 2013
Happy Valentines Day!
