YA Challenge Addendum

I'm so excited that so many of you have expressed interest in joining the YA Novel Challenge!

So, this is how it's going to work for me, but feel free to change and adapt for yourself, however you would like. Because after all, this is supposed to help us, right? And we probably each need to be helped in different ways.

1. The challenge will run June 1st to August 31st.

2. The goal of the challenge is to write or revise a YA novel, or part of a YA novel.

3. To meet that goal, set smaller goals for yourself: words per day, pages revised per week, etc.

4. If you would like, blog about your progress. Remember that failure is as important as success.

5. Anyone can join or leave the challenge at any time. It's always OK to start or stop.

If you plan on blogging about your progress and would like me to link to your blog, sent me the URL you would like me to link to and the name you would like me to use. I'll link to it under YA Novel Challenge (on the sidebar). My email address is tgoss@bu.edu.

I was excited to write a YA novel this summer, but I'm so much more excited now that I'm not doing it alone! I'm looking forward to starting on June 1st.

The rest of this post is going to be about Wiscon, which I'm preparing for tonight, so if you don't want to hear about which dress I'm thinking of packing for the banquet, you can stop reading now.

On to the dress.

There is one banquet, and two possibilities. The first is a long burgundy velvet dress that I bought in a thrift store.  (By long, I mean that it goes down to my ankles.)

The second is a black velvet tunic with a skirt of gray net over tulle. I don't remember where I got the tunic, but it comes with a long black velvet skirt, which is particularly useful on nights when I want to look like a vampire. The gray skirt was from J.Jill, bought years ago because I couldn't resist anything so subtle and beautiful.

I know, neither of these outfits look like anything on the hanger. I chose them because they're warm and comfortable. When you have them on, they drape around your body and look quite different, shaped rather than boxy.  I don't know why, but this particular Wiscon I want whatever I'm wearing to drape around me, almost like a hug.

And then there are the shoes, again two possibilities. First, the shoes in which I can stand for thirty minutes without pain.

Then, the shoes in which I can stand for two hours without pain.

Nevertheless, I will end up wearing whichever pair I choose all night. Both of them go with my favorite evening purse.  (I will probably take the second pair.  Just like the dress, I want my shoes to be comfortable.  Well, relatively.  If it's a party, I want to be wearing heels.  Otherwise, attending a party is like being in a well, since I'm almost a foot shorter than the John Joseph Adams and Gavin Grants of the world.)

And of course there is the jewelry. I probably won't decide on specific pieces until the last minute, but this is the selection I'm probably taking with me.

Sorry, I know that's blurry. I still haven't had time to put together my new camera, so I'll have to take the old to Wiscon. And these particular pictures were just snapped on my phone.  But it includes pearls, marcasites, intaglio, and garnets.

So which outfit should I take? Maybe I'll take both of them. There are going to be a number of parties. I can wear the black velvet tunic with jeans, the gray net skirt with a black t-shirt and ballet flats. I have so much more work to do tonight, and I haven't even started packing. But I'm so looking forward to this!