Dancing with Dragons is Hard on Your Shoes.

So we moved today...

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 24 May 2012 07:53:00 +0000

It did not go...QUITE as expected.

Long story short, we left about 4 hours later than we wanted and drove 45 minutes, making it into the next town right before the moving van died and left all our earthly possessions stranded on the side of the road.

So now we're stuck in Lewiston, Idaho for tonight and tomorrow morning. And I'm super tired.

See you Saturday!

What's the worst thing that's ever happened to you during a move?

COVER REVEAL!!!!!! (and a contest!)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Today's the day!

Today I finally get to show you the super-amazing, totally-epic, wonderfully-beautiful cover for City of a Thousand Dolls!
.
.
.
(And none of you actually read that sentence because you're totally scrolling down to see it.)
.
.
.
(I see how you are.)
.
.
.
.
.

TA DA!!!!!

Isn't it FABULOUS?

I'll just let you savor the awesome for a second.
.
.
.
*pets pretty cover*
.
.
.
*waits*
.
.
.
Okay, on to the contest!

This one's a bit different. You don't have to like anything or comment on anything or follow anything. You do, however, get to be creative.

The Contest:

Here's what I want you to do.

Recreate the cover.

That's it.

Any way you want, any medium you choose. Recreate the cover (or do some sort of homage to it) and either email me a picture/video of it or post it to my Facebook wall. You have a month.

EDIT: Woops, forgot to tell you my email: miriamforsterauthor (at) gmail (dot) com

After the contest closes, I and my panel of specially chosen, arty-type people will pick the top five entries. From those entries we will randomly select one grand prize winner, a first and second runner up and two honorable mentions.

Grand Prize:

Remember when I went to see Lois Lowry talk? And came back with a secret thing I wouldn't tell you about? That secret thing was this:

A set of signed books! The grand prize winner will receive signed copies of The Giver, Gathering Blue and The Messenger, plus a pre-order of Lois Lowry's new book Son out in October.

This prize also includes a journal for writerly scribblings, and (this is my favorite part) an ARC of City of a Thousand Dolls!

First Runner Up:

ALSO gets an ARC of City of a Thousand Dolls, and a journal, along with a signed set of Alane Ferguson's Forensic Mysteries. (If you like CSI, you will LOVE these books.)

Second Runner Up:

A signed copy of the Edgar-award-winning book Icefall, by Matthew Kirby, (Such a good book!)

AND an ARC of City of a Thousand Dolls.

Honorable Mentions will both get a fifteen-dollar gift card to the online bookseller of their choice.

The contest closes at midnight, PST on June 21st. International entries are welcome. Please email me if you have any questions.

Go forth and create!

PS. The jacket art was created by the amazingly talented Colin Anderson. Feel free to sing his praises in the comment section. I'll just be over here swooning.

*pets cover again*

*swoons*

Why editing is like moving, part 2 (with a few reminders thrown in)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:59:00 +0000

It's time for another installment of Why Editing is Like Moving. (Otherwise known as "Miriam wants to blog about editing but can only think about moving, so here is an analogy.")

Both editing and moving go through similar stages.

Stage 1: Optimism.

It's not so bad! I have plenty of time and the house is already pretty clean. I have a plan, I'm organized, I'm ready. Just let me get started and things will be done in no time!

Stage 2: Confusion:

Why do we own fifteen pairs of mittens? Do we really need this? Or this? Wait, this goes in a box I've already taped up! How could we run out of boxes? Where were we keeping all this stuff? But if we pack all the towels, how will we take baths? WHY CAN'T I FIND THE ONE THING I NEED THAT WOULD MAKE THIS WORK?

Stage 3: Despair:

This is too much work. It'll never get done. The house is a shambles, everything's pulled apart and there's no way in hell I can ever put it back together. I'm running out of time and my back hurts and I'm tired and it's all impossible anyway. I should just lay down here and hope a pile of boxes falls and mercifully crushes me. Goodbye, cruel world!

Stage 4. Determination:

Well, I suppose I can't actually lay down and give up. I mean, this has to get done, we made an agreement with the landlord, and he's already rented the house out to someone else. So I guess I'll get up. Put this in a box, put that in a box. Clean this shelf, pack this drawer. Just keep moving, doing what needs to be done, because sometimes that's just what you have to do.

Stage 5: Tiredness

I can't feel my hands anymore, and my brain is an endless gray blanket of fuzz. I haven't showered in days. I forgot to eat lunch, and I'm incapable of any conversation other that "uh." Time has stretched out to one long slog. All I know is dirt and boxes and the smells of cardboard and cleaning solution. But I'm not stopping, no way. Just gotta keep trudging...

Stage 6: Arrival

Wait, I'm done? Like really done? Like nothing else to do? The truck is packed, the last bit of dust has been wiped from the closet, everything is clean and bare and ready for the next family. I'm done. It's over. We did it. Time to celebrate!

Stage 7: Collapse.

I'll celebrate after I sleep. *thunk*

Right now I'm in stage four, but I'm sure I'll be in stage five by Tuesday. And I went through this exact emotional process with both my line edits and my copyedits as well. It's all perfectly normal, though it's no fun at the time.

*sigh*

In other, happier news, the City of a Thousand Dolls cover reveal is tomorrow!

And to whet your appetite, here's the link to my City of a Thousand Dolls Pinterest board, so you can see stuff that reminded me (and my editor) of the book.

Yeah, I'm on Pinterest. I caved.

AND there will be a contest unlike anything I've ever done before on the blog. Here's a hint:

It all goes down tomorrow, so don't miss it!

If YOU had to compare editing to something, what would it be?

Wow what a week!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:27:00 +0000

This has been a REALLY intense few days.

I had my last day at Starbucks on the Thursday the 10th...
...then I drove for a couple hours up north to see my younger sister get her Associates on Friday...
...then back down to Moscow that night so that I could see my husband get his Bachelors in math on Saturday...
...then a very long day helping out with my church on Sunday...
...then the ROAK blitz on Monday...
...and Victoria Schwab's paperback release on Tuesday...
...and in the middle of all of that, we've started frantically packing because we're moving down to Boise on the 23rd.

Whew!

If you haven't yet, I encourage you to check out Victoria's new short story and the ROAK blitz, which will be going on all week. I'm still working my way through the blogs on the blitz list, and let me tell you there are some amazing people out there doing some wonderful and generous things. If you need your faith in humanity lifted (and who doesn't these days?) you should take a look.

In the meantime, the blitz brought some awesome new followers to our little corner of the Internet. Hi new followers!

Since we have some new friends, I'm opening up the comments for random questions. Ask me anything you like, whether your a new follower or an old one. I'll be popping in randomly today and tomorrow to answer.

Happy Wednesday!

THE ASH-BORN BOY, a short story from Victoria Schwab.

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:30:00 +0000

I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking. "Isn't this Tuesday?"

It is. I'm blogging on a Tuesday, but I think you'll agree this is a good reason.

See, today is the day that THE NEAR WITCH by Victoria Schwab come out in paperback. And to celebrate its release, Victoria made you all a present.

Click here.

It's a short story called "The Ash-Born Boy." Victoria wrote it as a thank-you to her fans, and she wrote it to answer one question: "Who was Cole before he came to Near?"

The best part about the story (other than the fact that it's free) is that it's for everyone.

(I take that back. The best part is Victoria's writing, which is amazing and had me hooked and filled with delightful word-envy from the first page of the story. But the second best part is that it's for everyone.)

If you've already read THE NEAR WITCH, "The Ash-Born Boy" is guaranteed to change the way you see Cole. And if you haven't read THE NEAR WITCH yet, don't worry, "The Ash-Born Boy" won't spoil anything! So basically, either way, you should go read Cole's story ;)

Also the back of the paperback itself, (WHICH YOU SHOULD TOTALLY READ) you'll find the first chapter of Victoria's new book, THE ARCHIVED, which doesn't come out until January!

So there you go. An extra blog post AND a free short story. Happy Tuesday everyone!

Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 14 May 2012 06:01:00 +0000

A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community.

Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.

So many people take the time to make us feel special, don't they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.

Kindness ROCKS!

To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. And because I think kindness is contagious, I'm participating too!

In fact, I've got TWO special shout-outs I'd like to give.

Shout-out #1 goes to P.J. Hoover over at Roots in Myth. Not only is P.J. a wonderful writer and hugely interactive in the writing community, but she was one of the very first people to regularly comment on my blog when I started. We quickly found we share an affection for Star Trek, tortoises and myths of all kinds, and we've been friends ever since.

As a new blogger and hopeful author, it was so fun for me to get to know someone on the "inside" and P.J. has been incredibly encouraging and supportive. The world of kidlit is full of amazing and warm-hearted authors, but P.J. in particular continues to inspire me with her generosity and general fabulousness.

(Plus she recently sold TWO BOOKS TO TOR!!! *happy dance*)

P.J, you rock and as my RAOK gift to you, I'm sending you the delightful ARCs, Of Poseidon and Monstrous Beauty, two very different takes on the mermaid myth!

Shout-out #2 goes to Charley R. at The Leaning Tower of Plot. Here are three things you need to know about Charley.

1. She is hilarious. Truly. Her blog makes me giggle every time.

2. She's commented on pretty much every blog post I've put up since we became friends. Those of you who blog, you know how much regular commenters mean. Often it's very easy to just read a post and move on without commenting. (I am terrible at comments myself.) Charley makes that extra effort. Someday I hope to be as good an online friend as she is.

3. She's British AND goes to boarding school, which not only makes her 67% cooler than me, it also means she's 83% more likely to get sucked into a fantastic, magical world someday.

Charley, if that ever happens, come back and tell me, okay? And as my RAOK gift to you, I'm sending you a signed copy of the The Near Witch, because it has moors in it. *grin* (along with the book you won a few weeks ago, which I've been holding so I could send everything at once.)

If you have a minute, please stop in to say hi to P.J. and Charley and tell them how awesome they are. And if you have someone special that you'd like to randomly acknowledge, don't be shy--come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round.

Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for YOU as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.

Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness? Let me know in the comments!

Testing the new comment system with ANGRY BEARS.

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:20:00 +0000

Hi everyone!

Just a quick heads up to let you know I've switched to Disqus for comments. My previous comment system was losing comments and having issues with Blogger, so I hope this will work better.

I still haven't been able to figure out what's going on with the formatting on the old comments, but I'm working on it. And new comments are working great!

As a test run, I invite you to caption the following photo of angry bear cubs.

via zooborns.com

Thanks for your help! And be sure and come back on Monday for something AMAZING.

PSA

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:40:00 +0000

Holy crap, all. I was in the middle of switching comment systems and my internet went down. But I do have all the comments and they should be back later today. Until then, please don't comment, I might not be able to import new ones.

ETA: Okay, so the Internet is back up. Apparently some road crew up north hacked through a core line and shut down the main cable/Internet provider for most of North Idaho. So that was fun.

The comment importing went fine but there were a wonky formatting issues on past comments (&#;039 instead of ') that I'm going to try to fix tomorrow. If I can't figure it out, I'll probably put up the new system anyway, since some fun stuff is going down Mon/Tues that I don't want you to miss. :)

Blog is on hold for the weekend....

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sat, 12 May 2012 08:06:00 +0000

While I mess with the comment system and get my husband graduated.

Come back for something AMAZING on Monday!

Also, here's a grumpy kitty.

Let's play connect the dots! (er...links...)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:40:00 +0000

Every morning I get up and click through Twitter to see what's been happening while I was asleep. Since most of the people I follow are full of awesome, there are usually one or two links to interesting articles for me to read as well.

This morning the articles I read were both inspiring and strangely connected. (Sadly, I have lost my morning place in the twitterstream and can't remember who I got these from. So thanks to anyone who linked to these articles. Next time I'll take better notes.)

Film Critic Hulk on the performance of Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers.

I clicked on this mainly because watching people pretend to be the Incredible Hulk amuses me to no end. Because I haven't seen the movie, I was expecting some entertainment and not much else.

What I got was a startling, on-point essay (in all caps) about the difference between real and assumed empathy and the need for dramatic and contradictory characters in storytelling. Awesome stuff.

And speaking of The Avengers....

Joss Wedon's open letter of thanks to his fans.

Which was very interesting indeed in the light of this article about the power and importance of fandom.

Fandom matters: writers must respect their followers or pay with their careers.

Whatever JW's faults are--and there are seem to be things he could have done differently--I think it's safe to say that he's someone who respects his fans. And they have repaid him by building one of the most loyal and fanatical fandoms in TV/movie history.

All in all, my morning's reading gave me lots of food for thought. It also made me hope that if you guys ever see me disregarding or disrespecting my readers and followers, that you give me a slap upside the head. Because you--you wonderful, fanatical story-lovers--are important. And I appreciate you.

Have you read anything lately that made you think? Please share in the comments!

What's going on in May (including my upcoming cover reveal!)

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Tue, 08 May 2012 02:16:00 +0000

Happy Monday! I thought I'd give you guys a quick update on all the awesomeness that's happening this month!

1. Cover reveal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barring fire, famine or flood, the cover of City of a Thousand Dolls is scheduled to go live on May 21st, right here on ye old blog. It's beautiful guys, seriously. Gorgeous and epic and amazing. I'm so excited to share it with you. And there will be a contest! A SUPER FUN CREATIVE contest with amazing prizes.

(Needs more exclamation points!)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Fun mid-month surprises!

These aren't my surprises, so I can't really give you any hints. But I'm joining a lot of other people to bring you a couple of really fun things around the middle of the month.

3. Editing posts!

There are one or two more line edit posts I want to do and possibly a copyedit post. They'll be scattered over the month because of work, moving and the aforementioned fun things, but they are still in the schedule. So if you have any unanswered questions about edits, it's a good time to leave them in the comment thread.

Also, I have THREE MORE DAYS at the old dayjob. So far my feelings can be summed up thusly.

Hope your Monday went well!

A busy weekend and some giggles

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:16:00 +0000

Holy crap, that was a long couple of days. It was graduation weekend at WSU, which is up the hill from where I work. It's one of the busiest weekends of the year and I probably spoke to almost a thousand people over Friday and Saturday.

found at cuteoverload.com

So instead of a blog post, you get a fun link:

The Mary Sue looks at Sherlock/Smaug fan art!

And a Maru video:

I have four more days at this job, than my husband graduates, then it's a week and a half of packing and craziness and we're off to Boise!

*cheers*

*collapses*

Adventures in line edits, part 2: Learning to own my book

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:44:00 +0000

So... in case you didn't know, I'm a bit of a people-pleaser, especially when it comes to authority figures. I hate disappointing people, and I HATE upsetting my boss. And for a while there, in my head, the equation went like this.

Editor = Boss.

Which meant I wanted to do everything in my power to make my editor happy. There were a list of things I knew I was willing to fight for (and we'd already discussed them) but everything else was negotiable and I put enormous pressure on myself to do it right.

So when the second round of line edits showed up and there were things that I had tried to fix that still needed tweaking, and my editor started making small suggestions I wasn't comfortable with or didn't know what to do with, I had a meltdown.

found at izit.org

OMG I'M A FAILURE AND I CAN'T DO IT AND MY EDITOR IS ASKING THE IMPOSSIBLE AND EVERYTHING IS HORRID AAAHHHHHHH!

It had nothing to do with my editor, of course. She was very clear that her suggestions were only suggestions and she was always happy to discuss things we both felt strongly about. (She's much better at this communication thing than I am) No, this was all about me and my own over-pressured brain.

So when I absolutely couldn't take it anymore, I called my agent, who told me something I had never really considered.

"This is your book. No one can make you do anything, and everyone already loves it. You're not going to ruin it."

I needed to hear that. It took the pressure off. And it gave me enough confidence to engage with my editor on things I wasn't sure I agreed with her about. I still ended up taking most of her suggestions because she's super-smart, but it helped so much to know that if I really wanted to, I could say no.

found at icanhascheezburger.com

There's a lot of talk going around about how editors "make you change your book" and authors worrying about their creative vision being stomped on.

But the reality is that it's ultimately YOUR book. The editor has a perspective that you may not have, and they want the same thing you want--to make the best book possible--but at the end, no one is going to make you change anything you don't want to change. You're collaborators and partners, not employer/employee.

In the end, it was still my book. And I had to learn to own it.

Do you ever put unnecessary pressure on yourself?

In which I say many things very quickly

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:11:00 +0000

I feel like this post would be best as a list-y/C.J. Redwine sort of post. So here goes...

1. I am planning on continuing my line edit series, and hope to put one up on Wednesday. The longer posts might be a bit sporadic though because...

2. My husband is in dead week, preparing for finals (of which he has five) and graduation. To do this, he's appropriated my laptop pretty much full time.

3. I can blog on the ipad, but it takes more time, so you'll probably get a lot of shorter posts interspersed with my editing ones.

4. The time crunch is also because I am working my last two weeks at the coffee shop. My last day is May 10th, and I am FREAKING OUT.

5. I am quitting. Entirely. From a company I've worked for for almost a decade. It's a bit terrifying, but also exciting.

6. The excitement part comes from my NEW job. We're moving down to Boise and I'm going to start working at the Rediscovered Bookshop! *happy dance* Which means my life gets to be about ALL BOOKS ALL THE TIME.

7. It almost makes up for the fact that I hate moving.

8. I really, really hate moving.

9. Like a LOT.

So that's me right now. How's your summer shaping up?

Weekend sleeps and an editing question

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:02:00 +0000

I have another editing post I want to write, but it's been a series of very long days at the dayjob, and I keep nodding off at my computer. Plus there are sunbeams...

So in the interest of keeping the conversation going, I have a question. What is the hardest thing for you to fix when you edit? A stubborn character? A plot worn full of holes? A descriptive tic you can't stop making? (Like my main character WOULD NOT STOP SHIVERING EVER AHHHH!)

What makes you bang your head against the keyboard?

Adventures in line edits, part 1: The story so far...

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 04:57:00 +0000

It's that time again! Time for me to blabber on and on and on about editing until someone tells me to shut-the-heck-up-already.

(I can tell you're excited.)

It's been a while since I've done an editing post and so I thought I'd start with a quick recap of where we left off.

When we last left our heroine, she had spent months in the trenches of her first big-picture edit. She had rewritten the ending, cut out characters, tightened the plot and basically worked herself into a puddle.

But it was done. She hit send. And waited.

For LINE EDITS.

found at careforcass.tumblr.com

*cue DU-DU-DUUUM music*

(Also, for those of you who are fuzzy on the different stages of editing, I've made you a handy guide here.)

The line edits were actually two rounds of edits. The first one dealt with minor plot points and character issues that still needed to be worked out, kind of like a concept edit, except I didn't have to tear apart the book again. (Mostly)

The second one was very much a line-by-line edit, where we looked at smoothing out the paragraphs, making sure the language flowed and made any other last minute tweaks we thought were necessary.

Both those stages were hard for me for different reasons, which I'll talk about later. But in the meantime... do you guys have any specific questions about editing? Anything you want me to be sure and talk about in the next few posts?

Ask away!

EDIT: Thanks so much for the good luck wishes, but I'm actually all the way done with copyedits now! But if you want to wish me good luck on writing the sequel, I will take all the positive vibes I can get. *grin*

In which I wear the cone of shame

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 04:36:00 +0000

Some of you might have noticed there was no weekend post this week. That's because I was a bad blogger and didn't pre-schedule one. Then I went to a writer's conference and didn't end up bringing my laptop and a whole host of other inconvenient things happened.

Yeah...

found at coyotecrafty.tumblr.com

But hey, it's a good lesson. When planning to be out of town, make sure you have a post scheduled already and don't count on being able to blog while you're gone. *makes note*

I did have an excellent time though. And I continued my gathering of cool-things-for-future-contest. *cackles evilly* One thing I didn't have much of though, was Internet. So if there was any craziness or drama in the writing community this weekend, I missed it.

So loop me in, odd ones.* What did I miss?

*ten points for anyone who knows where that line came from.

The difference between edits and copyedits

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:05:00 +0000

It was pointed out to me on my post about writing and the creative brain that I haven't really defined the difference between edits and copyedits. I do intend to have another series on editing, but to tide you over, let me give you a few key differences.

Different kinds of edits:

1. First round edits

This is the edit that I've talked about the most. It's also called a concept edit or a big picture edit. This is where most of the large changes happen, like cutting out characters, changing the ending, etc. This is where you tear the book apart and stitch it back together. You can do one round of concept edits or several. For me, this process took a little over ten weeks.

2. Line edits

Line edits come after concept edits and can also take one or more rounds to finish. These are more detailed changes, word choice, paragraph order, small inconsistencies. This also is where you hammer out any lingering problems that remain after the big edits are done. (For instance, I had a character that still needed tweaking.) You also smooth out any rough spots in the writing.

Once you get these changes done, you turn the manuscript in for copyedits.

3. Copyedits

Up until now, it's just been you and your editor figuring this stuff out. But copyedits are a totally different animal, for a lot of reasons. The main one is that they send it to a copyeditor (often a freelancer) who looks at things like grammer, timelines and fact-checking.

In my case there was a production editor as well, who looked it over before the copyeditor got it. Then they make a whole passel of notes and changes, sent the manuscript to MY editor, who made her own comments on the copyedit notes and then they sent it to me. (The other main difference between copyedits and edits is that copyedits are done entirely on hardcopy, but that's a whole other post.)

So there they are, the three different types of edits I went through with City of a Thousand Dolls. Any questions?

(Anyone who's been through edits as well is welcome to chime in in the comments section.)

Monday cute and an epic weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 05:21:00 +0000

Sorry for the super late post tonight, awesome bloggy-friends. I've been off line all day while traveling home and recovering from my epic weekend.

What did I do? I'm so glad you asked.

On Saturday night I rode with some fellow writer friends to see Lois Lowry in Spokane. The evening was FULL OF WIN.

First she was introduced by Chris Crutcher, (win) and then she read from her new book that's out in October (major win) and then there was an hour-long dramatic presentation of The Giver by the American Place Theatre, which pretty much made the night perfect.

AND I got a signed copy of The Giver, which is my favorite book in the whole world. *does super happy dance*

(I also might have picked up something to put in my cover reveal contest. Maybe.)

After the event, my family, who lives near Spokane, came and picked me up and I spent the weekend with them, bemoaning politics with my dad, going to lunch with my mom and sisters and wrestling with the kids.

Also, my brother-in-law and I went to see The Hunger Games, which was--in my humble opinion--awesome. A very solid and well done adaptation. Especially for a movie that wasn't millions of hours long. *cough* Lord of the Rings *cough*

Rue was, of course, my favorite.

So that was me this weekend. I'll try to catch up on blog comments and things in the next couple of days. Until then, please enjoy this baby manatee.

found at cuteoverload.com

Anyone else do anything fun this weekend?

On anxiety and blanket forts

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:08:00 +0000

There's a lot going on in our little corner of the universe right now. In less than a month, I'm quitting my job--the one I've had for almost a decade. Husband is graduating and we're moving back to Boise at the end of June where we will both have new careers.

And as if a new apartment and a new job wasn't enough, I'm trying to write this new Scary Project. And working on the cover reveal for City of a Thousand Dolls. AND coming to terms with the idea that in a few months there will be ARCs and people I DON'T KNOW will be reading my book and maybe hating it, AAAAAHHHHH!

So yeah. A little anxious over here.

Husband is also stressed about the move, his last semester and getting a new job. And when two strange, off-beat people get overloaded with anxiety, strange and off-beat things tend to happen. Like this, for example:

Yep. That's a blanket fort in our living room. We built it around our futon one night, when we were both feeling overwhelmed and anti-everything. Then we filled it with blankets and pillows and a little heater I own that looks like a fireplace.

It was like camping! Only with Netflix.

The cat was super-fascinated by the whole thing. And more than slightly obsessed with the mike stand we used as a tent pole.

We took everything down the next day, but I think we both felt a little better. Life can be scary, and as I've stated before, I'm not particularly brave.

And sometimes, you just need to build a blanket fort.

So if you need an escape, come on in. My tent flap is always open.

What do you do when you're anxious?

Winner of Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 02:46:00 +0000

Okay, the last winner for my last contest* (at least for a while) is....

Charley R!

Email me your address, Charley, and I shall send that right to you!

Thanks everyone for participating and be sure and leave an opinion on this post about cover reveal contests.

*Now I can get back to blogging about editing, blanket forts and Supernatural!

Hypotheticals and swag questions

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:24:00 +0000

found at zazzle.com

So...this girl I know, she has this book coming out and the cover is super awesome and kick-ass and she wants to do a great contest with the reveal which may or may not be sometime in May and she needs some opinions.

Hypothetically speaking.

*cough*

So if you all could take a little time and weigh in, I...I mean, MY FRIEND... would appreciate it.

Which of these things would you be excited about winning? (pick all that apply)

1. Gift card

2. Tote bag with a cool picture of the new cover on it.

3. Mug with a cool picture of the new cover on it.

4. Journal with a cool picture of the new cover on it.

5. An awesome book of some sort.

6. None of the above.

7. Actually, I'd like to win _______ instead.

In return for your help, I would like you to have this completely adorable video of puppies wearing bunny ears.

Thanks for your help!

And the winner of SHATTER ME is...

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:11:00 +0000

Rebecca Gomez!

Becky, please email me your address and I'll get that out to you!

And don't forget there's one more contest to enter! Daughter of Smoke and Bone!

Thoughts on work and the creative brain.

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:14:00 +0000

Sorry for the late blog post all. My husband's deep in end-of-semester crunch and he has been stealing my laptop away to help him study.

(Also, I've discovered Supernatural, but that's a blog post in itself.)

Ahem.

I've begun to notice that I have a distinct gear-shift issue when it comes to my day job--customer service at a corporate coffee shop--and my PRIMARY job of professional novelist.

*brief pause while I do a happy dance at being able to type the words "professional novelist"*

See, I've been in customer service for almost a decade, most of that in some form of food service. And anyone who's in that kind of job will tell you, there are very defined goals. Serve the customer. Keep busy and keep things clean. Maintain a happy and professional demeanor. Don't complain. And if you're having a bad day or you don't feel well, then power through it.

Showing up is your job.

Meeting the expectations is your job.

Putting aside your own feelings to serve the customer is your job.

And all of this is great training, honestly. There's something to be said for being self-motivated and able to do your job under any circumstances. And developing a habit of politeness is not a bad thing either.

So what's the problem?

Well, it turns out that all that powering through and pushing yourself to meet expectations under any circumstances... is not a super good strategy for writing. Not being open about your stresses and asking for help and encouragement (a problem for me in any case) is not a good strategy for writing. Taking care of others instead of yourself is not a good strategy for writing.

And if it's not a good strategy for writing, then you can imagine what a horrible strategy it is when you're faced with a huge pile of copyedits. Basically....

Things are better now, and I've made a lot of mental notes in my "things I'll do differently next time" file. But I'm beginning to realize that the way I do work--the way I've been trained to do work over the years--isn't gentle on the creative brain.

I'm not used to having to take care of my creative brain, so this is a new journey for me. And I just wondered...

Does anyone else have this problem?

Enter to win a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor!!

noreply@blogger.com (Miriam Forster) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:44:00 +0000

I thought I'd wrap up my book-flinging extravaganza with one more giveaway. And this is an awesome one.

From the Goodreads page:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

With Laini Taylor's fluid and magical writing style (she was one of the examples I used in my voice series last year) and a haunting premise, it's no surprise this book is amazing. And you can win it!

1. Follow the blog

2. Leave a comment on my blog, OR on my Facebook page

You can earn extra points by facebooking or twittering or blogging about the contest. And if you haven't won a contest here before, let me know that too and you'll get an extra entry. The contest is international and ends at midnight, PST on ~~the thirty-first of March~~ (Sorry, the ninth of April)

Have a good Monday!