Stephanie Thornton

Winners!

2012-05-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who commented, tweeted, or otherwise posted about my book deal--I'm overwhelmed by this wonderful writing community. I love you guys!

So, without further ado, my lovely assistant just chose the three winners for my celebration giveaway!

My lovely assistant. I want to cover her with kisses.

Grand Prize: A Kindle or $100 Amazon Gift Card

Jemi Fraser!

Writer's Package

Bethsflutterby!

Reader's Package

L.G. Smith!

Congratulations, ladies! Enjoy your prizes and I'll see everyone in a couple weeks--I have some traveling (not to mention research and writing) in my immediate future, but I promise to share pictures when I get back.

Adios amigos!

The Celebration Contest!!!

2012-05-20T20:33:00.000-08:00

*breaks into another Egyptian happy dance*

Methinks a book deal four years in the making deserves a pretty epic celebration.

So here goes...

I wouldn't have made it this far without this amazing writing community, (certainly not with most of my hair still intact) so I've tried to come up with three prizes to give back to this wonderful community of writers.

!! The Grand Prize !!

A brand-new Kindle

$100 Amazon Gift Card!!!

(Yes, you read that right! Think of all those shiny new books you can download! Or buy!)

Prize #2: The Writer's Package

- A 50 page critique from me (all genres except erotica, can be given to another writer)

- Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

- A beautiful peacock feather writing notebook

- An evil eye amulet (straight from Istanbul!)

Prize #3: The Reader's Package

- The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan (Because it's Egyptian, of course)

- Tears of Pearl by Tasha Alexander (Because it's set in Istanbul)

- A papyrus bookmark (From Egypt!)

- An evil eye amulet (From Istanbul!)

How to Rack Up Your Entries (aka Shameless Self-Promotion)

+ 5 Follow this blog

+ 5 Follow me on Twitter

+5 Like/Friend me on Facebook (And yes, I know I don't have much there. Yet.)
+ 5 Follow me on Pinterest

+3 (for each mention) Blog/Tweet/Facebook about this contest

+ 3 Tell who your favorite person in history is in the comments

+ 10 Rhyme or haiku about your favorite historical person in the comments

The Fine Print

1. Yes, I ship internationally. (Two of my favorite writer buddies are Aussies, after all!)

2. You MUST include your email address in the comments.

3. Total up your entries (I despise math).

4. I'll assume everyone is interested in the Grand Prize, but please tell me whether you'd like the Reader's Package or Writer's Package. Otherwise I'll just guess. (And inevitably guess wrong).

5. Contest closes Friday, May 25th at 11:59PM EDT.

Whew! I think that's everything, but feel free to ask questions in the comments. Good luck!

The Big, BIG News!

2012-05-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

Here's the official announcement, straight from Publisher's Marketplace:

Debut

Stephanie Thornton's THE SECRET HISTORY, in which a theater tart-turned-Constantinople's premier courtesan must decide what's more important: pleasing the emperor who claims to love her or keeping the son he can never know about, to Ellen Edwards of NAL, at auction, in a three-book deal, for publication beginning in 2013, by Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency (World English).

Wow. Just wow.

It's taken buckets of blood, sweat, and tears to get to this point (and not just my own, I promise you!) so it's beyond surreal to post the announcement I've been working toward for four long years.

Not only that, but today would have been my mom's 51st birthday. I like to think this is a sort of reverse birthday present, and that she'd have been pretty proud of me. (And maybe that she would have liked my books too!)

The epic celebration contest is coming Monday so check back next week!

*breaks into an Egyptian happy dance*

Woohoo!

Random Acts of Kindness BLITZ!

2012-05-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

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!

So today I'm blitzing both Gary Corby and Renee Yancy.

Without Gary, who writes historical mysteries set in Ancient Greece and blogs at A Dead Man Fell From the Sky, I'd be sitting on two dead novels. It's a crime (pun intended) for a library not to have his books, and while the big library in town has both The Pericles Commission and The Ionia Sanction, my local branch didn't own either. So I ordered a copy of both to donate!

And to the best crit partner in the world, Renee Yancy, I'm sending a snazzy package of writerly treats. Without Renee, my novels would be overrun with the word "just" and probably make as much sense as a book about snow written in Swahili.

Do you know 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.

Things My Daughter Taught Me

2012-05-10T21:48:00.001-08:00

My daughter is an amazing little monkey. While I like to think I'm teaching her a thing or two, she's really the one teaching me something new every day.

Here's the top two monkey lessons...

Lesson #1: I can do anything.

This started when I opted for natural childbirth. (Because I have some kind of Alaskan-tough-girl mentality. Or I'm a glutton for punishment. I haven't decided which yet.)

Yes, it was hard (my brain has conveniently forgotten most of the pain), but I learned I can do just about anything if I put my mind to it (and if the stars are properly aligned). Shortly thereafter, I decided to start writing books, something I'm often convinced is harder than giving birth.

Lesson #2: Laugh. Every day.

This is seriously what I came home to a few months ago. It's a space suit. (Obviously).

No matter how cruddy my day has been, monkey-antics are a sure-fire way to make me laugh out loud. And then things are just plain sun-shiney.

So this post is for you, little monkey. I love you and am so proud to be your mommy.

(P.S.- Please stop growing.)

Happy Early Mother's Day to everyone!

Winter Begone!

2012-05-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

This winter was rough.

(Why am I talking about winter in May, you ask? Because I still have snow in my yard and it snowed again two days ago.)

Begone winter!

The monkey in the back yard a couple weeks ago.

Anchorage did break the seasonal snow record this year with 133.6 inches of snow. (I almost wrote feet--sometimes it felt like that!) We also had a month of sub-zero temperatures and five nasty windstorms (clocked 120 miles an hour at my house--felt like I was in a war zone).

However, despite the residual snow flurries, spring is springing. A frost late week munched most of my daffodils, but look what opened today in all its sunny glory.

You have no idea how happy this makes me.

And for the first time ever, I'm really starting a new WIP during spring. It's making me feel all excited and hopeful.

May spring put a little extra bounce in your writing too!

Machiavelli's Evil Genius

2012-04-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

I'm currently re-reading Machiavelli's The Prince and I have to admit, Machiavelli is kind of a genius. (Maybe an evil genius, but that's beside the point).

I particularly like his belief that assassinating one's enemies are necessities imposed on a prince (or perhaps a princess? Empress? Pharaoh?) because the prince would run the risk of losing power if those enemies weren't killed.

"A man who wants to make a profession of goodness in everything is bound to come to ruin among so many who are not good."

Here, here!

(Says the writer who has assassinated many a character).

He also points out that sometimes a prince absolutely has to do something evil out of political necessity, but so long as people benefit, they won't get upset.

(I'm assuming he means the people still alive, not those beheaded, burned, or tortured to death).

Anyway, I'm sure Hatshepsut and Theodora would be pleased to hear Machiavelli's justifications. Based on his criteria, they both made excellent princes.

*insert evil laugh*

Doodle History: How Sekhmet Almost Ate Humanity

2012-04-24T20:34:00.000-08:00

Doodle History: How to Make a Mummy

2012-04-16T15:08:00.000-08:00

New Feature: Doodle History!

2012-04-13T19:50:00.003-08:00

Remember those history lectures in high school and college? The ones that sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher?

Mwamwamwamwa...

Well, when I lecture my classes, I like to spice things up with...

DOODLES!

So there's a new feature coming to the blog starting Monday:

DOODLE HISTORY!

You know it's going to be awesome. More than awesome. It's going to be epic! (And slightly ridiculous).

See you Monday!

I Will Die If I Take Another Step

2012-04-10T16:58:00.004-08:00

I run. I hike. I spin.

And, sadistic fool that I am, I love all three.

But...

Halfway through the run, midway up the mountain, or halfway through the routine with the bass pounding in my ears, I always want to do the same thing.

Quit.

But I don't.

(Okay, that's a lie. Sometimes I do. But not very often.)

Instead, I keep going. One wretched tree, one blasted hill, one far-too-peppy song. And then I get to the end.

And then I am happy.

(And eat large bowls of peanut butter chocolate ice cream to celebrate. Don't judge.)

I don't know where you are on your writer journey, but I'm 70 pages from the end of a revision-from-Hades. The end is near, but it's still so dang far there's no peanut butter chocolate ice cream in sight.

(And that makes me cranky).

But I will keep going. One odious* word at a time.

And then I plan to celebrate with an extra large bowl of peanut butter chocolate ice cream. With extra Reese's.

What about you? How's the world of writing treating you these days? I wish you all plenty of easy pages and giant bowls of ice cream!

-----------

*I just really wanted to use odious in a sentence today. Ha!

Stalking Theodora

2012-03-11T18:29:00.008-08:00

It's probably a good thing all my favorite people from history are dead. Actually, I know it's a good thing because it wouldn't take long for me to be arrested for lurking in the bushes outside their houses. (Or palaces, in the cases of Theodora and Hatshepsut).

Last summer I got to stalk Theodora when I went to Istanbul. I figured it was probably time to get around to sharing some of that stalking. (Yes, I'm trying to make you all accomplices. Just go with it).

A giant Medusa pillar in the Basilica Cistern. Justinian (Theodora's husband) pilfered columns from all over the empire to build this.

Inside the Hagia Sophia. The monogram on that pillar is either Justinian's or Theodora's. If I built the biggest church in the world (at the time) I'd put my initials all over it too. Modesty is highly overrated.

The Empress and Empress-in-Training in the Empress' box at the Hagia Sophia. All we needed was a throne.

Recently discovered floor mosaics from the Sacred Palace. Yes, that means Theodora would have walked here. (And yes, I drooled over these).

The Egyptian obelisk of Tutmose III from the Hippodrome. The obelisk was swiped from Egypt (obviously), but the base shows the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius watching the chariot races. Ancient Egypt in Byzantium? SO COOL!

That's it for now. I'm pretty excited because it looks like I get to go back to Istanbul for a couple days this summer. More stalking!

DISCLAIMER: I promise not to stalk anyone unless they're already dead. Then they're fair game. And no zombies either. That's just weird.

If I Could Go Back and Not Shoot Myself in the Foot...

2012-02-26T18:53:00.007-09:00

I made a lot of mistakes when querying my first book. We're talking Mt. Everest-during-monsoon-season sized mistakes.

Go big, or go home, right?

Of course, if you'd asked me at the time, I would have assured you I knew precisely what I was doing. Because I'm always right. (If you don't believe me, just ask my husband).

So here's some unwanted, unasked-for advice so none of you have to climb up Everest during monsoon season, with altitude sickness.

1. "Genius is eternal patience." -Michelangelo

(I'm going to ignore the fact that this quote sounds terribly pretentious, even if it does come from Michelangelo).

I am neither a genius, nor patient. In order to keep from rocking back and forth with an apron over my head while querying, I felt the need to send out oodles and oodles of queries.

(Imagine the scene in Harry Potter where Privet Drive is inundated with owls and you'd be pretty close).

I tore through my list of agents in record time. This was not a good situation to be in when I'd finally gotten the book in agent-ready shape.

Oops.

2. Find beta readers who write your genre (or at least read it).

Seems obvious, but I had a number of beta readers who wrote MG, YA, or fantasy. They were all amazing writers, but I ended up taking some advice that was the opposite of what I should have done for historical fiction.

Case in point: a MG writer suggested I scale back all the world-building details because they dragged down the story. True for a MG book, but those details were critical for adult historical fiction. But I slaughtered all of them mercilessly.

Oops.

3. Find critiquers who are MUCH better writers than you.

I had numerous requests from agents, but they all came back with the same comment:

"I just didn't fall in love with the writing."

*stabs eyeballs with forks*

It wasn't until I had a published author, and then an agent, slash every word I'd written that I realized how un-wonderful I was. I owe those two humans an arm and a leg, and my first-born child. (Fortunately for them, I can't send any of those items FedEx).

I ended up re-writing my book (amidst much whining and chocolate pretzels) before receiving my first offer from an agent. (I didn't accept the offer, but that's a story for another post). The point is, I really needed an expert (or in my case, two--I'm a stubborn nut) to ream my book up one side and down the other before I could see what was wrong with it. By then, it was almost too late.

Oops.

Fortunately, my story has a happy ending. I set aside Book #1, wrote Book #2, landed a fabulous agent, and am now working on Book #1 for what I hope will be the last time for the foreseeable future.

So let's all laugh at ourselves today. What mistakes have you made while trying to get published? (And if you'd rather not share, feel free to make fun of me instead).

Origins: Being Hatshepsut

2012-02-13T09:41:00.006-09:00

My writing origins started probably ten years ago when I discovered Ancient Sites, an ancient history role play website. People would make up a character from ancient history, real or fictional, and then write short fiction and interact with other writers.

I loved it.

I especially loved it when I auditioned and landed the role of Hatshepsut. (Woohoo!) Unfortunately, Ancient Sites didn't last long, but many of the writers created a new site that's still around, PanHistoria. I wrote all sorts of characters, but couldn't get the rest of Hatshepsut's story out of my mind. (Writing with other writers means you're beholden to their schedule). Then, a few years ago, the site was temporarily down due to a storm.

That's when I decided to start writing Hatshepsut's story on my own. It took me two years, but I finally finished. (Strangely enough, I just picked it up a week ago to complete one last edit).

I've since discovered that I have a passion not just for ancient Egypt, but for telling the stories of strong women neglected, or forgotten, by history. Hence my book about Theodora, one of the most awesome women ever. And my newest WIP, about not one, but FOUR totally kick-butt women.

I want to be them. Instead, I write about them.

And in other, totally unrelated news, the winner of last week's grand prize package is...

DAWN SIMON!

And the winner of the Querytracker Premium Membership is...

JADE!

Congrats, ladies!

How I Got My Agent + GIVEAWAY!!!

2012-02-05T20:09:00.008-09:00

Let me just start by saying that my query experience with my second book was night and day from querying my first. (And by night and day, I mean the 20 hour Alaskan Winter Solstice night versus the 20 hour Alaskan Summer Solstice day).

What I learned from querying Book #1 will fill several posts (all soon-to-come!), so this one will cover how I found and ended up signing with the fabulous Marlene Stringer.

Here's my timeline:

October 2010: I started the first draft of THEODORA: THE SECRET HISTORY, urged on by an opening line blog contest.

May 2011: To the Revision Cave, Batman! I knew I wanted to enter the Baker's Dozen Auction at Miss Snark's First Victim so everything had to be ready by December 2011.

November 7: My logline and first 250 words were accepted as MSFV!

December 6: The bidding war on THEODORA at MSFV! Woohoo!

January 3, 2012: I sent my query to Marlene. I would have queried her sooner since she was at the top of my agent wish-list, but she was closed to queries through the holidays.

January 4: Marlene requested the full. She wrote, "You had me at Istanbul." (How cool is that?!)

January 11: I received the email requesting "The Call." (Cue much re-reading of email and an Egyptian happy dance!!!)

All told, I sent 21 queries for Theodora with 8 requests. Before Marlene and I spoke, we were emailing stories back and forth about our visits to Istanbul. I'm beyond thrilled to have an agent who really "gets" my work!

And now we need to celebrate! Amid the craziness of the last two weeks (I'm talking EPIC craziness, people), I've put together two writerly prizes to say thank you to this amazing blogging community. I never would have been able to keep at this had it not been for all of you out there!

Writerly Prize #1

- A QUERYTRACKER PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP
- The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration by Monica Wood
- Publish This Book: A Premature Memoir by Stephen Markley
- Alaska Wild Fireweed Honey (great on cheese platters!)

Writerly Prize #2
- A QUERYTRACKER PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP (Compliments of Patrick at Querytracker. Thanks, Patrick!)

I seriously don't know how I would have kept my sanity while in the query trenches had it not been for Querytracker's ability to see each agent's individual requests and response times, a super cool feature of the Premium Membership. (It's kind of like stalking, but not as creepy).

How to Enter

1. Leave a comment on this post.

Seriously. That's it. The contest will close Sunday, February 12th at 11:59PM. International entries are welcome!

Thank you again to everyone for your warm wishes--you guys are the best!

The BIG News

2012-01-22T19:29:00.009-09:00

It's beyond surreal to finally be writing this post.

I have an agent!!!

*breaks into an Egyptian happy dance*

And not just any agent!

An amazing agent who says my book about Theodora reminds her of her trip to Turkey. And she's been to Egypt and knows all about Hatshepsut. She loves history and is interested in my other books.

I am thrilled to announce I am now represented by Marlene Stringer of the Stringer Literary Agency!

Woohoo!

I don't have a picture of me signing the paperwork, but how many people can say they emailed their acceptance of an agent's offer while waiting for the Toy Story ride in Disneyland?

Me!

There's more to that story, but I'll save the "How I Got My Agent" story for another post later this week.

Suffice to say, there's going to be an epic celebration contest next week!

HURRAY!

I'm Going to Disneyland!

2012-01-12T20:18:00.005-09:00

Most adults look at me like I'm crazy when I admit that I love Disneyland. Like I-would-go-there-ten-times-a-year-if-I-could love.

But there's long lines.

And crying kids.

And it's so expensive.

All true, but I don't care one whit. Disneyland isn't called The Happiest Place on Earth for nothing. I know if I'm going to spend a day at Disneyland it's going to be a blast and there are parts of the day I'm going to remember forever.

(I could make this into a metaphor about how a good book is similar, but I'm not going to because I'm supposed to be packing.)

I'm going to Disneyland.

And I'm going to ride the Teacups.

And Splash Mountain.

And eat too many churros with my husband and five-year-old monkey.

And that makes me happy. Very, very happy.

The Secret History

2012-01-08T19:17:00.004-09:00

I had no idea the title of my novel on Theodora, The Secret History, would be the source of controversy. I actually borrowed the title from Procopius, the premier historian of the Byzantine Empire, who wrote several official accounts of the reign of Justinian and Theodora.

The Buildings.

The Wars.

Then he wrote The Secret History, a scathing account of Justinian and Theodora's years on the throne in which both Emperor and Empress are literally portrayed as demons. However, this is the historical source with the most details on Theodora's life, both before and after she wore the crown. Procopius does an admirable job portraying her as a conniving, scheming harlot.

Why must women with a brain almost always be portrayed as evil by their contemporaries? Can't conniving and scheming be a good thing? And was she really a harlot because she liked to be?

I decided my novel should also be titled The Secret History, mostly because I like to think my version of Theodora's motivations is closer to the truth than Procopius'.

(And yes, I realize that's more than a little presumptuous of me. Whatever.)

Those early readers who are familiar with Procopius love the title. Those who don't are quick to point out that Donna Tartt wrote a recent novel with the same title about six classics students at an elite Vermont college.

I'm not willing to part with the title though, at least not yet. It's my way of biting my thumb at Procopius. (I might have taken a stab or two at him in the book too. Ha!)

Any suggestions for my title quandary? Have you ever had title issues?

Not Writing is Weird

2012-01-01T20:42:00.003-09:00

I spent 14 months writing, revising, and editing my last book, researching as I went along.

What am I doing now?

Nothing.

Well, not nothing, but no writing. No revising. No editing.

I'm researching.

It's weird to finally be free of a daily word count, but I love it. I'm knee-deep in the history of an era I know virtually nothing about, and I plan to just go deeper.

Seriously, what's better than the life of a writer?

So tell me, where are you this New Year's Day? Researching, drafting, writing, revising?

Regardless of where you are, good luck in 2012!

Faves of 2011

2011-12-19T08:47:00.002-09:00

Inkcrush is hosting Faves of TwentyEleven Book Awards this entire week. A week of books--ohlala!

Here are my faves of 2011:

1. Favorite Book Read in 2011: Daughters of Rome by Kate Quinn

2. Most Powerful: Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel

3. Brilliantly Funny: Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern

4. Most Beautiful Story: The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

5. Delicious Rainy Day Comfort Read: Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling (I hadn't read any of them until this year!)

6. Adrenalin-fueled, Unputdownable Award: Divertgent by Veronica Roth

7. Atmospheric & Vivid Setting: The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

8. I-So-Want-To-Go-There: The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

9. Would Make the Best Movie: Exit the Actress by Priya Parmar

10. Best Under-Appreciated, Hidden Gem Book: The Course of Honor by Lindsey Davis

Emerging From the Cave

2011-12-12T20:28:00.005-09:00

*blinks*

We had a snow day today (more like a blizzard day) and had to dig ourselves out of a virtual snow cave, not to mention cleaning up after three episodes of 100mph hurricane force winds.

But you know what's even better than a snow day?

I. AM. DONE. WITH. BOOK. NUMBER. TWO.

Pardon me for the virtual yelling and awkward pauses there, but you have no idea how GOOD IT FEELS TO BE DONE!

14 months of researching, writing, revising, and editing. DONE!

(Shhh... I didn't actually finish today since I took a number of days to do absolutely nothing. Then our internet died when a 20 foot spruce tree fell down and took out our internet cable. Blecch.)

So I'll just leave you with one of my favorite quotes for today...

How beautiful it is to do nothing and then rest afterwards.
-Spanish proverb

I think it feels even better to rest after writing a book.

Expert Judges

2011-11-07T18:59:00.009-09:00

I knew I needed expert judges for something as important as a giveaway of Gary Corby's new book, The Ionia Sanction.

The Judges

And a referee...

The Referee

The Ref threw the entries into the playing field...

The judges rush to the field

And the Ref proclaimed the winners!

The Ref with the winning entries

JULIE AND JULIE DAO!

Congrats, ladies! And for those of you that didn't win, Gary's book is on sale Tuesday, November 8th. TODAY! (Almost). Get thee to a bookstore!

The Ionia Sanction Giveaway!

2011-10-31T21:42:00.007-08:00

In honor of the upcoming release of Gary Corby's second book, The Ionia Sanction, I have not one, but TWO ARC's to mail to two lucky winners!

I've read a few mysteries, but I love Gary's books because they immerse me in Ancient Greece and they're pretty darn hilarious too.

Case in point:

From the character list:

Thorion, Proxenos for Ephesus: He just hangs around.

I didn't really get the full meaning (can you tell I don't read many mysteries?) until I read the first sentences of the book:

I ran my finger along one foot of the corpse, then the other, making the body swing with a lazy, uncaring rhythm. I stared at his feet, my nose so close I went cross-eyed as the toes swung my way.

Thorion just hangs around because he was hanged. Ha!

How to Enter:

1. Leave a comment in this post WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
2. Receive an extra entry for each Tweet, Facebook, or blog post mentioning the giveaway. (Just let me know how many entries in your comment).
3. Extra Entry! Nicolaus has this nifty rod and cord that can be used to send secret messages. For an extra entry, tell me what cool spy equipment you'd want if you were a private investigator. (I'd go for the shoe phone).

International readers are welcome to enter--I'm happy to send the books anywhere in the world. Contest closes 11:59PM Sunday, November 6th and the winners will be announced on Monday.

Good luck!

More Time

2011-10-29T14:36:00.002-08:00

I've got a mountain of books taller than me I desperately want to read.

Half of a manuscript to give a final polish. (I'm loving this one, guys. Seriously loving it.)

A pumpkin to carve with my daughter. (How did Halloween sneak up so fast?)

A Rapunzel birthday party to plan for next weekend.

Winter squash raviolis to make from scratch.

All the laundry to fold.

Hmmmm... Which one of these do we think is going to fall off this list first? I don't know about you, but I see nothing wrong with leaving the laundry in its baskets. It's clean--who cares if it's all wrinkled, right?

What's your writing priority this week?

On Harry Potter

2011-10-09T19:42:00.002-08:00

Pssst...

I just finished the third Harry Potter book. For the first time.

Gasp!

I know, it's like I've broken some sort of rule never having read the books until now. But I sort of enjoy breaking rules, so whatever.

I had an unofficial boycott of the books when they first came out--I was beyond sick of hearing of Quiddich and Hogwarts from family members. Then I decided to wait to read them for the first time with my daughter.

We made it through the first two books. She liked them, but I could tell her attention waned toward the end of the second one. And really, she's only four so she has plenty of time to grow into the series.

But I wanted to know what was going to happen to Harry. Well done, J.K. Rowling! I have a pile of books taller than me begging to be read, and Harry Potter floated to the top. I'm thoroughly enjoying the writing, but I'm really just enjoying being immersed in Harry's world.

(It's also giving me an excuse to avoid long hours of editing. Shhh! Don't tell anyone!)