Please give Sarah a warm welcome, and remember: most thoughtful comment of the week gets a prize! (I don’t know what yet, but I promise it won’t suck.)

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There’s a lot of talk out there in the blogosphere about branding, platforms, etc. I recently read an excellent post by Wordbird about the topic. Madeleine points out that it’s very important that the book you’re writing is the one you want to make as your career—otherwise you could be branded for life.

This is problematic for me. I still don’t know which direction I’d like my writing career to go at this point (other than in the money-making kind). I still consider myself an apprentice and while I am writing a YA paranormal story (ghosts, not vampires), I don’t know if in ten years time I will want to be in the same place. I would still like to experiment some more with dystopian, contemporary, fantasy, middle grade and literary. If I am to write within these genres, will my only option be to adopt several different pen names?

There is also the possibility that the need for genres will fall to the wayside as e-readers and e-books become more and more popular. Without booksellers needing to know where to shelve a book, genres may become more blurred. Still, I would think that a consumer is the deciding factor on this one. When browsing online for books, you would still need categories and ways of organizing titles. I guess it just wouldn’t limit the amount of books being “bought and shelved,” which is a good thing for us writers.

Todd Newton’s post about Lady Gaga’s platform pointed out that even if you don’t like her music or her style, everyone knows what is “Gaga” and what isn’t. Just the other day, Scott Mills, a BBC radio one DJ mentioned how he’d like to change up OMG to OMLG (oh my lady gaga). It just proves how strong her platform is and how recognizable she is as an “artist.”

At this stage in the game, for me, the most important thing I have to worry about is writing. Sounds like such a nice problem to have compared to the mania that surrounds the publishing world. Call me silly, but I still want it—the book being published, the book tour, the book readings, catching a glimpse of my book in the book store or a trailer of my book online. One bit of relief is that at the heart of my stories is my own very special brand of humor. I may not be able to bottle it and sell it, but it certainly keeps me sane and keeps me enjoying this crazy career choice.

:P

See, when we did Disney World two years ago, Andy realized that vacations in the Gulf/Caribbean are cheaper in September. I like to call these our “hurricane specials.” Sure, you risk getting rained on every day (at best) or dying in a tempest of epic proportions (at worst). But hey, you save $300!

(Also: no kids, ’cause they’re back in school. That might be worth more than the money.)

As promised, this blog will still be rocking the suburbs while I’m gone. The lineup has expanded, so there will actually be a post every single day next week! None of my M/W/F junk. (Weird. I’m a better blogger when I’m not even here…)

So anyway, stay tuned, and please show my fabulous friends some comment-love, okay?

And hey, maybe if you’re really, really good, I’ll send you a treat. Something like… most thoughtful comment of the week wins a book? What do you think?

For subtle but mind-blowing genius, check out agent Donald Maass’s post on “The Inner Journey” at Writer Unboxed today:

A journey needn’t involve travel but it does enact a transformation. For a transformation to occur, two things are needed: outward events and inward change. Great novels use both.

Then over at the Divining Wand (which is a fabulous resource for learning about authors, particularly with new books coming out) Tanya Egan Gibson wrote about getting to know people through characters, and understanding real life through fiction. One of my favorite lines was:

“I can’t imagine a life without stories. But fiction, I think, is a means, not an end; a prescription, not a cure.”

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Just 2 links today, folks. I’ve been crazy busy, both with work-work and with writing-work. Since Andy and I are on vacation all next week (first cruise for both of us!) I have been rushing around the office, trying to make sure everyone’s got what they need and the poor temp that’s covering for me won’t be up a paddle without a creek. Or whatever.

Meanwhile, I’m also off and running (or maybe jogging) on the new YA manuscript, and I love it. Looooove it. It’s fun and fresh and full of adventure. It is a joy to think about, and a joy to sit down and write. Even the rough patches, one of which I hit last night.

As for the blog, don’t you worry. I’ve lined up some AWESOME guest bloggers for next week. Want a hint? One has freckles, one plays origami with the earth, one is mighty with both pen and pencil, and one sets me straight in my own comments every. single. post.

But seriously, today is a perfect example of my chronic optimism. See, I woke up 10 minutes earlier than usual so that I would be 10 minutes earlier to work. Makes sense, right? Only, while I was taking Riley on his morning walk, we ran into our neighbor and his dog, and we got to talking. (About how another dog bit off a chunk of my neighbor’s dog’s ear!!)

Chit and chat and this and that, and suddenly my extra 10 minutes are gone.

But it’s okay. I’m only 3 minutes late to work, no big deal. I get settled in, take care of some to-dos, and catch up on emails and such. This gives me 30 minutes before our Monday morning meetings, so I figure that’s 30 minutes I can write. And oh, how much I could write in 30 minutes!

Except that clients called, a delivery came, and I had to reread the stuff I wrote last night before I could get on the right track of how to move forward. Next thing I know it’s 10 AM and time to go to the conference room!

But no worries. After a late lunch, I run an errand and am back at my desk by 2 PM. That gives me plenty of time to write before the work day is over.

Until some files need updating, and a new employee needs orienting, and a service guy comes to see if he can help us with something, so my boss and I have to walk him around the whole building, asking and answering questions. Tick tock tick tock OMFG it’s 5 o’clock?!

I commute home, take care of the dog, eat dinner, wash dishes. Now it’s 6:20 PM, which leaves me 15 minutes to go to the bathroom, freshen my makeup, and oh yeah, BLOG, before I head out to my writing group. I’ll be there from 7 PM until 9 PM. Or 9:30 PM. Or heck, maybe 10?

But it’s all gravy. I can still write tonight before bed.

Right?

(Thanks, girl!)

Fortunately a coworker lent me her copy of the book (which she pre-ordered and then picked up from Barnes & Noble) and I read it yesterday. Folks, I was WRECKED after I finished that book.

If you want to know exactly how I felt about it, good and bad, check out JJ’s post (warning: MAJOR SPOILERS). She pretty much hit every nail on the head for me.

(There are some great discussions going on in the comments over there too.)

But if you’re not spoiler ready, or you just don’t care that much, let me talk about the book in broader terms. Truthfully, it was my least favorite of the series. I didn’t feel fully prepared by Hunger Games or Catching Fire for what Collins wrote in Mockingjay. The first 2 books were “adventure” stories; this last one was war. In Mockingjay, Collins took every good thing and broke it. She broke Katniss. And that was so, SO hard to read.

But the good kind of hard, you know?

Overall the writing in MJ was solid, and just as un-put-down-able as HG and CF. The pacing was a bit off, like she could have used 4 books instead of 3… But the twists, the characters, the way she brought things full circle from earlier books and scenes — that was all impeccable. Collins has a gift, and I hope I can reach that level of storytelling someday.

Maybe I would have done a few things differently, but as a whole, I think the trilogy is spectacular. Similar to Harry Potter, in some regards. (That’s another series I need to re-read…)

And if nothing else, Hunger Games has really opened my eyes to what a book can do. What a writer can do. What I could do. It has inspired me in so many ways for my next manuscript, Mountain Girls. (That’s a project name, not a real title.)

Now it’s just a matter of sitting down at the keyboard and making. it. happen!