Stephanie, A History

World Book Night, April 23, 2012

2012-02-02T11:05:00.001-06:00

World Book Night is exactly what it sounds like: a night to give out free books to the world. One million books, in fact. Last year WBN was England only, and they had a great success. Due to their success, we here in the US (along with Germany) will be participating with them this year in their goal to give out one million books to needy readers.

What does this have to do with you? Well, Jen and I, along with all Literary Lonestars, were asked to be a part of the Central Texas WBN chapter via BookPeople. Us, along with some other literary organizations around Austin, will be banning together on the night of April 23rd to give out books to the needy. And we could use your help! Jen and I will organize volunteers to hand out books, and by volunteers we mean you! We already have a few ideas where the books will go (some organizations we've worked with in the past), but if you have any recommendations, let us know! We're concentrating strictly on the MG/YA titles so we're looking for places like shelters, children's hospitals, underprivileged schools, etc. If you chose to volunteer, you receive one box of books, then meet up with us at our predetermined destinations to hand out the books, this is something Jen and I would really love for all of us to do together as a group.

If either you aren't in the Austin area or simply would like to participate on your own, you have until February 6th to sign up. You must be at least 16 years of age and a legal US resident to participate. Again, this is a country wide project! You don't have to be in Austin or Texas to participate. (If you're participating with our group, there is no need for you to sign up online, only if you're doing it individually.)

If you'd like to help our Literary Lonestar group out, please email me (StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com) or Jen (JenBigheart@gmail.com) or both of us. We need to know ASAP so we can get the ball rolling, so please get back to us as quickly as you can. Fill out the following form in your email with the subject World Book Nigh Volunteer:

Name:
Availability on 4/23:
Are you bringing a helper? (if so, include name and age):
Will you need transportation:
Suggest a donation site:

(Jen is currently out of town on vacation and I'm in the process of moving, so it may be a day or two before we can return your email.)

We'll have more information soon, as things start to roll in, and we'll share it with you. If you're able to help us spread the word, we'd appreciate it.

Happy New Year! (a few days late)

2012-01-03T12:01:00.000-06:00

Hello all! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great start to 2012. Mine has gotten off to a bit of a slow start. My husband has been off work for about two weeks, and while I enjoy having him home with me, it's thrown me off my routine a bit. He went back to work today, and I'm going back to work today as well. ;)

I wrote last year about new year's resolutions and how I don't like them. I feel exactly the same now as I did then. I'm just not a big fan of resolutions, and I doubt I ever will be. Answer me honestly, how many new year's resolutions have you made that you actually kept? I've only made a few in my life, and never kept a one. I'm a firm believer that if you want to make a change in your life, you'll make a change in your life. Period. Not tomorrow, not January 1st, not at some point this year. But literally right now. Want to write a book? Start on it. Want to run a marathon? Stop wasting time reading my blog and get to training! I could go on all day, but y'all are smart people. You get the idea.

2011 was a pretty good year. Not the best, no, but definitely not the worst. I think more than anything it was a year of learning for me. I quit my job to write full time in November of 2010, but because of the holidays I wasn't able to take advantage of my stay-at-home time until January. People think that working from home is amazing, and it is! And it's also not. To be honest it can be pretty stressful. It's funny because growing up I wasn't the neatest of persons. My room was rarely clean (meaning you often couldn't even see the floor), but now that I have my own house -er- apartment, I find myself being a cleaning fanatic. For me it's hard to work when I can see all the clutter sitting around. I take a break and walk by the overflowing laundry hamper. I walk in the kitchen for a snack and see the pile of dirty dishes in the sink, the clean ones in the dishwasher. I work in my office and all I can see are piles of unorganized books on the floor. One of my goals for 2011 was to clean less, and it did last for a while. Well, like a month, maybe. Ha! I think one of my goals for when I'm Rich and Famous is to have an office space that's not in my house. Or maybe I could just rent a table at a coffee shop or something. People think that being a full time stay at home writer is so romantic, but I promise it's not all it's cracked up to be.

I also had to tell a lot of people "no" in 2011, and I don't like doing that. I'm a big doer, a helper. If you need something I'm your girl. I quickly realized that I was doing so much for other people that I wasn't able to do things for myself. For the most part it wasn't anything big that people wanted me to do: meet for coffee, go to a movie, etc. But I'm a creature of habit, I need routine, and while I love meeting friends for a quick cup of coffee, that means leaving the house and leaving my work (also putting pants on). About halfway through the year I realized this and started saying no. I even lost one friend over it, but in my opinion if you can't respect that I still work an 8-5 job, just at a different pace and place than you, then you aren't my friend in the first place. I hope I continue to say "no" in 2012.

I pushed myself harder than ever in 2011. Now that I look back on it, I pushed myself too hard. I took a lot of risks with my writing, most of which scared me. I wrote my first contemporary YA, did my first NaNoWriMo, wrote my first middle grade, wrote my first third person POV. It's good to be scared, and it's good to push yourself, but I think it's important to not lose sight of who you really are and in the process. In 2011 I wrote three books, read over 100, won NaNoWriMo, went to two lovely library conferences, organized and donated over 700 books to various charities in the Austin area, and barely had time for anything else. This year I'm taking it down a notch, I don't plan on writing any books (famous last words, right?), instead I'm going to pick one of the manuscripts I wrote last year, edit the snot out of it, and start querying agents. It's time, it's well past time for me. I don't think I was doing it purposefully, but looking back I can see how I've been putting it off. Writing a book is hard, but not nearly as hard as editing it and sending it to people to ACTUALLY READ. It's funny, I write because I want to get published, yet I'm scared to death for people to read what I wrote. I don't have a very thick skin (hopefully that will change), so the thought of putting my work out there terrifies me, but it's what I want, right? To be published? I hope in the end all this is worth it.

2012 will be a stressful year for me. We're moving (no worries, just three miles up the road) in February, then I have to have reconstructive jaw surgery during the summer and will be MIA for about two months in order to recover. As I type this I can feel the stress starting in the pit of my stomach and roaring upwards, making my head fuzzy. I don't deal well with stress. I'm going to try to take a step back from everything when I'm feeling stressed. Take a deep breath, take a break. I'm relying on you all to keep me accountable for this.

So long story short, my only goal for this year is to EDIT EDIT EDIT then QUERY QUERY QUERY. No, I'm not making goals like "I'm going to get an agent/get published this year!" I don't like to make goals about something I, literally, have no control over. I can't make an agent sign me, I can't make a publisher buy my book. I can, however, do all that I can to get my book out there. And I plan on doing just that.

I knew going into this journey that it wouldn't be an easy one, I just didn't expect it to be one of the hardest things I've ever done. I hope I never lose sight of how much work goes into a novel. I hope I never lose sight of how much I love doing it, no matter how hard.

ALA Midwinter 2012

2011-12-20T18:38:00.000-06:00

We're so fortunate to have ALA Midwinter in Dallas this year! Of course me and my Literary Lonestar pals will be there, and we cannot wait! We're planning a little blogger get together on Friday night January 20th. If you want to come, please go to Jen's blog and RSVP so we can have a head count. And for more information about ALA itself, visit their website! Will I see you there? :)

So Much to be Thankful For

2011-12-19T14:05:00.001-06:00

That Wednesday started out as many normal days do. My husband got up and was getting ready for work, and I was lounging in the bed (it takes me a long time to get awake, I'm a big lounger :p). He came to tell me goodbye and I thought he had left. He came back in the room and as calmly as he could said, "You might want to call your mom... when you get up and get the chance." What? Why? "Their house got hit by a tornado early this morning." You know those moments where your heart plummets so deep down into your stomach, you feel like you'll never be able to breathe properly again? This is one of those moments. I called her and we talked for a while. Well, she talked, I squalled the entire phone conversation. I have never felt so heartbroken, so conflicted. I cannot tell you how painful it is to have your heart reside in two different places, both far away from the other.

Thankfully everyone is fine and escaped the storm unharmed. My mom's truck has to have some repairs, my dad's truck was totaled, and the house had some heavy damage, but nothing that isn't repairable. I can't tell you how many prayers of thankfulness I've uttered since then. Things could have been so much worse than they are. My parents have a long road ahead of them as the repairs are starting on their house, but we're all thankful and grateful.

I have blogged a few pictures about my childhood home previously (click here and here if you're interested), so I'd like to share some of the aftermath pictures with y'all today. Hug your loved ones extra tight this holiday season. Things can (and do) happen in the blink of an eye.

The front yard before

The front yard after (the house is there, through the debris)

The back yard before

The back yard/back of the house after

Part of our old swing set. It's about 20 years old and made it through Katrina.

There was a covered carport here where my dad's truck was. They have no idea where most of the carport ended up.

None of the pine trees my dad planted when they built the house survived. :(

One of the few trees that survived. (Along with my nephew's sandbox that wasn't moved an inch.)

Their storage shed. Or what was a storage shed.

Side of the house where a big piece of a tree came down.

Damage to the front of the house.

My mom, like me, is obsessed with books. Particularly cookbooks. All of her books are hanging about three inches out, from where the wind sucked them. Crazy.

The insurance company towing my dad's totaled truck away. So sad.

Long Time No See!

2011-12-14T16:57:00.001-06:00

I've never said I was the best blogger. On the contrary, I'm probably the worst blogger I know. It's not that I don't enjoy blogging, I do, it's just... effort. And I'll be honest, sometimes (well most of the time) watching Youtube videos about cats is way more entertaining than writing a blog about my ~~boring~~ life. However, people do ask me every now and then how a certain project is going, and I'll realized I haven't blogged in a while. So this is fixing that. Yeah.

I did manage to "win" NaNoWriMo! Unfortunately I did not finish the book yet, but I managed to make it to 50K by November 21st. Yes I'm the idiot who finishes NaNo in three weeks. I don't recommend that any of you do that, but I wanted to "win" before we went home for Thanksgiving, and I did. I worked so hard those three weeks, and it was such a learning experience. It was my first middle grade book, as well as my first third person book (what can I say? I'm a sucker for pain.), so I learned a lot. It's probably one of the worst books I've written, but I also think it's one of the best. Yes, that sounds weird, I know. I started this book mainly as a joke. My goal was to make it as ridiculous and silly as possible. But the more I worked on it and the more I got involved with the characters... the more I thought I may actually have something. I've told the idea to a few people, all of whom are very excited. Which is silly to me. It almost makes me feel like I've cheated, you know? Not that writing this book was anywhere near easy, but it seemed easier. I don't know if it was the book itself or if since I've been writing so much it doesn't seem as daunting of a task anymore. And trust me, nothing is as daunting as that first book you try to finish.

I won't tell you what the book is about, and it doesn't have a name yet, but I call it Dead Santa. (My point with the book was to get in the Christmas spirit, we can see from what I call it that it didn't really work out.) I have about 10K left on Dead Santa, and I'll be done. It's been a bit... difficult. See this book broke all sorts of boundaries for me. Usually when I write a book I write the ending chapter first, then the beginning, then a main plot point that's around the middle of the book and fill in my gaps. But with Dead Santa... I just wrote whatever popped into my head. That was the point right? To make it as ridiculous as possible. I didn't want to give myself time to over-analyze things, so I just wrote. (Seriously, the book has talking gangster penguins and elves that are more like evil fairies than Santa's little helpers.) The problem, you ask? Well since I didn't write the ending first... I don't really know how to end it. I mean yes, I sort of know how it ends, but since I don't know exactly how ahead of time, I just keep rambling on and on. Well, my characters do anyway. They keep talking in circles, repeating the same questions, running around to random places. So as stupid as this sounds, if anyone has any advice on how to end a book, that would be lovely. Ha.

Since I did work so hard in November on Dead Santa, I decided after Thanksgiving to give myself December off. Seemed like a good idea. I needed time to rest and prepare for the upcoming Christmas holidays. What seemed like a good idea actually made me a little crazy. I had a conversation with someone recently about how I didn't really feel like a "real writer." They said to stop writing for a while and see what happened. The results weren't good. These past two weeks I've been a little crazy. More than a little, actually. Even my poor husband noticed (and bless him, he doesn't notice much) so you know it was bad. I was listless. Restless. I recently made a Pinterest account, and while it was fun, it didn't do anything except help me waste more time. I cannot tell you how many craft projects and new recipes I've tried. No, it doesn't sound bad, does it? (Tell that to the five different wreaths I've made.) And I guess it's really not that bad, but I wasn't putting my time and energy into what's really important: Writing. It's my work, my job. It's what I do. It's how I ~~should~~ spend my days and how I'll eventually (God willing) make my money. I'm a creative person, and without weaving my creativity onto paper (or typing it on to a screen, actually), I felt useless. Apparently my brain and hands still need to do something creative, which is where all the crafting comes in I guess. It's interesting to be able to analyze yourself sometimes. And yes, it's nice to take a step back and get some prospective on your life, take a breather, but it's also good to be able to have the foresight to know when it's time to come back.

With all that being said, I am writing again. I worked a bit on Dead Santa today (yes the characters are still talking in circles, but at least they're doing something), and it feels good to be doing productive things again. Hopefully I'll finish the book before the end of the year. I have a few more topics I wanted to cover in this post, but it's already too long, so those will come later this week and next week. One will be about my 2012 goals, the other will be about how thankful I am for my family after my parent's house was hit by a tornado the week before Thanksgiving. Thank you all for reading my rambling blog posts and supporting me even when I am crazy. <3

Ways To Give This Holiday Season

2011-11-15T15:51:00.001-06:00

I love the holidays, and what better way to celebrate the holidays than to give to those less fortunate? There are two causes which I support every year, and both are near and dear to my heart.

The first is Operation Christmas Child. OCC takes up donations of shoe boxes filled with goodies and sends them to children around the world who otherwise wouldn't have a Christmas.

I've participated for as long as I can remember. If you'd like to participate, here's what you need to do:

*Find a shoe box (I usually buy the plastic shoe boxes because the family can use it after to store things in or use to get water.)

*Decide if you want it to be for a boy or a girl and fill it with things!

*Print a label from their website and include a donation for shipping (There is a $7 suggested donation per box. You can even check an option and they'll email you letting you know what country your box went to!)

*Wrap a rubber band around your box and drop it off! National Collection week is THIS WEEK so the sooner you do this, the better! (Click here for locations in your area)

Gift ideas:
Toys
small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries), etc.

School Supplies
pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.

Hygiene Items
toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth, etc.

Other
Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries)

A personal note
In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. (If you include your name and address, the child may write back.)

Things not to include:
Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snowglobes or glass containers; aerosol cans.

My shoeboxes are all wrapped up and ready to be dropped off tomorrow! :)

The second charity I love to support at Christmas is St. Jude's. This is a super easy one to support, and also a bit fun. Answer me a question: What do you do with all of the cards you receive once the holidays are over? Did you know that St. Jude's has a card recycling program? They do! You can mail them the fronts of your cards and the kids at St. Jude's make new cards with your unwanted cards. The cards are then sold to raise money for the hospital. How brilliant is that? You can also purchase the handmade Christmas cards from St. Jude's, they're $10 for a pack of 10. As far as I know you cannot purchase the cards online, so call 1-877-977-7572 to place your order. They take donations year round and have a particular need for Birthday and Thank You cards. Already have your Christmas cards all planned for this year? You can also purchase inserts to put in with your Christmas cards. For a donation of your choosing (though a $5 minimum donation per insert is suggested) you can let your friends and family know that you support a great cause by making a donation in their honor.

To donate your card fronts, please mail them to:
St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street
Boulder City, NV 89005

I'm sure you all have charities that you like to support during the holidays (or year round!) so please let me know what they are in the comments so I can check them out! I'm always looking for new ways to give.

Bah Humbug! ;)

Fired Up Friday

2011-11-04T16:38:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the radio silence the past few weeks. I was desperately trying to finish the first round of revisions on my dystopian time travel novel (which I finished at about 10:00 on Monday night) and then I ~~stupidly~~ decided to do NaNoWriMo this year (what can I say, I'm a sucker for The Pain), so I've been a bit busy. I'll be pretty busy for the remainder of the year with the holidays coming up, but I'm going to try to schedule some posts in advance so the blog doesn't just sit empty.

Now on to my Fired Up Friday, which is brought to you today by Fall. Fall is my all time favorite season. I love the colors of the leaves changing, fall festivals, pumpkins, and the crisp, sunny days. The weather has finally started to cool off here in Texas (We caved and turned the heat on last night. Don't judge, it was 34 degrees!) and I am very thankful, those 100+ degree days were starting to make me a little loopy. So without taking up to much of your time, here is why Fall inspires me, brought to you by pictures this week.

Is it weird to be inspired by tights? Because I am. I have bought about six different colors of tights to wear this fall, and I think I need at least two other colors (it's an addiction). Here I am in a dress my husband got me for our anniversary with teal tights.

As I said earlier, I am digging this cooler weather. High today of 65? YES PLEASE.

Every year when we carve pumpkins I'm always surprised by how hard and time consuming it is. These are our pumpkins for this year, I did the owl, and my husband did NightMare Moon from My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic.

I love pumpkin anything, pretty much. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie... pumpkin anything. Today I made up a recipe for Pumpkin Harvest Bread, which turned out awesome! I'll share the recipe with you on a later date, but here's a tease picture for now. :)

I love Fall so much I chose to get married in it. My husband and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary on the 27th. As you saw from the first picture, he got me a lovely dress and I got him a laptop bag. He treated me to my favorite breakfast (Shipley's chocolate filled donuts!) then we drove out to Marble Falls to visit the pumpkin patch there and had dinner at The Melting Pot that evening. The following day we visited San Antonio to go to the Alamo (I've never been, and he's only been as a child) and then spent the day at the Riverwalk. All in all we had a fabulous anniversary and weekend. The rest of the pictures in this post will be of our visit to the pumpkin patch and San Antonio. Hope you enjoy!

A Benefit Honoring the Life of Sophie

2011-10-17T14:07:00.000-05:00

On September 14, 2010 heaven gained a beautiful angel, my dear friend Lindsay's daughter Sophie. Sophie was just shy of her second birthday when complications from a sudden illness took her too soon. I love Sophie more than words can say, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her and miss her.

If you're in the Austin area and free on Saturday November 5th (Sophie's birthday), please stop by the Gallery Black Lagoon on Guadalupe from 5:00-9:00. All are invited to honor the life of Sophie whether you knew her or not. There is a $10 suggested donation at the door and a silent auction with proceeds going to Any Baby Can. I will be donating one of my book wreaths to the auction. Sophie loved books and loved to read, I can't think of any better way to remember her by making something from a book. If you have an item you'd like to donate for auction, please email me at StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com and I'll forward your information on to Lindsay.

A Special Post For My Grandmother

2011-10-07T17:39:00.000-05:00

In lieu of my normal Friday post, I'm going to have a very special blog post for my Memaw today. My grandparents read my blog (Hey Memaw and Pepaw!), and I really wanted to share something special that happened to me with them.

It was no secret that Memaw has a sweet spot for country music singer George Jones, and I have to be honest here: So do I. While other kids my age had their bedroom walls plastered with pictures of New Kids on the Block, I had posters of George Jones, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson (yes I honestly did), and I blame it all on Memaw. We spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house growing up, so her love affair with The Possum was bound to wear off on me I guess. To this day he's still one of my favorite singers. I always said if I ever got the chance to see him in concert I'd jump at the opportunity, so when he announced an Austin show, you better believe I jumped!

I didn't even think he was touring anymore, but he apparently still does 60 tour dates a year. Owen and I went with my friend Jen and her husband and had a great time. Instead of going on and on about him, I'll just share some pictures and videos that I took. We didn't have the best seats and the video quality isn't wonderful, but just close your eyes and pretend you're there. Hope you enjoy, Memaw.

It's mandatory to wear cowboy boots!

Fired Up Friday

2011-09-30T09:54:00.001-05:00

Sadly I do not have time to post a Fired Up Friday post today as I'm up to my eyeballs in Austin Teen Book Festival things (which is TOMORROW!). However, I don't want to leave you empty handed, so I'll leave you with a video of one of my favorite Adele songs. Enjoy!

Austin Teen Book Festival- reminder

2011-09-26T14:36:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to take a quick minute and remind everyone about the Austin Teen Book Festival happening this Saturday from 10AM-5PM at the Palmer Events Center downtown.

The theme for this year's festival is... steampunk! How awesome is that? Feel free to dress up! Get out your goggles and monocles and hit the town. Or books. Just don't hit the authors, please.

The festival will have five panels, and you'll be able to choose three of the five to attend throughout the day.

PEN FATALE features Gabrielle Zevin (All These Things I've Done), Mary Pearson (The Fox Inheritance), Jessica Brody (My Life Undecided), Alyson Noel (Everlasting), and Alexandra Adornetto (Hades); moderated by Margo Rabb (Cures for Heartbreak).

ALTERNAWORLDS (fantasy) features Scott Westerfeld (Goliath), Maureen Johnson (Name of the Star), Jonathan Maberry (Dust & Decay), and Brian Yansky (Alien Invasion); moderated by Rosemary Clement-Moore (The Splendor Falls).

REAL LIFE IS MESSY (edgy fiction) features John Corey Whaley (Where Things Come Back), David Levithan (Every You, Every Me), Melissa Walker (Small Town Sinners), Coe Booth (Bronxwood), and Geoff Herbach (Stupid Fast); moderated by Varian Johnson (Saving Maddie).

I HEART LOVE STORIES (realistic/romance fiction) features Simone Elkeles (Perfect Chemistry), Stephanie Perkins (Lola & the Boy Next Door), Jenny Han (We’ll Always Have Summer), Jennifer Zeigler (Sass & Sensibility), and Christina Mandelski (The Sweetest Thing); moderated by Cristina Garcia (Dreams of Significant Girls).

SUPERNATURAL SUSPENSE (fantasy) features Heather Brewer (Vladimir Tod), Jackson Pearce (Sweetly), Tera Lynn Childs (Sweet Venom), Sophie Jordan (Vanish), and Andrea Cremer (Wolfsbane); moderated by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Blessed).

The event is free, but remember it's $7 to park on-site, so bring cash! Also remember to bring cash for lunch (and for books too of course.) Here is a list of what will be available to eat and the price. You can also bring lunch and eat it outside! It should be a beautiful day.

Concessions Menu:

Hot Dog – $3
Cheese Nachos – $3
Sandwiches (turkey & ham) – $3
Whole Fruit – $2
Muffins & Pastries – $3
Garden Salad – $5.25
Bottled Soda, Water, & Juice – $3.50

There is also a list of books that will be available for purchase (with prices!) on Saturday on the ATBF website.

Want to volunteer? We still need you! Click here to to learn more and to sign up. If you have any questions regarding volunteering please email ATBFVolunteer@gmail.com.

Some of us bloggers are meeting up Friday night for a bit. Everyone is welcome! Email me (StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com) for details. We promise we'll be done in plenty of time for the Nick and Norah showing at the Alamo. If you have any other questions about anything feel free to ask me! I'll be there all day Saturday, if you see me stop me and say hello! :) Hope to see y'all there!

Fired Up Friday

2011-09-23T13:20:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! It's Friday, so you know that means it's time for my weekly Fired Up Friday post where I tell you things that have inspired me this week.

I found this picture of a desk on Tumblr and I'm obsessed. It's in an office in a CLOSET! So when you're done working for the day you can close the doors and be done. Not to mention it's also adorable.

I love the idea of using vintage luggage as a coffee table. We're still coffee talbe-less and I think this is a fantastic idea. So much so that I bought a piece of vintage luggage today at Goodwill for $8.

My new piece of luggage! It's a bit smaller than I'd like, so I may have to use it for something else. Or maybe I'll use it as the top part of the "table." Who knows, but for $8 I couldn't pass it up!

Earlier this week I found this picture while looking at fashion blogs. I love how she wears socks with her heels, she looks adorable. When a friend gave me some clothes the other day there was a dress in the stack and I knew I'd wear socks and Mary Janes with it. I probably look like I'm twelve years old, but I don't care, I think it's the cutest thing ever.

I think that about wraps it up for me, what's been your inspiration this week? Let me know in the comments!

Dress sale that benefits a charity? YES PLEASE.

2011-09-20T19:13:00.000-05:00

Live in the Austin area? Love vintage dresses? Love donating to charities? Love buying vintage dresses knowing that the proceeds go to charity? Then this is the post for you, my friend.

My dear friend Andrea is involved with a project called 499 dresses. 499 dresses is a project that raises money for the creation of The Winding Road Recovery, a film about disabled returned veterans who have turned to cycling as a means to overcome their injuries and kickstart their own recovery. Be sure to 'like' 499 Dresses on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

499 Dresses will be having a sale this Thursday September 22 at 2nd and Colorado in downtown Austin from 3PM-8PM. If you have a spare few minutes and you're in the area, I urge you to stop by. There will be some fabulous dresses there, and you can leave with a lighter pocketbook knowing that your money is helping out a fantastic cause. (If you can't make it but would still like to donate, click here.) The best part? All dresses are $15 and under!

Fired Up Friday

2011-09-16T15:17:00.000-05:00

I'll be honest, I had a hard time feeling inspired this week. I've got quite a few things going on and I feel a bit over committed. It's my own fault, really. I always tell myself I need to learn to say no, but I rarely ever do. It's always hard lesson to learn. It's started to affect my writing quite a bit, too. Since editing this manuscript is the biggest, most frustrating thing on my daily to-do list, I often find myself just not doing it. It's easier to do the smaller (and usually less important) things done for the sake of instant gratification. Does anyone else do this? Yesterday I decided enough was enough so I've reorganized a bit and am trying to get back in the writing/editing groove. Again, another hard lesson to learn. Anyway, with all that being said, I do have a few things to share with you all that inspired me this week. Hope you enjoy, and be sure to tell me what's inspired you in the comments.

Y'all know I've been thrifting quite a bit lately and this is my favorite find this week. They're vintage cups from the '70s and I knew they'd be perfect for a shelf I have in my bathroom. Originally I was going to put a small plant in each up (lavender or something), but I realized I'd probably forget to water it and have dead plants in my bathroom. So I put a pine cone in each.

Here is another one of my new crafting ventures. I think it turned out quite well! Only problem is I've found out I'm allergic to old books. I've been feeling gross for a few days and fooling with the books is the only real thing that's changed. I did some research and mold spores can live in the pages. :( So not sure how much more book crafting I'll be able to do. If you know of any other crafting things I could try (that would get my eyes away from a computer screen) let me know!

I was lucky enough to win tickets to a Coldplay ACL taping last night and it was an amazing show. It will air on PBS on New Year's Eve, so we all had to pretend it was New Year's with a countdown and everything. This is one of my favorite Coldplay songs and I was so excited that they played it last night. I'll have pictures and video of the show up soon hopefully.

Happy Birthday, Calli! (plus a giveaway!)

2011-09-13T10:06:00.002-05:00

I'd like to wish a lovely Happy Birthday to Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson! Welcome to the world, Calli! Jessica is a dear friend of mine, and I'm so excited for this book to be out in the world. To help mark this momentous occasion my friend PJ Hoover made this hilarious video, which I have a brief cameo in. If you're up to date on your Austin area authors, you'll see quite a few familiar faces.

Want to make Jessica's book birthday better? Comment on the video! Congratulate her on Facebook or Twitter!

A few months back Jessica was kind enough to sign a few postcards for me, so I'm passing them on to you! To enter, all you need to do is comment on this post wishing Calli and Jessica a Happy Birthday!

~~Rules:~~
*International giveaway
*You must include your email in the comment
*Contest will end Friday September 16th at midnight CST
*You do NOT have to be a follower to enter
Contest closed! Thanks for all who entered!

Good luck! And I'm so happy for you, Jessica. You are such a lovely friend to me, and I wish you all the luck in the world with Calli.

Fired Up Friday

2011-09-09T14:14:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday to you all! It's time for Fired Up Friday again, the day where I share things that have inspired me over the past week. Let's get to it!

I love trees so much!

This week I thrifted these awesome shoes and a vintage leather handbag. Love them! Which leads me to...

My first "official" Fall outfit! Temperatures this past week have been a little cooler (highs in the 90s now! Woo hoo!) so I decided it was time to break out a sweater.

I've been doing a lot of paper crafts this week for a Top Secret Project and I made this little guy out of the pages of a vintage book. It's the first one I've made, but I thought he turned out quite well!

And lastly, the fires here in Central Texas. You may ask why such a horrible disaster can inspire me, but let me explain. It's not so much the fire that inspires me, but how people come together after a disaster like this. People are so willing to donate their time and effort to others after a disaster. It's one of the few times I can actually say I'm proud of our human race. Does that make sense? (If you'd like to help out, please click here to read my previous post.)

Well that wraps it up for me this week. What's inspired you lately? Please tell me in the comments!

Central Texas Fires

2011-09-05T14:20:00.010-05:00

Home burning in the Steiner Ranch community of Austin (photo via The Statesman)

Fire in Bastrop, Texas. Gut-wrenching. (Photo found via Facebook)

Hurricanes I can handle. Tornadoes I can handle. Any rain in general, really, I can deal with. But fire? I've never lived in an area dry enough for fire to spread, so this is all new to me and I'm not really sure how to deal with it if fire were to come our way. I've been staying on top of things by following the Texas Storm Chasers. (Click here for their Facebook page and here for their Twitter feed.) They seem to be updating things a lot faster than local newspaper and news stations. I also have a new appreciation for my Mom and Dad who are both volunteer firefighters. I know they'd be out here helping in a heartbeat if they could.

My dear friend Jen and her family had to evacuate yesterday due to fire and it breaks my heart for them. They think they may be able to go back home tomorrow, but no official word yet, I don't think. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

I know it's a holiday, but if you're in central Texas, remember not to grill today. Also if I see you throwing cigarette butts/ash on the ground I WILL call you an idiot to your face and probably call the police. Just a warning. ;)

Ways you can help:
*Austin Christian Fellowship is running a shelter and asking for both volunteers and donations of bottled water, toiletries, gloves, garbage bags, snhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifacks, etc.

*Donate directly to the Central Texas Chapter of the American Red Cross. (I signed up yesterday to be a volunteer for the ARC and have my volunteer orientation on Friday. If anyone is interested in joining me, please email me (StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com) and I'll give you details. If you know of any other ways to help please let me know in the comments and I'll edit this post to include them.)

*The Capital Area Food Bank is asking for food donations

*Firefighters that are fighting the Steiner Ranch blaze are apparently asking for oranges and ripe bananas.

Edited 9.7.11
(This list was taken from the 365 Austin Page)

What To Donate:

clothes
canned food
bottled waters
Tylenol/Advil/pain relievers
baby food
trash cans/trash bags
laundry detergent
socks
pillows/blankets
diapers

Where To Donate:
Central

BookPeople: 603 N. Lamar Blvd. 78701
Church of Resurrection: 2200 Justin Lane 78757
Gilda Grace Collections: 1818 W. 35th Street 78703
Austin Diocese: 6225 Highway 290 East – 78723
UT Campus Gregory Plaza: 11am-2pm daily
Sugar Hill Spa: 3027 N. Lamar #100 – 78705
Baker Street Pub: 3003 S. Lamar Blvd. 78704
Amy’s Ice Cream – Super South: 3100 South Congress Ave. 78704
Malaga Tapas & Bar: 440 W 2nd Street 78701
St. Vincent de Paul: 1327 South Congress Ave. 78704
Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar: 1120 South Lamar 78704 September 7 6:30-9p.m.

East/Bastrop/Smithville

Peacock Salon: 1519 East Cesar Chavez 78702
Elgin Elementary School: 1005 W. 2nd Street Elgin 78621
Old Wind’s/Dollar General Store: 210 Main Street Smithville 78957
Zion Church: 151 Shiloh Road Bastrop
Rundell Business Park: 704 W Highway 71 Bastrop 78602 call: 512-332-8661
Foundation Christian Ministries in Cedar Creek: 177 Union Chapel Road Bastrop 78602

North

Celebration Church: 1202 Rabbit Hill Trail Georgetown
McDonald’s: 608 W. Hwy 79 Hutto
Unity Church of The Hills: 9905 Anderson Mill Road – 78750 -not taking clothes
Trashy Roots Salon & Spa: 117 Louis Henna Blvd. #150 Round Rock 78664
St. Vincent de Paul Church: 9500 Neenah Ave. 78717
Faith Family Services: 206 W. Live Oak Hutto 78634
Rowe Valley Events Center 155 CR 366 Spur, Taylor 512-639-1224 after 5: 512-297-8666
Click Computers of Georgetown 1102 S. Austin Ave #109 Georgetown
Paul Mitchell The School: 15635 Vision Drive #107 Pflugerville
Brigade Skate 511 Lake Road #105 Belton, Texas 76513
Lambs Tire and Automotive: 10740 Research Blvd. #115
Lambs Tire and Automotive: 11675 Jollyville Road

South

The Capital Area Food Bank: 8201 South Congress Ave. 78745
Fellowship SW Church in Buda: 3870 FM 967
Dart’s Aloha Tattoo: 160 West Slaughter Lane 78748
Salt Lick BBQ: 18300 FM 1826 Driftwood 78619
Lambs Tire and Automotive: 2204 Slaughter Lane

West

Austin Ridge Bible Church: 9300 Bee Caves Road -78733 Drop off in Building “C”
Austin Christian Fellowship: 6401 River Place Blvd. 78730
Hill Country Bible Church: 12124 Ranch Road 620 North Austin 78750
Oasis on Lake Travis: 6550 Comanche Trail 78732

Also, drop off water, Gatorade, snacks to your local fire department for the fire fighters.

Pet/Animal Help:
What to donate:

dog food
cat food
crates
cat litter
toys
towels
beds

Where to donate:
Austin Pets Alive: 2807 Manchaca Road 78704
Austin Pets Alive is also helping with displaced pets email: pass@austinpetsalive.org or call 512-961-6433

All Dirty Dog Locations:
Downtown: 710 W. 5th Street 78701
Guadalupe: 3016 Guadalupe 78705
South Lamar: 2300 S. Lamar 78704
William Cannon: 1901 William Cannon Suite 152 78745
Mesa Drive: 8108 Mesa Drive 78759

Fired Up Friday

2011-09-02T13:50:00.004-05:00

Happy Friday to all of you, dear readers! It's time once again for my weekly Fired Up Friday post where I talk about the things that have inspired me over the past week. Let's hop to it!

I mean really, who doesn't want a Muppet cupcake?

Dark nail polish

This week I went thrifting with my friend Andrea and came across this shirt for $2. I love it!

I have a few spare copies of Harry Potter that are falling apart. I was trying to think of different ways I could use them and I thought about making stationary out of the pages. I think it turned out pretty well! The ribbon was an afterthought and just something random I had laying around, but I think it adds just the extra touch it needed. Maybe I'll eventually make some stationary and sell on Etsy. I will say, it was much harder than I thought! Maybe I just need to practice.

So that's it for me this week! What about you? What's inspired you? Share with me in the comments! Happy weekend, everyone!

Austin Teen Book Festival

2011-08-31T10:37:00.004-05:00

In the central Texas area? Love young adult literature? Well be sure to put the Austin Teen Book Festival on your calendar! The festival is Saturday October 1st from 10AM to 5PM at the Palmer Events Center in downtown Austin. This year the festival is bigger and better than ever with almost 30 authors! The authors are:

Scott Westerfeld
Heather Brewer
Jenny Han
Coe Booth
David Levithan
Maureen Johnson
Jackson Pearce
Alyson Noel
Gabrielle Zevin
Margo Rabb
Mary Pearson
Jessica Brody
Alexandra Ardonetto
Cristina Garcia
Simone Elkeles
Stephanie Perkins
Jennifer Ziegler
Christina Mandelski
Varian Johnson
John Cory Whaley
Melissa Walker
Geoff Herbach
Tera Lynn Childs
Sophie Jordan
Andrea Cremer
Jonathan Maberry
Brain Yansky
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Rosemary Clement Moore

The festival is FREE to everyone, no need to sign up in advance!

Parking at the Palmer Events Center is in their garage and is $7 a day, so remember to bring cash to park, or carpool!

Lunch will also be sold at the festival, so remember to bring some cash for that as well (or bring your own lunch!) and also remember to bring money to buy books!

To keep up with the latest info, be sure to follow ATBF on twitter at @AustinTBF or on their Facebook page.

ATBF is also looking for volunteers! Even if you're only able to give a few hours of your time, it would help them out so much. If you're interested, please email ATBFvolunteer@gmail.com and they'll get you set up.

I, of course, will be there! Let me know if you'll be there too! And if you see me, please stop and say hello!

Braces

2011-08-30T16:27:00.002-05:00

Those who follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook know I got braces (for the third time) last week. I was going to blog about it here, but I didn't think everyone would appreciate all the teeth talk and pictures, so I set up a Tumblr account to keep up with my progress. I'll post a picture of my teeth every Monday so I can see how they change over time. If you'd like to keep up with it (and aren't grossed out by teeth or annoyed by me complaining about how much my teeth hurt), my Tumblr is adultbraceface.tumblr.com

And now my question for you is: Have you ever had braces? What's your story? I think we all have a braces story. If you'd like to read mine, it's the first entry on my Tumblr page, but I want to hear yours! Leave your story for me in the comments.

Fired Up Friday

2011-08-26T10:49:00.003-05:00

Hello and happy Friday to you all, dear readers! Here are a few things that have inspired me/got me fired up this week. Hope you enjoy! And please let me know in the comments what you've seen/read/heard this week that's inspired you.

Y'all know I love owls, and this one is just the cutest ever!

I found this fashion/makeup/hair blog and I love her, especially in this picture. I'm hoping to figure out how to braid my hair like this.

I love these nails, so much so that I even tried the polka dots on my own nails. I think they turned out okay considering it was my first try!

For a tutorial, click here.

And lastly, this video is a much watch for any Harry Potter fan. I won't tell you what it's about, just watch it. Trust me, you'll thank me later.

Camp NaNoWriMo

2011-08-25T14:16:00.004-05:00

For those of you who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, it stands for National Novel Writing Month. In short, you write a novel (or at least 50,000 words on a novel) in a one month span. NaNoWriMo takes place every November, and I've never been able to participate because of the holidays and being out of town to visit our family.

Well this year they changed things up a bit and did something called Camp NaNoWriMo, which is the same thing as NaNoWriMo, just set in the summer (hence the summer camp theme). I ~~stupidly~~ decided last minute on July 30th that I was going to participate. Why? I honestly have no idea. I was a little over halfway finished with my second round of edits on the contemporary manuscript I was working on and wasn't planning on starting anything new until I got finished with that. But on August 1st I found myself starting a new story and putting my edits on hold.

This story flowed like no other that I have ever written. It seriously seemed to take over my thoughts, my actions, my life. I found myself writing much more than the daily quota needed to "win" at the end of the month. And I was totally okay with that. It was like I couldn't tell the story fast enough. Sometimes I'd check my word count at the end of the day and see that I had written over 4K for that particular day, but it didn't seem like I'd written hardly anything at all.

Last night I hit the 50K mark, thus "winning" my first NaNoWriMo. I am pleased as punch. I never thought I'd be able to write a nearly completed novel in less than a month. Never. This whole experience has taught me so much about writing, and about myself. I see how that I wasn't writing nearly as much per day as I could have been. Sure, I was still writing, but I never seemed to get anywhere with my story. I see now that it can be done, it can be accomplished, it just takes a lot of work and self discipline.

I took today off from writing after writing literally every day for 24 days straight, and it felt weird. I felt almost lost, like I had no idea what to do with my day. But I do think my brain needed a day off to rest. My new goal starting next week is to write (or edit) 2,000 words a day at least four days a week. I will take weekends off, because it'll be nice to have a break and I need one day out of the week to get all my errands/appointments done, but I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to write 8K a week. None. The only thing that has been holding me back was laziness and excuses.

So my question to you is, what's holding you back? What excuses are you making to not write that novel you've always wanted to write? Because I promise you, if I can do this, anybody can. Including you.

(Also a special thank you to my NaNo "cabin mates" Carolyn, Jackson, Kate, and Natasha. You have all been such an inspiration to me this past month, thank you for helping me stay motivated and keeping my tummy full on virtual smores.)

Fired Up Friday

2011-08-19T10:52:00.007-05:00

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you had a lovely week and have an even lovelier weekend planned. It's quite hot here (high of 106 degrees today, YUCK!) so we'll be stuck inside as always.

Here's my Fired Up Friday for this week. Don't know what Fired Up Friday is? (Where have you been? Kidding, I won't judge you. Much.) FUF happens every Friday here on my blog. I post things that have inspired me over the last week, whether they're a picture, song lyric, etc. Here's the things that have inspired me the most this week:

I love these lamps!

One of my all time favorite quotes, from Walt Disney

Don't you love this tree?

I got the Christina Perri album this week and I've been listening to it on repeat pretty much every day, all day. Here is a video of one of my favorite songs from the album called The Lonely. Both the video and the lyrics are beautiful and haunting. I especially love this line:

Broken pieces of
A barely breathing story
Where there once was love
Now there's only me and the lonely.

I have a character in the manuscript I'm currently working on that's going through a very similar situation, so this song speaks volume to me at the moment.

Well that's it for me, what's inspired you this week? Let me know in the comments!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries (Yam Fries?)

2011-08-15T18:50:00.005-05:00

So today while perusing my local Whole Foods, I saw they had yams on sale. I do love me some sweet potato fries, and although I've never made them I didn't figure they'd be very hard, so I bought a couple and went on my merry way.

After I got home I got to thinking that the label specifically said "yams" and not "sweet potatoes." I didn't think there was a difference, but I Googled it and apparently there is. Thought there isn't much of a difference, they are still two completely different foods. (I won't go into explaining them, if you'd like to read more see the Yam and Sweet Potato entries on Wikipedia.)

My sweet potato/yam fries (I'll just call them sweet potatoes from here on out, though I'm still not sure which if that's what they were) were very delicious, so I thought I'd share my recipe with y'all. It was very simple!

Things you will need:

- Sweet Potatoes (I only used 1 1/2 for me and Husband and we had leftovers)
- Olive Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Paprika
- Cutting Board
- Sharp Knife
- Bowl

Instructions:
I didn't peel my potatoes because there's lots of nutrients packed in the skin. If you wash them before hand make sure you dry them really well, otherwise the oil won't stick to them as well.

Cut your potatoes into wedges (I like mine thick, so they were about half and inch to three quarters thick) and put into your bowl. Coat with olive oil (a couple of table spoons) and shake in the bowl. Then add the salt, pepper, and paprika (I usually cook by eye so I can't tell you exact measurements. I'd have to guess a couple of tablespoons each of salt and pepper, and a light dusting of paprika.) and shake until fries are fully covered.

This is what they should look like

Arrange on a baking sheet (allowing some room in between the fries) and pop in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes. After that's up, turn all the fries over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Before going in the oven

All done!

So whatever they were, sweet potatoes or yams, they were quite delicious and turned out a lot better than I thought. Next time I may try dusting them lightly with brown sugar at the 20 minute mark, but that might defeat the "let's eat sweet potatoes because they're healthier" meaning behind all this.

Have you ever made your own sweet potato fries? What do you do differently? I'd love to hear about it so please comment! I'm all ears.

Fired Up Friday

2011-08-12T13:32:00.005-05:00

I started doing this about a year ago and stopped for some reason. I don't really remember why, I missed a week, and it turned into two and so on. But now I'm starting it back. :)

Fired Up Friday is basically a blog post dedicated to things that have inspired me over the past week. Whether it's a photo, a song, a quote from a book or a poem. Anything that caused any sort of spark in me, I'll post it for y'all to see and maybe get some inspiration off of, too. Most of the time I doubt I'll post why that specific thing inspired me, because let's face it, it's hard to put into words why certain things inspire us. And even if we could, it may not make sense to anybody else.

So without rambling on any further, here is my Fired Up Friday for the week. Enjoy. :)

Mini eggplants

I took these photos when I was in Mississippi at the beginning of the year. I loved them so much I framed them and put them above our couch so I always feel like I'm home.

Candles in old churches. (This picture was taken at the St. Louis Cathedral when I was in New Orleans for ALA this summer.)

I think that's all for me for this week. What about you? What's inspired you this week?

Firefly + Charity = One Awesome Event

2011-08-09T13:40:00.003-05:00

Those who know me know I'm a Browncoat (and for those that are already confused, Browncoat is a term used to identify fans of the Firefly series). Every year the Austin Browncoats group has an event called Can't Stop the Serenity, where fans of the series come together and watch a showing of Serenity at the Alamo Drafthouse. My husband and I have gone for the past three years and not only is it an amazing event, it's a charitable one as well. Last year we raised over $32,000 for the charity Equality Now,a charity that seeks to stop violence and discrimination of women and girls around the world.

Nathan Fillion (who plays Mal on Firefly) along with YA author PJ Haarsma co-founded a charity called Kids Need to Read. KNTR is a program which brings books to classrooms and libraries all across the country that otherwise wouldn't be able to afford new books. To date the charity has brought books to over 73 schools.

So you're wondering what all this has to do with me, correct? This year I will be helping the Austin Browncoats with a book drive at our CSTS event. For every new, children's or young adult book you donate you will receive one raffle ticket for a chance to win some Firefly and Serenity themed prizes (some valued at over $100!). The person who donates the most books will also receive a prize.

The event will take place on September 10-11 at the Lake Creek Alamo Drafthouse and tickets should be on sale soon. To keep up with the latest Austin Browncoat news, follow them on Facebook and Twitter. (Edited to add: Tickets are now on sale as of 8/17! Click here!)

If you don't live in the Austin area or can't attend but still want to donate books, please email me at stephanienpellegrin@gmail.com and I'll let you know how you can still help. Please remember that all books must be new. For a list of books the charity would like to receive, click here.

I also urge you to find CSTS screenings in your area. It's for a great cause and you get to see Serenity again on the big screen!

I'm so excited to be helping the Austin Browncoats and KNTR with this project. Reading and putting books in the hands of children and young adults is a cause that's close to my heart, and I hope it's close to yours as well.

Writing Update

2011-07-28T11:42:00.004-05:00

Due to lack of brainpower at the moment, this post will be about writing. Specifically, my writing and how it's going. I'm officially halfway done with my second round of edits on my contemporary YA manuscript, and I cannot wait for it to be over with. Not that I don't enjoy working on it, I'm just a little overwhelmed. I feel like I've been editing forever, and I still can't get things how I want them and I still have a few unwritten scenes. And to be truthfully honest, I'm very tired of these characters. Very. I'm beyond ready to put them to rest for a while once I get everything completely finished. Which should be soon, God willing.

I've started a new project and I'm pretty excited about. Well actually, it's an old project I'm revamping. After talking with some of my crit partners I realized I've been looking at my historical a bit wrong, so it's now a Dystopian Time Travel. My friends call it my Terminator meets Gone with the Wind book. I'm actually really really excited about it, it's just a big undertaking. I've got maybe 7K written on it and done a lot of brainstorming, and I think it's going to have to be written as multiple books. It's just too big of a story to fit into one. This is the first multi-book project I've ever attempted so it's a little out of my comfort zone, but I'm ok with it. For now.

I have also started my query letter which I will hopefully be sending to agents as soon as I finish my edits on the contemporary. Took me a few hours yesterday to get it to make sense and I still have a lot of polishing to do on it, but at least the bones are there. I can honestly say I'd rather write a novel than a query letter. Also I hate writing bios. Give me made up people to talk about any day, but myself? I'm so... boring. I have no idea what to say to make me sound interesting and cool. Maybe I should make stuff up. (This can ONLY END WELL.)

Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived (and helped me live)

2011-07-14T13:16:00.006-05:00

I grew up loving to read, it was how I preferred to spend a lot of my free time. I liked it more than TV, and growing in in south Mississippi I much preferred it to playing in the heat of the outdoors. Reading developed into a love for writing over the years, but it was something I never really took seriously. I wrote a lot of short stories and essays, but never really showed anyone or talked about it.

Books enveloped me, drew me in. They made me cry. They made me laugh. They were my friends when others weren't. Books were my lifeline, an escape from everyday life in the rural countryside. They showed me the world, both literally and figuratively.

In my late high school years I kind of fell out of love with reading. I still read, sure, but it was mostly for school assignments. And let's face it, Of Mice and Men and The Scarlett Letter aren't really the types of book a teenage girl wants to read. (Not that I didn't enjoy them or think they weren't beneficial.) I grew to think that all "grown up books" were hopelessly depressing and forlorn. I found myself refusing to read any adult literature I didn't have to, but at the time there weren't many books out there for me. Books were expensive so I couldn't buy many on my own, and our town library was pretty small. The only books they had for kids/young adults were Baby Sitter's Club, Goosebumps, and The Chronicles of Narnia, all of which I had checked out and read numerously. So when I say I fell out of love with reading, it wasn't for lack of trying, really, it was lack of proper reading material for someone my age.

I saw a few kids at school reading a series called Harry Potter. "Harry Potter?" I thought. "What kind of a stupid name for a book is that? Honestly anyone can publish a book these days." I refused to read the books (or later see the movies) on principle. They were a fad and nothing more. Itwould pass soon and I'd be for the better having not read them. I'd show everyone.

The summer before my freshman year of college I found my sister cuddled up on the couch with a book.

"What are you reading?" I asked in passing.
She held up a copy of Prisoner of Azkaban.
"Oh no, not you too." I groaned.
"These books are amazing! You have got to read them." Her eyes lit up in excitement.
I backed away, nervous. "Um. No I'm good, thanks."

The conversation went back and forth for a few days, I saw how engrossed she was in those stupid books. At the time I just didn't understand what was so special about them, but I think I was also jealous. Jealous that she had found something so amazing, so engrossing. Jealous that she had seen something so beautiful and wonderful. Jealous that she still had a love for reading, and I did not.

Our disagreement continued. "Read the first book, if you don't like it I'll pay you $20." she said to me one day. $20 was a lot of money for a broke soon-to-be college student (heck it's still a lot of money to me!), so I begrudgingly took her up on her offer. It was a short book, I could finish it in a day or two.

Read it in a day or two I did, but what I didn't expect was to get sucked in.

From the moment I first opened Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone all those years ago, I was hooked. From the first moment I saw Hagrid say, "Harry- you're a wizard." and Harry respond with, "I'm a what?" I knew I had found my love for reading once again. I was home.

I started college and continued reading the books, five were out at this point I think. I got the sixth book and went to my first midnight release party for the seventh, rereading the series multiple times in between. It took over a month for me to finish Deathly Hallows (and I'm a fast reader). I didn't want the series to end, I couldn't say goodbye to characters that meant to much to me, that brought me back to the person I was meant to be. That saved me.

I can remember exactly where I during all the major plot arcs of the series. I remember sitting in my living room reading Prisoner of Azkaban while my sister watched Goblet of Fire for the thousandth time. I cannot express to you my excitement, the buzz of adventure that filled my ears, when I figured out Sirius was Harry's godfather. Finally, Harry would have a father figure in his life. Someone he could trust and count on.

I remember laying in my bed, reading under the covers with a flashlight at well past 3:00 in the morning when Sirius died in Order of the Phoenix. I reread the passage countless times, tears so thick I could hardly see the page. My sister texted me from the next room to ask if I was okay because she could hear my muffled cries. She understood.

I remember being in the back of my father's filled-to-the-brim pickup truck in Dallas rush hour traffic, trying desperately to find our way to Austin to visit my husband (then fiance) and move my things out here when I read Chapter 34 of Deathly Hallows. Tears, hot and silent, flowed down my cheeks and hit the page as Harry walked into the woods with the ghostly figures of James, Lily, Sirius, and Lupin.

I know it sounds silly, but finishing that book was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life. I feel much the same today as I did that day four years ago. The final film comes out in just a few hours, and I'm a mix of emotions. I'm excited to see it on the big screen, but I'm sad. This is the last midnight showing I'll ever go to. The last time I'll get to dress up as a book character and not be seen as crazy. It's the end.

These characters showed me so much about love, about life, and about death. I never thought a work of fiction could impact and change my life the way this series has. I never thought a book could rekindle my love for the written word. I never thought a book would help me see my love for writing. How daft I was. How foolish.

I know it's not really the end, not for me and those like me. "It's real for us." As Snape once said to Lily. Harry and his friends will never be gone, not really. Like J.K. Rowling said just recently, "Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home." And I believe that.

So thank you, J.K. Rowling, for making such loveable, believable characters and for building one of the few magical worlds I'd trade for my own in a heartbeat. Thank you for helping me to find myself again. Thank you for your story, and for reminding me that we all have stories to tell, no matter how small we think they may be.

"You'll stay with me?" Harry asked.
"Until the very end." said James.

Solstice by PJ Hoover

2011-06-22T11:48:00.004-05:00

I recently read Solstice by my dear friend and fellow Austinite PJ Hoover and was blown away. I rarely do book shout outs, but this is one that I'd love to tell you all about, and encourage you to read. Here's the synopsis:

Where Mythology and Dystopia meet...

Piper’s world is dying. Global warming kills every living thing on Earth, and each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles which threaten to destroy humanity. Amid this Global Heating Crisis, Piper lives with her mother who suffocates her more than the chaotic climate. When her mother is called away to meet the father Piper has been running from her entire life, Piper seizes an opportunity for freedom.

But when Piper discovers a world of mythology she never knew existed, she realizes her world is not the only one in crisis. While Gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper's life spirals into turmoil, and she struggles to find answers to secrets kept from her since birth. And though she’s drawn to her classmate Shayne, he may be more http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifthan he claims. Piper has to choose whom she can trust and how she can save the people she loves even if it means the end of everything she’s ever known.

And here is the beautiful book trailer! It's one of the best I've seen in a long time.

You can now purchase PJ's book through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. I encourage you to give it a shot, and at $2.99 it's almost like PJ is giving the book to you. :)

Be sure to check out PJ's website, Facebook page, Goodreads profile, and blog.

And because PJ is so awesome, she has given me three signed Solstice postcards to give away to you, dear readers.

Rules:
* Contest is international
* Contest will end at midnight on Friday July 1st, CST.
* To enter, simply comment on this post with your email address.
* I'll email the winners and they have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address. If they fail to respond I'll pick more winners.

Good luck to you all!

June is... overwhelming.

2011-06-10T15:22:00.003-05:00

Just an FYI that you'll see very little (if any!) of me for the remainder of the month. I'm leaving in about three hours to fly home for a week, then we'll have company visiting, then I'll be gone to New Orleans for a week for ALA. I'll still be tweeting, so if you want to keep up with the happenings of me, follow me there. Happy summer, everyone!

Reading Recap- May

2011-06-01T10:38:00.002-05:00

Here's a list of the books I read this month. I read, uh, quite a bit more than I thought I did. I won't be able to read nearly this much in June because I have a lot going on. I'm currently [re]reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to keep up with my one-Harry-Potter-a-week-read-a-thon. If you'd like to join me, please do!! Let me know if we read any of the same books this month and how you liked them. Happy reading!

Reading Recap for May 2011
23 Books
75 Books Year-To-Date

Afterlife by Claudia Gray

Nighspell by Leah Cypess

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler

Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler

Brother/Sister by Sean Olin

Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson

Zit Face by Emily Howse

Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Vicious Little Darlings by Katherine Easer

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Fins are Forever by Tera Lynn Childs

Paradise by Jill. S. Alexander

Solstice by P.J. Hoover

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente

Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement Moore

Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

Dead Rules by Randy Russell

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

A Five Part Blog

2011-05-24T12:44:00.005-05:00

First of all, I'd like to wish a huge Happy Birthday to my partner in crime Jen! She's having a birthday giveaway on her blog, so be sure to stop by and tell her Happy Birthday! (And try to win a free book too, of course.)

Secondly, I gave in and got a Tumblr. To be honest, the reason I got one was because John Green and Hank Green recently got one (Y'all know I'm an obsessed Nerdfighter), so I thought it was time I gave in. I'm really enjoying it so far. I'm still learning how to use it, but it's neat. It's kind of like an in between blog and Twitter. If you'd like to follow me, click here.

Thirdly, the Literary Lonestars are featured Sweethearts on the Texas Sweethearts & Scoundrels blog! We were so excited when they contacted us to be interviewed, we feel all famous and stuff! If you'd like to read our interview, click here.

Forthly, I am, and always will be, a Harry Potter fangirl. Like, to epic proportions. Today I will start my Epic Harry Potter reread where I plan on rereading all seven books before the movie comes out July 15th. I would love it if you joined me! I think it would be fun to get a group together, no? Please let me know if you're interested! (Hufflepuffs UNITE!)

Fifthly, How's the writing going, you ask? Well if you read my previous post, you'll see that I finished my first round of edits and I'm now taking a bit of a break. I plan on printing out my manuscript sometime this week and doing another round of edits on it because my eyes are shot from staring at it on a monitor all day. Taking a break has been... weird. I've done a little brainstorming on The Shiny, but other than that I haven't done any writing work at all. I think it's been good for me, but I'm also itching to start to work on edits again. I want this thing DONE.

I think that's all I have for now, sorry for the random assortment of thoughts. For some reason I'm not able to think very cohesively today so my thoughts came out a bit like a list. Hope everyone's having a great start to the summer, the heat index is supposed to be 101 here in Austin today. So not looking forward to the summer heat!

The Race to the Finish Line

2011-05-19T15:26:00.006-05:00

I haven't officially crossed the finish line, but I'm inching my way closer. Slowly but surely, I'm making my way there. I finished my first round of revisions on Always Tell Me Goodbye today and I am so, so excited to be done. I've been working on it pretty much nonstop for the past two months and it's nearly killed me, emotionally and physically. (I've been having to limit my computer time because I've been getting these weird neck aches and eye twitches and my hands go numb.)

I know I've pushed myself a little too hard. I was so ready to get to the next point along the path that I nearly went crazy and almost burned myself out. I didn't allow myself to work on any other projects for fear of getting side-tracked by The Shiny. Literally all I've done for the past two months is work on revisions and read. I mean sure, I leave the house (sometimes), but not often.

What's the next step for me, you ask? Nothing. I'm going to take a few days to rest and spend some quality time with my husband. Next week I'll start brain storming in a major way on my historical YA I have sort of worked on for the past year, but I'm keeping ATMG where it is for now. I need a break from it something fierce. Once my break is over I'll print it out and do another round of edits on it and then maybe give it to a few people to read. Scary.

I have also been challenged by Jessica Lee Anderson to work on my query letter. This scares me more than the actual writing process. Query letters seem so cut and dry, I'm scared to death of doing something wrong. Like what if I accidentally indent a paragraph that I'm not supposed to? Or what if I send my manuscript in to an agent in a format that he/she doesn't like? What if nobody likes me at all? I know my writing isn't the best, I've come to grips with that. I just hope that somewhere out there somebody is willing to take a chance on me and see what a great writer I could be with a little help.

Reading Recap- April

2011-05-02T13:26:00.002-05:00

Alright guys, here's the list of books I read in April. Let me know how many you read last month, and if we read any of the same books!

April
16 Books
52 Books Year-to-Date

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Sass and Serendipity by Jennifer Ziegler

Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Firefly Letters by Margarita Engle

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson

The Magnolia League by Katie Crouch

Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowry

Girl Wonder by Alexa Martin

Lark by Tracey Porter

Die for Me by Amy Plum

My Life, the Theater, and other Tragedies by Allen Zandoff

The Sweetest Thing by Christina Mandelski

Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott

The road to Major Success

2011-04-26T15:01:00.004-05:00

It's no secret that I'm not the most confident person, especially with my writing. I go through days/weeks/months where I ask myself what I'm doing, and if I'm just wasting my time chasing a dream that can never be reached, like a donkey chases a carrot on a string. Yesterday was one of those days, I spent the entire day in a slump. I was working on one specific scene that was hard to write, and even harder to edit. (Yes, I'm getting to the point where edits are hard and I don't think I like them anymore. You can laugh.) That, combined with other things, made me shut down. I slammed the lid to my laptop closed and declared myself done for the day, even though I had never really started.

Today started with the same dread that yesterday had. I took my time getting ready this morning. Made the bed extra tight. Went to WalMart. Made lunch. I did everything I could to not write, because I felt like a failure. I look around and see people who are farther along in the writing process than I am, or have recently become agented, or sold books to publishing houses. It's depressing to think that you're being left behind, that you wave at everyone who passes you on the road to Major Success and you're still stuck at the beginning. I tell myself not to think this way, but it's so difficult not to. It's part of who we are, to compare ourselves to others.

I got back from lunch and saw that my husband had sent me a link to this quote:

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through." - Ira Glass

Reading this was exactly what I needed to hear. It's good to see that it's normal self doubts. It's normal to think your work sucks. It's normal to be stressed. It's also normal to quit. Like I said earlier, it's hard for me to see everyone else around me on the road to Major Success while I'm forever stuck at the beginning. But I know I'm not alone. There are thousands of people doing the same thing I am now. Writing. Or trying to, anyway. There are also thousands of people who say, "Yeah I want to write a book," but never do. Wanting to write a book and actually writing a book are two completely different things. While I've only finished one full manuscript, it makes me giddy to think that I fall in the latter category. I may never write another book in my life (though I hope that isn't the case), but to know that I finished one puts me ahead of a lot of other people in the world.

I have a major fear when it comes to my writing. I've let very few people read it so far because I'm scared. I'm scared of failure, I'm scared of rejection, and I'm scared that I'm wasting my time. Then I tell myself, how can doing something you love be wasting your time? How can bettering yourself and honing a craft be wasting your time? Writing isn't always a tangible art, like painting or pottery. But I have to tell myself it is a form of art, and by doing it every day I'll only get better and better.

So a note both to myself and to everyone else out there working on their first (or hundredth) manuscript. Don't quit. Quitting is the easy way out. If everyone quits, then the written word simply dissolves into nothing. Yes you may wave at your friends on the road to Major Success as they pass you, but it probably won't always be that way. The only thing hindering you from joining them is YOU. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep walking. Even if you have to walk the road alone.

Texas Library Association Conference 2011

2011-04-22T11:17:00.022-05:00

Sorry, again, for my lack of updates as of late. As I've said, I'm in over my head in revising this draft (we are currently fighting, it is winning) and last week was the Texas Library Association Conference, or TLA. I think I'm still recovering. Those who have followed my blog for a while (or are general creepers) will remember I went last year and the epicness that followed. While I didn't meet Suzanne Collins again (or JK Rowling, though she did send her regards), an epic time was still had by all.

On Tuesday Jen and I checked into our swank hotel (seriously, we had a kitchen with full size fridge, stove top, dishwasher, etc. It was epic.) and while she was off doing her head-honcho duties I ~~jumped on the bed~~ worked on my edits while waiting from Cari to arrive from Houston. Once she arrived we ~~jumped on the bed~~ got her unpacked and settled in, and let me say, she brought everything. Girl had so many bags you'd think we were staying for weeks. I was impressed. ;) Once Jen was done we were invited to a Candlewick Press cocktail party, which was amazing.

Cari, Jen, and myself at the cocktail party

We left the party and picked up our last roommate, Jennifer, on the way to dinner with Sophie Jordan and Tera Lynn Childs. Sophie and Tera Lynn are so sweet, we talked about books, writing, publishing and everything in between. I just remembered that we forgot to take a picture, major boo on us! Next time, ladies.

Wednesday was when the conference itself started. I spent most of the morning waiting in author signing lines and was able to walk around the exhibit floor after lunch.

Cari and me waiting in line to meet Ally Condie

Ally Condie, author of Matched

Paolo Bacigalupi, author of Ship Breaker

Me, Jennifer, Jen, and our Girls in the Stacks friends. I love those gals.

Bettina Restrepo, author of Illegal.

I also met (but didn't get pictures with) C.C. Hunter, Michael Buckley, Elizabeth Scott, and Lauren Myracle.

At the end of the day, we all had so many books we couldn't carry them. Seriously. Our hotel was maybe a half-a-block from the exhibit center and we couldn't make it. We had to have a bellhop meet us at the corner to help us. We are pathetic. Or made of win, take your pick.

That poor, poor bellhop

After a quick change of clothes we were off to another cocktail party, this time all the authors and publishers were there. And this time we remembered to take a picture with Sophie. Yay!

Don't you love how we're color coordinated? It was accidental, I swear!

Thursday was a bit crazy, the only author I remembered to get a picture with was Carrie Ryan.

Carrie Ryan, author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Things were so busy I just didn't think about taking pictures. Other authors I met Thursday were Joy Preble, Gayle Forman, Jill S. Alexander, David Levithan, and James Howe.

I didn't have too much free time on Thursday because I was volunteering for most of the afternoon. I helped Jill S. Alexander (Who is so very sweet, and a Texas author. You should go buy her books.) and David Levithan (I think I did a pretty good job of keeping my squees to myself while helping him.). After my shift ended the exhibit hall was closing. Jen, Cari and I took a quick dip in the hot tub at our hotel before having dinner with our Literary Lonestar friends and Texas authors Bettina Restrepo, Joy Preble, and Jenny Moss. Jenny will be moving to Austin soon and I couldn't be more excited to have her here!

Dinner! Not pictured are Jen, Joy, and Jenny

Friday is what I call The Crazy Day. Publishers don't want to take books back with them, so they either give them away or sell them for cheap. I got a few things but didn't feel like throwing elbows this year. I spent the rest of the day volunteering (this time with Gerald McDermottt, a picture book author). So I know you're wondering what books I got, right?

Mine and Jen's books. Sheesh.

My Books

I didn't get as many books as last year, and that was my intention. Last year I was all grabby-hands and I still have things I got that I haven't read. This year I tried to take my time and only get things I knew I'd enjoy reading. It was also a lot easier on my back. ;) And yes, I do have doubles of a few things. I'll be giving them away either her or on Literary Lonestars.

I cannot put into words my love for TLA. I mean, sure, there's lots of free books, but it's amazing to be around people who share your ~~obsession~~ love for books. I'm so thankful that I have such great friends in the YA community, both bloggers and authors. I have always felt very welcome, and for that I am grateful. A big thank you to my roomies for making the week both eventful and hilarious.

I've also decided that I'll be at ALA in New Orleans in late June. Will you be there? Let me know!

PS- I have to share this picture because I can't stop laughing. Even though the conference was last week, I just today looked at my pictures. I had to heavily crop the picture of me with Carrie Ryan because of a photo bomber. See if you can find her.

I don't now if she is purposefully photo-bombing or if she flipped out when she saw Carrie Ryan, either way I am still giggling over it.

Upcoming Book Events

2011-04-08T18:56:00.003-05:00

Do you live in Texas? Here's some upcoming YA book events in Texas to add to you calendar!

Teen Book Con of Houston is tomorrow (Saturday April 9th) from 9-4. Authors in attendance are Deb Caletti, Andrea Cremer, Ellen Hopkins, Joy Preble, Rachel Hawkins, Stephanie Perkins, and more! The event is free but you must purchase a book at the event to get into the signing lines.

The Texas Library Association Conference is April 12-15th here in Austin. There are too many amazing authors to list, so click here to see the full list. You can buy a $25 exhibit pass at the event and it will get you into the exhibit hall where authors will be signing books and publishers will be giving away books. I went to this even last year and it was epic.

The Austin Teen Book Festival will be Saturday, October 1st. Authors attending are Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson, Mary Pearson, Gabrielle Zevin and more being announced soon. I attended as a volunteer last year and it is one of the most organized events I've ever been to. Check back for more info!

I'll continue to blog about various Texas book events, but for more up-to-date info go to Facebook and 'like' Literary Lonestars. Literary Lonestars is a page we set up to help us keep in touch with other Texas bloggers and keep track of various book events happening all across the state. We do giveaways from time to time, so check us out! (And you don't have to be from Texas to 'like' us!)

Update on THINGS

2011-04-06T15:55:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I've blogged about my writing, so I thought I'd do a quick update before I leave for my weekly meeting with a few other Austin writers.

I am about 1/4 of the way through edits, and I know this is weird, but it's actually not that bad. (In a few months when I'm finishing up said edits and rocking in the fetal position in the corner chugging cough syrup don't remind me I said edits weren't "that bad.") Not saying I enjoy it over writing, but I do find it somewhat pleasing. I giggle at myself every time a certain character vomits (I'm on chapter 9 and she's blown chunks about four times, which is about four times too many), sighs, or shifts their eyes. My characters are very moody, apparently.

One thing I don't like about editing and rewriting is it's very time consuming for me. I can only do about a chapter a day (my chapters are around 1500-2K) and by the end of the day my BRAIN IS MUSH. I'm not sure why this is, but it wears me out mentally. My goal was to have the draft completely edited and maybe ready for a few beta readers by June, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Missing nearly two weeks of editing time in March because of The Plague didn't help things, and with TLA being next week I'm going to get even farther behind. I guess I should get used to always being behind, I hear writers are generally behind on deadlines.

I think it's good to go back to something you wrote weeks, months, or even years ago and see how you've improved. I started the first draft of Always Tell Me Goodbye in December and I can already tell I'm a better writer in just the five months I've put into it. It helps me to see that I'm not wasting my time. Even if this manuscript goes nowhere but the garbage, I'm exercising my craft and I can't see how that's a bad thing.

I'm to the point now in my edits where That Pesky Boy comes into play and I just can't decide what to do with him. I am so torn. It all comes down to which story I want to tell, and I can't seem to make up my mind. It would work with or without him. Right now I'm toying with the idea of leaving him and seeing how that goes, but we'll see. Come tomorrow I'll be ready to give him the axe again.

So that's where I am, for now. Sorry for my lack of updates, but it's time to put my game face on and WORK WORK WORK so don't be surprised if I update even less frequently than I am now. You can always catch me on Twitter or email me (email address to your write above the cute little owl) if you miss me that much. ;)

Reading Recap- March

2011-04-03T14:42:00.002-05:00

First of all Ben says thank you for the questions you left for him and says he'll wait a few more days before posting again in case anybody else has questions. Don't be shy!

I though I had only read, like, three books last month so it was a surprise to see I had read as many as I did. March was crazy busy. I've had The Plague multiple times (which means all I want to do is watch HGTV for 8+ hours a day) and I'm deep in revisions which also cuts down on the reading time.

March 2011
8 Books
35 Year to Date

Mistwood by Leah Cypress

Wonderland by Joanna Nadin

Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr

Clarity by Kim Harrington

The Wide Awake Princess by ED Baker

Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Something Like Fate by Suzanne Colasanti

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Guest post from Ben Barnes (no, really)

2011-03-30T16:16:00.005-05:00

Dear readers of Stephanie's blog,

Hello, Ben Barnes here. No really, it's Benjamin Barnes. Yes that Ben Barnes.

(This is me as well, just so you know.)

(Oh, and here too.)

Stephanie is currently very busy editing and rewriting her book, so she isn't able to blog as much as she'd like. She feels bad about it, really, which is why I'm here. We're very good friends, Stephanie and I, we go way back. I noticed she seemed a little busy lately so I offered to make a few guest blog posts for her while she catches up. It took some convincing on my part, but she finally agreed. So here I am.

I thought I'd make this first post short and simple to get my feet wet, so I thought I'd open the floor up for questions. What? This isn't like a press conference? Stephanie's not that famous? Well, bollocks. Regardless, leave your questions for me in the comments below and I'll answer some of them in another guest post either this week or next.

SXSW Craziness

2011-03-25T11:53:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, I've had a serious case of the cooties that I'm still dealing with. I think I've watched about 174 hours of HGTV. I'm now a licensed realtor, interior designer, and house-flipper in case anyone needs any expertise in either field. (Also there is a serious lack of gardening on the Home and GARDEN network.)

Last week was a busy week for me. SXSW was in full-swing. I'd never really done anything during SXSW but when Jen called and asked if I wanted to go see The Bangles with her I couldn't say no. We got to see them perform and meet them, it was amazing!

Once the show was over Jen and I were asked if we wanted to go to a VIP show and see Hanson. Yes, that Hanson. It was seriously a dream come true to see them perform. They were one of my favorite bands growing up (still are one of my favorites) and to see them perform in such an intimate setting was amazing.

They performed a new song and I recorded a bit of it. :)

After the show was over we went backstage to meet them. Yes I shook hands with Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson. Sadly I didn't get a picture with them before we got kicked out for not having a media pass, I was a little bummed I didn't get a picture, but just meeting them and shaking their hands was enough for me. Jen took this great picture of Taylor. Eek!

On the way to see Hanson we passed Michael Stipe (from R.E.M.) on the street! We asked if we could take a picture and his response was, "Hurry up, I'm walking here!" Ha ha! Hilarious!

The next day, believe it or not, was equally amazing. One of my other favorite bands, Blue October, was playing a free show later that evening and was expected to draw HUGE crowds. The Strokes had played a free show at the same venue the night before and drew a crowd of 20,000+. I wanted to see them, but didn't want to deal with that amount of crazy. I heard through the grapevine they were doing a radio interview with a radio station at a venue downtown, so I went to ~~stalk them~~ assess the situation. Sure enough, they walked through the door! Jen and I were ecstatic. We watched them do their interview and then got to meet with them and chat with them for a few minutes after. Another dream come true!

The band

Jeremy Furstenfeld, drummer

Justin Furstenfeld, lead singer

Since we met the bad, we decided to skip their show that evening in favor of going to a battle-of-the-bands type show hosted by Kid Rock. Yes, Kid Rock! Crazy!

He never actually performed and was only on stage for a hot second, which was a bit of a bummer, but we still had a good time. Toward the end of the evening we got into a VIP room with him and the performing bands but his "body guard" was all over him so we couldn't get a picture. ZZ Top even made a brief appearance! Insane!

I know I complain all the time about how homesick I am, but I am thankful that if I can't be in Mississippi that Austin is my home for now. So many awesome things happen here that I never would have experienced had we not moved here. Can't wait to see what happens next in my life!

PS- Thanks to Jen for letting me steal a few of her pics. :)

Just kidding...

2011-03-16T22:29:00.004-05:00

I posted earlier this week about how I was finished with the first draft of my WIP. I spent Monday editing the first chapter and Tuesday editing chapters two and three. Late Tuesday afternoon I realized something was majorly wrong with my story. I put my thinking cap on and no matter how I spun it, something seemed off. My worst fear has come to fruition: I have a character who doesn't belong in my story.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't cry. I did. For a long, long time. I know I'm not the first writer that this has happened to and I know I won't be the last, but dang this hurts.

I spent the rest of the night last night trying to think of how to make it work, how to keep him in the story. It would be so much easier to just keep him and let it go, but I can't do that. I don't do anything halfway (or the easy way, apparently). The bad thing is, this kid wasn't just a minor character, he was a very influential character and is in most of the major scenes in the book. He was the main love interest.

I didn't set out to write a love interest into my WIP, it just kind of happened. I think I had read a book that was really romanc-y and I still had romance on the brain and this hot guy made an appearance and just kind of never left. The sad thing is I think subconsciously I've known for a while, but I liked his character so much I never dreamed I could get rid of him or the story could work without him, when in reality the story didn't work with him.

So after much crying and ice cream eating my decision was made to give him the ax. In making this decision I decided to simply start over. Yes I am starting from scratch. I have been working on this WIP for over four months, and this has shaken me to my core. I know I'm not the first person to ever toss a draft, but I am seriously hacked off at myself.

I wrote the ending and the beginning of draft 2.0 and you want to know something? It's so much better. That stupid boy was clouding my judgment so much it made me lose sight of the real story I was trying to tell. And while I'm still really upset with myself for letting it go on for so long, I think it may have been a little good for me to completely toss this first draft. I need to learn not to become so attached to characters or words or scenes that I can't simply chunk them and move on. This has been a tough lesson to learn, and I'm still learning it, but I'm becoming more and more okay with it. I think. I guess I learned the hard way that sometimes you have to kill your darlings.

Book: COMPLETED

2011-03-14T11:10:00.003-05:00

Late yesterday evening I finished the first draft of my WIP. I have started many projects in the past but never saw them through to completion, I always got distracted by new shiny ideas (ie- moving on to new things when the writing got hard). I expected this huge rush of emotions upon finishing my draft, but I really didn't feel that way. Sure, I'm glad and happy and excited, but I'm also scared and nervous.

My draft is finished at around 48,000 words. Yes I know that seems short, but I'm the type of writer who writes a skeletal first draft and then plumps it up during revisions and rewrites. There are probably still a couple of scenes/chapters that need to be written, but to be honest I could keep adding to this book for the rest of my life. At some point I had to call it and let it go.

Why am I scared and nervous, you ask? My writing is so personal to me. It's like putting this little piece of your soul, who you are, out there for the whole world to see (and criticize) and that scares me more than just about anything. I guess I'm afraid of the rejection, but I'm afraid to be accepted, too. What if people don't like it? What if people do like it? What if I'm expected to write something else just as good? (Not that it's good, it sucks right now!)

I read books by John Green and other contemporary writers and think, "I'll never be this good at story telling, why am I even writing when the market already has such amazing books in it?" At some point I have to start believing in myself, in the stories I tell and the characters I create. Yes, it may be bunk after the first draft, but I have never met an author who wrote a perfect, complete first draft.

All emo-ness aside, I really am excited to have this sucker finished. To say you're writing a book is one thing, but to say you've written a book is another matter entirely and I'm proud to say I've done the latter. Now it's time to put the petal to the metal and start with my revisions and rewrites. Can't wait to embark on this part of the journey and share it with all of you.

Reading Recap, February

2011-03-13T19:53:00.002-05:00

I realized late last night that I never did my Reading Recap for February. So sorry!

February 2011
12 Books
27 Year to Date

Forgive My Fins by Teralynn Childs

Fade by Lisa McMann

Gone by Lisa McMann

Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr

The Chihuahua Chase by AE Cannon

Light Beneath Ferns by Anne Spollen

Stork by Wendy Delsol

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigaulpi

Momento Nora by Angie Simbert

Home, it's where the heart is

2011-03-09T16:51:00.007-06:00

Every time I take a trip home I always have these crazy plans for things I want to take pictures of and blog about. As I stomped around my parent's back yard last week, camera in hand, I realized there are some things I can never share with you. Some images are too real to be shared through photographs or words. Some images are just that: images, memories that are yours and yours alone. No matter how badly you want to share them with someone, you can't. It's impossible to put into words or capture in a photo the memories I have.

Nothing can describe the love I have for home. I can't tell you how it felt to play Xena Warrior Princess in the back yard with my childhood best friend, or the excitement I felt when I played hide-and-seek on a rainy day with my sister. No amount of images can capture how fantastic of a cook my mother and grandmother are. It's unachievable to tell you how the magnolia blossoms smell in summer, the honey suckles in spring, the burning leaves in fall, and the pine trees that smell year-round. Memories are more powerful than words, more potent than pictures. Instead of trying (and failing) to share these with you, I instead decided to blog about things that remind me of home in the hopes that I'll never forget the lifetime of memories I have stored away.

I have such pride for my state and my heritage. I love this image I captured of the flags in my parent's yard.

My mother's dryer is over 30 years old, she bought it used in the early 1980s and it's been running ever sense.

This shadow box has been hanging in the same spot in the dining room for as long as I can remember. I love all the tiny little figurines, the little gumball machine was always my favorite.

You don't see many houses with clothes lines anymore, but my parents (and their neighbors) still use theirs. Nothing like fresh towels hung to dry!

I love this saltshaker, it's an oxen carrying the salt and pepper on his back. It sits on my parent's entertainment center.

This china cabinet belonged to Big Mama, my great-great grandmother. And yes that is a rifle leaning against it. When you life in the country you occasionally have to shoot away a 'possum or two.

Two of my lunchboxes from elementary school. (Thundercats... HO!!)

My dad's lunchbox from 1962.

The moon and star belonged to my great-grandmother, the owls to my mother. I guess we can see where I get my love for owls, hu?

This butter churn has been by the front door for as long as I can remember, it was my grandmother's.

This is my Pepaw's "pet rock." He found it when he was a boy at the creek. We're not sure what kind of rock it is, but see the way it's concave at the top? We think it was probably used by Indians to ground up corn meal.

My Pepaw's old truck. I went to my first day of Kindergarten in this truck, and I think pretty much everybody in my family has driven it at one point or another.

The woods behind my grandparent's house is mostly pine trees scattered with oak and magnolia trees. This picture alone makes me think of home.

Now we'll move on into town and I'll share some pictures I took of the downtown area.

Mural painted on a downtown building.

I spent many-a-hour at our library, particularly during the summer.

View of downtown. Can you imagine how amazing this place was during its hay-day? If walls could talk...

This is one of my favorite buildings downtown, the old JC Penney building. I recently found out it's for sale and I wish I had the money to buy it and fix it up!

The City Hall

The city's courthouse was built in 1907. I love the columns out front.

This is a monument in front of the court house honoring the Confederate soldiers lost during the war.

Magnolia Street is one of the main streets that runs through downtown.

St. John's Episcopal Church was founded in 1894. I think this is one of my other favorite pictures from the trip.

More than anything, home is family. Your family can be some of the few people in your life that share the same sharp, crisp memories that you do, the memories that can't be described for anyone else.

Short story share time!

2011-03-01T10:03:00.003-06:00

I've been writing short stories for as long as I can remember. Most of the stories I sadly didn't keep, and some are in notebooks that are packed away. I was cleaning out a closet last week and I came across a three page, handwritten story I must have written sometime in middle school from the looks of my handwriting. I'm a terrible speller (and was even more terrible with grammar then) and was surprised that I only found one typo, a wrong usage of the word their. Since I don't share my writing too much here I thought I'd post it, and I'll even leave in the their. Remember, I was probably 11 or 12 when I wrote this, so no judging!

I miss those hot and windless summer days. The kind where I would run around barefoot and drink lemonade under the big oak tree until I nearly popped. Those days are long gone, and never coming back. My parents decided to leave our slow, country life and give the big city a chance. I disagree, but their was nothing I could do. Their minds were made up. If only they could've seen what the future would hold.

The day I had to leave my big oak tree in the back yard was the saddest day of my life. I hated our new house. It was three times smaller and there wasn't even a yard to play in. I soon began to make friends, though. Things even got back to "normal." If anything would ever be normal for me again.

I found the best friend I could have found in the big city that I now have to call home. Her name was Becky. She was beautiful. She had long, silky golden hair that made her long like an angel. We played fetch and frisby together in the park every day. On lucky days we we would find a small shade tree to sit under. I would have my lemonade, Becky would have her water. Those were great times.

I soon noticed that Becky wasn't as happy as she used to be. When we went to the park she wouldn't even get up to play fetch with her favorite bone. After much painful thinking I decided it would be best for Becky if I were to give her away. To a nice family with lots of land for her to run and play on. I began my search. I finally found a wonderful family way out in the country with a huge farm. They had 3 kids and one on the way. My parents and I took Becky to the family's farm the next week. It was the longest car trip I was to ever make.

When I stepped out of the car on to the farm, I took in a deep breath of country air. I let Becky out and the children immediately ran to Becky. I had never seen her so happy. I gave her a huge and a kiss, and we left. As I looked back at the house, i noticed there was a huge oak tree in the back yard. Under it sat a little barefoot girl with a glass of lemonade and Becky by her side. How I wish I were that girl.

My vision of what Becky would have looked like.

I bet you had no idea that Becky was a dog. DID YOU? I thought I was so clever. I have a feeling we were learning proper narrative essay structure in English because it's very essay-ish with its five paragraphs. I remember writing an essay for English about a parrot that fell in love with a fish and I wish I could find that to share but I have no idea where it is. When I reread this I was surprised that I wrote it at 11. It's not good by any means, but it's not bad either. My sentences are really choppy, though. I still like choppy sentences. ;)

Show me your... bookshelves? (Week 7)

2011-02-25T08:30:00.001-06:00

This week I have the pleasure of showcasing the bookshelves of my friend and fellow Literary Lonestar Cari from Cari Blogs! I first met Cari online last year and have gotten to know her better and have been able to meet her a couple of times at various Texas events. It's been great becoming your friend, Cari! Let's see what Cari has to say about her bookshelves, and we'll see if they're up to snuff or not. ;)

Hey Y'all

If you follow me on twitter or visit my blog then you probably know I spend a lot of time buying books. I don't participate in memes so you really don't see the amount of books I buy until you look at my bookshelves. See I'm the kind of girl who solves a bad day by browsing 1/2 price books or hitting up Borders during lunch. A few years ago my mom decided I needed a bookshelf so for Christmas she got one for me and she even help me put it together. I am at the point where I need a second one but I still remember the nightmare of building it so I have been putting it off. Before I started reading YA I had about 100 books so I had plenty of pictures and personal items on the shelf but now well the books barely fit so the ones I have read and don't love either go to charity or I use them as giveaways.

I sort of have a system. Everything is organized by author last name.

Side A - This is my favorite side. The first two and 1/2 rows are Autographed Books A - Z and ARCs, then YA (A-Me)

Side B - YA(Me - Z), General Fiction (Mostly organized A-Z)

Random Books I couldn't fit on the bookcase

I have either read recently, purchased, received for review, and have been to signings they just need to be put back on the shelf. As you can see I'm avoiding it.

So there you have it my bookshelves and hopefully soon there will be another one just like it so I'll have to go shopping to fill it up.

Cari I love your double-sided bookshelf! Thank you for sharing your books with us this week. Want your bookshelves featured on my blog? Email me at StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com with pictures and about your bookshelves, what you like to read, etc. Happy reading!

Also an FYI- I'll be out of town next week, so I may or may not have the bookshelf feature next week.

YA Authors & Bloggers Open Their Hearts

2011-02-20T20:37:00.019-06:00

Friday was The Big Day for my partner in crime Jen Bigheart and myself: We were finally taking all the donations we've been collecting to the Austin Children's Shelter. (Read previous posts here and here and here if you've missed them.) We were so excited that the day had finally come. We, along with our friend Jennifer, met at the shelter bright and early on Friday. I stopped at Krispy Kreme on the way and was expecting to be done by lunch. Boy how wrong I was...

Jen's car load

My poor little Bug was nearly dragging the ground

Let me start off by saying we met our 500 book goal, which is amazing, we never thought we'd have such a response. Hearing 500 and seeing 500 are two completely different things.

Me and Jennifer about to put our organizational skills to the test

So first we must organize all the books into various categories: YA, YA Paranormal, MG, etc. After a while plot-lines began to blur and we got a little giggly, I think it was all the donuts.

We're about halfway through organizing the donations at this point...

Me and Jen trying to create some shelf-space. I am literally sitting on a mound of books. Sorry if my butt was on your book! ;)

So we work. And organize. A few hours somehow turn into seven. Yes, it took us seven hours to get everything finished, but the end results brought tears to my eyes.

This is what the YA/MG section of their library looked like before:

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Here are our after pictures:

View from the doorway of the library

Pictures books and chapter books

The MG shelves, left and middle are contemporary MG, right is Paranormal MG

The YA shelves, left is a Classics shelf, middle is Contemporary YA, and right is Paranormal YA

How amazing is that? Seriously, if that doesn't make your heart squee there is something wrong with you. I am so thankful we had this opportunity to share our love of reading and books with kids who are struggling to find their way in this scary world. Now they can pick up their favorite book (who knows, it could have been one you donated!) and always be home.

Thank you to everyone who opened their hearts, wallets, and cleaned off their bookshelves. Thank you for entrusting your books with us as we gave them shelter before sending them off to their final homes. Thank you for being amazing. Here is a list of everyone who donated to us. If we've forgotten you, please forgive us and know we're very sorry, things got hard to keep up with after a while!

Thank you:

Cynthia Leitich Smith
Greg Leitich Smith
Heather Brewer
Cindy Pon
Sophie Jordan
Susane Colasanti
Ellen Hopkins
Jill S. Alexander
Jessica Anderson
Daisy Whitney
Lisa & Laura Roecker
Sara Zarr
Jon Skovron
Joy Preble
Valerie Kemp
Jessica Riggles
Melissa Walker
Shannon Messenger
Holly Green
Patricia Osei
Nikki Lofton
Jo Whittemore
Jenny Moss
Shelli Cornelison
Sybil Nelson
Jane Lebak
Whitney Bates
Amanda Crocker
Stacey Jay
Angela Morrison
Girls In The Stacks
Cari Blogs
A Good Addiction
The Elliott Review
GReads
A Blog About Nothing
Between the Covers
Addicted to Novels
Mundie Moms
Fictionally Yours
Reading Or Breathing
Chick Lit Cafe

If you didn't donate and would like to (or want to donate again!), this will be a continuing project for us, we plan on taking books every few months as the kids cycle through them. We'll take anything but have a particular need for YA books. The following are series books that we need:

~~Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater~~
The Immortals series by Alyson Noel (we only have Blue Moon)
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
~~Vampire Diaries by LJ Smith (only have The Awakening and The Struggle)~~
Night World 2 by LJ Smith
Thirst by Christopher Pike (only have #1)
Hunger by Michael Grant
Ironside by Holly Black
Catching Fire and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Blue Bloods series by Melissa De La Cruz (only have #1)
House of Night series by PC and Kirsten Cast (only have Chosen Untamed& Burned)
~~Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling~~
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Thank you again for all of your support and for following us on our wild and crazy journey. And thank you to Jen for taking this journey with me, I couldn't have done it without you.

*edit* People are already donating the things we need, THANK YOU! I'll be crossing out the books we've been promised as people get in touch with us, but if you still want to donate a particular book that's been crossed out, please do so! They may need multiple copies.

Show me your... bookshelves? (Week 6)

2011-02-18T09:05:00.000-06:00

This week I'm pleased to show you the bookshelves of fellow Texas blogger and Literary Lonestar Ginger from GReads. I was able to meet Ginger when I went to Houston for the Montgomery County Teen Book Festival and she is such a sweetheart! Be sure to stop by her blog and say hello. Here's what Ginger has to say about her bookshelves:

My father built this bookshelf for me last summer, for my 29th birthday. I'm not sure I could have received a more perfect gift at the time! He knew that my books were beginning to pile all over my apartment & that I was looking for something to keep them all in. Him being the handy man that he is, he offered to build me one. Who would pass up a custom made bookshelf?! Plus I knew his talents surpassed anything I would find at Ikea, Target, or Home Depot. This shelf holds some of my most favorite possessions. My books are more than just bound pages, they are stories that take me away to another place.. another time. Each book is like an art piece to me. I love having them on display to look at when ever I want to.

I had the letters 'READ' custom made for this bookshelf too. I found a very crafty girl on Etsy.com who made custom letters for things such as this. I love the letters so much! They add some personal touch to the shelves (if there wasn't enough already!).

This shelf in particular holds my favorite books. It's the top shelf (and I probably keep them there b/c they do hold the "top shelf" in my mind, hehe). Most of these books were ones that I first read when I began my obsession with reading YA books. As most people know.. I owe it all to Twilight! And no, there is not actual vampire blood in that bottle! Though I wish? is that weird?! haha It was just a cute accessory I picked up somewhere, that I just had to have!

So there's my bookshelf! The bottom shelf currently holds my "TBR" books. I'm slowly making my way through them, yet adding to them too! I guess I need to ask my dad to make another shelf soon! Almost running out of room!!!

And now let's look at Ginger's shelves!

Thank you so much for letting me share your bookshelves this week, Ginger! They're amazing and I have to say I'm a little jealous! Want your bookshelves featured on my blog? Email me at StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com with pictures and about your bookshelves, what you like to read, etc. Happy reading!

Borders files for bankruptcy, closes stores, and my thougths on the publishing industry

2011-02-16T11:47:00.007-06:00

The writing has been on the wall for Borders for a few years now, I think. We all knew it was eventually going to happen, it was just a matter of when and how. For those who have been reading my blog for a while you know I worked for "a bookstore" (I never named it) off and on for the past three years. Those who know me personally know that the bookstore I worked for was Borders. I woke up yesterday to see news of the bankruptcy filing, this wasn't too surprising. What was surprising was seeing that a list of the closing stores had been leaked to the Wall Street Journal before employees were even told. I read the list to see that all three Austin area Borders stores will be closing. I cried. I cried for my friends who have lost their jobs. I cried because it seems like bookstores, one of my favorite places in the world, seem to be an archaic thing of the past. I cried because a part of my life is, literally, closing. I cried because I was angry.

I wrote some of this post yesterday but realized I was blinded by my anger and needed a while to cool down and let my thoughts become more rational. Today I think I'm more sad than angry. I still have very close friends who work for the company and will now be jobless. There's rumors of employees not getting severance packages or being able to use employee discounts anymore and other things. I'm not sure what of this is true and what isn't, but it makes me sad. I know people who have worked for this company for 10+ years and they get... nothing? Maybe a thank you on the last day? It breaks my heart. Yes, Borders had its problems and truth be told wasn't the best company to work for (I was a manager for a while, trust me, I KNOW this wasn't the company's only problem), but I keep thinking about what I (we) could have done differently. Next time you order from Amazon or pirate an ebook, remember that thousands of booksellers and book-loving people lost their jobs yesterday and will probably continue to lose their jobs if we, as a society, continue down this path. No, this was not the only reason Borders had to close stores, but I do think it had a lot to do with it. I think Indy bookstores will (hopefully) be here to stay, but the day of the Big Mega Book Mart is gone and it's only a matter of time before other chain book stores follow Borders in filing for Chapter 11 or simply closing all together.

From a writer's point of view, the news of Borders going under scared me. So many people were talking about how publishing is dead and I got sucked in to their beliefs. I spent most of the day yesterday wallowing in self-pity and doubt and second guessing my choice to stay home and write full time. But you know what? Publishing will never be dead. True, times may be changing, but the need for writers and new, original stories will always be there. There will always be people who love to read and people who need to write down the crazy ideas in their head to stay sane. This alone give me hope that I'm doing the right thing. I have stories that need to be told, so I'm telling them, simple as that. I may be wrong, the whole publishing world may crumble to its knees tomorrow and I may never get a book published, but you know what? Somewhere out there someone will be interested in the stories I tell and the words I weave on paper and for now that's good enough for me. Is it good enough for you?

Show me your... bookshelves? (Week 5)

2011-02-11T14:34:00.005-06:00

First off, you might notice things are a little different around here! I'm trying to spruce up the blog a bit so I have a new background and made myself a blog button (look to your right!). Big thanks to Cari from Cari Blogs for making me my super cute new banner! Thanks, Cari!

I'm very excited to show you the bookshelves I chose to spotlight this week. I'd like you all to meet Jessica, a 10 year reader and book lover. I wonder where she got her love of books? I imagine it has something to do with her mom Jenn, who runs the Hush, Hush fan-site Fallen Archangel. Here's what Jessica has to say about her bookshelves:

I’m Jessica, an almost 11 year old book lover! I am a HUGE fan of the HARRY POTTER book series and have read each book about 5 times! A few months ago we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it was GREAT and Butterbeer is awesome!

I like either Fantasy books or books about people a little older than me in the real world. Some of my favorite book series are ALICE by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor; MAXIMUM RIDE by James Patterson; PERCY JACKSON by Rick Riordan; and 39 CLUES by various authors. Some of my favorite books I have read lately that I don’t think are from a series are THE KNEEBONE BOY by Ellen Potter; IT’S RAINING CUPCAKES by Lisa Schroeder and THE LIMIT by Kristen Landon.

There are a lot of books that my Mom has that I want to read too, when I am old enough, like TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer; The HUSH HUSH Saga by Becca Fitzpatrick and THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins.

My Mom took me to Philadelphia once to meet some authors, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare (we had to sit in the car for a long time after we met them because my dad and brother wasted the battery and we had to wait for a man to come fix it). I bought THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES (Book 1 The Field Guide) by Holly Black before the event and read the whole thing while the authors were talking. She signed my copy and I am proud to have it on my bookshelf. I also have a signed copy of 39 CLUES by Linda Sue Park. I would like to get more signed books in the future.

Thank you to my Mom’s friend for sharing my bookshelf on her blog “Stephanie, A History”. I LOVE the pictures of Stephanie’s bookshelves and I am inspired to get lots of bookshelves and fill them up!

Details about my shelves:
My bottom shelf is sort of random, there’s craft stuff, dictionaries, notebooks and other stuff like that. But in front of it you can see I have a trunk of the HARRY POTTER books.
The next shelf (going up) is some short chapter books, not really long books. Some of my favorite books from this shelf are the 39 CLUES books, books from the ALICE series and the MaryKate and Ashley books.
The next shelf has longer chapter books like DIARY OF A WIMPY KID and GREGOR the OVERLANDER series.
I have the next shelf for my jewelry and music – my iPod is there. I also have my favorite souvenirs from our trip to the HARRY POTTER Park, Dumbledore’s wand, my RON pin, my Pigmy Puff and a time turner necklace that my Aunt gave me a few years ago.
The top shelf has a little something from every shelf! It’s kind of a spot for things that just couldn’t fit on the right shelf.

Jessica thank you so much for letting me feature your bookshelves today! You say that I'm an inspiration to you, but know that you're an inspiration to me, too. I hope you're able to fill your shelves with even more books and that your mom is able to take you to many more book signings.

Would you like your bookshelves featured on my blog? Email your pictures, along with a description of yourself, your bookshelves, what you like to read, etc. to StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com

Austin Children's Shelter, Update 2

2011-02-08T15:50:00.006-06:00

For those who have been living under a rock during the past month or so, Jen and I are taking up donations of YA and MG books to donate to the Austin Children's Shelter. For more info, click here and here to read my previous blog posts.

I just wanted to take the time to give y'all another quick update. While we don't have a final count yet, it looks like we will be meeting our 500 book goal. AMAZING! We never thought we'd make it. The outpouring of support in the YA and blogger community has been enormous, Jen and I cannot say thank you enough.

If you haven't donated yet but would like to, feel free to email me at StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com. As of right now Jen and I will be delivering the books on Friday February 18th so you still have a little while to get donations in. If you're a blogger in the Austin area and want to get a little more personally involved with this project, please email me.

Show me your... bookshelves? (Week 4)

2011-02-04T14:33:00.003-06:00

Today I am featuring the bookshelves of the lovely Kristin Rae! I love her bookshelves. Her hubby is a handy-man and built it for her. I'm not going to lie, I kind of want one. Let's let Kristin tell us a little about her shelves and then we'll get on to the pictures.

Here is the lovely (and heavy!) bookshelf that Handy Hubs built for me that has yet to be painted. In the top section are books I read when I was younger--the Mandie series, Little House, etc. I also have a big box of old children's books in the closet. No reason to have those on a shelf anymore (or yet!). On the next level down there are a lot of classics--Pride and Prejudice, Emma, The Count of Monte Cristo, Fahrenheit 451, Animal Farm... and a lot of other books we read in HS along with Tolkien and Frank E. Peretti. The next couple of shelves are mostly filled with young adult novels. The Harry Potter series used to be stacked all fancy in the big square mid-right, but I wanted to see all of the books I still need to read together in one place... so that's in the square now--my daunting TBR Pile. Underneath that are books that happen to fit on that shelf, and a stack of books I plan on trading or giving away. The rest are mostly text books I couldn't get rid of (some weather and sociology studies), health and fitness books, Bible Studies from HS and college, HS yearbooks, language books (because I think I can teach myself Spanish and Italian apparently), and other odd sized books that fit in the bigger sections.

Thank you so much for letting me feature your bookshelves, Kristin! I think we're all guilty of having that huge TBR pile, hu?

If you want your bookshelves featured on my blog, email your pictures to StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com and also include a paragraph telling me about your bookshelves, you, what books you like to read, etc. Happy reading!

Reading Recap- January

2011-02-01T09:34:00.005-06:00

Some of you may remember I started doing this last year and stopped around the summer time. It was a busy summer for me, I was working a lot and not able to read as much as I wanted to (sometimes I had only read one book a month), and I was embarrassed to post how little I had read. Well this year I'm going to do my Reading Recap at the beginning of every month, no matter what. For those who aren't familiar with my Reading Recap, I will take a blog post and highlight all the books I've read for the month. No, I won't review them, I just list them.

January 2011
15 Books

Matched by Allie Condie

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

Sweethearts by Sara Zarr

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn

Front Page Faceoff by Jo Whittemore

The Sweethearts of Prosper County by Jill S. Alexander

A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry

Show me your... bookshelves? (Week 3)

2011-01-28T13:49:00.006-06:00

Today I am bringing you the bookshelves of Momo from Books Over Boys! Here's what Momo has to say about herself, and her shelves.

I'm a new blogger blogging from Books Over Boys. I've always been a reader and now I enjoy sharing my love for books via my blog! My bookshelf. I try not to organize it a certain way, but I can't help myself. On the very top shelf, I have a few classics that was required of me to read for school, a few tv series, and a couple of movies. The majority of my second shelf consists of my chicklit books, plus my Sookie Stackhouse novels, and a few others. My third and fourth shelf *smiles* are like my most prized possessions in my whole room. They contain all of most favorite books! :) The fifth, and bottom shelf contains my books back from fifth grade! Plus, some of the newer books that I've received! I love my bookshelf! On my worst days, I could just stare at it for hours and get lost in just staring at them. It's like staring at all of the characters and their worlds. When I leave my room, I always better! *__*

And now, let's take a look at her bookshelves!

Shelves one and two

Shelves three and four

Bottom shelf

Whole bookcase

Thank you so much, Momo, for sharing your shelves with me! If you'd like your bookshelves featured on my blog, send me an email to StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com! Happy weekend, everyone!

Bucket List

2011-01-26T11:58:00.007-06:00

So far 2011 has been a fantastic year for checking off things that are on my Bucket List. One of these days I'll actually sit down and write a blog post detailing everything in my Bucket List so I can keep up with it better.

I've always loved American Girl dolls, particularly Samantha. I was never able to get one as a child (my cousin has three and I was extremely jealous), and I swore that I was going to buy one for myself on day. Well little did I know that the American Girl company started retiring dolls a few years ago and guess who was the first to go? Samantha, of course. When I found out I was beyond heartbroken. Well, a dear friend got me one for Christmas. I nearly cried when I opened the box.

Beauty and the Beast is hands down my favorite Disney movie. My mom wanted to wait until I was older before taking me to the movies for my first time. She wanted me to be able to remember and cherish it. Beauty and the Beast was the first movie I saw, and I fell in love with it. Belle looked like me, dark hair and dark eyes. And she loved to read! Fabulous! I know I'm strange, but I still have a thing for dressing up and costumes. I have been looking into getting Belle's blue town dress made for myself for years, but it always seemed so expensive. Well now I finally own one. I have no idea where I'll wear it to, and I don't care. I do hope we're able to go back to Disney World one day and I'll wear it when we go to Magic Kingdom.

I had to read Number the Stars in my 5th grade reading class. It's one of the first "grown up" books I remember reading. I've hung on to my battered copy for years, and give it a re-read about once a year or so. When I found out that Number the Stars author Lois Lowry was coming to Houston for a book festival, I was shocked. I never thought I'd actually get to meet her, and to have her sign my 5th grade copy seemed like a dream.

The future, it's an uncertain one

2011-01-25T10:30:00.002-06:00

Lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future, namely how uncertain it is, at least through my eyes. I turned 25 at the end of last year, and it's been a bit hard for me. Knowing that 25 years of my life are gone and I can never get them back is a little depressing. I feel like all through high school you know what you're supposed to do, you have your to-do list and you check everything off, one by one. Graduate high school, pick a major, choose a college, graduate again, marry someone, etc. I'm at the point in my life now where I have most, if not all, of these things checked off. So what do I do now? Where do I go from here?

I think we as a society make kids pick their majors too soon, I know I was rushed into picking mine. When you're 18 you have no idea what you want to do with your life (most of us don't anyway), and people change so much during their latter teens and twenties. I had always said I wanted to major in English, maybe teach for a while, and eventually I wanted to become a librarian. When I told people what I wanted to do, I was laughed at. No, not to my face, but I was mocked. "Wait... you want to major in English? And teach? Kids these days are horrible, why do you want to work with them five days a week? Do you know how much money teachers make?" Needless to say, I picked a more "glamorous" major that made more money and tried not to let it bother me too much. By the time I finished my Associate's degree I knew I had made a poor decision, but nothing could be done. Husband and I were getting married and moving away. I decided to go back to school "one day." One day has turned into three years later and school still hasn't happened. Part of it is due to my laziness (and I'm scared to death) and part of it is because school is so expensive, and we're still paying off Husband's school loans. Yes, I am still writing and will continue to write. But there is a very slim chance that writing will work out as a career for me, few people are lucky enough to have that opportunity. I need to know that I have a backup plan.

Over the past few weeks I've been thinking about it a lot and decided this fall I was going to take some classes at the local community college, and hopefully "one day" be able to afford to finish my Bachelor's degree in English. I was almost excited about it. Then I wake up to this article from the Austin Statesman, "AISD School board OKs plan that may cost 485 jobs." Nearly 500 people are probably going to lose their jobs this year. So even after I spend the next 4+ years of my life finally getting the degree I've wanted all along, it's still going to be hard, if not impossible, to be able to do what I want to do.

I'm so frustrated, but mainly upset. Upset with the economy for being so unstable. Upset at people that talked me out of my dream. Upset with myself that I listened.

Show me your.... bookshelves? (Week 2)

2011-01-21T12:49:00.006-06:00

This week I'm featuring my dear friend Tina's bookshelves. I have known Tina for years and she's been an amazing friend to me. :)

Tina is, like me, a nerd. (And I say that because I love you!) She loves Star Wars and is a big fan of manga. Is it just me or do her bookshelves look like a bookstore or a library?

Here's what Tina has to say about her bookshelves:

Mt first shelf has all Star Wars novels on the left side. They are arranged in chronological order. The left shelf is manga (Japanese comic books), Disney Fairies books, and Harry Potter. Top shelf manga: Fullmetal Alchemist. Middle shelf manga: Fruits Basket, Inubaka. Bottom shelf manga: Naruto

My second shelf photo is a mis-mash of books. Top shelf: mystery books, Dune novels; a signed copy of a Band of Brothers book that Frank got at a WWII show. Middle shelf: a complete mix-and-match Bottom shelf: mostly sports related, with some other special interests thrown in (Star Trek, school yearbooks, dog related books).

Tina also has a 3 year old daughter (wow she's almost 4 now!) named Paige who also loves to read, here are Paige's bookshelves.

Thank you for letting me feature your bookshelves this week, Tina! Do you want your bookshelves featured? Email me your pictures and a brief description about your bookshelves at StephanieNPellegrin.com.

Austin Children's Shelter- an update

2011-01-18T13:31:00.004-06:00

So after my blog post last week, Jen and I took to the streets (AKA-Twitter) asking our blogger friends if they could help us get more books to donate to the Austin Children's Shelter. We even branched out a little farther and started asking authors. The response has been overwhelming! Over 15 authors and bloggers have pledged to donate books. Amazing! It's been less than a week and so far we already have 107 books. ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN. That's 107 books that are in the hands of teens that need them the most, and it's all because of you. Our original hope was to get at least 100 books. Seeing as we met that goal so quickly, I'm thinking now maybe we can get to 300 books. I almost feel sorry for the people at the shelter, I don't think they really expected us to fulfill our promise of bringing more books. Let it be known that Jen and I don't do anything halfway! Maybe we should work on getting bookshelves donated next. ;)

We received a lovely email from Janis, the shelter's community relations director, saying the kids are already enjoying the books we dropped off last week. She caught a 16 year old boy staring at the shelves of new books He asked if she'd help him pick out a book he might like. If that doesn't bring tears to the eyes of a bibliophile I don't know what will.

If you haven't pledged to donate yet and would still like to, it's not too late! Email me at StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com. If you don't have books but still wish to donate, you're more than welcome to order books online and have them sent to my house, or you can even mail me a giftcard to a book store, whatever works for you. Want to give something other than books? Click here to view the shelter's wishlist.

I feel like Jen and I will be saying thank you for the rest of our lives, but seriously, THANK YOU. The kindness of the YALit community has been astronomical, we'll never be able to say thank you enough.

Last Sacrifice bookplate winners!

2011-01-17T11:24:00.002-06:00

Wow thank you to everyone who entered! The turnout for this contest was a bit overwhelming. I had over 200 entries. I'm usually lucky to get over 30 in a normal contest, so to have 200 people enter is crazy. Don't worry, I won't make you wait any longer. Random.org picked the numbers 67, 58, 131, 196, and 46 for me. The people with those numbers are...

67- Susan Dorta
58- Lucia Hua
131- Heather McCorkle
196- Jayne Watkins
46- Alyssa Stacy

Congratulations to Susan, Lucia, Heather, Jayne, and Alyssa! I have emailed all of you requesting your mailing addresses and you now have 72 hours to respond. If I don't get a response within the 72 hours I will have to pick another winner to give your prize pack to, so be sure to email me back!

Show me your.... bookshelves?

2011-01-14T15:11:00.009-06:00

You all know I'm obsessed with the written word. I love everything there is to love about books, including bookshelves. I'm always very interested in seeing other people's bookshelves, so I thought I'd make it a feature on my blog. Every week I'll be posting pictures of someone's bookshelves! Want your bookshelves to be featured? Email me at StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com and we'll talk! I'm hoping I have enough interest in doing this that I can keep it going for a while and I don't have to beg for pictures.

I thought it would be nice to start off with my own bookshelves. I had a library in our old apartment and I'm still in the process of setting one up in our new one. So far our spare room has been a, "Oh I have no idea where to put this so I'll stick it in here" kind of room. I wrote a previous blog post with pictures of that room and you can look at them here.

Here are my bookshelves now. I recently took a whole day and put everything in alphabetical order. I thought it was going to be an easy, quick, simple task. Boy I couldn't have been more wrong. Now that it's finished, I'm glad I took the time to do it.

I hope you enjoyed the small tour of my home library. I can't wait to get the room turned back into my library/office. We're getting rid of the couch that you see in the pictures and it'll hopefully be replaced with a writing desk I can put under a window that's on that wall. I'll update pictures as things progress!

And seriously, I need you to email me! Don't make me come begging everyone for pictures of their bookshelves, because I will do that.

Donating to the Austin Children's Shelter

2011-01-13T17:12:00.013-06:00

Remember my post a few months back about the Texas Book Blogger get together? (Click here if you haven't read it.) Long story short, we all got together and swapped books. The books that were left over were going to be donated some organization in Texas, we hadn't decided yet.

Well I'm proud to say that today Jen and I took four sacks of books (over 60 books!) and donated them to the Austin Children's Shelter. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the Austin Children's Shelter, but what I saw when I arrived was not the picture in my head. The buildings were beautiful and brand new. They currently house over 50 kids who were either homeless, taken away from their parents, or have no one else to care for them. Janis, the Community Relations Director, gave us a quick tour and both Jen and myself were amazed.

We were also glad that the kids already have a library! They were severely lacking in the young adult section, though so I'm so glad were were able to help them out a bit.

The YA section, after Jen and I shelved all our books

I write to you to ask you all now for help. While we made a good donation today, they are still desperate for more YA books, particularly more current books. (Janis said they've read Harry Potter a lot and are dying for more Twilight-ish type books.) If you have books that you're willing to donate, please email me at StephanieNPellegrin@gmail.com. You can either mail them to me or if you live in Austin I can come pick them up. Most of the kids that live at the Austin Children's Shelter are aged 14-20 and are dying to read. They desperately need something to take them away from the life they're currently living, even if for just a while. They need to remember to dream again, and have hope again. I hope you can help me in making that possible.

If you have books you want to donate but don't want to send them to me, I urge you to find an organization in your area that can put them to good use. All children should have the opportunity to read a good book.

Update: Jen and I took to Twitter and donations are now pouring in! I didn't expect this to viral as fast as it did. We now have donations promised from over 10 authors and about 10 bloggers. THIS IS AMAZING and we can't thank you enough. Keep 'em coming!! :)

Across The Universe Day!

2011-01-11T11:11:00.000-06:00

So today is 1.11.11. You all know what that means, right? Today is the official release day for Across the Universe by Beth Revis! The official website for the book launched today and has a really cool detailed interactive photo of the ship, Godspeed. Also be sure to click the "downloads" button at the very top of the page to get some really cool desktop backgrounds. At 11:11 AM (eastern time) there will be an 111 page excerpt up for you to read! But read fast, it's only up for 12 hours, so it will be taken down at 11:11PM (eastern time).

For those of you who haven't heard of this book yet, here is some info for you:

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone-one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship-tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

I also have an exclusive author video that Penguin Teen sent to a few bloggers to share with you!

To find out more about Across the Universe, check out Beth's website, Twitter, blog, and Facebook. Also check out Penguin Teen's website, Twitter, Facebook, and the official ATU Facebook page.

If you haven't picked up ATU yet, do so! You can go to any bookstore and pick up your copy today, or order your copy from Indie Bound or Amazon.

Also a quick thanks to my friend Jeremy at Novel Thoughts for letting me use the lovely header graphic he made for his ATU post.

Signed LAST SACRIFICE bookplate giveaway!

2011-01-07T14:48:00.005-06:00

The past few days have been kind of blah for me. I haven't left the house since Tuesday and it shows. Our pantry was bare and our milk long expired. I decided a little sun wouldn't hurt me and went to the grocery store to pick up some essentials.

I was minding my own business when I turned the corner and found myself headed straight for the small book section my grocery store has, which isn't uncommon for me. What is uncommon was that there was a huge Vampire Academy display on a table. I grinned, excited that a series I love so much has made it big enough that grocery store chains are carrying it. I inch closer to the table when something catches my eye: SWAG. I quickly grab a Vampire Academy bracelet and pin when something else catches my eye: SIGNED BOOKPLATES. I thought they were the laser signed ones, but upon closer inspection they were all a bit different. Not much, but I could tell someone hand-signed them. I took to Twitter asking if anyone else had seen them and Richelle confirmed that they were indeed signed by her! Squee!

Don't worry, dear readers, of course I picked up some things for you because I love you so. I'll be giving away five prize packs this time! Each will include a signed bookplate, bracelet, and pin.

Rules:
*This contest is international! Yay!
*Contest will run from today through Friday January 14th.
*Winners will be chosen using Random.org
*I will email you if you win! Please respond within 72 hours or I'll have to give your prize pack to someone else.
*One entry per person, please and thank you.
*Sadly, I'm not responsible if your package is lost or stolen in transit. :(
*You do NOT have to follow my blog or Twitter account (though I'd like you to).
*Fill out the FORM BELOW to enter!

Contest is now closed! Thanks to all who entered!

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Head, Meet Desk

2011-01-06T11:20:00.004-06:00

This has been a busy week for me. So far pretty much every day has been as follows:
Write
Write
Drink a caffeinated beverage
Write
Read
Write some more
Remember I never ate
Remember I never showered
Remember I never did laundry
Write
Read
Sleep

I think my right eyeball is going to pop out of my head soon. It's been bloodshot for a few days and is getting worse, and starting to hurt a bit. I really need to look into doing something about eye strain, I guess.

Obviously the "write more" and "read more" part of my 2011 to-do list is going well, as well as the "don't clean" part of my don't-do list. I finished reading my 3rd book for the week yesterday and am this close to passing the 20K mark on my WIP. I'm nearly a third of the way finished with this first draft and to say I'm exhausted is an understatement. I don't write linearly (though I wish I did), I write the "important" scenes as they come to me. I need to add more details and back story and kissing scenes with cute boys. I'm also freaking out a bit because I'm realizing that at some point all these random scenes need to come together and form a cohesive story. Gulp. To add more stress in my life, I've given myself a deadline of March to have this first draft done, with time to rewrite and edit through the summer. Double gulp.

This is the first thing I've ever written that I haven't meticulously outlined on paper. I mean, I know the beginning, middle, and end, but I don't know the stuff that happens in between. I didn't think I'd like doing it this way, but it's been very refreshing, actually. I didn't realize how much I missed sitting down and writing and not having to trash scenes because "they don't fit in the outline." It's been quite freeing.

I'm also beginning to experience the first tiny inklings of self doubt with this WIP. I feel like my little contemporary doesn't stand a chance of making it in a market flooded with paranormal. I've had so many people tell me, "Don't worry about the trends, write what you know and love." and I've done just that. I listened to advice, and my gut, and am writing what I want to write. I just hope I'm not making a big mistake in doing so. *headdesk*

So... that's been my week this week. I should probably go shower now.

New Year, New Goals

2011-01-03T13:53:00.002-06:00

I'm not really a big resolution maker. I feel like I should be making goals to better myself all the time, not on one certain day of the year. With the new year starting it does have me thinking about the future and things I want to accomplish as well as the past and things I haven't managed to accomplish. I've made myself a To Do and Don't Do list that I'm hoping to follow throughout the year.

To Do List:

Write more
Over the past few months I have been writing more than ever, but still not as much as I need to be. My goal for myself is to write at least 5K a week, which should be very easy and doable. I'd love to have my contemporary finished, and maybe edited, by summer.

Read more
in 2009 I vowed I was going to read 100 books. I only made it to 92, but I was still proud. In 2010 I only read 42 books. I would love to read a book a week, at least.

Blog more
I love to write, so blogging is like another creative outlet for me. My friends and family read it, and it's something I can look back on years to come and "remember when." Maybe my kids will read it and see how cool their mom was. Ha.

Cook more
I enjoy cooking, but I don't do it as often as I should. I always use the excuses that our kitchen is small and groceries are expensive, etc. Husband and I eat out way too much.

Go outside more
I've noticed recently on days that I stay home and write all day that by the end of the day I'm very blue. I try to be excited because it's been a good day or whatever, but I still find myself depressed. I think it's because I stay inside for too long. I need to remember to get out more, even if it's just reading a book or writing on our porch.

Visit my family more
This one is tricky. My family lives 10 hours away and it's hard for me to get there. But with a new nephew that's growing up so quickly I need to make more trips home, no matter how expensive flying is.

Don't Do List:

Don't write junk
Sometimes I find myself writing words that I know are utter bunk just so that I'll get through for the day and I think, "Oh I'll edit that better later." I need to stop doing this and start getting serious.

Don't tweet so much
I love Twitter so, so much. However, it distracts me big time. I find myself checking every few minutes to see if someone is talking to me or asks me a question. I need to learn that I don't have to be available online to people 24/7. I need to finish what I'm working on first, and play later.

Don't live in the past
I have a tendency to say, "Well if I had done this then, then I'd be finished by now." You can't change the past anymore. Start those things you've been putting off now.

Don't clean
Yep, cleaning is on the "don't" list. I had someone tell me a while back, "A writer with a clean house isn't writing." and it's so true. I used to tell myself, "Ok, I'm going to do *insert housework chore here* and then I'll get started on writing." Wrong. I need to think of it oppositely of how I have been: "I don't need to clean because I have so much writing to do", not "I don't need to write because I have so much cleaning to do." This is hard because it's difficult for me to keep my mind on my work knowing that the house is a mess or laundry is piled to the heavens. Husband just may have to understand that every once in a while, he'll have to wear dirty pants to work. *gasp*

Giveaway Winners!

2011-01-01T10:29:00.002-06:00

And the winners of my Epic New Year's Giveaway are...

Swag goes to Amber!
Books go to Kristin!

Congratulations, ladies! I've sent you both an email and you now have 48 hours to respond with your mailing address before I have to pick another winner.

Thank you all so much for entering my contest! I'll try and have another giveaway soon. Happy New Year, everyone! :)

A glimpse into my childood...

2010-12-30T10:46:00.024-06:00

Forgive my lack of updating this past week. Husband and I went home to Mississippi to spend Christmas with our families. Like I said in my Thanksgiving post, it's such a hard trip for us. It's at least 10 hours (and that's if we hit no traffic at all), and I feel like I never get to spend enough time with my family. My nephew is six months old now and getting so big! He is seriously one of the happiest babies I have ever seen.

I was able to spend a good amount of time with my parents on Christmas Eve. My mom and I made mini Oreo cheesecakes and then we went on a little photo exhibition. What started out as me taking some pictures in the backyard quickly escalated and we went to a few other places to take pictures.

First up are a few photos from their backyard that kind of define my childhood.

My parents built their house shortly before I was born, so it's really the only home I've ever known. He planted a few pine trees in the back yard when they moved in, and I'm always amazed by how much they've grown. I can remember when my mom first told me that trees were alive, I was both confused and amazed. I spent countless hours in this backyard talking to the trees.

I remember playing with pine cones, and having pine cone wars with friends who came over. They hurt!!

Our old swing-set, forgotten to time.

This to anyone else probably looks like garbage. At one point in time it was black and looked like a mini witches cauldron. I spent many hours in the back yard with it making my brew (which usually consisted of pebbles, leaves, pine straw, etc.). I was delighted to see it still hanging on the fence where I last left it 15 years or so ago.

My mom planted this tree when I was little. I can remember it was so tiny. It got run over by the lawn mower a couple of times, I think, but it has thrived and is now a huge, beautiful tree.

My family has a cemetery out in the country and I hadn't been in years. Mom and I got to talking about it and I thought how great it would be to give it a visit and take a few pictures.

Directions to the cemetery.

Most of the people buried here died in the 1800s or early 1900s, though there are some more current headstones.

As you can see, it's not a very large cemetery...

But this is why I love it. It's beautiful out there.

It's become a little overgrown in the years. I can remember being able to see miles and miles of hills through the trees.

After our trip to the cemetery, we went to my elementary school. The county recently built all new elementary schools and are planning on tearing the old ones down. I realize the buildings are old and falling apart, but it breaks my heart. Some of my best memories are in those hallways and classrooms. I had always dreamed of becoming a teacher and teaching there one day. My dad and grandmother went to this school, too.

Where the playground used to be, though they've already disposed of all the playground equipment. Without the swings and slides there, it seems empty and small and sad.

This was one of my favorite spots to play. My friends and I found rocks that would write on the brick like chalk, so we would play teacher a lot. This stairwell holds many memories.

The gym...

Most of my class favorite pictures were taken on this bench.

The front of the school. Many class pictures were taken on these steps.

The school used to house grades 1-12, and my grandmother graduated high school here. Her class put this mosaic tile in front of the school steps.

Me on the steps of the school, one last time before the building is torn down.

Sunday we woke up to... SNOW! It wasn't a big snow or anything, and it didn't stick, but it was so magical to watch it fall on the Christmas decorations. I will forever remember walking across the parking lot into church and seeing the snow fall around me. And how cold my legs were!

After church we went to my grandparent's house for leftovers. My grandfather had told me I had a great-great something (I believe it was four or five greats, I can't remember) grandfather that was buried at a cemetery in town that fought in the Civil War. I had no idea and was very interested to see his headstone. Husband and I looked for about half an hour, but it was so cold and windy we couldn't look for long and we didn't find it. I'll look next time I'm down. We did make a stop by another cemetery where my great-grandparents are buried and visited them. Yes, I know I'm a little obsessed with cemeteries and history and genealogy. I'm okay with that.

Entrance to the cemetery...

Great-grandparents. I felt a little bad for not having flowers or something to leave for them.

I'm so grateful to be able to spend time with my family. And I'm so grateful to have such a wonderful, loving, and supportive family. I don't know what I'd do without them.

My grandparents and me.

My family!

Random Links

2010-12-20T16:52:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday, everyone! I don't really have a post planned for today, but I do have some links I want to share of previous posts that I think might interest you over this holiday week. Hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Bread recipe
Turkey recipe
Dressing recipe
Sweet Potato Casserole recipe
Sausage Cheese Balls recipe
Cornbread Muffins recipe
Pecan Pie Recipe
What to do with leftover holiday cards?
My Top 5 Most Hated Christmas Songs
Super Mega New Year's Giveaway (I'm giving away five books!)

2011 Books

2010-12-16T10:34:00.003-06:00

I keep seeing people posting their "Best of 2010" lists and giveaways, but I'm a glass half full kind of girl (Ha, such a false statement), and I prefer to look to the future. In looking to the future I am greeted by 2011, which will surely be a year of great books, both by debut authors and by established ones. I've composed a list of the books coming out in 2011 I'm most excited about. I'm certain there are some I forgot to include as this last only goes to August, so I'm sure I'll be updating it as the day progresses. The list is in order by release date. Hope you enjoy! What books are you most excited about coming out this year?

Across the Universe by Beth Revis Releasing January 11, 2011

Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules.

Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone--one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship--tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn't do something soon, her parents will be next.

Now Amy must race to unlock Godspeed's hidden secrets. But out of her list of murder suspects, there's only one who matters: Elder, the future leader of the ship and the love she could never have seen coming.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver, releasing February 1, 2011

Before scientists found the cure, people thought love was a good thing. They didn’t understand that once love -the deliria- blooms in your blood, there is no escaping its hold. Things are different now. Scientists are able to eradicate love, and the governments demands that all citizens receive the cure upon turning eighteen. Lena Holoway has always looked forward to the day when she’ll be cured. A life without love is a life without pain: safe, measured, predictable, and happy.

But with ninety-five days left until her treatment, Lena does the unthinkable: She falls in love.

Angelfire by Courtney Moulton, releasing February 15, 2011.

When seventeen-year-old Ellie starts seeing reapers - monstrous creatures who devour humans and send their souls to Hell - she finds herself on the front lines of a supernatural war between archangels and the Fallen and faced with the possible destruction of her soul.

A mysterious boy named Will reveals she is the reincarnation of an ancient warrior, the only one capable of wielding swords of angelfire to fight the reapers, and he is an immortal sworn to protect her in battle. Now that Ellie's powers have been awakened, a powerful reaper called Bastian has come forward to challenge her. He has employed a fierce assassin to eliminate her - an assassin who has already killed her once.

While balancing her dwindling social life and reaper-hunting duties, she and Will discover Bastian is searching for a dormant creature believed to be a true soul reaper. Bastian plans to use this weapon to ignite the End of Days and to destroy Ellie's soul, ending her rebirth cycle forever. Now, she must face an army of Bastian's most frightening reapers, prevent the soul reaper from consuming her soul, and uncover the secrets of her past lives - including truths that may be too frightening to remember

A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford, releasing February 22, 2011

Eden didn’t expect Az.

Not his saunter down the beach toward her. Not his unbelievable pick up line. Not the instant, undeniable connection. And not his wings.

Yeah.

So long happily-ever-after.

Now trapped between life and death, cursed to spread chaos with her every touch, Eden could be the key in the eternal struggle between heaven and hell. All because she gave her heart to one of the Fallen, an angel cast out of heaven.

She may lose everything she ever had. She may be betrayed by those she loves most. But Eden will not be a pawn in anyone else’s game. Her heart is her own.

And that’s only the beginning of the end.

Clarity by Kim Harrington Releasing March 1, 2011

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?

This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.

Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.

And a curse.

When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

Afterlife by Claudia Gray, Releasing March 8, 2011

The fourth book in this electrifying vampire series has all the romance, suspense, and page-turning drama that have made Claudia Gray’s Evernight books runaway successes.

Having become what they feared most, Bianca and Lucas face a terrifying new reality. They must return to Evernight Academy, Lucas as a vampire and Bianca as a wraith. But Lucas is haunted by demons, both personal and supernatural. Bianca must help him fight the evil inside him, combat the forces determined to drive them apart—and find the power to claim her destiny at last.

Readers have fallen in love with Bianca and Lucas, and they will be thrilled to read this exciting conclusion to their romantic adventure.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano, releasing March 22, 2011

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare, Releasing April 5, 2011

Love, blood, betrayal and revenge — the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels. Simon Lewis is having some trouble adjusting to his new life as a vampire, especially now that he hardly sees his best friend Clary, who is caught up in training to be a Shadowhunter—and spending time with her new boyfriend Jace. Not to mention that Simon doesn’t quite know how to handle the pressure of not-quite-dating two girls at once. What’s a daylight-loving vampire to do? Simon decides he needs a break and heads out of the city—only to discover that sinister events are following him. Realizing that the war they thought they’d won might not yet be over, Simon has to call on his Shadowhunter friends to save the day — if they can put their own splintering relationships on hold long enough to rise to the challenge.

Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton, releasing April 26, 2011

For Nick Pardee and Silla Kennicot, the cemetery is the center of everything.

Nick is a city boy angry at being forced to move back to the nowhere town of Yaleylah, Missouri where he grew up. He can’t help remembering his mom and the blood magic she practiced – memories he’s tried for five years to escape. Silla, though, doesn’t want to forget; her parents’ apparent murder-suicide left her numb and needing answers. When a book of magic spells in her dad’s handwriting appears on her doorstep, she sees her chance to unravel the mystery of their deaths.

Together they plunge into the world of dark magic, but when a hundred-year-old blood witch comes hunting for the bones of Silla’s parents and the spell book, Nick and Silla will have to let go of everything they believe about who they are, the nature of life and death, and the deadly secrets that hide in blood.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater, releasing July 12, 2011.

The thrilling conclusion to #1 bestselling Shiver trilogy from Maggie Stievater

In Maggie Stiefvater's SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Circle of Fire by Michelle Zink, releasing August 1, 2011
(The cover hasn't been officially released by Michelle, so I won't be posting the image here)

With time dwindling but her will to end the Prophecy stronger than ever, Lia sets out on a journey to find the remaining keys, locate the missing pages of the Prophecy, and convince her sister Alice to help--or risk her life trying. Lia has her beloved Dimitri by her side, but Alice has James, the man who once loved her sister--and maybe still does. James doesn't know the truth about either sister, or the prophecy that divides them. And Alice intends to keep it that way.

There are some secrets sisters aren't meant to share. Because when they do, it destroys them. This stunning conclusion to Michelle Zink's Prophecy of the Sisters trilogy will make saying good-bye bittersweet for readers.

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce, Releasing August 23, 2010

SWEETLY is a modernization of Hansel and Gretel and a companion book to SISTERS RED and FATHOMLESS.

Twelve years ago, Gretchen, her twin sister, and her brother went looking for a witch in the forest. They found something. Maybe it was a witch, maybe a monster, they aren’t sure—they were running too fast to tell. Either way, Gretchen’s twin sister was never seen again.

Years later, after being thrown out of their house, Gretchen and Ansel find themselves in Live Oak, South Carolina, a place on the verge of becoming a ghost town. They move in with Sophia Kelly, a young and beautiful chocolatier owner who opens not only her home, but her heart to Gretchen and Ansel.

Yet the witch isn’t gone—it’s here, lurking in the forests of Live Oak, preying on Live Oak girls every year after Sophia Kelly’s infamous chocolate festival. But Gretchen is determined to stop running from witches in the forest, and start fighting back. Alongside Samuel Reynolds, a boy as quick with a gun as he is a sarcastic remark, Gretchen digs deeper into the mystery of not only what the witch is, but how it chooses its victims. Yet the further she investigates, the more she finds herself wondering who the real monster is, and if love can be as deadly as it is beautiful.