"Mm, cookies."*

2010 is almost here! I imagine posts like this one will become more common, which is to say posts specifically about |-1| will become more common, since we're entering at least the year -- decade**?! -- in which my debut, well, debuts!

Which leads me to this: a first-ever teaser -- or "cookie," I've recently heard these called -- of The Absolute Value of -1.

(This was twittered to no small degree yesterday, but I know not everyone (A) follows anyone relevant on Twitter, or (B) doesn't habitually click links in tweets.)

Anyway, compliments of the AE on the Carolrhoda blog, here's the results of the latest addition of text to a particular spread in |-1|.

Coming soon, more chances to enter to win an ARC of |-1| signed by myself, Dia Reeves, Jenn Hubbard, Heidi R. Kling, and more, plus a final signed copy of Dia Reeves' Bleeding Violet, and who knows what all else once we get going! Stay tuned!

*I know someone reading this will get the reference I've very subtly made in the title of this post. Who will it be? I have some guesses, but I will keep them to myself.

**This is open to interpretation, since many people subscribe to the idea that larger units of years begin on the year ending in "1," rather than that beginning with "0." I am not among those people, however, since, while there was no year 0, there was also not a year 1, or 2, or et cetera, for a very long time, so relax, you Alex Trebek-types.

WYAOM! (The M stands for "month.")

The second half of December is totally WYAOD half-month! It began yesterday, sort of, since it was Wednesday, which means SIL babysitting and a half WYAOD. It was particularly special because I think it was the first Wednesday in some time on which I had no reading to do for the Loft workshop (it's over until late January), no homework for an education class (I'm also taking the spring semester off, so that won't change for a while), and no SAB job to help Eric Stevens with (he always needs my help, the bum).

But on Saturday it really kick into high gear! Beth and all the SILs will be at our house baking Christmas cookies for the whole afternoon, and in the morning Beth will be out with Sam buying ingredients for said cookies. That means WYAOD for me!

But it just gets better from there. After Christmas, Beth has a number of days off from work, and I hope and plan to use a couple or few of them as WYAODs as well. At this rate, my current WIP, aka YA MS 3, which is at the moment a hot mess, will be feeling a lot better before the first of the new year.

Oh, also: new crit group forming! We had our first meeting last night. All kinds of fun.

What I learned from last night's dream:

When traveling to the underground kingdom of the Frost King, to face him and finally end his reign of terror in an epic battle to the death, accompanied by three silver doves, a family of warbears, and your guide (a glowing giant worm), be sure you have enough cash for everyone's subway fare, because the line at the ATM is murder during rush hour.

Anti-advice

Just a quick note today. Fellow Tenner and author of Inconvenient (coming from Flux in 2010) Margie Gelbwasser is hosting the 8 Nights of Hanukkah Writing Tips over at her blog. My guest post went up last night, and I'm calling it my anti-advice. Anyway, pop over there, and please comment!

Top Ten Tunes

Local excellent radio station the Current is holding a vote. From all the songs that debuted on the station in 2009, listeners are being asked to select ten as their favorites of the year. From the votes, the Current will be taking the top 89 as their top songs of the 2009.

Typically I don't do any year-end top-ten lists, but since this one is already made, thanks to the Current, I figured I'd list my picks. So here they are, in no particular order:

Art Brut | DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake
(Art Brut vs. Satan)

Gossip | Heavy Cross
(Music For Men)

The Avett Brothers | I and Love and You
(I and Love and You)

Animal Collective | My Girls
(Merriweather Post Pavilion)

The Noisettes | Never Forget You
(Wild Young Hearts)

Cornershop | The Roll Off Characteristics (Of History In The Making)
(Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast)

Neko Case | This Tornado Loves You
(Middle Cyclone)

M. Ward | To Save Me
(Hold Time)

Thao with The Get Down Stay Down | When We Swam
(Know Better Learn Faster)

Grizzly Bear | While You Wait for the Others
(Veckatimest)

So what are your top tunes of 2009? And yeah, if you're wondering, the Ting Tings album We Started Nothing came out in 2008, or it would obviously dominate my list.

Another prize; piece in PW

Two quick notes.

1. Dia Reeves has offered to add to the Tenner-signed ARC giveaway. She'll be donating a final copy of Bleeding Violet, signed of course, to go to the winner of the contest announced earlier this week! So head over there, read all about it, and enter in the comments. (This contest will be going on for a while, so don't panic, and enter plenty of times in future posts!)

2. If you don't follow my Twitter (or even if you do), you might have missed this excellent PW article about the cover of |-1| and the Teens Know Best. Now that the spelling of my last name has been corrected, I'm blogging it too. Enjoy!

FTM review from Booklist

From today's BOOKLIST:

The Painting That Wasn't There.
Brezenoff, Steve (Author) , Canga, C. B. (Illustrator)
Jan 2010. 88 p. Stone Arch, library edition, $17.99. (9781434216083).

This title in the Field Trip Mysteries series marries the always high-interest topic of an art heist with a breezy, straightforward story just right for reluctant readers. The book opens with an illustrated dossier belonging to sixth-grader James “Gum” Shoo (“Interests: Gum chewing, field trips, and showing everyone what a crook Anton Gutman is”) and three pals. The story then proceeds to tell how he got his flatfoot moniker. In art class, the kids learn about a famous painting and are delighted to find out that they’re going on a field trip to see it in person. At the museum, one of James’ henchfriends notices that the painting on the wall’s a forgery, and the four sleuths set out to uncover the perp. It’s a quickly paced and quickly resolved caper, but what’s lacking in characterization and plot is made up for in style: Canga’s illustrations add a touch of middle-school noir to the overall handsome presentation. The can-do spirit extends to the back matter, prompting kids to solve a mystery themselves or write up a new one.
— Ian Chipman

And don't forget to read Dia Reeves' guest post and enter to win an ARC of The Absolute Value of -1, signed by myself, Dia, Jennifer Hubbard, Heidi Kling, and more Tenners!

Dia Reeves, and the big giveaway!

Well, look at that! It's December first!

This mostly means pain and suffering to me, of course: short lengths of daylight, lots of cold, shoveling to do, ages till the thaw. But it also means it's time to start the Tenners tour of the Exile!

So, without further ado, here's the first guest post, from the wonderful, funny, and talented Dia Reeves, author of Bleeding Violet, which you can pre-order from this page! Remember: the topic is "fish out of water," keeping in the spirit of the Exile. (Stay tuned after the post for some more info about the signed ARC giveaway!)

I can't really think of any fish-out-of-water stories, Steve. I'm always at home wherever I go. You know, as long as people aren't looking at me. The only things I can think of that might even be remotely fishy is, sometimes at parties people insist that I get up and dance because of that old chestnut about how all black people are great dancers. Heh. Well, usually after about ten seconds of watching me strut my stuff, I get asked to sit back down.

Or like this other time when I went trick-or-treating in college and I was so old that no one would give me the good candy--just candy corn and those nasty brown things that taste like root beer. And, like, a toothbrush I think.

And this other time, my mom and I went to the movies to watch one of the sequels to Children of the Corn (can't remember which one) and we laughed the whole way through it, especially at the parts that were making other people scream. Only three movies scare me--The Exorcist, The Return of the Living Dead, and Evil Dead. Everything else is stupid.

So that's all I got. I think my way of being different is largely internal and would require a weird-girl brain scanner or something like that to pick me out of a crowd. Otherwise I just blend in.

Thanks, Dia.

Now, as promised, more info on the giveaway. The contest* will officially begin right now, with this post. To enter, simply comment below. If you Twitter or blog link to this post, I'll give you an extra entry, just make sure to let me know. And on future Tenner posts, there will be more opportunities to enter. As a reminder, the prize is an ARC of The Absolute Value of -1, signed by every Tenner featured on the Exile (so far, that means me and Dia, but many more will follow). I'll also add other fun gifties down the road, so stay tuned.

*US and Canada residents only (sorry, Roo). Please do not enter if you are under 13.