Back at home, lots to do.

I am not going to apologize for being away so long. I might choose to apologize to people who are waiting for email replies from me. We'll play it by ear.

We're recently back from a weeklong stay in New York, specifically on Long Island. We hardly got into the five boros at all, frankly, outside of trips fro and to the airport. Still, it was loads of fun: there's the food (of course, always the priority in my mind--Eddie's, bagels, Chinese, Green Cactus, and of course Thanksgiving dinner), the family and friends, and Sam playing with his cousin, also around one year old, from out in California. It's a shame cousins so close in age will spend so much of their youth so far apart. Still, though, fun.

The flight back with the very tired and restless and loud Sam? Not so fun.

There's some book news about to break as well (personal appearances, a trailer, final cover . . . boring stuff like that), but for now it's under my hat. I will announce right now that, beginning with an exciting guest post in the next few days, I'll be holding a contest here at the Exile. The winner will receive an ARC of The Absolute Value of -1, signed not only by moi, but also but several Tenners. If all goes according to plan, the signers will be the same Tenners whose guest posts I'll be hosting. Details to follow this week!

Those people from PIX are not as excited as they should be.

We're off to New York in the morning! Pizza, bagels, egg sandwiches, Eddie's* (which will be the first pizza Sam ever tries; everything is going according to my plan) . . . a 6:30 a.m. flight! We'll have to rise early even for us (our normal wake-up time is 5:30 or so). Wish us luck, please, as Sam is teething like nobody's business at the moment and has had a screwy couple of days as it is.

Perhaps you'd better wish the other passengers on our flight luck, as well.

YA Novel the First news: I sent back my second revisions to Aforementioned Editor. Assuming he approves of the minor changes I made and the itty-bitty new scene I painstakingly crafted, I think we're about to work on a final title for this thing. Finally. I've been sweating through every conversation about YA Novel the First, just dreading the inevitable "So?! What is it called??" As if that's all that matters. Sheesh.

We thought we'd see samples of my latest series for SAB last week, but they didn't show up. It's a shame; I'm looking forward to finally dropping them on the Exile and revealing what "FTM" stands for in the sidebar. Hopefully they'll be in by the time we return from back east. They're a treat to write (I just finished another for the next group in the same series today, as a matter of fact), and hopefully they'll be a treat to read. I can tell you one thing: I've seen much of the art and design, and they're positively gorgeous. They're bound to be my favorite SAB titles.


*That picture I found is awesome.

Going back east, sans laptop

I am saddened, for two reasons:

1. I lost a follower on this blog! I'm back down to 30. Sadness. I think I get a few followers here who aren't terribly interested in anything I have to say but are merely hoping I'll follow them back. I get a tremendous number of such followers on Twitter, too. Oh well. Good riddance, I suppose.

2. My laptop--aka, the most important inanimate object in my life--is in dire need of repair. The display simply doesn't work, 9 out of 10 times I try to start it up. And that 10th time, it usually goes black after a few minutes. The thing is still on warranty, so I'll have to ship it out to Dell and wait for it to return to me.

I am cheered, as well, though. For beginning Tuesday of next week, my family will spend a week in New York! This is great for all the usual reasons (i.e., food), but also because we will finally meet Sam's cousin Jaden, born to my brother and his wife in California way back in December!

With any luck at all, my laptop will be back in my possession shortly after we return home in early July. Then I can get cracking on YA MS the Third, which I am re-excited about after a long discussion with my agent yesterday. Oh, and YA Novel the First? I have to write the two tiniest little passages you ever heard of, which I'll probably do this weekend on Beth's laptop (using it right now!), and then I do believe the editing portion of our show will be over. Woo! Then it's final title, cover ideas . . . I can't stand it.

Oh, and speaking of early July, here is a public service announcement: Please, if you live near a family with a dog, don't shoot off firecrackers or fireworks. Thank you. Oh, also if you have fingers.

One for you, nineteen for me

I know you're all itching to hear how it went with the tax professional yesterday, so here's the scoop: excellently!

Our last two visits to the tax professional left us in small panics about getting our taxes paid. Since I work for myself and have no money automatically deducted, we always owed. (Also because I couldn't get my act together with the whole quarterly-estimated-payments thing.) This year, though, I was very good, and at the end of my meeting yesterday, we just about came out even. After paying the tax pro himself, we stand to get back about a hundred bucks. That's pretty damn perfect.

See, sure, everyone likes to get their tax refund. It's like free money, after all. But in reality it's the government paying back an interest-free loan you made to them over the course of the whole year. That doesn't seem fair! So the ideal situation, I think, is ours: I deduct my own taxes, put them into a savings account, and only pay what I have to. It really worked out great! My goal for next year is a big fat "zero" at the end of the appointment. Or better yet, the exact amount the tax pro charges.

(Of course, as it happens our government needs all the interest-free loans it can get right now, so maybe I'm thinking about this wrong.)

In other news, if Sam and Beth ever wake up from this nap, we're going out to lunch today. I'm supposed to be thinking of a place to go, but all I can come up with are burger places, like The Nook, Blue Door, Groveland Tap, Highland Grill . . . and I have a feeling Beth won't be feeling any of those. My guess is she will suggest Tanpopo, the Japanese noodle shop she swoons over. I like it too, very much, but I am just obsessed with burgers lately. Maybe I'm anemic.

After lunch, I'm doing some write-time, though I think it's will have to be 100% Eric Stevens work. He's got this basketball title due on Tuesday, and it just refuses to write itself.

Oh, and finally, my next break from WoW begins Wednesday. Why do I keep scheduling my last day to be on server-maintenance day?! Why?!

Magnet Space Wheel

Folding laundry at the moment, wondering if and when Sam, Beth, and Harry will decide to climb out of bed. In their defense, they were all three up earlier this morning, for anywhere from a couple of hours to twenty minutes--it varies from individual to individual--and then returned to bed. Still, it's after ten and I'm feeling restless.

I have this weird urge to get out on my bike this morning, despite the slush and ice. Fact is, it's been so long so I took the thing out, I bet it needs a little tuning before it could even go anywhere. I'd probably make it to the garage before saying, "Ah, screw it," and coming back inside.

I haven't gotten a productive thing done in the last two days or so. The other night I started a read-through of YA MS the Second, and still love a lot of it. There are some seriously excellent scenes, not to break my arm patting my own back or anything. Of course, quite a bit is complete garbage, but I'm glad I wrote those bits too, since they all taught me a bit more about central characters. I've sketched out a few new scene ideas, which is something I've always done with fiction and until recently considered a bad habit; this writing in scenes thing seemed to always get me into trouble when it came to really tightening up the plot. But if Richard Peck says he does it that way, then hell, I can too.

I bought one of these yesterday, ostensibly for Sam, but I love it. I mean, he enjoys watching the wheely thing roll around, but it's for me. I'll let him play with it when he's older. Maybe. If he's good. Oh, and saying I "bought" it isn't entirely true either. It was for sale at the World Market closing sale last night, but as it didn't have a price tag or bar code or even any packaging, I wasn't charged for it. So I guess you could say I didn't buy it. I simply took it. Or was given it.

Wrap

I'm letting myself off the hook for skipping so many days. I think since I was out of town and out of wifi for most of the long weekend, I can be forgiven.

SCBWI NY 2009, wrap-up report! My favorite thing about the conference was this, which I purchased right before leaving on Sunday. It's essentially a conversation between SCBWI founder Lin Oliver and YA book factory Richard Peck. They discuss writing, often technically. I watched the entire thing on the flight home and found it fully riveting. I recommend it to aspiring novelists and YA enthusiasts. I'm not sure how or where you'll be able to purchase it. Someone mentioned the SCBWI website is going to be relaunched soon; hopefully it will be available there.

Other than that, I think I didn't take advantage of the conference as much as I would or could have if not for familial obligations interfering with socializing time, on Friday evening, for example, or during Saturday night's wine and cheese event. Next time I attend a national conference, I'll have to really keep the whole weekend open so I can attend such smooze-fests.

I did get to meet Brad Strickland, though, which was pretty cool. I worked on a couple of his series at S&S, so it was nice to meet him. He's a friendly and chatty fellow.

No new word from aforementioned editor. No fear, though. I have to work on this thing for SAB all day tomorrow and Wednesday anyway.

I have nothing to say about the Super Bowl. I will say, however, that Vincent's, on Willis Avenue in Albertson, makes much, much larger pizzas than I recalled. Quite yummy, though.

Oh, also, Sam was pefectly pleasant on both flights, for the most part. And any crying he did on the return flight was completely drowned out by the escaped eleven-month-old running wild on the plane. So that was nice.

And it was about 45 degrees in New York when we left. Beyond wonderful to feel that temperature in the middle of winter. Beyond.

Of course, we both (Beth and I) miss New York City terribly, and loved spending a couple of days with some time to walk around. But, as we drove across the Throgs Neck Bridge this morning on our way to Newark Airport, we had a few minutes to gaze at the smog on the horizon in every direction, aghast, and decided, No, we don't want to live here again.

Kudos for the new bike path on Broadway through Times Square, though.

On the Island

In New York now, and updating my blog from the seat at the kitchen table I sat in as a child every night for dinner. Unfortunately, there is not a bowl of macaroni and cheese in front of me as there might have been during many of those years.

The flight was kind of a mess. First off, due to all the east coast weather yesterday morning, residual delays meant our 5:20 flight took off at around a quarter to eight. Not typically a problem, but we were flying into Newark, rather than Queens, which means a much longer drive home. We ended up landing at 11 pm, which had my poor aging mother schlepping to Jersey in the dead of night on unfamiliar roads. And of course it had me, after this insanely long day, driving from Newark on unfamiliar roads back to Long Island. Needless to say, I fell asleep pretty quickly. Sam and Beth are napping even as we speak.

Readkiddoread.com is up, from James Patterson, and I like it. But it doesn't have a section for kids who struggle with reading but don't want to be left with books written at kids younger than them. In other words, it needs some high-low and high interest: Jake Maddox style!

Anyway, we're off in an hour or so to our local kosher-style deli. Very excited.

Oh, and on the YA MS the First front, editor reports riveted, but that was Friday. I am expecting something more soon, and am appropriately excited. I have done essentially no work in almost a week now, with the exception of updating my resume and WIPs for the conference, mainly by adding yet another several sports/Maddox books and a little blurb about YA MS the Second. I need to edit it, however; it doesn't touch as heavily on the fantasy/supernatural aspects as I'd like it too. Here is the blurb! You can tell me what you think:

A Terrible Mistake
Jessamine Parson’s mother died in childbirth, and on the same day her grandmother was found dead and clutching a mysterious note: “There’s been a terrible mistake.” Nearly eighteen years later, Jessa is a foul-mouthed, socially inept, and extremely reluctant college freshman. She plans to spend as little time as possible living a typical college life, preferring to game away the hours in a violent and magical online world. But Jessa’s real-world college experience turns out to be more amazing—and dangerous—than the one she leads online.

Within days of starting her college career, Jessamine is already attracting more attention than she wants: Rope, the wiry resident assistant, seems to be around whenever Jessa needs help; Thomas Priestly, Jessa’s anthropology professor, makes an unexpected appearance in game; and fellow freshman Henry is having the strongest effect on Jessa of all—it’s something in his eyes.

WARNING: This book does NOT contain vampires.

I hope I can find a wifi signal at the conference.

Flash! Ahaaah! It'll save every one of us . . . manuscripts!

We're off to New York today. I'll be packing up Harry in a couple of hours and dropping him at Doggy Camp. Then Sam and I are off to get Beth, to the airport, and on to sunny* Newark, New Jersey!

In an episode of crazy, I just put all my works in progress onto a flash drive in case we land in the Hudson and my laptop is destroyed. The flash drive will remain safe and dry on our dining room table.

* Newark is not actually sunny, especially not today, from what I hear.

4 items

1. My envy of Neil Gaiman increases at an alarming rate.
2. I got zero work done this weekend, but I'm okay with it. I needed a weekend off. We mall-walked.
3. Sam is the rolling over--both ways!--champion of Saint Paul.
4. We're flying to New York--well, Newark, actually--on Wednesday. I'm very excited for:
A. The food
B. SCBWI
C. Seeing various peoples
D. Various peoples seeing Sam

Lazy. Ooh, mail's here.

Saturday, just after noon. You'll never guess what: Beth, Sam, and Harry are sleeping.

It's not like they're still sleeping, but still. You gotta wonder.

In Beth's defense, she was up until two last night--watching the latest Lost. I didn't watch. Completely over it, along with the rest of TV, with the exception of The Daily Show and the MST3Ks and Buffys I have on DVD. Natch.

Finished Coraline last night while Beth watched the first hour of Lost. Then, like a normal person, I went off to bed. Anyway, it was good. The first 25% or so was, I felt, on the weak side, chock full of various middle grade cliches which can be for the most part traced back to CS Lewis. However, it occurred to me as I read that in many ways this book is--more so for sure than the Golden Compass--a direct response to the Narnian chronicles. Also it was pretty scary, a quick-as-hell read, and seriously Mr. Gaiman is blowing up on Twitter today; it's kind of ridiculous. Also I'm excited about the movie, if I didn't already mention that. Here's a trailer I like very much. Here's another via the man's blog.

Well, I think that's five posts for the week. I'm going to have a cup of tea.

Monday morning quarterback

At the moment (or anyway at the moments surrounding the few moments I am taking to write this blog entry), I am working on the next Eric Stevens writing as Jake Maddox title. It's the story of an eighth-grade football team, and their fight to beat their longtime rivals. Their rivals have won every meeting between the two in the schools' history. Who will triumph this year? I'll give you one guess.

The writing is going fairly well so far, oddly enough. Football, as I've previously mentioned herein, is not my thing. But hey, that's what research is for, I suppose.

And speaking of Eric Stevens, the Stone Arch Blog is updated as of this morning for the new year, and it includes a link to the new line of Superman and Batman chapter books that company is putting out. Eric Stevens wrote two (the Superman/Metallo title, and the Batman/Clayface title). Those were fun but stressful to write, since the licensor is so heavily involved at every stage. The website for the DC tie-ins looks really great though, so I recommend having a look.

And speaking of websites that my wife is responsible for, here's her new blog!

Once Sam wakes up, I'll have to put this work on the backburner, so I better get back to it right away.

'Tis the season

Time for more.

It's Thursday, which means in a few hours begins my evening to work seriously on the YA MS. In related news, I pushed through about 2000 words of that sucker yesterday. I'm not sure how many of those 2000 were actually any good, however.



It snowed today quite hard for maybe 5 minutes. Of course, I was in the car, driving, during those 5 minutes. But it was very pretty, and Sam was out in a real snowfall for the first time, albeit briefly as we walked through the parking lot when the snow began.

By the way, despite the name of this blog, or perhaps owing to the scenario to which the name of this blog alludes, our Christmas tree is up, as is a wreath on our front door. I'll post a photo of the former soon, I hope; we're planning on having it in our holiday photo. Think we'll get a card printed up to send out this year? I have my doubts. We never seem to get quite around to it.

Your opinion, please: When I was on my way out earlier, I spotted a woman, very bundled up, with her toddler son (presumably) wandering from house to house. At first, it appeared she was collecting recyclables for their deposit value (do they do that in Minnesota? I don't even know), but upon closer inspection, I realized they were in fact going through the numerous bags and boxes my generous neighbors have left out for today's charity pickup (by the Epilepsy Foundation, I believe; they want your new or gently used clothing or household items). This woman's infraction made me angry, and a little confused as to whether I was right to be angry.

Sam's first Thanksgiving

The holiday is over, and tomorrow morning brings with it the grind. Nearly 9 a.m. on Sunday morning now, and Beth and the Samster are still sleeping; Beth is entitled, since her cold had her up more than half the night, with the coughing and sneezing and blowing of nose. We fear Sam might soon have his first real cold.

Sam, by the way, was essentially a treat for the holiday. On the first flight, despite some fusses and musses and complications, things certainly could have been worse. And the return flight! My goodness. We could not have asked for better. He announced his presence as we boarded, and I'm sure most of the passengers we passed* were thinking, Oh, lord. Here we go. This should be good. But they had nothing to worry about. Because after he ate a little, he drifted off and barely opened his eyes or made the slightest peep until we were in the MSP terminal.

Beyond the flights, Sam's east coast debut was a smash, and he out-cuted every other baby in the Tri-State area, I'm certain. Of course, it was also very nice to introduce Sam to many of our friends back east, and we're looking forward to our January/SCBWI** trip so he can meet those he missed.

On other matters, Looking for Alaska is not the great achievement its follow-up is, but it's still good, and I will probably finish it with pleasure. I haven't written anything in a week or so, which sucks, and the writing I do over the next few days will be exclusively contract work, which means the YA MS is on hold for a few more days.

*A short note about the passengers on our return flight. There were four distinct groups: Our little family, another young family in the back of the plane, a huge group of nuns, and a HUGE group of the Long Island NRA. It was a little weird. But take note: if you see a little baby during boarding, and he's a little fussy, remember that a big group of gun fanatics is way more annoying. They march up and down the aisle, shouting at each other and passing magazines like "Outdoor Living" and "Rack" over your head, frequently threatening to wake the aforementioned little baby. And nuns, well, some of them are very old and probably shouldn't be flying, and they might pass out and need an oxygen mask and cause a small panic, including an over-PA request like, "Is there a doctor onboard?" and a stout priest leaving his luxurious first-class seat to come check on his ailing "sister."

**Why is the Winter Conference in New York City? Shouldn't that one be Cali or Miami?