You Sick of Me Yet?

I have an interview up at Suzanne Santillan's blog where I talk about my writing process, procrastination, tropical paradise, and also, rollerskating. You can check it out at Writing on the Sidewalk, if you aren't too sick of me yet!

Authors Now!

My Author Spotlight interview is up at Authors Now! where I answer some great questions about who might identify with Bedtime Monster and how the book can be used in the classroom. Stop by and say hi!

An Eyeball in My Garden!

My friend, critique partner, and newly retired librarian, Stella Michel has been interviewed about her poetic contributions to AN EYEBALL IN MY GARDEN AND OTHER SPINE TINGLING POEMS over at author Gayle C. Krause's blog, The Storyteller's Scroll. It's a great book, just in time for sharing some Halloween spookery. Halloween books are the best! And you just have to see Stella dressed as a witch. She looks adorable!

My New Invention

It's finally quiet around the house and I thought I'd get to work. But what to do? Should I link some stuff up on my website? Probably, I do have a book that just came out. But maybe I should revise a picture book. They're waiting! I know, I really should work on the MG that I've been thinking about all day. No, the YA! Write a query! Do some publisher research? I really need to get some manuscripts out into the world. I know! Write something new. I have some great new ideas I'm dying to flesh out. But do I really need to write something new when I have so many other manuscripts piled up and waiting for my attention? How in the world to decide? I have the solution! Writer's dice. I'm going to put each option on one side of a die and then roll and see what I win. It will be perfect for those indecisive times like, um, now.

The Road to Exhaustion

BEDTIME MONSTER's release is....TODAY! Yay! Woohoo! Yippee!

What have I done to celebrate my baby being out in the world today? I go up and drove the kids to school, drove home, drove to town again,(all this driving is a big deal, it's a dusty, bumpy half an hour each way!) took my son to work with me, showed my book to my librarian friends, played at the playground, toasted my book release with donuts(that was fun!), then came home and cleaned. You may not know this, but when you have a book coming out your house can easily turn into a disaster area because you're so busy doing important things like answering interview questions and figuring out how local stores are going to get your book. What? I'm an author now, shouldn't I have a housekeeper? I thought that was part of the deal. No? Well, fine. Just. Fine.

Part 2 of my guest post on my road to publication is up on Corey Schwartz's blog. I can tell you the real end right now though, something I didn't know when I wrote that post. My road to publication has lead to exhaustion. There's so much to do! Link this, write that. It's great, but I need a nap or I just might turn into a bedtime monster myself. Now that would be ironic.

If you're looking for Bedtime Monster you can get it at Indiebound, Amazon, and Raven Tree Press, and who knows, maybe you can find it someplace else too, which I, of course, would think was very cool. Okay, I'm getting comma happy. Time to get some ZZZzzzzzzzzzz's.

It's Been a Long Road

It's been a long road on my way to the publication of BEDTIME MONSTER. The book actually comes out in three days, so I guess it's safe to say that the road to publication part has finally come to an end on this project while the path of promotion seems to be something that goes on indefinitely. This hit me this summer when I saw Nina Laden at the library and she'd brought along all of her books, including the first she'd ever published, THE NIGHT I FOLLOWED THE DOG. Guess which one my little guy chose? Yup, 16 years and the book is still selling.

Corey Schwartz actually asked me a while back if I would write about my road so she could share it on her blog. I finally was able to do this since I think it's safe to say that I've officially reached the end. My story was so long that she's split the post into two parts. Since when did I get so long-winded!?! You can read part one here on Corey's blog, Thing 1 and Thing 2, if you're interested.

How Many Licks Does It Take...

Now that's puzzling. You know no one can ever wait and not bite the tootsie pop. I've tried. you've tried. WE'VE ALL TRIED OKAY!!! Here's what I really want to know, how many people does it take to deliver a box of books to a waiting author on a mountaintop?

UPS called and left a message (there's no phone service here) because their driver couldn't find my house. My husband got the message on the computer (that's where we get our phone messages. We can get internet but not phone. Weird, I know.) I walked up to our phone spot and called UPS. I told the lady who I was. She went and looked for the package. Another lady came on and asked me what I wanted so I told her, then she said she already knew the package wasn't there. WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO IN THE FIRST PLACE?!<--Okay, I didn't yell that or even say it, it just felt good to get that off my chest. Anyhow, she asks for directions to my house. I tell her I can't give her directions because it's too hard as there aren't any road signs and that she can just have the driver drop the package off at the library. I email my librarian. She emails me. The package arrives. She thinks about opening it because she's so excited but resists. My husband and kids pick up the package and deliver it to me. We open it. Yay!

I received my copies of Bedtime Monster two days after Bonnie Adamson did(she's the illustrator. You know that, right?) Everything seems to take longer and require more effort on a mountain. How many people did it take to get my copies of Bedtime Monster delivered? The world may never know, but it sure is exciting to finally have them!

Letting Go

My little guy started school today and I'm sitting here worrying about him. I'm not exactly sure why. He ran right out to the playground this morning, excited to get out there and play. When the whistle blew I told him that meant he needed to go line up, so he grabbed his backpack and ran over to get in line. There was no tears. No hug. He didn't even say good bye. I think it's safe to say that he's going to be fine.

Me on the other hand, I feel a little like the poor little boy in his class that was crying and didn't want to let go of his mom. Letting go is hard, but I'm glad that my guy can be confident enough to go out and try something new without me.

I'm sitting here at the library right down the street... just in case he needs me. Hopefully I can manage to ignore my worries and get some writing done.