What is going on with me?

I've really been surprising myself lately. I'm doing things that are so out of character. I've gotten up infront of a crowd and read my book, I've talked to numerous people(people I don't even know!) about writing, and now I've actually been on the radio.

It started a couple of months ago when my publisher told me that she was going to try to book me and a fellow author on a local radio show. I told her I really couldn't do that. I was barely able to handle the fact that I was going to have to get up infront of people and read my book at the time. She said I'd do fine. I tried to forget about it and hoped they wouldn't want me on.

Fast forward to last month and I am told that I have to go on a live morning radio show. Live radio? And in the morning? First of all, I have lived my life avoiding being a public speaker. I'll barely speak if it's to more than one person at a time. Two's enough of a crowd. Secondly, although I've tried and tried, I am not a morning person. I can barely start thinking before 10am. It sounded like a disaster in the making.

So, what did I do? Did I worry and fret and drive myself crazy? Nope, I ignored it completely. Until a few nights before the event, I just didn't think about it. I was busy. I had manuscripts to get out, lakes to swim in, a wedding to go to, children to play with, floors to clean! Okay, I didn't do much floor cleaning, but my ignoring method worked pretty darn good until I realized I was going to go in there with nothing. And nothing would bad. Very bad. I couldn't have the interviewer ask me a question and just sit there with a blank look on my face. I hate sounding stupid, although I do it quite well.

After a slight freak out I knew where to go--the blue board. The authors there would have some advice. And they did! I got prepared. I overprepared. I memorized my book descriptions, answers to questions I thought the interviewer would ask, and answers to my faq's from my website. I made up bio and question sheets. I tried not to say, "ya know". And I tried to breathe. I did alot of breathing. It would be okay, right? I still did not allow myself to think about the whole radio aspect, that was just too too much.

On the hour-long early morning drive I went between practicing my answers to the all important question: What is your book about? To blasting the music and singing loud enough to drown out my worries. Then I got lost and was afraid I was going to be late. Several times I did consider just not showing up. Hey, I could have gotten a flat tire! But, not being one to break a commitment, I made myself get out of my 4-door cocoon and walk into the station.

There I met two fellow authors, Kimberely Ann Freel and Susan K. Marlow, who were just as nervous as I was. We chatted with the interviewer who was so totally mellow and unconcerned that he wasn't even interested in the info Susan tried to give him, so I didn't even bother trying. But, while everyone stood and chatted, I went over my notes one last time. "This isn't a test," my publisher joked. Yeah. It was worse.

The time to go into the studio came all too quickly. I tried to sit in the far corner seat and was quickly put into the center. I think they knew I might run at any moment. My throat was so dry I wasn't sure any words would come out when I tried to speak. And then I heard the music. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. I looked at the microphone. Yikes! I tried not to look at it again.

And then we started. One by one, we were introduced. I said hi or thank you or something, and I actually spoke! Major relief. Next came THE question: Tell us what your book's about. I was so ready, it was scarry. I couldn't believe it was me speaking. I wasn't stumbling over words. I was actually making sense. Wow! And then my turn on that terrifying first question was over.

The funny thing is, after that it got easier. One thing that majorly helped was the fact that I was after Susan, who had to be first on every question(poor Susan!), so I always knew what was coming next. The other thing was, I had all this great advice flowing through my brain: don't interrupt, just act like it's an everyday conversation, breathe, don't look at the microphone! I did keep an eye on the big clock that sat on the table in the center, waiting for the 8:15 commercial. There never was a commercial. The time came and went and suddenly it was 8:26. We were almost done, and I was almost enjoying myself? Well, at least I wasn't freaking out. I wasn't nervous anymore! I even added a few things at the end when everyone else was quiet. What had gotten into me?

So, that's my story. I could be completely wrong. I haven't heard the show. I'm not sure that I want to because if I sound horrible, I won't be able to do it again. And knowing myself, I know I'll think I sound horrible. So, I'd rather stay in this state of ignorant bliss and be willing to do an interview again if I'm ever asked to do one. But please don't let it be live! Editing is such a gift.

If you want to see the actual room where I did the interview, here's a link: KOMW

California Here I Come!

I have to drive back to California. Tomorrow. For some reason this comes as a shock to me even though I've known for a month. We've been so busy we've nary had time to decide who was going or how to get there. Well, you procrastinate long enough and you're driving, alone, with three kids. Okay, that's not alone. That would actually be way easier. Can I say I love my new car with the tv in it? (I've come a long way since the 8x10 cabin.) I'm generally against these types of things except when I have three noisy kids on a 24-hour road trip. Listening to kid's movies while you drive is really interesting. I pick up on the adult humour they sneak in alot more easily. It can be offensive. I can't believe the stuff they sneak in sometimes. I listened to Shark Tale quite a few times on the way up. I don't think we'll bring that one.

Anyway, I'm going to California because my Mom is going to China. This affects me because she and her long time(10 years) significant other have decided they want to get married before they go incase anything happens. Okay. Fine.

But I was just there! Couldn't they have thought of this when I was there for six months? The ceremony's only gonna last like five minutes! I know, I need to be supportive and this my family and I should be there. Plus my Mom cried when I told her I didn't think I was going to be able to come.

Ugh. It's such a long drive. We're going to miss our small town fourth of July which is the best anywhere. You get to sit right under the fireworks on the shore of the lake. And it's free. And they say they have cool new stuff this year. I suppose we may miss fireworks altogether. I'm generally against fireworks too, but it's become a tradition since we moved here. They are really stinky. I hate the way the air is on the fifth. And I'll have to be in it in some big city somewhere. Gross.

I guess I better go pack and get ready to go. I've been putting that off too. I don't know when I'll be back. Definitely before the 19th. Don't want to miss going on the radio and doing a booksigning.(Can you hear the sarcasm?)

Me meme

I've been tagged by Jumbled Ramblings and now must follow the rules of the meme because, well, I like her. And it never occurs to me to share weird random facts about myself. I'll try to make it interesting. That could be difficult.

The rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

1. I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas. Sorry, too much Raffi. I guess I can tell you, I go around singing silly songs like, “If you like to talk to tomatoes…” (Veggie Tales) And “Nothing can go wrong-o I am in the Congo.”(Raffi again) But don’t tell anybody, okay?

2. I like to eat cookies for breakfast. Or pie. I try not to though. Don’t want to be a bad influence on the kids, although we did have rhubarb pie for breakfast the other morning. It’s got fruit!

3. I’ve had lots of animals in my life: Rabbits, Dogs, Cats, Rats, Fish, Snakes, Birds of all sorts (Parrots, finches, turkeys, ducks, chickens, etc.), Sheep, a huge herd of Goats, a couple of Draft Horses, um, I think that’s it. Oh, and a Donkey named Peg. Now we’re keeping it simple with two old dogs, a cat, and four annoying pet chickens.

4. I have Tachycardia or SVT or whatever the doctors want to call it, where my heart starts racing really fast. Too fast. I just call it my heart thing. It sucks. I am able to keep instances pretty low if I don’t stress and get enough sleep.

5. I try to pet cows when I drive by them on the road. Yes, they are out in the actual road, and there are a lot of them on my way home, but I still haven’t petted one. They’re quicker than they look.

***WARNING***GNARLY CONTENT***NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH***
6. When I was in second grade we heard the ice cream man coming, so all us kids ran to the garage and got our bikes. Everyone rode them through the house,except me, since the garage door was closed. When I walked out the front door my bike fell on me and I fell onto a box of stained glass. It cut my leg open from my ankle to my knee. It was pretty much to the bone. In my shocked state I actually thought it looked pretty cool, which is weird because I hate that kind of stuff. Anyway, I got sixty-six stitches and wasn’t supposed to be able to run or walk right or something like that. I’m fine though. I can blame that I’ve never been a fast runner on it I suppose, but I doubt that’s the case. I do have this scar that shows how big my leg was from ankle to knee, when I was seven.

7. I stepped over a rattlesnake in my front yard. I didn’t know it was there until I heard the rattling and turned around to see it coiling up. I was carrying my daughter in my arms. Glad I don’t have to add a content warning to that one.

8. I lived in an 8x10 log cabin for two years. It was like a long camping trip.

That's it. I tag Suzy Scribbles because she's the only other person I know with a blog. If I was brave I'd tag some other people whose blogs I read like Editorial Anonymous. She could reveal some interesting facts. I'm too chicken though.

A Contest!

My friend Susan Marlow, a.k.a. Suzy Scribbles is having a contest! Go to her blog and vote for your favorite book cover. You could win a copy of the third book in her Circle C Adventures series, Andrea Carter and the Family Secret and you get to influence her publisher's decision on which cover they choose. How fun!

Erik Brooks

My tiny library was lucky enough to have author/illustrator Erik Brooks come and do a presentation last week. If you haven’t seen his work you can find him here and here.

He’s a really nice guy, even nice enough to let me do a last minute email interview with him so I could get an article in the newspaper announcing his visit. It was my first interview ever, so it was cool that it was with a children's book author/illustrator. And I was glad to do it by email, that way I didn't have to be nervous.

Seeing the way an illustrator goes about getting art ready for publication was interesting. His watercolor and pencil art is absolutely beautiful. Even his sketches were fabulous. I got to see an actual dummy. Yes, I know, it’s just paper with sketches and words on it, but I’m always curious to know what other writers submissions look like, probably because I always wonder if I’m doing things the right way.

It must be so amazingly great to be able to illustrate books. I would love to have such a talent. I'm glad there are people in this world that do.

Me, interesting?

What is interesting about me? That's a question I've been forced to ask myself too many times lately. It seems when you sell a book, you have to sell yourself with it. It was something I was not prepared for. So, what do I share? How much? Do I even have anything media worthy?

I wrote two pitch letters last night and I can't help but feel strange about it. It's like I'm saying, "Here are these great things about me. Want me to write you an article all about my wonderful self?"

So, future authors, be prepared. Start a list of interesting facts about your writing self that could be used for an article. Also, keep tabs on how you came up with your story, what your process is, how long it took you to write, and anything at all pertinent to you and your future book. Also, try to get some good candid pictures of yourself at various times so you are not forced to endure failed photo sessions.

And when it comes down to it and we got nothing? We're writers, right? We're sure come up with something.

Option

I’m in a good situation—I think. My publisher has an option on my next book. Here’s the catch: I got excited because I found a publisher that I think might fit well with a manuscript I’ve been holding on to. I was getting ready to send it to them. But wait, I can’t send anything out to anyone (within the definitions of the option) without first giving my publisher a look at it. This particular story is not one I think would fit with my publisher. What to do? Send a manuscript to my publisher, right, but which one? I can’t seem to choose. I want it to be a good one. A story they will like and want. I don’t want to waste my chance at another book. Should I ask my editor what they’re looking for? But, what if I don’t have what they’re looking for? I can’t just sit around in manuscript limbo forever. That would be dumb. And I’m starting to get antsy with nothing sitting in a slush pile somewhere. I just need to choose the one I think fits best I guess, polish it, and cross my fingers. And hey, an actual publisher wants to see my next book. That’s pretty darn cool.