It's ALIVE!!!!

Can you believe it's been almost 5 months since I've posted here?!?

What's wrong with me to cause such an unacceptable delay? Aside from the more obviously flaws (trying to beat you to the punch, Peanut Gallery), I have some seriously amazing excuses.

First - the Impending Child is no longer impending! Wyatt Edwin Hudson was born at 1:37 pm, November 8th, 2010, weighing in at 8 pounds and measuring 21 inches in length. (Judging by the fact that I'm only 64 inches long, you can guess why my last trimester wasn't rife with blog posts. Just lots of languishing on my couch and complaining.)

Here's a picture of the second most handsome guy in my life. (I'm contractually obligated to give my husband first place.)



Isn't he kind of a doll?

Then on to my second piece of amazing news - we have a cover for HEREAFTER! You might have already seen this image floating around the web, but now you get an up-close view of this gorgeousness. Not to get all slobbery, but isn't it just dreamy? This isn't absolutely final, since my brilliant design team is going to add some blurbs I've received from some equally brilliant YA authors, but...still. LOVE this.

Plodding Along

You know, despite all the cool stuff going on right now, some days are not easy. Particularly when it comes to revisions. Even more particularly, when it comes to revisions made under a major deadline.

Sometimes the ideas are just a little stagnant, and the sentences don't flow. Too many "thats" pop in there, or maybe a (gasp) exclamation point or some excessive underlining, because my good emphatic words are on vacation.

Whatever the case, those are the days when you just have to push through, and promise yourself that you'll reread tomorrow, to cut all the rubbish you added the night before.

Oh, and also drink a giant diet coke to wash down a serious amount of blackberry & almond ice cream.

Big News!!

Considering how long it's been since my last post, are you surprised that I have a wealth of news to share with you? As is my forte, I'll just go for it in list-format!

Things to Celebrate:
1. Hereafter has an official release date! Tuesday, June 7, 2011 is going to be a big, huge, seriously awesome day for me, and hopefully for a group of YA readers! And can you say launch party? Oh yes!
2. In other "big release" news, my kiddo's arrival has been unofficially moved up to late October, thank goodness. I'm hopeful for a Halloween birthday, which will give me a lifetime of excuses to throw massive Halloween parties. As if I really needed any.

Things to Bemoan:
Nothing...the news above is to great to let me worry about anything right now!

Things to Ponder:
I kind of hate the song "Maggie May," but I'm deeply in love with it's mandolin solo and have had it stuck in my head all day. Weird, right?

Holy height, Batman

This is completely unrelated to my writing, but since I haven't posted in so long I thought I'd chime in with something that currently occupies my mind: my new king-sized bed. Is it the first time I've owned a bed this size? Yes. Is it really pretty in my master bedroom? Yes. Did I have the best night's sleep I've had in six months? Yes.

Is it UNGODLY, UNHOLY tall? Why, yes. Yes it is.

This bed is seriously 12 inches taller than our previous one. First, the gorgeous frame we purchased for cheap (compare this Walmart Bed to this Pottery Barn Bed) is a good 5 inches off the floor, allowing for a med-sized bulldog to crawl right under it. Second, the mattress we bought is the deepest thing I've ever seen. (No jokes...what are you, 12 years old?) Third, I added a 3-inch down alternative feather bed because...well...I can.

So, I can no longer see my bedside clock while lying in bed. If I try to read in bed, the light from my lamp can't reach the surface of the bed because the lampshade itself doesn't even crest the mattress. To get on the bed, I basically have to take a running leap.

And you know what? It's totally awesome.

That Foot Doesn't Taste Very Good...

So, you know how sometimes you do or say something dumb, and it's easily misinterpreted? And you know how I'm not perfect? Well, combine those two ideas and you have a nice slice of my afternoon, in which I inadvertently offended a friend.

After trying to remedy this mistake with said friend (who, blessedly, is very understanding), I thought about how I might incorporate such a speak-before-thinking trait in one of my characters. After all, it's a flaw I know well.

Since I've been absent lately, how about I pose a question - what are the ways in which you've occasionally inserted your foot into your mouth? How did you fix the problem you created? And, since my apologies tend to be inarticulate and blubbering (if sincere) messes, how do you craft a good one?

With love

It's been far too long since I've posted, but one of my best friends was struck by tragedy and that has been at the forefront of my mind.

So forgive me if I get a little preachy right now, but I have to ask/tell each and every one of you to take stock of your lives. Name all the people you love, and then make sure to feel grateful for them - every minute of your day. That is the type of person my friend is, and that is the gift that is going to help her through this time.

Life is short and precious - and I'm grateful for all of you!

Thursday Lists, Part Deux

To really, terribly rephrase Walt Whitman: Do I repeat myself? Very well then I repeat myself. (I am large (i.e. pregnant), I contain repetitious posts.)

Things that are not awesome:
1. The constant repetitions of "Luchenbach, Texas" in my house. I can be repetitive; my husband cannot. Billion-year-old country songs are not conducive to good revisions of my novel. (And, yes, the truly awesome Willie Nelson contributed to that song; doesn't matter upon the 700th listen.)
2. The girl who made sure to point out that my current back-pain was in no way related to my pregnancy, because I have not yet achieved the term/weight/general snootiness to claim the true pains of motherhood. Thanks, judgmental girl. I'm sure your sense of superiority has nothing to do with your raging insecurity, either. :)
3. I have to play an entirely new waiting game, which is actually awesome if you read why, in #3 below

Things which are so awesome, they actually hurt:
1. http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html. You can thank for this later
2. The fact I revised two chapters today! Two! That places me around 1/3rd of the way through the manuscript, which may not seem like a lot, but it feels like a real accomplishment.
3. Drum roll: not only do I have an agent, I have a publisher!!!!!!!!!! That's right folks - we've come to a tentative agreement with a major publishing house, for a 3-book series based on Hereafter. Get ready to read an awesome new YA book in Summer 2011!