2nd Release Day for FAST FICTION! (kind of)

When I was first given a release day for FAST FICTION, it was February 18th. That date has stuck in my mind through many months of revising and editing. My publisher had suggested I wait until books would definitely be available everywhere before promoting the book and launching my blog tour. So that is set for the week of March 3rd. Then I noticed Amazon had it scheduled to release on February 11th! So I've never had so much ambiguity with a release date...but actually, I kind of like it. It's like the party just keeps going and going!

I wanted to share a few things happening, if you're interested in celebrating with me.

Today, I'm over at the Writer's Digest Blog, talking about How to Write a Fast-Draft Novel.  There's also a copy of FAST FICTION up for grabs there.


I also have several upcoming in-person events, starting with tonight:

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Golden Ears Writing Group

Presentation on Fast Fiction 

at 7 PM

ACT in Maple Ridge, B.C.

(Open to the public.)

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Signing at the New World Library booth - 1 PM

Workshop/Panel: Crafting Heartbreak 3 PM

AWP Conference, 

Seattle, WA

(Open to the public, but you must register.)

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Workshop on Fast Fiction, 

1 PM

Blaine Library, Blaine, WA

(Open to the public.)

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Talk on my background and processat 

Third Place Books 

- 7 PM

Lake Forest Park, WA

(Open to the public.)

www.thirdplacebooks.com

If you're local, I hope you'll drop by to one of these! If you're not, I hope you'll join me for my blog tour, starting right here on March 3rd. Lots of prizes to be won, including writing books, courtesy of New World Library, full boxes of great fiction, audiobooks, and an agent critique!

I'm also gearing up for MARCH MADNESS WRITING CHALLENGE! If you've never joined in on this event, I hope you'll drop by and give it a try this year. There's a huge growing group of us who cheer each other on to meet self-imposed goals through the month of March. This starts February 27th right here!

I hope to see you back here soon, and in the meantime, happy reading and writing!

Monday Musings

I'm changing the blog a bit. After attending a book festival on the weekend, I had a few brainstorms about my blog and what I want to do with it. So this is my hope...Monday Musings will now replace my Friday Four, and I'll update it whenever I have a variety of stuff to share. I will continue to highly authors who write for teens (mostly) on Teen Author Tuesday. Wednesdays, I'd like to start offering Writing Prompts for writers who need ideas or a little push to get going, and on Fridays, I want to start offering some tips, ideas, and excerpts from my forthcoming book, Fast Fiction, about how to fast draft. As most of you know, I'm super-busy with NaNoWriMo this month, so I can't promise how much of this will get done right away, and the initial posts may be short, but I'm feeling motivated, so hopefully I will be able to start on this soon! Speaking of NaNo, I've had some great progress so far! Last night I broke the 10k mark, so I'm really excited about that.

And for all of you who think no one could possibly write a decent novel in a month...I agree. But I do believe you can write THE BONES of a decent novel in a month. Tune in Fridays and I'll give you some suggestions of how.

I had a great time at Northwest Bookfest on the weekend, presenting to a group of writers about writing Fast Fiction. This Wednesday, if you're from the area, I'll be doing another little talk and write-in at the Sumas Library in Sumas, WA. 

Also, if you haven't noticed, I've completed my list of 12 awesome books read this year in the sidebar. The latest addition is THE VOW by Jessica Martinez. It has a fresh premise, and such smart smart writing that I didn't want to put it down. 

If you're looking for more tips on writing than what I get to here, don't forget about my new website for writers, AuthorStarts.com. I hope you'll check it out!

That's all for now. Must get back to the NaNo project, and, you know...life. May the words be with you!

Friday Four!

1. Don't miss my Halloween giveaway of a creepy anthology! All you have to do to enter is tell me what you or someone you know wore for Halloween.

2. I'm off to present at the Northwest Bookfest in Kirkland, WA this weekend. If you're from the Seattle area and interested in learning how to fast draft fiction, I hope you'll stop by for my workshop.

3. It's November 1st, and I'm sure most of you know what that means...the start of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. My plan is to write a 50,000-word novel this month. I never like to talk too much about my first drafts until they're done, but I can tell you that this is another YA contemporary story, but quite different than anything I've written before. Also, at least at this point, it is told from a dual point of view. I've accomplished my word count for today, so I'm feeling pretty good so far.

I can't seem to find the word count widgets on the NaNo website yet, so I'll just tell you...I'm at around 1800 words so far. Not great words, but they're done. And they can only get better. Right?

4. What am I reading? Not much these days. I've been doing a bit of beta reading, but mostly just swamped with NaNo prep and tying up revisions on other books and getting ready to promote Fast Fiction. Speaking of Fast Fiction, I had a marketing and publicity call with New World Library, and was really pleased with the attention they are giving my book. I'm getting excited to see it out in the world!

Hope you all have a great weekend, and hope to see some of you in Kirkland!

Friday Four!

1. Check out my Nanowrimo widget! ---------->
So far, so good! As I think of little tidbits that help me along the ways, I'm posting them on Twitter under #nanowrimotips.

2. We gave up on toilet training our cat. At least for now. She found her litter pan stashed in the basement, and has been using that exclusively. She's such a good kitty that we don't want annoy her by forcing her out of her toileting comfort zone. Plus, on the bright side, we have our second toilet back!

3. If you're around the Vancouver area, I'll be part of an AWESOME teen author event at the North Vancouver Public Library tomorrow, including Eileen Cook, Mindi Scott, Catherine Knutsson, and Joelle Anthony. Check out this link for more info.

4. I posted a few of these on Facebook, but I wanted to share some pictures from an amazing local pumpkin artist. Hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween (and my heart went out to all those in New Jersey who were/are still without power. I hope you are finding ways to stay safe and warm!).

Highlights From #SIWC2012

I had a FABULOUS time at the Surrey International Writer’s Conference last weekend. I always do, and yet every year I seem to debate whether or not I’ll be able to go again. I get so much out of this event, I NEED to go, even if it means sacrifices. Somebody please remind me of this next July.

So much inspiration. So many new tools for my writerly toolkit. I wanted to share a smattering of my favorite bits from workshops and keynotes over the weekend, but this is by no means comprehensive. Many of the workshop notes will be available through the SIWC blog or website, or through the individual authors’ websites, in case you were unable to make it.
Here are a few of my favorite snippets…

The Room Party
We started meeting with our made-of-awesome Calgary friends a few years ago in one of our rooms with several bottles of wine. It has become an event, and it seems to grow each year. Here’s a little snapshot (thanks Trish Loye Elliot) from this year’s get together:

Yep, we can pack a lot of people into a hotel room!

Pitches and Cardiac Arrest
During my early years at the Surrey conference, I spent at least half my time in the “pitch room” giving pitches of my projects to agents and editors in 10 minute spurts (this is how I actually met my editor, the fantastic Anica Rissi, for Losing Faith) or sitting in terrified silence as published authors read and dissected my work during Blue Pencil appointments.

I arrived at this year’s conference knowing I didn’t need to pitch anything, but thinking maybe I should make a Blue Pencil appointment for one of the many works in progress I have on the go. I arrived at the table outside the pitch room where you make appointments, and my heart started to beat faster. It wasn’t really fear, but the memory of fear. And it also had this addictive quality. I felt like once I booked my first appointment, I’d probably end up standing in lineups and booking ten more. This year I chose to walk away and try to get the most out of the workshops instead.
It was a good choice, because there were some AMAZING workshops. But...I have to admit, my pitch addiction didn't go completely unused over the weekend. I ended up sitting with an agent during one of the lunches, and though I have an agent I'm thrilled with, I couldn't seem to help from pitching my friend's book (and getting a request from him to see her manuscript (!!!)

The Workshops
Here are a few of my favorite snippets…
On Writing Dialogue, with brilliant Eileen Cook:

“You can’t un-know what you already know. The author knows it all, but to a reader, it may just seem like random clapping.”
“In fiction, dialogue needs a purpose, or even better, multiple purposes. It should advance the plot, reveal characters. What people say or don’t say gives us a lot.”
“Avoid adverb overload. “You bitch,” he said angrily. – How else would he say it?”
“Think about how upbringing and social status affect your character’s word choice. How does a low income person express anger? How about a British high roller?”
“Is this dialogue happening at the worst possible place or time?”

On Inspiration in Writing with the Ultra-Inspirational Tanya Lloyd Kyi:

One of my favorite things from this workshop was a writing-prompt type exercise. Tanya handed us each an envelope and three slips of paper. We wrote a character name and description on the first slip, then put it in the envelope and passed it to someone else. Then we wrote out a setting, placed that in the new envelope and passed it to someone new. On the third slip, we wrote a problem, then passed the envelope along.
Then we wrote a scene based on the envelope we were each now holding. Some of the scenes were hilarious, and really wonderful! I hope to use this interactive exercise when I’m giving workshops in the future!
She also had some wonderful bits of advice. Here are a couple:
“To nurture creativity, we have to maintain a sense of childishness and play.”
“Start your day with writing prompts instead of Twitter.” (easier said than done, Tanya!)
“Our eureka moments usually come when we’re generating or combining other ideas.”

On Standout Characters with deep-thinker Donald Maass:

One thing I always love about Don Maass’s workshops is that he always asks lots of great questions that really help me get to the depth of my characters and their situations. What’s their best quality? What’s the opposite of that quality, and how can you show it? What’s an injustice in their world? What would make them react strongly to that injustice?
Plus, here are a few great quotes:
“How characters are when they are at their best is what we care about – brave, funny, good, principled.”
“We back away from suffering. We don’t back away from hope. Readers are drawn to hope.”
“Find a way to make your character strong, real, and filled with hope. This is how to make our readers care about our characters right away.”

On Advanced Social Media with tech-savvy Sean Cranbury:

“The main things you need are Twitter, Facebook, a blog, and Google Analytics connected to your blog.”
“Iterate, Share, Measure, Learn, Connect, Repeat.”
“It’s not either/or anymore. It’s either/and.”

On Writing Teen/Tween Mysteries with sleuth-smart Linda Gerber:

“In a mystery, what will happen if they don’t find out the answer? It has to be a personal thing and it has to matter.”
“The hero is only as exciting as your villain. (An exciting villain will push your hero farther.)”
“In teen novels, you can plant unreliable witnesses all over the place. Teens will often say things that aren’t true for their own benefit.”
“Things to avoid: The clue that changes everything, deus ex machina, schizophrenia, stupid characters, adult intervention, clichés.”

On Pacing with the quick-thinking Boyd Morrison:

“Leave out the boring details. Describe a character with one very distinct characteristic – a scar above his lip tells a lot with so little. You can imagine the whole character.”
“A thriller should be like a roller coaster. Build suspense to the first hill. Release and exhilaration on the fall. The biggest hill should be the last one. Without the quiet in-between scenes, you can’t build up the energy and adrenaline.”
“Dialogue speeds up the pace – especially short and snappy dialogue. Your eye moves quickly down the page.”
“Enter late, leave early, or the Law & Order technique. Leave out the transitions, travel, and boring details.”
“Leave the reader wanting more.”

The Keynotes
ALL of the keynotes were awesome, but I didn’t pull my laptop out and make notes for most of them. So here are just a few short snippets…

From the fabulous and funny Jane Espenson:

“When characters are filled with emotion they get very, very simple. So much more is said by what they’re not saying than by what they’re saying.”
“You don’t have to look good or smell good to be a writer.”

From the forward-thinking Donald Maass:

"New York is like a fortress and your catapult might seem small" but "these are exciting times in publishing."
“Dig deeper. Go further. Change the world.”
“I think the destination ahead is a place we are going to like.”

As I said, this is only a very SMALL amount of what I took in this weekend. This conference is so worth the money, and I think all writers need to find some yearly thing to rejuvenate them. I’m so glad I found the Surrey conference. I hope to see YOU there next year (and make sure to find me and ask about the room party!)

November Event!

I'm so excited about this upcoming November 3rd event with some of my favorite authors!

If you're from the Vancouver / North Vancouver area, I hope to see you there! It promises to be a great time.

Frogs and Other Loud Workshop Interruptions

I spent the weekend out in the middle of nowhere. Okay, I'm actually a bit of a wimp. There was gravity-pulled running water from a creek. There was also enough electricity to host several bands.

I, of course, forgot to take pictures of any of that stuff, but here's a picture of the serenity I was surrounded by all weekend. I was at a music festival where I was teaching a workshop on writing. It went very well, except, as you'll see by the subject, for the very loud (but tiny) frog that was hanging around. Seriously, though, he was pretty cute! I swear, I find myself in the oddest situations.

As I mentioned on Twitter, my first day without phone and Internet was akin to a detox--I was practically getting the shakes every time I thought of my useless iPhone. By day two, though, I was so completely relaxed. I say this every time I'm forced into a place with no electronics, but I tend to forget: I need to do this more often.

To compound my technology fast, I pulled out my laptop (which has an 8-hour battery) to work on revising a chapter of my novel. I'd gotten through most of a chapter when my Microsoft Word problem started doing weird things, and eventually shut down, not saving my work.

I sweated over this for about an hour. Then I decided to read a good book (which I ended up reading from start to finish). I'm happy to report that I came home a much less-stressed person!

I hope you all had a great weekend! Do you ever take forced breaks from technology? Let me say this one more time: I NEED TO DO THIS MORE OFTEN!

Workshops While Camping and Write On Con!

I have a couple of events coming up that I wanted to mention.

This weekend, I'll be giving a workshop on writing and publishing at Becoming Shiloh, an outdoor music festival in...B.C. I'm not sure what to call the area it's in. The Interior? Past Kamloops, near Clearwater. That's all I know. Anyway, here's the Facebook page if you're from the area and want to check it out.

And this coming Tuesday, my made-of-awesome agent, Michelle Humphrey and I will be giving our first co-presentation at Write On Con! I'm very excited about this, as Michelle is super smart and savvy, and I just know that co-presenting with her will make me look that way too!

If you haven't yet signed up, it's totally free and totally full of awesomeness.

Have a great weekend, everybody! The sun is shining...

Vancouver LitFest

I had a great time over the weekend presenting at Vancouver LitFest. It's a great event, held at Douglas College, which was a perfect venue. I presented a panel with authors Danika Dinsmore and Alison Acheson, and was just sent a picture, so I thought I'd share it.

 (Danika, me, and Alison)

Next weekend I'll be at the Western Washington SCBWI conference. I'm very excited! Will I see any of you there?

Blog Hop Winners and Vancouver LitFest!

Holy cow, this week has gotten away from me! But I'm very excited to announce TWO lucky winners from my recent Hoppy Easter Blog Hop, as well as tell you about Vancouver LitFest which is FREE and is this weekend, and I will be there reading from my novels and answering your questions!

First of all, the winners!

Daniel Thornton will receive his first book of choice, and Sarah will receive her first book of choice!

Congratulations to both of you!!!

 

2nd Annual Lit Fest New West ~ April 12-14, 2012
Douglas College Campus

Sponsored by the Arts Council of New Westminster, Lit Fest New West is a three day literary arts event culminating in an all day MARKETPLACE and SHOWCASE on APRIL 14.

 I will be reading from LOSING FAITH and NEVER ENOUGH, and participating in a Q&A with two other local children's authors:  Danika Dinsmore and Alison Acheson
Sat, April 14 from 10 AM - 11 AM in Lecture Hall Two

ALL Saturday Lit Fest events at Douglas College are FREE to the public!

I hope to see you there!!!

Artwork is Such an Honor!

The other night I had the pleasure of speaking to an absolutely wonderful group of writers in the Western Washington SCBWI group. My topic was With a Heavy Heart: Writing Grief in Fiction. It was a great night, and I will have plenty to share on the subject when I can get my notes together, but for now I just wanted to share something with you that was truly an honor for me.

There's something about bringing the arts together that warms my heart. With the first book I wrote (yet to be published) my best friend did a painting to go with the book. It meant so much to me, I can't even tell you (and I'll certainly share it, if I can ever get that book in shape enough to publish it!) With my launch of my first published novel, a good friend of mine wrote a song entitled Losing Faith to go with it. I've also had the opportunity to see fan-made trailers and recreated covers to go with Losing Faith. When my art inspires other art, I love it. All of it!

On Tuesday night I received a whole new honor at the SCBWI meeting. One of the organizers who is also a picture book author and illustrator, Dana Sullivan, made up a huge banner with a caricature of myself and the other presenter. It was in black and white at the event, but he just send me the color version which is EVEN MORE COOL! I just had to share it. Thanks so much, Dana!

Vancouver Public Library Event!

Hey Friends....a week from today, I'll be speaking on a panel at the Vancouver Public Library. Details are on the poster below. If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop by and say hi. I will have shiny new bookmarks...

Bellingham and Vancouver Peeps: Children's Book Week!

It's Children's Book Week. At least in Canada it is, maybe someone can let me know if this is also the case in the U.S.

As part of the celebrations, I am involved in a couple of different events:

Friday, May 6, 2011 - Yapalooza! at Village Books in Bellingham, WA
I'm thrilled to have been invited for a panel discussion, along with Teri Hall, Alexa Martin,
and Kimberley Derting! This will take place from 6:30 - 8:30 P.M.

Saturday, May 7, 2011 - TD Canadian Children's Book Week, Vancouver B.C.
1-3 PM at the Burnaby Public Library, Bob Prittie Metrotown Branch

I hope to see some of you there!

A Debut Author on Tour

I've just completed a whole string of book signings. This past Saturday was the last of about seven or eight, and it was an interesting experience that I thought I'd share a little about.

To be quite honest, I went into this "tour" not expecting much, and in fact I didn't refer to it as a tour, even in my own head, for that reason. I'm a debut author, which means if you haven't heard about me online through blog reviews or interviews, you probably haven't heard of me. That, coupled with the many stories I've heard of even well-established authors, who have had very poor showings at book signings, helped to keep my expectations low.

My first experience with signing was at my launch party on September 19th. Prior to that, I'd just done a few drive-by signings at bookstores. I've done about a million of those now, and gotten quite comfortable with it. My launch party was filled with friends and family, which is a great way to break yourself into things. It was hard to think of individual things to sign in everyone's books, and I admit, I didn't do very well in that department. I had a long line up of people waiting to get books signed and I was just too nervous to be creative.

My next signing was in Oklahoma, part of the Encyclo-Media conference, and there I had an opportunity to sign (and speak) with four of my Class of 2k9/2k10 classmates. It's always fun to sign books with other people--you don't notice any lulls because you spend that time chatting. So even if you're not constantly busy signing, the time doesn't drag at all.

I also had one other group signing--a group of five Tenners in Snohomish, Washington. Again, it was so much fun to hang with my author-friends, and this was another speaking event with questions from the audience, and doing it as a group really took the pressure off.

Aside from that, I've done a string of solo signings in different cities within B.C. The bookstore in my hometown reviewed my book for the local paper prior to my signing, which helped get the word out. Also, my made-of-awesome publicist has been sending bag stuffers and posters about my visit in advance to each of the bookstores.

Still, even with great advertising, at one of my signings I didn't sell or sign a single book. It happens. And to be honest, it didn't feel nearly as bad as I thought it would. Thankfully I had a great conversation with the store owner and I'd also brought a friend along with me (this particular signing was quite a drive for me) so the time passed fairly quickly.

This past weekend was a great way to end this little string of signings though. I wasn't expecting much from the tiny town of Mission, B.C., but honestly, it was awesome! First, the manager offered (pretty much insisted) to bring me a gingerbread latte from Starbucks. Yum! I met all the staff, who were super-friendly, and some had already read my book and loved it. My first "customers" at my signing table were some good friends from Romania--yes, I said Romania--and I had no idea they were in town. They heard about my signing through a mutual friend and showed up to surprise me!

After that, there was a steady stream of customers, some who had heard about the signing and came specifically to see me, and some who noticed the sign that said "local author" and decided to give my book a try for that reason.

And if that all wasn't enough? The store manager brought out a stack of advance reader copies of books she had in the back so I had something to thumb through during the dead times--and she even let me snag one at the end!

So all in all it was a great time! To be honest, before Saturday's signing I was feeling a little tired. But the day really rejuvenated me. I really feel fortunate to have experienced such a variety of events early on. I'm sure every event will be different, even from here on in, but I really didn't have much idea of what to expect, so I thought this post might be interesting or useful for others.

I'd love to hear from other authors about their experiences with signings too. Good? Bad? Ugly?

In Vancouver? A Celebration of New Works!

It seems I never remember to mention things until they're right upon me. Tomorrow I will be at this:

 

I'm really looking forward to it! KidsBooks will have copies of Losing Faith for sale and I'll be there happily signing copies for whoever wishes. I'll also have bookmarks, discussion guides, and other goodies. Plus Sarah Ellis will be speaking! And...I didn't miss the word delectables in there, did you? 

Hope to see you there!

Meet FIVE of @TheTenners This Weekend!

Don't know who The Tenners are? We are a force of 2010 debut authors, over ninety of us in all! Five of us will be coming together at:

Uppercase Books

Snohomish, Washington

Saturday, October 30th, for a 3:00 p.m. signing

The five 2010 debut authors are: 

Karen Kincy, author of OTHER

Mindi Scott, author of FREEFALL

Kimberley Derting, author of THE BODY FINDER

Chelsea Campbell, author of THE RISE OF RENEGADE X

and me, Denise Jaden, author of LOSING FAITH

There really is something for everyone! If you're in the Washington area, I hope you'll come out and say hello. It's rare that authors are organized enough to set up group signings like this (thanks Karen!) and I'm sure it will be a ton of fun.

I'm still working on putting together some Nano Prep Tips, and I should be back with those either tomorrow or Friday.

The Girl in the Jean Jacket

Apparently my jean jacket has become somewhat iconic.

Last week when I traveled to Oklahoma, I was lucky enough to meet up with some great authors. There was one author in particular I was excited about meeting because I had followed her online for quite some time. I recognized her right away because of her brilliant smile, but when I went up to introduce myself, she said, “Oh, I know you. You’re the girl in the jean jacket.” Or something to that effect.

"Wh—what? Me! You know me?" I said, like the exceptionally well-spoken person that I am.

What she was referring to was my author photo, which apparently has gone before me!

It’s really, REALLY cool as a debut author whose book has JUST come out, when someone actually recognizes you. For any reason.

Then, just the other day I answered my cell phone to a reporter from a local newspaper. Her first question? “Can you send me that picture of you in the jean jacket?” We went on to have a lovely conversation about writing. But it all started with the jean jacket. And the above picture ended up in a full-page spread of my local newspaper!

So this is what I’m thinking…even if I don’t go on to make a good living with my writing, even if I can't come up with another single story idea or interesting set of characters... if I can get enough buzz going on for this jean jacket, maybe I can make my fortune on eBay! LOL.

All this is to say…I’m off to the Surrey International Writers Conference this weekend, because I actually do want to continue on in this writing business and improve my craft, (so excited!) and even though I may not normally dress down quite this much, I AM planning to bring the famed jean jacket so HOPEFULLY people will recognize me (and it would totally make my weekend if someone did, so please come up and say hi.) Wow, that was an awfully long run-on sentence! Good thing I'm going away to improve my craft! Anyway, I may not wear the jacket all weekend, but I’ll try to keep it on for Friday at least.

And if you spot me but can’t remember my name, or what I write, or anything else about me, just feel free to call out, “hey, you! Girl in the jean jacket!” And I'll know exactly who you mean.

Also, I am HORRIBLE with names. So if we’ve met before, please remind me. I don’t mean to be a dork about this. Honestly. But it happens when your brain gets burnt out from outlining and revising and homeschooling.

I’m so excited! If you’ll be at SIWC, tell me – what iconic piece of clothing might you be wearing???

A Weekend of Events!

Before I forget, time has gotten a way on me a little, but I'm still planning on drawing a winner for a copy of HER AND ME AND YOU by Lauren Strasnick! I'll draw the winner on Wednesday, so if you haven't entered yet, make sure to drop by my interview with Lauren and comment. It'll only take a second.

My signing at Hemingway's on the weekend was fun and successful! Remember, if you didn't make it there and still want to pick up a signed copy of Losing Faith, you can order one through Hemingway's (there's a link on my website) or there's also a list of other upcoming signings. The next one will be at the SIWC Book Fair this coming Saturday. 

Here's a couple pictures of my signing at Hemingway's:

This was getting setup before it all started. Didn't they make a lovely display for me?!

And okay, to be honest, this is just me "pretend signing" before it really got going.

Another highlight of my weekend was Mindi Scott's launch party in Seattle! Mindi and I have been author-buddies, sharing the same imprint, publisher, and publicist, and it's been so great to share the journey with her! Her party was awesome, a huge showing of people, and she completely sold out of books before I could get a copy. But it's okay, because I will be signing with her in two weeks, and as long as she doesn't feel the need to sell out again....

Mindi talked about her book, did a short reading, and the whole evening was very enjoyable. But if that wasn't enough, I was fortunate to meet up with a few of my author-friends, and got to hang with a book blogger (Hi, Sarah!) who is reading my book right now.

 

Once again, I was a total lame-o and didn't bring my camera, but this shot is courtesy of the fabulous Kimberley Derting. From left to right: Holly Cupala, me!, Mindi Scott (isn't her dress beautiful?!), Kimberley Derting, Karen Kincy, and Mandy Hubbard.

It was a great time and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go. What did you do this weekend?

Upcoming Events

Tomorrow (Saturday, October 16th) from 1-3 PM, I'll be signing copies of Losing Faith at Hemingway's Books in Abbotsford, B.C. Canada.

Okay, I'll admit, I've had plenty of visions of myself sitting in bookstores all alone, staring at a blank wall (or a wall of books) and wondering exactly how long two hours can last. I'm a debut author, my first book only came out a month ago, which means it will probably take some time for people to hear about me and my book. I have realistic expectations. But I still don't want to be sitting all by myself.

So even if you already have a copy of my book, or even if you're not planning to buy it at all, I hope if you're in the Abbotsford area, you'll stop by to say hi. It would mean a lot to me.

And if you're farther west, the closest signing to Vancouver I have set up at this point is at the Sheraton Guildford Hotel in Surrey, B.C. I'll be at the book fair, part of the Surrey International Writers Conference (you do not have to attend the conference to stop by the book fair. The fair is free and open to the public). This will be on Saturday, October 23rd, from 5:30-7 P.M.

I hope you'll be able to stop by one of these events. I'll have bookmarks and stickers there as well. If you're a regular reader of my blog, please make sure to mention it. I love meeting blog readers, other writers, and of course avid readers.

Hope to see you soon!

OOOOOOOOOklahoma!

I really missed blogging and I only left it for a day! But I'm in Oklahoma City and having an absolute blast!

On the way here, I told someone on the plane that I've always wanted to come to Oklahoma. She looked at me funny. Then I mentioned it to a local author here. She also looked at me funny. I guess I'm strange for having wanted to come here, but I really don't understand why! It's beautiful! And very laid-back for a big city. Plus, the first thing I saw when I got into town was this:

Guess what it's called? The CANADIAN River! I knew I was meant to be here. LOL. And then there's the cool accents and the culture. I mean, you would never see something like this in Vancouver:

The real reason I came to Oklahoma, though, was for this:

A panel at the Encyclomedia Oklahoma school librarians conference with my made-of-awesome Class of 2k9/2k10 mates (from left) Fran Cannon Slayton, Joy Preble, Bonnie Doerr, and Janet Fox. They are all far more experienced speakers than I, but they encouraged me and held my hand through the whole thing, and I think it really went pretty well. The room was full at probably close to 200 people (!) and I actually spoke, several times, without choking on my own spit.

After that, we had signing at Best of Books, which also went great. Many people from our session came to find us there and buy our books, and many of our books sold out!

After the panel and the signing, I was ready to stop my perma-grin for a few minutes and chill in the hotel room for a bit. I walked the skybridge to the hotel and waited for the elevator for what felt like forever. When it finally showed up, it was full of these grubby-looking guys and a mound of luggage. I was tired of waiting, so I asked if they thought there was room for me, just to be polite, because I was ready to make room for myself! One of the guys said in a cool British accent, "I suppose you could perch on one of our suitcases," which seemed like a yes to me, so I squeezed my way in.

Now usually I would expect an elevator full of guys to shift a little and make room for a lady. But they didn't budge. That's the first thing I thought was odd. The second was the dead silence as soon as the elevator doors closed. Being at a librarians conference, and still wearing my name badge, I said, "I'm guessing you guys aren't librarians," just to break the tension. They laughed, and then went on to tell me who they were.

Well! I had gotten myself sequestered in an elevator with the members of MUSE, an alternative rock band from the UK! I had never heard of them (though I didn't actually tell them that) which doesn't mean anything - I haven't heard of a lot of bands - but when I mentioned it on Twitter, apparently EVERYBODY else knows who they are.

So, yes, that was my rock star moment of the week! And for the rest of the trip, I joked with all my author-friends, waving at the tour buses and limos and yelling, "hi guys!" All in good fun. And here's the view from the glass elevator in the gorgeous hotel where the fateful meeting took place:

As you can probably tell, I've had an amazing time. The best part of all has been hanging out with other more experience authors and talking shop. Here's last night's dinner:

It's kinda blurry, but from left is Janet Fox, Bonnie Doerr, me, Fran Cannon Slayton, Cynthea Liu, Joy Preble, and Tammi Sauer. We talked and laughed our heads off at everything from bad author moments to dead pets (don't ask!) I want to thank them all for an awesome time and to Stacy Nyikos, who booked the whole event and then couldn't even be there.

It was a blast! And I'd do it again in a second - especially with this great group of ladies!