Rachael

Willie, sleeping on one of Clara's squirrel toys.

 

No, really, that would make you jump, too.

Happy October, everyone. You know what that means. Time to start thinking about Nanowrimo! Skedaddle over there now and get signed up, and then start plotting! You can think about your ideas all you want, just don't start the actual writing until November 1st. (Confession: I went to their headquarters the other day and dropped off an ARC of How to Knit a Love Song for Chris Baty, because I lurve him and I wanted to show him his name in the acknowledgments and I got a hug and told him how much he and Nanowrimo as a whole mean to a whole lot of people. I had a Moment. He was very aw-shucks about it. I was a goose. It was teh awesome. I shall now go follow him on Twitter because I realize I never have.) 

(I have something that I'm DYING to write about during Nano, but I'm not sure about writing two different books at once. I'm kind of interested to see if I can do it. I'll keep you posted.)

Edited to add: I think I could do it. Write two books at the same time, I mean. (Lala, at this point, is panicking. She's thinking about what I'm like normally and she's REALLY hoping I don't take on this challenge, I bet. BUT I LOVE A CHALLENGE.) But think about it. I only write in the mornings. I am NOT a night writer. I'm dumb at night. I don't even usually write in the afternoons. Too stupid, too brain-dead. So what if I *did* use that time? To write the Nano? I'd use my normal writing time, my smart time, to write the contracted (oh, sweet contract) book. I'm well into that one, and it's going well. But at night? To screw around, writing Nano, which is just for fun, anyway? Doesn't that sound like the equivalent of writing candy? SO ATTRACTED to this crazy idea.

I have a really flexible sense of time today. I think it has something to do with the fact that I forgot to set the alarm last night, something I never do. I woke up just in time to take a shower and make coffee.

Then I sat at my desk and stubbornly wrote a few lines because I have this Thing. Since last August, more than a year now, I've written every single day, except when I'm sick or out of town. Every single day. First thing. (Okay, usually first thing. Every once in a while I check email first and screw around on the internet, and I am here to tell you that those are the days that the writing gets bogged down in a sticky soul-sucking mud.)

So today I wrote a few lines. Just a couple, so that I can say I wrote. Nulla die sine linea, says the quote on my desk. Never a day without lines.

And then I looked at email, and then I looked at the clock, and I thought, oh, crap, I actually still have to go to work this morning. So I meandered to the kitchen and packed up some coffee in my thermos, and then started thinking about pulling back my hair, and then I went back to my desk and I started another email and THIS IS NOT LIKE ME, FRIENDS.

I'm one of those every-minute-accounted-for people. Once my alarm clock rings, every second of the rest of the day is pretty much spoken for. I even have my unplanned down-time prioritized, should it occur.

Just sitting at my desk, staring into space, not noticing that I'm thinking about emailing Cari and that I'm running late for work? Doesn't happen.

It felt decadent, and I think it's a direct result of that alarm clock not going off on time, and I'm in favor of it. Not enough not to set my alarm tomorrow, but it's an interesting feeling. It's kind of like I switched my caffeinated coffee for decaf or something. (Again, not enough to try THAT again tomorrow. I'm not crazy.) But I feel relaxed. Maybe I just needed that exta sleep.

It's nice.

Mmmm.  I have one of those slow-burning coils of angst, one of those long ropes of something that will need to burn itself out at some point, you know? I'm not sure when, and I'm not sure where, but it'll happen soon, I think. I find myself driving down the road and fantasizing more and more about a long trip to Venice. A long, slow couple of weeks with nothing more to do than sit at a cafe and watch the rain drip into the canal while the people run about like bugs outside.

No time, no money for that right now. Put it to the side. It'll happen, I know that.

But a bath will have to do instead. And maybe a good long lie-in tomorrow. (As if. I really need to learn that skill. I'll practice tomorrow. Sadly, I suck at it.)

Now I'll give you some pictures.

How the boys sleep. Really. They weren't moving. I have a ton of pictures like this. They're pretty stressed out little cats.

Adah would like to show you both her paw (CUTE!) and our nephew Isaac (CUTER!!). And her new perch on top of the fridge, a basket which has replaced the fuzzy basket and OMG why didn't we think of that three years ago. Less fuzz in the ice, thank you very much. (And to those of you who have had drinks at our house, ahem. We cleaned first. Of course. WHAT'S THAT OVER THERE?)

My mother's African Violet bloomed, for the first time in a year. I love this. It's on my writing desk, and every day, I love it harder.

And all right, people. This one is an act of courage. This next one is me stepping foot firmly into the Trotting Horse camp. (You already knew I carried a card, right? Now you know I'm at the front, carrying the standard.)

The newcomers to knitting will whisper wow. The ones who have been around the block (HA! get it?) will hold their sides laughing, because I DO NOT HAVE BLOCKING WIRES, and I have about the same amount of pins as patience. I damp-block and pin out haphazardly, which leaves me with little sticky-out points, which I am OWNING, people.

This is my point (GET IT? Ha!). This is Cold Mountain, silk/merino, from Ellen's Half Pint Farm, bought at Maryland S&W years ago. I gave it to my sister Christy, and she put it on, and it looked simply gorgeous on her. And from a trotting horse (or, truly, held up for close inspection) no one will ever know whether I blocked the shawl on lace wires well or on pins carelessly.

This is what I wanted to show you. Just make it. Don't worry so much.

My gorgeous sister, looking even more beeyootiful:

Happy birthday, Christy. May this be your best year yet.

You all are awesome. I had the best time posting that there video, and I think it made everything so much more real. I have to admit that I've personally watched the video probably five times, and I got to relive the moment, over and over, which I wouldn't have been able to do, relying on my crappy memory. I would have been able to say, Hey! I opened my ARC box! It was great! Instead, I got to watch myself get teary and silly and over-the-moon happy.

NEWSFLASH: VIDEO IS A COOL MEDIUM!

Now, I'm back to writing and hanging out and having my days off (yay days off! They are nice! You knew that, too?). But here you go, for viewing pleasure, if you like (click to enlarge):

This is the uncorrected proof — the real thing, looking somewhat different, will be in a bookstore near you on March 23, 2010.

Knitting content in next post, I swear! xoxo

Also known as advance reader's copies, or uncorrected proofs, or galleys, these are the marketing tools that publishers send out in to the world for review. Some are plain, some are fancy. Mine is the prettiest one I've ever seen, ever, and I worked in a bookstore for a long time, and I've seen plenty of 'em.

Yowzer.

My baby. It is being shipped. All over. It is suddenly very real, and I have a Stomachache Of Doom. (Will they know that it likes to go to bed early and its favorite is salted caramel ice cream? WILL THEY? I don't think so!)

I also have the Excitement of OMG, caught on tape here. Now, many of you have never met me in person. I recently talked on the phone to Grace in Canada and she was surprised by my voice (hi, Grace!) and that made me wonder what y'all think I sound like. Watching myself on this video, I realize *I* have never met myself in person, and I am a big doofus goofball, especially when I'm acting up in front of a camera (I talk like a grownup sometimes, I swear). Wow.

But this was a really important moment and I wish I could have invited every single person who made this moment possible over to my house to see this momentous opening of the ARC box (MY NAME AND ISBN WAS ON THE CARDBOARD BOX), and that includes you, my darling reader. So please, indulge my goofiness. (And yes. It was 7pm, and I'd been up since 4am, and I really did feel that powdering my nose was absolutely essential before I opened the box.)

It's a real book. Really, really real. It's gorgeous.(Also, wild, mad thanks to Amanda Bergeron at HarperCollins, my editor's assistant who delivered these to me next-day air. She didn't have to. She was better than Zappo's. She made my dreams come true, even faster than imagined, as a surprise. She's awesome.)

If anyone wants to write romance and is looking for a hero's name? YOU SHOULD READ THE COMMENTS FROM MY LAST POST!

You know the one that made me swoon the most? It's from Beth P. in Maryland:

I voted for Luke, but, would like to suggest Mark.
I am rather partial to that name, even though my Mark is NEVER called Mark, he is called Doc! Twenty years in the military wearing his name on his uniforms (LastName, M.D.) it was inevitable!I voted for Luke, but, would like to suggest Mark.

Don't you love that? It doesn't fit with my new guy, but I'm putting that one in the bank for a future leading man, for sure.

And according to the poll, most of you like Luke the most (do we all picture Luke from the Gilmore Girls? I know I do), and hardly any of you like what used to be my front-runner (Hoyt, for Hoyt Axton, singer of my dreams).

But then a few of you suggested the obvious.

Hank. Sturdy. Old-fashioned. Strong. And I love the slight echo it has of fun stuff: hank of yarn, hanky-panky…

Dude, that was fun.

It's not set in stone. It could change. There are so many names on that list that I love, that I might draw from. And I never have to ask again — I have names on that list I can work from for years to come. No baby-name books for me, I'm all set. Woot!

Also, there is a rumor (the best kind) that the advance reader's copies of HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG are in the mail on their way to me. There will be a drawing, my chickens. All I'm saying. Stay tuned. I'm SO FLIPPING EXCITED.