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Because who doesn't love a crock pot recipe? If you don't have a slow cooker, you should get one because there is nothing better than coming home after a long day and the house smells like it's been cooking for you while you've been gone. AMAZEBALLS. Also, they're like fifteen bucks if you catch a sale. And they don't heat up the kitchen. But you knew that already, probably. 

But first: the lucky winners of the PACK UP THE MOON advanced reader's copy have been emailed and they are…

Pat L and Snow! <— from comments

K. Barry, D. Hunt, and Shelda! <—- from my subscription list

Thanks for entering, y'all, and don't forget, you can still enter to win one of twenty-five copies over at Goodreads! 

Speaking of Lucky-AKA-Greg, that wee chihuahua from two posts ago? He's doing really well in his hopefully-forever home. He's such a cuddlebug. 

Much like Clementine and Clara are world-champion cuddlers: 

Yes, though Clementine is the cuddliest dog in the world, she often looks  that worried. You know what she's worried about? She's worried we won't give her roast beef in the next five minutes, because that's what she believes should happen. Cooked crab would do, too. Or prime rib! Shrimp! Or pineapple pork al pastor! 

Oh, that last? THAT IS THE MOST AMAZING AND EASY PORK IN THE WORLD

Pineapple Pork al Pastor for Taco Night!

(A friend modified a recipe which I then threw around the kitchen, and I honestly have no idea where it originated, forgive me. But now it's yours. Don't let the pineapple throw you off — the dish isn't overly sweet or tangy — the pineapple containes bromelain which breaks down the pork and makes it soft and juicy. It's also fun to say. Bromelain. Try it.) 

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs pork shoulder, bone removed

One half to a whole pineapple, diced (it's not hard) or use a can or two if you don't have fresh (I use the whole pineapple)

1 jalapeño, diced

couple of cloves of garlic, chopped

1 white onion, diced

healthy dash of chili powder

4 tbs of cumin 

salt to taste

some canned chipotle peppers, mashed, with their sauce (I use about half the can)

1/2 cup water 

1/4 cup OJ or white vinegar

Throw it all in the crock pot before you leave the house! Turn it on low all day! Come home and warm some corn tortillas (or just put your fillings on a plate because you can't be bothered with the tortilla, that works too). Fill your soft tacos with this heavenly pork, avocado, a little chopped red cabbage, a bit of sriracha mayo or cheese or both, and DIE of bliss. Okay, don't die. But enjoy. 

Penultimate is one of my favorite words, mostly because the only reason it exists is because someone like me said, "You know what I love? Not just the thing itself, but I love the thing right before that last part." 

I love the wedding rehearsal. That's when I cry. I love dress rehearsal, too, for the insane jitters and excitement. I loved my practice marathon even more than the real thing, even though both were 26.2 miles. 

And I love getting the advanced readers copies of my new books in the mail. It's even more exciting that the actual real copies themselves. (If you have any interest in watching how freaking crazy I freaked right the freak out when I saw my first ARCs, you can click here.) 

ARCs are Not For Sale. They are often not pretty, being wrapped in plain paper. They have typos, sometimes brand new ones! But they are you, when you wake up in the morning, unshowered, no makeup, really YOU, so incredibly gorgeous with those flaws in that fragile human body.

I feel so tenderly toward my ARCs, especially this one, the book of my heart. I'm sending Kate, such a flawed mother, out into the world. Nolan, sweet, broken Nolan, will be seen by the public. And their daughter Pree . . . *falls to the ground wailing*  My babies!  *clutches books to breast*

I'm giving my last five away, randomly drawn in seven days on Tuesday the 21st. Two will go to people who comment on this post and three will go to people drawn from my mailing list. Take care of them if you get them, would you? For me? 

GOODREADS GIVEAWAY!

My publisher is giving away 25 copies of Pack Up the Moon! Make sure you're entered! WOOOO! 

In other news: 

Holy crap, y'all. My new word REST? Is working so well. I mean, I'm jumping the gun and all since it's only ten days into the new year, but consciously thinking "I have to rest today" means I'm kind of getting it done, even though I've been insanely productive, also. I've taken to flopping. I flop onto the couch, the floor, onto my back on the bed. Then I just lie there for a while. It's REALLY nice. Who knew? (Oh, well, I should have listened to you. Story of my life.) 

Anyway, welcome to the newly designed Yarnagogo digs. I wanted a static home page with my newest book on it, so that's where you might have landed first. For the seven of you left reading RSS feeds, you might have to redirect your pointer here. I still use a reader, too, but I swear I forget it exists for months at a time (thanks for NOTHIN', Google Reader. RIP). The blog is not dead! It might be on life-support, though. I still love my blog a LOT, though. *pats blog*

Right now, I'm listening to Passenger's "Let Her Go" while the dogs bark at the workers outside. We're getting a new gate! And our fence reinforced! We have new neighbors, very nice ones, who have ENORMOUS dogs and Clementine would love nothing more than to get under our fence at them. Can't let that happen! 

I just got home from the 911 job, and now I'm going to get some writing done before my darling friend Stacey Jay comes over to take home a wee chihuahua I found hit by two cars earlier this week. Story HERE.

He's such a darling cuddly boy, and I wish I could keep him, but we can't. Three dogs is enough. And Stacey's been wanting a chihuahua! Her husband said, though, that she could only have one if she, like, found one that had been hit by car or something. Ha! Take that, universe! I knew once he started throwing names out there, they were SUNK. Hopefully he'll get along well with kids (the chihuahua, not her husband) but we won't know that till she takes him home. Otherwise, I'll take the little dude back and foster him till we find a home.

Back at the words. And maybe a satsuma! And later, rest!

UPDATED TO ADD: 

Meeting Stacey. He loved her immediately. 

*fingers crossed!* 

Contact 

     

Email: yarnagogo@gmail.com

Literary Representation: http://www.einsteinthompson.com

In-house Publicity: Kayleigh.Clark@us.penguingroup.com

SPLINTERS OF LIGHT by Rachael Herron
On sale March 3, 2015

Preorder Now!

Overview:

From the acclaimed author of Pack Up the Moon comes a poignant and beautiful novel about love, loss, and the unbreakable bonds of family—particularly those between mothers, daughters, and sisters.

Ten years ago, Nora Glass started writing essays about being a single mother of a six-year-old daughter. Her weekly column made her a household name, and over the years, her fans have watched Ellie grow from a toddler to a teenager.

But now Nora is facing a problem that can’t be overcome. Diagnosed with a devastating disease that will eventually take away who she is, she is scared for herself, but even more frightened about what this will mean for her sixteen-year-old daughter.

Nora has no choice but to let go of her hard-won image as a competent, self-assured woman, and turn to the one person who has always relied on her: her twin sister, Mariana. Nora and Mariana couldn’t be more different from one another, and they’ve always had a complicated relationship. But now the two sisters will have to summon the strength to help them all get through a future none of them could have ever imagined, while uncovering the joy and beauty that was always underneath.

Conversation Guide Included

Praise for Rachael Herron’s work:

“A celebration of the power of love to heal even the most broken of hearts.”
-NYT Bestselling Author Susan Wiggs

“A superlative architect of story, Herron never steers away from wrenching events, and yet even moments of deepest despair are laced with threads of hope.”
– Sophie Littlefield, author of A Bad Day for Sorry

“Herron’s beautifully rendered novel boldly shows us people at their lowest and then makes us fall in love with them.”
–Cari Luna, author of The Revolution of Every Day

“The novel is remarkable in its poignancy and style….Herron writes beautifully about the love between a parent and child…Pack Up the Moon is a wonderful weekend read about love, loss, forgiveness and family that leaves readers feeling grateful for their dear ones–and reaching for the tissues.”
-The Gazette

“A touching, emotional story based around really realistic characters who people can completely relate to….It’s beautiful and haunting and it’s perfect.”
-Sunshine and Mountains Book Reviews

“An emotional rollercoaster….If you are in need of a heartfelt, highly emotional story, then look no further!“
-Dwell in Possibility

“It’s almost impossible to put down; Herron weaves such a poignant story, you find yourself caught up in the characters’ lives and are just simply drawn to their hopes, dreams, sorrows, and secrets…I can’t recommend it highly enough.”
-Minding Spot

January: 

We went to New Orleans! We saw the dog parade! We had SO MUCH FUN.

I sewed a lot of dresses because I wasn't feeling the knitting mojo much. I wrote. I think–if I'm not wrong–I was working on Cypress Hollow #5, FIONA'S FLAME, which will be coming out in October(ish). I really like that one. I'd been trying to write Fiona's story forEVER. 

February: 

Got bronchitis! Fun times. Worked too much. 

March: 

I went to Italy with my little sister. HOW LUCKY AM I? 

And I'll say it again: traveling with the kiddo is like traveling by myself only with someone interesting to talk to. It's pretty perfect. (Want to go here? Nah. Want to go there? Sure! See you later? Okay! Wine? Hell, yes!)

I was in my favorite city, Venice. I miss it right NOW.

Isn't that photo ridiculous? Like a painting! From an iPhone 4! We live in the future, people. I say it every day, but it's true.

April: 

We built a kitchen island from my old Formica table and salvaged kitchen cabinets.

 Yes, we still feel very clever for this. 

I wrote a lot, judging by my calendar. I also worked a lot (too much) and volunteered quite a bit. Not much time in there for much else. THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IN 2014, PEOPLE. 

May: 

Penguin bought PACK UP THE MOON! 

I'm still over it. The moon, that is, not the book. (I love this early review I got from Larissa Brown, whose own gorgeous book I'm totally going to pimp at you soon because it is AMAZING. Viking time travel love story. You will love it.)

Bookbookbookbook. So soon now! 

And my marvelous and sweet agent sent me these earrings for Christmas. All packed up in a box. *sigh of delight*

June: 

We celebrated Lala's birthday in Mendocino. Lots of baths, eating, drinking, drawing, knitting, and sleeping. Pretty much perfect. 

Prop 8/DOMA! We were still married! 

 

July:

 RWA in Atlanta, dressed by Modcloth most of the month. My favorite dress of the year: 

 And I tried to make a lot of time for this: 

but honestly, for most of July, I worked too much.

August: 

I got a Vitamix!! 

 Life changing, y'all. I use it up to three times a day, not only to blend green smoothies but to chop onions, make soup, etc. 

Also in August, I realized why I couldn't eat much more than green smoothies. My gallbladder threw a fit and had to be taken out, and I spent three nights in the hospital. Here's to never having to dispatch my own ambulance to myself ever again! Or ever having to take off my clothes at work so coworkers can hook a 12-lead heart monitor to my chest! 

Up side: lots of time while recovering for this: 

September: 

This was the year Lala fell in love with opera. I think our favorite was The Barber of Seville. I don't love opera, but I do like it. Also, we get to dress up, so bring it. 

There was some knitting while I was recovering, too. 

Juliet Blackwell and Sophie Littlefield.

My favorite writing cafe closed, but I discovered that I LOVE writing at Mills College, where I got my MFA. 

There is something thrilling about getting PAID to write at the tea shop where I paid so much money to get that degree. I also love with an unreasonable passion my alumna parking sticker. 

October: 

Cora's Heart came out, the fourth in the Cypress Hollow series. YAY! 

November: 

Lost Digit.

Still don't really want to talk about it. But you know what? Remember when he came back from the dead and I said he needed a CalTrans vest to safely cross freeways? My friend Tash made him one. 

Right? Right. 

Also: NaNo! The most fun one in a number of years. 

Also: Boise for Thanksgiving, to the in-laws! We had a GREAT time there (we always do) and spent time with the neph. Good looks run in the family: 

December: 

Really, December was about working a HELL of a lot at both jobs and knitting a HELL of a lot. 

2014: May we all rest as comfortably as Clementine does on her chair:

Last year's word was NOW. I learned about meditation and sitting in one spot. I learned how to lie down and sink into the bed, turning my brain off. That was good, and needed. 

2014's word? REST. I think I proved to myself and everyone around me this year that working too hard just lands you in the hospital. I'm bad at balance, though, always have been. I work hard and then I rest hard. I'd like this year to bring more regular, planned rest. Fun rest. Chosen rest. Not enforced recovery. 

What about you? What's your chosen word or theme this coming year? 

Thanks, friends. I'm so glad and thankful for YOU.