In an effort to actually blog at all, I’m changing the format of the blog to focus on, well, nothing. And by nothing, I mean me and my life and more general things like what I’m doing and looking forward to in the writing world.
Yesterday was the release day for my friend Megan Mayhew Bergman’s short story collection Birds of a Lesser Paradise, which has been getting RAVE reviews. I can’t wait to read it, and hope you will run out NOW and get your copy!
I’m currently reading and enjoying Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone. His amazing descriptions of the Ethiopian landscape are making me really want to travel there. I’m kind of a travel junkie, and when I can’t actually get somewhere, it’s almost as nice to travel there in a book:)
It’s less than a month until the release of The Storm! I am so excited to finally launch Shep and Callie and all the other dogs into the world. Look for it in bookstores everywhere on April 1st! If you’ve already read it, check out my tumblr blog to learn more about the books and pick up some behind-the-words trivia, like what does the real Daisy look like and what city are the dogs actually in (they’re in Miami:)!
In writing news, I finished the first draft of the second book in the No Safety in Numbers trilogy. Now I’m taking a break from the manuscript before diving into the revision process. I’m the kind of writer who really gets into revision (is there a kind of writer who doesn’t?:). I revise A LOT. I use charts, mind maps, notes, outlines, storyboards–you name it, I’ve probably done it! Drawn pictures of the characters to really get into their heads? Check. Figured out which celebrity would play them in a movie? Been there, done that. Found the exact song for the exact emotion I’m trying to get at? Yeppers. And this is all in addition to marking the heck out of the text.
I can’t wait for this weekend’s release of John Carter. I’m a huge fan of Andrew Stanton, the director of both this and my favorite Pixar movie, Wall-E, and of Michael Chabon, who wrote (at least a version of) the screenplay. I expect awesomeness.
Until next blog, adieu!
