Keanu Reeves and me

Remember how just recently I was in LA for the SCBWI annual summer meeting? And I met Editor Wendy for the very first time and we went out for a delicious sushi dinner in a teeny tiny restaurant?

Well, apparently, I sat within SPITTING DISTANCE and actually FACING Keanu Reeves for the ENTIRE dinner which lasted at least a couple of hours AND I DIDN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE HIM! Sigh. How could this be? I even saw the Matrix twice. Plus, when you dine out in Hollywood, you're supposed to be on the lookout for celebs. How did I miss him?

After a couple of days of hanging my unobservant, inattentive head in shame, I decided to take action.

I contacted my very good friend Maureen McGowan. Maureen knows anything and everything about movies and directors and producers and actors, etc. She writes a mean film review. She even attends the Toronto International Film Festival every year without fail. If anyone knows how I can sharpen my star-spotting skills (obviously I need no help with alliteration), it's Maureen.

Guess what Maureen admitted? One year, at the film festival, she walked right past Keanu. He was close enough that she could've reached out and pinched him. But she just didn't see him.

Ahhh. The mystery is solved. It's not me. It's Keanu. There's something elusive and slippery about the guy. Probably we could be the only two people sharing an elevator, and I would still look through him.

Actually, it's too bad he didn't spot me at the sushi restaurant. According to an eye-witness, Keanu was very quiet during his meal and did not even talk to the woman he was with.

He could've taken a step and a half and joined our table. Editor Wendy is tres entertaining and no slouch when it comes to lively conversation.

Plus, Keanu and I have quite a bit in common. We both grew up in Toronto. He was a goalie for his high school hockey team. I took skating lessons. He was a manager at a pasta restaurant. I've eaten my fair share of pasta. Obviously, we both like sushi. Come to think of it, there are many moments when our paths could've crossed.

And whose to say they didn't...

Live from Hollywood....

Hello from HOLLYWOOD!!! I'm up here for the SCBWI national summer conference.


Guess what I did for the very first time ever?

I MET EDITOR WENDY!!!

Wendy is the cute one on the left. I'm the flat-haired one on the right. My camera is still messing up. Really, we have beautiful skin, not all mottled and reptilian, as this photo would suggest!

We went out for a fabulous sushi dinner. If you look closely, you can see Editor Wendy's hand in the left corner of this photo. She does not have liver spots. My camera is so toast!



Okay. A few notes from the day (only a few because there's a party that just began, and I don't want to be too late):

Sherman Alexie, author of the National-Book-Award winning, young-adult The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (AMAZING book which I read aloud with Child #3): FANTASTIC speaker. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. He talked about his past as a reservation Indian kid, how his book has affected others, etc.

I attended a session on setting. The session was led by the one-and-only, multi-award-winning, incredibly talented Richard Peck (think A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder and many more books). The session was great. Really made me think with gems of writing wisdom like: "The setting is the exterior landscape of our characters' lives" and "The first page of your page is the table of contents." I also loved this quotation from Kurt Vonnegut: "Start your story as near the end as you can get."

I picked up hints about surviving school visits from the prolific and well-loved Betty Birney (think Humphyrey the hamster books and the The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs plus several other books). The hints were practical and down to earth and just what the doctor ordered.

And I met fellow blogger SOLVANG SHERRIE!! She's as delightful in real life as she is in cyberspace!

Thank you Cindy Pon, author of the young-adult The Silver Phoenix, for letting me catch a ride with you. I will not mention that we were so busy chatting (well, Cindy was chatting; you know from this blog that I'm a very quiet person. Ha!!!) that we missed the 405 cutoff and ended up doing a U-turn way north of here in some scary deserted gangish-like area. I was practically scared for my life. However, we did make arrive safe and sound. Phew. Oops. Sorry. I did mention it.

Below is a last photo with Editor Wendy. I still can't believe we finally met. And she truly is marvelous! And I truly am lucky.

This is Editor Wendy with two of her writers. On the left: Georgia Bragg of the newly-released middle-grade Matisse on the Loose. On the right: me, still with flat hair

And about the upcoming My Town Monday: Wendy and I took off this morning and did a little Hollywood/LA exploring. And therein lies the MTM post... Check back. Oooooh.

Off to the party downstairs. Bye.

p.s. If you write picture books, middle grade or young adult, you must must must come next year. We'll hang out; you'll learn tons, very all win-win.

odds and ends ( all good)

HUGE quadratic-formula-like congratulations to Child #3 who just finished GRADE 7. And who, a couple of weeks ago, took the high school district math test for entrance into HIGH SCHOOL HONORS GEOMETRY.

HE PASSED! So, next fall, he'll start his school day in 9th grade honors math, then return to middle school for the rest of his classes.

This is proof positive that dh's brilliant math genes totally dominated my very sorry math genes. Probably at the embryonic stage. Because all my children are better at math than their mother. Which leads me to believe that my math gene is BLANK!

Anyway, seeing your child succeed where you would've failed is...I'm not sure how to describe it, but it's an incredible, floaty feeling.




One of my sisters and her three girls are coming down this summer. My sister is fun and sensitive and interesting. Someone you want as a your BFF. And she'll be under my roof for close to two weeks. I CAN'T WAIT! I've already started stockpiling meals in my freezer so we'll have lots of time to play and still be able to feed our kids. Thank you Southwest for the great deals from Buffalo to San Diego.






Today I rewrote the first paragraph of I So Don't Do Makeup. (Waves to Editor Wendy who may or may not have been expecting this!) I read aloud the revamped paragraph to Child #2 who paused after I'd finished, then said, "Oh, that's good."

Yes, I raised his allowance.

Oh, and you know that the nanosecond I have a cover for Makeup, it's up here on the blog. The nanosecond.

So, you're all having a good summer so far, right?

Feel Good Post

Last Saturday, the stars aligned (translation: the water polo schedule aligned/lightened up) and I made it to my local RWA (Romance Writers of America) meeting. I rarely rarely rarely (you get my drift) get to attend in the fall. Too many water polo games. Too many swim meets.

So....it was quite a treat when I found myself zooming up I15, NPR blaring in my ears.

The morning speaker was Barbara Samuel, who writes romance, historical romance and women's fiction. She's written about 25 books. Not to be sneezed at.

Anyhoo, Barbara was at our meeting to talk about voice and finding your voice. Very interesting and useful. She had us do several quick writing exercises. Such as, writing for two minutes about when you were seven years old and writing to a magazine picture.

In general, I don't quick writing. I just don't. Why? No time. When I sit down to write, it has to count. That's why I outline. So I don't waste a bunch of time writing stuff that I end up deleting.

But, I really had a good old time with the prompts. Even came up with a couple of scenes that I think'll work into book #3.

I especially enjoyed the exercise where we jotted down 10 things that make you happy. According to Barbara, you can't make one of these lists and stay grumpy. I'm going to test that theory one of these days.

Here's a few items from my top ten things-that-make-me-happy list (in no particular order):

1. licorice, both black and red
2. Child #3 butterflying for all he's worth in a swim meet
3. the book cover for I So Don't Do Mysteries
4. Child #1 hitting computer keys like a madman to demo loud, melody-less punk music for me
5. when my friend, L, answers the phone on the first ring
6. Child #4, when she's decorating the house for a holiday
7. a good crop of homegrown tomatoes in my earthbox
7. Child #2, in a good mood, all silly and goofy and joking around
8. my hair right after I've been to Jamie the Magical Hairdresser
9. DH doing home improvements
10. when Editor Wendy talks about my characters like they're real people (Eg. "Don't you think Sherry's wearing too much makeup?")
11. Hanging with the sisters
12. TORONTO--even the slushy springtime

So, what would be on your Top Ten List of Things that Make You Happy? Tell us even a couple of the items.


p.s. If you have a moment, click over to From Skilled Hands where Debra talks about Cups of Kindness, a group of artists in Ohio who are helping their regional foodbank.

My Town Monday + Bye Book #2 + Birthday Wishes!

Guess what?

I SO DON'T DO SPOOKY has left my house!!

Yes, Book #2 has wended its merry way through cyberspace to Editor Wendy at Delacorte Press/Random House. A little advice to Book #2: put your best foot (page?) forward, make your mother proud, come home to visit.

Child #4 was beyond thrilled to see me push the "send" button because now her mother will definitely be bar-b-cueing at tomorrow's 2nd grade picnic. Such joy for both of us. I am thinking of grilling something a little experimental for the classmates. Never fear, I will do the regular hot dogs and whatever else I'm handed. But...I did see an interesting recipe for grilled bananas...

But that is tomorrow and today is today. And today is My Town Monday!


Now, doesn't this sound uber fun? We rent a kayak (that seats one or two or three people). These are kayaks designed for your everyday blogger. Which means we can all do this, not just those of us who are athletic. We kayak into sea caves nestled in 75 million year old sandstone cliffs. There are 7 sea caves facing north from La Jolla Shores. Six of them are only accessible by kayak. We will get wet. We might lose our glasses. We will wear ugly helmets. We will get some excellent pics if we bring a waterproof camera. We might see leopard sharks. We might see seals and sea lions and dolphins. And who knows what else.

Tours of the 7 caves last about two hours. And cost about $45 if you want a kayak to yourself, $75 if you share with a friend, $105 if you share with two friends. I will not share with Travis or Patti-o as I would be laughing far too hard to pull my weight paddling. At which point, Travis and Patti would no doubt toss me overboard.


Here's a photo of Sunny Jim's Cave, (named by Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz) which is accessible by land.

It's wise to reserve your spot. There are at least a couple of different companies who offer sea cave tours:
http://www.sandiegobikeandkayaktours.com/
http://www.lajollaseacavekayaks.com/caves.php

You can save money by just renting the kayak and not doing the tours. But, for me, I'd end up lost for seven years in one of the seven caves. So, at least for my first sea cave foray, I'm going with a guide.

My Town Monday comes to us via Travis Erwin. Thanks, Travis! Click on his site to read his post about the Texas panhandle. AND to find links to the other participants.

Oh,oh, oh! I just got an email from a little bird who informed me that today is my former English teacher's 67th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR. MAGEE!

Missing in Action

Sorry to be so missing in action...

BUT I HAVE A DEADLINE NEXT WEEK!

Yes, the revisions for book #2, I So Don't Do Spooky, are due. Editor Wendy wrote a lovely revision letter, full of really wonderful solid suggestions. I'm very lucky in that I have the best editor who writes the best letters. I'm sure there are other authors out there who feel their editors write the best revision letters. Sadly, they're mistaken.

A little housekeeping before I get back to the grind...












Last week, I got together by the Giant Dipper roller coaster (Yes, I did a My Town Monday post about it) here in San Diego with fellow 2k8er Nancy Viau, debut middle grade author of Samantha Hansen Has Rocks in Her Head. We went for a l-o-n-g walk on the beach. I mention this last detail to explain my frizzy hair. Then we stopped for drinks at a somewhat seedy place in PB (Pacific Beach). We had planned to meet and chat for an hour or two, but ended up talking for FOUR AND A HALF HOURS. Nancy did most of the talking. Okay, so that's not even close to true. We both talked so much that we barely even breathed. It was loads of fun (and a little scary) discovering just how much we have in common.



It's debut author, Teri Brown's launch week on the Class of 2k8's blog. Her YA novel, Read My Lips, is on shelves now. I'm going to ask Teri if she'd like to be interviewed by Kelly Couric and do a book giveaway on this blog. And, really, now that I've published this post, how can she say no? :)

I owe ARCs to Larramie and Angela and a gag gift to Brian. I haven't forgotten. I just haven't gotten to the post office yet. And I haven't figured out anything heinous enough for Brian. But I will get it all taken care of; I promise.

My high school English teacher did a book review for us, and I'll get it up on the blog after my deadline.

Not sure what made me realize today that I never posted about meeting Agent Rachel Vater in Phoenix. I better get on that.

Okay. My break time is over. Very nice spending it with my bloggy friends. I probably won't be able to play until next week. So, now you know not to worry about me. I'm not sick. I'm not hurt. I'm not off galavanting.

I'M JUST IN REVISIONS!

Book #2 is ....

done. And turned in.

Yay!

I have to say, though, clicking on that button to send her to off to meet her editor was tough. It took me about an hour to actually press down.

Like watching your child walk into the classroom on the first day of kindergarten.

Anyway, the manuscript really is gone. Temporarily. She's spending time with the very loving and capable Editor Wendy. After that, there'll be a revision letter. And then she'll come back home and we'll hang out again together until about August.

And what did I do on this first day of empty nest syndrome?

I had a very very excellent cup of Typhoo tea (thanks to one of my sisters). And settled in to begin reading the following books:

The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman
A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz
A Thousand Sons by Khaled Hosseini

Tomorrow, I'll catch up on my blog reading, meet a good friend for coffee and take a much deserved nap.

An aside: There's an interesting post up today on the class of 2k8's blog about MP Barker's characters for A Difficult Boy.