The work week is done. The New Year's Eve plans are in place. I have Monday and Friday of next week off. Yup, at this moment, all is well in the world.
Not much left to say except HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Oh and check out this really cool website that was featured on the Today Show. You can design your own chicklitty stationary. Very fun! I'm a sucker for customization so this is right up my alley.
Marianne
Ooh, ooh! How excited am I?
I just found out SK8ER BOY was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award as Best YA book of 2005. w00t! The Christmas presents just keep on coming! Of course, the competition is fierce, but what is it they say? It's an honor just to be nominated! :) Plus with this award, you don't have to physically enter - so every teen book reviewed in the magazine over the past year was eligible. To think my book stood out amongst so many good books - well, that's just unbelievably cool.
It's also especially satisfying because RWA cancelled the YA category of the RITAs.
Anyway - check out the entire list of nominees! Some very familiar faces among the finalists. So YAY to all my friends and fellow writers who made the cut. I'll be cheering you on at the RT convention.
Marianne
My darling, wonderful, brilliant editor at Berkley, Kate Seaver, has given me the best Christmas present! Yesterday she made an offer on book 3 of my YA vampire series!! Yay! As you probably know, books 1 & 2 are coming out in 2006. BOYS THAT BITE is out in April and STAKE THAT! is out in December. Now in 2007 we'll have book 3 - GIRLS THAT GROWL.
I'm so very excited because I love writing this series.
Happy Holidays everyone!!
Marianne
Day 2 of the NY Transit strike. I thought of you all as I walked my 10 minute walk to work. It was so cold out. I couldn't imagine all you people who had to walk 5 miles or 300 blocks. Felt so bad.
Then I found out the Yankees stole away Johnny Damon and my sympathy diminished somewhat...
In other news, I scored a copy of Serenity on DVD! Yay. As you know I've been dying to see the movie since by the time I watched all of the episodes of Firefly, the movie was no longer in the theater. The DVD has 20 minutes of deleted scenes too! Can't wait to pop it in - so much for the idea of going to the gym tonight.
Oh - I got this wonderful gift in the mail - a $50 gift certificate to an Italian restaurant called Mama Maria. Problem is, the giver's name was not on the certificate, so I have no idea who it's from! If you gave it to me, please fess up so I can send you a thank you note and think of you while eating my chicken marsala. :) Anyway - whoever you are - thanks! Will be well enjoyed. :)
Okay that's all I've got. I think I'm crashing from my sugar rush. So many holiday treats around the newsroom this time of year!!
Marianne
I don't know about all of you (maybe it's just the news junkie in me), but I am fascinated by the NYC transit strike. The fact that one group of people can get together and shut down one of the world's largest cities just like that is mindboggling. I feel bad for all the regular Joes caught in the crossfire of union negotations. The ones who can't get to work. Or can't get to the airport to go home for the holidays. It's a lousy time a year for this to happen. I hope everything gets worked out soon. :( Hang in there New York!
In other news, I cannot believe Christmas is on Sunday. I feel so unprepared. I know there used to be a day, when I was a kid, where it seemed Christmas would never come. I waited and waited and waited. Now it seems like just yesterday was 4th of July! How did it come so quickly? Anyway, I'm going to go to the Boston Pops concert on Thursday night and then Friday we have a holiday party in the North End. Saturday and Sunday I'll spend at my dad's, celebrating the holiday. Then go snowboarding on Monday. So it's going to be a busy weekend.
However, New Years may be quieter. Activity Director Mary has been slacking on her duties. As of today there is still no NYE plan in place!! We're going to end up at Denny's or something!! Actually, saying Mary is slacking is overstating things. We're all trying to find a place to go - but nothing sounds remotely interesting. Every place is either 1) too expensive. 2) too far (you can't get a cab on NYE to save your life in Boston) or 3) too stupid and lame.
Sigh.
Marianne
I'm very sad today because last night my family dog (who we got when I was a teen and lived with my dad) got hit by a car and was killed. :( We had him for almost 13 years and so of course we were all very attached to the little guy. He was so cute and friendly - loved every person and dog he ever met. We called him The Ambassador cause everytime we took him on walks, he had to run up and meet everyone. His name was Aladdin (after the Disney cartoon.) But everyone called him Al the Pal.
The only thing I can say is at least he didn't suffer. Still, I will miss him very much. It's like I never got a chance to say goodbye. To hug him one last time. It's very sad and my whole family is pretty torn up about it.
That's the one thing I don't like about dogs - they die too early. I'd like it if they lived the same lifespan as people so that you could have one dog your whole life. My own dog, Molly, is going to be 10 years old in May. I hate to think of her as a senior citizen. She's been with me through so much over the last nine years. Through different states, homes, jobs, boyfriends, etc. she's always been there. I can't imagine a day when she's not by my side.
Anyway - RIP Al. You were a very loved dog. We will miss you.
Hey all,
Thanks for the congrats on finishing the book! It is such a relief! I took the weekend off and started the next book today. It's the sequel to Boys that Bite "Stake That!" and is going to be a LOT of fun to write, I can tell already. I love the main character, Rayne. She's a total bad girl. Uninhibited and cool in a goth kind of way. The kind of girl I always wished I was in high school. In reality I'm way more like her twin Sunny, the star of the first book.
I got to see my friends Ali and Bobby from Florida this past weekend. It was sooo much fun to hang out with them. I really wish they lived closer. (I used to live in Orlando for a short time which is where I met them.) Of course, I "see" them all the time - virtually that is. We all play World of Warcraft together every night. But it's rare we get to see eachother irl (in real life). Anyway - the three of us had an absolute blast running around and getting lost in NYC, but when the weekend ended I was pretty bummed because then I had to say goodbye. :( I really hate the fact that some of my favorite people in the world don't live geographically near me. Thank goodness for videogames.
It's Friday, but I have to work tomorrow. Got to produce some holiday stories for channel 7. Booo!! But Sat night I have a Christmas party to go to over my friend Lisa's house. She had a party last year too and it was really nice, so I'm looking forward to it, even though as a rule I am an antisocial kind of girl who hates parties.
It's like a blizzard here today. I was going to hit the gym after work, but I might just hole up in my house instead.
Mar
Horray! My book is done! Cheer! Rejoice! Sing!
"WHAT, NO ROSES" was originially due September 1st. Then October 31st. Then Thanksgiving Day.
Did I mention how awesome and understanding my editor is? Of course I had to promise him on pain of death that I wouldn't take on any more romantic comedies during summers my house burns down. :P
There were times, I must admit, that I was tempted to buy back my contract and give up. I really thought I'd never be able to write again. That the book would be horrible if I could finish it at all, which I doubted.
But I rallied. I got back in the groove. And I actually LOVE the book now. (especially now that it's DONE!) I'm proud of it and I think people will enjoy reading it! Horray!! Cross your fingers my editor likes it, too.
Time to go celebrate! Go out on the town! Drink champagne! Eat bon bons!
Oh wait. STAKE THAT is due February 15th. :S I've got to get to work!
But maybe I'll take one tiny weekend to celebrate...
Mar
