Book Launch Party News

The party on Saturday was wonderful! We had over 30 people attending (thank you to everyone who came all the way out to Round Lake to support me and the book!). As usual, I was not exactly ready with everything on time, so my parents, my brother, my sister and my friends Paula and Stacy arrived early to pitch in. We had way too much food, which is now residing in my refrigerator at home, but I think everyone had enough to eat. I was worried because we are sort of far away from everything -- not like someone could run to the store for more food if we needed it, at least now without being gone for 45 minutes, minimum. So I may have overcompensated a little. : )

The day was a little cold and rainy, but that worked out to our advantage. On Friday, I stopped by the clubhouse just to make sure we were all set with everything and I found out that there was a small problem with our set up. The clubhouse is in front of the pool. I was told originally that outside people seeking to use the pool during a private party would be allowed in through the side door, which would prevent them from walking through the middle of the party. Not the case, said the person I talked to on Friday. I needed special permission for that. Otherwise, outside people would be strolling through the middle of the party to use the bathroom, get to the pool, be nosey, etc. Now, I know it doesn't sound like a big deal. But I didn't want random people coming in and taking advantage of the free food and drink thing, especially if that ended up depriving any of the invited guests. Plus, I'd thought of this problem from the beginning and made a special point to check with someone before I signed up. Unfortunately, I was "misinformed." And by the time I discovered this, it was after 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. No one around to fix it.

Have you ever heard the term "bridezilla?" It's when a bride goes completely nutso because one of the details that she's slaved over for months has gone askew? I was on the verge of having a "bridezilla" moment. I'm not proud of it, but there you go. Fortunately, the receptionist at the association sensed my impending rampage (which I was holding in check...barely) and got the president of the association on the phone. He was extremely gracious and accommodating, for which I was very grateful. Disaster averted...bridezilla has been caged once more. And as I said, it turned out to be cool and rainy, so there weren't really many people looking to take a dip in the pool anyway.

We also made a good start on book sales -- 58 sold during the party alone! I could go on describing the whole day, but maybe it would be easiest and most fun to show you...




This is the Barnes side of the family with Greg and me. My parents, my "little" sister and my "little" brother. Note that my siblings both appear taller than I am -- this is an illusion. : )





My mother-in-law, helping with the food arrangement and preparations. Thanks, Sue! The yellow flowers in the middle of the table are from my parents -- thanks, Mom and Dad!





One of the things I liked best about this place was that it reminded me of a setting in the book, a hunting lodge in the North Woods (Wisconsin). The antler chandelier only furthered this impression. However, I think in Wisconsin, they are usually real antlers.






My dad, schmoozing (is that how you spell that?) with the guests, two (and a half!) friends from college. Jill on the left and Debbie (and her baby on the way) on the right.




My mom with my Uncle Richard, my Aunt Carol Ann (my mom's sister) and my Grandma. They all traveled a long way to be there on Saturday -- which I really appreciated!







Okay, so not the most flattering picture of us...but not too bad!



And finally...



Me, signing my very first book! Several people have said that I looked so calm while doing this. My response is that they weren't sitting close enough to hear me spelling everything out loud under my breath. I was terrified I'd mess up someone's name or my own! Also, note the beautiful flowers on the table, a gift from Ed and Deb -- thanks, guys!

More pictures to come, if you're interested. These happen to be from my brother (which is why there's a member of my family in every single one of them : ) ) who was acting as one of the official photographers that day -- thanks, Michael! By the way, I realize that I'm posting pictures of family and friends here as well -- if any of you are uncomfortable with your photos being on here, please let me know and I will take them down immediately : )

Talk to you tomorrow!

Check this out...

This woman is being called the French equivalent of Scott Adams, Dilbert's creator. The article gives a few of her "tips" for surviving a corporate environment. Sounds like Corporate America and Corporate France aren't as different as one would think....

Running, running, running fast...

I'm preparing to leave work to go home and give the house a good cleaning. I also have to get a few food items prepared in advance as well.

However, I'm still hoping to catch the new episode of SG-1 tonight. They seem to be showing that the gate is finally revealed to the human public at large, which should be very interesting. Course, I'm watching because I firmly believe that once the gate is revealed, they'll shut down the program or it will be handed over to some civilian watchdog committee and Jack and Sam (as in Samantha, not Samuel--just realized how that could have been read. That definitely would change the show! *grin*) will be free to be together. Right now, he is her commanding officer so a relationship is kind of a big no-no. But the two of them are near the top of my list of most romantic, unresolved-sexual-tension couples. I know that looks like I'm stringing words together to create that description, but you get what I'm saying, right? So, my vote, in case the writers of the show are reading this blog (as I'm sure they must be!), please figure out a way for Sam and Jack to be together. And dump Pete. Yeah, I know, Mr. Director (Peter DeLuise), that the actor who plays Pete, Sam's fiance, is your brother David DeLuise. But nepotism should only go so far, you know what I'm saying? : )

Also, giant, giant thank you to Stacy G. who fulfilled her obligations stunningly once more as the one who answers all my desperate and pleading phone calls about writing. Yesterday, I lamented about a logic problem I'd encountered. But in talking with her about it in very obscure terms ("well, let's say that this problem is like the one in Star Wars when Luke does xyz, but it's different because instead of Han Solo, you have..."), she helped me with the logic problem. I couldn't tell her much because I didn't want to spoil the whole story for her when she hasn't even gotten the manuscript yet (and selfishly, I want her perspective to be untainted by my rambling worries). But nonetheless, she managed to help me anyway. Now, I think it's fixed or darn close to it. So, I feel much better now. I think. : ) There's never a definitive feeling with writing. Except when you're done. Then it's all about the worrying that you could have done better!

Anyway, I'm already late for cleaning. Have a wonderful weekend. Thanks to everyone who's planning to come tomorrow to the Book Launch Party -- it means so much to me that you will be there! For everyone who's too far away to come, I will post full details and pictures (hopefully) next week.

Oh, yeah, one more thing. Check out my friend Heather's blog for an interesting article about tricks-of-the-trade for various professions. Including one trick of the trade that I've actually used at my day job. : )

Talk to you on Monday!

*Yawn*

How many people yawned when they read the word in the title? I know I'm fighting it at the moment. And no, that's no an indication of the interest level for this blog entry! : ) Instead, it's just an awkward segue (or segway, if you have about three thousand dollars! Bonus points to anyone who gets that wacky reference. I'm guessing Ed will.) into this...

I'm stressed. When I'm stressed, I get sleepy. I know this seems like a very contradictory reaction, but I can't help it. I start shutting down earlier and earlier. In the month or so before I got married, due to the stress of all the preparations, I was falling asleep at 8:00 at night and I'm a night person!!! And no matter how much sleep I get, it doesn't help. I'm still tired. And I'm eating bad stuff like it's going out of style (does food ever go out of style? It occurs to me that this cliche is not limitless in its uses). I mean seriously, my calorie intake -- and I'm not one who watches these kinds of things all that closely -- has skyrocketed in the last few days. If there were mosquitos out still and they chose to bite me, they'd probably get a sugar high.

Oh, well. I keep hoping things will calm down a little. I have the book party this weekend -- yea! I'm so glad that people are coming. But a lot of work still remains to be done. My husband and I are definitely last minute preparation people. We work well under deadline. Not happily, but well.

Also, in working my free of the stuck point in my latest project, I've encountered a logic problem. It's nothing that can't be fixed, I don't think. But I don't know how to fix it. The funny thing is that it's not something that will ever appear in this story or any of the others related to this one (as far as I know), but it's a problem if someone stops to think about it. And I believe in playing by the rules. You make the rules as the author, you have to play by them to be fair to the people who read your stuff. No bending the rules. That's why all that dream sequence crap you see on television usually bugs me. It gets you all curious about how things could change so dramatically and then they pull out the old dream sequence. It's like someone offering you a bite of some strange and delicious dessert and then swapping it out with an empty fork. So all you get is the stupid empty fork instead of the new intriguing dessert. Okay, not a perfect analogy and can you tell that I'm obssessing about food? I may also have a slight sugar rush happening too.

But I'm so close right now to this logic problem that I'm not sure I'll be able to come up with a working solution on my own. I've promised myself that I will make myself work on it for at least a week before I ask for outside help (beware, some of you, this means a frazzled and sugar happy writer-friend may be calling you, incoherent and asking for assistance). Sometimes, it just requires time for me to sort of munch on it (oh my goodness, another food analogy, I'm going to weigh 500 pounds before this is all resolved!) and work it through until it makes sense. On the up side, I think I know what happens in the story. The stuck place is now pretty much gone away, except now I have this logic problem taking its place. In fact, the more I think about it,the more I think that the logic problem is likely what triggered the stuck place. Often the characters realize something is wrong and refuse to cooperate before I realize there's a problem. But I just want to finish!!!! I'm so close to the end of this project, at least this draft. I just want to be done! Not that I don't love the project, but being this close to the end and not being able to move forward is painful to me. Like when a sneeze gets stuck. You can feel the sneeze wants to happen, your eyes are watering...but the darn thing just won't go!

*(&*(%^$^%#$^%$^#$^%$#^%#%!!!!!!!!

Whew, I feel better. A friend of mine, Paula, taught me about comic book swearing. It works well. And offends no one...unless you happen to speak comic. : )

Okay, with that silly sentence, I think I'm done here. One last thing...that Meg Cabot is a funny one. Check out today's entry as well...http://www.megcabot.com. As usual, click on her diary link.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Random Monday Stuff...

Just a forewarning, blog entries will probably be short this week. My house is a mess, I don't have the shopping done and I have 34 people coming over on Saturday : ) Yep, it's typical last minute panic time at our house. So here are a few notes on what's going on:

• The book launch party is this weekend. I have most of the prizes for the raffle and I've ordered the party platters. But there are some things that I need to make.

• On a positive note, I've been leaving a stack of bookmarks in the convenience store at work and people seem to be taking them. I've replaced the stack twice now. So, I'm hoping that means the books the store orders will sell quickly!

• I've been trying to think of a standard "line" with which to sign my books. Obviously for people I know, I'll put something personal, relating to them. But I'm thinking for the other books that I sign (okay, my stomach just did a nervous flippy thing at the very idea of signing books!), I should maybe have some kind of standard saying or line. Like, "To X, Happy reading" or something. any suggestions on this? I need help. Please let me know what you think! Email me at sklemstein@msn.com or post a comment below.

• For anyone interested in the status of Bitter Pill, I had just short of a three hour phone call yesterday with one of my dear friends and first readers, Becky. Beck gave me all kinds of good suggestions for making the story a little longer (which is needed, I think) and many corrections that need to be made. (Thank you, Becky!!!! I appreciate the help!) So, once I'm finished with my current project, I'll begin making those fixes and hopefully will get that out the door for consideration soon.

• And finally, one ginormous thank you to Ed for pulling my butt out of the technological fire this weekend. Right now, I'm using my husband's computer to access the internet (mine was recently tinkered with -- but who did the tinkering, I ask you? -- and no longer works properly). This weekend it appeared that I'd made my husband's computer crash. That awful blue screen that says "beginning physical dump of memory" appeared. It wasn't good. Husband was not happy. But Ed to the rescue! He fixed it and all is right with the world once more. So, thank you again, Edward! Have I mentioned that I'd be using an abacus and chipping away at stone tablets without you? : )

Okay, that's it for today. Although, one more thing. Meg Cabot has a funny entry today for all you cat people out there. She has a cat with one eye who is quite ferocious apparently. It seems that Henrietta, said cat, took over Meg's blog for the day. It's a very cute entry. You can check it out here: www.megcabot.com Then just click on the link for her diary. I would try to give you an exact link but once again, that involves opening another window without losing this blog entry and I don't have that kind of luck. And I really don't think Ed wants yet another phone call from me this week!

Talk to you tomorrow.

"Merchandising, Merchandising..."*

Just found out that you can now buy t-shirts, coffee mugs and mousepads with The Silver Spoon diner logo on them. Thanks to Sherrie for working on this! I love this design because it looks like these are items you could buy in the diner itself, at least until it meets its unfortunate fate at the end of Chapter 1. Which is hinted at in the somewhat inside joke of a tagline "It's a blast."

*Huge bonus points to you if you can figure out what movie the title of this blog comes from...
------------
I'm having one of those days where everything feels way too overwhelming. All the sites I've been looking at for book promotion list all these things to do that I probably should have been doing a long time ago (i.e. contacting reviewers months in advance -- though I did do this, sending out press releases, etc.) I don't even know how to write a press release!! I should know how. But I suck at journalism. To me it's the exact opposite of fiction. In fiction, you build to the strong moment, the big event. In journalism, you start off with the big event, the news, and then work down to the smaller stuff. Plus, you have to do weird stuff like find an interesting angle to make it newsworthy.

Okay, so maybe that's not so weird. But I have no idea why something is newsworthy! You know how some people can take the most arcane angle to something and make it an interesting headline -- I am not one of those people!!! I just want to say, look, here's the deal, I'm a local author with a book coming out. It's a good story with alien conspiracies and complicated alien/human relationships that raises the question how do you define who you really are? Is it your family? How you were raised? Your genes? Your environment? Plus, there's lots of chasing and fighting, a really big explosion, an evil alien guy, and a love interest that you'll well...love. At least I hope so.

Think I can print that out and send it? Just kidding...maybe.

Talk to you on Monday.

Comments are fixed...

Just a quick note...apparently I did something wrong (surprise!) when I put the link in for the journal article. So, if you tried to post a comment earlier, it kept trying to send you to the wrong place. I think I've got it fixed now. Try it out and see : )

If it's not working, please send me an email and let me know. sklemstein@msn.com

Thank you : )

Talk to you tomorrow.

Peoria Journal Star article

The article in the Peoria Journal Star appeared today. The reporter did a really nice job, I think.

Here's a link to the article

The funny part is that I didn't know she would mention the Barnes and Noble signing thing -- I had only started talking with them, nothing definite yet. But when I called them this morning to tell them about the article -- they'd already seen it in the paper! So, we're working on ironing out the details for that. Perhaps it worked to my advantage to have it mentioned ahead of time.

But I'm actually really happy with the article and the way she used what I said. No more ice weaseling over this one : ) Thanks to my Mom and Dad who made the contact with the right people for this article. And to my sister, Susan, for handling the impromptu phone interview with good humor and grace.

Woohooo, my books for the launch party just arrived -- three boxes of them! Yea to UPS who managed to find our address. The other guys, who shall remain nameless (rhymes with Shmed-Ex), couldn't find our house last month! We do live out in the country, but come on. Those guys had a whole movie about getting packages to their destination, right? Tom Hanks was stranded on a desert island for two years and he still managed to get that package to the right place. Oh, well : )

Talk to you tomorrow!

Naked eyes...

Okay, so it's already more than halfway through the day and I just realized when I went to fix my hair in the mirror that I'd forgotten to apply mascara. I have eyeshadow and eyeliner on, but no mascara, which I need because I have practically invisible eyelashes. So, now it looks really strange, but no one has said anything. I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse! : ) I must have been distracted this morning when getting ready.

And I know why...

I'm $#%$# (insert your own curse word here to get an idea of my frustration level) stuck again on my current project. The logical part of my brain is telling me to relax and it will eventually work itself out. This happens to me at least three or four times per draft. Keep gnawing away at it and eventually something breaks free and everything proceeds like there was never a problem to begin with. But every time this happens, I torture myself by wondering what if this is the one time I won't be able to get unstuck? Ugh, even writing that down freaks me out. What's especially frustrating is that it's a particularly key moment (it usually is, just because there are these key moments where everything's coming together -- or not-- and that's when big things are supposed to happen that change the course of everything, turning points, if you will, and if you panic right then, it's hard to know where to go because sometimes momentum can keep you going, if you have the right direction) and because I'm soooooo close. It's one thing if this happens on page five. It's different if it's 3/4 of the way through a draft, you know?

Oh, well. I'll keep gnawing away and hopefully something will break free and I can keep moving again.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Chat tonight!

Thank you to everyone who came tonight and asked questions/made comments. I guess it was supposed to be fantasy/magical specific. So next month is scifi and I will likely do it again, hopefully as a featured author.

But it was fun hearing from Shannon Devlyn, another RuneStone author. I love shape shifter stories. Clara Verone is another upcoming RuneStone author as well. She has a great story that kind of reminds me, the little bit that I've read, of the Hercules/Xena/Clash of the Titans genre. You know, vengeful gods/goddesses. That kind of thing : )

Also, Erika, if you're reading this, I'd love to hear what's new with you. I didn't realize that I "knew" you at first. Now, I feel like a big dummy : ) So, email me if you have a chance, okay? sklemstein@msn.com

That actually goes for any Valpo alum reading this site. Actually, anyone at all reading this site, please feel free to email me! I'd love to hear from you.

Talk to you tomorrow!

My tricorder!

I'm huge sci-fi geek, not much of a surprise to anyone out there. But for someone who loves science fiction, I'm really not much of a technology person (right now, Ed, my fabulous and wonderful friend and tech consultant/smart person, is reading this and nodding frantically. He's the one that gets all my "I think I broke the computer again. No, I mean I really broke it this time" phone calls). I love computers -- I hated typing on typewriters -- but I have no freaking clue how they work. It's pretty close to magic to me. My solution for all computer problems is pretty much the same thing.
Step one: Unplug the sucker, wait a few seconds, plug it back in and turn it on. See if that fixed it.
Step two: If not, call Ed.
Step three: Leave pleading and desperate voicemail about how the computer ate my latest chapter and I can't get it back.

So, this weekend, with all the stuff going on right now, book stuff, life stuff, etc, I was thinking about getting a planner. I used to use a Franklin Covey one until it became too huge and bulky to carry around with me, not to mention the expense of buying the pages. Plus, organization is something I use only intermittently, so I couldn't really see myself hauling that binder around everywhere.

My friends and my husband, when told of my plan to buy a cheap paper pocket-sized calendar, politely refrained from laughing and pointed out that a palm pilot would do what I needed and more. Plus, it would be smaller and not that much more expensive (if more at all) than a planner of the Franklin Covey variety.

So I found one on sale, the basic kind, at Target and bought it. Now, I think I'm addicted to it. I may have a slight gadget fetish (especially considering the ipod obssession of earlier this year, which I have, at the moment, recovered from.) It feels just so high-tech and futuristic. I feel like the away teams on Star Trek, running around, consulting my tricorder : ) I remember, though, when it was a weird concept to think about those people being able to communicate with devices like telephones that didn't require wires. Is it a coincidence that Captain Kirk's communicator used to flip open and now we have flip open cell phones? Hmmm. It's even more strange to me how dependent we've become on things like this. Last week, I left home with my phone on the counter still charging and nearly broke out in a cold sweat when I realized I was driving without my phone!!!! Despite the fact that I drove for years before I even had a cell phone. Will there ever reach a point when I can't commit to doing something without consulting my cool little palm pilot thingie? Probably. Right now, it's difficult for me to imagine life without my TiVo, another new techie thing we got this year.

Good grief. I am Best Buy's dream customer. If it's shiny and does cool things, I'll buy it -- aaack! This has to stop. Maybe I need to put "recover from technology addiction" on my list of things to do...where's my palm pilot?

: )

Talk to you tomorrow.

Contest Winner/Chapter 3/Chat details

I won't keep you in suspense any longer. The name drawn out of the hat (actually, a plastic cup) by an impartial observer (my husband) was Kerry Dustin of New Zealand!!! Congratulations, Kerry! Thank you to everyone who responded to the contest. I couldn't believe how many of you wrote in and from how far away!

Kerry, I will get this in the mail to you, I hope, tomorrow. Hopefully, the U.S. post office will know exactly what's required because I've only ever sent stuff to Canada before and that was just the once!

Chapter 3 is now posted as well. Caelan left at the end of Chapter 2 but he doesn't stay away for long : )

Also, I believe the chat tomorrow will be at writerspace.com/chat in the reader's chat room. You'll probably have to create a user name to participate. But please stop by as I will be there and so will Shannon Devlyn (another RuneStone author).

Okay, it's been a long weekend, so this is a short blog : ) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Home

It's amazing, isn't it, how many places become home, how many people become family without the benefit of shared blood? Forgive me while I wax philosophic on this particular post....

Despite all the advantages you gain by growing up and being an adult (or as close as I'll ever get), you do lose something too. I have never felt as safe and protected as I did as a child, tucked in my bed, knowing my parents were nearby, ready to handle an attack of the flu as easily as the monsters under the bed. I particularly remember the feeling of safety and happiness of getting into a dark car on a cold night after a warm meal at a restaurant. I was warm inside my coat, parents were in a good mood (eating out was a rare treat). I had a full stomach and a great sense of well-being with the world.

As an adult, there's no one there to chase away the monsters under the bed, which usually take on the form of worrying about the mortgage payment or am I doing the right thing? You drive yourself everywhere, except when your spouse drives. And more often than not, I feel like my husband and I are partners in a war against the world. Comforting not to be alone, happy to be together but not secure in the same way as when someone else was doing all the worrying for you.

So last night, completely out of the blue, I was amazed to find that feeling of safety, of home, even just a sliver of it again. My best friend from college, her husband and little boy were in town visiting. Two of our nearest, dearest and oldest friends (not age, but years of knowing) came over and we all went out to dinner. We sat around the table, eating and laughing. As I looked around I realized something I'd forgotten. We were a family. One of a different sort, one that has grown to encompass spouses and children but with no begrudgement of affection. One whose members cannot see each other as often as they'd all like (not all of us were present even last night), but a family nonetheless. And so when we all piled into the van again to head back to our house, I felt that same feeling of utter safety, contentment. Of being surrounded by people who accepted me for who I was and who I accept and love in return. You forget how amazing that can be.

So, Ed, the daddy to be, was the "dad" last night, driving us all home. My husband was in the front talking football with him and Julie's husband, Rob. Julie's little boy was singing and talking in that little kid way. I was in the back back, comfortably sandwiched between Deb (and her baby to be) and Julie. I was warm and my stomach was full. I was basking in the glow of seeing my book earlier in the day and being able to share it with these people who'd all had a hand, one way or another in making it possible. But even without that, I would have felt the same. For that one moment, for that fifteen minute car ride home, all was right with the world. I was at peace. I was home.

Even when we don't see each other as often as we'd like. Even when stress, distance and grown-up obligations make life difficult, it is one of the greatest comforts to me knowing that there are those out there that I call "my family" -- no shared blood required : ) I love you guys!!!

Talk to you tomorrow.

I got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My publisher is so sneaky, but in a good way! : ) She told me that they wanted to get my approval on some merchandise concepts, so they'd be sending me some stuff to review overnight. So, I was all on top of this, waiting for the package, preparing to inspect it and respond as quickly as possible. All the while feeling really good that they were going to such lengths to get my input (which they do all the time for me, so nice!).

So, imagine my surprise when I see the package in my mailbox, take it inside, rip it open and pull out...my very own copy of The Silver Spoon paperback!!!!! They wanted to surprise me, and guess what, it worked!!!! I'm not sure I've ever been so shocked and shaking, actually. I held it in my hand and here's the weird part -- it looks so different, seeing those words in a book as opposed to a piece of paper in a pile of almost 300 similar sheets. I wanted to sit down and read it, even though I know most of it by heart, if not word for word!

But it's awesome -- I love it! And the quality of the printing inside is excellent. Margins are wide enough, printing is clear. Cover looks terrific : )

I can't believe it. How ridiculous it sounds, but I want to carry it with me everywhere, just so I can pull it out and look at it. I want to take it to bed with me, like a kid with a favorite stuffed animal. I won't, of course. Those paper cuts would be bad : ) Not to mention the possibility that the cover or pages might get bent! My husband has already expressed some reluctance toward touching for fear of breaking the spine (a big no-no for me in books!)

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *cartwheels* *huge grin* *jumping up and down*

I don't know if there's anything else to say. Except THANK YOU to God, and everyone out there who has been there for me and helped me, even in the smallest way. This moment could not have happened without you : )

Talk to you on Sunday -- check here for the winner of the ARC on Sunday, August 15. I'm not sure what time yet, but it will be here!

Barnes and Noble Listing/Chat on Monday

Just a quick note to let you know that The Silver Spoon is now listed on Barnesandnoble.com -- woohoo!!! You can actually preorder from there, if you'd like. But you'll get the book faster if you order it on September 1 from RuneStone. It seems to take a little longer with stocking, etc. for Barnes and Noble so it's not showing as available until September 28. To find it, just go to bn.com and search by author name or title : )

Also, a favor to ask...I'm participating in an author chat on Monday night, 7 p.m. CST through PNR (Paranormal Romance) on writerspace.com. I don't have the exact web address yet, but I'll post it here when I do. If you have a few minutes on Monday, please stop by and ask questions or join in the discussion. It doesn't matter if you've read the book or not. Plus, you might find another author that you'd like to try reading. I'm just hoping to get a question/comment or two directed my way. As a new author with a book that hasn't quite been released yet, I'm afraid I might end up sitting there "alone" so to speak!

Don't forget -- send me an email (sklemstein@msn.com) by this Saturday if you'd like to be entered into the contest to win a free ARC of The Silver Spoon.

Talk to you tomorrow!

You just never know...

Today I was out of the office for most of the day at a corporate event -- open bar and a boat on Lake Michigan, not a good combination for many, many reasons -- and when I came back I had a message on voice mail. The big paper in Peoria, which is where my parents live and where I lived for awhile, is going to write something about me and The Silver Spoon. Wow!!!! So I spoke to the writer from the newspaper for about 45 minutes tonight. And now, I'm currently weaseling about every single one of my answers. For those of you who missed last week's blog on ice weasels and weaseling -- it basically means second guessing yourself or worrying about things that are now outside of your control.

I love talking to people about writing. I especially love talking to people about The Silver Spoon. But I somehow always manage to forget that I'm talking to a journalist instead of a friend or just some random person. This is probably the sign of a good journalist that the people they are talking to are comfortable enough to talk about anything -- like their social security number. No, I'm just kidding. But I do forget. Like I was in the middle of trying to explain how the characters talk inside my head (yes, I know it sounds crazy) when I realized exactly how crazy it sounded to someone who doesn't know me at all and may not have heard other writers talking about this phenomenon. Oh, yeah. I sounded certifiable, I'm sure. And then the next thing I'm weaseling about is that I somehow sounded arrogant or heck, even confident, because really, I feel like I have nothing to do with the writing. It's a gift, one that I'm grateful to have. I hope it didn't sound like I was coming off as some kind of expert -- because I just feel lucky every time I get to write a story. If that makes sense.

I did my best to be honest, grateful, and true. Hopefully that will show through.

In other news...
The ebook for The Silver Spoon has been okayed, which means that it should be showing up on retail sites, like Amazon or Barnes and Noble, in the next week or two. Yea!!!

Talk to you tomorrow!

The 4400 Marathon/Big Secret Surprise Contest

As part of my continuing effort to get people to watch the good shows on television (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Dead Zone, Roswell, etc.), I bring you The 4400. It's an awesome new show on USA. The premise is actually pretty simple. One day, 4400 people who have been "abducted" or disappeared, as they call it, over the past 60 years suddenly reappear by a lake in Washington state. Their mode of transport? A big ball of light. Weird enough, right? Only here's the other thing -- none of them have aged a day and they don't have any memories of their missing years. The series follows the investigations of two partners in the Homeland Security Division assigned to this case. The guy, Tom, has a son who's been in a coma since the night Tom's nephew disappeared. Of course, Tom's nephew is now among the returned, but he doesn't remember what happened to cause Tom's son to fall into a coma. The woman partner, whose name I cannot remember right now, forms an attachment with a little girl, Maia, who disappeared in 1946 and is now back. She's still eight but her parents and all the people she knew are dead.

The other strange thing is that the returnees seem to have special gifts, ones that they didn't have before they left. And as our intrepid investigators...well, investigate, they find that there seems to be something larger going on with each incident involving the 4400.

The reason I bring this up is that tomorrow on USA at 3:00 p.m. central time, they will be running a marathon of The 4400, all 6 episodes, including the series finale, in a row. Rumor has it that they may be considering making it a full-fledged series, if it does well enough. So, try it out, see if you like it!

If nothing else, it's interesting to see the repercussions of people returning after basically being considered dead. Spouses have remarried, children have grown up, younger siblings have now caught up in age. And, you know me, so, of course, there is a love story going on that looks rife with conflict. But I won't say anymore, lest I spoil any of the episodes that will air tomorrow!

Big Secret Surprise Contest
All right, so here's the deal : ) When you get a book published, the author gets what's called an ARC - Advanced Reading Copy, I believe. It's the entire book in its edited form, usually in ebook form or as a printed copy. But it doesn't look like a book just yet. It's bound with the cover but it doesn't have the finished look yet. These are sort of considered collector's items in a way because there are so few of them. They're usually given to reviewers and other authors for blurbs. I have one ARC left for The Silver Spoon, and I got permission from my publisher to give it away as a prize for a contest! Basically what this means is that if you win, you'll get a copy of the book before it's even published or available for sale.

So, if you're interested, send me an email (sklemstein@msn.com) with your name and snail mail address by Saturday, August 14. Your information will only be used to send you the ARC. A winner will be randomly chosen from all the entries I receive. I'll announce the winner in this blog on Sunday, August 15, the same day that Chapter Three will be posted. So, someone won't have to wait until September 1 to find out what happens in Chapter Four and beyond!

Send your entries to sklemstein@msn.com and watch for your name on Sunday, August 15!

Talk to you Monday!

Welcome to Thursday.../Big Secret Surprise

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who told me what movie my quote was from. I knew it had to be from a movie I loved, otherwise I wouldn't have remembered it that well. I went through a period where I watched When Harry Met Sally incessantly. I love Billy Crystal and I really like Meg Ryan's character in that movie. To some people, I may be considered a slightly picky eater (just a little) so the way she orders food in the movie strikes a chord with me. I really hate it when foods touch on the plate. Yes, I know it's weird. I can't help it. I don't even like it when things that most people eat together (like turkey and mashed potatos) touch. If I had my way, food would always be served on those divided plates that you use at picnics -- you know the ones that little kids eat off of?

Okay, on to other things...
-we're up to 25 people for the party, yea!!!
-my thanks to Ed for making the picture thing work on yesterday's blog entry! Turns out technology is not even a casual acquaintance for me.
-Meg Cabot has a blog entry today that gives an excerpt from her upcoming novel. It's one from the Mediator series, which, even though it's written for teens, I love it. Susannah is a mediator for ghosts trapped between this world and the next. They're fun books!
-My publisher tells me that they hope to see a proof of The Silver Spoon on Friday and that the book should start appearing on Amazon.com sometime in the very near future! Also, just so you all know...the order page will not appear on RuneStone's site until the release date or the day before. So, no pre-ordering through that site, at least this time around. But you should be able to pre-order through Amazon (I think) though it is more expensive to buy the book from Amazon.

And finally, the Big Secret Surprise...
This weekend, I'll be posting the details of a contest with a very cool (in my opinion, anyway) prize. In fact, I'm having a hard time keeping myself from announcing it right now! The winner of the contest will be announced on August 15, along with the posting of the third chapter of The Silver Spoon (barring any spats with technology). So, stay tuned!!!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Testing...

Okay, I've decided to see if I can add pictures to this blog. I've never done this before and if you know me at all, you know that technology is not really my friend. More like a casual acquaintance : )



So, we'll try it. Remember, I told you how creepy it could be in our neighborhood at night with all the construction and half-finished houses? I decided to try to take a picture to show what I meant. Though, of course, this is during the day, so not nearly as chilling : )

Movie Amnesia/Party stuff/Oh crap, am I a grown-up?

I memorize movie lines. Not intentionally exactly. It's just that I like them so much, they sort of stick with me. The problem with this is after a number of years, I start forgetting which lines belong to what movie. So some random bit of dialogue will pop up in my head, and then I drive myself crazy, trying to remember what movie or television show it came from. This week's useless bit of movie/tv conversation:

Speaker A (a guy, I'm pretty sure): "Do you ever think about death?"
Speaker B (not sure if this is a guy or girl): "Well, yeah--"
Speaker A (in a dismissive tone): "Sure, the occasional thought floating through the transom of your mind." (Voice intensifies): "But I spend hours, days, contemplating death."
Speaker A: "And I suppose you think that makes you deep."

I may not have the words exactly right (I can only do that with certain lines from most movies and only Star Wars and Ghostbusters in their entirety-- "Tell him about the twinkie.") But does anyone know what movie this from? After typing it all out, I now have a suspicion, but I'm not sure. I think I know who Speaker A is, but I'm not positive. So send me your thoughts -- put me out of amnesiac misery and tell me what movie this is from, please!!!!

Party stuff...
-Book Party news: Right now, we've got about 20 some people who will be attending, yea!!! Still more RSVPs likely to come in as we get closer to the date!

-Prizes for the party: Here's what I'm thinking on this...I'd like to have raffle prizes that in some way relate to the book or writing in general. So here are my ideas, let me know what you guys think:

• One or more of those really cool journals (the leather bound or fancy covered ones you buy at B&N.)
• Cool pens. You can never have too many cool pens (as Stacy G. and Heather, I would imagine, well know!)
• An alien emergency road trip kit: all the things that Zara wishes she would have had with her -- I've got some ideas of what this might include. Those of you who've read the book, do you have any suggestions about what else might have been helpful that would be fun (and not too expensive) to include?
• The Silver Spoon soundtrack: okay, not really (but wouldn't that be cool!?!). I did write most of the book while listening to particular cds, so I thought it might be fun to give a couple of those same cds away (not my copies, obviously, but new ones!) And certain songs do sort of belong to certain people or scenes, which is kind of fun.
• Perhaps a RuneStone t-shirt or baseball hat or something of the kind.
• A copy of The Silver Spoon, of course!

Any other suggestions? Please let me know, post a comment below or send me an email, sklemstein@msn.com

And finally...

Oh crap, am I a grown-up?

The biggest secret that adults have over children is that the adults never actually feel any older than they did at say, eighteen. I don't mean physically, obviously, because I swear my knees started cracking the moment I turned 26 and it's only gotten worse. I mean, adults never feel like they've reached a stage where they know everything they need to know (at least that's my perspective as I rapidly approach -- think Warp 8 -- age 30). The insecurity, the fears, the doubts, it's all still there, just over different stuff.

But I think children, watching the adults from the outside, get the impression that once you reach a certain age -- boom, all the knowledge to be a grown-up is implanted in your head and you wake up one day, a fully functioning adult. At least, that's how I thought it worked when I was a kid. And even now that I can rationally understand that it couldn't possibly work like that, I think subconsciously I've been waiting for that sudden burst of wisdom to suddenly appear in my brain. Like, I'll feel like a grown-up when I get married. Uh, nope. We're still having way too much fun and acting too immaturely to qualify as grown-ups. Well, then I'll feel like a grown-up when I have a house. Yeah, that would be "no" again. Most of the time, I feel like a kid with a large scale tree house that requires cleaning on a regular basis. How about, I'll feel like a grown-up when my book gets published? Ha! If anything, getting a book published is reverting me back to teenager-dom. I haven't been this nervous or worried about so many things since freshman year in college!

In fact, I can't even refer to myself as an adult without that sort of squeamish feeling on the inside that someone's going to call me on it, and say, "You're not an adult. Who are you trying to fool?"

But, what I'm starting to realize is that, the transformation doesn't happen in one giant burst or in one big life event. And more often than not, you don't even realize it's happening, which is scary!!!! Last night, my husband and I went to the grocery store, which I hate doing. Usually because we go when there's nothing left to eat in the house and we're starving -- the very worst time to go shopping (we came home with two boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts last night). And when I got up this morning to make my usual cup of tea, I saw all the groceries put neatly away in the pantry and felt a nice, warm, happy glow on the inside. I realized how satisfying it was to see all the food there in the new pantry. To know that I had the stuff to make dinner for a few nights in a row and that I wouldn't have to tear through three horribly unorganized cabinets to find it all (like in our old house) or give up in frustration and just order out. And then I thought...oh crap, did I just become a grown-up? I still don't feel like one! And then I thought, Maybe I never will. Maybe this is just me! And this is how it will always be. No sudden wisdom, no uncanny grown-up confidence. Just an ability to handle some things a little better and to hide the insecurities a little deeper.

I know I can't be the only one thinking this way...right? Right?!?! Some of you, I know, are getting to some major stuff in life (moms and dads to be, especially), do you feel like grown-ups? Does anyone ever feel like they've reached that plateau of adulthood and it's smooth sailing from here on out (okay, ignore the mixed metaphor [plateau=land and sailing=water], you get the idea)? I feel like Neo realizing the restaurant where he's eaten hundreds of times before ("They have good noodles.") isn't real!

Okay, definitely babbled on long enough.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Invitations/The Village/Ice Weasels

I hate it when this happens. Last week on my way home from work, I thought of something cool to talk about here, and I didn't write it down. So, of course, I forgot what it was. Then this weekend, I remembered again but didn't write it down (you'd think I'd learn, right?). Oh, well, my only consolation is that when I remembered it this weekend, I distinctly recall saying to myself, that idea wasn't as cool as I remember. That's the way it always works for me. If I don't write it down, I forget. Then I torture myself about what a good idea it was, if only I could remember. Inevitably when I do remember, it's never as cool as I thought it should be for all the angst. Okay, yes, I am crazy : )

But on to the real topic(s):

-Invitations were sent out for the book party and I'm already getting responses of people saying they will come -- yea!!! Once I've got the list of attendees, then I have to start worrying about food and prizes. Oh, yes, there will be prizes.

-The Village: saw it this weekend though it wasn't really on my list to see, and I ended up thinking it was okay, which surprised me. It's nothing like the Sixth Sense or Signs, both of which I loved. But it had it's good points. Ron Howard's daughter did a great job! And I liked the romance that developed between Joaquin Phoenix's character and her (she? I suck at certain parts of grammar -- this is one of them)

-Meg Cabot has a great blog entry about ice weasels -- her term, not mine, though I totally understand what she means. You'll have to click on the diary link to read it because I'm at home and can't figure out quite how to open another window to get the exact link without losing this blog entry -- yes, I am a techno-loser. : )

But basically, the point of her entry is that writers never stop worrying. Which made me laugh, given Ed's comment on my entry last week. Yep, Ed, writers worry about every stage in the writing process. We agonize over everything. And, if anything, it seems to me only to get worse with the idea of publication. Because when it's a document on my computer, I can make changes. Once it's given over to the printer (as The Silver Spoon was this weekend), it's given a sort of permanence that totally freaks us out. Because nothing is ever perfect. It has taken me years to understand that, because as a reader, you don't ever see anything else but the version in the book you're holding. When the writer rereads his/her own story, they see the places where scenes were removed or added, characters changed or the occasional typo still persists. It's like looking at the inside of your clothes as you put them on -- you see all the seams. But the rest of the world only sees the smooth side out, the finished side. So can you blame us if we're a little crazy, the teensiest bit neurotic? We're afraid that you'll see our seams. Pull at the loose thread that we somehow missed. Or that you'll hate it all together. Aaaack!

But I like Meg's solution. Sleeping on a bed with several dogs curled up next to you (unless, of course, you are allergic!) She's right; they don't worry about much of anything except their next meal and who will pet them. So, they've definitely got something right!

Have a great night. Talk to you tomorrow!