California, California, here we come!
I'm not actually going to California, though that would be fun. I just finished watching The O.C. and in addition to loving the show, the theme song usually sticks in my head for about three days afterward. Which is okay, because I like it. Yes, yes, the show is a teenage drama centering on rich teens in California (90210, part deux anyone?), though it seems most of the people who live in CA actually hate the show because of the way it misrepresents California living. Except in some ways it's better than any of the shows I watch. With the exception of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because there was nothing better than that on TV, then or now.

But the dialogue on The O.C. is so snappy and smart, to the point where I often have to rewind the tape (which drives my husband, a closet O.C. fan, crazy) so I can catch the latest Seth-ism. I know you don't believe me, I didn't believe all the good stuff I heard about it either, at first. In fact, I missed the first whole season because of it. But, trust me, try it once. You'll like it...Don't force me to try to recreate their dialogue in my blog here to prove my point. : )

Okay, enough of the blatant plugging. Other news...
-Line edits are turned back in. Yea!! I found a couple of other weird spots that I fixed, I hope they don't mind : )

-Should be seeing something in the cover art department in the next couple of weeks, woohoo!

That's about it for now. We'll be working on house stuff this week as we prepare for our open house, otherwise known as Someone-Please-Buy-Our- House-so-We-Don't-Have-to-Lie-Awake-at-Night-Worrying-about-Paying-Two-Mortgages event. Open house is catchier, right? That's what we thought too. Plus it fits on the sign way better : ) Wish us luck!

Talk to you tomorrow!

I've got no wick left!*
I need a new computer!!! I love my computer, a four year old HP. But it doesn't have the speed to let me download stuff the way I need to (like Adobe Reader) and I don't have Microsoft Word. I have Works instead. I'm fine with Works except it apparently doesn't track changes!!! And so I'm paying for that tonight.

I was supposed to turn my edited manuscript back in to my publisher tonight. But after I finished accepting the changes and making little tweaks here and there tonight, I realized I hadn't done one of the things they asked me to do. Make sure there are no extra spaces. And I'm a bad one for this. I learned to leave two spaces after every period, thanks to ancient keyboarding techniques. I've finally trained myself out of that. But I still do one space after every period, even when it's the end of the paragraph. So now I have all these extra spaces that need to be deleted.

And because my home computer doesn't have word, I have to do it at work, at the end of the business day. Which didn't start until 6:15 tonight, so I didn't get home until 10:00. And there are still pesky spaces to be removed!!! Aauugggh!!! I need a new computer (though I still love the one I have)!

Okay, I have to go now and get to bed so I can get to work early and squeeze in more illicit computer time. I think I'm going computer shopping this weekend.

Talk to you tomorrow!
*Extra points for those who realized the title was a reference to burning the candle at both ends.

Too Much!
Okay, I think I've reached my threshold of juggling. In that I'm working full-time, writing another book, thinking of marketing tactics for the one that's being published, and I need to go through and make the last few corrections to The Silver Spoon. Oh, yeah, and we're trying to sell our house. So, sleep is obviously never an option : )

But seriously, I can't tell you what an eye-opener this whole publishing thing has been. I love it! My experience with RuneStone has been so positive, which in some ways only makes it that much harder to go back to my day job. To paraphrase Harry from When Harry Met Sally, "When you find someone that you want to spend the rest of your life with, you generally want the rest of your life to start right away." In my case, it's I found what I want to spend the rest of my life doing and I want to start doing that all the time, right now! But fiscally, that is just not happening, at least not yet.

So, in the meantime, I'll keep juggling and try not to let things drop (especially the things that I'm not all that fond of doing, like the 9 to 5 thing and keeping the house clean for potential buyers) because eventually I know it will get easier. It has to. Otherwise, I'm going to start taking this juggling show on the road.

Note:
One final last minute winner in last week's ampersand contest: Greg K. who wins a whopping imaginary $.72. But that's okay. Because he's my husband and I appreciate the support : ) Thanks, hon!

Okay, that's it for now. I have to run to kickboxing class. Not literally, of course, it would be much too far and I would have no energy for beating the protective pads senseless. Which is the whole point of the class, pounding those nasty, sometimes boss-like, upper management, corporate-politic spouting pads into submission. Then again, it could just be me imagining that.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Whew. That was fun!
A bunch of things all going on all at once today.

So, I'll start first with the interview with At Valpo this afternoon. I had so much fun. We talked about writing and Valpo, and it was a nice opportunity to reconnect with Valpo life. After talking to my dad earlier today for advice (Thanks, Dad!), I tried to think about what I would have like to have known or heard about if I were someone considering writing as a major and Valpo as a school. Prospective students are the target audience for the newsletter, I believe. (Side note...Ed, do you remember..."I've lost my prospective!" : ) I haven't thought about that in years!)

So based on my dad's advice, I thought of a few things that I wished I'd known earlier or things that had helped me.
And that basically amounted to this...
-If being a writer is your dream, you should go for it. Don't let fear stop you. To quote George McFly (also, ironically, a writer, though a fictional one) from Back to the Future, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."
-Rejection is part of the process. Not everyone will like what you've done, but someone will. Learn from rejection, make your stuff better because of it.
-Finances play a big role in being a writer. If you want to write full-time, don't spend all that salary that you earn in your first day job or you'll get used to spending it and it will be hard to stop. Which means it will be scary to think of relying on your writing to come up with that same amount of money. And probably difficult to do, especially in the beginning.

I also got a chance to talk about the professors and classes that influenced me. Which was great, because I'm grateful for all they taught me. That, plus a book-friendly home environment helped get me to this point in my life.

So, right now, I hope that my answers made sense and that maybe someone will find them helpful. I also hope that what I said doesn't offend anyone! The article will hopefully be in the April issue of At Valpo, but I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again to Lisa from Valpo for the opportunity and for Dr. Uehling for thinking of me!

Next...
Contest winners!
Wow, I'm impressed by all the people who know their keyboard symbols. The correct name for this symbol & is ampersand.

So, here, in the order in which I received their answers, are the winners:
First Prize, Ten imaginary dollars: Ed B.
Second Prize, Five imaginary dollars: Stacy G.
Third Prize, Two imaginary dollars and fifty imaginary cents: Lynne B.
Fourth Prize, One imaginary dollar and tweny-five imaginary cents: Mike B.

All imaginary prizes will be delivered by imaginary courier within the next three to five business days.

If more of you have entered, I will check my email when I get home and post your names on Monday. I forgot to mention yesterday that I don't have access to my home email account while I'm here at work. Thanks to everyone who participated. I can't wait to do some real contests with real prizes!! I intend to have some contests here that will net you some cool things, like t-shirts, bookmarks, etc, once my book is released.

And finally...in honor of yesterday's contest, how about some really random information about that @ symbol and the ampersand &? My thanks to Ed for finding all of this on the web.

First, did you know that the @ symbol doesn't have universal name? It's called different things in different countries. Here are a few examples:
-apenstaartje, which is Dutch for "monkey's tail."
-kukac, which is Hungarian for "worm."
-dalphaengi, which is Korean for "snail."

This history of this symbol is believed to start with the monks who were charged with creating books by writing the copy out by hand. No printing presses back then, folks. So, they made certain common words shorter to save pen strokes. @ is believed to be one of those.

All this information is courtesy of coolquiz.com. Here is the direct link to the question on the @ symbol.

Now, the ampersand symbol has an equally fascinating history. A century or so ago, school children were taught the alphabet, and & was considered a letter in that alphabet. It meant "and" just like it does now. However, these poor children, in reciting the alphabet were forced to single out the letters that could be words on their own. A and I, for example, are words as well letters. So the kids would have to say, per se, A, and per se, I. And when they came to the end of the alphabet, where & was located, they would have to say "and per se &," which was read as "and." So there you go. And per se and becomes ampersand.

This information comes from an article on ingenial.com by Micah Goulart. There are a few more interesting details like how they came up with the symbol &. Here's the link to check it out...& story.

All right, I'm tired now. And I have to go home and finish cleaning. We're having an open house this weekend in our desperate effort to actually sell our current house before the new one is finished. Plus, I want to finish going through the line edits for The Silver Spoon by Monday. I'm really, really happy with the edits that have been made. But I want to go through them thoroughly once more. It's important to me that I understand the reasons behind the changes, so I can learn from them. And so I can raise any questions that I might have. Which is another thing that's great about my publisher--very open communication! It's done a lot to help me feel more relaxed about this whole process, which I appreciate.

My thanks to everyone who submitted for yesterday's contest, to my dad for his advice, and for everyone who wished me luck on today's interview. Good karma flowing right back at you guys!

Have a good weekend everyone!
Talk to you on Monday.

Random thought for the day...
...what did we use the @ symbol for before email addresses? (Aside from comic book swearing, I mean. #$@#$%!) It's obviously a symbol of great importance--it rates a key on the keyboard (at least sharing one with "2"). And yet, I have no clue how it would have been used before now. Other than the occasional flyer that says "Party @ Bob's house @7:00 p.m." And if that's the only reason it exists, then why is "at" the only short word that gets a symbol. Why not "the" or "over?" Though, now, as it occurs to me to look down at the keyboard, I see that "and" is also represented with a symbol. But that's at least used sometimes, in shop signs and on junior high girls' notebooks (Sally & Bob, together 4-ever). The "at" symbol wasn't really used at all, as far as I know, until about ten years ago.

But @ has been on the keyboard for a long time. I'm pretty sure it was on the typewriter--though I can't say for certain unless I happen to stop by a museum some time soon : ) Seriously, it's just about impossible to find a typewriter these days, even one of those with the cool auto-erase functions. Which is scary, considering we spent a large part of a class in high school, learning how to type on the darned things! Anyway, I was just wondering about @, that's all...

Contest: Ten imaginary dollars and your name in tomorrow's blog to whoever can tell me the proper name for the "and" symbol. It looks like this &. It shares a key with 7. Email me with your answer, sklemstein@msn.com

In other news...
My interview with the At Valpo newsletter is tomorrow. So everyone please send positive thoughts my way tomorrow afternoon. It's a great opportunity, and I'm really excited. I'm just a little worried. They've (meaning Valpo staff) picked people, I would guess, who they think will represent Valpo in a good way, in what they've accomplished and in what they will say. I love my school (they've done a lot for me) and I just want to make sure that comes through without sounding all creepy, obssessed-like about it. Plus, I need to remember that this is an opportunity to talk (at least a little) about my book. But I'm so used to talking about my day job first and then the book, that I'm afraid I'll forget to reverse the order this time around.

And I really, really want to give answers that will make them glad they asked me, you know? Not like sucking up answers, but good, smart answers. I still need to call my dad to get his advice. I think probably the only thing I can do is take a deep breath, think before I answer, and speak slowly enough so that people don't have to have supersonic hearing to understand what I'm saying : )

Okay, I'll keep you guys posted on what happens. Don't forget to write me with the name of the "&" symbol!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Random bits of information

-My marketing plan is finished and sent into RuneStone, yea!!!

-I'm about halfway through the line edits for The Silver Spoon and I'm amazed at how much of a pattern you can create in your own writing without realizing it. My editor *grin* pointed out to me that I start a lot of sentences with "and" when it really isn't needed. And she's right. What's weird is that I've been through that book countless times and never noticed it. That's why it's always good to have someone else (or several someone elses) read your work.

-Ed fixed it so that Google once more recognizes my website. So when you do a search for Stacey Klemstein, it finds this site.

-Meg Cabot's new Princess Diaries book came out yesterday. I need to stop at a bookstore somewhere and buy. I can't help it, I love those books. I know they're written for teenagers but she is such a funny writer. If you've never read any of her stuff, you should. It's way better than the movie. And oddly enough, I find that I like her stuff for teens better than the stuff she writes for adults. Somehow it seems fresher, more real. Check out her blog at www.megcabot.com

-My interview with Valpo is scheduled for Friday. I just need to work out the time and whether I'll be at home or work.

I have to run. I'm still at work and we're meeting friends for dinner. My thanks once again to Stacy G. for providing the feedback on the marketing plan!

Talk to you tomorrow.

More Good News!

My computer did not eat my marketing plan -- yea!!! I got a little too organized for my normally sloppy self and filed it in an actual folder on my pc and then forgot to check there when I was looking for it. So, I took some time (a lot of time actually) and got the plan finished today. I'm asking Stacy G. review it for me and make sure that it's coherent and that I didn't forget anything logical. Believe me, it happens all time when forget words or the wrong place put them in : ) (By the way, that was intentional for all those who may start to question my ability to string words together in a sentence.)

I also got line edits back on The Silver Spoon last night, so I need to go through those. But from what I've seen, they make sense and improve what I've written. I have to admit that this part of the process is one of the things I've been worried about from the beginning. It's hard to hand over your baby to someone and have them begin pointing out flaws. Though, truly, a good editor doesn't point out flaws so much as make suggestions to make the book better as a whole. So, I'm excited to see what changes RuneStone is recommending and very relieved to find that from what I've seen so far, I agree with them.

Also on the good news page is that when I got the line edits last night, my editor (isn't that the coolest thing ever to be able to say, "my editor?" I think so) asked for a synopis/outline of book two of the Zara Mitchell series. Which means, if they're interested in the direction I'm going, they could end up asking for that book as well!!!!! I'm so excited!

It's also a little scary as I've never written a synopsis for anything that wasn't completely finished before. And it's been drilled into me so often about never sending anything out until it's finished. But I think that this (sending a synopsis for a not-yet-completely-written book) is the normal process if you're a known author or your publishing company already knows your style of writing and just needs to know the direction your next story will take. Okay, I can't stop grinning--this is so cool! : )

All right, I have to get home. The lunch thing isn't working for me, but the blogging before I go home seems to do just fine.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Woo, hoo! An interview!

Okay, probably not my most professional reaction, but still! I got an email today from VU. They're asking to interview me for the email newsletter that goes out to prospective students, as part of the hooplah surrounding the introduction of creative writing and professional writing majors. They want to talk to me as someone who has been "successful in the writing world." I'm so excited -- one, because it's just another cool opportunity to talk about something I love, writing, and two, because it's doing something, I hope, to help my school.

In case you haven't noticed, I loved my school. I learned so much there, not just about curriculum but also about life. I learned what it was like to have a supportive environment and people who knew who I was personally, instead of student #24344. And I know that's not for everyone, but it made a big difference to me. And the opportunity to share that with people who are considering Valpo as a future home (for four years at least) makes me feel good. I mean, I've been out of school for almost seven years now, and the professors in the English department still remember me. And it's not because the school was that small, but it's because they took/take a personal interest in their students. I can't tell you how often that helped me when I was in school and even once I graduated. When I went to Dr. Uehling a couple of years ago and told him I'd written a book (not The Silver Spoon, but another novel), he didn't laugh. He took me completely seriously, even though I had no idea what I was doing. And that helped me get the courage to believe that I could do it, get a book published, I mean. And it happened!

This interview is such good news that I can almost forget about how my computer seems to have eaten my marketing plan. You know, the one that I've been slaving over? My hard drive crashed last week, not that big of a deal, as I managed to find the copy in my email "sent items" and build from that. But somehow, when the techno-wizards restored my documents, the old one, I think, overwrote (is that even a word?) the new one. So, I lost a whole bunch. But I do have a hard copy (always, always, always print out a hard copy and back up on disk, especially when working on a creative project) and if it disappeared on my home computer as well, I emailed it there last week, then I can always retype. Which I hate, but it doesn't suck nearly as much as losing it completely.

I am nervous about the interview. You never know how you sound to other people, how they will take your words, particularly if you're not face to face. That's one of the reasons I opted to do a phone interview, at least then inflection will count for something. How many times has humor bottomed-out in an email because someone took the words seriously?!? Or vice versa, I suppose. I might ask my dad for some tips. He talks in front of people all the time (he's a pastor) and I know he's even done tv interviews, so other than not talking too fast (which when I gave a presentation last week at work, some people said they were worried I would talk too fast, as I always do, but that I did fine, so maybe I'm getting better), maybe he has some ideas on what else to do to keep myself calm and give good answers.

Sorry for the jumbled nature of this blog. I didn't want to miss another entry, but I have to run to make it home in time for kickboxing--we might do long-hooks tonight and I don't want to miss that!

Any suggestions for interview advice, send them my way sklemstein@msn.com.
Talk to you tomorrow!

Selling yourself...but not in the hooker-ish sort of way.

Note: I have to say that thing about writing blogs during lunch is that I'm usually doing something during lunch. Eating. Or going to meetings. But that's okay. I'm doing this entry now, suffering the corporate environment for a few more minutes cause I know that once I go home I will not want to log on and wait for my very slow dial up connection.

And now...on to my main point...
As I'm working my way toward publication of The Silver Spoon (actually RuneStone is doing that, I'm just along for the ride, doing whatever they need me to!) the odd juxtaposition of being an author and being a marketer is taking up more and more of my thought space. It's one of those things that you don't really think about until it happens to you. Marketing, selling your book, I mean. Sure, everyone imagines those packed signings full of people dying to ask questions about your books. But most small and medium-sized presses don't have the money for large publicity campaigns for an unknown author. Heck, even the big companies won't give decent publicity money to an unknown, even though they made the decision to buy the book in the first place, until he or she has proved themselves in sales! Hence you have to sell books before they'll give you money to...well, help sell books.

So, unless you're a pretty big name author or a midlist author with a publicity firm, the author is usually the one calling up people, asking to do signings, readings, etc. And that, my friends, is a very humbling realization. To know that you will have to call up these places and pitch your book and yourself. To go to these places without the reassurance that someone actually wants you to be there. To volunteer to participate on panels without knowing for sure that anyone out there is interested in what you have to say. Eeek!

This also goes for bookstores. They're not going to carry a book by an unknown author from a small or medium-sized press unless there's a reason to. And you have to give them those reasons.

Most people don't know all this and consequently, it's hard to explain how much time and effort go into making a good marketing plan and getting the book out there into people's consciousness. It's frustrating occasionally to talk with those who think that I must now have loads of free time, now that my book is finished. Well, the writing's finished, but there's still a ton of work to be done.

And I'm one of the lucky ones. My publisher and I will be working together on publicity, which is awesome.

And while the whole publicity/marketing/putting yourself out there thing is scary, it's also exciting. It's fun talking about my book. I'm proud of my story and the people (and aliens) in it. In fact, it's so much fun, it's kind of alarming -- do I need therapy or what? : )

After spending so much time focusing on the book, getting it finished, getting it finished right (a big distinction) and getting it published, it's very tempting to sit back and think only about the marketing. To think, whew, I'm done with that one, now all I have to do is get people to know about it. To imagine all the cool ways you're going to get people to notice it and buy it. But that in and of itself is scary. I've heard writing described as being like exercising a muscle. You have to do it every day. So, if you're concentrating on marketing your existing book, it seems to me that there's a good chance you're neglecting writing the next one. But in order for there to be a next book, you have to do a good job of selling the first one.

So, right now, I'm trying to finish up my marketing plan, while trying not to get so excited about it that I neglect my current project (which I can't name at this point because to talk about it destroys the urge to work on it...see previous blogs on quirks!) All the while, worrying about what it will be like sitting in a bookstore, hoping that people will come and that they'll be interested in something I say. Though, as anyone who knows me well will testify, I'll talk about anything to pretty much anyone, even if I'm nervous or scared (I'll just talk that much faster!) I can't stand conversation voids : )

But even with all this going on, this is so worth it. I love it. Even the scary, overwhelming moments. This is right for me. I only wish I had more time to devote myself to it. But like I said yesterday, doing this to pay the mortgage might make it significantly less enjoyable for me. I do well under pressure--I just don't like it.

So, that's it for now. I could promise a new blog for tomorrow, but I'm not sure that I'll actually get up enough oomph to pull the stupid long phone cord out at home. So, I'll say this...

Talk to you on Monday. (Or maybe sooner...)

No Lunch for you!
Okay, so I didn't get a lunch break today. So, technically, I'm not breaking my word...I'm just bending it a little. I had a meeting instead, while I ate my lunch, and then I left that meeting for another two in prompt succession.

And as I sat there today, listening to people talking with a great deal of enthusiasm about their work, I wonder what they're thinking. Like, do they really like their work this much? Or is it just an act? Sometimes, I feel like a pretender among them. Don't get me wrong. I like my job, as much as one can like a job (enforced activity for pay, which is needed to survive. There is something inherently unlikeable with that set-up). And I want to keep my job. But it is a job to me. I work at it for money. I take pride in my work and try to do my best. But at the end of the day, this is not what I'm thinking about. I mean, I don't get a big goofy grin on my face when I contemplate my next project the way I do when I think about the release of my first novel (yea! insert dopey grin here). More often than not, new projects are greeted with a sickening twist in my stomach. Will I get it done in time? We've been shorted so many days already. What pitfalls and frustrations await me?

All of this, so that at the end of it, I have a finished piece that I don't really care about except that it's done and can no longer trouble me. I mean, I'm usually pleased with the piece, as much as one can be by the time multiple layers and lawyers have had their say. But if you offered me the choice between having that finished piece (along with the pitfalls and frustration that accompany its creation) versus not having the finished piece (or the pitfalls and frustrations), I think I'd take not having the piece. Unlike writing a book. In that case, the frustration and pitfalls, as painful, tearful and gut-wrenching as they can be, are all worth it. They will always be worth it for the moment of holding that finished book in your hands. Or, so I think. I haven't actually held my finished book. And I already think it was all worth it : )

So, sometimes, in these meetings, I look around at everyone arguing strenously for their point of view and the "right thing" to be done and I wonder how strongly do they truly feel that passion. If they feel it as strongly as they seem to, perhaps as strongly as I feel about my book, I think they're so fortunate. To have found a job that you care that deeply about and are willing to commit such hours to is fabulous. And on top of it, loving your job is socially acceptable. More than acceptable, in fact. It's expected that you should love your job or be looking for a new one.

It's a lot harder to convince someone that you have a job but your true career, your true passion, is one that you work at in the off-hours and hasn't made you much (if any) money. And your job is just the way to support that passion.

I suppose that's the downside to having a day job. But I don't know if I'd like not having a day job entirely. Sometimes I do need to stop thinking about whatever I'm working on and let my subconscious tumble things around a bit. And I don't think I could take the pressure of knowing that what I write has to make the mortgage payment possible. I think I'd feel a lot more pressure to do what everyone else thinks should be done rather than what I feel is right. And I do have a pretty cool day job, as far as day jobs go : ) People all over the country see my stuff, even if they don't know that I'm the one writing it. And as I've mentioned in previous blogs, I'm not sure I could change jobs to something that wasn't writing related, like being a dog-walker. (Have you ever noticed that in all the novels where a woman finally walks away from a high-powered career that she has hated silently for years that she becomes a dog-walker or starts her own dog-walking business. Either these women saved a hell of lot better than I have, or there's a load [pun intended] of money to be made in dog walking)

Okay, this venting session brought to you by a very bad Thursday. I think honestly that I haven't been writing as much in my blog lately because I've been trying to censor myself, now that I know people are reading it. So screw it, I'm going to write what I want...please don't hate me : )

All hate emails, as well as those regarding continuing employment should be directed to sklemstein@msn.com...uh, no, that's sclemstein@msn.com, yeah that's it.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Blogging
Okay, here's the bad thing about me and blogging. During the day, while I'm out and about, I'm always thinking about things that would be fun to blog about. However, I never write them down. And I should, I know myself better than that. I have a brain like swiss cheese when it comes to stuff like this. Lots of holes and when there's a little too much heat, things get melty. And I know I haven't been as good lately about blogging every day. I'm going to try to change that by doing it, *gasp* during my lunch hour instead of at home.

So here is a compilation of some of the random things that I've been thinking about blogging about...
-My cover art questionnaire is done and turned in. I'm so happy that RuneStone asked for my opinion. But I'm also nervous because I don't know that what I like on other people's covers is possible or even right for mine. But I have every confidence in RuneStone knowing which of my suggestions are the not-so-hot ones!

-There's no such thing as the perfect job. Either you hate what you're doing and love the people. Or you hate the people and love what you're doing. Or, worse, you hate what you're doing and those miserable jerks that you work with too. So, finding the perfect job is impossible. It's all about compromise. What are you willing to give up to get something else in return? And it's interesting to me that our culture doesn't view working or jobs this way. Or, at least, I didn't until I started thinking about it. Everyone, I think, is on a quest for the perfect job. And just like the perfect man (or woman), it just doesn't exist. But the "right" one probably does.

-You don't have to wear green any more on St. Patrick's Day in the corporate America. No one would dare pinch you.

-And ten things that suck about March:
1. Snow, snow and more snow.
2. It's not winter, it's not spring...it's spinter?
3. Can anyone say mud?
4. Non-stop basketball. I mean, I like that sport as much as anyone...well, that's not true. I only really like it when I know the team or someone on the team (I went to Valpo, so it's possible.) Otherwise it's an endless parade of Dick Vitale wannabes screaming around and reciting useless statisics.
5. Reruns. Having just finished Feb sweeps, all the networks feel that they've earned a break. So, we're forced to watch reruns that we've probably already seen twice, or do something productive, like clean the house. Right. (The exception being Alias, of course. Woohoo, that Lauren is going to caught and I can't wait until Vaughn dumps her!)
6. No national holidays (yet again!). I don't work for a bank (like some people or a school, so there is a vast wasteland of work days between New Year's Day and Memorial Day for me.
7. Gray skies. But all kinds of variety, slate, lead, steel, etc.
8. Having to check the weather every morning to find out whether my work place will be only ten degrees hotter than it needs to be or thirty. And then dressing appropriately.
9. It doesn't have my birthday. Course neither do the other ten, but somehow it just sucks in March that much more.
10. At least another month until you can reasonably wear open toed sandals.

Talk to you tomorrow (and I mean it this time...I think.)

More Quirkiness
Based on the other day's blog about my weird little rituals for writing, I got an email from my good friend Stacy who was willing to share the depths of her quirkiness (way deeper than mine...okay, not really).

So here's what Stacy has to say:
Every morning when I come into work I have to "X" out the day on my calendar (cross it off). I had this teacher in high school who used to say that "wake-ups" are the hardest part of the day...once you survived the waking up and getting moving portion of the day, you're day was pretty much over. So instead of saying "three more days till Friday," she'd say, "two more wake-ups till Friday." She saw time in terms of wake-ups, not days.

So, I somehow made that idea my own when I started working and as soon as I come into work, I have to cross off the day on the calendar. Before I get coffee. Before I log on to my computer. It's the first thing I do after taking off my coat (Because, see, I made it through the wake-up process and to my little cube). If I forget to cross off the day or get distracted and can't do it till later in the day, I feel agitated and like I can't really concentrate or settle into the day...or I get that vague sense all day that I forgot something or that something is missing.

But then Stacy goes on to give, almost as an afterthought, this gem, which I love:
And I also have to put my pants & shoes on right leg first and walk up stairs starting with my right foot (if I do any of these things using my left foot first, I'll actually redo them...yep, I'll go back down the stairs and start up again on my right foot).

That made me laugh! Course, this is coming from the girl (me) who used to have to hang her clothes on the exact same hangers every time. Like, this paticular sweatshirt belongs on this particular hanger. No other hanger will do. And no, it had nothing to do with writing for me, just general sense of control. I might possibly need therapy for this...I'm not sure.
____________________

Also, I want to take this opportunity to respond the man's code listed in Ed's blog this week.

Women do have rules as well. At least, I think so, but I'm not sure if others would agree. And many of them revolve around bathroom etiquette.

For example, if you are at dinner with several other couples and you need to find the bathroom, you are required to ask if the women-half of those other couples would like to come as well.

Conversely, if the other women at the table get up to go to the restroom and you are not asked to come along, you are being snubbed. Never doubt it. Unless there is a purse-watching issue. Which leads to another rule.

Purse/bags must be watched at all times. Even if there's nothing inherently valuable and no imminent threat of theft, the purse must still be watched. Which means, just as you would with a child, arrangements must be made for purse-watching before the woman can comfortably leave her purse behind. She must say, "Watch my purse, okay?" And the friend/husband/boyfriend/whomever must agree without argument, or else the woman cannot leave. And even though the odds of a friend/husband/boyfriend/whomever knowingly allowing a purse snatcher to steal the purse are low, the statement of purse protection must be made!

Another one...women, in selecting a bathroom stall, must not select one next to an already occupied stall, unless all other options are taken.

Talking in bathrooms is acceptable at any juncture, if you came in with the woman you want to talk to. Guessing based on the shoes you see under the door and then beginning a conversation is NOT ACCEPTABLE.

The "fat" question--if another woman asks you if she looks fat in any article of clothing, the answer is always no. And this is key for men, who also have to follow this rule, YOU CANNOT LOOK AT THE WOMAN BEFORE/WHILE ANSWERING. Nor, can you hesitate before responding with an emphatic NO!

Those are just a few of the rules for women when interacting with other women. The rules for women interacting with men is another day's blog. Probably more likely another year's blog! : )

Send me more rules...what am I missing? Email me at Sklemstein@msn.com

My lucky socks.
Okay, I don't actually have lucky socks. But I do have other weird little quirks, especially when it comes to anything relating to writing. We were out at our new house this weekend. And we could finally climb upstairs (stairs were just installed) to see the bedrooms, one of which is going to be my writing room. I love the one I have now, at my current house. It's just the right size, I finally have all the furniture in the right place (I moved my desk no less than three times in the first year we lived there) and it, the room, faces west. West is a requirement for me. The last two rooms that I've written in have faced west to some extent, so that the afternoon sun shines in. This is necessary, otherwise it feels all depressing in there in the evening/afternoon and I don't want to go in there for anything. And if you're a writer, you know that sometimes the hardest thing to do is to convince yourself to go in and sit down and write, even though you're practically crawling out of your skin with the need to do it. I actually get crabby when I don't get time or enough time to write. Seriously. Ask my husband. If he still will speak of it : )

So, now, facing the prospect of a new writing environment, I'm a little tense. A few months ago when we picked this house model and the lot, I actually made the sales rep figure out which side of the house the garage would be on before we told her we would take it because I had to know if there would be a room that faced west that I could have for my writing room. I know it's completely bizarre. But you'll find as you do this, that whatever you can do to make it easier on yourself to write, you'll do it. And you'll do it, no matter how weird it makes you seem.

Other things that are weird but that I have found helpful:
1. Having a room just devoted to writing (or sculpting or whatever it is you're doing that requires that extra bit of effort).
2. No one is allowed to touch my computer. For any reason. Except when I'm in dire need of technical assistance. But just because someone else in my house wants to look up fantasy football scores, that doesn't count! It has something to do with knowing that everything will be the way I left it. It also has something to do with avoiding procrastination. Procrastination is, again, another tried and true system for avoiding writing. Writers will do anything to avoid writing--I don't know why, but it's true. That's why I don't use my computer for anything except for stuff related to writing. I make it difficult for myself to log on to the web (have to drag a huge phone cord from across the hall) just so I won't lose myself in "research." So I can't be thinking of the computer as a tool to check fantasy football scores online or ordering movie tickets--it has to be for writing.
3. Never talk about current projects, except in the vaguest of necessary terms. A couple reasons for this one. First, I've found that by the time I've described the story enough for someone to get why I'm so excited about it, all desire to tell the story has actually disappeared. Because in describing it, I've actually told it to some extent and it no longer inhabits my brain in the potential form. And second, because no matter how good-hearted people are, they will want to take part or influence what you're doing. You can be telling them, "and then this happens and Bob jumps off the bridge..." And they interrupt with excitement, "And he dies, right?" And then suddenly, all you can picture is your hero dead in the water, when originally he was supposed to land in a passing speedboat. And your friend isn't trying to make things difficult, they're just trying to participate in the conversation, which is normal. But writers, at least most of the time, are anything but normal. : )

And this influencing can also be done with an intentionally negative bent. In other words, you tell someone you're writing a story about XYZ and they look at you and say, "That's an interesting idea" when clearly they don't think so. Or, "Didn't ABC already do a movie of the week on that?" It doesn't even have to be someone slamming you intentionally. But most people already think of you in a certain way and telling them what you're doing might make them think of you in a new way, which might not be comfortable. So,their instinct is to either pat you on the head with a meaningless (and clearly so) "that's nice" or a doubting comment clevely disguised as constructive criticism "Wow, a book, that's really hard. Do you think you can do that? I mean, that's a lot of pages. I sure wouldn't want to commit to doing something like that. And remember, you were the one who had trouble writing ten page papers in college." And writers enough, as you probably already know, are neurotic enough as it is! They don't need any help talking themselves out of a project.

So, I'm wondering are there other rituals/quirks that other people do? Not necessarily in writing. I know one person who had to use the same pencil/pen in studying for an exam as when taking the exam because the pencil/pen had already been over the answers. It's a mental thing, but I actually tried it once and I think it did help me relax, which is usually a key to performing better on a test.

Any thoughts...send me an email: sklemstein@msn.com
Talk to you tomorrow.

Okay, still recovering. But today, I actually smelled something. Yea!

It was weird. Smelling is one of those things you don't think about it, unless it's really good or really bad. It's like you don't even realize you're processing the information, until one day you can't smell anything at all.

But today, I was just going about my business and boom, suddenly, I realized, hey, I can smell that. It happened to be deoderant that I was putting on. Women's deoderant always smells very flowery (that or baby powder, which I hate).

After realizing I'd regained some sense of smell, I went around smelling everything I could find that I knew had a pretty strong scent. Hand soap, body lotion, garlic rice (my dinner), Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies (my dessert). And all of it, I could smell at least a little bit!

So, in celebration, I'm writing a list.
Ten best scents in the world, in no particular order:
1. Bread baking
2. the ocean
3. the top of a baby's head (don't ask, I can't explain what it smells like, it's just good)
4. A Christmas tree (pine tree/evergreens)
5. A new book (Aaaah. The ink, the glue, the new paper...my dad knows what I'm talking about. My mother thinks we're crazy)
6. Fresh popcorn
7. Clean laundry
8. Sunscreen (is there anything that instantly triggers the thought, summer!)
9. Freshly cut grass (I actually hate this smell because it immediately gives me a headache, I think I'm allergic, but it still one of the best smells in the world)
10. Bacon cooking (To quote Homer Simpson, "Mmmm, unexplained bacon." From the episode, I believe, where Pierce Brosnan is the super house trying to kill off Homer so he can have Marge all to himself.)

Did I forget any? What scent do you think should have made the ten list? Email me sklemstein@msn.com.

Talk to you tomorrow.

I miss my sense of taste.
It's been almost a week since I last tasted anything, I mean really tasted. I can get little hints of things now and then. Chocolate comes through a little bit, as does salt. But the flavor is completely lost to me. And I can't tell you how depressing it is! It's hard to eat when you know what you're hungry for and even if you get it, you can't taste it. So, consequently, I've been sort of avoiding meals. Maybe that's the new diet plan. Get a permanent sinus infection and you'll never want to eat anything again.

I can't smell anything either, but I can find an up side to that a lot easier. No cigarette smoke, strong perfume, diesel exhaust, not to mention my two large dogs with slightly touchy gastrointestinal systems : )

But it's starting to make me a little panicky. Part of writing is creating a sensory experience for the reader, making them feel like they're there. Wherever there is. And for me, scent is a strong cue for writing. I mean, imagine a fair. You know the fair smell. Everyone does.

Asphalt, warmed and made kind of sticky by the August sun, the super sweet scent of cotton candy, elephant ears, and funnel cakes combined which is almost enough to make you feel a little sick, heated cooking grease, the warm homey smell of fresh french fries (I don't know why that is so comforting to me, but it is), bitter citrus from the lemon peels dropped to the ground and crushed beneath all the feet, sawdust and the faint but familiar smell of manure near the pony ride.

All of that is fair smell. And sometimes when I'm writing about something and it's not going well, I concentrate on the way it would be feel to be there. Heat beaming down on your bare arms, sweat dampening your shirt along the line of your spine, the overheated feeling of your toes after you've been walking around a bit, like they're little sausages about to split their skins.

And that helps put me in the moment. And more often than not, it ends up in whatever I'm writing, just because it anchors the scene. Makes it real. And sometimes in order to do that I have to revisit smells, sounds, tastes, etc. And I can't do that when I'm down two of the five senses!!! It's so frustrating!

And, of course, my overactive imagination doesn't help. It's telling me that perhaps I've contracted a rare sinus infection, one that leaves behind damaged senses of smell and taste. That I'll never taste or smell again...okay, probably a little melodramatic. But still something that keeps popping into my head. For those of you who have read Bitter Pill, my mystery, you can probably see where Rennie's mom gets her hypochondriac tendencies from : )

All right. That's it from the patient today (patient as in one who sick, not one who has patience. Because as my husband can testify, that definitely does not apply to me : ) )

Talk to you tomorrow. (Which I intend to do. Blogging daily has been difficult due to my inability type without shivering from fever or constantly blowing my nose. But things seem to be improving. Just not fast enough. See I'm an impatient patient, probably the worst kind!)

All right. I'm back on my feet again.

Sorry for the gap in last week's blog entries. Wednesday night I started feeling not so hot and by Thursday morning, I was definitely down for the count (of two work days at least). Today is the first day I've felt semi-human--I was actually able to breathe out of both sides of my nose this morning for a brief and wonderous period of about fifteen minutes. I have a sinus infection, which should be getting better any year now, I hope.

Which brings me to my blog entry for the day. I thought about writing of all the disgusting and yet miraculous things the human body can do to heal itself (I still have no sense of taste, which is probably good because all the sinus stuff has been making me feel sick to my stomach--easiest diet I've ever heard of), but I figured that would probably be really too much information and more than a little off-topic. So I'll save "Ode to Mucus" for another day : ) And instead I'll talk about probably the most important thing you can do to be a good writer.

And that is...are you ready? Sit your butt in the chair everyday and write something on your current project. It doesn't matter if it's ten pages or ten sentences, but you have to keep moving or else you lose your momentum. Plus, it's amazing how quickly those little stints of two pages (or whatever your daily goal) add up. And if you don't do it everyday, sometimes you lose the freshness of whatever you're writing. You feel more removed, like you're the reader instead of the writer.

But, you say, wouldn't a little perspective be a good thing occasionally? To allow you to view your work as it truly is? The answer, NO! At least not until the end. For a couple reasons, one, you're still in the writing stage, so you don't want to go in there tinkering around as you may end up eliminating something you need later. And two, because you will begin to doubt yourself, it is a disease inherent in all writers, I believe. Probably all artists.

If you like what you have, inevitably, you will feel as you begin to write again that the new stuff on the page isn't as good as the previous stuff. Or, worse, you'll hate everything you have done and that'll destroy any desire to move forward.

In either case, you have to keep going. Writing without editing. Because the truth is, in the end, when the book is finished, you'll have the whole picture. And you'll be able to better see which parts fit and which don't. And the sections, characters and chapters that go into each of those categories (fit and don't fit) might be very different by the end of the book than they were in the middle.

Plus, at the end of the book, you won't be able to tell which pages were written on the good writing days and the bad writing days. Everyone has some of both. And to paraphrase Stephen King in On Writing (which is an excellent book that I recommend for all writers, regardless of genre): You won't be able to tell the good days from the ones where you feel like all you're managing to do is shovel sh*t from a sitting position. (Boy, I know that feeling--he describes it perfectly...another reason to read his book instead of my paraphrasing him).

Which leads me back to my main point. Write everyday. Set a goal. I think page or word limits work best in the beginning. I try for at least two pages every day before I go to work. Sometimes, I get there, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I get even more than two : ) Those are the really good days! I don't let myself feel bad about my progress unless I don't write anything at all. Which brings me back to the whole illness thing. Tomorrow, I have to begin writing again after three days away from it. The actual anticipation is usually worse than doing it. But it's so much easier to stay in the flow than it is to try to jump back in. But I'll do it, even though it will feel difficult. Because that's what writers do. They sit in their chairs everyday and put some words down, good, bad or undecided, on a page or a screen. And in the end, they've got something. A short story, a novel, a screen play. And then they can decide how to fix it, if it needs fixing it all.

Thought for the day: If you only write one page a day, in a year, you'll have novel-length manuscript. (Or, a whole bunch of short stories!) So, it's not about writing a book, it's about those one or two pages a day.

Okay, that's about enough of the pep talk (which was as much for me as for anyone else who's reading!)

Talk to you tomorrow (provided the mucus-slinging sinus monsters allow me to be up and moving around a second day in a row!) Sorry about all the mentions of the "m" word -- I think it's just a fun one to say, as disgusting as it is!

More exciting news!
I emailed my professors at VU to let them know that my book was going to be published and to say thank you for all the help they'd given me as a student (and after). And they asked me if I would consider coming to campus in the fall, after my book is published, to do a reading and possibly speak to a creative writing class. Okay, how freaking cool is that?!? And on top of that, I've also been asked to be the judge for the short-fiction category of Wordfest, the campus literary contest (which I was too afraid to enter when I was a student there!)

So, I'm really excited about all of this. It's such an honor to be asked and a privilege to be recognized, especially by people who have taught me so much.

The great thing about this is the opportunity to tell other people, other aspiring writers that it is possible, that it can be done, by someone just like them. Like I said a few blogs ago, I once wanted to be a librarian just so I could be close to the books. Being a writer seemed about as possible as being a movie star. And I've gotten a chance to take that first really big step. I don't want this to sound cheesey, but I want people to know that they can do it too. That you don't have to be a librarian (unless you want to), you can reach for and get your dream.

Okay, I think that's enough of the inspirational talk for now. Forgive me, folks, occasionally I ascend to somewhere around cloud 118 when I think about all of this (obscure reference to a cliche...never mind!) I'm just so excited! Okay, breathe. All right. That's better.

Tomorrow...perhaps something on fear of rejection and its evil twin, fear of success?

Talk to you tomorrow.

Research.
Sometimes the bane of my existence and other times, the very best part of writing. I think the thing that's hard about research for me, and maybe some other writers, is the temptation to get lost in it. You go in, searching for one odd fact or another, and then suddenly you find yourself buried in all kinds of interesting information that you'd love to dump into your manuscript. Big no-no. No one else is going to be interested in the mating habits of the blue-bearded cockatoo, or whatever. And putting all the information in, when it isn't really needed to move the story along, is just going to irritate the reader.

Laurell K. Hamilton had a good suggestion for research which I once read in an interview with her, I believe. Write the story first and find out what you need to know. How hot does silver have to be to melt? Does it ever snow in West Texas? This method helps you define what you need to know for yourself and also for the person or persons that you may need to call upon for answers.

That's probably my favorite research. Calling people I know and asking weird, random questions that I hope they'll know the answers to. Everyone you know is an expert in something and more than likely, they'll be glad to share the information. And it doesn't have to be their profession either. Need to know how it feels to have a tooth pulled or knocked out? Chances are, someone you know has had this happen to them. Want to know what it's like working in a restaurant? Again, someone you know has done this, even if it was just for one summer at McDonalds. If you were an affluent, self-involved lawyer having an affair with someone in a big fancy hotel, which downtown Chicago hotel would be appropriate? This one, obviously, they don't have to have had the affair to answer, thank goodness, but simply have a good knowledge of fancy Chicago hotels and their clientele. : )

I love doing this because I love finding out about all the stuff my friends and family know that I never knew that they knew (Ha! Figure that sentence out!) My mom once worked in a hospital and I had a question about a hospital pharmacy. So, I called her and asked. And the best part is family and friends don't even usually ask you why you want to know. After they've answered a few questions for you, they'll just say, "Need it for a book?" And you'll say, "Yep." And that will be the end of it. Because you probably shouldn't discuss specifically what you're working until it's finished. At least that's what I've found. But that's another blog topic for another blog day, ha!

Or, you can try doing the research, whatever it is, by experiencing it yourself. In the case of getting a tooth knocked out, I don't recommend this method, obviously. But for example, I realized about halfway through my first book, The Silver Spoon, that Zara, my heroine, was going to have to learn some self-defense skills. Otherwise, she'd never survive all these murderous aliens. So, I signed up for a 6 week kickboxing class, figuring I needed the exercise and if I learned something useful along the way, all the better. Now, a year later, I'm still taking the class and I love it. And I now know enough about it that when Zara demonstrates her skills in book 2 (title TBD!), it will seem real to the reader. Plus, if I have questions about kickboxing, I have the name of an expert or two!

That's it for now. It's been a great deal of fun telling everyone about my book contract. People have been so genuinely enthusiastic--it's wonderful! So, thank you to all of you for making the news even more special by your reaction to it!

Talk to you tomorrow.

Okay, so pretty much I feel that anything I put here now after this week's major announcement is kind of anti-climactic (not to be confused with anti-climatic, as in against the climate.) And yet, those of you know me, know that I usually still have plenty to say, so here we go...

Next Steps.
I signed the contract with RuneStone on Thursday and everything is set. They will begin a line edit of my book, which is exactly what it sounds like. A line by line edit of the book.

My editor (how cool is that to be able to say that?!?) also said that she will be sending me a cover art questionnaire. I've never seen one of those before but I'm guessing that it has to do with what I think should be on the cover or what style the cover should be. And this, folks, is one of the great things about working with a new and/or smaller press. They ask you for your input! They may or may not take it, but it's nice to be asked! That is not usually the case, at least from what I've heard, with the enormous houses in New York. So, I'm very excited about this opportunity.

It's my belief that covers can make or break a book. It is all about selling the book, true, but first it's about making people notice it and pick it up. If you're a big enough name (so not me, at least not yet!), people will notice your name on the cover and pick up the book. That's why, if you look at books by John Grisham, Nora Roberts, Danielle Steel, or Laurell K. Hamilton, their names are actually as large or sometimes even larger than the title of the book. At least, that's my theory.

But for those of us who are not known by name, I think you need a good cover. And that doesn't mean expensive or fancy, necessarily. Sometimes the absence of the expected is more powerful. The whole "less is more" theory. The cover for The Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold is one example of that theory in action, I think.

The one book cover I can think of that actually stopped me in my tracks and made me pick up the book is Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. The cover (on the U.S. version of the hardcover anyway) is beautiful image of a woman, sort of in fuzzy focus, you can't see her face, but if you pay attention, you can see her tail. It's a werewolf book. So that image, combined with the title, intrigued me enough to pick up the book and read the inside flap. (Incidentally Kelley is a great writer and very nice to her fans, interacting with them through her website.)

So, I'd like to do something that powerful for my cover, something that gets people to stop and look. After all, if you don't get people to look, they won't buy. I like the theory of what was done on Bitten. That you take something pretty ordinary, a woman on the cover, and make some detail of it unusual. In the case of my book, that's pretty much a theme throughout the whole thing. The Observers look pretty much like us, except for being taller, faster and better looking than us. Plus, their eyes. They have an additional protective layer, for lack of a better word, in the eye to protect them from extremely bright situations. It closes over the pupil and iris in varying degrees, depending on the situation. And like us and the dialation or constriction of the pupil in our eyes, extreme emotion, alcohol, etc. can also affect the silver. So that would kind of be a cool thing to show, if it would be possible.

The other thing is about covers is that I'd prefer not to show faces, at least not full on. For two reasons, don't you hate it when you have a cover with a tall, dark-haired heroine on the front and then when you get into it, you find out she's short and blonde? I know about artistic license, but that's a heck of a disconnect. And second, I know what Zara, Caelan, Asha and all the others look like, but you may imagine them differently. That's part of the fun of reading. And I think the cover can establish that a character should look a certain way, and then it's hard to get rid of that image in your head.

What do you think the cover should look like? What makes you pick up a book or pass it by? Send me an email: sklemstein@msn.com

Talk to you tomorrow!

It's been my dream for as long as I can remember to write stories. In fact for awhile, when I was younger, I thought about being a librarian, just so I could be close to books. And now it's actually happening. A book, one that I'm very proud of, will be available for your reading pleasure in ebook and trade paperback form, this summer or fall. And it will have MY NAME on it!!!

And contrary to popular belief, writing a book is not a solo effort. So, I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to thank everyone who has helped me along the way. Some version of this, I hope, will appear in the front of the book as well.

My thanks to:
-God, for making all things possible.
-My Mom and Dad, for reading to me and buying endless amounts of books.
-My husband, for always believing this was possible and also for dragging me out from behind my computer occasionally.
-My Grandma Barnes, for reading my first book and encouraging me to keep writing.
-RuneStone Publishing, for taking a chance on me. I promise, I'll do my best to make you proud (and make you money!)
-All my teachers and professors who encouraged my writing, Mrs. Koshinski, Mrs. Buske, Professors Uehling, Feaster, Byrne, Wangerin and Ruff.
-My fellow writers at work, especially Paula and Jeanine, for listening to me ramble, reading excerpts and celebrating with me.
-Marshall Cook for all his advice.
-My first readers: Ed, fight choreographer and web consultant extraordinaire, Deb, my is-this-scene-too racy-expert, Julie, who read this at work in less than a day and proclaimed it good, Becky, for catching all the missing words and for telling me that when she read it she forgot it was my stuff she was reading, and finally, Stacy Greenberg.

Stacy deserves an acknowledgement page unto herself. She read just about every query letter, synopsis and email I sent out, never hesitating to reread things over and over again. She answered my nervous what-am-I-going-to do-now phone calls, commiserated over my rejection letters and kept a cool head, something I was incapable of at times. And she never once stopped believing in me or my book, even when I wasn't feeling too sure. The Silver Spoon would not be what it is today without the help of all these people, especially Stacy. So, to my co-worker, my friend and first, first reader, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

All of you made this possible and I can't thank you enough for your time, your kindness and your generosity of spirit and words. You helped make my dream come true.