It’s Almost Spring

I dashed outside the Cave of Revision this morning and it’s true: it is almost Spring up here on the tundra. In fact, I think it will happen today, while I am deeply buried in my story.

I won’t be able to haunt the Forest with my camera to pounce on the Absolute Moment, so here is the closest I can come to proving this to you.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Here the Creature With Fangs poses next to one of the last piles of snow we have.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Next: daffodils on the brink of blooming. (Yes, those daffodils, mentioned in ’06!) I tried to get the CWF to pose here, too, but she was more interested in crushing the plants with her paws. I threw a stick in the other direction and snapped this shot.

Thank you to everyone who donated to my husband’s Race for Cancer. There is still time to help our cause and get some of the free LHA goodies mentioned earlier this week (scroll to bottom of post).

Attention New England SCBWI Conference attenders! Today is Day 5 of my 21-Day Writing Challenge. How’s it going for you? I’d love to hear what you’re doing – leave a note in the Comments section and pass the word along to the other folks who were there.

OK, back into the Cave I go.

Give & Receive Goodies!!!

I’m emerging briefly from the Cave of Revision (where I had a very nice epiphany yesterday, thank you, and now I’m pretty sure I know how to fix the part that wasn’t working in this story) to check the calendar.

Note: there is a chance to win free books ahead, including a collectible first edition. Keep reading!

Gasp. We only have 61 days until the half-marathon in Lake Placid.

::reaches for running shoes::
::slaps self and points to massive manuscript and mountain of notes::

Truth be told I ran yesterday, so today is a cross-training day (w00t). So far this year, I’ve done pretty good sticking to my goal of running 20 miles a week. As of yesterday, when I staggered up the driveway, I have run 303 miles since January 1st. The snow is finally gone up here on the tundra, so I’ve abandoned the treadmill in favor of hilly country roads well-stocked with rotting roadkill.

New readers of the blog might be wondering why on earth I’m doing all this running. My husband and I have vowed to raise $5,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training fund. The money goes for research into the causes of and treatments for blood cancers, which kills an American every ten minutes. My cousin is fighting this disease right now so it is a cause that means a great deal to our family.

Note: You’re almost to the part where you get to win the free stuff! Keep reading!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Because I know a million, bazillion people, I was able to meet my fundraising goal last month. My studly, adorable, patient, quick-witted husband (yeah, that’s him in the photo) is not far behind, but he could use a little help. He is 60% of the way to his goal. All he needs is another $1,000. But he needs it soon. (Photo by Sonya Sones, BTW.)

Here’s where the bribery begins… I mean, here’s the free stuff!!!!

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If you donate $50 toward Scot’s goal, I will send you a free audiobook of TWISTED (seen here hanging out with the revisions of my WIP).

If you donate $100, I’ll send the audiobook and a special surprise.

If you donate $500, I will send you a very rare, first edition, first printing copy of SPEAK. No one had high hopes for the book when it was published, so the first print run was limited. Here is your chance to snag a collectible.

Or you can donate what you can afford and receive our everlasting gratitude and a really good feeling in your heart. Come on. You’re about to get a check from the government. Here’s a way to put it to good use.

Please help us. It’s for a good cause.

Spring on the tundra

Mary Pearson posted gorgeous spring photos yesterday.

Since it was, officially, Spring, i.e. the Vernal Equinox, i.e. Ostara, and I was well enough to get off the couch, I went in search of proof of the event in my own backyard.

I didn’t find much. Down south in Syracuse, they have grass and mud. Up here on the tundra?

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Not so much. This is the end of my driveway. The driveway itself is slushy mud, which is a good sign, but there is still snow on the roof of the house.

::stares at Mary’s pictures again::

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Here are my daffodils.

My Beloved Husband noticed my pout and scanned the horizon for signs of Spring. “Look!” he shouted, pointing to a small building on the farm down the hill.

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I squinted. Put on my glasses. Squinted some more.

“No,” I shook my head. “You can’t fool me. We are going to be trapped in winter for months. And I’ll get the flu again. And we’ll lose power. And… and… and…”

He stuffed me into my (winter) coat and drove me down the road for a closer look.

He was right. Spring really is here.

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Because that’s not smoke. That is the sweetest steam in the world pouring out of the sugar shack. The maple sap is running in the Forest. The farmers are collecting the sap and boiling – right inside that wonderful building – into maple syrup.

The Trees are wise. They know. It is Spring.

I feel much, much better now.

Foggy Lincoln morn

I am writing this in the Springfield, IL airport, which is wrapped in fog so thick the planes can’t land or take off.

Yesterday was a crazy busy wonderful day at one of the best state reading/English teacher conferences I have ever been privileged to attend. Thank you to everyone in IL who greeted me to kindly and made a long day a lot of fun. I gave the lunch speech, a workshop on revision, and a workshop in which I divulged the “stories behind the stories”of my novels. And met a lot of very enthusiastic teachers at three book signing sessions. AND, last night, I read a chapter of CHAINS for the first time in public, which went over very well.

I ran into a couple of old and new friends, but didn’t have much time to chat.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Lisa Yee and her traveling Peep.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic Richard Peck and I chatted while waiting for our suitcases and in line for coffee.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic I just gawked at Brian Selznik

Image and video hosting by TinyPic This teacher was so, so, so sweet because she looked through DAMES and made all the right cooing noises and exclamations. And I am a heel for forgetting her name, but I will always remember how happy she made me.

Image and video hosting by TinyPic I met Liz last year when I was in St. Louis on book tour; we got to hang out a bit and talk about historical fiction.

OK, fog is lifting, plane is boarding. Thank you, Fine Teachers of the Land of Lincoln! I salute you!

Done!

::dances around office::

Taxes are done! Taxes are done! Taxes are done! Now they go to the accountant and (::crosses fingers::) he’ll review everything and tell me my estimated quarterly payments were enough.

I promise that this week I will answer the extremely good questions about the writing process sent in by a bunch of you guys. The rest of the weekend is devoted to some work for Editor #1 and a phone call with Editor #2 to discuss the draft I sent her last week.

Before I dive back into my source notes and scribble madly, a few concluding pics from Chattanooga, TN, plus a gorgeous picture from the hinterlands.

The morning I left, I stopped at Hixson High School….

and did Laurie put all of the students to sleep?