Pardon Our Dust!

We're doing a bit of housekeeping around here on the blog, so excuse our dust! This week, we're doing a Free-For-All topic, so we can talk about whatever we choose. I spent last night with one of my college roommates, so I'm feeling nostalgic. Thus, I'm going to talk about my favorite movies when I was a kid.

1. The Goonies
I honestly didn't think there was a man or woman my age who didn't like this movie. Until my friend's husband ratted her out last night that she didn't share our love for this movie. I shrunk back in horror, hand clenched to my chest. My eyes slowly narrowed as I pressed myself against the couch. Who was this person? How did she deceive me for four year in college? Today, I'm still baffled.

2. Stand By Me
My parents' wouldn't let me watch this movie, thanks to the R-rating, but thankfully I had babysitters who cared more about teasing their bangs than censoring my television. After a couple of viewings, it was my favorite movie, not only because it was forbidden. I recently re-watched it, and it definitely holds up--especially the soundtrack.

3. The Neverending Story
I would follow along with Atreyu as he tried to battle and find the Princess. My couch became the giant mud hill where the enormous turtle-man lived (Forgive me if I can't remember Giant Turtle Man Who Lived in A Dirt Mountain's name...) and my poor aging beagle was the killer wolf I had to fight at the end. Let's just say that I'm very glad my parents didn't really use their video camera much during this time period.

4. Halloween
I really don't think I've seen a scary movie--to this day--that I've loved as much as Halloween. With none of the gore and torture found in many modern-day horror films, Halloween is simple and brilliant in its chills. I force my husband to watch all of the Halloween movies each year in October. Even the really crappy ones that are supposed to be set in Illinois, but have very clear mountain peaks in the horizon of each scene.

So that's it! Did I forget any of your favorites?

Happy Release Day to Me!

It feels very surreal to be celebrating the publication of Not Ready for Mom Jeans. I keep thinking the release is next month, or next year, or somewhere far, far away. As of today, I'm no longer a "debut" author, which is both thrilling and unbelievable. My dream was always to have a book out--just one--and now I officially have two. Pardon me while I say Whoa. (Bonus points if you were just reminded of Joey Lawrence on Blossom.)

In honor of the release of Mom Jeans, I chose the topic of fashion mistakes. My main character, Clare, is determined to stay somewhat hip and with-it, despite now having a baby. She has a serious case of minivanitis and refuses to trade in her j

For all those wondering, let me define what "Mom Jeans" actually are for you. Tyra banks actually had a very helpful diagram on her show recently. Mom Jeans generally have a very long zipper, well above the belly button, are pleated in the front and taper down toward the ankles, giving the wearer an ice-cream cone look. Very often, they are also really, really light colored, further adding to the unattractiveness.

Saturday Night Live did a hilarious spoof of Mom Jeans here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/10333/saturday-night-live-mom-jeans

While I can't admit to actually wearing Mom Jeans, there have been plenty of cringe-worth fashion mistakes in my time. I grew up in the late eighties/early nineties, and thus was best friends with my crimping iron. I even had the one that would crimp (read: burn) designs into your hair like a heart or a star. My mother never let me leave the house like that, but Still.

My favorite outfit when I was about twelve was an orange and black splatter paint shirt coupled with a poufy nylon bright orange skirt with black bike shorts underneath. I mean, Seriously. I also had acid-washed jeans with fluorescent puffy splatter paint all over it--that glowed in the dark. Again, I say: Seriously?!

And let's not forget the fashion trends of the mid-nineties--namely, a dark green crushed velvet babydoll dress paired with a black velvet choker and chunky black shoes. In 1995, I was extremely fashionable. Yet I still want to hide the pictures.

So let's hear it folks! What fashion mistakes will you admit to?

High Maintenance

I really, really hope that my mother doesn't read this week's post, as I know whatever I end up confessing, she would remind me of about 500 additional incidents that caused her to pull out her hair.

My mother always referred to me as her "high-maintenance child" because I was colicky as n infant and strong-willed as a toddler and beyond. She has since eaten these words, after raising my siblings who have totaled three cars, gotten brought home by the police, had our house t.p.-ed, and so on. "High-maintenance" sounds pretty good right about now, huh?

Of course, I had my fair share of difficult moments as a child. If my mom said up, I said down. She suggested I wear pants to school, and I'd only want to wear a dress. Sometimes I think I argued with her just for the sake of challenging her and to see if her head would pop off due to frustration. Like the time when I was in kindergarten and she brought me to a fancy department store and told me not to touch anything. I responded by knocking over a mannequin and shattering it into a million pieces. That one wasn't on purpose. I think.

And as a teenager, I had my fair share of "I'll just say I'm sleeping over at a friend's house" and missed curfews. Then, when I entered college, I decided to get a tattoo. Her reaction of, "That's nice" was somewhat anti-climactic.

But as I've said before, everything I did that my parents thought was terrible has been either matched or completely overshadowed by my two brothers and sister. Yet my mother still calls me her difficult child, despite never having crashed their car into the side of the garage and then pretended that the huge dent just "appeared overnight." Ahem.

A few years ago, I had my own high-maintenance child. My mother smiled and sat back, happy with the knowledge that karma is truly a great thing.

Sunday Night Dinners

It's hard to pinpoint one specific "best" of everything that my mother has taught me. If forced to choose, I suppose I would select the strong importance of family that she instilled in each one of her children.

I'm the oldest of four siblings, ranging from me down to my seventeen year old brother. We're each at unique stages in our lives--my brother is building his law career, my sister just graduated college and is trying to find her place in the world and my youngest brother is preparing to move away from home and start college. The past several years, my parents' house has been a revolving door of children moving in, out, and back again. My mom jokes that she'll never get empty nest syndrome since one of her kids will always be living under her roof.

Despite all of my siblings being scattered among different milestones in their lives, my mother always makes a point to cook Sunday night dinners for all of us. My brother takes the train to the suburbs from the city, my husband, son and I drive over from our house, my sister delays her night's plans and my youngest brother stumbles out of bed so we can all spend time together and cook dinner.

Sometimes, I forget how special those Sunday night dinners are, especially when I talk to other people who look at me strangely when I mention that I get together with my family once a week. People ask me if it's a burden, or even an obligation. It's not. After a long, tough week, it's great to be able to curl up on my parents' couches in my sweatpants and tease my brother or read magazines with my sister.

My mom has made such an effort to enforce an "open door" policy at their house, it really brings all of us much closer to each other. And that is something that will be both her best accomplishment and her legacy.

Mr. Mom

Hey all! So this month, we're posting about mom-related topics leading up to the week of Not Ready for Mom Jeans release on May 25th. It's amazing to me that I will soon have a second book out, as it seems like just last month that A Bump in the Road hit bookstore shelves. Even those close to me seem shocked that it's time to release another book baby into the world! But enough about that--I have all month to get used to the idea!

This week we're talking about our favorite fictional moms. I'll admit, I was thrilled to choose the topic, but now that it's actually time to decide, I'm a bit stumped. So I'm going to cheat a bit and choose one of my favorite mom-related movies: Mr. Mom.

For all who haven't seen Mr. Mom, it stars Teri Garr and Michael Keaton and is about a stay-at-home mom who re-enters the corporate world while her former working husband stays home as...Mr. Mom. Throughout the movie, he deals with a wayward vacuum cleaner, a baby that somehow manages to open a can of chili, organizes a poker game for grocery story coupons and battles the temptation to wear the same outfit every day. Now that I write full-time at home, I can certainly identify with some of those! Speaking of which, I should probably find some new jeans...

But what I love best about this movie is that it portrays a real family. In reality, not every situation is Donna Reed or June Cleaver-esque. Sometimes, the mom works and the dad stays home. Or both parents work and a babysitter comes to the house. Or one parent works during the week and the other on the weekends or at night. It's never as clean and neat as Hollywood sometimes portrays. Families are messy and flexible and ever-changing--and THAT is something to celebrate!

Spooked

Happy Tuesday everyone! Thankfully, this morning is going a bit smoother than the past few weeks, thanks in large part to a healthy dose of Elmo blaring on the television. And good thing, since I'm so excited to talk about Tracy's latest book: A BREATH OF MAGIC!

I absolutely loved the fun combination of romance, magic and plot twists in her first two books, so I'm betting that I'll eat up her latest. It's hard to believe that in the short time we've all been blogging together, some of us have two books out already, and now...a third! It seems that publishing truly is a roller coaster--it might take a long time to get up the hill, but once the ride starts, it just keeps going!

For her release week, Tracy has chosen the topic of all things paranormal/mystical/spiritual. This is perfect since I'm in the middle of writing a proposal for a spooky ghost story set on my college alma mater's campus. I've always loved scary movies, and routinely creep myself out by watching all the ghost documentaries and shows on television like A Haunting, Paranormal State, Haunted History and Ghost Hunters. Of course, I usually end up screwing my eyes shut at night and trying not to think about any suspicious noises! In fact, when I told my husband about this book, he gave me a quick side-eye and asked if I'd have to start sleeping with the lights on after all my research!

And Chicago is the perfect place to enjoy ghost stories. There is so much haunted lore and reported paranormal sightings each year, this writer has inspiration all around her! In fact, last year, some friends and I went on a ghost tour of the city. We rode around in a school bus and stopped at a few locations while actual paranormal investigators talked about the history of each locale. At one spot--Jane Addams Hull House--the stories were so creepy, my friend refused to get off the bus. I, of course, loved it!

My enjoyment of all things spooky was present even as a child. My birthday is the week before Halloween, and every year I'd have a slumber party with my friends. We'd go to a Haunted House and then watch scary movies until dawn, creeping each other out when we heard tree branches scraping against the window panes or a floorboard creak in my parents' 100 year old house.

So, fellow readers, what creeps you out?

Make sure you comment this week, to be entered to win a signed copy of A BREATH OF MAGIC! Also make sure you pop over to Tracy's website for more contest goodness, including Borders gift cards and a reading with a Clairvoyant! Pretty cool, huh? And for more fun, be sure to check out Tracy's interview with the Examiner here!

Good Grief! It's Tuesday Again?

I sat all day and ruminated on this topic. I contemplated all of the various reasons why I stop reading a book: plot, characters, pacing, sett--forget it, nevermind.

I can't lie. I didn't even realize it was Tuesday until about five minutes ago. My brain doth be fried. It's after five pm, and my house is a disaster thanks to a toddler with Godzilla-like destruction powers, dinner is still in the freezer, my dog is whining to go out, my son is bouncing a basketball against our glass patio door, and I still have about 1500 words to type today to reach my word count goal. (Which is, in case you're wondering, um, 1500 words a day.) The past few weeks have been the I-can-barely-keep-my-head-above-water variety. So, I guess I'll have to invoke a good ole cliche here: better late than never, right?

Anyway, time to address the topic at hand! There's really no one reason I stop reading a book, other than a missing connection with the main character. As a reader, I can forgive a lot. Bad decisions, whiny behavior, clearly putting one's self in danger a la a horror movie. But that's only if I truly, genuinely like the main character. If she or he is someone relatable, who makes me laugh, and who I emotionally connect with. Of course, there's no one way to achieve that connection, but as a writer, I just want something, anything that I can grasp.

Otherwise, I'll be shouting at the pages when she breaks up with her boyfriend, or have the sudden urge to slap her when she whines about her job. Truth is, we all do those things. But there has to be enough there for me to forgive those flaws...which brings me to another point. The main character has to understand that she/he has flaws. There's nothing worse than reading a book wherein the main character is so, so shocked when he/she discovers that there is still Work To Do, emotionally. Especially when we as readers are screaming, "DUH!"

So, for me, as a writer, the way this all translates into my books is that I must, must, must intimately know my characters. And often, my books begin with just a character. The rest all happens later.

Speaking of happening later, if I don't get this dinner started, we will all be eating around 10pm. Until next week!

Glorious Silence.

After spending the morning dealing with more than a few two-year-old tantrums, being stranded on a desert island sounds wonderful right now! I imagine there would be lovely water, a beautiful beach and glorious, wonderful silence, with nary a scream or a shriek around. Hopefully, I'd have enough notice so I could pack a few things.

Besides all of the essentials like toothpaste, toothbrush and contact solution, I'd say an absolute necessity would be my laptop. I envision having my trust Sony Vaio, along with a wireless internet card. That way, I could still go on Facebook, Twitter and keep up on my favorite blogs. Of course, it would also help if I chose to be rescued. I'd spend the days lounging on the sand, typing away at my latest book. I wouldn't have to fetch a sippy cup, or take the dog outside, or yell at the cat for jumping up on the kitchen countertops. I'd just spend my days writing and laying on the sand. I bet I could write an entire book in about two weeks if I had free time and silence.

Of course, after some time, I'd miss my husband and my son. So maybe I'd have to send a boat to pick them up and bring them to the island with me. Under strict rules against any loud noises or screeching, of course.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go fetch Elmo from under the couch. This, apparently, is a tragedy.

So Many Emotions!

After Tracy's ultra-detailed and spot-on post yesterday, I'm not sure what new information I can add to the discussion of the logistics of what happens after an author turns a book in. It varies a bit, but most publishers follow a similar timeline: developmental edits, line edits, copyedits, galleys, second pass, final book. There might be some changes to this scenario, like in special circumstances when a book is really being pushed through quickly, so occasionally some steps might get combined. So, instead, I'm going to talk about another process that dovetails with the logistics of getting a book into publication: the author's emotions.

Step up, everyone, and witness Maureen's Rollercoaster of Writer-Crazy!

Developmental Edits: This is the first real feedback you get from your editor. Sure, he or she bought your book, so they don't totally hate it. But this is where they go, "It's great, BUT..." For Mom Jeans, this letter was ten pages looooong. And had sentences like, "No. Just no." Not surprisingly, this is also the stage where I cried my eyes out, gnashed my teeth, sent off a few pouty emails, had two glasses of wine, and realized my editor Katie was so, so right. And also? She's brilliant.

Line Edits: This is when your editor tells you if you pulled off your initial revisions. Thankfully, I did. *wipes sweat from brow* The real fine-tuning and clean up began here. Whereas the developmental edits are more global in scale, line edits are more like, "Cut this sentence. It sounds ridiculous." Not that specifically, but you know what I mean.

Copyedits: My eyes bugged out the first time I saw copyedits. I also instantly gained mucho respect for copyeditors. I'll never forget when I saw my copyedits for A Bump, and the copyeditor made a little note that I had Clare watching Lost on a Monday night, when, during that time period, Lost aired on Wednesday night. It made me chuckle, and completely realize that my book was Bigger Than Me at that stage.

Galley: Much screaming occurred at this stage, too. Because this was the first time I saw my book as a, well, book. It's all nicely bound, with a pretty cover. Even though there's some refining still to be done, and mistakes still exist on the pages, it's like a dress rehearsal. I started to actually believe, holding my words in between a shiny cover, that my little story was going to be an actual book.

Final Pass: This is your last shot to make any changes to the book. This is also the stage where I start freaking out, and want to heavily edit the entire book--rewording sentences, scrapping whole chapters, etc. But then I always see the little asterisk in my editor's letter that reads: "You may be charged for any extensive revisions made to the text." And suddenly, that sentence looks just fine.

Finished Book: Although the moment when twenty finished copies of A Bump dropped on my doorstep was fabulous and mind-blowing, at that point, I was somewhat Over It. I'd seen my book and edited my words about a hundred billion times. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to see it all finished and pretty, but my brain had moved on a bit to the next book, so I was just happy I didn't have to do any more copyedits!

Then, of course, the promotion really begins with book fairs, signings, launch parties and conferences, but that is when I switch out my "Writer" hat for my "Author" hat.

Love It!

I graduated college with a degree in psychology and a double minor in history and sociology. So, yeah, I think it's safe to say that I'm one of those crazy individuals who actually enjoys doing research. I actually sometimes miss the days of getting lost in the library, books and silence surrounding me, before finding a quiet spot and pecking away at my laptop for hours. Good grief, what I wouldn't give to have just an hour of that in my day now!

My first two books, A Bump in the Road and Not Ready for Mom Jeans, didn't require much research, except for the occasional, "How many weeks into a pregnancy is a woman supposed to get a glucose test?" But the book I'm outlining right now, has required a bit more research into paranormal things like hauntings, research methods for finding family ancestry and midwives in the 1800s. Sounds pretty wild, huh? It is, in the best way possible!

As a writer, I continually like to challenge myself. I'd rather attempt to do a Big Book, and do the authorial equivalent of biting off more than I can chew (write?), than to just keep writing the same kinds of books year after year. I hope to have a varied career, with lots of different kinds of tomes in my bibliography. I guess what I'm trying to get across is that I'd rather attempt and fail than sit comfortably and be slightly bored.

I've mentioned before that the business side of publishing, the idea of being an "author" and not just a "writer," can be difficult to manage. That's why it's so important that a writer enjoys writing. We have to love our stories, really LOVE them, before we can send them out into the world. For me, in this current manuscript, this means finding a small historical detail that makes me go, "Ooooh!" and furiously fitting it into my outline. I absolutely adore the spark of inspiration that comes with connecting historical realities with my imaginary book world.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some dusty old books with cracked spines that are calling to me!

Complimented or Challenged

In the real world, people don't exist inside a bubble; there are events, actions, and storylines happening around them. In a book, it should be the same scenario. Whatever is happening to the main character, whatever journey he/she is embarking upon, should be complimented or challenged by external forces. Very often, this will mean a subplot.

I think Tracy said it well yesterday when she commented that subplots and secondary characters--a book's supporting cast, if you will--often go hand-in-hand. For me, it's because the secondary characters are often the ones who are acting out and involved in those subplots.

In a Bump in the Road, Clare's best friend Reese is going through a difficult marriage and a surprise pregnancy. This allows Clare to realize that life has many curveballs, and while she herself is unexpectedly pregnant, her marriage is stable and happy. Seeing her friend's challenges reminds her to be grateful for her blessings.

On the other hand, Clare's friend Julie is a party girl and still going out and having fun every night of the week. She meets a new man throughout the book and endures the challenges of a new relationship. Hearing about Julie's late-night escapades and adventures, reminds Clare that she's entered a totally new stage in her life, and will have to grow into her new role as a mother.

What worked about these subplots is that they both stood on their own. As in, they had their own narrative. However, they directly connected back to the main storyline by either mirroring the main character's emotional journey, or conflicting with it. That's truly the key in an effective subplot: it needs to be relevant to the story, either emotionally or externally.

My Ten Year To-Do List

The topic for this week is 10 Years From Now, I... as a kind of response to the post we did a few weeks back, 10 Years Ago, I... I had the best time reading about how far we've all come in the past decade, so I thought it would be fun to break out our crystal balls (as Tracy said!) and predict the future!

So, here we go:

1. Continued writing success. Over the next ten years, I hope to have launched around a book a year. I hope that my writing continues to improve and reaches a larger audience each year.
2. Travel. As Tracy put it, I'd love to have a few more stamps in my passport. My husband and I visited Australia for our honeymoon, and I'd love to go back sometime. Hopefully, our toddler will be slightly more well behaved in ten years! I'd also love to go back to Hawaii and take a cruise around the Mediterranean. My craziest travel goal (although I really don't foresee this happening in ten years) is to someday visit the Galapagos Islands.
3. Own a car with mileage that is not in six digits. My husband and I bought our cars soon after we graduated college, with the assumption that we'd upgrade in five years or so. The darn things have held on so well, that they each hit the 100,000 mile mark with little signs of slowing down. ( I do realize that I may have jinxed myself by putting this in writing...)
4. Own four bedrooms. Right now, my husband and I live in a three-bedroom townhouse that is quickly becoming WAY too small for all of the various pets/toddler toys strewn around. We'd love to move into a house, with a real backyard. Hopefully, soon. Or else I'm moving into the garage.

Of course, there are many other goals, like to hit the New York Times list with one of my books, to own a fabulous vacation home in South Carolina, and a whole closet full of Prada, but those are more dreams than concrete goals. Oh, and a pony. I'd like a pony.

My Picks!

This topic is very appropriate for this week, since Sunday is Oscar night! I, unfortunately, haven't seen many of the movies that are nominated, but I always look forward to the glitz and glamour of the evening. I plunk down in front of the television mid-afternoon and turn on the red carpet coverage, much to the feigned dismay of my husband. I say feigned because after awhile, he forgets that he's supposed to roll his eyes at the red carpet, and starts commenting on the clothes right along with me.

But, like I said, I haven't seen many of the nominated movies, so I can't discuss them for this week's topic: Favorite Recent Movies. So here are my picks for movies I've actually watched:

Food, Inc.
I grumbled for a long time about seeing this documentary about the state of the food industry. It had been recommended many times to me, but I was dearly afraid that I'd watch it and go bug-eyed. Not to mention, I was terrified I'd never be able to eat a normal meal again. Which turned out to be kind of true, albeit in a good way. The movie covers everything from food production, cost, trends and additives. It was eye-opening, but not in a grotesque way. It simply encouraged me to really "know" what I'm eating and make better meal choices for my family, even if it costs a bit more.

A definite must, but don't say I didn't warn you when you find yourself frozen in the middle of the organic food aisle in the grocery store!

Avatar
Oh boy, my husband resisted this one in a big way. He complained for weeks after the movie came out that it resembled a cartoon, that it reminded him of Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace, despite all of our friends commenting otherwise. Finally, I bribed him with unlimited free popcorn and we went to see the movie in 3-D. Afterward, he was silent until I poked him in the ribs and said, "Well?" His words, lo, did he eat them.

Now, of course, he recommends it to everyone he meets, including random strangers.

The Hangover
OK, so this one isn't really recent, but other than Avatar, it's the last movie I saw in the theater. This time, I was the one grudgingly pulled into the movie. I thought the previews looked dumb, but (again) the repeated endorsements from friends convinced me enough to buy a ticket. I had little hope and expectation, and figured it would be a couple of hours where I didn't have to police my son. (The people next to us did not have the same thought; they brought their three year old. To an R-rated movie. I think my head exploded a bit.)

This time, I was the one munching on my words. I laughed my butt off, especially at the end. If you haven't seen this movie, you must rent it. Yes, it's stupid, juvenile and raunchy, but in the best possible way.

So that's it! I wish I could get out and see more movies, but alas, I'll have to settle for renting DVDs. My husband and I are going to rent The Cove next, a documentary about dolphins kept in captivity--I've heard it's a must-see.

Any other recommendations?

Little By Little

The topic of the week is Setting Writing Goals--something that, for me, is pretty easy. It's the actual, um, accomplishing of the goals that's the hard part. Sure, it's easy to say, "I'll definitely finish this book by the end of next month!" But the day-to-day commitment is where the challenge truly begins.

Having just finished my next book, I've found that there's truly no "easy" period for me when writing. I'm full of energy and excitement for the first third of the book, but also daunted when I realize that, after all those hours, I'm still only about 15% finished. My brain starts whispering, It would be so easy to quit right now.

But, eventually, I push through to the dreaded middle. This is where many manuscripts are at risk of death. You've set your story up, and now you need to amp up the conflict, throw in subplots and work toward the climax. I'm always tempted at this point to start throwing in filler scenes, just to pad my word count. In the back of my head, I'm always asking, "What's the point of this scene?" and the writer inside me who just wants to write The End will snap back, "It shows, um, character development. And Stuff."

Finally, after much blood, sweat, tears and carpal tunnel, I'm at the last third of the book. It is now that I begin to hate my book. Because I'm so freaking SICK of it and I just want to reach the final scene. I can already see the problems in the manuscript and know it's going to take a lot more effort to bring it up to shape before I can ship it off to my agent. Finally, I type the last sentence.

So I close my computer, vowing to start revisions the next day, and cast a side-glance at the writing goals calendar that I drew up a few months prior. And I laugh heartily. Better late than never, right?
'

It's Tuesday Already?

A confession: I thought today was Monday until about five minutes ago, when I looked at the calendar and shrieked, "The blog! I have to post on the blog!" In my defense, my husband and I returned late Sunday night from a weekend in Vegas, so I barely know what hour it is, let alone day of the week. But, armed with a strong cup of coffee, I'm just about ready to go.

This week's topic is the Winter Olympics. I didn't get a chance to watch the opening ceremonies, as I was at a piano bar in the Palazzo hotel while they were going on. I did see a brief glimpse of one of the performances while I was ordering a frozen drink. But I'm so, so excited to watch all of the events.

Yesterday, I caught a recap of some of the moguls races, and I honestly have no idea how those skiers have any cartilage left in their knees. I also love the ski jumping, and always hold my breath until the skier is safely on the ground, no injuries in sight. And I'm sure I'll watch a bit of hockey, along with some speed skating.

One event I can't bear to watch is the cross country skiing. I tried to flip it on for a few minutes yesterday, and had to turn it off. The reason is because it makes me exhausted just to watch! I inadvertently start huffing and puffing from my sedentary position on the couch, until my husband reminds me that the only physical activity I did in the last five minutes was adjust the couch pillows. So, no long-distance skiing for me.

I do love all of the figure skating, although my husband can barely take it. It's too stressful for him to watch, as he's always worried someone is going to fall. And, unfortunately, it seemed like a lot of the pairs last night did just that. But I love the over-the-top costumes, the excessive eye makeup, the body glitter not seen since 1990, and the drama of the scoring.

What are you all looking forward to watching?

Comfort Foods for the Long Winter

I thought long and hard about which recipe to post this week. Since we're in the middle of winter, I've been making lots of warm comfort food lately. Last night, we had fake Chipotle burrito bowls that I made with lime-cilantro rice. (Sounds really fancy, but really it's just rice with fresh-squeezed lime juice and some chopped cilantro thrown in.) We usually throw some black beans, jarred green salsa, sour cream, cheese and homemade guacamole into it.

Tonight, I'm making a beef stew. I found some great grass-fed, organic beef stew meat, so I'm going to let of pot of beef, carrots, onions and celery simmer all day on the stove. Yum!

But, I must admit, my favorite winter recipes involve sugar, flour, and chocolate in cupcake form. I just love firing up that Kitchenaid countertop mixer and making my own frosting. There's nothing like enjoying a truly homemade, warm, freshly-frosted cupcake while the snow rages outside.

One of my favorite cupcake recipes comes from The Pioneer Woman. If you guys haven't checked out her blog, definitely give it a look. Her recipes are strictly of the comfort-food variety, although reader be warned--she uses just as much butter as Paula Deen.

Here is the recipe for The Pioneer Woman's Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing:
(Recipe can be found on her blog here.)

2 cups Cake Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
¾ teaspoons Salt
½ cups Unsalted Butter, Softened
1 cup Sugar
3 whole Eggs Room Temperature
2 teaspoons Vanilla
¾ cups (plus A Tad More) Whole Milk
_____
FOR THE ICING:
¾ cups Sweetened, Condensed Milk
6 ounces, weight Semi-sweet Chocolate
2 Tablespoons Butter

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
With an electric mixer, mix butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy. Scrape sides of bowl and mix for a few more seconds. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla. Mix to combine.
Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk in three batches, mixing for a few seconds after each addition. Scrape sides of bowl, then mix one final time.
Fill paper-lined muffin tins 3/4 full with batter. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until poufy but not brown. Cool before icing.

Sticky Chocolate Icing: Mix ingredients together in a small/medium saucepan. Melt ingredients over medium low heat, stirring gently. Icing is ready when all ingredients are melted and combined.
Spoon warm icing over warm cupcakes, stirring icing to smooth after every third cupcake or so. Allow iced cupcakes to sit at least ten minutes before serving.

Love and Hate.

Like Tracy, I think winter is the perfect excuse to snuggle indoors under a blanket with a cup of hot tea and a good book. (As you might remember from a few weeks ago, my TBR pile is quite towering, so I definitely have my pick of fabulous reads!) It's sometimes difficult, though, to appreciate this cold weather. Mainly because our cold nights aren't just chilly--they're downright frostbite-inducing. For instance, I remember getting a day off school in high school because the wind chill was something like -50.

And our Winter Weather Advisories don't just mean a few snowflakes. It's more like a foot of snow, with a layer of ice, making the roads extra fun for rush hour travel. And, being the hearty Midwesterners that we are, we won't even cancel school or close offices.

But, enough about the weather. I think the winter brings a very special opportunity for me: the chance to take a breather. After the craziness of the holiday season, we still have at least two months of hardcore winter. It's chance to regroup, recharge our batteries and slow down a bit before the craziness of the summer starts up again.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite winter activity: skiing. Last year, my family and I journeyed out to Keystone, Colorado for a long weekend filled with skiing, snowboarding, eating and ice-skating. We ate dinner at a fondue restaurant at the mountain's peak. Let me just say, there is nothing quite like sitting next to fire and sipping wine at Lord-knows-how-many-thousands-of-feet up. It's a beautiful, magical place, and one where I hope to visit again this year.

So I think what all this means is that I have a pretty firm love/hate relationship with winter. And I'm hoping that this year, I can focus on the "love" part a bit more!

So Very Different

10 years ago, in January of 2000, I was in the second semester of my junior year in college. And yes, my life was SO very different! I hadn't met my husband yet--that would come the following year--and I lived on a diet of beer and pizza. I viewed an early bedtime as anything before two in the morning, and a night out was always less than $20. I had a horrid fake ID that I bought on the internet, that said I was from Vermont, but was never questioned.

I remember that I laughed a lot, as I had some of the best roommates and friends. Five of us lived in a two-bedroom apartment with a tiny walk-through kitchen. Sure we'd have fights over who didn't do their dishes and the amount of the electric bill, but it was a small trade-off to be continually surrounded by my best friends. And yes, many stories from this time period have made it into my books, in one incarnation or another and I gave my roommates proper credit in the acknowledgements of both.

At twenty years old, my dreams of publication continued to grow. I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation, but I knew someday, I would be a writer. I figured I'd write a book when I had something more to "say" and when I had more free time. (Insert laughter here, as I had about four million more minutes of free time than I do now!)

I was an avid reader, although that nasty thing called school work often got in the way. It was around this time that I first read Marian Keyes' Watermelon, a book that really changed the way I viewed the publishing industry. Her book reminded me that writing should be fun, rather than a vicious, difficult process. (Although it still is, many times.)

I think the most surprising thing is that, although my life has changed in so many ways via a husband, toddler, mortgage, book deal, I'm still pretty similar to the girl who sat in her apartment ten years ago, eating Papa John's pizza and watching Friends. When I recently visited my sister at school, the same school I attended, I wanted to ask all of her friends what they were doing on campus, as they were clearly too young to be in college. My friends and I are supposed to be the ones bar-hopping and walking to class, right?

But then, true to sister-form, she reminded me that I'm thirty years old now, and have a child, so I should feel lucky that I even blend in with the real college students. I think I ignored her and ordered a pizza.

My 2009 Favorites

If there's one thing that remains a constant in my life, it's an enormous TBR pile on my nightstand. I'm not kidding, there's eight books currently sitting in a stack, patiently awaiting their turn. And Christmas didn't help any, as I got six new books to add to the pile. 2009 was truly the year of the self-regenerating TBR pile.

Let me start off with saying that I loved, loved, loved each and every Novel Girl book this year. I think it's really neat how we all share this common bond, yet each of our books and, thus, our writing styles are so different. But I truly enjoyed them all, so Thank You!

As for non-Novel Girl books that I loved in 2009, there have also been a few. Here's just a sampling:

1. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. I know I've mentioned this one before, but I was astounded by this book. It's about a woman who moves into her grandmother's home to help clear it out for sale, and finds an ancient key in an old Bible with a piece of paper stuck to it, bearing the words Deliverance Dane. This book combines tons of historical information about the Salem Witch trials, told in such an interesting way, along with a fun narrative.

2. Time of My Life by Allison Winn Scotch. This book is about Jillian, a discontented wife and mother, who one day wakes up seven years in her past and gets to make all of her important life choices over again--getting married, leaving her job, moving out of the city. It's sort of Peggy Sue Gets Married meets Family Man, if that makes any sense. I loved that it combined a commercial, high-concept with truly beautiful writing. (And I think Allison is just one of the nicest people ever!)

3. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. I've been a fan of Sophie Kinsella since the first Shopaholic book--which I just found out there will be another one releasing later this year (Squee!). This book is about a woman who wakes up one day to find that she not only has amnesia, but that her life is...better. She's married to a man with movie-star looks, has the perfect body, lives in a mansion and has a closetful of designer clothes. A fun beach read, I breezed right through it and laughed a bunch of times along the way.

4. Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink. This was my favorite YA book in 2009. I don't want to give too much away, but it's a haunting, creepy Gothic historical about twin sisters and an ancient prophecy that is awakened on the night their father passes away. I cannot wait for the second book.

5. The Pat Conroy Cookbook by Pat Conroy. This isn't a new book, but I've been a huge Pat Conroy fan for nearly ten years. I've had this book for awhile, but never cracked it open. When I did, I fell in love. The book intertwines Pat's life stories with some of his favorite recipes, many French-inspired. As a writer, I loved the sections where Pat talked about how he broke in to publishing. Here's a quick one: apparently, when Pat received his first-ever offer on a book, he countered that he could have the book printed for much less than the sum mentioned by the publisher. As in, he thought that amount was what he had to pay the publisher to put his book out.

Happy reading!

Looking Ahead

Forgive me, but I'm in a bit of a haze today. 2010 greeted my son and I with a wallop of a cold, so I spent much of last night surrounded by tissues, cold medicine and cough drops. To everyone out there who has kids, you know that it's one thing to be sick yourself, but it's quite another to have a germ-y child running around.

But, despite the not-so-warm welcome into this year, I have an inkling that 2010 will be the best year yet for all of us Novel Girls. 2010 is really the year where we move from debut writers to career writers, and I know it's going to be filled with lots of blessings.

Of course, I'm excited about launching my next book on May 25, Not Ready for Mom Jeans. I've said it before, but I'm having trouble realizing that it's time to get back into promo mode, since I'll soon have two babies out there. I hope that the world is just as kind to my second book as it has been to my first. I do wonder if it will be easier or harder to launch a book that isn't my "debut," but I guess I'll find out soon!

I'm also looking forward to turning in my option book, In My Life. I'm in the middle of doing a big revision due to some pretty awesome agent notes, so hopefully 2010 will be gentle and allow me to coast right through 'em!

On the personal side, in 2010 my energetic toddler will turn three. I'm hoping the terrible twos will taper off as his birthday grows near! Lately, I've had to drag him out of bookstores, kicking and screaming, more times than I care to share. (You would think that it's a good idea for Barnes and Noble to have a Thomas the Train playset. You would be wrong, as it only leads to toddler furor when it's time to leave.)

I'm also looking forward to taking some trips this year. My husband and I will most likely make the trip out west and go skiing in Colorado again, and we'll shoot on down south to Hilton Head, South Carolina sometime this summer. I'm sure we'll also make a few weekend trips up to Wisconsin, to enjoy all of the beer, cheese, snow and water sports that are just an hour away.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I'm looking forward to reading even MORE books by my fellow Novel Girls. I love pointing to your books and declaring to everyone I know that, "I KNOW her! No, really!"

Cheers!