try new things. get shot at.

So yesterday I did something new. (Well, perhaps not new, but definitely within the past ten years of experience).

My husband is of the video-gaming persuasion. You know the type. The guys that sit in front of the TV frantically pushing controllers and screaming random obscenities at the pixels shooting at them. The guys who have absolutely no idea what's going on in their immediate surroundings for hours at a time (though I must say I can't be too harsh on him, since this is what happens to me when I'm immersed in a good book!).

All this goes to say that my husband really, really wanted me to go play paintball with him and his other video-gaming friends yesterday. Now, I consider myself pretty fit and feisty, though I'm not the best at first person shooters. (Usually I get slaughtered while shooting at the floor. I'm more of a Zelda kind of girl.) When the husband first brought up the possibility of my going I had visions of orange paint and red welts drenching me from head to toe. Visions of being surrounded on all sides and getting lit up like a tiki torch.

Turns out real life is different than video games.

I actually did pretty well. On a field with four other girls and about fourteen guys I managed to stay alive most of the time. Not only that. I SHOT people too. And leapt over crevice canyons to get into forts and waded through swamps.

And I wore camo.

By the end of the day I was sore (I did get shot several times. By my husband actually. Our friends thought it would be hilarious to make us captains of opposing teams and pit us against each other.) but I couldn't have been happier. When I was babbling about how awesome it was in the car my husband pointed out that I'd been less than enthused about going. And "wasn't I glad I just went ahead and did it?"

He then went on to remind me about the time I did not go bungee jumping. It looked a little bit like this:

That tiny dot in the middle of the picture is my husband. I was behind the camera, sitting on a cliff, wishing I hadn't said no. You see, before we got to the bridge, I was thinking through the scenario in my head. I imagined myself standing at the edge and looking down and now wanting to fall. I didn't think I could do it, so I didn't pay the money/put down the deposit. I spent all afternoon watching person after person in our tour group jump off a bridge without me.

I've regretted it ever since. I now know I could've jumped. And I would have loved it.

You are braver than you think. Stronger than you know.

So try new things.

joy in the little things.

It's spring! Finally! For joy!

There's just something about those golden-glow mornings and the scent of flowers on the air that lift my spirits up in a way nothing else does. And shorts. I do love wearing shorts.

In the past few days I've been focusing on the little things that make me smile. There've been a few fun surprises I've faced in the every day.

1. Doctor Who graffiti:

I've probably seen this before (it's in a bathroom at the bar where I go to church), but this is the first time I've appreciated its allusion. (Also, I just noticed the second wolff in the picture). Awesome vandalism. 

2. Unique vintage clothing finds:

 I was in Charlottesville, VA a few weekends ago and happened across a cute little vintage clothing store. I went in and found this skirt in the racks. It's all cross-stitch. As soon as I saw it I knew I couldn't leave it...

3. Puppies who bury things that aren't bones:

Husband went outside the other day and found this in the crater-sized hole Raiden made. Apparently he found a beer bottle our neighbors so graciously threw over our fence and decided to deposit it in his hole. Note how happy he looks about this decision.

4. Cadbury chocolate from England!:

One of my friends just took a trip across the pond and brought back some genuine Cadbury milk chocolate!!! Yum. Cadbury is my most favorite chocolate of all, but it doesn't quite taste the same when you buy it here in the US. And I don't get over to the UK nearly as much as I like, so this is a rare treat! (Also, did you know they have Cadbury vending machines in the Underground stations? It's probably a good thing I don't live over there... I'd live solely on a chocolate and fish and chips diet.)

What little things have you been finding joy in lately?

forays into copyedits.

Last week, over at The Lucky 13s, I blogged about my publishing timeline, or more specifically, the speed of my own personal publishing journey! "Is your book out yet?" is a very common question I get from friends, family and strangers alike. The explainy answer is long and involved, but I tried my best to map out what is happening with ALL THAT GLOWS.

Speaking of, I very recently finished my copy-edits. I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of this stage, but it's actually been one of the easiest.

And the most educational.

Mostly copy-editor just made me very aware of how horrid my punctuation is. (Comma splices everywhere!!!!) But there were a few places where I learned fascinating facts.

Did you know?

-Portobello mushrooms are a rather recent, American phenomenon. So sadly, they cannot be my protagonist's favorite food.

-There were no string quartets in Queen Elizabeth's court. Just lutes. And harpsichords.

-There were also no tailored suits in Queen Elizabeth's court. Just doublets. And ruffs.

I have now learned all of these things. And ALL THAT GLOWS is better for it.

doctor. who?

You guys.

I have found a new love.

And its name is Doctor Who.

Seriously though. How long have I been out of the loop? I've been hearing bits and snatches about this British television series for years. (Though none of it really made sense. A flying police box? A Dalek? A sonic screwdriver?) I'll be the first to admit that I learned most of my basic Doctor Who knowledge from Troy and Abed's description of "Inspector Spacetime" in Community.

I'll also admit that I wasn't blown away by the first few episodes. But there are so many awesome Whovians in the YA community, that I decided to keep going. And I'm so glad I did.

Doctor Who is a storyteller's ultimate dream. You can choose any time and any setting. (Though I must say those aliens attack London an awful lot.) You can feature characters of any personality or race. Even the doctor changes personalities at times. Every single episode really does get your imagination going!

And, it's heartbreaking. But in a good, aching way. If that makes sense.

So if you haven't watched it--do. It's on Netflix Instant, so you have no excuse.

My puppy is--well-- not a puppy anymore. At least in body. Raiden is now a 55 lb adolescent. All beast and tooth and claw. His adult coat is coming in, which is wonderfully glossy and smooth. It's pretty cool to see how fast he's growing.

He's so happy after eviscerating his chew toy cow.

The home improvements have been few, but colorful. A new pillow here, a new curtain there. We actually bought our first laundry machine (I feel like such a real adult). It wouldn't fit all the way in our closet space, so we had to yank out the door to make it fit. I feel like the curtain adds a little more pizzaz anyway.

And now it is past my bedtime, so I bid you all a very good night.

ALL THAT GLOWS release date.

I have a release date. I HAVE A RELEASE DATE!

ALL THAT GLOWS will be on bookstore shelves on February 11th, 2014. Just in time for Valentine's Day.

So only 322 more days to go. Not that I'm, you know, counting or anything...

the puppy who wouldn't stop growing.

We now interrupt your blogroll for this post of cuteness.

(I know, 2 posts in a day, I might jinx myself).

I was looking over my (scant) recent posts and realized that I haven't posted many pictures of Raiden recently. He's an even bigger, fiercer ball of fluff than he was two weeks ago, when I last posted.

Have a look:

Raiden loves to sit under my chair while I'm writing, but I'm afraid those days are becoming rather numbered.

Here he is, all elbows and knees.

This is actually his brother, who we recently got together with for a puppy playdate. I'm amazed at how different they look. Diesel (his brother) has an almost entirely red overcoat!

Raiden is also good for snuggling and watching Dr. Who with me on the couch. It's a good thing he's so cute and cuddly, because this is what happened when we tried to start seedlings for a garden:

Can't you just see my eye twitching?

milestones.

Yes. I've been bad at blogging.

Scratch that. Abysmal at blogging.

How do you cure something like blog burnout? I don't really know. Mostly I feel like I don't have much to say right now. It's been a strange time, this wait between novel sale and novel publication. I mean, a lot of things have happened, but they aren't really things I can talk about on my blog.

However, one big thing did just happen that I can talk about.

I finished writing the rough draft of ALL THAT GLOWS 2.

YAY!!!

I started writing July 23rd (there was a two month break in there to work on a different project, as well as some time for the great house move).

5 months. 116,000 words.

Not bad. Only now I have to go back in and turn those words into something legible. (HA).

Writing this sequel has been a strange process. There were times when it felt like I would never actually get it all written down. My average pace is about 1,000 words a day (basically 4 pages or a page per hour of writing time).

Okay, I'm going to go celebrate my rough draft victory now.