joy in the small things

This past week hasn't been all blood, sweat and revisions. Mostly.

Sometimes I think my work habits slide into the territory of "workaholic." Taking time to relax and unwind can be a challenge that's even more murky as a full-time writer working from home. Especially when faced with deadlines.

But relaxation and down time is crucial for me, even in the tightest of deadlines. I often find I become less productive when I work without taking a break. Days off give my brain time to breathe and collect itself and give me some perspective on the words I spend hours and hours trying to perfect.

This weekend my day off consisted of a bluegrass festival on a saltmarsh. Complete with boiled peanuts:

 

There's just something about the Lowcountry salt marsh that feeds the soul and pours the words back in. It was so, so good. (I'm at the 2/3rds way point with this revision. Which basically feels like it will never ever end. Only one of us can survive, and right now the manuscript seems very vicious...)

I've also been detoxing with other forms of art. I love drawing, because for me I don't feel any stress to be good at it. I don't have to be. I can just draw and enjoy it. This week I've been working on a Sharpie whale tail.

I'm not quite finished with it, but when I am I'll show you the final product.

Mkay. Off to the revision cave until next Sunday. I have to get these edits done in time for YALLfest! Will I see you there this year??

yallfest. round 2.

So this weekend was YALLfest. And it was wonderful. And exhausting.

I had the same job as last year, which was taking care of the Green Room (ie. feeding the authors and making sure they have a nice place to relax between panels). I really loved being able to hang out in the same room as so many accomplished authors. The work of dragging a 35 pound coffee cambro and 10 pizza and 100 cans of soda up various flights of stairs was well worth being able to listen to their conversations and ask them for advice about the debut year.

One particular thing I enjoyed the most was listening to authors talk about writing books 2 and 3 in their series (probably because that's where I am in the process right now). Apparently it's just as hard for everyone else as it is for me. Even New York Times Bestsellers!

I also got to meet some online friends in person for the first time. Like Wendy Higgins, the author of Sweet Evil (which is up for the second round of the Goodreads Choice awards if you want to go vote for it!).

Wendy was even sweeter in person than she is online (and that's saying something). We had a bit of HarperTeen bonding time.

I also got to meet some of the Lucky 13s I've been able to bond with this year! Ashley Elston and Elle Cosimano and I got some dinner and drinks together and talked about the debut year.

By the end of the weekend I was utterly exhausted. The Starbucks barista even told me I looked the part when I returned the coffee cambro. But, just like last year, it was utterly worth it.

And if you were wondering, being a not-yet-published debut author in a room full of 29 New York Times Bestsellers feels a little bit like this:

I am only slightly kidding. :)

Candy. Zombies. YALLfest.

Hello, hello! And a happy Monday to you all!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween. I got to go Trick-or-Treating for the first time in years with my two and a half-year-old cousin. And I must say, I forgot how scary it can get for little, little kids. One of the porches we went to sported a mechanical scarecrow that pulled off its own head and laugh maniacally while its eyes glowed red. Which meant that I had to tote my cousin around on my hip the rest of the night. Poor guy.

Though I must say, I understand parent tax now. I might have snitched a thing or two out of this bucket.

Too be fair, that is a LOT of Reese's. ;)

So many things are happening this week! The whirlwind never seems to stop! It does seem fitting though that on the tail end of Halloween, my short story Hairline Cracks is being release in the anthology The Fall. There are scary, monstery things in the story. Plus some blood and guts. You can read it and a whole bunch of other cool stories by authors like Mindy McGinnis, Jean Oram and RC Lewis and many, many more HERE.

And, just in case you forgot what the cover looked like, here's another glimpse of the ominous awesomeness!

On a lighter and more pie-filled note: THIS WEEKEND IS YALLFEST! (I'm excited, can't you tell?)

You guys, last year was so much fun! There was pie and books and much celebration about all things young adult! And this year is going to be even better! There are 50 different authors coming in to share their thoughts on everything from spaceships and zombies to movie adaptations.

So if you're coming drop me a note and I'll keep an eye out for you! Last year I met a lot of faces I only knew from the online realm. And it was fabulous.

yallfest recap

So, as promised, here is my YALLfest experience. In both picture and word form.

Where do I begin? It's strange to spend so many months preparing for something and then having it happen in one fell swoop. It's kind of like a wedding (in a very different way). The actual day of YALLfest was a flurry of activity and awesome moments... 

Jonathan Sanchez, writer and bookseller extraordinaire, welcomes all to YALLfest.

The American Theatre, where all the panels were held.

Most of the panels had a full house!

My morning was swallowed up with door duty. I got to guard the door to the green room (the place where all of the authors hang out when they aren't on stage or signing books). Don't I make an incredibly intimidating bouncer?

The day was full of really great panels. I got to attend one on Southern writers (Putting the Y'all in YALLfest) which featured Katie Crouch, Carrie Ryan, Michelle Hodkin and Saundra Mitchell. They talked all about their Southern roots and how they play into their novels. I found this panel interesting for very obvious reasons... even though LUMINANCE HOUR isn't set in the South (far from it!), my next project takes place in a very Southern landscape.

Southern panel talks grits and debutantes.

The other two panels I attended were HollyAwood (all about turning books into movies) and the Zombie Attack Panel. Best piece of advice I gleaned from these? Carrie Ryan told us that the best method of survival in a zombie apocalypse is to find someone who runs slower than you!

The Hollywood Panel.

I got to introduce them.

Of course, the best part of the whole festival for me was being able to meet and actually hang out with these amazingly creative minds! It's strange when you spend so long following someone online--when you meet them in real life you can't help but feel awkwardly stalkerish because you know so much about them. Every single one of the authors was so nice and welcoming!

Can you see the nervous eagerness in my eyes as I talk to Andrea Cremer (Nightshade), Beth Revis (Across the Universe) and Saundra Mitchell (The Vespertine)?

Me and Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures)

Me and the lovely Katie Crouch (The Magnolia League)

I also got to meet my lovely critique partner Kate Armstrong. She flew down for the weekend and slept on our futon. I had such a wonderful time showing her around the city (we spent a lot of time at Kudu, my favorite coffee shop). I also got to meet Kiera Cass, a fellow HarperTeen author who I connected with on Twitter. Her book, THE SELECTION, comes out in 2012 and sounds pretty amazing (the ARC is gorgeous, I got a sneak peek before Kaleb Nation snatched it away for his own!).

Me and Kate (phenomenal critique partner!)

The whole weekend was capped off with a YA smackdown, where all 29 (or so) authors gathered onstage to compete with each other in storytelling games on the spot. Most of it ended in hilarity.

All the authors gathered together.

Carrie Ryan (Forest of Hands and Teeth) killing people.

Margaret Stohl (Beautiful Creatures) and Eliot Schrefer (The School for Dangerous Girls): Victors of the YALLfest smackdown!

You know something is really good if, when it finishes, you're already looking forward to next year. (Just like Christmas!) I hope to see all of you at YALLfest 2012!

yallfest weekend in five words.

Inspiring.


Delicious.


Exhausting.


Star-struck.


Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. (yes, really)


Rest assured, an actual full length post about Yallfest is coming. With pictures. Once my energy meter is back up from the negatives.

YALLfest interview #2: Katie Crouch

For my second YALLfest interview, I have the honor of welcoming Katie Crouch to the blog. Like me, Katie is a Charleston native (aka Charlestonian). She's also the author of the New York Times Bestselling Girls in Trucks, Men and Dogs and the young adult novel The Magnolia League. Come and meet her, along with a lot of other super cool authors, at YALLfest!

What were you like as a teen?

I was really hyper and boy crazy. I also read all of the time and kept a really embarrassing diary. I wasn't cool at all, but I knew it and embraced my complete dorkiness, which actually made me cooler than I ever would have been otherwise.

What were your favorite books as a kid?

 Jacob Have I Loved and Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, Are You There God It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume, Edisto by Padgett Powell (not really YA but about my beach), Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. 

At what point in your life did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

Fifth grade, when my teacher Dottie Rhett at Charleston Day School told me I should think about such prospects. (Much to the annoyance of my parents.) 

The South has played a large role in all of your books, especially The Magnolia League. Do you think you’ll ever write a book that leaves the South altogether?

Actually my next book is set in Italy. So yes! But the book after that is set in Beaufort. So... guess I'll always come back. 

What musicians have influenced your writing?

Awesome question. Patty Griffin, Tim Buckley, Gillian Welch, Jeff Tweedy, and -- though she's 20 years younger than me --Taylor Swift, who also embraces her inner dork. Love her!

What are you looking forward to about YALLfest?

Meeting the other amazing authors, talking to readers, eating pie, and seeing my family. Charleston is my hometown!

From your valuable native insight, what is one spot in Charleston that cannot be missed?

Personally, I never leave Charleston without a walk on the beach. I like Sullivan's Island, at the end by the lighthouse. If you don't have a car, a bike ride around the Battery is also pretty amazing. Make sure to rent one of those really comfy, ugly Earth Cruisers with fat tires. I think they have them at the Bicycle Shoppe on King.

If you could choose only one Southern dish to eat for the rest of your life (along with other, non-Southern foods), what would it be?

I love collards. It know it's weird, but it's true. Also, it's a superfood, so I'd probably live to be 126 years old.

Along the same vein, what is your favorite kind of pie?

Tomato pie from King's Market on Edisto Island.

two for tuesday: all about YALLfest

1. It's not just authors at YALLfest! This press release went out today spilling all of the juicy details. Kaleb Nation-- a prominent Youtuber as well as a YA author--is filming the first episode of his new reality TV show at the festival! And you didn't think it could get any better...


2. Check back here tomorrow for an exclusive interview with another YALLfest author!

Music: "The Wolf" by Fever Ray

Fueled by: Nothing...

Working on: Short story I was working on last week has indeed morphed into a novel-esque creature...

my charleston

8 reasons to come to

(besides the awesome authors)

1. Deliciousness: If there’s anything the South is well known for, it’s the food. Fried, sautéed. From land and sea. A few of our signature dishes: Shrimp and grits, frogmore stew, fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles, Carolina gold barbeque, pecan pie, Coca-Cola cake… All of them can be found and consumed in Charleston. You don’t have to walk very far to find some good Southern cuisine here. There are restaurants on almost every street of the peninsula. Justine’s (pictured below) is a notoriously delicious Southern haunt. Hominy Grill (also pictured) is the place to get your grits on. If you’ve never tried grits, then you’re missing out.

Jestine's: the ultimate destination for "down home" Southern cooking.

2. The Scenery: Sweeping green marshes. A harbor with several pods of dolphins. Streets and streets of gorgeous old mansions. Plantations covered in creeping oak trees and Spanish moss… It’s hard to put Charleston’s beauty into words, so I’ll just let the pictures do it for me.

The Lowcountry

I am in love with these marshes.

Nooks and Crannies

This is the alleyway by the house Blackbeard used when he stayed in Charleston (i.e. held it hostage).

The Houses

The Institutions

College of Charleston: My Alma Mater

The Provost Dungeons

3. Churches: There's a reason it's called the Holy City. Churches are everywhere in Charleston. Around every corner. There’s a church that was turned into a bar and a bar that was turned into a church. Even if you aren’t particularly religious, there’s something stunning about the beauty and majesty of these old structures.

St. Philip's Episcopal Church and the French Huguenot Church

Once a maritime chapel, now Mad River Bar and Grille.

St. Michael's Episcopal Church

4. Creepy Graveyards: Along with all of the old churches come the inevitable creepy graveyards. I know it sounds rather macabre, but I actually really enjoy walking through the graveyards. I must confess though, as a child my friends and I would hide behind gravestones and wait for the ghost tours to make their rounds. As soon as the guide started talking we would jump out and scare the daylights out of those poor tourists. I have calmed down much since then, and let the ghost tours pass by unscathed.

Wrought iron gates guard all of the graveyards.

5. Lots of places to spend your allowance (I mean, money): Charleston has a strange mix of open-air markets, high-priced clothing boutiques and everything in between. King Street (which is where most of the Yallfest events are taking place) is the town’s main shopping stretch. Whether you want Louis Vuitton or gourmet honey, you can find it here.

There's even a store dedicated solely to Moon Pies.

If you want a shopping experience you can’t get anywhere else, then take a walk through Charleston City Market. This is an outdoor market where vendors rent out tables and sell their wares. You can get sweetgrass baskets handwoven by skilled local women, bags of salt-water taffy, puzzle boxes carved from cypress wood. Even if you don’t buy anything, the experience alone is worth the saunter.

Charleston City Market

6. Beach: I can just hear you thinking: The beach? In November? Seriously? And yes, I know November is not the ideal time for taking a quick (or long) dip, but the beach is nice for sunset walks and chasing seagulls. Or just being quiet and resting after a long weekend of meeting awesome YA authors.

Sullivan's Island Lighthouse

The Battery

7. Horses: In some ways, Charleston hasn’t changed much. There is a fully dressed pirate who swaggers down Church Street with his parrot every day (I kid you not) as well as several people in period dress who hang out around the Provost Dungeon. Another common sight around the city is horse-drawn carriages. These tours leave from the Charleston City Market almost every quarter hour and show visitors all of the important sites. The tours themselves are a bit expensive, but worth the cash if you’re interested in history and a unique experience.

8. Our Paranormal Underground: Charleston is full of mysteries. One particularly creepy site is the Old City Jail. It's full of ghosts. One in particular is Lavinia Fisher, the first female serial killer in the United States. She's also the first woman to be executed in the US. There are reports that she haunts the halls of the old jail, peering through the windows and dragging around the wedding dress she was executed in. There are many other ghosts (Charleston is crawling with them), but Lavinia is definitely among the most infamous.

The Old City Jail

Not hard to imagine Lavinia behind those windows.

Also, it's quite possible that there may be wizards and superheroes here. I have photographic evidence:

Deathly Hallows? Anyone?

This sign was on the same building. I see a Snitch...

Superman's girlfriend moved here and became a real estate agent. It's true.

So, to sum things up. Food. Gorgeous scenery. Shopping. Paranormal happenings. Pretty much it's the perfect place to hold YALLfest. And hey, if Taylor Swift loved Charleston enough to vacation in, then you should too.

PS. Charleston just got voted the Top City in the US by Condé Nast Traveler. They put together an awesomesauce video and website about how great the city is. You can find that here.