wolf pups and cherry blossoms

I told you guys I was going to torture you with puppy pics. Enter at your own risk.

Raiden has been growing at a ridiculous rate. Even these pictures are a week or so old, and he's bulked up considerably since then. Almost at a pace of a pound a day!! He's 26 lbs now and always growing. Probably one of the best behaved puppies I've ever encountered. Sharp as a whip too. He's already learned sit, lie down, stay and howling on command.

Bounding through the yard like a wolf.

Attempted family portrait.

Playtime!

He loves playing tug of war with the hammock. 

 Other than puppies and rough drafting, I've also been lucky enough to get my hands on some Lucky13 ARCs. I just finished reading INK by my friend Amanda Sun. I'd been looking forward to this book for  quite a while. It's set in Japan, and while I've never been there, I've spent a good amount of time in Asia and loved it. The storyline involves ink drawings that come to life, and it's so vivid and lovely. There's even ink sketches inside the book (a few of them form flip drawings!).

Definitely add this one to your to-read list. I was so inspired by the descriptions of cherry blossoms inside its pages that I had to draw some myself!

I miss Asia so much at times like these...

feathering the winter nest

Greetings my friends. It seems winter has finally made itself at home (at least where I live), which means I've dedicated myself to spending as much time indoors as possible. Hopefully this means I'll have more time to keep nesting, a habit that's fallen awfully short in these past few weeks of vacationing and new-puppy! (Much like blogging. Ack.)

Wolf-pup Raiden has grown tremendously in this past week. Which means spaces he used to fit into (such as his couch/wall tunnel) are now off limits to him. Not to worry though, he's found other places to rest his fluffy head.

And when he's not blocking the path to the toilet, he tries his very best to look wolf-like and regal in our yard. He loves being out in the cold and digging holes with those humongous paws of his.

I wish my manuscripts would grow that fast. (Ha!) I'm still hard at work drafting the sequel to ALL THAT GLOWS. I'm not a particularly speedy writer, especially when it comes to drafting. 1k a day is generally my average. Sometimes it's hard not to get discouraged when it's growing so slowly. Letter by letter, inch by inch. But suddenly you look up and realize you have something resembling a book sitting in front of you. (This happened to me today, and I'm sitting pretty at 60k.)

Speaking of feathering the nest (referring to the first paragraph), I've acquired some pretty new art I want to show off! My very talented father gave me this original pencil coloring for my birthday:

And my brother bought me a print by one of my good friends who sells her stuff on Society6 (which is such an amazing website!). The pic is of a typewriter, which is perfect for writerly things. :)

I also got an iTunes giftcard for my birthday. You guys have any good music recs? I've been listening to a lot of Dark Knight Rises and Ellie Goulding and Florence and the Machine. (Random, I know). 

my newest sidekick

Husband and I just bought our new house a few months ago, and it's seemed a little empty with just the two of us. So, like any good wife, I've been nagging him about getting a puppy. More specifically, a malamute.

In truth, the pleading has been going on pretty much ever since we got married.

Me: Can we get a puppy?

Husband: We don't have a yard. Or money. Puppies cost money.

Me: Please? Please please please please?

Husband: You're going to do this until I cave don't you?

Me: Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.

This Christmas I was hopeful. But we were traveling around the country for a while. But lo and behold, the day we came back, Husband went grocery shopping and asked me to help him unload the trunk. I went outside and found this:

Meet Raiden*! He's a part malamute, part wolf pup in his seventh week of life. And he's so cute. And he has eyebrows. *flail*

We've only had him for less than a week, but he's already made himself at home! One of his favorite places in the house is the space between our futon and the wall. He'll have to enjoy it while he can... his dad is apparently 120 lbs. He's going to be a beast of a dog.

He's already been a great writing buddy. He likes to snuggle up under my feet while I type in the afternoons. (And bite too).

I'm in love. And I don't care who knows it!

Brace yourself for a future barrage of puppy pictures.




*I actually stole his name from one of my character in a WIP. The character is not-so-nice, but I loved his name so much that I decided to use it. It's Japanese for "thunder and lightning." Also the name of a character from Street-fighter. Not-so-nice character has since been renamed.

being katniss (a lesson on form)

Yesterday I got to play this lovely little game called archery tag, which involves shooting opponents with large fluffy marshmallow ends. So basically I got to be Katniss for the night. But instead of running around and hiding in trees I got to fire projectiles at my in-laws for three hours.

There was lots of fun and screaming and bruises and blacklights. Along with a fog-machine.

Problem was, I never actually paid attention when my brother-in-law first instructed us how to draw the bow and shoot the arrows. It seemed self-explanatory. Draw back string. Release. Watch your (not-so) deadly weapon hurtle through the air and find it's mark.

We started playing. My arrows flew. Quite a few of them hit their marks. I was feeling pretty good about my potential Hunger Games survival skills. About an hour in we took a water break, which was when I first noticed the blister-like strip of skin on my forefinger. I ignored it.

Bad move.

When we finally finished the night I looked down and realized that the wound had only gotten worse. Not only that, but there were three other spots of raw, throbbing skin. I hadn't felt them during the game, because in the words of Sidney Bristow, "There's no drug like adrenaline." (Can you tell I'm rewatching ALIAS right now?)

But I sure felt them when my brother-in-law led me back to the first aid kit and spritzed hydrogen peroxide on them.

Him: Looks like you were shooting the arrows wrong the entire time.
Me: Ow. Ow. Ow. *hisssssss*

So yeah. Moral of the story. Next time I will pay attention to arrow shooting instructions. And I will not ignore baby blisters.

Farewell 2012.

2012 was a strange year for me. Writing-wise, there was a lot of waiting (isn't there always?). ALL THAT GLOWS still has another year before it finds a snuggly shelf home, but that hardly means I was sitting on my butt all year. No, no. I've been hard at work, finishing the rough draft of Cutthroat novel and starting the rough draft of the sequel. With a few rounds of edits and short stories in between.

But there were a few unexpected surprises along the way. We bought a house. I got a new baby cousin and simultaneously become a godmother. My husband filmed a cross-country documentary. I got my nose pierced.

It's amazing how quickly a year seems to go, yet how much actually happens in that time.

There were some amazing things this year in regards to music and books and movies.

Some amazing books I devoured:

Some amazing musicians I discovered:

Jenny Dalton

Nick Drake

Kye Kye

I hung out with some amazing people:

Isn't my niece the cutest?!

So. 2013. What will you hold?

My goals are to get Cutthroat Novel into submission shape (I still maintain it's plotting to kill me). To plant a garden. To travel to Bolivia and convince my designer friends to create handbags for my sister-in-law's nonprofit. To explore a screenwriting class with my brother. To hang out with my cousins more. To get a puppy (I am slowly but surely wearing my husband down on that front).

And... hopefully... to publish my debut novel! (I say hopefully because it's scheduled for Winter 2014, which could be December 2013 OR January/February 2014)

What kinds of goals do you guys have for this next year?

winter wonderland (of glass!)

Yesterday I got to go to the Dallas Arboretum. It was chilly and cold and rather wintry (though seeing as it's almost Christmas I'll allow it), and I had to shove my hands into my pockets, but the trip was well worth it because of these:

Pieces of Chihuly glass! I'd actually never heard of Chihuly before this venture, and I was really surprised at how many people (including my editor!) messaged me and said, "Are those Chihuly pieces you're posting?"

What impressed me was the mass of his work; how elaborate they were. The sheer vision that went into crafting ever single, fragile breakable piece of these masterpieces. How every piece fit together just so.

There were pieces that looked like lilypads.

There were baubles in boats.

There were ones that caught the sun and sang it through colors.

 There were ones that looked like amethyst stalagmites. 

And ones that simply awed.

Just look at the detail! Can you imagine spending all those hours crafting each single curlyque?

It's times like these when I remember just how much art amazes me. Not just glasswork, but art in general. When I see what my friends can do with words, a paintbrush, a camera, a pair of ballet flats... how they take these tools and make them pure magic... it stuns me every time. 

Even when I read over a finished piece of mine, it's still hard to believe it came from me. That my conscious (well, mostly sub), wove all these hundreds and thousands of elements together to become something bigger than just a story. It's times like these when it's easy to put credence into Elizabeth Gilbert's theory about the creative genius. How it lives outside ourselves.

Also, in the spirit of the season, there was an entire collection of nativity scenes in the Arboretum! There were over 300 different scenes, from all around the world, made out of anything you could think of. Car parts. Corn husks. Cork. Cross-stitch.

My very favorite one was from Peru. Made out of an ammunition box. I now really want one for my own. (Guess I'll have to go to Peru first...)

The likelihood that I'll be posting back here before Christmas is rather low, so I bid you all farewell and wish you guys the best of holidays and times with loved ones!

the next big thing

This title sounds a tad pretentious doesn't it? I mean, I really, really hope ALL THAT GLOWS becomes the next big thing. But it's seems a bit heady to predict that. However, this is the name of the blog series that's been going around the interwebs. I've been tagged by the lovely Lisa Ann O'Kane and Matt Sinclair over at The Elephant's Bookshelf Press. So clearly, I had no choice but to bow to peer pressure. :)

1- What is the working title of your book?

The title is no longer working! Hooray! It's been known under several names (among them Godmother and Luminance Hour), but the final title for my debut novel is ALL THAT GLOWS.

2- Where did the idea come from for the book?

The seedling for his novel actually came from a prompt for an anthology submission. The anthology was looking for short stories that portrayed faerys in a "modern, sleek and sexy" way. That prompt got me thinking about the traditional Fairy Godmother and what it would look like for them to guard a modern day, partying prince. I jotted out the short story over a weekend and handed it to my coworker to read. When she finished it, she looked over at me and said, "Ryan, this is a novel. Not a short story." As soon as she said it I knew she was right, so I started writing.

3- What genre does your book fall under?

It's a heavy blend of paranormal romance and fantasy. 

4- Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

You know, I actually haven't thought about this too much. Can I get back to you?

5- What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When a Faery is forced to guard the prince of England from assassins and paparazzi, she finds herself feeling more than she should for him. 

Or this one, which is more like a run-on sentence: In which a partying prince falls in love with a Kate Middletonesque fae, who has been protecting the British royal family for centuries, and who must make an impossible choice amidst a backdrop of a palace murder and paparazzi mayhem.

6- Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I am blessed and fortunate enough to call HarperTeen my publisher. *pinches skin* *still can't believe it*

7- How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Four months. (March 09 - June 09)

8- What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Shiver. Beautiful Creatures. Daughter of Smoke and Bone. 

9- Who or What inspired you to write this book?

A mixture of many things: Traveling to England when I was young. An Encyclopedia on Faeries that my sister-in-law gave me one Christmas. Taking classes on Old English, Tolkien and J.K. Rowling when I was in college. The song "Saelic" by Helium Vola. Reading deliciously written love stories and wanting to craft my own.

10- What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

For the record, I started writing ALL THAT GLOWS long before Kate and Wills got engaged. But Kate Middleton's popularity didn't hurt in my search for an agent and publisher.

The book is coming out in Winter 2014! So keep an eye out! Or an ear, I'll probably be screaming about it all across the interwebs.

And since this is a blog hop and I'm supposed to tag people, here goes:

Wendy Higgins

Kathryn Rose

Wesley Kapp