Droughts & Monsoons

Tip of the Day: Got a grammar question? Head over to Grammar Girl for all the answers. I <3 that blog. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

I haven't written in weeks. How many? Three...maybe four. I'm not really sure.

After Kristina (yes, the same one that's an A2A girl) sold her house, my hubby & I thought, "Hey, maybe it would work for us too." So we called Kristina's realtor (yes, we know each other IRL) and he managed to sell our house the first day it was on the market. Best part? Cash deal. Worst? We had to be out in two weeks.

We built that house and lived there for nearly 11 years. Packing up in two weeks meant suspending everything else in my life to get it done. You may remember that my husband had a double spinal fusion back in February and he's on BLT (bending, lifting, twisting) restriction until the end of August. The heavy lifting was, quite literally, solely on my shoulders.

In the process, I managed to break a finger and a toe. Yes, I am that talented.

In the midst of packing, we chose a new house, but can't move in until July 5th. So now we're adrift, homeless in a sense. With the majority of our belongings in storage (including 40 boxes of books), we're living out of bags. Some nights we're in hotels; others we're on my parents' farm - more than an hour away from our work, friends, and activities.

At first it was glorious. I was happy to just live moment-to-moment. I didn't even miss writing. Which both pleased and upset me. Pleased because my computer was packed up and typing on my iPad is a PITA, but upset because I worried that maybe my writing mojo had disappeared. That's a disturbing prospect for any writer. I decided not to push it. No pressure. Que sera, sera.

This week my husband jetted off to Pennsylvania for work. The kids & I have spent the whole week at my parents' farm. Even though there's plenty to do, I started to feel that familiar itch. I took copious amounts of notes on my iPhone. The plot for my next fantasy is coming together quickly. It's expanding faster than I can barely keep track of.

The writing isn't gone. It only went dormant. I didn't have time to write anyway with the move, but now that I'm close to moving into a new house (hopefully our forever house) I'm dying to get back to work. I want to tell this story. I'm desperate to tell it.

And, really, isn't that the best feeling in the world?!

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber

My Favorite Room (And news about Espressologist the web series and a book sale at the bottom!)

Hey Author2Author readers!

I've been MIA for quite awhile. It seems I can't to do too many things at once. We moved in mid-April and the process of getting all of the stuff for 6 people packed and moved was enormous for me! I barely got any writing done. Ok, I didn't write at all during that process. But we're all moved in and I'm getting back to work now. I've been working on the first book in a middle grade series, making notes on a new middle grade book that I'm super excited about, and starting edits on a young adult book. And of course enjoying summer with the kids.

I wanted to share my favorite room in our new house: the library. I've always wanted a library! And this one comes with a coffee bar so I'm hooked (ok, they used it as a library/wine room, but you know me: coffee, coffee, coffee!). Anyway, it's a little room right off of the family room and the kids (and me) love to go in here to read. Here are some pics.

 (looking in)

 (the coffee bar)

(cute window to sit by)

(kids fave place to read)

(up close of the books. Still a work in progress as I keep finding boxes of books in the house)

In other updates, in May Alloy Digital announced the web series, Espressologist, at Digital Content Newsfronts, which was SO cool!. You can read about that here. They included some new details about the script:

"Based on the popular book by Kristina Springer, The Espressologist mixes one part Central Perk from Friends with a splash of Jane Austin’s Emma to create a series brimming with humor and heart.

Working at her neighborhood coffee shop as a barista, twenty-something Chelsea has a front-row seat to people and their crazy, entertaining lives. Always an astute observer of human nature, Chelsea stumbles upon a methodology that makes a love connection between her customers’ personalities and their drink orders. This comedic series follows Chelsea as the stakes are raised and her bizarre dating formula leads to more people (namely friends and co-workers) looking for Chelsea to replicate her success. But will she ever make a match for herself?"

So excited to see the book come to life!

There is also some great sales on my books this week. On Amazon, the paperback of The Espressologist is only $3.60. Just Your Average Princess in hard cover is $6.40. And The Paparazzi Project is on sale for 99 cents at B&N and Amazon.

Thanks for reading all the way through this lengthy post. More soon from me, I promise!

Kristina, Miss Author in Action

Why Blog? (or What's the Use?)

Tip of the Day: WriteOnCon is happening again this year! Mark your calendars on August 13-14 for this free online kidlit writing conference. Thanks, WriteOnCon team!

A few weeks ago, agent Michael Bourret blogged about why he hasn't felt like blogging lately. To paraphrase, he wonders if there is anything left to blog about that hasn't already been said -- sometimes better -- by someone else. He also speculates that there is so much internet "noise" out there that he doesn't necessarily need to add to it.

I understand where he's coming from. From someone who used to blog weekly on Author2Author, and periodically on my own LiveJournal where I now only post book reviews, I am definitely in blog fatigue. I also have a FaceBook page that I use more to keep up with my friends than talk about myself, and I tweet for my library @bmlkidsteens when I have time or am so inspired. Now that I am preparing to self epub my YA novel, I need to get a website up and running -- but it feels like a daunting prospect (another web presence to keep up with!) and redundant (I'm already on the web in four different places!).

Similarly, I used to bookmark blogs from writers, librarians, and other kidlit industry pros to check daily, or follow them on LJ or through RSS feeds. Now, though, I don't have time because there are so many out there, and also the "groundbreaking" stuff tends to find its way to me through other means.

So, what purpose does blogging serve me now? And what purpose do others' blogs serve me?

My answer? I now look at blogs as part of a "body of work" rather than an up-to-the-minute view of one's life.

To expand on that, if I want to stalk someone -- and come on, we all do it -- I will check out their recent tweets or FB posts. But if I want to see substantial information about a person, or learn more about their writing or life pursuits, I will go through multiple blog posts on their site at one time. In other words, I will read their body of work in one sitting and most likely not "follow" the blog after that once I've learned what I need to know.

So when I'm researching agents, I don't check in every day with the blogs/tweets/posts of all those I'm considering querying; instead I just find one person, read all I can to feel informed, send the query or not, and then move on. If I get a request for pages from the agent, I might dig a little farther.

And that is how I'm thinking about my own blogging now. If I query an agent who wants to learn more about me, he/she can click on the link to this site and see my "body of work" here. That is more imporant to me than showing that I am capable of posting a few paragraphs every week.

This is a place to get to know me, my style, my sense of humor (hopefully!), and that I do enjoy social media but am not devoting my life to my presence here.

At least, this is how I'm thinking today....

How is everyone else using their blogs these days?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing