After Long Silence...

...is the name of one of my favorite books by Sherri S. Tepper. It's also an appropriate name for a blog entry after a 2-month absence.

Here's the list of excuses:
The end of May/early June was weird with that diet (see last entry) which took over my entire life. Then I got sick. Very sick. I ended up having three secondary infections from a summer cold and it took about 5 weeks to recover. Not cool. And then it was birthday and vacationing madness.

Whew, okay, excuses out of the way, I am thrilled to be back at the computer. Just in time to gear up for the 2011 SCBWI Summer Conference in LA!

I'm currently studying this list of 71 faculty members in hopes of knowing a thing or two about my manuscript consultant before stepping into the 20 minute one-on-one session. There are some I am not so sure I'd want to get, to be honest. I mean, if I sit down with Lin Oliver, I'm going to be struck speechless. She's the Executive Director and co-founder of SCBWI, plus she writes with Henry Winkler regularly. I'm in awe. But then again, I could get Bruce Coville. I'm in awe of him too, but I've met him before and he's so easy to talk to.

I'm handwriting a list of all 71 faculty members with a few highlights from their bios. Writing things out by hand helps it to stick in my memory, plus I'll take the notebook with me for quick reference. I'm putting stars by the ones I would love to chat up and an exclamation point next to those that are heavy-hitters, like Ms. Oliver.

And of course, I continue to work on my WIP. I'd love to have a few more chapters complete in time for the conference. Other than packing and writing, what are you doing to get ready for the 2011 SCBWI Summer Conference?

Book Mash-Ups

I've had this idea in my head for weeks: what if, instead of mashing up two songs we could mash up two great books?  I keep scribbling ideas down in my notebook. Eventually a couple of them became art:

To Kill a Mockingjay

I can just imagine Scout as a district tribute, can't you? And Haymitch has a certain Boo Radley quality about him, I think.

The Phantom of the Tollbooth Opera

This one's more of a stretch. Could Christina Daae and Meg Giry be Princess Rhyme and Princess Reason? Surely The Humbug has a few things in common with Carlotta.

I found a few more via Google Images:

CBC Book Cover Mash-Up Barbara Bovaird

CBC Book Cover Mash-Up 8

A few more ideas:

• We Have Always Lived in Howl's Moving Castle
• 20,000 Leagues Under a Tuscan Sun
• Diary of a Wimpy Anne Frank
• A Game of Thrones of Fire

Got a mash-up idea? Share it in the comments!

Places to Write

I'm beginning to realize I'm a finicky writer. I love writing in coffee shops. The ambient hum of conversations, the high pitched whistle of the milk steamer, the jingle of coins into the tip jar all combine to create a song which calls my characters out from their hiding places in my brain. I don't love the jittery feeling I get after drinking two espresso drinks and eating a scone, though, so I limit these writing sessions to once a month.

Writing outside seems like such a romantic idea, but it almost never works. The sun will be too bright creating glare off the notebook. Or the breeze will keep blowing my notes in every direction. I can do it in short bursts, but it always leaves me feeling vaguely disappointed and tired.

I love writing at home in my office, or in our library/guest room. A few words trickle out with effort in most of the other rooms (save the master bathroom -- all my best ideas are born there, I just can't shower and type at the same time). But I can't seem to get a lick of work done in the family room with the siren call of the TiVo and HDTV.

Unfortunately, I absolutely can't work when anyone else is in the house, even the lovely house-cleaners who visit for a couple of hours twice a month and keep me from going completely insane surrounded by piles of cat hair and empty yogurt containers. I sit in my office chair, rock-rigid, listening to their happy chatter as they dust and mop (and, let's be honest, put things away in the weirdest places), staring at my computer screen, the voices in my head completely silent. I've been able to write with my spouse in the house, but it takes an unusual amount of effort to get started and I can get pulled out of the writing headspace with "what's for dinner?", or "did we TiVo the latest episode of Top Chef Masters?" (Duh, of course we did!)

What about you? Where do you love to write? Where can't you write one word?