Last night I received an email from a producer for a new NPR show, DimeStories. He'd read my short-short story, "New Rollerskates," in the BREVITY & ECHO anthology and wants me to record it for his show!! So fun!!

I'm going into our local NPR station, WBUR, some time on Friday to do the recording. I'm not sure when it will air, but I'll keep you posted.

Must start cultivating a super-smooth NPR voice...

However, after carefully numbering each entry for the ARC giveaway...


FH chose one at random for the winner.


Fabtabulous carriejones , YOU are the winner of the MODELS DON'T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES ARC and Other Fabulous Prizes (like a soundtrack to the book, and other Very Cool Things).


Umm. Wait. That's MODELS DON'T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES....not MONSTERS WHO EAT COOKIES! Step away from the contest, Cookie! Don't make me angry! I am a woman with an infant running on little-to-no sleep. PUT THE COOKIE BOOK DOWN!



Ummm....wait...Pay no attention to that muppet, friendly readers. I didn't do any-thing. Not little old moi!


Just focus on the book, carriejones!



Oh, and e-mail me offline with your snail mail address, so I can send out your package!


As for everyone who entered...don't worry! There will be other chances to win more MODELS as the release date grows closer.

Thanks to everyone who entered the ARC contest! FH and I will be doing our fabulous random drawing tonight to determine the winnah. Other things...

1. A friend emailed to let me know that MODELS is now listed in the Library of Congress catalog!! I know, some would say it's geeky, but I think that's the coolest thing ever. (I guess that's why I'm a writer and not a fashion designer--my concept of cool is way off the mark)

2. I'm psyched to see The Dark Knight. om2's Trophy Husband recently reminded us that there's a drive-in nearby...the perfect way for those of us with small children to keep up with current cinema. Batman is playing in a double feature with Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hey, for $20 per car and a night out, I'd watch back-to-back showings of Waterworld!! (okay, I'm not THAT hard up...Wait. Maybe I am...)

3. I got out of the house for two whole hours yesterday and went to Target and Trader Joe's. I felt like a prisoner on furlough! (CC has been deemed Princess Fuss-a-Lot this week, so my contact with the outside world has been seriously limited.)

4. While soothing Princess Fuss-a-Lot last night via walking in circles around the house, we watched several segments of VH1's Top 100 Songs of the 80s countdown. Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" was #1. While I know gallo_nero will be ecstatic to hear that, we were a bit miffed. I mean, you could make a better case for "Thriller." Or "Holiday." Or ANYTHING off of The Joshua Tree album. Help me out, people. (Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was #2, in case you were wondering.)

5. I'm planning to take a trip to a bookstore this weekend. I haven't been to one in two months. Can't wait to get me some summer reads!!

May your weekend be filled with geek-tasticness, too!!

Keeping up with my 15 minutes, twice a day regime. So far, I've done hand edits on the first three chapters of Book #2: ABA. Once I get them typed into the manuscript, I'll be sending it off to Ms. Agent and Ms. Editor, both of whom have been waiting ever-so-patiently for this book to materialize. And hey, 30 pages is better than none, right?

I also submitted a presentation proposal for next spring's New England SCBWI conference. With CC almost a year old at that point (egads), I should be able to scoot up north for the weekend. My presentation is about how to know when your manuscript is ready to submit. Keep your fingers crossed that they like it!

Lastly, don't forget to tell me your worst bridesmaid dress story for a chance to win an ARC of MODELS! Post on Monday's entry to be eligible.

I've got an Advanced Reading Copy of MODELS DON'T EAT CHOCOLATE COOKIES with your name on it!!

Here's how you get it:

1. Leave me a comment that describes your worst bridesmaid dress experience--be it ugly, embarrassing, revealing, etc  (you can change identifying characteristics of the dress or wedding, if you fear Bridezilla Reprisals). It can be a dress you've worn or one you've seen at a wedding you attended (and lucky you if you never wore an ugly dress!). By leaving the comment, you give me permission to post your story on the MODELS website at a later date (of course you can opt out of the web or go anonymous, and still participate--just leave that in your comment).

2. Link to the MODELS site on your own blog...and on the site, you'll find two fabulous free music downloads from Theo Christmas (aka gallo_nero, aka Dann Russo)! So you're already a winner, just by visiting the (almost-complete) site!

3. Constant Companion, Fab Husband, the Petty Dictator and I will choose a random winner from the entries and you'll receive an ARC and fabulous prizes!

Contest closes at midnight, EST, on Thursday, July 17th. We will pick a winner on Friday the 18th!

Why a bridesmaid dress? Celeste, my main character, suffers the indignities of wearing a Peach Monstrosity dress in her cousin's wedding. Here's the description, taken from Chapter 1 while she's having a fitting:

[The Peach Monstrosity] had two layers sewn together down the length of the side seams. The bottom layer was fitted at the chest, with thin spaghetti straps holding the flimsy satin in place. The narrow waist dropped into a skinny skirt with a high slit in one leg and a mermaid-like swoosh of fabric in the back. The other layer was frothy peach lace that followed the shape of the satin, except the top had a scoop neck with elbow-length sleeves and slightly tufted shoulders. ...

The lace constricted my upper chest and arms, forcing my pale skin through the pattern's openings. Blood pressure cuffs make looser sleeves, and I could see a purple line around each forearm under the seams. The fabric hung loosely over my boobs, bunched at my belly and hips, and puddled around my feet. And the view was reflected over and over in the triple mirror in front of me.

Good luck!!!

1. This afternoon, FH and I are loading up our family and heading to southern Rhode Island for the weekend. We have my grandmother's memorial service tomorrow (I'm delivering the eulogy) and a party for a cousin on the other side of my family on Sunday. After a sad Saturday, it'll be a good way to end the trip. AND CC will get to meet some of the extended family!

2. Spent my two bouts of 15 minutes working on the eulogy yesterday. But that still counts, right? It's writing...

3. Took CC all about town this week--up to where I work, out to lunch, to get my hair cut--and you know what I learned? She doesn't travel well. She does fine when we're out, but becomes overstimulated and then freaks out at night when we come home. Can't imagine why I don't have a relaxed, laid-back baby...

4. Have I mentioned that my car, Casper the friendly Honda, hasn't had air conditioning this summer? I've been driving FH's car since having the baby. Funny, after three days of taking it in sweltering humidity, my husband has finally decided we have the time to get the a/c fixed.

5. MODELS is hitting the road! I sent an ARC to rjstapleton, one of the debut2009 group as part of an ARC swap. I am also going to set up a traveling ARC here, too. Stay tuned for more details on Monday...

Hope your weekend is spent with family and those you love!

That's how much time halseanderson is challenging writers to spend, well, writing for the next 15 days (okay, she's on day 9--so 6 days are left). As I struggle to get back to the "new normal" of being a mommy-writer-teacher, I need to figure out what is going to work for me as I balance these roles. So this challenge piqued my interest.

Previously, I wrote in large bursts, 4+ hours at a time, on weekends or in the evening. I'd go to Barnes and Noble or the local library, camp out, and watch my word count soar. Revising was done at my leisure.

Needless to say, I no longer get 4+ hours of sleep, let alone writing time! So, I need to make some adjustments. I'm starting my own 15 minutes a day routine. Right now, I'm in the midst of revising ABA, book #2 (okay, I'm not "in the midst of it," considering that I haven't really touched it in the past 6 weeks or so). So I need to be in the midst of it.  That's how I'm going to use my 15 minutes (twice) a day--to read and revise my manuscript. I figure I can get through 3 pages per 15 minute section. That's 42 pages a week!  And that still leaves ample time for diaper changes, wiping spit up, feeding, holding, diaper changes, wiping spit up, feeding, holding...

Here we go again!

1. It's hot and sticky here. Really hot and sticky.

2. Ms. Agent asked me for short and long summaries of Book #2. I wonder why?

3. It's disconcerting to read your own book bound in a book form.

4. 6-week-old babies should not stay out past 7pm, even at fun BBQs where they are well-behaved.

5. Mommy and Daddy pay heavily the day after BBQs, because of said 6-week-old baby.

6. The MODELS website will be up this week--with FAB-TABULOUS FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS!!

Thanks, everyone, for your sweet words and thoughts. CC doesn't allow me too much time online, but I did read all of your posts and appreciate every thought, prayer, and hug that you've sent my way. It's a comfort to be surrounded by friends both real and virtual, and it's been nice for my whole family to have a new baby to remind them of the good things that are happening right now, too.

It was my grandmother's wishes that I do her eulogy next week, and I'm honored to do so. She was a poet and avid letter-writer, and although she was too shy to share her work widely and never published, she wrote beautifully. One of her poems will be read at her service. She's where I got my love of words and storytelling.

She had been hospitalized for the past two months, first with pneumonia and then with an infection. Because of my pregnancy, and then after CC's arrival, I wasn't able to see her--too many germs afoot. But I did get to speak with her several times, and sent her a copy of my pass pages when they arrived. Watching my publication process over the past year thrilled her. A secret that I'd kept was that I thanked her in my acknowledgments. When she saw her note, all layed out and designed, it made her day. I am so, so glad that she had the opportunity to see her name in print.

I also like to think that she saw this package arrive this morning:



My advanced reading copies! (note the color change on the cover)

They brought a little bit of sunshine on a rainy, downer day.

Just when things started to settle down, we've experienced our second death in the family in six weeks. This one was on my side, the previous one was on FH's.

The past month and a half has been an emotional roller coaster, to say the least. I went in to labor the same day as the funeral in May (attended funeral and family luncheon after while having irregular contractions, went home and went into full-blown active labor), then spent the past few weeks in the Baby Haze. Now, just as we started to emerge from all of that emotional exhaustion and get life rolling again, we lost my grandmother.

I have an email account that I use for purely business-y, writer-y correspondence. And as of late, I haven't been checking it very often (can't imagine why). Anyway, I was on my way to bed (yes, at 9pm on a Friday night--but I'll be up again at midnight. And 3am...and...) and decided to click over to it.

There was an email entitled BEAUTY BINGE, which was the original title of MODELS.

Turns out, an agent who I queried and sent the first three chapters to back in 2006 just found the pages and was interested in seeing more, if I wasn't already represented. To be fair to her, she didn't know when I'd sent the pages, as the cover letter had gotten separated from the partial. The only way she could get in touch with me was because I'd put my snail mail and email address on the first page of the manuscript.

I sent her a polite and appreciative email and let her know my situation (because, really, how nice of her to actually take the time to email and apologize for the lateness of her response?). But I did chuckle a little as I wrote it.

Two lessons:

#1. You never know when you might hear back from someone...and if MODELS hadn't sold, and I still didn't have an agent, this would have been the Best Email Ever instead of my Friday night amusement (this also happened to me with the Boston Globe, but that's for another entry). So don't give up hope!

#2. PUT YOUR CONTACT INFO ON YOUR MANUSCRIPT. And make sure your last name is on the top of every page...just in case.

And now, on to bed. For reals.

1. Today is the first day of summer! It's my favorite season. Bring on lazy days, hot weather, ice cream, and pitchers of iced tea.

2. I'm itching to get back to writing. Can't wait to dive in to my manuscript. Forced baby-breaks can work wonders on "stuck-in-a-writing-rut"-ness. I'm hoping to get an hour or two during the day while CC naps, and maybe an occasional hour at night while FH keeps an eye on the Peanut Baby.

3. I need some good reads. For the past month, I've been too distracted and sleep-deprived to pick anything up. Not no more. Got any recommendations?

4. My website needs a makeover. I have a July 1 relaunch deadline. MODELS will have its own section of the site, with cool stuff like MUSIC DOWNLOADS (the book has two original songs that go with it, written and performed by gallo_nero). So I'll be working on that this weekend, too.

5. CC has started smiling in her sleep. Can't wait to see that gumless grin "for real" in a few weeks!

Hope you have a great kickoff to summer weekend!

I'm back--I hope. We've figured out that CC has reflux--I couldn't put her down after eating and she wouldn't sleep laying down. With some baby Zantac, she's much more comfortable.

And now that Mommy has figured out that the best place for her naps are either in the Baby Bjorn or her car seat, Mommy is happy, too--she can be hands-free and get some work done!

I'm hoping to get back to semi-regular posts and make progress on my web site and next book. Whew! It's been far too long...

But it's awfully fun to hang out with my new friend.

Opened my front door this morning to find a chunky envelope from my editor....my 1st pass galley pages had arrived!

They are 8.5x11 loose, single-sided manuscript-esque pages that are formatted and designed to reflect the interior of the book. I now know that MODELS clocks in at 234 pages and has the fun "model-in-the-cookie" design at each chapter heading. The dedication, title page and acknowledgments are all in there...it looks like a real book (if you pull the pages out and photocopy them).

Ms. Editor will go through them and make sure there are no typos, and I will do the same. Then I think I'll get bound galleys later in the summer. I was excited and home alone, so I showed the baby. She burped at them.

Thanks for all of the lovely comments welcoming CC into the world! We are doing great; tired, of course, but getting the hang of this mommy/daughter thing. The Wee One is a good sleeper and eater...good meaning I'll get two hours at a pop. Sometimes a glorious three.

Eventually, I'll get back to regular posts and writing, but for now, I'm enjoying late-night Law & Order reruns and skimming my lj-friends page at odd hours. Please leave me some good news posts here so I don't miss anything!!

I managed to cram some good books into the last weeks of the semester.

• Buried, Robin Merrow MacCready
This Edgar Award winning novel follows Claudine as she copes with the mysterious absence of her mother, her own OCD tendencies, and living on her own. MacCready captures the desperation that Claudine feels and shows it to readers through her constant struggle to keep things "organized." A gripping climax offers a great payoff to readers.

• Head Case, Sarah Aronson
saraharonson is an lj-friend who I met in person at NESCWBI. In real life, she is sweet, funny, and bubbly...which is a testament to her writing ability. Head Case is NOT a sweet, funny, bubbly book! Instead, it takes readers into Frank's angry, troubled mind--because, really, that's all this parapalegic teen has left. After a car accident, he's just a "head." He needs to use a straw to move his wheel chair. He can't roll over. He can't feed himself. He can't function in the real world without assistance. This novel hooked me, hard. It doesn't shy away from the rage and frustration that one would feel in that situation, and, thanks to Aronson's background in physical therapy, it paints a realistic portrait of the struggles that spinal cord injury sufferers face.

• Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree, Lauren Tarshis
Ms. AE gave me this book with a stack of others from Dial. In my latest SCBWI newsletter, I saw that it won the Golden Kite Award for middle grade fiction. Well-deserved! This sweet story follows Emma-Jean, who is a bit more...logical than her fellow seventh graders. She's an intelligent observer who happily hovers way out on the periphery of the social scene at her junior high. All of that changes when she gets involved with trying to help Colleen Pomerantz solve a problem. Emma-Jean uses her prodigious brain and computer skills to help Colleen out, and sets on a course of events that shakes up her world so much that she falls out of a tree! A sweet, fun read told in two voices with unique characters.

I'm reading another Dial book right now, Leap of Faith, and trying to figure out what's next from my to-be-read pile...

I've spent the past hour doing part II of the office clean-up I began yesterday. My afternoon project: tackling the bookshelves.

My 1997 edition of Writer's Market? Time to go. I shook it (I habitually stuff notes, etc, into books) and out fluttered several postcards and sheets of paper. There was:

• a rejection slip from Story magazine with a handwritten note asking for more material
• a rejection card from Glimmer Train asking for more material
• a rejection letter from the (possibly) now-defunct Amelia magazine with a handwritten note asking for more stories
• and a straightforward form rejection from Zyzzyva

In a fit of overwhelming post-graduation confidence, I'd sent each of those mags a short story from the collection I worked on as my undergrad senior thesis. I'm sure, at the time, those rejections were devastating, and I KNOW I didn't recognize them for the encouragement that they were. I never re-submitted. Instead, I went to grad school for my MFA and didn't send out anything else for years. YEARS, people!

Today, they brought me a sense of pride. I called FH into the room and showed them to him. He shook his head. "You'd better keep those," he said. I agreed and tucked them into my rejection file.

Lesson learned.

No baby yet, but other, not-so-fun family stuff has cropped up this week. Instead of blogging about downer stuff, I'm just going to do the meme that's been floating around my friends page this week. If you want to do it, consider yourself tagged.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
Working for a publishing company, attending graduate school, getting back together with an ex boyfriend who later became FH.

2. What are 5 things you need to do today?
- Finish thank you notes from baby shower
- Finish cleaning the office
- Test drive the empty stroller while walking with the dog (so the Dictator won't freak out when the NEW, REAL dictator moves in)
- Splash around in the pool at the gym

3. What are some snacks you enjoy?
Fruit, ice cream/frozen yogurt (mint chip, if you must know)

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?
Egads! I'd quit my day job (sorry, students!), write a lot, travel, donate to literacy programs and AIDS prevention programs, fund something cool in perpetuity--like a library, or a scholarship at a college...

5. What are 3 bad habits?
- I swear a lot
- I get easily annoyed by others' disorganization/flakiness
- I hate-hate-hate doing laundry, so I leave it all to the last minute

6. Name 5 places you have lived.
- Walpole, Massachusetts
- Pound Ridge, NY
- Laguna Hills, CA
-Los Altos, CA
- Dublin, Ireland

7. What are 5 jobs have you had?
- Marketing assistant for publisher
- Senior Editor for a magazine
- Academic support tutor
- Assistant professor
- Bookstore clerk

8. And now tag 5 people:
Eh. Do it if you want to...

I turned my grades in today, which means this was my last day of work. The next time I go up to school, it'll be the fall and I'll be a full-fledged Mommy (and, thankfully, not a Giant Balloon-Shaped Pregnant Cruiser). Wheeee!!

Next up: my writer's group is going to crit Book #2 tomorrow night. Hopefully, I'll have time to do a quick revision before CC arrives. Today, Doc said that I *should* be able to make it to next Friday, but not much after that--and definitely not to my due date.

I've told CC that the earliest acceptable arrival is May 20th. Let's see how well he/she listens...

1. No baby, thankfully. Reliable Doctor hinted at my appointment this week that her colleague may have a touch of drama queen in her, but did tell me to pack my bag.

2. Classes are (basically) over!! I finished teaching on Wednesday, and will be grading this weekend. Monday my students will do course evals and I'll pick up one last round of papers. Grades will get turned in on Tuesday, and then I'm a free woman. Wheeee!!

3. The PEN Awards night was fantastic. Not only were lj-ers and former winners jbknowles, cfaughnan, and phobean there, but there was a substantial audience to cheer on this year's honorees. Two highlights for me (aside from spending time with the ladies listed above):
   • I *finally* got up the nerve to thank Lois Lowry--one of my all-time Writing Idols--for her involvement with PEN. The year I won, she wasn't at the awards ceremony, and although  I've seen her twice at other events, I chickened out of speaking with her. This time, FH and phobean pressured me into it cheered me on. And I'm glad they did. She was very nice and even took one of the postcards that I'd brought to show people what my cover looked like! Eek! Lois Lowry has my book cover!!
   • In congratulating this year's winners, I was able to tell them to hang in there, to use the momentum of the award, and to keep submitting their work. PEN truly changed my life--it gave me confidence in the MODELS manuscript, put me in touch with editors, and fueled me as I went through the agonizing agent search. It was wonderful to be able to tell those writers, in person, to stick with it. And I'm telling all of you who are still waiting, too: keep trying. It can happen.

4. I have a ton of thank-you notes to write. That's how I'll be spending my weekend: writing notes and grading papers. Oh, and going on a hospital tour. I'm actually looking forward to accomplishing these goals (okay, maybe not as excited about grading, but still). I enjoy doing notes, and considering how happy I am when I receive non-bill-related mail, it's nice to think that someone will get a smile from seeing the envelope in their mailbox.

5. Ms. Awesome Editor emailed and said that my interior designed pages will be ready in a couple of weeks. COOL! I can't wait to see what the book will look like all laid out, and how many pages it'll be. (is it weird that I'm interested in page counts? Perhaps it's because I get so many questions about it--"how long is your book?" "How many pages will it be when it's done?")

Hope your week--and weekend--are productive and fun!!