It's my bandwagon -- feel free to jump on but don't forget who it belongs to

So finally I hear that others are starting to agree that Zac Efron would make a great Edward Cullen. Just remember folks, you heard it here first. And by here, I mean with me, not on this blog, cuz I've been saying Zac Efron = Edward since Book 1.

And for those of you who haven't checked out the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer, you should be reading that instead of this. It is SUCH a better reading experience than this blog. :-D As a fan of vampire fiction and dark urban fantasy, I highly recommend the series.

...Team Jacob 4 life!

And yes, I will be writing a real post soon. Lately when I've been writing, I've been working on my novel, so I have a good excuse.

(by the way, speaking of Zac -- go see Hairspray. I am now OBSESSED with that movie/show/soundtrack)

Writing the night away

Hey dudes and dudettes. Sorry for not updating lately. All of my free time has been spent lately trying to work on my novel. My writing group meets tomorrow and I wanted to have something of substance for them to critique. Before that, I was reading The Golden Compass, and it temporarily took over my Central Nervous System. I will blog about that experience soon, and I also want to write a post about agent lunches (inspired by Alvina's anniversary look-back).

In the meantime, I must return to my writing. I've come to accept that my three main oppositions are:

1 ~ Procrastination: This is the worst because it means I am sitting here, I know I have to write, but I'm not. I'm doing other things because they're easier and that's not cool. Anything in life worth doing is going to involve hard work and the more I write, the more practice I am giving myself and the better I'll get. I know I'm a good writer, but I can only maintain that status if I continue to write.

2 ~ Being busy: This one is a little harder to combat because it means I am being held up by other plans, higher priority work, and I just haven't been able to find the time to sit down at my computer and write. Of course, it doesn't help that on the weekends, when #2 is often not a factor, #1 and #3 kick in.

3 ~ Distractions: This could easily fall under procrastination but I feel it is different. This means that I am trying to write and I am literally sitting at my computer with the Word document wide open, and I have YouTube going, or I'm checking my email, or I'm chatting on AIM. And it's horrid because I know I should just ignore all of that but I don't. It's one of the things I just need to do, and it requires discipline and self-control, but if I want to be a writer, those are two things I am going to have to have.

Anyway, back I go to my writing before it gets too late. Those three things usually mean I am writing everything at the last minute before my writing group meetings and then I stay up way late the night before and am exhausted. That happened last night and I am hoping it won't happen again tonight, so off I go. This blog would be #1 AND #3 but mostly #3 because here I am and the Word doc is staring me in the face. As are the blinking orange AIM windows that I need to say goodbye too.

Off I go.

I'm reading Eclipse

I don't care what anyone says, Zac Efron IS Edward Cullen to me. I've thought so since Book 1, since before he was famous. And now he's a stud and everyone wants to see shirtless pictures of him. And by everyone I mean all the gay men, of course!

The minute I started reading Eclipse this afternoon, I subconsciously started picturing him as Edward, without even thinking about the fact that he is Mr. Bigshot High School Musical guy now.



He's SO Edward!

The Novelization of My Life

Writing is HARD!

Yes, I am whining. I am allowing myself just that one moment before I shut the hell up. This marks the moment when I start my novel...finally. I can delay it no longer. I have formed a writing group (I think we're sticking with the name The Midnight Pages) and we are meeting to exchange our work tomorrow. Right now I have a tentative title (something along the lines of "TS Untitled Book One") and a header with pagination. The first line is killing me. I need to get past that hurdle and then it's smooth sailing.

I need to write Chapter One tonight. 10-12 pages minimum and we'll see how it goes from there. But right now, my biggest obstacle is that first line. A good opening line is crucial and while I could write a mediocre line and come back later to edit it into something fantastic, I find that my opening line is just as important to me, the writer, as it will be to the readers. It sets the tone, it gives you a first impression of the narration (and in this case, the main character). And as we all know, first impressions count. So I want to start off right. I'm certainly not doing so by blogging about it, but I thought maybe I'd get the writing juices flowing. Maybe it would inspire me. I have the whole scene in my head -- now to put it onto paper.

God, you authors out there! How do you do it?

The Steam Pipe - Alvina's Story

Hey everyone, check out Bloomabilities for Alvina's version of the steam pipe explosion. Hers is a much calmer and much-less freaked out version than mine and it also includes a picture (which is really why I am sharing it).

----------------------
By the way, I am extremely covetous of peoples' digicams. If anybody wants to buy me a digital camera for Christmas, I won't object. Better yet, make it a Labor Day present and I'll love you forever. HA! So begins my Christmas list (no I don't usually start making one so early, or at all unless otherwise requested). But since the opportunity is presenting itself, sure why not.

Christmas List (so far):
*Digital camera
*A cute booknerd to cuddle with
*A 13th hour that I can use for sleeping (midnight +1) or reading (noon +1)

I'll just have to remember to come find this list a little later

Harry Potter and the Deathly Spoilers

Who all read Harry Potter over the weekend?

Let's discuss in the comments so as not to spoil anyone who hasn't.

A hole in the world

Those of you who have been paying attention to the news are probably sick of hearing about this by now, but I'm blogging about it.

This afternoon (or early evening -- it was after 5:30, as I was well aware I was already staying late) a steam pipe exploded on 41st and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan. That is 4 blocks away from my office. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was absolutely terrified.

I was standing in Alvina's cube when we hear this rumble, like thunder. Only it kept going, lasting far longer than thunder should last. Then the lights started to flicker. I think it wasn't until after the lights started flickering that we noticed the rumble was still going. My overactive imagination had me already panicking a bit. I kept envisioning an airplane flying right toward our windows. I was getting jumpy and my heart was racing. Then the fire alarms sounded and the fire warden came on the loudspeaker. I don't even think I heard what he was saying, I was so busy flipping. I grabbed my bag, threw a book (Stray by Rachel Vincent -- represented by the fabulous Miriam Kriss), my MP3 player and my cell phone into it, and hightailed it to the fire stairs. I was soon joined by most of the people who were still in the office.

The fire warden had said something about a fire on the third floor but we didn't want to wait for instructions because one of our editorial director's is about 8 months pregnant. We were NOT waiting. We started filing down and other floors were doing the same, so we kept heading down. Around the 5th floor, it started feeling hotter. I got freaked and my fellow ed. asst. Lauren had to grab my arm to calm me. She could tell by my face that I was flipping out. I hadn't reached verbal flip-out level yet but I was close. And I was getting frustrated. People were slowing down and just standing in the stairwell. All I could think was that there was a fire on the third floor and that something was going to explode and we had just herded ourselves down to be right near it. I envisioned walls collapsing, I envisioned planes hitting the building and hoping it wouldn't hurt if I was decapitated by debris. My mind screamed, "MOVE PEOPLE!"

Finally we get to the third floor and people are filing off from there as well. We can clearly see there is no fire, so I calm a bit (but not much). We finally make it into the lobby and out of the building and all I can see is smoke rising from beyond Grand Central Station. I looked at Andrea, our editorial director, and said "I'm heading north." She nodded and a bunch of us, including all three editorial directors, our publisher and a few assistants, started walking north on Park Avenue. I was terrified. I kept looking back, looking up, picturing horrific things. I called my mother to see if she had heard anything on the news, but when I finally got through the damn phone traffic, she hadn't heard a thing. Buildings for blocks and blocks were evacuating, people were standing on the streets looking terrified and confused, concerned but curious. Car services had their windows open and their radios turned up as loud as possible so people on the street could hear news. I called my roommate who works at the NY Post in Midtown West and she hadn't heard anything about it. She was shocked when I told her places were evacuating.

Luckily one of our ed. directors is engaged to a firefighter and by the time we had reached the low 50's, we knew it was a steam pipe/transformer explosion. However, a lot of us were still pretty rattled and there was still a lot of confusion. I ended up walking to my friend/coworker, Carolyn's apartment and watching the news for a while. I spoke with numerous family members and friends who might watch the news and freak out, and when we had all heard the same steam pipe story over and over, I started to calm down. Carolyn was kind enough to pump me full of caffeinated soda as we watched TV for updates and flipped through her PostSecret book.

Finally I calmed down enough and had updated enough of my out-of-city loved ones that I started thinking about the coworkers that didn't walk our way when we exited the building. I called Connie (Alvina's assistant and my buddy) and a bunch of our group had migrated to her apt. in Chelsea. I called my boss, who had left shortly before all of this occurred, to make sure she was ok and hadn't been near Grand Central when all of this happened. She texted later to let me know she was ok. At around 8:00, I grabbed my bag and headed to the Q101 to take the bus back to Queens. Thank god someone showed me how to use the bus recently, because I had no desire to go into underground tunnels when an underground pipe had just exploded, spewing hot steam and possibly asbestos. A few of my new bus friends and I had a good vent session as we waited for the bus driver to take a much-needed break (it took him 1 hour to do one round of stops -- he said he can usually do three rounds in that time -- I'm not sure if I believe that but that's what he said). Once I got off in Astoria, I gave a long, loving glance to the oh-so-familiar-and-safe Rite-Aid on the corner and trooped back to my apartment.

If you want to read a news article about the whole thing, go here. Thanks to KTBuffy for the link.

Looking back on this whole thing, I was absolutely terrified. My mind was going to places it never wanted to go, I feared for my life, and I feared for the lives of my coworkers and bosses who looked just as terrified as I did. My heart goes out to those people who were injured or killed, and to their families, but I am so glad this wasn't an attack. I love New York City and I love my job, but I don't know what I would've done if this had been something worse. And that thought alone is enough to send shivers down my spine.

A truly trying day to endure after two days in bed, sick. I'd be happy with never having to go through something like that ever again! For now, I'm off to bed, to console myself with my book and another glass of my roommate's sugar-free fruit punch that I need to replace (it's so good AND SUGAR-FREE, I can't stop drinking it -- I need to order a case off the internet or something). And to leave things on a positive note, since I'd rather not wake up with a cruddy attitude (especially if I have to deal with the train situation tomorrow), I found a new blog to read. Mycrazyroommate.com -- it is HYSTERICAL! Go read it ASAP!!

I've fallen ill

I'm sorry I've fallen off the face of the planet yet again. I had a few blogs I've been planning, and I was also supposed to be starting my novel, but unfortunately I've fallen ill. Yes, sometime on Saturday I started feeling really crappy. I thought it was just a migraine, and I spent all Sunday in bed feeling rather unproductive. There were a few unpleasant incidences that I won't go into detail about. I woke up ridiculously early today and realized there was absolutely no way I was going to be able to make it to work.

Now I should mention -- I HATE calling out sick. I hate it. I used to LOVE calling out sick because it meant I didn't have to go into work. That was back when I hated my jobs. Now I actually like my job and I'm emotionally invested in the work I do. Staying home sick feels like I am leaving my baby on a subway train or something. I feel like something is happening I should know about, or that I am missing a deadline I can't remember because I don't have my Outlook calendar to remind me, or that someone is mad at me for not being there. I hate this feeling...almost more than actually being sick. If I could've lifted my head off the pillow for longer than it took to call out, I would've gone in. But it wouldn't have been a pretty sight.

Now my sleep schedule is all thrown off because I was in bed all day, and I still feel pretty crappy. I'm about to get in bed, but somehow I feel like I am still not going to feel up to snuff tomorrow. I HATE this! There was a time when I never got sick while I was at work, or at school. I saved my "sick days" for mental health days or for classes I knew I would hate because, somehow, I never got sick. I wouldn't fall ill until I got home for Christmas break. Then, suddenly, I would be bedridden for most of the holiday. I missed a good number of family parties because my body saved up the sickness until I had time off. But now that I actually like my job and don't want to call out sick? It's like my body doesn't remember it's little trick.

I hate this! And I hate it even more because, at least when I would get sick over the holidays I had family to take care of me. I hate being a grown-up and having to take care of myself when I can barely function. I'm lucky I was able to summon up the strength to throw a bedsheet over my bedroom window on Sunday, before I got really sick, so that no excess sunlight comes in and makes me want to die.

Send me get-well vibes. I need to be back in by Wednesday or I am going to pitch a fit! If not from OCD-workaholic syndrome than from sheer boredom. And while my head is slowly starting to feel less and less like an overripe grapefruit, my chest and lungs are beginning to rebel. I feel like I just smoked a carton of cigarettes and then ran a marathon. And my back is starting to kill from laying in bed all day. This is, hands down, the #1 reason why I need to find a doctor who isn't in Manhattan. I am in no shape to haul myself to the kitchen to make some soup, let alone to an appointment in Midtown.

Ok, enough bitching. Off to bed. Pray I wake up and have miraculously healed myself.

You can have a lot of fun in a New York minute

So, unless you count the presents that my parents will undoubtedly bring when they come to help me move in this weekend, the time for celebrating my birthday is pretty much over. Unless you count the party I may never throw because I've been too busy to think about what I want to do.

I did receive one present that really meant a lot to me this year, and of course I have to blog about it. Recently I've had the honor of working with author Julie Anne Peters, who I had already begun reading and respecting long before I got my editorial job. When Little, Brown agreed to donate some GLBT-themed/friendly books to Live Out Loud to go into a gift basket at their annual Gala, Julie agreed to sign a set of her books for them. I joked that I wanted to steal them for myself. Julie, who has a great sense of humor and is just as fabulous as you might imagine, asked when my birthday was (as in "well maybe I'll send you a signed set of your own").

I thought she was kidding or that we were just having a silly conversation, but a few days before my birthday I received a package. Inside were 4 books, each with a different colored ribbon tied around them, and autographed. They were accompanied by a card that sang Down on the Farm by Tim McGraw and made the entire office look when I opened it.

It was such a great birthday surprise, since I had forgotten about that conversation. To receive a set of signed books from an author I read and respect made me so happy, and the fact that she remembered my birthday when some people didn't (my best friend included*) meant a lot. I've never been more excited to send a thank you note in my entire life. HAHAHA!

Oh and since we're discussing what a fabulous author Julie is, I should tell everyone to check out her latest project, coming out in September. It's called grl2grl and it is a short story collection about lesbian teens (and one FTM transgender) as they mature and begin to explore their sexuality. It's amazingly written and so true to life. There were moments in these stories, as there have been in her other books, where I have been transported back to my own experiences, coming out and dealing with being a gay teen. She's a great author and as you can see here, she's also incredibly thoughtful and giving.

YAY for turning 26** and YAY for Julie Anne Peters!

*I forgave my best friend, since she was in bed, sick, all day.
**read: survived 25

Do you like my new shirt? It was written by Stephen King.

Packing boxes really makes me realize something that I never realized before...

...I have more books than I do clothes.

Seriously, I never thought about it before but I have two bookshelves and they are both overflowing, not to mention a full half-bookshelf at work that is holding most of my books (I didn't count the shelves that have work-owned books).

Books rule my life! :-D

When do I start vomiting split-pea soup?

Ya know how, on the day before you take a vacation, you end up staying at work so late it almost seems like the vacation wasn't worth it? Yeah---I was at work until 12:30 tonight. AND I came in this morning at 8:00. That's SIXTEEN HOURS. I was at work for 3/4 of the day! (is that correct math?)

Though I gotta say, I feel like I got some good stuff done. Or at least I got to a place where my desk isn't so spaztastically messy and things won't blow up while I'm gone. I feel bad for Jennifer (my boss) though. She's gonna get into work tomorrow and find a huge pile of stuff on her desk, all with little post-its saying "this is this and that is that and this is what to do with that." That's what I do when I know I'm not gonna be around.

I dunno, I'm weird! I am going to enjoy this vacation A LOT but at the same time I hate being away from work and not knowing what is going down. I think I'm a closet control freak and now that I actually have a job that I love and care about, that side of me is rearing its ugly face. What if something needs to get done while I'm gone? What if something comes in that I need to take a look at? What if my head explodes because I'm neurotic? :-)

No, but I'm seriously going to take the time to enjoy this vacation. I'm moving to a new (better) apartment, my mom is visiting with birthday presents and lots of groceries, I get to read adult books without feeling guilty, and I think my best friend Jess is visiting at the end of the week or next weekend. Aside from that, I plan on laying around like a bum. And speaking of which, I'm gonna go lay down so that I can actually function tomorrow morning when I need to do a katrillion move-errands.

26 feels the same

Well I made it through my 26th birthday just fine. I worked late like a big dork but that's ok. I'll have some fun next week when I'm on vacation, in my new apartment, which I am moving into on Sunday. WHEE!

To those who wished me a happy birthday, I thank you. To those who didn't, boo hiss! And to those who didn't know...you're forgiven. :-D

Ok, gotta get up early tomorrow so I can prepare for a big meeting with all the intimidatingly important and inspiring people at my imprint. A MEETING THAT I HAVE TO RUN! Then I'll probably be working late again, since I'm not in on Friday. But then vaca! I can't wait to sit on my rump all week. And don't forget, there will be updates on the books if I ever get to read them. Also, I do not have Ender's Game yet, so if someone has it and can lend it to me, please let me know soon or else I'll be forced to read one of the many MANY books I already own and have not read. Kthx!

Why I love Lily Allen

My posts have been rather boring lately, so here I am with some visual aids. Alvina already posted about the Lily Allen concert in Brooklyn, but here's my go at it.

Let me first say that Lily is freaking amazing! The songs are fun, the lyrics are meaningful and relatable, and her personality is absolutely incredible. She's so in your face and sassy and hysterical and I loooooove her! I met up with Alvina and a few of her friends (including author Meghan McCarthy), as well as my cube-neighbor and fellow editorial asst. Connie (who works with Alvina) and her boyfriend Matt. It was a blast!

So in the spirit of not being boring, here are some videos from the actual concert we were at:

Singing LDN


You can't see much but this is a great intro to the song Not Big


And this isn't from the concert, but this is probably one of my favorite songs that I've heard Lily sing...it's not on her CD but she sang it at the concert. For some reason I thought she was saying "I wish my life was a little red CD" but the line is "I wish my life was a little less seedy." LMAO!

The song is called Cheryl Tweedy

Why am I still awake?

I am on the brink of forming a writer's group. A few of my friends (who also happen to be agents) also write fantasy, sometimes dark and/or urban, and we all want that extra motivation to actually sit down and write. I think I especially need that extra push, since I'm always giving myself excuses (I'm too tired, I'll do it tomorrow when I have more time, I don't feel inspired right now, etc. etc.) They're all lame so I am going to attempt to crack the whip and start writing.

I've decided to go with my dark urban fantasy novel/series idea because I've been working it over in my head, evolving and adapting it, and getting to know the characters since I was in college. Since then the MC has changed (for the better). She originally started out as a love interest for the former MC, but she was so interesting and powerful in my head that she immediately took over. Since then she's grown so much in my brain and her personality has shifted like the tides. I need to write her story. It's aching to come out.

My biggest problem is that I'm great at beginnings, iffy on middles and not so great with endings. The creative vision just doesn't extend that far. I need to just start writing and let it come to me but for some reason the open-endedness has always turned me off. But like I said, cracking the whip, so maybe this story will finally become reality. Words of encouragement and motivation are welcome and encouraged. :-D

Storytime with Grandpa T.S.

Kids, grandpa broke his hip! Seriously, I know I'm only 26 (or will be next week -- WOOHOO) but I feel OLD! I am in severe pain.

Yesterday (Thursday) our company had an all-staff outing in Central Park where I participated in double-dutch (yes, I still remember how to do it from the 4th grade) and kickball (I still don't know how to kick anything but pop-ups, after all these years). Despite the energizing desserts from the bake-off and the ridiculous amount of tequila that was pumped into my system from the margarita-happy hour afterward, you'd think I'd be feeling A-OK, but no. Every muscle I can think of is in pain. I even managed to twist my ankle during double-dutch so I've been hobbling a bit.

Then today, after staying a bit late on half-day Friday, I meandered down to Brooklyn Heights for a rooftop karaoke party at the apartment of one of our art directors. I had a total blast but walking there from the subway, standing most of the time (with dancing) and then walking back caused me to add the soles of my feet to the injured list.

Tomorrow I am being picked up by Melissa from Long Island and we are driving to Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx where there will be a BBQ thrown by a bunch of people who are related in some way to our friend Jacinda. Jacinda was a grad student when Melissa and I were undergrads and now she's stupid and lives in Boston. Booray! So we're taking the opportunity to see her while we can, even though we're both wiped out. I think I may die before the end of the weekend.

Somebody call a medic!

The ants go marching

**Don't read this post if you aren't comfortable reading about insects 'n' stuff.**

A few weekends ago, walking home from dinner with an out-of-town friend, I saw five HUGE cockroaches walking around on the sidewalk like it was the normal thing to do. The weirdest thing is, they were all in different areas on my way home, not close to each other at all, and most of them were in spots were I've never seen roaches before. It was strange and gross but I just shrugged it off. But then...

...last night I decided to walk home from my friend (and future roommate) Maranda's apartment (soon to be known as my new apartment) instead of taking the subway, and I noticed SIX swarms of ants coming from cracks in the sidewalk. And once again, they were all on different blocks, far enough away from each other where they wouldn't be connected. There was no food on the ground for them to be going after, and they didn't even seem to be moving in any type of logical pattern.

These weren't just gross occurrences. They freaked me out. What's with these strange insect activities lately? I don't know if it is the weather or what, but I'm having flashbacks to all of those insect swarm horror movies I was subjected to as a child. Now, I know it's ridiculous warm this summer but its definitely not as hot as it was last summer and we've had some cold spells too. Why are the insects acting weird? Make them stop!

I'm off to google the phrase "strange ant behavior." Maybe they're signalling some sort of natural phenomenon that we should know about. Maybe I'm paranoid. And itchy...yes, thinking about ants definitely makes me itchy. Sorry if this post did the same to any of you.

Oh yeah...

I absolutely forgot that Kelley Armstrong's next Women of the Otherworld book, No Humans Allowed, is now out. That is definitely going to be one of the three books I read while I'm on vacation. I picked up a copy while I was out book shopping on Friday (I hit more than just Book-Off).

So we have Speak, Women of the No Humans Allowed and possibly Ender's Game. I've been told I should read it by...4 or 5 people now (on and offline) so I think it's the winner by a landslide. By the way, I may need to borrow someone's copy, since I don't seem to have the copy that was living on my desk for the past year or so.

jackpot

The other day I found myself in Book-Off, the Japanese bookstore right near the NYPL. They have a great American used-books section and I managed to score some really great finds for only $1 each. My finds included the Fear Street Cheerleaders trilogy by RL Stine. This was a very exciting find for me because these were the books that got me hooked on Fear Street when I was in middle school. Love them!

I also found a few classics that I still haven't read that are on my list:

*From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
*The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
*The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

And I picked up The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis-Klaus for only $3 too. I figured I should pick it up, since I loved Blood and Chocolate (also written by her).

Book-Off is great! I'm not sure how I feel about sharing my place. I love it when a place feels like it is your little secret. But hey, I'm sure everyone already knows about it anyway cuz it's so great, and the more people who bring their used books, the more there are for me to find. :-D

Ohmuhgod, I'm opening the floodgates!

Before I end ye old lunch break (must mention that I am on lunch break -- don't want to get in trouble for blogging at work) I must post this.

I am taking a week off in early July, right after I move into a new apartment. In the time when I am not finishing my unpacking and reorganizing (not to mention feeding the Netflix addiction), I plan on doing some non-work related reading. I think I can probably get through 1-3 books in a week's time, if I don't get distracted and if I really get into the stories. I also think one of those books is going to be Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I know---I can't believe I haven't read it yet either. It's one of the books on my Children's, YA and (all-age groups) Fantasy/Sci-Fi must-read list.

Any suggestions for the other two? I'm thinking I'll probably want to read at least one adult book...probably something dark fantasy-ish. The third one can be a random. But I'd like to open the floor up to suggestions and then, because we're all booknerds here, I'll post my thoughts on each book when I'm done. Doesn't that sound like fun? Well we'll see.

So...any ideas?

Day Watch

Guys, I'm really excited. I just found out that Day Watch is finally out in the states. Day Watch is the sequel to the Russian blockbuster Night Watch. They are based on books in a dark urban fantasy trilogy written by Sergey Lukyanenko. The first one was really amazing and I absolutely cannot wait to see this one. Check out the link above to see a trailer and anyone in NYC is interested in seeing it with me, let me know.