This was a review blog a couple years ago, and its content has been left up mostly so those reviews can continue to benefit their books. I keep the account for the occasional time I need to comment on an lj post.

If you're looking for fresh content, please visit:

The Indigo Teen Blog on chapters.indigo.ca, of which I am the editor and main contributor,

or

Dreaming in Red, my personal blog which is updated less frequently.

Thanks,
@sakuralovestea.

I have been temporarily coaxed back to LJ by kaz_mahoney for her three month summer writing challenge, which will require Tuesday check-ins at her LJ space.

Quickly, for the people who can vaguely remember who I am:

1) Life has been somewhat insane this year. Lots of background noise. Everything scattered to the winds. Things appear to be finally focusing and that's a Very Good Thing Indeed.

2) I can't decide if I like 11, but I am very smitten with Amy Pond and Rory The Awesome Male Nurse.

3) FRAGMENTS is still out on submission. We have had 3 responses so far. They went: (1) I really like this—except for the stuff I don't; (2) I loved this, but my publisher didn't get as excited as I'd hoped; (3) There's nothing 'wrong' with this, but it's just not for me.

4) Earlier this year, I spent copious amounts of time and energy repositioning THE TALE OF ARIAKE as a young adult novel. It should be going out soon.

5) I'm currently working on the rough draft to a companion manuscript for TALE. It's as just over 20,000 words. It is my intention, through Kaz's accountability program, to finish the draft by the end of August. I have no idea how long that draft will be, but I'm going to say 80,000. It's a nice enough number.

6) I'm outlining two other 'skerit projects.' That is all I will say about them because if I say anything further I won't actually bother to do the outlining.

7) Today is Thursday has returned. Sort of.

8) The rabbit has discovered he likes to chew electrical chords. I don't know if this means he's missing an element in his diet or just suicidal, but other than that he's fine and fat and glad you all asked about him. (I won't tell him that you didn't.)

9) You can find me—mostly talking about Doctor Who—over on Dreaming in Red, but twitter & email are still the best ways to track me down.

Originally posted at this local, but repeated here as per the request of kaz_mahoney :

It is a new lunar year, glowing and shiny with promise. The year of the Tiger, for courage and ferocity. For passion and the mad love that keeps us all motivated. For the conviction that wins us gold and glory.

Love is a complicated, many-feathered splendor. If you feel lonely today, stop. Because love isn't a person or a ring or a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Love is what you do.

My hope for you, this first courageous day, is that you spend time doing something you love. If the opportunity presents itself, I hope you can make someone else feel that love, too.

There is something you do that's beautiful and magical and it makes the world a better place. Share it, because we all could use a little more wonder in our lives.

For the past few months (or year) my life has felt a lot like this picture. Sitting at a red light, waiting to cross from Hope to something more tangible. Fuel in the tank, the road clear ahead, but unable to get there because of a traffic signal.

That’s the frustrating thing about red lights. Why we dislike them. Why some of us would rather run them and risk an accident than have to sit and wait for the light to change. Change is fickle. It comes uninvited, when we’re least prepared to host it—yet we hate waiting for it to arrive.

All this time, my thoughts were filled with where I planned to be. Peace is hard to come by when all you hear is a voice whispering that you’re late. You should have been at this point by now. You would have been if you’d done this or not done that.

What does this have to do with NaNoWriMo? Everything. You see, NaNoWriMo focuses on the notion that 1667 (or 1666.66666666... to be exact) words a day for 30 days can produce a manuscript. It is when those of us who say I could do that, put it to the test. For a month, we all become novelists. Alchemists turning ideas into stories. Kings and Queens of Inspiration.

Why not? November, my friends, is a time for grand gestures. A month when the Great War ended. When it seems possible for our little wars against lack of motivation, fear, doubt, and excuses to end, too. In November, through our grand gestures, we can create peace. We can stop focusing on the red light, and instead see that this is a one way street. The only way to change direction is to turn off. Give up. Take ourselves out of the game.

Sure, there are more lights ahead. But they’re ahead. We’re here. Now. This moment.

People always say I’m having a moment like it’s a bad thing. Really, it’s not. I hope you all have moments this month where you find yourself smiling for no reason other than you love what you’re doing. Moments of brilliance, clarity and accomplishment. Moments when time ceases to exist and the “magic” happens.

I hope you have those every month.

Even if you never arrive at 50,000 words, you’ll still learn how make time for the words you do write. You may even come to realize where you are is more important than where you’ve been or where you’re going.

Enjoy the ride. Keep your eyes open. As our Ethanael is fond of saying: There is no getting lost. There are only unscheduled side trips.

Godspeed.

kaz_mahoney has sold her YA manuscript THE IRON WITCH and its sequel THE WOOD QUEEN to Flux!

And there's really only one way to properly celebrate this.

Here you are, Kaz:

My friend was kind enough to help me make a video of my 12 minute except that I read at WorldCon. She was also kind enough to break it into two youtubeable chunks.

La, three scenes from THE TALE OF ARIAKE made longer by my babbling through some kind of intro and outro.

Part One:



Part Two:

On the last day of Anticipation I met a truly lovely person at a signing.

His name was Neil and he looked very familiar. Like the Twelfth Doctor. He did have a TARDIS pin on his lapel. He also had a Dalek pin, so maybe it was just a coincidence.

I shook his hand, introduced myself, and told him it was a pleasure to meet him.

He said it was a pleasure to be met and wrote "THE END" in my copy of The Graveyard Book.

I gave him a sachet of tea to brew later, because he seemed tired. He said he would. He also said thank you, because this is what polite people do.

If you should ever meet Neil, please treat him kindly and say hello.

As leahbobet  has posted her schedule, I am reminded I ought to post my own for WorldCon 2009:

( So click it to read it )

Today is the release of Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Take, her YA debut. Please join me in congratulating Rachel!

For those of you who don't know, the Soul Screamers series is about a young Bean Sidhe (banshee) who discovers she has the uncontrollable urge to scream when she's around people who are going to die. But can Kaylee learn to use this power to prevent the deaths and solve a string of murders?

Having read the first 8 chapters of this novel early, I can promise you it's funny, it's lovely, it's sexy, and it's so darn real that you'll forget it's a "paranormal." I love Kaylee and Nash and Emma—and you're going to love them, too!

Make sure you download the free eBook prequel "My Soul To Lose" (scroll down) for an epic short story introduction into Kaylee's amazing world. Be ready January 1, 2010 to kick off your year with the sequel, and the third volume of the series will release in the following June.