friday5 for October 5, 2012

1. Fandoms collide! Danny Strong of all-things-amazing-ever, has been named as the writer for the two-part Mockingjay film extravaganza. I cannot express how completely fangirl excited I am about this news. Danny is phenomenal both behind and in front of the camera. He is hot off his big Emmy win and though I never would have guessed he'd pen the penultimate and final Hunger Games films, I think he is the perfect choice and will do a brilliant job.

2. Banned Books Week. It's such an important week in the publishing world and every year I find myself surprised to see some amazing work of fiction has been banned. Most of the reasons they give for banning a book leave me more than a little wtf guy? The Huffington Post put out a fun little infographic to highlight a sampling of banned books and educate us on ignorant censorship! Celebrate the freedom to read and enjoy one of these banned books today!

3. This. Just. So excited. And happy. And can't wait. Yeah :)

4. It's not my country, but we still keep a close eye on the US Presidential election. Odds are, the outcome will affect us Canadians down the road. I'm not surprised that one of the highlights of this week's debate was Romney's comment about Big Bird. It turned into quite the internet meme as the week progressed so I think it definitely warrants a mention in this week's friday5. Personally, I wouldn't want to piss Big Bird off. As his name suggests, he's a pretty big guy and it would appear he knows a thing or two about coming out swinging.

5. But back to Canada. This weekend we celebrate Thanksgiving. I have a lot to be thankful for this year so I will definitely be thinking about all of those things as I turkey it up over the next few days. Which will be followed by humble pie, and finally, a shame coma. It's an annual tradition! Time to don your finest Thanksgiving pants and celebrate what matters most. Gluttony. Uh, I mean family!

"Well, here's your turkey. Enjoy!"

october sky

 No, not the film starring Jakey Gyllen-hot (though that's nice too).

Since yesterday's post had to be brief, here's another little post to round things out. Now that we're into October, what better time to blog about, well, October!

I love October. It's tied with September for my favourite month (September = birthday month + wedding anniversary month so it gets major points too). Up here in Canada (where we have seasons, not perpetual winter as you've probably been led to believe), we celebrate Thanksgiving in early October. In fact, it's coming up this weekend. Maybe it's because I've lived here my whole life, but I couldn't imagine it any other way. The weather is almost always perfect--sunny, crisp, sweatery. Lovely. Just right for a walk in the leaves and maybe a little pumpkin picking (I also love Halloween, but more on that later in the month). The colours are vibrant and beautiful, and the smell of fallen leaves soaking up the earth is one of the most comforting scents in the world.

Cute sniffy pups are not mine. © Copyright David Crocker and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Yesterday, Emmeline and I went for a little stroll to the mailbox at the end of our street (as we do on the increasingly rare occasions that I have actual paper mail to send) and I found myself stopping along the way just to breathe in the air. I want to experience it while I can because I know that when the season changes again, it will be replaced by the telltale smell of snow.

Autumn isn't the only time of year that I do this. In the summer, I also tend to stop and savour the warmth, and the scent of freshly cut summer grass. In the spring, I love that smell of the earth warming up, working to nourish new life after months of being buried. I always hope that if I try to memorize what it smells like, what it feels like, I'll be able to recall it when the worst part of winter hits (the slushy, icky, dirty snow mixed with a side of seriously-spring-any-day-now part). But I know I'm never able to recall it perfectly because when the spring comes, and then the summer, it hits me with a sensation of, "Ah, yes. This. This is what it's really like." It's almost euphoric.

The smell of fall makes me feel cozy and loved. If it could be fall all year long, I'd take it. But I know fall can't exist without the other seasons so I guess I'm okay with them too :)

What do you love most about fall? The clothes? The comfort food? Or do you just want to roll around in dry leaves and take it all in like I do?

meme-a-licious

Baby E is not cooperating today, but I refuse to not post since it's only week 2 of my new posting schedule! So here is a short, fun, meme post that was going around a while back. I bookmarked it knowing I wanted to post it to the blog one day. (See? Even when I didn't have time to actively blog, I was still thinking about things I'd blog if I was blogging! And now that I am, you get to enjoy this outdated meme! Everybody's a winner...?)

Flickr Mosaic Meme:


INSTRUCTIONS:

-->

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search (I use the one via Creative Commons)

2. Using only the first page of results, pick one image.

3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into BigHuge Lab’s Mosaic Maker to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

The questions:

1. What is your first name?

2. What is your favourite food? right now?

3. What high school did you go to?

4. What is your favourite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favourite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favourite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. What is one word that describes you?

12. What is your flickr name?

friday5 for september 28, 2012

Okay, so I know I said I was going to do this whole Monday blog schedule thing (which is still true), but I got to thinking about how there are blog posts (a la today's post, in which I write about writerly things or other things, like how frozen waffles are an excellent food staple to have on hand) and then there are tidbits you kind of want to write about, but they don't necessarily warrant a whole blog post. A lot of blogs that I follow (and I follow a lot--watch your back cause I'm probably following you!) do a weekly round-up of sorts where they get "all topical up in here". So that's what I'm going to try to do in addition to regular Monday blog posts.

I present to you:

1. The Casual Vacancy was released this week and reader be warned, it's so not for kids. I started reading it yesterday, but I'm not compulsively devouring it the way I compulsively devoured HP 1-7. I think Jo is a brilliant writer, but when it comes down to it, I'm a YA girl through and through. Don't get me wrong, I've read and adored many an adult book, but there's something about Jo's voice (as in writing voice, not her actual speaking voice, which is lovely btw) that makes me think outside the real world. There's something, dare I say, magical about it. Whimsical. As I read TCV, I keep expecting something splendidly otherworldly to happen. But there's only dark, gritty reality to be found. So it's not that the book isn't good, it's just that I'm finding myself quite distracted as I read.

2. In other publishing news, this is happening. I honestly don't understand why this is causing so much controversy. A contract is a contract. If an author doesn't deliver the manuscript they were paid to write, they're in breach of contract and should have to pay back their advance. Advances aren't just free money for anyone who can land a book deal. They're an advance. The money is tied to responsibility. I think it's interesting that certain people are making assumptions about non-delivery vs. rejection based on editorial quality. If Penguin rejected any of these manuscripts based on editorial quality, then the authors should be working with their editors to get the manuscripts in shape and no lawsuit is necessary. I think the very fact that they're going after these authors for non-delivery is almost certainly because none of the manuscripts were actually delivered. Does assuming that make me look foolish? Maybe, but I'd rather look foolish for assuming something reasonable than look foolish for insinuating something just to make Penguin look like the bad guy.

3. In TV land, this week's Sons of Anarchy reduced many of the show's tough-guy fans to tears. If you're a fan of the show, you definitely know what I'm talking about. I don't know what else to say on the subject except that I'm a huge Opie fan and watching Tuesday's episode left me feeling extremely ill. As an avid Whedon follower (worshiper?), I'm no stranger to tragedy for the sake of good storytelling (and sickening as it is, it is good storytelling, if for no other reason than because it stirs up such an emotional reaction and that's what art should do), but that doesn't make it any easier. Part of me doesn't want to watch the show anymore (this season has been particularly brutal and it's only three episodes in), but another part knows it's an excellent show with solid writing and pitch-perfect acting. And so, as I did with Boardwalk Empire post-Jimmy (still smarting about that too), I know I'll keep watching. Doesn't hurt that I'm now thirsty for vengeance.

4. New fall shows! I should add a disclaimer here that though I will undoubtedly talk about movies here on occasion, I will probably talk about TV far more often. I'm a big fan of well-scripted TV. It allows for so much more character development than movies (though some movies do a phenomenal job in 120 minutes) and for me, it's almost always about the characters. Anyway, I've only caught a few new fall shows so far, including the first two episodes of the event-drama Revolution. This show has a lot of buzz and the concept is solid, but so far, I'm feeling a little iffy about the writing. I know it takes time for a show to get into its groove so I'm willing to give it a chance (plus, Bella's dad wielding a sword, you guys! Bella's dad! A sword!), but right now, I feel like something is missing.

5. I think my #5 every week will be a recommendation, so this week I recommend you check out This is Not a Test by the AMAZING Courtney Summers. Not only is Courtney a fellow Canadian, but the girl can seriously write. You won't regret picking up any of her books, but This is Not a Test is her latest. I'm reading it right now and it's fantastic. Even if you aren't a fan of zombie books, there is so much more going on in this story and again, the writing alone is enough of a reason.

Have an opinion on any of the above topics? A recommendation of your own you'd like to share? Hit me with 'em in the comments!

where i've been and why posts should be more regular

So my last post summed up a good portion of what kept me so busy for the earlier part of this year (ya know, finishing my novel, revising my novel, polishing my novel, querying my novel, LANDING AN AGENT!!!!! Can you tell I'm still excited?), but there was a second thing that kept me even more busy--motherhood.

In December 2011, I became a mother to this little babe, Emmeline:

I make mom's writing time unpredictable!

Okay, at the time, she looked more like this:

I am only one day old and yet-to-cause time management problems

You get the idea... I won't do the new mom thing where I gush about all the amazing things she does because though she does do amazing things, I know all human babies do amazing things and you've undoubtedly heard it before. She hasn't yet done anything that no baby in the history of ever has never done before (that I know of), but if she does, it'll probably warrant a post at that time. Just a warning that I'm not completely above bragging about my child, but she'll basically have to build a working rocket ship on her own before I'll force the details upon you. Isn't that considerate of me? :)

So there you have it: my two big excuses (I have several smaller excuses as well, but I think the two big ones kind of do the work just fine on their own). Moving forward, I'm going to be making a serious effort to blog on a more regular schedule, starting with once a week and hopefully, eventually, increase that. Mondays seem to be the day I usually spend getting myself organized for the week, which should make it also the best day to blog since I'm getting all topical on myself. That sounded kinda ick after I said it, but whatevs, I'm leaving it as is!

Here's what I've gone and done to make sure this happens:

Because we all know adding a reminder to your phone ensures something gets done, amiright?

Notice I even turned off the option to snooze the reminder. THERE WILL BE NO SNOOZING ON BLOG DAY!

If you have any questions for me about my writing, my query journey, or myself, feel free to send 'em at me in the comments or via the question form on my tumblr (linked to the right via the image of a book featuring a conspicuously large question mark). I'm open to blog topic suggestions if you have any!

Otherwise, see you next Monday!

the news, she's big

So as I said in a previous post, I have some news to share... this post will primarily focus on the recent BIG news, but there will be a follow-up post to explain everything else that's happened during this crazy year called 2012.

I attempted to find an image that accurately expresses my excitement over this news, but then got very distracted when a google image search for "happy" produced this little guy:

Hey Buddies!

Apparently his

name

is Happy, so not exactly the happy

face

I'd been searching for, but hey, for all I know, this

is

this guy's happy face. He appears to be eating something, so odds are good that = happy. Anyway, I dig him, so he shall be my expression of happiness for this post!

But enough of that, onto the big news (and sorry if this ends up being REALLY long):

Like most blogs of aspiring authors, posts about big news usually mean one thing--THE CALL.

And I'm happy to say, I got THE CALL!!!!!! (<- six exclamation marks! <-plus a bonus) Well, the first THE CALL in a potential series of exciting THE CALLs. But the other THE CALLs can't happen without this initial, very important, very exciting THE CALL!

My little YA novel and I are now represented by the stupendous and lovely Marlene Stringer of the

Stringer Literary Agency

. I'm officially an agented author! Wait, let me say that again--I'M AN AGENTED AUTHOR!

That is the most surreal and wonderful sentence an aspiring author can utter. And I'm not just saying it for pretendsies in my head. It's real and true and something I get to say to real people without them wondering why I'm not also wearing a tinfoil hat because I'm clearly delusional.

Like this. Cause it's fancy.

I've read many a blog post about authors getting THE CALL in the past. I think all aspiring authors do. They're addictive--proof that it's not always all about rejection (though there's a lot of that too). Posts about THE CALL are inspirational. At least, that's how I've always tried to see them. I think it's easy to read stories of others' successes and feel jealous, but I'm a firm believer that jealously only makes you feel worse and does NOTHING to the person you're jealous of and seriously, the only person you should ever compete with is yourself. Competing with other people, especially in an industry with SOOO many authors/books, is just a big fat waste of time. Feeling inspired on the other hand, that will get you somewhere. That's an emotion you can work with. It can drive you to work harder and block out thoughts of giving up. So I hope if you're reading this, you feel inspired. Because you should be. Mere weeks ago, I was just like you, chasing a dream and doubting myself and thinking my chance would never come. Until it did.

I started writing my first real novel back in 2005. I'd just graduated from university and I was determined to write something longer than 5000 words. That one didn't make it very far. As in, I didn't even finish it. Then working, life, adulthood (which I'm still mostly in denial about) took over and though I dabbled with a few more ideas, nothing ever really flowed.

In 2008, I landed my current job in publishing. It involves a lot of reading. And you know what reading makes me want to do? Write. Nothing makes me want to write more than reading something amazing. Reading does for your creative mind what exercise does for your body. All that reading got me thinking about writing again and a few ideas started to bounce around in my head. One stuck and by the end of the year, I had finished my first young adult novel. I started querying it in 2009 and received a slew of full and partial requests from agents, but they all ended the same way--close but no cigar. While querying that book, I started to work on another book because I knew the best way to move forward was to keep writing.

Work only got busier. Life only got busier. I got married, bought a house, had a baby. But by July of this year, I'd finally finished, revised and polished young adult novel #2 aka

Unnatural Disaster

. I queried in waves, starting with the agents who'd requested fulls, then partials of my first book, especially the ones who'd specifically asked me to keep them in mind for future projects. I reminded them of who I was and then kept my fingers crossed that this new book would hit the mark. The requests started rolling in (all fulls to boot, which is probably more an indicator of e-reader use than anything) and I started to feel like this time around would be different. I knew this book was so much stronger than my first one and I was pretty happy with it (despite suffering those moments all writers suffer where we're convinced everything we've written is complete crap). But then the rejections started rolling in too. Rejections on full requests stung the most, especially from some of my top choices. It was a lot of praise followed by "not quite what I'm looking for right now". I started to curse myself for querying in the summer, knowing that it's conference season and everybody's busy and their minds are elsewhere, on beaches, on vacation. I was so proud of book #2 and here I thought I'd completely screwed it over by querying at a bad time of year.

Well, it is true that July is a bad time of year to query. Avoid it if you can, but somehow, I was lucky enough to still make an impression. On August 8th, I was putting my eight-month-old daughter down for a nap when I noticed a missed call from Florida. It struck me as strange because a) nobody calls me and b) up here in Canada, I don't get a lot of calls from the US. Then I remembered that one of the agents who had my manuscript had palm trees on her website. Was it possible she was located in Florida? Why hadn't I retained that piece of information in all the research I'd done on my top picks?? I was freaking out a little bit. Another minute later, my email dinged and sure enough, it was her, emailing to say she'd like to discuss working together. I think I read the email 18 times and shook my hands uncontrollably to make sure they were still attached to my body before replying to say that now was a good time to call back. And then she did. And we talked about

Unnatural Disaster

and it was wonderful. I could tell she really got it. She was pointing out things she'd noticed (and loved) in my book that I'd always hoped were apparent, but had never been sure. She got it. She loved it. And after a good talk, she offered representation.

When I got off the phone, I did my version of a quiet happy dance (Baby E was still sleeping) and Oliver, one of my two cats, came into the room and barfed on the carpet. I think he was just excited too. Or he hates me. But I think the first thing is more likely. You can't blame a cat for having an inappropriate reaction to something :)

And then I called my husband and searched the house for celebratory chocolate. Turned out I'd eaten the last bit after my last rejection. Actually, it turned out I really needed to go grocery shopping. All I could find for lunch that day were some hotdogs so I ate one of those, which in a weird way was kind of fitting because hotdogs are my go-to funny food. They deserved a spot in my celebratory day.

The week that followed was full of the necessary follow-ups, more requests, and a lot of inbox-watching (even more than when I was merely querying), all ending in my decision to accept Marlene's offer. More celebration and wine drinking ensued.

And to think my little novel could grow up to be a real book one day!

A few more things before I wrap this up--

I believe when something good happens to you, you shouldn't take it for granted. And when the world sends something wonderful your way, you should find a way to say thank you. My way of saying thank you is by giving to charity. So as a symbol of how grateful I feel, I'm making donations to the following charities. If you're feeling particularly thankful about something, big or small, I suggest you do the same, to a charity you feel strongly about.

World Wildlife Fund

FINCA

LUPUS Canada

Oxfam Canada

And a bit of advice to aspiring authors--if you're getting requests from agents, keep going, even if it means writing another book and another after that. It means you're close to something. I can't think of anything in life that gets worse with practice so keep writing books. Each will be better than the last. The only way you will definitely never be published is if you give up.

And finally, for those who like stats, here are some of mine:

• I started querying on June 25th and received THE CALL on August 8th
• In total, I sent out 76 queries, in increasing waves
• I received 32 rejections and 10 requests for the full ms
• 34 agents either replied with congratulations or did not respond at all

a collection of stars

Just a quick post to share my entry in HarperTeen and Figment.com's Defy the Dark contest. This is quite possibly the best contest ever! I'll take a chance to be published (alongside a slew of my fav YA authors!) over a cash prize any day (and this one actually has both!).

Actual contest aspects of this aside, this short story was just what I needed--something new and different from the book I  just finished, a challenge, a chance to experiement with a male POV and a different tense than I usually write in. I'm very pleased with the end result. It's also my first completed work of sci fi.

Here it is: A Collection of Stars

okay so, yeah, i know...

I know. I know. I know I said I'd update soon and then an entire month went by, but it has been the craziest month for reals. Seriously. And because of said craziness, I will soon have an EVEN CRAZIER post coming soon. And by "crazier", I mean whoa, and possibly that I will require some sort of mascot moving forward who can be my advocate in the "seriously who can blog when their brain's exploding" game.

But since I feel like the worst blogger on the planet, let me give you a taste of my soon-to-be-fleshed-out excuses:

1. A very cute baby was involved
2. A very cranky baby was involved (who may or may not be the same baby mentioned above)
3. A book I'm extremely proud of was involved
4. Some very exciting communication was involved

So yeah, details on that SOON. And by soon, I actually mean SOON. As in before the spendiferous season of fall arrives. But almost definitely sooner. Like maybe next week.

So hang in there and I'll start thinking of mascots. Maybe even a mascot competition?!??

Yeah, that's totally happening.

This guy probably won't make the cut:

Dumpy the Snowman

Who needs a third snowball when you can hobble from your oppressors on two L-shaped legs? Hobble Dumpy the Snowman! Hobble toward freedom!

new post to say, POST!

Just a quick post to say 2011 was INSANE for me (the first half of 2012 too), but I'm hoping to post again SOON with an update, news on the new book, life etc etc etc....

And yes, I am devastated by the news that Taylor Kitsch won't be playing Finnick in Catching Fire :(

You can catch my fire anytime, Taylor... or something like that...

2010, the year that wouldn't relent (in a goodish way)

Somehow, I don't know how, it's November 10th. The last thing I remember, it was the middle of summer and the second half of the year was still stretched out before me. So what happened between then and now? A lot. And rather than write a 5000 word essay to explain it all, I'm going to try and keep this brief so that I can feel caught up without boring us all and then happily move on to other things!

In April, I got engaged. Later in April, we decided to get married in September. I suppose that decision was pretty primary in where my summer/fall have gone.

The wedding planning was non-stop and intense, but fun. After five years together, boyfriend and I felt there was no reason to draw out the engagement and with a venue in place (the charming historic farmhouse where my parents live), everything else just came together. Just like magic! Ok, not really, but with a little work and a lot of time, we made it work.

boyfriend got an upgrade; he's a husband now!

It was a wonderful day and we had a great time, even if it did rain during the ceremony (we thankfully had a tent filled with twinkle-lights as a back-up). The upside to the rain was that we'd chosen this as our cake topper:

who needs the sun when we have each other?

Looks like it was part of the plan all along, right? Yeah, we're clever like that ;)

So now we're happily married, had a wonderful honeymoon in Hawaii, and are on the hunt for a house (another all-too-time-consuming activity, but alas, we--or more accurately, our possessions--have outgrown our midtown Toronto apartment).

Between the wedding planning, the wedding itself, the honeymoon, the house huting and everything that goes along with them, I also became an aunt for the first time (on my birthday no less!), got a promotion at work (officially an EA instead of just an AA) and have read many books (both for work and for pleasure when I can manage it)!

like this, except less tome-like and more teen litish

Unfortunately, the busy life I've been leading has left a pitiful amount of free time to work on my next book, and that kills me because my excitement level for it has never waned. But now I'm back on track, trying to work on it when I can (though I find I'm working right through my lunch these days, which had previously been prime writing time). Along with finding a house, I want to make finishing this book a priority.

poor, neglected book baby

With mere weeks left in the year, I feel like I'm missing time, but there are many reasons to be happy it's November. Case in point:

oh, HermioRon, i heart thee so!

Also, the holidays are on their way and though November is still a bit early for me to start decorating, I can't help but feel a bit of holiday spirit bubbling up inside when I hear Christmas carols in all the stores (even if they did start playing them before Halloween, which, let's face it, is kind of insane).

Mostly, I'm just happy to be married now and have all the planning out of the way. It's good to finally get back to "normal", whatever that means, and have more time to write and look forward to everything that comes next!

it's too hexy for its jacket (so hexy it hurts)

Something very exciting is scheduled to happen this week, which I will blog about when the time is right..
But for now, I wanted to blog about the amazing, hilarious, fantastic, don't-read-it-until-you-have-time-to-read-the-whole-thing-in-one-sitting-because-trust-me-you-are-going-to-want-to HEX HALL by the incomparable Rachel Hawkins.

If you read one book this year, you should strongly consider making it HEX HALL. You will not regret it!


Meet Sophie. She's starting her first year at Hex Hall and you should too!

i think i just threw up in my mouth a little bit from excitement

happy february

I know, I know. I suck beyond the telling of it. I won't bother with excuses for why I haven't had time to blog. Instead I'll just say that there's much I want to blog about and will, when I have time. When that will be, I'm not sure at the moment, but I hope it's sooner rather than later. (When/if I ever get anywhere with this published author dream of mine, I can guarantee you there will be frequent blogging, but for now, the day job plus any attempt at pursuing the dream is taking up so much time. Still, I want to blog. I think it's important, even if nobody is reading.)

At the very least, I hope to blog soon about some awesome YA releases that are happening over the next several months, including one from my very own house's Teen imprint--THE IRON KING by Julie Kagawa. I can't say enough good stuff about this book. If you're reading this blog and you like YA, know that you must read this book. It's SUCH a page-turner. The unedited version of the sequel just came across my desk and I can't wait to dive in.



GO BUY IT!

i don't think i could forget

when productivity attacks (aka epic blog fail)

Yes, I'm the worst blogger ever these days. Let's just get that out there. But I have good excuses (note the "s"! You know it's serious when there is more than one excuse!). Seriously blogriends, the last thing I remember was August. I have no idea what has been happening since then and now. Like, it's November? Seriously? This isn't some elaborate joke?

Between querying, working on my WIP, working my full time job, doing the family thing, and doing the friend thing, I feel like I don't even have time to think, but you don't come here to listen to me complain so how about we ignore what an inconsistent blogger I am at the moment and focus on something good...

Umm, well, I don't really have anything good to share except that my total requests for Chameleon is now 15! That sounds much better than it is though because many of those 15 have since passed on the project, citing it isn't quite right for them, but always with lots of positive comments and encouragement and I just want to pull them all in for a giant group hug! And maybe while we're hugging, one of them might change their mind....... Ok, maybe not, but a few truly excellent agents still have partials and there is still lots of hope that it will be just right for one of them. This whole processing is just so emotionally draining because you feel torn between disappointment over rejection and understanding that if the project isn't right for them, then they probably aren't right for you so it's all for the best.

So, since it's November and I'm sure that this month (and next month) will go by so quickly that I'll wake up tomorrow and people will be passed out on my couch, covered in booze and cheetos, mumbling something about "Hooray for 2010!" and I'll be all "Frak, I haven't blogged since early November", I wanted to take a moment to talk about 2009.

I don't recall if I've mentioned this on the blog before, but my birthday is September 9th (or 09/09). This year, my birthday was 09/09/09, which was not only cool cause, come on, it looks cool, it's also cool because 9 has always been a lucky number for me. Because of the whole 09/09 thing, I always pick 9 whenever I have to pick a number for a lottery ticket, or place a bet on roulette or whenever someone at my gamblers anonymous meeting asks me to pick a number between 1 and 10 (ok that last part isn't true. I don't even remotely have a gambling problem. I've been to a casino like twice. Ok maybe three times, but I kinda just go to stare at all the lights and make fun of people. And I hardly ever buy lottery tickets. I shouldn't have even made that joke to begin with because you probably don't believe me, do you? Gamblers always lie about stuff....)

Anyway, the point is that 9 has always been significant to me and it's often paid off. Maybe it's just that I notice 9s more, but I see them pop up all over the place. The floor I lived on in residence at universtiy was even called Could Nine. I don't want you to think I'm some crazy numerology chick or anything (cause you know, liking 9s probably doesn't have anything to do with real numerology, which I know nothing about), but yeah, 9s = lucky number for me.

That took way too long to explain. You're probably super bored now and the pay-off is so not going to be worth it, but here it is:
Since 9 is such a lucky number for me, I entered this year thinking something big would happen. Not "I found ten bucks in the couch big", but big, life-changing even. One could argue that the fact that I finished editing a book and have been querying it to moderate success (success is clearly not the right word here, but you know what I mean) is big, but there's no permanence to it. If none of these queries pan out, I'm back at square one with the next book. Not the big life change I was expecting. I'm starting to feel it isn't coming.

Maybe I'm stupid for putting pressue on a year that has no say in whether or not it contains a 9. Or maybe something big will still happen. It's impossible to say, but I'm still holding out hope that 2009 has something good in store for me. Otherwise, I might have to break-up with you #9. And then I'd have to find a way to change my birthday... Or maybe we can just stay friends?