Going to Asilomar!

I am so excited! This week, I received an email informing me that there was an open slot at the Asilomar Writer's Conference, so I talked to Reed, and I am going! Asilomar is a beautiful state park near Monterey, California, right on the coast.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a writing conference is, it's a convention where writers of a particular genre get together to discuss the craft. There are tons of authors who come to speak.

Here's a photo of the main lecture hall on the Asilomar campus:

Here's the inside--isn't it beautiful?
The campus is spread out all over the state beach.
This is the social hall, where the meet-and-greets happen.

I am particularly happy to be going, because an agent I am interested in will be there. There are all these rules and etiquette regarding how you approach an agent, but for the most part, a conference is a decent opportunity to pitch a book to them. (Cue nervousness)

I'm getting all my documents in order, I've contacted my peer-editor, made my plane tickets, arranged for my mom to watch Cal (she was only too happy to accept), and ordered materials that I need. This is going to be a busy week, preparing my manuscript, synopses, and such.

I'm excited! Feb 19-21, think of me!

The Rose Parade

Happy New Year :)

Over the vacation, my family went to the Rose Parade -- 20 years in California, and we'd never been! It was really fun, and surprisingly, not that hard/exhausting. Seeing all the floats going past was awesome. Here are a few of our favorites:

This one had real bulldogs, going down on sleds! Oh my gosh I want a dog so bad.

Revising and Querying

About two weeks ago, I finished up the first draft of my book. Now comes the revision process, which I've found I enjoy much more than I thought I would. It's a chance to look at my characters--to strengthen them, to contrast them even further, to make them truly come alive. I'm also trying to improve other things: dialogue believability, plot cohesion, and the hardest of all for some reason: pacing.

And then there's the whole "approaching the agent" thing. I've read Guide to Literary Agents, made my short list, researched what the agencies have recently represented, and finally--contacted my top choice through formal e-query, complete with cover letter, synopsis and first five pages.

Now....I wait. The agent's response will take four weeks at the least, and so in the meantime, I'l be revising even further.

Writing a book has been an awesome experience, but it has also been a little intense sometimes. Lately, I'm plagued with those all-too-common discouraging thoughts like, "Who am I kidding? No one's going to publish me!"

Ignore! I must ignore! :)

I know how common rejection is, and I'm prepared for it. I just wish it didn't sometimes come from my own discouraged brain! Booo...

Baby Song Parodies

I don't really know when it started, but in our house, we are always making up alternate lyrics to songs -- lyrics that correspond to something we're doing, or something about one another. Well, as you can imagine, with a new baby in the house, there are endless possibilities.

I just had to post our latest composition. (It's from the baby's point of view)

To the tune of Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" (the chorus):

I throw my hands up, scratchin' my face,

You know I'm gonna scream all day,

Stompin' my feet like Waaaaa!

Poopin' my pants like Waaaaa!

Then my mom comes--she's changin' my dipe,

I know it's gonna be okay.

Waaaaaa-a-aaaa-a-aaee-aaee-aaaa....

it's a party in my Pack and Play!

You know you're a nerd when...

You have to turn down 8-bit Christmas to tell your husband that, if he really wants to, he can change the channel from Battlestar Galactica (which you are currently watching) to play Modern Warfare 2.

This actually happened today.

Wow, Megan.

Swine Flue Vaccine (A How-To)

Reed and I are officially vaccinated!

It required some extra effort on my part, but the whole ordeal was a little less heinous than I thought it was going to be.

I've had a couple people ask me how to get vaccinated, and I actually had a hard time figuring it out myself. Lots of different websites give conflicting info.

When I finally tracked a health department official down on the phone, they told me to come to the Health and Justice Building in Provo, Monday morning starting at 8:00am. You have to stand in this hideously long line, but it actually moves fairly quickly. It took me 30 min.

When you get to the front, you get a voucher -- you can get up to 6, so if you need more, take a friend with you. You can choose which day (Tuesday or Thursday) and which time (I think they do them by the hour--I got 3 for 10:00am and 3 for 2:00pm). I can't remember the earliest time (I know they had a 9:00am time slot), but I think the latest time was 3:00-4:00pm time slot. I could be wrong.

They told me that they typically run out of vouchers before noon, so get there early. The Health and Justice Building is located on University Ave and 200 South. You'll want to park over on 200 South, because that's where the line starts. Wear a jacket, because you'll be outside for about 15 minutes.

Then, just come during your time slot (to the same building), and get your shot. There is another line, which moves quickly again. When you get to the front, you can request the shot or the nasalMist, depending on your health conditions. I got the shot.

The shot did NOT hurt, did NOT cost anything, and did NOT make me sick.

If you have a baby, 6 months or older, you can vaccinate him or her. Pregnant women who get vaccinated have to get the shot, not the nasalMist.

Take care, everyone! I hope you are all well and safe!

Halloween!

Reed and I went as a Greek God and Goddess this year, and baby Cal was a Jack-o-lantern!