Am head down and revising like a mad thing. Yes, again. But dammit, I want this book to completely rock and so does my editor. However, I do have a couple of quickie items of note.

Thing the first: I blogged over at MTV Books Blog today about how each book is a special child and how it can hurt when the younger one doesn't get quite the same attention as the firstborn. *g*

Thing the second: The next Chica Lit Blog Tour is set to kick off bright and early Monday morning with a theme of Women, Words, & Wisdom, with the lineup as follows:


May 19 - Mary Castillo, author of "Switchcraft" (http://marycastillo.blogspot.com/)
May 20 - Caridad Ferrer, author of "It's Not About the Accent" (http://fashionista_35.livejournal.com/)
May 21 – Lara Rios, author of "Becoming Americana" (http://www.lararios.blogspot.com/)
May 22 – Mayra Calvani, The Dark Phantom Review (http://www.thedarkphantom.wordpress.com)
May 23 – Caridad Piniero, author of "The Calling" Vampire series (www.caridad.com/blog)
May 24 – Jamie Martinez Wood, author of "Rogelia's House of Magic" (http://jamiemartinezwood.blogspot.com/)
May 25 – Berta Platas, author of "Cinderella Lopez" (http://bertaplatas.blogspot.com/)
May 26 – Tracy Montoya, "I'll Be Watching You" (www.tracymontoya.blogspot.com)
May 27 – Kathy Cano Murillo, aka "The Crafty Chica" (http://thecraftychica.blogspot.com)
May 28 – Misa Ramirez, author of "Living the Vida Lola" (http://chasingheroes.com)

This time we've taken a slightly different approach; instead of sticking solely to fiction, some of the ladies will be posting non-fiction pieces. Me, I'm not terribly good with the non-fic, so I will have a story up on my day and like before, there'll be prizes, so be sure to spread the word and check on all our fabulous authors.

And look at our logo! Isn't it fab? Done by the very talented Nuvia Crisol Guerra.



Okay, back to revisions for me.

Had a long-standing hair appointment this morning. Didn't really feel like going, but what was sitting around the house and dwelling going to do?

Not a damned thing.

Maybe it even gave me a bit of a live for the moment 'tude too because I went in and did something on impulse.

Before:



After:



What the hell, right?

I just heard from an old friend today. My old housemate, actually. Someone I've known for over twenty years, which in and of itself, seems impossible. It can't possibly have been that long since we shared a house and took road trips to St. George's Island and tried to make ten bucks buy a week's worth of groceries. There was a larger group of us—all band kids, of course—and to a greater or lesser degree, we've stayed in touch. Lesser on my part, a bit because of my introvert nature and a bit because I didn't stay in Florida after we all eventually left college. But still—when something big happens, we all find our way back to each other.

That happened tonight.

One of the many couples from those days, a couple who were quietly devoted to each other and to their family, who had made a lovely, stable life for themselves and their two children, suffered every parent's worst nightmare today when they lost their beautiful little girl. A little girl who had defied odds by surviving a premature birth and turning into a lovely, healthy child. But one of those evil specters from that early fight for survival returned to haunt her and just like that, in a matter of two days, she was gone.

It's at moments like these that I wish I had the beautiful, graceful eloquence of Barbara Samuel. She'd know just the right thing to say and would craft it in lovely, fitting language, while all I can do is sit here, stunned, angry, and utterly unable to comprehend how my old friends must be feeling. Wishing that there was something—anything—I could do, because even though I haven't spoken with them in probably four years, they're still part of the tapestry of those days that so clearly defined my life and who I ultimately became, and as such, remain in some way, a part of me, even today.

I haven't locked them in some time capsule. We've all had lives that are hopefully, every bit as rich and vibrant as that part of the tapestry that was our late adolescence/early adulthood, but it's because of that evolution we've all gone through that we still have a touchstone with which to connect.

So tonight, I think of them not as my old friends from university, or the young newlyweds we were within a couple of years of each other. Tonight, they're simply my friends who are also parents and who are dealing with the worst possible thing they can deal with. And while I'm not a religious woman, I am, hopefully, a spiritual one and tonight, I'll be thinking of them and their daughter and their young son and lighting a candle.

Holding them close.

Otherwise known as "what in good hell was she thinking?"







Pity, since the dress is actually quite lovely. And she's considered a style icon again, why?


And yes, I know it's for the Sex and the City movie premiere and she's just channeling Carrie Bradshaw, but honey, there just comes a point where you have to draw a line and say, "This is simply ridiculous."

More than a couple of people have mentioned that I should do Cabana Boys from across the pond, specifically from the various BBC shows. Now, I don't pretend to know all of the shows, but I have a more than passing familiarity with a few and with the lovely boys who populate said shows, so, why not?

One of my first favorites was lovely, lovely Lloyd Owen. I first decided I loved the gorgeous eyes and equally gorgeous speaking voice when he played Young Indy's father on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Imagine my glee when he showed up on BBC Scotland's Monarch of the Glen as long-lost bastard brother Paul. Seemed like people were mostly hot for Archie (Alastair Mackenzie) but oh no, I liked Paul. What's not to like?

As Henry Jones, Sr. & a shot from Monarch.


( Let's swim across the pond, shall we? )

( And because Dr. Who/Torchwood have their own special category of pretty, a separate cut for them )

And just to leave you with one of my favorite shots of pretty... John and James.



ION, I'm guest blogging today over at Romancing the Blog on how a book's birth can be compared to the gestation period of the elephant. Seriously. No, I'm not just a little loopy these days.

I would've thought Much Ado, but I'll take Midsummer. *g*

Link: The Which Shakespeare Play Are You? Test written by macbee on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(macbee)

Because I'm entirely too amused by this exchange this morning:

The Diva wanders by, singing half under her breath, as she is wont to do. This means that you maybe catch every third word or so. The Hub, who has yet to have his coffee, blearily looks at me and asks, "What is she singing?"

The Diva replies, "It's Butterfly by Jason Mraz, Daddy."

"Uh-huh." The Hub nods and then says, "It sounds nice, but what were those lyrics again?"

The Diva happily obliges and sings:

Butterfly
Well you landed on my mind
Actually landed on my ear but you crawled inside
And now I see you perfectly behind closed eyes
I wanna fly with you
But I don't want to lie to you

The Hub, still sans coffee, looks at me as the Diva wanders off, still happily singing. I shrug and say, "He wanted to write a song a stripper might use for a routine."

"And you think it's okay for your daughter to be warbling this?"

"Well, it's not as if she's using it for a routine for the elementary school talent night."

"You know, if you're trying to comfort me, you're doing a really crappy job of it."

"Look, it's all a matter of perspective, honey. At least these are literate lyrics shrouded in metaphor.
She could be singing 'Hit Me Baby, One More Time' or 'Hollaback Girl.' Or remember the time she got hooked on 'U and Ur Hand?'"

"And again, I repeat, if you're trying to comfort me..."

I've pretty much been grinning and giggling to myself all morning. I'm a bad mommy. Or a bad wife. One or the other.

My darling Cindy Holby hath tagged me. Six facts. Okay, I'm going to have a hard time coming up with something, but let's see. Oh, and I don't tag, so them's what are interested, consider yourselves tagged. *smoochies*

The rules:

a) Link to the person who tagged you.

b) Post the rules on your blog.

c) Write six random things about yourself.

d) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

e) Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on his/her blog.



1. I will take a good, simple creme brulée or a perfect chocolate dipped strawberry over the most elaborate, extravagant dessert.

2. Speaking of dessert, I love strawberry and peach ice creams, but they have to be fresh.

3. I've only dated a man older than me twice. (Not for lack of trying, mind you. Just never worked out for whatever reason.)

4. If I never see another female figure skater grab her skate blade and pull it to or over her head again, it'll be too soon.

5. I've missed most of the cult/watercooler shows of the past fifteen years. But I do have a tendency to know most of the pertinent facts because of my incurable People Magazine habit.

6. I no longer have the natural lenses in my eyes. Eight years ago, my eyesight had worsened to the point where I had to have lensectomies in both eyes—it's essentially cataract surgery.

Anyone who wants to answer, go for it.

It's proving to be near-impossible for us to come up with a title that has Carmen in the actual title that we really love more than chocolate. So we're going back to the drawing board. We're looking at just coming up with a cool title that reflects the story and then we'll have a subtitle that reflects the Carmen origins.

So, I've compiled some titles that appeal to me. Yes, I'm bogarting from song titles because I SUCK so at coming up with my own. So have at it. And of course, as usual, if you come up with something you think really reflects the story of a dedicated dancer who experiences her first love, joins a drum and bugle corps, suffers devastating loss and betrayal, and maybe in the end really discovers who she is and in the process rediscovers friendship and a possible future love, have at it.

Poll #1185648 Carmen Book Title redux
Open to: All, results viewable to: All

So, which title(s) d'you like? (Yes, you can choose more than one)

I just emailed about possibly adopting this boy:




His name is Cosmo.

Google Alerts popped up with this tidbit from the eharlequin.com site.

Caridad Ferrer, Adios to My Old Life: a young adult novel featuring Ali Montero, a serious teenage guitarist and singer who is chosen for a reality show for Latin pop stars titled Oye Mi Canto. This may sound like a cheesy fluff book, but it wasn't, not at all. I was completely enthralled throughout with Ali's thoughts and dreams, and her first romance. There was one part that so harrowed me that I was still thinking of it the next day, and the ending is completely satisfying. Read this! It's great!

###

Victoria Janssen
The Duchess, Her Maid, The Groom and Their Lover, Harlequin Spice, 12/08
http://www.victoriajanssen.com/

Thank you, Victoria!!

Courtesy of Ron Hogan at GalleyCat:

Why Genre Tags Don't Matter

Michael Chabon showed up for the creative writing program at University of California-Irvine in the mid-1980s with a head full of Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, and Donald Barthelme... but also J.G. Ballard, Michael Moorcock, and Ursula K. LeGuin. The plan, he told me as we chatted in a hotel bar last week, was to write "intensely literary fiction that was equally steeped in genre," but he soon found that his classmates were completely befuddled and unwilling to critique the stories he was submitting. "I didn't want to get into a fight every time I presented a story," he recalled, so he wound up writing The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, which ultimately became his debut novel, as an attempt at working within the traditional coming-of-age genre. "In a way, it was a kind of retreat," he admits, "and I've been... sneaking out at first, but now more clearly into the place I always wanted to be."

*snip*

"I don't know why it's such a big deal," [Jeffrey] Ford said of the genre-straddling, to which Chabon replied, "The people it matters the least to are the ones who are doing it.

I'm sitting here thinking, OMG, he really gets it. He really, really gets it. Which is, why he might not be my favorite author, he's most definitely my favorite writer.

And on a day when I needed to see it and remember what it is I love doing.

Three hours of sleep and four cups of coffee later and I'm in A Mood.

And two of the music releases I was so looking forward to today are actually coming out next week.

How on earth could I have been off by a week on two releases?

Bah.

There are writing things that are annoying me.

I'm definitely not fit company for the human race today. I hope to high heaven no one crosses me today.

Do you hear that? That... sound? Or lack thereof? For the first time in two weeks I am completely alone in my own home, aside from my pets. The first week was Spring Break, of course, and then the second week was the recovery from Spring Break, whereupon the Diva and the Boy were both sick, the Diva for the whole week, poor lamb.

Didn't stop me from practically shoving them out the door this morning. "No, seriously, you are HEALTHY. Go!"

At any rate, I'm in the mood for nurturing Cabana Boys. Anyone who knows me, knows I'm an animal lover. We have my beautiful dogs, lovely Mooshu and silly Jasmine, and Jack-Jack, the cat.



So what does this have to do with nurturing Cabana Boys? Well, I figure any boy who loves the critters will make a good, nurturing Cabana Boy. Strangely, I couldn't find pictures of Boys with cats. I popped it into a Google Search and this is what I came up with:



Yeah, uh, definitely not what we want.

ETA: Saved by hilleviw Hot guys with kitties do exist! The very lovely banjo virtuoso, Bela Fleck and Animal.



Now, about those puppies...

Look at that—any boy who cuddles a puppy like that...



Then there's Orlando and his pretty puppies on a beach walk. He brought at least one of the puppies home from Morocco, I think it was, when he was filming Kingdom of Heaven.



( It's not just about the puppies )

Now, about those Brazilians...

I've made no secret of my Rodrigo-love. I mean, what's not to love, right? The eyes, the hair, the smile, the fact that he looks amazing lounging in a bathtub...*le sigh*




*ahem* Sorry. Went off to my Happy Place. But I tell you, you'd think that Rodrigo would be an exception, right? I mean, how many men can there be like that? Apparently, in Brazil, they practically grow on trees.

( Seriously, what's in the water there? )

I think this is going to require more research. What do you guys think? Road trip to Ipanema?

Because seriously, it would be nice to have a good month, especially creatively/professionally.

Virgo (August 23 - September 22)

Your May Horoscope by Susan Miller

The past few months have been strenuous, but May will be all you want it to be, even exceeding your greatest expectations. It will be chockfull of fabulous opportunities on so many levels that you may be amazed at how things can so dramatically turn to your favor. A "grand trine" - considered the most harmonious, happiest aspect possible - will be shaping up in the heavens, and as a Virgo you will be front and center, perfectly positioned to enjoy all of them.

This golden triangle that will appear in the heavens near May 5 will link the energies of Pluto (transformations), Venus (love, happiness, and fun), and Saturn (stability and longevity). All these planets are in earth signs. The houses that bring you your greatest luck are the ones these planets are visiting. The three planets will form a bond between your fifth house (creativity, love, and children), your ninth house (foreign people / places, study, publishing, and broadcasting), and your first house (ruling the power of your determination and unique personality). All these areas will work together to create a magnificent month of opportunity for you.

The fact that the first house is included in this grand trine signifies that you should feel free to be "you" inside and out. As they say, let you be you. The most unique parts of you will be deeply appreciated now in a very genuine way, and your fresh perspective will be lauded.

If you are in a creative profession (and that would include writing) you should voice your ideas, for they will be heard - they may now bring you through a new door, one that you find infinitely right for you. There will be a sense of freedom and liberation, too, for others are finally "getting" what you are and what you want, and they will want to help you succeed. If you've wondered when to launch a major project, it's now!

I'm serious. Do not toy with me. I will be Most Displeased.

The cut is beautiful, I love the unusual colors which are of the type that tend to look vomitrocious on many, but surprisingly flattering on me and the subtle sexiness. However, the sleeves... *sigh* Those sleeves would no doubt cut my upper arms off in the worst possible place and make my arms look oogy.

Shallow end of vanity pool, party of one.

Although work shall follow soon after. Gakked from debg

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your Friends! Change all the answers so that they apply to you. ADD ANOTHER QUESTION TO THE LIST.

( Behind the cut because it's on the longish side )

C'mon, you knew it was only a matter of time.

And I'm toying with a new title for the story:

Now or Never

Miss Invisible- Maríe Digby
Now or Never- Josh Groban (w/Imogen Heap)
Only Fooling Myself (Brian Malouf Mix)- Kate Voegele
Mercy- Duffy
Angel- Natasha Bedingfield
All I Got- Newton Faulkner
Lola- Chayanne
No Re Pido Flores- Fanny Lu
Eres- Alejandro Fernández
Glittering Clouds (Locusts)- Imogen Heap
Freckles- Natasha Bedingfield
Butterfly (From the Casa Nova Sessions)- Jason Mraz
Uncomfortably Slow- Newton Faulkner
Kissing a Fool- George Michael
Spell- Maríe Digby
Awake (Live Edit)- Josh Groban

What's kind of fun about this list is that with the exception of Kissing a Fool, this list is all fairly recent music. I don't think anything else predates late 2006. I wonder what the Girls in the Basement are trying to tell me with this? I can tell you that the lizard brain has begun "seeing" the music in terms of skating routines again. I think that's part of the appeal of all of these songs. I can see them as routines as well as seeing them lyrically or musically being relevant to the story.

This is going to be interesting. Especially to see how the list evolves as I get deeper into the story.

Sidenote- the Duffy track, Mercy is the one that actually got me thinking in terms of a skating routine. I can just see this being a song that a team with massively fabulous footwork could just absolutely work to death but it's the kind of song that would send conservative judges into a complete tizzy. *snicker* Or would have, once upon a time. I need to go bone up on the current ice dance rules beyond "Thou shalt complete many unattractive lifts whereupon the female holds her blade to the back of her head."

(If you watch the vid, you might want to let it load completely first. It's a little pokey loading otherwise.)

Everything really was hitting me wrong there, wasn't it? And that's considering I had New Shoes. Ah well, is what it is. Just goes to show that when the writing's a struggle, it has the potential to really color everything else. Not to mention, being cooped up in the house all week with sick children probably didn't do any great wonders for my mood either. *sigh*

And yes, while this new story is right there in my mind and I know exactly how I want it to go, the fact that I'm working in Third Person POV for the first time in years is making this a struggle. One thing I'm finding is that with Third, precise word choice seems to take on even more importance than it does in First. In some ways, there's infinitely more variety because in First, the language, both narrative and dialogue, is pretty firmly informed by the character and their circumstances. (One of my pet peeves in First Person POV YA is when a teen comes off sounding like a thirty-five year old divorcée.)

The pacing and POV shifts are giving me slight fits too, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. I'd really like to get another chunk of this story down over the weekend because I'm expecting a new revision letter for Carmen from Lovely Editor either sometime today or early next week. Yeah, just because I rocked the revisions this time around doesn't mean I don't have some more work to do. I really, really want to take this book to the next level and however many revisions it requires, that's what I'll do.

So let's make this a Good News Friday—tell me good stuff, y'all. I'll start. My darling pix_kristin is finally on the mend after a nasty bout of pneumonia. Now she just needs to take care of herself and not overdo it.

And did I mention I got New Shoes? *g* And I've lost three pounds since coming back from the Vacation of Excess. And this coming Tuesday brings all sorts of new release music including Jason Mraz, Josh Groban, Gavin DeGraw, and Duffy. All Good Things. Oh, and gaelbrady done slain the Class from Hell and got herself an A!! WOOT!

Now tell me more.

Courtesy of the fabulous monthly newsletter put out by freelance editor Marcela Landres, an interview with Tina Jordan, VP of the Association of American Publishers.

1. Saludos
May is Latino Books Month. While Latino writers should be celebrated every
month of the year, Latino Books Month represents an opportunity to
spotlight the contributions Latinos make to our literary culture at large.
This month, don't just celebrate Latino authors—support them. Read this
month's Q&A with Tina Jordan to learn how.

Helping Latino writers get published,
Marcela Landres
marcelalandres@yahoo.com
http://www.marcelalandres.com/

2. Q&A
Tina Jordan has held the position of Vice President of the Association of
American Publishers since 2006 and resides in the New York office. Among
her responsibilities are the activities of the Trade Publishers Committee,
the Smaller and Independent Publishers Group, Library Marketing, the Get
Caught Reading/Aja Leyendo literacy campaign, diversity in publishing
efforts, and the Association's educational programs. Prior to her position
at the AAP, she held the position of Director of Public Relations and
Special Events for BookExpo America, the national book convention, from
1997-2006. A native of Connecticut and a graduate of Cornell University,
Ms. Jordan is also an avid skier and rock climber. She can be reached at
tjordan@publishers.org.

* For my readers who may not be familiar with the wonderful AAP, could
you briefly describe its mission?
The AAP is the national trade organization for the nation's book publishing
community. Its over 300 members focus on such concerns as copyright
protection; first amendment/freedom of speech; literacy via our Get Caught
Reading web site that features celebrities getting caught reading their
favorite books; hiring and recruiting a diverse publishing workforce to
reflect our culture; educational publishing; and working with booksellers,
librarians, and educators on heightening awareness of the joys of good
books and new and upcoming works, to name just a few!

* What inspired the AAP to launch Latino Books Month?
Latino Books Month was created via the AAP's Publishing Latino Voices of
America subcommittee in its efforts to heighten the richness of works
both in English and Spanish written by those of Hispanic descent. The
breadth and depth of works in fiction and nonfiction, English and Spanish
for adults and children for the Latino community is endless, and we wanted
to ensure that all citizens have access to learn about such fabulous titles
that are available to them, stories with which they can relate, and stories
which inspire.

According to the results of a poll last year commissioned by the National
Council of La Raza, the largest Latino civil rights and advocacy
organization in the U.S., education is the most important issue for
Hispanic voters. 1,026 registered Latino voters polled found that the
high 85% dropout rate among Latino students is the greatest
educational problem for the Latino community in the US. The high
dropout rate concerns more Latino voters than other important problems
like the "poor English-language skills of immigrant students" and the
"poor quality of some teachers." 89% say improving public education
should be a "very important priority" for the next President.

The best way to lobby for improved education starts by encouraging
children to start feeding their brain with books at a young age. How they
are educated early on, and active parental involvement--reading to
children--are clear indicators of future success in school, college, and
careers into adulthood.

Recent census data shows not only does the Latino population continue to
be the fastest growing in the U.S., but there are over 9.5 million Hispanic
families residing in the U.S.--over twenty two percent of all children under
age five in the U.S. are Hispanic. Our goal is to help ensure that the
availability of books by and for Latinos continues to grow so that all
Americans, English and Spanish speaking, Latino and non-Latino, have
access to them.

* How can Latino writers and their fans help support Latino Books Month?
Writers should encourage their publishers to submit their titles for our
recommended reading list, which we develop each May in concert with
Latino Books Month, and in September in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage
Month, a list which we distribute to librarians, booksellers and educators
throughout the nation to share upcoming titles available to the public. We
also have our Aja! Leyendo campaign, a series of posters of celebrities
Getting Caught Reading their favorite books in Spanish, which citizens can
order at no charge via our web site at http://www.getcaughtreading.org/
to complement any book events they may be hosting. They are also
encouraged to contact their local schools to do an author visit, and should
they be interested in partnering with a public high school or elementary
school in New York to speak on a pro bono basis with schoolage children
about the art of writing, please contact me at tjordan@publishers.org.

* Which other programs for Latinos has the AAP created?
The list is long--I hope I can mention them all! We are working with Las
Comadres Para Las Americas, a network of over 7,000 Latinas nationwide in
chapters across the country (visit http://www.lascomadres.org/) in
teleconferences featuring authors being interviewed for their members. We
also hope to launch a live book club with Borders soon.

In addition, we are celebrating the national Dia De Los Ninos on April 30th,
an event produced by the Association for Library Service to Children, a
division of the American Library Association, that brings attention to the
love of books and reading for children of all cultures and in all languages,
intended to be celebrated all month long. Our Latino Voices Group also
published a recommended children's reading list in cooperation with ALSC,
and it can be found on our Get Caught Reading web site at
http://www.getcaughtreading.org/. Events are planned in libraries across
the country and they can be found on the Dia site at
http://www.ala.org/ala/alsc/diadelosninos/diadelosninos.cfm

Finally, we also have our Latino Voices Brochure that is hot off the presses
for Latino Books Month with new titles for the 2008-2009, so there is no
shortage of information on new books coming out, both English and
Spanish, for the Latino community of all ages. If readers would like a copy,
please email Katie Ly at kly@publishers.org.