Katie's Blog

And this is why we wear bicycle helmets.

2008-07-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

So I'm driving home this evening, talking to the husb via a handsfree device (of course), when I get a sense of a vague traffic disruption and see, you know, a bicycle fly up into the air in front of a car.

And this is why we wear bicycle helmets. Because the car that hit the guy actually has his helmet pinned to the ground between the front of the tire and the asphalt.

I say, "OhGodohGod, I just saw someone get hit by a car!" and pull over and hang up and crack the windows for Winston.

Before I stopped my car, I saw him lying on the ground, clearly moving, but head and helmet clearly stuck.

By the time I parked and got out, he was walking around with his bicycle helmet in his hands.

Let's all say this together:

This is why we wear bicycle helmets.

PS - I'm happy to say that in the friendly streets of Los Angeles, this incident attracted about 20 people willing to help. So I got back in the car and drove home, feeling a little less whiny in general about my life.

Hide your disappointment for my dog's sake.

2008-07-16T10:07:00.001-07:00

Because today I present... the owl bag!

In a photo essay, narrated by Winston.

I can't believe she's making such a big deal out of this bag.

I mean, so it has an owl on it--who cares? It's not even comfortable to sit on!

Mother says I have to mention the three owls on the other side and the long strap for wearing shoulder-to-hip across the body.

For this you kept everyone in suspense for a week?

My mother is so embarrassing sometimes.

Oho, you clever Brits! (& garden adventures)

2008-07-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

(Pre-P.S. - Did you see my big news?)

Intrigued by the title of this article ("Why Dying Is Forbidden in the Arctic") by Duncan Bartlett, I went ahead and read it. It's a cute little profile of a small town in Norway--discussing everything from the answer to the titular question to the ever-present threat of polar bears.

And even though it's a spoiler, I have to quote it, because it cracked me up:

If you are unarmed when you encounter a bear, toss your mittens on the snow in the hope of distracting it.

But if you see it snap its teeth with a smacking sound, it is readying for a kill.

At which point, I suppose, you could try reminding the bear that it is forbidden to die in Longyearbyen and hope it shows respect for local law.

Well, it is Day 4 in the Owl Bag Suspense Vigil, and still no sign of the search for the digital camera. The problem is, I think I remember where I left it, but it isn't there, and now I'm too lazy to keep looking. Am I being too honest? The owl bag isn't getting any dirtier or anything, so it should be all good.

The husb and I are trying to eat healthier, and as such, today I'm going to harvest some of my speckled butter lettuce and make little tuna wraps for lunch. This is assuming many things: (1) that the squirrels haven't eaten it, (2) that it tastes reasonably good, (3) that it hasn't withered and died in a heat wave. However, if all of those assumptions are true, it will be a true moment of triumph, since I grew the butter lettuce from seed and it actually seemed to be thriving, last time I checked.

I can be so lax because we ingeniously moved all the potted plants to the stairs, so the sprayover from the automatic sprinklers waters them, and I kind of stay out of it. The plants really do much better without me. It's kind of pitiful. For instance, the first thing I tried to grow was bell peppers, from seed. None of them really took. But my mint seemed to be thriving, which was nice. Until I noticed that the mint wasn't mint--it was a bell pepper seed that sprouted brilliantly behind my back and grew enormous. (Still no peppers, but I have hope.)

See, some of these things really demand photos. Guess I'd better look for the camera. Shoot. (No pun intended!)

Happy Monday!

[Edited update: the squirrels did get to the lettuce. But they didn't destroy it. They just nibbled a corner of every piece, to make sure none of it was poisoned. Which was very kind of them. So I'm going to eat it anyway, and just cut off the nibbled bits.]

A big news day!

2008-07-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

In big news...

I'm excited to announce that I'm part of a great group blog for debuting authors--The Debutante Ball! I've been a fan of the debs since their very first book release in 2007, and I'm excited to be the first YA author on the roster.

Here's the link to the official announcement: Announcing the Debutante Ball Class of 2009

So starting in early September, I'll be posting there every Tuesday on a variety of topics. Please join me there. It's a fun group, very interactive. Even as a commenter, I was welcomed from the day I started posting, which was neat. And my fellow 2009 debutantes have some amazing books coming out. I'm honored that my little ghost story is part of the mix.

I also get to be the techie gal, which for some reason has me slightly geeked (that's a good thing).

Also in big news, you can now pre-order BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE on Amazon.com!

Buy it at Amazon.com

Buy it at Amazon.ca (for the Canucks)

I'll announce other outlets and add the link to the "purchase" page as it appears (Powell's, B&N, Borders, etc.).

Can I take this opportunity to remind you to check out the shopping page at GoodSearch? It's called GoodShop, and you select a charity from their list and then click the link to whatever site you wish to shop from. (Amazon and B&N are definitely included.) A great opportunity to give something back.

In small news:

* Winston is fine. Not 100% fine, but when does that ever happen? Yesterday at the beach, he was maniacally chasing his frisbee and he landed funny or pulled something and acted like his left leg was totally lame for about 10 seconds. I scooped him up and ran him back to my friend's house, and by the time we got there, he was fine. Apparently this sometimes happens to couch potato dogs who chase things maniacally. The only thing he was upset about was having to leave the beach. He did recover well enough to win the "tricks" contest at obedience class. Represent!

* Still no digital camera, and therefore no owl bag. I'm getting worried that this owl bag is waaay overhyped, LOL. I should probably embellish it or Bedazzle it. (I was going to add a link to a Bedazzler website, but the official site immediately starts playing a horribly loud video, and I can't do that to you.) For Mary Whitsell: a Bedazzler is a small contraption used by people who feel their clothing needs more rhinestones.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

k.

Owl bag and Superdog

2008-07-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

This will be quick, since I'm late for work (as usual--just kidding, bosses, if you're reading this... uh... heh).

I told Adrienne I'd post pictures of my new owl tote that I made. This is a great tote. I used a couple of new techniques to sew it, and it's a very useful bag--assuming you can be vigilant about not tipping it over, because it's fairly shallow for how big it is.

Sadly, I can't find the digital camera, so the photos are going to have to wait.

In other news, Winston decided to play Superdog on the 4th of July. He took a flying leap off a 5 1/2 foot retaining wall and landed chin-first on a small cement curb around a planting bed. Needless to say, he was whisked off to the emergency vet, where he was determined to be fine. He still seems a little sore. He's on an anti-inflammatory. I haven't yet taken him back out to the yard to see if he's acquired a sensible fear of heights (or at least leaps). I guess I'll get to that before too long.

Other than that, I'm revising like a maniac (Project X) and enjoying So You Think You Can Dance. Now I can add "look for the digital camera" to the list.

Happy Thursday, all!

PS - Have you seen this video? It gave me the happies.

Hands off!

2008-07-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day to my fellow USA'ers!

You may or may not have heard that California recently enacted a handsfree-only rule for cell phones in cars. I've never been much of a cell phone-in-car user, so this news wasn't particularly devastating to me. In fact, I found it pretty darn exciting. I think everyone in the world has had the experience by now of being nearly sideswiped, run off the road, or stranded in the middle of an intersection due to the thoughtless driving of someone with a cell phone glued to his/her ear.

Finally! A relief from the tyranny of the attention-impaired.

Tuesday morning started off auspiciously, as I passed several drivers who apparently hadn't heard the news, chatting happily away on their cell phones.

I also passed several drivers who, being forced to hang up and drive, had found other uses for their time--putting on makeup, eating breakfast, searching through their purses, reading the paper...

After a while, I began to wonder if I had been imagining how many drivers really did use cell phones in their cars, before the ban was enacted. Because it seemed so natural NOT to see everyone around me with phone pressed to ear. Could there really have been a time when every other car featured a Chatty Cathy? When my driving experience had been so impeded by my fellow drivers' carelessness?

Can anyone guess where I'm going with this?

Here's the thing--with the cell phone drivers gone, I discovered a new, possibly even more dangerous type of driver on the road:

Me.

The driver who wants to know who's still talking on the phone. Who's breaking the rules? You? That guy? That lady over there?

Yes, I craned my neck, sped up and slowed down, abused my rearview mirrors, and generally put everyone in as much danger as if I had been carrying two cell phones and talking on both of them at the same time.

I'm not proud of myself. And as the week went on, I forced myself to mind my own beeswax and keep my eyes on the road.

But I thought you should be warned: the nosey drivers are on a rampage!

Amazon Kindle review... at last!

2008-06-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

Ooh, I'm naughty. I have no excuse for my absence except that I've become obsessed with sewing quilts for Chinese orphans. I know that sounds weird, but it's strangely true. Next obsession: find a way to get the quilts to the orphans.

To make it up to you (ha!), here's a video featuring my favorite puppets... the Muppets! This was produced by someone who is near and dear to me, so spread it around, tell your friends, etc. There should be more coming out at some point, so I'll post those as well.

Now, shall we begin our Kindle review?

I got my Kindle as a Christmas present, which means I actually put my hands on it in February (that's a joke... I mean, it's true, but read it in a jokey voice). Ironically, I had just decided to decrease the size of my personal library and utilize the public library more. I know we're supposed to support our author brethren by buying books, but trust me--I buy a LOT of books, if given the chance. So one trip to Bookstar down the street will make up for six months of librariness for me.

Anyway, I can't say no to a gadget, so I didn't say no to my Kindle.

Digression: when I was growing up, Christmas stockings are opened first and contain things like dental floss, chewing gum, maybe some hair ties, a keychain, a few bags of candy... and an orange in the toe, always. The husb's family came out for the holidays, and we were planning to do stockings. I bought the requisite collection of small-ticket items, even ranging as high as a new head for his electric toothbrush.

But the husb's family does things differently--we opened stockings after the rest of the gifts. And as the husb pulled out a pack of orange-mint gum and a bag of Skittles, I found a printed sheet of paper announcing my Kindle and realized that his family puts items of a different ticket in their stockings.

Lesson learned. I actually ended up eating the Skittles and chewing the gum myself, by the way. Don't tell the husb. He left them on the dresser for a month! What does he expect?

On with the review!

So, Kindle. I was waiting to write a review until I had a real "whole book" experience with it. Meaning, I bought a book and read the whole thing and got a feel for the device. I had thought this would be Eileen Cook's Unpredictable, but it turns out that after I bought the Kindle edition, I met Eileen in person at a signing in NYC and bought a hard copy so she could sign it for me.

Fast forward to this recent trip: the book? The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory. I downloaded the whole thing and read it all on the Kindle, and as a result, I am pretty much a convert.

The Kindle, for those of you who don't know of it, is a small e-book ("electronic book") reader produced by Amazon.com. You buy e-books by downloading them from the Kindle Store section of Amazon.com, and they are sent through Amazon's wireless "whispernet" to your Kindle. The whispernet, I think, borrows from cell towers in the area. It eats up battery power, so you can switch it off when you aren't whispering downloads to your Kindle.

The books are downloaded as files, which allows you to read them on your Kindle screen and turn the page using the buttons.

Here are some broad sweeps:

It takes getting used to, but I did get used to it. It's light and comfortable to hold, and easy to read. The screen is not backlit, which means you can't read at night without a lamp, but also means there's no more strain on your eyes than if you were reading any old book.

GOOD THINGS:

* It's small and easy to pack. This is great for people who tend to load their suitcases, purses, bookbags, what-have-you, with books before taking any excursion. Right before I zip my carry-on, I tend to get panicky and throw books in willy-nilly, which adds about eight pounds of weight to my load. (Meaningless, since I always buy books at the airport anyway.) The Kindle carries many books at once, and until you actually get on the plane and have to turn off your wireless devices, you can download still more books.

* You can download a sample chapter of any e-book before buying it. This is really cool. It's the e-version of loitering in a bookstore and reading the first few pages before buying the book--heretofore unknown in online book sales. There's no charge, and once you download the sample, you can keep it or dump it or whatever.

* There's plenty of file space on the Kindle, but if you need more, you can use a memory card. All of your books are listed on the home menu, and if you want to free up space, just remove the file--but Amazon.com has a record of your purchases and you can re-download any time.

* It's easy to use. The controls are simple and intuitive.

* The battery life is very respectable, when the wifi is off (there's an easy on-off switch for the wifi so you can read on planes and don't drain the power).

* The screen is as easy on your eyes as any book. And you can adjust the text size.

* You can email or upload files from your own computer (using a cord that comes with the Kindle). I've seen agents' blogs where they forward manuscripts to themselves and therefore only carry home a Kindle instead of several hundred pages of submissions. For them I think it's basically ideal. I have also used it a time or two for my own work, which is fun. (You protect your Kindle from junkmail by specifying what addresses you can receive email from).

* You can also access Wikipedia (but I haven't tried) as well as read non-Amazon e-books (but not those in a proprietary format, like Sony e-Reader) and even listen to audiobooks (but I haven't tried that, either).

* You can take notes, add bookmarks, etc. It has a little keyboard at the bottom.

* There's a very easy way to put the Kindle to sleep, so you don't have to constantly reboot it if you're reading in short intervals.

* Bestsellers are $9.99 (even some books that, in hardback, are $25) and many other books are less expensive.

* No more overstuffed bookshelves! A truly minimalist approach to reading.

"MEH" THINGS:

* The minimalism prevents sharing or passing a book along when you're done with it. I'm a big fan of sharing the lit, but with a Kindle, you obviously can't pass something on to a sibling or friend, unless you're willing to part with your Kindle.

* There are no page numbers. I know this sounds trivial, but I like to always be aware of my exact position. Instead, they use "section numbers" (or segment numbers) that can go as high as necessary (a recent book I read was 10,000 sections). There's a bar at the bottom that shows you relatively how far you are--like a progress bar-- but I never realized how much I paid attention to page numbers until I lost them.

* Not every book, old or new, is available on the Kindle. Many are. But many aren't. I guess that's where hard copies come in.

* The reading area is smaller than a traditional page. This is mostly distracting when you are just looking at the Kindle, not when you're reading. When you're involved in a book, it doesn't matter. But then you set it down and think, "Dang, that's small!"

* Although the notes feature is cool, typing is a little tough.

* The screen doesn't produce light, so if it's dim, you need a book light. But it is a little shiny, so you need to find the correct angle to avoid glare (like reading a shiny magazine).

* One "previous page" control is right where I keep thinking a "next page" control should be. So I'm constantly hitting that and then getting confused about where I am.

* The case is kind of silly. It took me a little while to get used to how non-functional it is. Like, it looks like it has an elastic strap to hold the device down while you read, but that only works when the case is shut. I mostly read without the case at all.

* Occasionally, on documents you email to yourself, the formatting comes across wonky. Like, it will mash the paragraphs together or get rid of indents.

* Let's face it--if you like having full bookshelves, or holding an actual book in your hands, the Kindle won't be your favorite item. Which is to say, if you aren't into minimalism, it's probably too minimalist for your taste. Part of the joy of owning it is knowing that it's a clutter solution.

* The home menu could be better organized, which is to say, could be more elaborate than just a list of your books. But I'm hoping a firmware upgrade will happen along soon that might add a few bells and whistles.

* Searching for books to buy from the Kindle is easy; browsing is a pain. If I know exactly what I want, I use the Kindle to obtain it; if I want to browse, I use my computer.

* The display is nice and readable, but it's not really any fancier than a plain old book. Your reading experience isn't more fancy or mindblowing. It's just more convenient.

OVERALL:

I'm glad I have my Kindle. It's great, great, great for travelling. The flash that occurs when you turn the page (and the e-ink, or whatever it's called, rearranges itself) isn't distracting at all once you get into your reading--you really don't notice it. And it does have the feeling of reading a book. You take in the info the same way and get into the characters as well.

The price is a little high for something that doesn't really save you very much money, unless you buy hardcover books non-stop. On the other hand, it can also play audiobooks, so if you don't have an iPod, it save that cost.

It's fun and convenient and compact. There are certainly worse ways to spend your money.

Cheers!

I'm off to work on more quilts.

The tale of a shameless no-show

2008-06-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Eek! Long time no blog. I'm sorry for the unannounced absence; we ended up going out of town on a last-minute work thing for the husb. We spent a day and a half in a small city outside Nashville and then drove to Atlanta to see some family and friends. It was a nice trip... for the most part. The lowlight was showing up at the airport nearly two hours before our flight home and not being able to check in. We got in the massive ticketing line and called the 800 number, and the person there told us we were listed as no-shows--but of course, we were still an hour and a half from our flight time.

Then we proceeded to wait in line for an hour and a half, ignored by the roving woman who decided to help everyone around us but decided we were for some reason below her notice, while the line behind us grew and grew and the staff at the counter shrank and shrank, until, at one point, there were two people back there at eight stations (many of which still said they were open).

When we got to the front of the line, we had missed our flight, and the woman looked at us as if we had just fallen off the back of the chicken truck and said, "Well, you ARE no-shows. You should have checked in a long time ago."

You THINK?

Then she said, "We're supposed to charge $50 a person if you miss your flight and have to be rebooked." And despite seeing the line behind us, she had a hard time believing that we had actually been at the airport for quite some time. Which, to me, means that they're going to have to start giving you a little receipt that says "REJECTED AT 9:35 AM" or something. It's been a long time since someone just assumed I was a liar and basically called me that to my face, and let me tell you, it's pretty insulting.

(But you still have to be nice, or they'll book you a "seat" in the cargo hold of a flight that leaves next Tuesday.)

At that point, I almost lost my sense of inner poise, but we were put on the stand-by list for two later flights and sent on our way. We decided to hang in the Crown Room (thank you, corporate credit card) and on going inside that lovely location were met by a ticket counter staffed by five bored but extremely courteous women. I don't know about you, but I'm thinking that when someone "disappears" from the main ticket counter, *poof!* she sneaks up to the Crown Room and tries to look like she's working.

It was pretty awful. I haven't ever been in an airport line situation before where they didn't walk the line and call out people who might miss their flights. The girl in front of us missed hers, and had to go to an ATM and get cash to pay for something or other, since the credit card system wasn't working. Then she ran to her gate and the woman she was with was like, "Oh, I forgot to give her the change!"

Anyway, that's that. That's my punishment for being away from the blog for so long, I guess.

Thank you for all the compliments on the new look! And thanks also to those of you who are clicking the pre-order link and signing up to be notified when the book is available for pre-order.

The high point of the travel (not the trip, because the trip had a lot of its own merits) was the fact that used my Amazon Kindle so much. And that means I'm finally ready to write the review I've been promising for, oh, four months. I'll post it tomorrow.

I hope everybody is happy and healthy. I'm going to visit some blogs now!

It's aliiiiive!

2008-06-03T23:24:00.001-07:00

So I've basically worn an indentation in the office chair today, getting the new design all ready to go. I guess it comes with the obsessive personality--I can't possibly just let something like a web redesign percolate for a few days.

Some pages are still inactive, and I've found a few spots where links need tweaking, etc. Please let me know if you find a bug. Right now, I know the Winston link isn't working--sorry, Tom! I'll fix it tomorrow.

So much focus and concentration leaves only enough room in my brain for a list:

SIX THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

* The show I Love Lucy. It's a masterpiece. Half of the episodes leave me laughing so hard I'm in tears. The other night, we watched the one where the actors move in upstairs, and I was in hysterics at the end, much to the non-delight of the husb, who was trying to sleep.

* That Pat Wood was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, which is a veddy veddy prestigious British award, and the winner will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7:15-7:30 pm (ish) UK time, which for me is late morning, veddy convenient!

* That you don't have to steam Trader Joe's Chicken Gyoza--you can microwave them! And it only takes a wet paper towel and two minutes! How did I miss that for so many years?

* That my asparagus is in fine form, a hilariously skinny and tall first stalk that is now getting some detail.

* That I finally got a replacement sewing machine for my new one that arrived broken--probably dropped in shipment. Which is great, because my old one broke again. D'oh! (Yes, this means I now have two sewing machines. For a week or so, I have had two BROKEN sewing machines. I'm saving the second one for my friends who come over to hang out. I'm not sure I'll be able to convince them, but having an extra machine is a big step.)

* That So You Think You Can Dance is back on. Ahh, summer!

This is my favorite routine EVER -- from last season. It's perfect!

(Oh, and am I the only person who thinks that movie about the Playboy Bunny who becomes a sorority's house-mom looks hilarious? I swear, my brain chooses the weirdest movies to get excited about. But heaven help me, I think it looks funny.))

About the post below (Blogroll)

2008-06-03T15:10:00.000-07:00

Hey, everybody! I'm hard at work on a blog and website redesign, so one of the things I'm doing is updating my blogroll. Instead of building a website for it, I'm going to make it an ever-evolving blog post (which will be available as a permalink through various channels in the site). Anyway, if you're interested, take a look. See if you're on it, if you want to be, if you're in the right place, if you'd rather be listed someplace else, or whatever, and leave me a comment.

The redesign is going to be launching any day now. Whee!

In other news, there has been stadium-style cheering a block away from my house for two solid days, and the only thing I can think of is that they're filming a movie or TV show or something. The husb thought it might be field day at the elementary school, but there is no way people could be that excited about field day for such a long, sustained time.

Whooooooo! Whooooooo! It's never going to stop! My ears are starting to bleed.

Happy Tuesday! ;-)

My Blogroll!

2008-06-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

I thought an easily-edited blog post might be the right format for my massive blogroll. (Please leave a comment below if you'd like to be included -- or removed from -- this blogroll, or if your information is inaccurate or out of date. I'll keep the comments cleaned out as I address changes.)

Joëlle Anthony

Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Gina Black

Robin Brande

Meg Cabot

Eileen Cook

Brenda Coulter

Josephine Damian

Sarah Dessen

Devon Ellington

Meredith Farkas

Seth Fleisher

Jamie Ford

Therese Fowler

Melanie Lynne Hauser

Sara Lewis Holmes

Holly Kennedy

J.A. Konrath

Adrienne Kress

Judy Merrill Larsen

Mary, Overnight at Thistletonthwaite Castle

Jay Montville

Jason Pinter

Alex Richards

Erica Ridley

John Elder Robison

Allison Winn Scotch

Lynn Sinclair

Kim Stagliano

Lynn Viehl

Mary Witzl

Patricia Wood

Bildungsroman

The Debutante Ball: Group Author Blog

Teenreads.com

litpark

The Book Lady

Teen Fiction Cafe

Bookburger

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Readergirlz

Tut-tut: Inside the Shell

Jozet @ Halushki

A Priestly Commentary by Father V

Alex: What Does This Win Mean to the Team?

Maggie: Maggsbunny

Christy: My Solid Best

Amber: Mom and Machine

Lisa: The Scenic Route to Joy

Tom in Vegas: Science, Religion, and Miscellaneous Babble

Lilia: Sew Little Time

Laura: Sew at Sea

Angie: Quality Time

The Pink-Haired Librarian

Living Read Girl

The Dejarlids

Adrienne: Adrienne's Catholic Corner

My publishing resources page

Agent blog: Miss Snark (retired!)

Agent blog: Nathan Bransford

Agent blog: Kristin Nelson

Agent blog: Lori Perkins

Agent blog: Janet Reid

Agent blog: The Knight Agency

The Book Design Review

Writer's Market

Backspace

I Can Has Cheezburger

I Has a Hotdog

Bent Objects

Blogtations

Unclutterer

Tiny Choices

Slow Home

More about the old girl (me).

2008-05-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

I am experimenting with code today.Lilia of Sew Little Time (check out her gorgeous apron post--May 30) has tagged me with a meme!

1) What was I doing 10 years ago?

Getting ready to direct my film school thesis project, a cheery post-apocalyptic jaunt. Location scouts included getting chased off quarries by men who probably had guns in their trucks (until we found the one magical friendly quarry!), going to NASA and touring their whatever-you-call-it fancy space gardening area, and having the most incredible sets built. The kewlest. Although in the end the whole experience didn't average out to "wonderful", I'm afraid.

2.) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Continue to read the ARC of BAD GIRLS; start reading FALLOUT and actually making notes this time; water plants and possibly go get more pots; finish organizing the kitchen; drop broken-again sewing machine off at sewing machine repair store (again!).

3) Snacks I enjoy:

Um, everything. Seriously. I'm like a raccoon or goat. But I do especially enjoy cookie dough right out of the package and Doritos. And cheese.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Probably start a school like Oprah's, only not just admit photogenic girls. Also, sponsor me up a bunch of Puppies Behind Bars. Pay off my house, buy the new McMansion down the street and demolish it immediately, situate my family happily, get that dent in the back of my car fixed... really, what couldn't you do with a billion dollars? I'd do everything.

5) Places I have lived:
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; Tallahassee, Florida; Van Nuys, California; Burbank, California; Studio City, California.

6) Jobs I have had:
"Sales associate" at Kay-Bee Toys, Abercrombie & Fitch (before they went all naked-catalog), and Learningsmith. Receptionist, assistant, development assistant, infomercial writer... good times!

7) 6 peeps I wanna know more about (and in no particular order):

1. Mary Witzl--just her answer to "where have you lived" will probably be a list pages long

2. Mary from Overnight at Thistletonthwaite Castle

3. Jay Montville

4. Jamie Ford (who can already find his book an Amazon! Jealousjealousjealous!)

5. I don't know if she does memes, but let's see if Little Willow from Bildungsroman happens across this (I know all these high-tech women check their links and stats... it's like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs!)

6. And Alex.

Tag!
I'm thinking about redesigning the website soon.

I wonder how these boxes affect the RSS feeds?

Wonderful peeps

2008-05-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling the love this week! All of your wonderful comments on my cover, birthday wishes, a great mention at Josephine's blog, actual Love from Jozet at Halushki... a warm welcome back from the members of Backspace after my long unexplained absence there... a nice cake and party at work, and on and on.

This is especially good because otherwise I would be focused to linger on the fact that my birthday ushered in the most freakish weather patterns in recent memory and the only obvious conclusion is that God is sending me a message.

;-)

No, but I was already feeling the glow when I came across this post at agent Janet Reid's blog. It made me smile!

I hope everybody's having a great weekend. I get to spend this rainy, gray day sewing at home, which is about all I could ask for.

Bad Girls Don't Die: presenting... the cover!

2008-05-21T06:41:00.000-07:00

Let me start by saying, I love my cover! My designer is a brilliant woman at Hyperion named Beth Clark. She took the design in a totally different direction than lesser folks (me) would have thought to do. She really brought out the spooky, gothic side. I first saw this a couple of months ago, and it took my breath away. I loved it instantly, which was amazing, because as an author, you hear all these horror stories about hideous covers.

But none of that here--I loved it, Agent M loved it, and I hope you like it!

(Click the image to look at a larger version, if you're interested.)

This is an exciting week... I'm supposed to be getting my ARCs (advanced review copies) soon, too! And I realized yesterday that today is the one-year anniversary of my working with the Delightful Editor. And tomorrow is my birthday! And the dog show is super busy! And I'm going to need more coffee! And more exclamation marks!!!! *collapses*

PS - Thank you all for your kindness regarding Winston's illness. He actually had a rough weekend (and so, therefore, did we), but if you have to pick a weekend to sit inside with your dog and not leave the house, it might as well be the weekend with record-breaking heat. He's very much on the mend now.

Winston's ear surgery went fine.

2008-05-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

I spoke to the nurse. Winston is fine, and he's coming home tonight.

Thanks for your support and kind thoughts.

k.

Winston's latest

2008-05-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

Bad monkey = me. I'm all backlogged on comment replies and even getting around to everybody's blogs. If you ever read the Little House on the Prairie books and remember the book where Laura's too busy partying it up at church socials and competing in spelling bees to study, that's sort of what my life has been like lately.

But please excuse me for one more day, and also please send some happy thoughts/vibes/prayers (however you roll) for Winston, who is having a minor surgery today for an ear polyp that was discovered over the weekend. It's not the polyp I'm worried about (I'm told they're mostly benign, and you could really drive yourself crazy speculating otherwise), but general anesthesia always carries a risk.

I'm also a little worried that this could affect the hearing in his left ear, but considering he's not a very good listener, I'm not going to lose any sleep over that for the time being.

It began when he gave a big old yelp at about 4 am Saturday, and then later that day proceeded to yelp whenever anyone touched his left ear. We went to the vet and they found the polyp.

So, I have no actual reason to freak out, but I still hate to have him put under. He's such a little guy.

I should put "little" in quotes, though, because he's back up to almost 20 pounds. (The container of sugar cookies he managed to find and decimate the other day certainly didn't help.)

Thanks, everybody. I'll post an update when he's out of surgery.

The doorknob fell off.

2008-05-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

I know that sounds like a metaphor, but it's not. The little tab thing you press down on to open my front door popped off--thankfully after the door was open. I guess you call a locksmith for this kind of thing...? We have a couple of other lock issues that need to be taken care of, so I guess it's time. In the meanwhile, I'll rest comfortably knowing that no one can possibly expect me to leave my house while there's no good way to get back inside.

In other news, the garden is coming along nicely! Although I don't think I heeded Mary Witzl's advice in time to keep from flooding my garlic. I do know that the Peruvian Daffodils are getting close to pushing up over the top of the soil--I saw a hint of green in both pots! It's funny to think that all my life I've walked by people's incredible gardens and not been impressed, but I manage to get two plants to grow and I feel like the queen of all I survey.

One of the most charming things I've seen lately is a smattering of baby praying mantises around the yard. A couple of weeks ago, I followed one as it made its way down the railing of the deck. Head to tail (or whatever), it couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 millimeters. At one point, it stopped walking and turned its tiny head to look at me. Then it set about doing a series of Tai-Chi moves, leaning slowly forward and then backward, all the while watching me. (Maybe it had a crush!)

Lately we've seen one on the dwarf orange tree, over the course of a few days. Slightly bigger. They're just so darn cute. And when they're older, they'll eat all sorts of pesky pests.

The peaches are getting nice and rosy, too ("peach", I believe, is the technical term).

Last weekend, we had our first backyard get-together. It was great fun, although I'm really neurotic about improper "flow" at parties. Clumps of people make me nervous. So I took a few mental notes about what can be placed where to keep people scattered and moving.

So spring has sprung! Although it's cold and damp here--has our misty June gloom come early?

More on book minimalism

2008-05-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

Is it the onset of warm weather that makes me so desperate to clean my house? And not just tidy it, but rip through it and get rid of everything we don't need or use?

The problem is, we have so much little stuff that just hides away in closets, and then when you try to get something done, the little stuff all jumps out and says, "Ha ha ha, what about me?" and then you're left looking at picture hanging kits and canisters of 35-millimeter film and instruction manuals to stuff you know you have around here somewhere. And what can you do? You can't get RID of it, for heaven's sake! What a waste of good 35-millimeter film.

However, I'm making some progress.

("Why don't you tell us about it, Katie?")

Okay!

Online indie bookstore Powell's has a neato feature called Sell Us Your Books, wherein you can enter the ISBNs from any books you're looking to get rid of and they'll either bid or not accept it. This is a heady and addictive process, let me tell you. Before you know it, you'll be scouring your shelves just to find books that they'll take. "Accept me, Powell's!" you will say. "Let me and this copy of Angela's Ashes into your exclusive club!" (Spoiler: that's an ix-nay on Angela's Ashes.)

They're not offering hundreds of dollars. They offer a couple dollars for hardcovers and less than a dollar for most paperbacks. After a while, you start to get an idea of what they're into, and you start trying to guess whether something will be accepted.

Here's the exciting part, though: if Powell's doesn't take it, you can't put it back on the shelves. You have to put it in a stack of books that will go the the thrift store or to a library. Because if you were ready to let it go for 75 cents, you can let it go for free. Let's be real here, fellas.

Anyway, I have a box shipping out today (pre-paid), so that's exciting. I actually made almost enough room on my shelves for all the books that I used to keep in the sewing room, but had to move when my fabric stash overtook the space.

What's that, you say? When am I going to purge the fabric stash and sewing room?

I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk about that. I have to go shoot fifteen rolls of 35mm film.

*runs away*

Two words: supervolcano

2008-05-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ha! I know that's just one word, but at work I'm dealing with questionnaires that say, "Describe this dog in one word," and the amount of people who don't know the definition of the number one is staggering.

"Always ready to show!"
"Fun/loving/energetic"
"He is amazing"

Next time, I'll say, "Describe this dog in one (1) word." Perhaps that'll clear things up.

Although the responses are all delightful to me. I like it when people at dog shows take the time to write down cute stuff about their dogs. It's all about the dogs, after all.

Oh, no, wait--today it's all about the supervolcano.

Evidence can be found here.

Please resume with your day, which you may feel is oddly invaded by my multiple blog entries. See, this is what happens when you take away my computer.

Officially annoyed.

2008-05-01T08:36:00.001-07:00

Okay. There's quite a backlash about a major online book retailer (and the way they handle reviews) right now in some circles. The curious can check out a blog called Dear Author and get the details.

A co-worker and I have been discussing a certain New Agey book put out by a certain New Agey author and promoted by a certain talk show host. I tried to get through the book a month or two ago, and found that it struck me as impractical and basically nonsense.

I posted a one-star review at the major online retailer. I noticed as I did it how rabidly fans of this book would attack negative reviews, but I wanted to put an opinion out there that might keep someone like me from spending money on this book. I understand that there are differences of opinion. I understand that some people find it life-changing.

I didn't like it. It didn't change my life, except that I had used that month's Audible.com credit to buy it, and when I gave up on it, I was left without an audio book for my commute.

My one-star review is gone.

Major online retailer has a policy of removing abusive or irrelevant reviews. Mine, I can assure you, was neither.

I am so creeped out by the thought that people who read and love this book enough to consider themselves "enlightened" are already practicing angry-mob techniques like reporting reviews in order to censor criticism.

It's like trying to play tennis with someone who won't let go of the ball.

Grr!

PS - The book is Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. The talk show host is Oprah.

My life as a pioneer woman.

2008-05-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, the unthinkable happened:

I had finally managed to lure the husb down to the sewing room. I often try to get him to come hang out with me while I work, but he doesn't particularly like going downstairs. But on this day, the top story of the house was very warm, and the basement level was nice and cool.

Almost immediately, my sewing machine broke. Something happened where the needle thread gets caught under the little plate where all the secret, magic stuff goes on. I tried repeatedly, but couldn't fix it.

Then, the next morning, as I was sitting at the computer, the husb comes in and says, "I need the computer for a shoot we're doing over the next two days."

I beg your pardon?

But these mythical "shoots" are apparently more importantly than my voting on lolcats over at I Can Has Cheezburger, so I surrendered the machine (with great misgivings and lots of whining to show how serious I was, naturally).

That night, I got home from work to find that the shoot was still ongoing, thereby robbing me of the third of the four essential items in my home (my husband--the fourth is Winston, but he was grouchy). Add this to our chronic lack of groceries and the fact that our DVR is full of high-def episodes of CSI: Miami (don't ask me why, I gave up on David Caruso a loooong time ago), and I was marooned.

I wandered around the silent house, occasionally pausing to look at the empty desk where the computer belonged. Then, clearly driven to madness by the starkness of my situation--

I went downstairs and started... cleaning. On a weeknight.

The big room downstairs has become a bit of a catch-all, especially with the new outdoor-type supplies that have to live inside. I rotated the couch and started organizing and making various little piles and putting things away.

Eventually, I hit a wall and went back upstairs. I found something random to eat and sat down to watch The Stepford Wives, feeling strangely like a Stepford wife myself. That movie is so strange. Especially now that it's so ingrained in pop culture--every time they say, "There's something wrong in Stepford," you want to shout at the screen, "What do you expect? It's STEPFORD! The place with the wives!"

Last night, knowing there was neither sewing machine nor computer nor husb waiting for me at home, I stopped and meandered around the grocery store a little. Then I got home and found that the DVR had made room for America's Next Top Model (which I am starting to have a problem with, as none of the winners actually go on to become, you know, MODELS). I prepped a little food, sat down on the couch, and watched Tyra Banks ham it up.

This morning, like a dream, I woke to find the computer back in its spot. The husb is also in his spot, and Winston is more sleepy than grouchy. The sewing machine has not yet been repaired, but I have a loaner.

Close call with reality, eh?

PS - Bath math:

getting conditioner for hair + looking at face wash = conditioner all over face

PPS - Winston is three years old! His birthday was Tuesday.

New Winston video!

2008-04-27T00:11:00.000-07:00

I must say, two of my videos have been flagged for copyrighted content by UMG (Universal Music Group, I assume), and they've been very cool about it both times. Which is so smart and realistic of them. Because if someone likes the song, they're going to go buy it, right?

Anyway, it's nice to see someone behaving like a human being in this day and age... even if it is a massive corporation!

And so it grows...

2008-04-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

(or, "Wishful Thinking")

We recently had some landscaping done in our backyard. What was once just ivy is now a terraced little yard, and what was once a deck that belonged to a monstrous 1980s party hot tub is now refinished and furnished with barbecue supplies.

Because of this, and also because of books like Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Omnivore's Dilemma, I have taken a keen interest in trying to grow some plants. Some edible, some not.

I have a history of killing plants. Or, more euphemistically, not keeping them alive. So I decided that maybe growing things from scratch would give me more of a sense of involvement and responsibility. I bought some seeds and planted bell peppers and oregano in a couple of little pots. Two bell pepper seeds sprouted, but the oregon was silent. So one day, when I was bored, I took a few garlic cloves that had sprouted in the kitchen and stuck them in the oregano pot. Naturally, four days later, hundreds of little oreganos sprouted out of the soil.

Last weekend, I transplanted some things and planted some new things, and now we're playing the waiting game.

I was right about being more invested, too. I water those little buggers every day.

Here's a tour of how things look right now.

This is my shade garden, at the side of the house where the hammock (a $15 cloth number, criminally comfortable) is... mostly shady, especially later in summer as the sun goes off behind the trees. This is all new planting. The tall guy at the back will be a fern; so will the terra cotta round pot. The two in the foreground should be begonias. No, will be! Will be begonias. Positive thinking.

This is a place under the overhang of the downstairs balcony where I dropped some of the oregano sprouts. I can't believe that so many of those seeds sprouted at once. Talk about an embarrassment of riches, and poor planning. I stuck this ball of dirt here as an afterthought, hoping it might decide to fill in the awkward area between the ivy and the little curb. That big green thing is new; it's not oregano. I don't know what it is. I am also trying to grow a leather strap, apparently.

These are my sunny plants. In the back are Peruvian Daffodil and asparagus; then some garlic (thriving! go figure), mint, and oregano (assuming they pull through); the rectangle is my bell peppers, although I'm losing hope because they've been that size for weeks now; and in front is another Peruvian Daffodil.

The front daffodil pot is notable because something has dug through it, and I'm not even sure the bulb is still in there. Apparently skunks will root around in pots and eat bulbs. This makes me exceedingly sad, but I don't know how to check without potentially destroying it, so I'm just going to keep watering it and then maybe eventually plant some basil or something.

So that's the excitement in my life. It's amazing how much more fun this stuff is when you're a grown-up than when your parents force you to do it as a child.

I'll provide updates occasionally, and if anything exciting happens. Cross your fingers, and we may have a full-blown leather strap plant before long!

Oh, and the big news, thanks to this post by Jemima Bean is that we have a peach tree! I saw the photo of the flowers and asked her what they were, because we had some. She replied that they were peaches, and sure enough when we looked more closely at the tree, there were fuzzy baby peaches on it! Hundreds of them, actually.

The guy we bought the house from knew there was a peach tree but never remembered it bearing any fruit (probably because it used to be so shady in the yard). But now... peaches! Peaches! Peaches! We pruned the tree ruthlessly, as apparently is the way to maximize peaches, and now we are just waiting... waiting... waiting...

sad ending :-(

2008-04-23T11:12:00.001-07:00

I just got a call from the kind people at the hummingbird rescue. The bird died. Apparently she had a back injury. So maybe it was a collision after all.

Nature is so mean sometimes!

Poor little thing.

Wednesday morning math

2008-04-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

+

+

(yes, that is a hole cut out of our screen door)

+

+

+

the fact that I really should have learned my lesson by now about birds and our balcony

=

(meaning, this is all that will be hanging from my balcony from now on)

(the dear bird herself is now in good hands, and the fact that it latched onto our screen door and wouldn't let go likely has more to do with an illness than with any kind of collision)

Edited to say, the poor bird died. :-( At least she died in a warm, safe place.