People blog for different reasons. Authors blog for different reasons. Why do I blog?

I could say that I blog to spread the word about my books, that I want to share my journey to publication (and beyond) with others who are interested, that I want to offer advice from time to time, so that others may find their own journey…and, while all of that is true, there is really only one reason that I blog.

I want to celebrate every moment and enjoy that celebration with others.

Apart from being occasionally mopey (hey…I’m goth–it’s in our rulebook), I’m a generally happy person, who firmly believes in celebrating every moment. Because you never know when that shrimp you’re eating is carrying a deadly bacteria…or that the cab driver in front of you becomes narcoleptic when on bridges. You just never know. So I celebrate everything. Good writing day? PARTY! Managed to vacuum the living room? PARTY! Partied? PARTY! It’s just the way I am.

It annoys some people. And to that, my reaction is: Annoyed people? PARTY!

Because life is dreadfully short, minions. It’s short and it’s hard, so why not enjoy it? I don’t talk about myself and my accomplishments because I’m an egotistical windbag, I talk about those things because it’s taken me a long time to get to a point where I can honestly celebrate myself. And it’s my hope that you’ll all get there too, if you’re not there already. G’head. I’m holding on to some bat confetti just for your celebration! (Hmmm…maybe we should call it “batfetti”)

I love life…and I have a deep, profound respect (and curiosity) for death. Maybe it’s this balance that makes people walk on the other side of the street from me. (The other day, I was told that being a perky goth is when you’ve become so dark, so down that you’ve punched through to the other side…yeah…I can see that)

So the question “why do I blog?” can be answered with one, simple word. C’mon…say it with me. PARTY!

Yours in Eternity,
Heather

P.S. EIGHTH GRADE BITES is popping up all over. PARTY!

Apparently, I need a boat song.

(And how cool is it that EIGHTH GRADE BITES is listed on a Korean site??)

It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long while.

For those who live within commuting distance of New York City, the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar (November 3, 2006, Algonquin Hotel, NYC) offers an intense, one-day program of panels and workshops designed specifically to educate and assist authors in search of a literary agent to represent their work.

With only agents on the program, a full fifteen minutes between program parts, an afternoon mixer, small-group agent-author sessions, and an unusually high number of agents with a ceiling of 100 registrants, the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar offers plenty of face time with attending agents.

Does this high ratio of agents to authors mean that those who attend this event will walk away with an agent? Many conferences have various scripted ways of meeting agents, giving rise to the feeling that the agent will discover the author, wave a magic wand, and make all their dreams come true.

The reality is, this rarely happens. (Please see Folio Literary Management’s Jeff Kleinman’s excellent article on what writers can expect when attending conferences.) Because of this, the Backspace seminar does not include formal pitch sessions.

Instead, the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar offers the opportunity to network, ask questions, listen, and learn from the people who make their living selling books.

Participating agents include Jenny Bent, Rolph Blythe, Michael Bourret, Paul Cirone, Katherine Fausset, Irene Goodman, Scott Hoffman, Miriam Kriss, Dan Lazar, Sharlene Martin, and Jennifer Unter.

There’s nothing like having a book published to teach you how great people can be. My husband works at this big company and is asked constantly about me and my book, how my career is going–people just care. It blows me away. The same happens at my son’s school–there’s interest there, and it touches me. My family, my friends–even strangers I bump into while at the bookstore or out getting groceries–people just seem to care about me and my silly little career. It rawks muchly. I must be cashing in on some good karma or something.

So thank you, everyone, for asking…for caring…or even for pretending to care if you really don’t. It means a lot to me. On those rough days, it keeps me going.

Today, however, is not one of those rough days, minions. Today, I’m sitting down to reread my copyedited manuscript, make any additional changes, and then…I’m shipping it out to my wonderful editor. EIGHTH GRADE BITES is one step closer to your bookshelf.

So I’m down to just the timeline issues in my copyedits and last night, a little lightbulb flickered on over my head (not quite the Lightbulb of Inspiration, but close). I know what I’m doing, how to correct it. And I’m happy to report that it’s all just a matter of butt to chair now.

You heard me.

Butt to chair.

You can buy EIGHTH GRADE BITES here too!

That’s right, my minions (and if you’re reading this, then yes…that means you)…we got new bling! (and yeah, I know that was poor grammar…but I’m hip, yo *snort!*) Now introducing the all new Minion Bling…Minion Bling 2.0, which features such awe-inspiring phrases as “vampires suck” and “eighth grade bites”. (Both phrases, as it turns out, are absolutely true.)

Minion Bling 2.0 is a limited edition type thing. How we’ll work it is this: you ask for Minion Bling, I send (free of charge!) said Bling…along with some Minion Bling 2.0 because you’re special and I just love you like that. (never mind that whole self-promotion thing…it’s about the love…no, really)

Also, in the next few weeks, my completely revamped (ha!) website will be unleashed, bringing with it one very cool contest, featuring some serious prizage. So…watch for that coming soon. I’m calling it the ‘Bat To School’ contest.

For now, I’m still working on EIGHTH GRADE BITES copyedits and drooooooooooooling over my cover art.

I need a bib.

Black bib.

With bats on it.

But I think I’m allergic to copyedits. I woke up this morning with a sore (and slightly swollen) neck. But never fear, minions, Auntie Heather is hard at work once again (despite the both literal and figurative pain in the neck), wading through copyedits and taking time off to stare at my gorgeous new cover art!!!

Isn’t it bee-you-tee-full??? I’m completely in love with my cover designer…and with Andrew (the model who portrays Vlad)! Just an amazing job. Dutton is taking such good care of me.

And now it’s your turn. Go forth, my loyal minions…and pre-order your very own copy of EIGHTH GRADE BITES!!! Then spread the word far and wide.

Because hey…I need more minions.

We’ll get to that. But first, let me give you a glimpse into my day yesterday and my morning so far. Yesterday: Overwhelmed. No way. There’s NO WAY I can do all this. Okay, I can, but holy CRAP, it’s going to be HARD. This morning: Denial. Copyedits? What copyedits? Oh, I’m sure they’ll be easier than I thought yesterday. Plenty of time. Oooh! Let’s read blogs! Then, after a quick glimpse at the manuscript. Or…maybe I should sit down right now and make a list of the changes. As a matter of fact, I’m facing two major things (a timeline issue and a whodunnit issue)…maybe I’ll work on everything but them right now, then fix those later.

So…what are they? Well, a spiffy copy of the manuscript, covered in various notes and Post-Its that your editor and copyeditor believe will improve your manuscript, basically. As you can see, it’s not pretty. But I’m grateful for every sticky note–I’m one of those sick individuals that loves to be edited, to be taught what I’m doing wrong and how to make it better. For instance…apparently, I don’t use enough commas–which is weird, because I’ve always thought I used too many.

So now that I’ve reviewed the notes, I’ll add my own Post-Its with any changes I want, stet anything that I don’t want changed (“stet” is latin for “let it stand”–it’s what you write when you want them to leave something unchanged), and with any luck, turn in a gorgeous manuscript by my deadline (I’m actually hoping to beat it by about a week–two reasons: 1) family is coming to town and 2) I like impressing people by beating deadlines).

But first I’ll need three things: 1) my trusty orange pencil, 2) a can of Diet Pepsi (okay…several cans), and 3) my desk…because I’m sure I’ll be banging my head against it several times this week. Okay, back to staring at my copyedits and willing them to correct themselves.