Last Tuesday, Chris’s (and my) grandfather passed away. It was sudden and heartbreaking. He was such a great, vibrant person, and I seriously did NOT see this coming–not so soon.

Only today am I easing into “normalcy” again. As the pastor said at the funeral on Saturday, it’s time to write the next chapter in my life… just without him.

Aidan is with my mom until February 25th, so I’m expecting to get in some GOOD writing time the next two weeks. Wish me luck!!

I got the chance to finish five books:

Sixteen – edited by Megan McCafferty
Keep In Touch (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants marketing tool–so glad I got it from the library instead of buying it)
Unscripted – Amy Kaye
The Used To Be It Girl – Amy Kaye
A Bad Boy Can Be Good For A Girl – Tanya Lee Stone (tanyaleestone)

Dude, how sad am I that Smooch went under? They had such cute books. And Tanya’s book was amazing. I finished it in under and hour–I could not put it down.

I MUST go to the library before the 15th. My reserve for Twilight came in, and I want to read that book badly.

I’m tired. And I’m ready for my massage on Friday.

‘Til later!

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

As I cruise toward the 25,000 word mark in my WIP, I find myself:

• Not being able to sleep due to the constant churning of ideas.
• Becoming resentful of almost anything that takes me time and attention away from writing.

Okay, but this was supposed to be fun.

I like to put together soundtracks for my WIPs. They are fluid, always subject to change based on how the character grows, how the plot develops, or how sick I end up being of the song. HA.

So, for my current WIP, the songs I have on the playlist (for now) are:

Heartbeat – Annie
Why Can’t I – Liz Phair
Black Roses Red – Alana Grace
Be Be Your Love – Rachel Yamagata
Hoppilolla – Sigur Ros
Boum-Boum – Enigma
Ever The Same – Rob Thomas
Collide – Howie Day
And Then We Kiss – Britney Spears
Serious – Gwen Stefani
These Words – Natasha Bedingfield
Never Leave – Kendall Payne
Forever Love (Digame) – Anna Nalick
Deliver Me – Sarah Brightman

Other fun things I do:

I’ve recently subcribed to several “teen” oriented magazines, and I got two in the mail recently: CosmoGirl and Seventeen. I really like CosmoGirl a lot. But even though I’m sure there are nice articles I can use, I was more interested in the pictures, and I cut out pictures of what my MC’s room looks like. Cool, huh? Now I have something to visualize if I ever feel inclined to describe her bedroom.

I also like to nab those email surveys that come around way too often and fill them out from the POVs of my characters.

In Reading News, I finished Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty, and I am very emotionally satisfied. I’m looking forward to Charmed Thirds. Best thing? I emailed her and told her how awesome she is, and she wrote back. YAY for super cool authors. I’m going to be a super cool author.

I started reading TTYL, and then I put it down. Maybe I’m too old, but an ENTIRE BOOK written in IMs might be too much for me to handle. However, I bought and read Rhymes with Witches by the same author a long time ago and that book is freaky. I liked it, though. SO, I switched to Sixteen, which is a collaboration, and Sarah Dessen AND Megan McCafferty are in it, so yeah. I’ll probably finish that up before the weekend. I’m cruising right along to my 100 New Books in 2006 goal.

Alrighty then. It’s just about time for me to blow this pop stand, so ’til later!

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)