It's Release Day - Hip, hip Hooray! (Warning: More Rhyming Ahead)

Last night when I couldn’t sleep, I tried counting sheep, St.Matt’s snores, and the minutes until the local bookstores opened and I could go see Send Me a Sign in the wild.

When all that failed, I got up and wrote you a little poem:

 It’s the eve of release day, I pace at the sink.
This author’s not sleeping, not even a wink.

The Schmidtlets are dreaming, all snug in their cribs.
And St.Matt is snoring, despite my pokes to his ribs.

I could be sleeping, or blogging, or cleaning, or writing,
Instead, I am pacing, fretting, lip-biting

I’m full of impatience, excitment, panic, and glee
Tomorrow readers meet Gyver, Hil, Ryan, and Mi.

My book! In stores! It’s a dream that’s come true,
Look for the cover with dandelions. It’s pretty! It’s blue!

In swirly-whirly letters it says: SEND ME A SIGN.
And the pages, the story, I wrote them, they’re mine.

Tomorrow I share them, and they become yours,
Which is why I’m up pacing, wearing grooves in my floors.

Fine, I’ll go get in bed, it’s near the end of the night,
Not to sleep, but to read — I love my book light!

... is it obvious yet that I was never a poet?

I could not be more excited to share SEND ME A SIGN with readers today!

xo,

Tiffany

Contest, Author Copies, AND, a New Website

So... that happened. That's pretty much my real-time reaction to getting my author copies. (After I danced around the box and put The Schmidtlets down for an impromptu nap). In case you were wondering, YES, I DID give myself a papercut on the chin while snuggling the book.

And then I quickly put the book back in the box. Where it still sits, along with all my other untouched author copies, in the front hall of my house. It didn't even occur to me to OPEN the book until St.Matt was paging through one when he got home from work.

Guys... they're so pretty! I LOVE them! And I can't wait until you can see them too.

It's only FIVE WEEKS AND FIVE DAYS until SEND ME A SIGN hits bookstore shelves... and since FIVE is my main character, Mia's, favorite number, that means it's time for a giveaway. I'm giving away TWO Send Me A Sign ARCS. (Yes, I DO know it's odd to give away ARCS when I just got my author copies, but I had this giveaway planned out and the author copies were a Very Awesome Surprise).  

To enter, fill out the form below. I'll pick winners on August 31st.

ALSO -- I have a NEW website! (This was how I'd planned to open this blog post before the Very Awesome Surprise). Go! Click around! Explore! This post will still be waiting when you come back. MANY, many hours of stress, tears, and tweaking went into this redesign. I hope you like it! I owe a HUGE hug-accompanying THANK YOU to Courtney Summers who talked me down from my My-Brain-Can't-Handle-WordPress ledge many, many times. (Including a particularly tearful e-mail "I just don't know WHY it's not working! I've spent the past 90 minutes trying EVERYTHING" -- her response, "Tiffany, clear your cache - it's working fine." I dutifully Googled "cache" and she was right.) So, really, this whole post can be summed up as:

Welcome to the new site! I'm so glad you're here! Let me offer you prizes & please admire my pretty author copies!

 The form has been removed because the contest is closed -- thanks for entering!

Why I don't blog more often...

...because if I look away for even a moment, this happens:

Yes, that IS my manuscript.

Notice that The Pip Squeak is totally feigning innocence while simultaneously using his little toes to push the papers around. The Wild Imp is just gleefully mischievous.

Heaven help me once he learns to remove pen caps...

Bright Before Sunrise

The best things in my life come in TWOs.

Obviously there's my favorite duo - The Schmidtlets.

Look, Momma, we can edit too...

Then there's my pair of puggles.

Being this adorable is *exhausting*

And now I'm adding a new two to the list: A SECOND BOOK DEAL!

I’m thrilled to share that my second book - Bright Before Sunrise - will be published by Walker-Bloomsbury in winter 2014!

Here’s a little more about Bright Before Sunrise, which is dual-perspective (See! TWO narrators!) and takes place over the course of a single night.

 When Jonah is forced to move from Hamilton to Cross Pointe for the second half of his senior year, "miserable" doesn't even begin to cover it. He feels like the doggy-bag from his mother's first marriage; and everything else about her new life—with a new husband, new home and a new baby—is an upgrade. The people at Cross Pointe High School are pretentious and privileged—and worst of all is Brighton Waterford, the embodiment of all things superficial and popular. Jonah’s girlfriend, Carly, is his last tie to what feels real... until she breaks up with him. 

For Brighton, every day is a gauntlet of demands and expectations. Since her father died, she’s relied on one coping method: smile big and pretend to be fine. It may have kept her family together, but she has no clue how to handle how she's really feeling. Today is the anniversary of his death and cracks are beginning to show. The last thing she needs is the new kid telling her how much he dislikes her for no reason she can understand.  She's determined to change his mind, and when they're stuck together for the night, she finally gets her chance. 

Jonah hates her at 3p.m., but how will he feel at 3 a.m.? 

One night can change how you see the world. One night can change how you see yourself.  

I can’t wait to share Bright Before Sunrise with you all! HUGE thank yous to my amazing agent, Joe Monti. And I’m very excited to be working with Emily Easton and the rest of the Walker-Bloomsbury crew on BBS.

I’m feeling so lucky and blessed and giddy… I feel like I should go celebrate with something that comes in a two-pack.

...if only Twinkies weren't gross.

Any celebratory suggestions?!

*squee*

Bonus Twin AND Puggle photo - Yes, it's old... YOU try getting all FOUR to sit still and pose ;)

Nothing Screams DOUBT Like a Blank Page

Every time I start a new writing project I’m convinced that I’ve completely forgotten how. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve faced a blank screen, part of me is convinced that THIS TIME will be the time I totally blow it. That everything before now is a FLUKE. And I will never, ever remember how to write a book again.

During this panic stage, I’m unusually susceptible to outside influences. This is when I’m convinced I should try things like Journaling From The Characters’ Perspective, Making Story Collages, and worst of all: OUTLINING.

I’m totally not judging these activities. I think they’re fabulous and super-useful for people whose names aren’t Tiffany Schmidt.

But despite knowing I’m the pajama-pantsiest of pantsers, I sat down yesterday morning and dutifully typed up Chapter 1 – then bullet pointed the things I wanted to happen in it.

I made it to Chapter 2 before I started squirming in my seat. By Chapter 3 I was checking Twitter and Facebook and pacing the kitchen. Chapter ? (yeah, I stopped numbering after 4) had me in full-body twitch mode, digging through the cabinets to try and discover where St.Matt had hidden the leftover jelly beans.

Luckily, by the time I got to Chapter ???? – Unknown Plan is Executed with Stuff & Scariness, I gave up. I woke up. (and part of me wanted to THROW UP – I really think I’m allergic to planning).

Then I did what I should have done all along – the thing that’s served me well on every other book…

I started writing the kissing scenes and dialogue first.

Sometimes you just have to know your writing style. And more importantly, BELIEVE in your process. It may not work for anyone else, but if it works for you, cling to it like a baby koala bear.

What’s yours?

The Lucky 7 Game!

When I'm mad at my dear, dear friend Scott Tracey, I call him Scottopher. It has more heft as a lecture name, don't you think? "Scottopher Tracey, get down here this minute! And no dessert for you!"

Well, Scottopher is getting All The Looks this morning & I'm not mailing him any of the cinnamon buns I made this week. What was he thinking tagging me in a writer chain letter? He knows how I feel about luck.*

My debut novel, Send Me a Sign, is ABOUT superstition--- if I break the chain, that's probably like spitting on a black cat or playing paintball in a funhouse mirror room.

So here are the rules (copied straight from Scott's post)

Open your most recent novel or work-in-progress.


Turn to page 7 or page 77.


Count 7 lines down.


Copy (or read aloud in a vlog post) the next 7 sentences…in their entirety.

No cheating or editing!!!


Then tag 7 more authors!

And here is my snippet -- it's an email my MC (Della) receives early in the book. And it's exactly seven sentences.

Della. I’m sorry. So sorry. I never meant for this to get out. I know I promised I’d delete it. I’m so sorry. So sorry.

This is from my current contemp WIP. Codename: Full Nuder**

Oh. And my seven people:

Victoria Schwab***

Kate Walton

Jessica Spotswood

Kathleen Foucart

Linda Grimes

Elisa Ludwig

Eve Marie Mont

*Scottopher, I’m not really mad. In case you were worried, which you weren’t because my anger is about as scary as a rage-filled cupcake.

** Yes, this does make me gigglefit EVERY time.

*** Remember that book I was raving about in my last post, The Archived? She's sharing from THAT!

A Date! A Date!

No, not with St.Matt – though we'll be going out tonight to celebrate.

This is a date YEARS in the making. Years and so many pages and hours and words.

It's my RELEASE DATE.

READY? (and, by ready, I mean: do you have your calendar out and pen uncapped? Or, more likely, do you have your calendar app open and your thumbs poised to type?).

Sounds like a pretty good date, doesn't it?


*Things that make it even better? I get to share a release date with one of best friends in the world – Emily Hainsworth.

** Info on release parties and such will be forthcoming, but, seriously we've got some time. Even uber-planners like me don't have all the details hammered out 37 weeks early.

***If you don't want to miss any updates, make sure you *Like* my Facebook page 

****Shamrock border from: http://imagesbyheatherm.wordpress.com/tag/shamrock/

Focus!

I am writing.

My mother-in-law is watching the twins and I am writing.

I'm writing out of my house. Out of my pajamas. And without one eye on the baby monitor.

I know this is a little bit a so what? How is that a big deal? Except it is for me. It's the first time I've done this in the fourteen months they've been mine.

Recently I commented on a handful of writer friends' New Years blog posts about my goal for the year: Focus, I said.

Which inspires a little bit of a *gigglefit* because Focus and I have never been friends. Just ask my parents or twelve years of teachers. Or the legions of Distraction Fairies who are always willing to pluck my attention away from the task at hand and lead me on a wild goose hunt—let's make cookies, organize the spice rack, is the mail here?, I should write a letter to my great aunt, did I finish Christmas thank you notes, oh! I meant to put the boys' photos in a new photo book. Let's Google ideas for formats. Let's Google character names. Let's open the WIP. Is there any coffee left?

What was I saying again?

Oh, yes, Focus!

I've long since accepted that I'm a Distraction Fairy magnet and I'm never going to rewire my brain to think in a linear fashion. But, what I can do is Focus on a task while doing it. While reading books with The Schmidtlets, I'm not going to worry about laundry or my word count. While spending time with Saint Matt, I'm not going to obsess about the length of our to-do list. When sitting at my computer during precious naptime, I will stay off the Interwebs and make the most of that time with my WIP.  While on the phone with friends, I'm going to be less multi-tasky. The toys can stay on the floor for another few minutes and I can give all my energy over to listening. 

And now, while sitting in this coffee shop, I will appreciate the baby-free writing time, stop calling to check-in every few minutes, and FOCUS on the words on the page in front of me.

Feeling Apocalyptic

I was lucky enough to spend the moment 2011 gave way to 2012 at a wedding surrounded by friends and in formal wear. I'd almost, almost made it to 12 o'clock in my heels.

But when the countdown hit one and people cheered and toasted and kissed, the moment felt extra, extra exciting. And not just because of St.Matt's midnight kiss.

It's 2012.

Twenty-twelve!*

SEND ME A SIGN comes out in October 2012. So, this means it's FINALLY my publication year.  How could that not add an extra sizzle to the ball-drop countdown?

Yesterday, when The Schmidtlets woke us up after not nearly enough sleep—5 a.m., really? Couldn't they tell we only got to bed at 2?—I had another  moment of IT'S MY YEAR.

In which The Wild Imp says: Who needs sleep? And check out my cute Apocalypsie shirt? Auntie Em gave it to me.

I know that realistically, 1/1/2012 is only ONE day nearer to October than 12/31/2011, but it feels so much closer. And I've always valued feelings more than facts.**

So, Happy Twenty-Twelve!

And while you're waiting for October, do what I plan to do — keep yourself distracted by reading fabulous books by all the other Apocalypsies.

In which The Pip Squeak says: Go read Apocalypsie books RIGHT NOW!

What a fabulous year it's going to be!

In which The Schmidtlets demonstrate how 2012 has shoved 2011 out of the way and The Wild Imp goes splat.

*This is what we've agreed to call it, right? Not Two Thousand and Twelve?
**Much to the dismay of my sainted engineer.

Copyedits Colored Pencil Comparison - Updated!

Copyedits! They're here!

I've been so excited about their pending arrival that I've had my colored pencils for weeks. I bought the erasable kind -- thinking I was soooo brilliant.

Until I tried to write with them.

Must. Press. Down. So. Very. Hard. And they kinda skip. It was like trying to be precise while writing with a crayon.

I handed one to St.Matt and without my prompting he said: "They're like writing with crayons."

"New colored pencils!" I demanded. Actually, it was less of demand and more of an exclamation. Perhaps a proclamation: "Let us buy ALL the colored pencils!"

And then I whined to Emily Hainsworth** that all my planning was for naught. She seconded my demand/exclamation/proclamation and suggested a comparison -- so all the credit for this brilliant idea goes to her.

I limited myself to five brands, because, let's be serious -- I've now got sixty-two colored pencils and I plan to use... ONE.

And, in a further show of self-restraint, I wouldn't let myself buy the Staedtler brand (even though they make my very most favorite revision pens EVER) because I didn't need a fancy pack for one pencil.**

To make this all scientific-ish, I sharpened each colored pencil with the same plastic sharpener. Wrote the brand, shaded, and signed my name with each.*** I used the same eraser to attempt to erase each -- and swiped it the same number of swipes (7 swipes).

Here are the results:

To be fair, these were more "erasable" when you used the attached eraser. They're also the hardest to write with & the least precise. Erasability is not worth it.

A little more precise than the erasable version... and just slightly less erasable.

The most erasable of the bunch. Decent precision. Tricky to sharpen -- the tip kept crumbling

This was my second favorite.

Least erasable but most precise -- go figure.

At the end of the day, excepting the Erasables, they're all fairly similar. I ended up deciding to use the Prismacolor because the local Michael's sells them as singles. St.Matt pointed out that if**** I happen to lose or break it, I can then go buy just another pencil, instead of a whole 'nother set.

I feel a sudden urge to write a lab report. Or do another experiment. I wonder if we have vinegar and baking soda.

Or Coke and Mentos!

No worries, we DO have safety goggles.

But I also have copyedits! Mayhaps I will put my scientific urges on pause until all my editing and STETing is complete.


UPDATE - The brilliant & talented Nova Ren Suma***** just told me: Copy editors use Ticonderoga or Col-Erase colored pencils... Others are too soft.

Oh. *looks at the half pencil left after one night of sharpening & resharpening to maintain a tip* This makes A LOT of sense.  I've already ordered a pack -- they should be here tomorrow and then I'll add their photo to the collection.

Thanks, Nova!

UPDATE The Second - They're here ---

The precision! The erasability! Dream come true. I got so excited I cut off the last letter of my last name. 

Which office supply should I test next?!******

* Actually, my brilliance should probably always be attributed to Miss Emily. I love her dearly. Maybe I'll send her 61 colored pencils for Christmas.  

**Though if anyone has used Staedtler colored pencils and thinks they're awesome, let me know and I'll be all about getting them when it's time for book two. 

***My signature is normally MUCH neater. I'm having a bad handwriting day -- possibly caused by post-birthday-party-too-much-sugar jitters.


****He actually said WHEN I lose or break it, I edited his statement to give myself the benefit of the doubt

***** Seriously, if you haven't read Imaginary Girls go add it to your Christmas list NOW. And then start behaving so Santa complies. 

****** I mean, Sorry, I've got to go do my copyedits.

SLOWED to a crawl? How inaccurate.

I'm trying to decide if I should dust the cobwebs off my blog or allow them to stay as festive Halloween decorations.

Probably dust them… I don't do scary.

Last time I wrote that the twins were starting to crawl. At that point it was *wobble, wobble, move a few inches, beam at me.*

Now it's ZOOOOOM, CLIMB, STAND, FALL, WAIL – in the same amount of time.

Plus, The Wild Imp is stubbornly convinced that he can stand unassisted.  He SO can't. He also believes it's a brilliant idea to hang from the top of the babygate and then fling himself backward.

I spend much of my day diving across the room trying to prevent traumatic head injuries. As a result I wear the bruises instead of him. Many, many bruises.

But, there's bedtime and naptime and my writing stays alive in these snatches of time. SEND ME A SIGN's revisions were approved and it's been moved on to copyedits (HOORAY!) and I just finished revisions on my second book as well. (Lots of Revision Skittles were consumed in the past two months. LOTS).

And my work in progress is a thing of love. I adore it. Everything about it. Even its writing playlist, which I have to stop myself from listening to when I'm not working on it.

The song I play most often is this one:

And while I won't tell you what it's about just yet, a HUGE hint is that this band's name would be a fabulous title for the book.

Author Interview -- Scott Tracey

Interview with Scott Tracey

I'm pleased as pleased can be to have Scott Tracey, author of WITCH EYES, answering questions on my blog today.

Okay, so that's a lie. Scott is REALLY answering questions on the Apocalypsie blog today. On this blog, I'm answering the questions for him.

I keep telling Scott he should hire me to do all his speaking and blogging engagements for him -- If he did, this is a just a taste of the awesome he could expect.

For those of you looking for TRUTH -- head over to The Apocalypsies and find out what's really going on inside the head of Mr. Tracey. Warning: it's a very, very strange place.

1)   Describe your writing routine?

Step 1) Put coffee in the coffeemaker

Step 2) Play a game of Bejeweled

Step 3) Check-in with Twitter – read a tweet about coffee – this reminds me to go turn the coffeemaker ON.

Step 4) Open word document

Step 5) Go bother Leah

Step 6) Fiddle with my writing playlist

Step 7) Pour coffee

Step 8) See if Twitter misses me yet.

Step 9) Create some words and sentences

Step 10) Rinse & repeat

2) Which character in Witch Eyes is the most similar to YOU?

Peyton the Princess. (page 70 for those of you with the book in front of you) I may look cute and adorable, but if you so much a blink at me the wrong way, I'll push you in front of a bus.

Just kidding.

Maybe.

3) You describe Witch Eyes as a modern day Romeo and Juliet with witches -- does this mean you're going to kill off all the best characters?

God, you don't pull any punches do you? What if I said yes and named names, Tiffany? Wouldn't you feel horrible about ruining the ending for all of your blog readers? Hmmm?

No, actually, it doesn't mean that at all. Book three, aka Princess Eyes ends with all of the characters being given a puppy and a cupcake. There are double rainbows, too.

4) If I suspect someone has witch eyes, what should I do?

Treat the situation the same way you would if there were a rogue bear or alligator on the loose. If you're close to the person, poke them in the nose and run away in a z-shaped pattern.

Otherwise: make no sudden movements. Avoid wearing yellow. Back away slowly. Maybe climb a tree and hide.  If you happen to be carrying sunglasses, try tossing them to the Witch Eyed – if you're lucky, they may take the bait and leave you alone.

5) Who would you cast as Braden & Trey in a Witch Eyes movie?

Trey:

Mark-Paul Gosselaar – aka Zack Morris from Saved By The Bell

 

Braden:

Joshua Jackson - aka Pacey from Dawson's Creek

6) What are you going to do on release day?

Didn't you hear? Witch Eyes was released a few weeks early by Amazon. All of a sudden people were emailing me to let me know their copies shipped – I guess it was too much awesome for Amazon to contain within their warehouses.

On my actual release date – September 8^th – I plan to eat lots of pancakes. And perhaps, if it is not raining, go to the local park and do some interpretive Witch Eyes dances.

Or, you know, maybe I'm celebrating by working on the sequel…

7) What is your good luck charm?

My WWE Champion Belt. It's shiny and it spins. When I'm having a rough day, I put it on.  Did I mention it spins?

Clearly these are the answers Scott Tracey wishes he'd given...

You can find out more about Scott Tracey at his blog, or on Twitter. WITCH EYES officially releases this Thursday, September 8th. If you haven't already pre-ordered a copy, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?