News

Sep

I ♥ Monday

I know it’s technically Tuesday, but it feels like a Monday, right? So I’m rolling out my new feature. Every Monday, I’ll be posting here about things I ♥. ♥ My new Sony Touch Reader. I’m never ever going to give up paper books. I love their shiny covers; their glorious new book smell; displaying them on my bookshelves; lending them to friends. But so far I’m buying more books because I have the e-reader. It’s dangerously easy to download on a whim. I read the first book in Rachel Vincent’s Soul Screamers series, and when I finished, the second one was right at my fingertips. And the third. ♥ Already Pretty is my new favorite style and body-image blog. What Do You Want to Look Like, Argument for Self-Love, and How to Hone Your Style are three of my favorite posts. ♥ The Kennedy Center’s annual Page 2 Stage...

Sep

Personal Style

Jessica

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about style and how I present myself. In the last few months, I’ve dyed pink streaks in my hair and gotten a tattoo in a very visible spot (my inner wrist). I don’t think either of these actions is that transgressive anymore, but I still considered possible—I don’t want to say consequences, but reactions, maybe? My family is fairly conservative, and while they weren’t vocally disapproving, they weren’t necessarily approving. I work at Catholic University, which has a certain image, and my boss is retiring at the end of the month, and we’re hiring a new director—what would his or her first impression of their new admin assistant be if I had a tattoo and pink hair? I decided it didn’t really matter to me, not more than the fact that my religious and political views differ from many of my coworkers’. How well...

Sep

September

Jessica

Try to remember the kind of SeptemberWhen life was slow and oh, so mellow.Try to remember the kind of SeptemberWhen grass was green and grain was yellow.Try to remember the kind of SeptemberWhen you were a tender and callow fellow.Try to remember, and if you remember,Then follow. Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,Follow, follow, follow, follow. Try to remember when life was so tenderThat no one wept except the willow.Try to remember when life was so tenderThat dreams were kept beside your pillow.Try to remember when life was so tenderThat love was an ember about to billow.Try to remember, and if you remember,Then follow.–The Fantasticks Happy September! I queried my agent last September, I got married in September, my parents’ and Steve’s parents’ anniversaries are in September…it feels like an auspicious month to me. I’m hoping to send Thrice-Blessed to Awesome Agent Jim on Sept. 15. This is an arbitrary, self-imposed...

Aug

Time Off

Jessica

I’ve been taking some time off from revisions. I love my WIP to bits, but I’m feeling…unmotivated. I’ve been beating myself up about it, even though there’s no real schedule. Awesome Agent Jim would like to see it when I’m ready to share. I need to finish the first pass through and then do a second pass for world-building issues. If I really focused, I could probably have it finished in two weeks. I think I know what needs work, although some of the hows won’t be settled until I’m there. I love this story. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever written. So…why the reluctance? Do I need more time to mull things over? Am I waiting for my genius crit partner’s line notes on the second half? Am I scared of finishing the revision and sending it off to my agent? Or am I just in a mood to be immersed in other people’s stories...

Aug

Getting Out of Here

Jessica

In thirty-two minutes, I’m heading out of the city for a weekend in rural PA. I love DC, but it loses some of its charm in the swampy days of August. I haven’t seen my family since the end of May, so I’m super-excited. I’m staying at my mom’s–land of flowers, gardens, feral kittens, and my sisters. Tomorrow I’m spending the day at my dad’s family’s cabin, which was an inspiration for the setting in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FOREST: (photo courtesy of my talented sister A) There will be veggie burgers, watermelon, reading in the hammock, a walk to the lake, toes in icy-cold water, shrieking kids, canoeing, and lots of stories about the kooky things Dad and the uncles did. I’m taking INFINITE DAYS and NIGHTSHADE with me because I can’t decide which to read first. Probably whichever one my sisters don’t immediately steal. I’m their YA book pimp, basically. Wishing you all gorgeously relaxed weekends!

I ♥ Monday

Personal Style

September

Time Off

Getting Out of Here

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