So like I said, I have another sinus infection. My doctor gave me a long list of things to try before and during my airplane travel so that the infection doesn’t get worse from the pressure. I’ve never tried Theraflu before. Man, that’s really gross stuff. Bitter. But I’m doing what I can. I also am trying a decongestant I normally see for cough-related stuff, but when I tried it this morning, wow. Not only did I not realize I’d been congested in my chest, it also helped the sinuses, and between that and all the other stuff I’ve got going on, I think I’ll survive the week.
I’m trying to pack for my trip and deciding that once again, I have no idea how to pack light. I have a choice between three different books for the flight, plus four movies (I take my laptop whenever I travel, might as well bring a movie). I of course must bring ‘s lovely Wicked Lovely, which I’ve been working on since ALA Midwinter. I’m about 3/4 of the way through and must know how it ends! I only read it at night as I’m drifting off to sleep, because I’ve been both sick and busy, so it’s taking me forever.
I also have ‘s The Princess and the Hound in ARC that I want to read, but haven’t gotten to yet. She is a Utah author, so perhaps I should also take it in honor of my Utah trip. She’s not going to be at LTUE (as far as I know, at least), but it’s that whole connection thing. The other choice is a book called Nobody’s Princess another ARC from Midwinter, that I picked up mostly for the cover–combine the title with the stance of the model on the cover and it just makes me giggle. It’s about Greek gods, so I’m not so sure I’ll be all that into it (just not my thing), but I might be pleasantly surprised. I was going to give it to if it didn’t grab me, but sadly she won’t be making it up this weekend after all. (I’ll let you know what I think, though, and if it’d be up your alley, zeliot.)
I know I won’t get through all 3 books, but I might just finish Wicked Lovely and start another one. The movies, well, I might just bring them all. One, you never know when you might like a quiet movie alone, and two, you never know when you might need a great girls’ night movie. I just got Bride and Prejudice for myself for Christmas, so that’s my latest fun thing (and it brings up good memories, too–watched it the first time at Cascadiacon w
ith zeliot and ). My perennial favorite Frank Capra movie, You Can’t Take It with You, is due for another watching (I think I’ve worn out My Favorite Wife, so it’s out of the rotation for a while). And I just treated myself with a little babysitting money to National Treasure, which I don’t care what anyone says, it’s a great movie, and Goonies, which I’ve loved since the 5th grade at Brandy Wheeler’s slumber party. The latter two I haven’t opened yet, and I might just let them have their maiden voyages on this trip.
And don’t even get me started on the swag I’m bringing. I have to bring an extra suitcase every time I go to LTUE, between bringing friends swag with my product points and all the bookmarks, flyers, ARCs, and samples I bring for the con people. Thankfully, that means I get to leave the contents in Utah and fly back much lighter. Well, but this time I’m taking my Star Wars minis back with me. The product room was sold out, so I said I’d bring my full set (that I won for employee appreciation week) to get a chance to finally play it with someone. So let’s hope I get the chance, or that’s just one more thing I’ll be carting around!
I’m still waiting, at nearly midnight, for my laundry to finish. Perhaps I should have thought of doing that yesterday, seeing as how the cab
will be here to pick me up at 5:50 a.m. I hate early-morning flights. I’m a late-night packer. I have such a hard time making decisions, that I end up staying up entirely too late the night before, and finally end packing about 2 a.m. I leave the full suitcases right by the door, toiletries and all, because I’m so afraid of oversleeping that I take my shower the night before so all I have to do is jump up, dress, and run out the door if necessary.

As I’ve been preparing my talk for LTUE, one theme keeps coming up in pondering the role of an editor, and how an editor is often a collaborator in the writing process. All the ideas and writing should come from the writer, but the editor has a shaping influence on that process through the questions he or she asks.
I’ve talked before about how Ursula Nordstrom is my hero.
…
I never did finish that post. That’s just a teaser! You’ll have to wait till I come back to finish that thought, because between juggling deadlines, a sinus infection (yes, now it’s worse than ever and I’m on yet more drugs, bleh), and getting ready for LTUE, I’ve been sadly neglecting the posting. But all my thoughts are finally together for the talk, and I leave at 7 am tomorrow, and so I’ll still be out of touch for a little while. Hopefully when I get back, I’ll be well enough to feel normal again (ha, like I won’t come back exhausted, but I can hope–a dry climate for 4 days should do wonders for my sinuses!) and will post on a more regular basis again.
Meantime, have a great week, everyone.

I’ve already posted my panel schedule for LTUE before, but it’s less than two weeks away, so I thought a reminder might be in order for anyone heading to that. It’s free, so it’s an especially good networking opportunity for anyone in the area.
Also, I have a confirmed schedule for when I’ll be arriving and leaving from Utah. Yay! I arrive Wed. morning and leave again Sunday morning. So I’ll be available for gatherings in the evenings Thurs-Sat (Wed is reserved for LTUE stuff).
Once there, here’s my panel schedule:
Thurs. 9:00 am: Reception/Book Signing
Thurs. 1:00: School and Library Visits
Thurs. 2:00: The First Paragraph Decision
Fri. 9:00am: Publicity and Self-promotion
Fri. 2:00: Main Address
Fri. 3:00: Where is the YA Science Fiction?
Fri. 4:00: Understanding the Slush Pile
Sat. 10:30 – 10:55 am: SF: Expressing Individuality And “It’s Okay To Be Different”
Sat. 1:30 – 1:55 pm: Give A Kid A Book: What Books Are Best For Kids?
Sat. 4:00 pm: Second-class Citizens
Sat. 5:0
0 pm: How to Get the Attention of Publishers and Agents
Let me know if you’ll be in town and want to get together.

Last night I got home to a voicemail from my apartment complex manager saying I had a FedEx package. This puzzled me all evening, as I got home after the office had closed and couldn’t go down to get the package until this morning. I didn’t order anything, and no one told me that they were sending me anything. My imagination started going wild. Was it a lovely surprise from a secret admirer? Was it a court summons from a collector from a bill I’d never known about? You hear stories of crazy stuff like that happening. Though usually with people who don’t pay their bills, but you just never know!

I go to the office this morning and the manager hands me a small black box emblazoned with

 

What in the world?

And there’s a logo emblazoned on a number of places. I turn it over and I don’t recognize the return address, from somewhere in New York.

So, I open the box. 

You see correctly. That’s five bags of pita chips. Seeing as how I never really buy chips–and would never have ordered anything, my reaction is definitely “completely mystified.”

Having lived in Boston, where the brand is popular, I knew of it a little, though I can’t say I ever picked any of them up. I’m just not big on buying chips–I have more of a sweet tooth–though I’ll eat them if they’re in front of me. 

Inside, there’s a little pamphlet that explains it all:

Yup, her name’s Stacy, and so is mine. Therefore, I get free chips! Inside the pamphlet, she says:

Hi, I’m Stacy.

Ever since I started making pita chips, I had a dream: to share them with everybody across America.

Well, we couldn’t give them to everybody. So we’re sending them to every person named Stacy we could find in America!

Turns out, yes, that’s exactly what they’re doing, just in time for the Super Bowl. Well, for 133,000 Stacys, at least. I’m not even in a “Stacy hot zone,” and I got them!

And actually, they’re quite yummy. They’re just pita bread baked into a chip and seasoning added, so they’re definitely more healthy than your average potato chip.

Oh, I also got inside some coupons:

an “I *heart* Stacy” sticker (I love it! finding stickers like this when I was a kid that spelled my name right was SO hard
!) 

and a card that I can fill out and send back to them to send a free gift box to anyone of my choosing. How about that? 

Now, who to send it to. I shall have to think on that. There’s always my sister, a natural choice. Or any of my numerous old friends and roommates living elsewhere. But who would reeeeally appreciate a gift of snacks that I paid absolutely nothing for? I’m thinking, my friend who is the Grand Lord High Poobah of Ninja Monkeys, that’s who. Eric, if you’re reading this, you want some chips? 😀 I’m off to scan some examples for my talk for LTUE. Talk-preparation weekend. Except that I’m babysitting tomorrow night.

I’m so behind the times. I’ve seen so many other people post stuff like this on their blogs, and though I’ve enjoyed it, I haven’t bothered to figure out how to do it myself.

Well, that time has ended, because I have a digital camera now! Granted, not much of one, as you’ll see, but not bad for having come in a phone.

I’ve been inspired. I saw Jen Barnes (

 ) do a video post and now I have to join in on the fun! Only you’re not going to see me (though, come to think of it, I’m thinking about asking a friend to video my keynote at LTUE, an idea I credit to

 , that I just saw in an interview over at Strange Horizons). (And psst… note that he has a book coming out this spring! Check it out!) I’m truly going to suggest the idea to the LTUE staff, as a possible resource for later generations–especially the papers, given that it’s sponsored by a university that might want archives of the academic side of things.

Story: I have this really funny snowman my grandma gave me last year, one of those Hallmark Christmas knicknacks. Turns out, the cats are fascinated:

I freely admit it’s not that interesting a video, but if anyone wants to see my cats in motion, there you go. Now all I need to do is improve my videography skills. I’ll start with holding the camera further away from my face so you can’t hear me breathe. At least this one has some form of soundtrack at all. The others (which I won’t show you) are just the cats batting at the toy I’m holding and me breathing. Now, if someone has suggestions on freeware software I can use to edit music into those videos, that’d be really cool. Then you could be regaled with Tildrum attacking the ball-track. 🙂 (I’m kidding. Really. You can tell me. Please? I promise I won’t misuse the power of video editing!)

An old-school quiz, with no blog code! Me:

I am 40.23669% – Major Geek

Falls right in line with

‘s recent discussion of just when it was that being a nerd became a good thing.

I don’t like to post my private picture gallery to the public, but I figure if you’re on my friends list, you can take a peek. The link should work. I changed permissions on that album so that if you log in using the username and password “guest” (for both), you should be able to see that album. I think. Let me know if that doesn’t work.

http://norroway.thelemur.net/view_album.php?set_albumName=january-2007&page=1

If you’re in the picture, you’re welcome to grab a copy for yourself.

I left work entirely too late to make it to my church activity all the way up in Seattle, so instead I’m staying home, eating homemade Thai (a panang curry, to which I forgot to add the onions! horror! but for a first time, I think I did pretty good), and posting about my week. I even started a fire in the fireplace so that the cats would have something more interesting to watch than me eat, which makes supper twice as long–three times when I have milk, which I find highly important to eating Thai. Which, by the way, was crazy. I’m dealing with yet another sinus infection (if any of you talked to me at ALA and I said I was coming down with something, I meant that, which ISN’T contagious, don’t worry! sorry to alarm!). That means yet more antibiotics. 

I can’t ever tell which is worse–the disease or the cure. Either way, I feel like my head has been stuffed with cotton ever since halfway through Midwinter. I felt like half the conversations I had involved me losing my train of thought. 

Other than my mental deficiencies, ALA Midwinter was a great time. We talked and talked to librarians and authors all weekend, and Friday night involved an amazing party thrown by Random House, our distributors–including a big birthday cake for R.A. Salvatore:

I got the chance to meet Timothy Zahn, whose Star Wars books were a big favorite of mine back in early college and helped this small-town girl realize there was a whole section of fantasy in the bookstore. (Hey, growing up, we only had one shelf of YA books in my little local Carnegie library, and the fantasy section was nonexistent. The nearest bookstore was 1/2 hour’s drive away, and when I had no money to spend on books, it’s not like I went looking for a bookstore.)

Speaking of mental deficiencies, I can’t remember what else I meant to post.

Oh! I can share pictures! I’ll even add captions. 

What else? We got to meet our fabulous new publicists, who were in town for Midwinter. We had a great time discussing children’s literature and all things related, and got to have a great dinner at Cutter’s, a restaurant that really shows off the flavor of Seattle. I had the most amazing salmon chowder that I’m still drooling over a week later, plus the most tender, fresh coho salmon with veggies for my main course. I’m not sure what seasoning they used, but I want to try it at home. (I tend to make salmon about once a week. I love it, plus it’s good for you.)

Oh, and I also got to try out a Thai fusion place Saturday night with some cool YALSA librarians. One of them even was able to identify a book I’d read as a teen about a girl whose evil twin steals her body via astral projection. Who knew I’d read Lois Duncan as a 14 year old? Stranger with My Face is now on my hold list at the library, so I can read it again and see if it lives up to the memory (what book does, really?).

Between Midwinter, being sick, and a week filled with meetings, it’s been a crazy week for editing. But I’m glad Midwinter was here in Seattle–it was great to talk to the librarians and get to see initial reactions for In the Serpent’s Coils, the first book of Hallowmere, by Tiffany Trent (

). Everyone I talked to loved the cover, and thought that the book sounded great for their teens who love that genre, which is highly satisfying to hear. I’m hearing great preliminary comments as some who grabbed the ARC are reading it, as well. It’s a great feeling, because this is the first book of the first series I acquired myself. Egg_fu was my first author to work with at Mirrorstone (and go read his books too!), but the series he works in was one I’d inherited from another editor. There’s just something very special about your first acquisition.

Oh! And one other fun tidbit. As I was driving home from the grocery store, I happened to glance down at my odometer, and what do you know: the odometer read the exact same as the mileage needed for an oil change. I don’t think I’ve ever watched that happen before. Totally non publishing related, totally non important, but I have a camera on my phone now! I can show off completely unconsequential pictures!

Notice, I drive so few miles I was able to last nearly two more months after their estimated time!

 

…is not going to happen right at this moment. Too much to say and not enough energy to say it. I have been sick today, and have slept more in the last 24 hours than I have in a long time. I spent much of Sunday blanking as I talked to people, knowing something was going wrong with my head (I’m sure it’s another sinus infection) but needing to finish up everything before heading home from ALA.
Anyway, I’m looking at all these ARCs I got from the show, and thinking about what I’ll do with them–and with some ARCs I no longer need from previous years–when I’m done with them. Many I’ll keep on hand until I can get the book, or even after that. But what about the ones that I no longer need once I’ve had a chance to read them? I really should start looking for a place to donate them to. (This of course takes into account sharing the ARCs with other people interested before being done with them–I have several friends who love fantasy, for example, to whom I pass these around, but I’m speaking of after that’s done, too. And if I can read fast enough, I can donate at least a few of the
m to the Teen Center at the library, if I finish before the pub date.)
The library is out, because they need finished books (except the one case above). (And I do donate finished books especially when it’s something they don’t have in their catalog.) I’ve seen librarians discuss this very issue, and they’ve talked about things like donating them to youth detention centers–places that rarely get the attention that children’s hospitals do–or to soldiers abroad.
So I thought perhaps people in the Seattle area, especially, might be aware of venues that need books, especially those who don’t have regular access to a public library and not enough money to go to a bookstore. Suggestions? I’m looking for links to specific places, especially. I’m moving at the end of March and I’d like to work on lightening my book load in the next couple of months! Like that’ll ever really happen–but I’d like to strive a little toward that, even if it’s just a little bit, and do some good in the process.
Too many parentheses, I know. That must mean I need more sleep.

I’m heading off in a few hours to the ALA Midwinter conference. Tonight there’s a panel that the three guests of honor, all fantasy authors (including Wizards’ own R.A. Salvatore). Then there’s a private exhibit opening for the VIPs, when I’ll be at the booth, and then tonight Random House is throwing Bob a birthday party at the Science Fiction museum, which should be lots of fun. 
Tomorrow, I’ll be in the booth most of the day, so if you’re planning on stopping by to say hi, that will be the easiest time to catch me. Come and meet some of our authors between 11 and 3 at our author reception (more on a previous post, which I don’t have time to find, including who will be there). If you know me personally and can’t make it to the booth on Saturday, call my cell and we’ll set up a time for lunch or hot chocolate or something. I’ll be in and out of the booth Sunday and Monday, not sure of the schedule, but I’ll be around the show so if you want to say hi or catch up, hopefully we’ll connect. I’ll be checking my email every night–I live here and have a lovely home connection :)–s
o if you miss me on Saturday you’re welcome to email.
Have a great weekend!