The Journey (Part Three)

Ooops, I almost forgot to post today! (Okay, to be honest, I should have pre-posted this last night, but I did forget.) Whew, I'm skating in just under the wire.

When I left off, I'd just headed out of Austin in the direction of Ft. Worth. Why? To visit darling author Rosemary Clement-Moore, of course! She lives right on the way between Austin and Oklahoma City so we thought, "Why not have a RITA winners' sleepover?"

So, I made my way in the rain to her house. After much talking (because writers do love to talk almost as much as they love to write--almost) we headed out to IHOP to meet some over her local writing peeps. It was a loud and raucous gathering and I'm sure the IHOP staff was glad to see us go at 1:00am.

Then, you know what? Rosemary and I stayed up even longer talking. Until 4:00am!!!

Did I mention I was already on the verge of sleep-deprived?

Anyway, we finally went to bed and I crashed instantly. I got up ... when I got up. And, after yet more talking (and yummy banana nut bread) I said goodbye and headed up the road.

Along the way I saw a truck pulling and Alfa Romeo--my dad's favorite car--and I had to (carefully) snap a pic.

The rest of the drive was pretty boring because, frankly, the road between DFW and OKC is made of boring. A few short hours of grass and horses and cows later I made it to my parents' house. Then we immediately turned around and headed north to Guthrie, where we ate at Granny Had One--I'm not sure one of what--where they had very cools stuff on the floor. Like whales and jellyfish--very FORGIVE MY FINS-worthy.

Then we went to see the Pollard Theatre's production of Rent. Quite wonderful. I never saw the show on Broadway, but I have to think this production came pretty close.

Finally, after my trek to Katy and then Austin and then Ft. Worth and then Guthrie, I got to go home. So glad to be here. (At least for a little while.)

Hugs,
TLC

The Journey (Part Two)

I know, I know. I'm tormenting you with this blogventure, drawing it out over several days. But there's just no way I could cram everything into one blog post. It would be twenty pages long! So, the adventure continues...

Leaving Houston (or Katy actually) I headed for Austin to speak at Cedar Park High School. After dinner at Austin's famous Kerbey Lane restaurant (I had yummy migas) and spending the night at a friend's (playing with her son's hilarious dog Joey) I headed out early for Cedar Park.

It was drizzling, which I love, and thankfully I had an umbrella in my overstuffed car. A friendly office aide walked me back to the library where this was waiting for me:

Along with a break room full of delicious treats--the Rice Krispy Treats were especially wonderful--and an eager staff. How cool is that?

My day consisted of speaking to a creative writing class, a Latin class, and several English classes. (I might be biased, but I think the creative writing class made the best audience.) I told them a lot about my writing process, how I became a writer, how writers make money, and my three top tips for aspiring writers. When I discussed tip number three, Become an Observer of Life, I used a mysterious bruise on my forearm as an example. (Sadly, that bruise has faded to a small, faint, hickey-like mark, so I can't share a pic.)

The day was a blast, I had lunch with head librarian Chris Kay at a fun Mexican restaurant, and would definitely trek that way again for another visit.

When school let out I headed on down the road to my next stop: Arlington, Texas--aka a Ft. Worth suburb. Guess what? Tune in tomorrow to find out about my time in DFW. (I know. Torture.)

Hugs,
TLC

The Journey (Part One)

When we left off yesterday, my car had been fixed and I was spending my last night in my Houston apartment. I woke up and, after carry a bazillion last-minute loads down to my car, my apartment manager came by, checked everything out, and I was on my way.

Farewell, Apartment 2036.

My first stop? My friend Sharie's house in Katy. (She writes paranormal romances under her own name, Sharie Kohler, and historical romance and--coming soon--young adult under her pen name, Sophie Jordan. Her first YA, Firelight, will be out next fall.) We went out for dinner at Wing Stop and had our favorite garlic parmesan wings. Yum. Then we ran up to Katy Budget Books and picked up a couple last minute books just as the store was closing.

The next morning we headed to Starbucks (aka the Katy branch office) and worked for a few hours. I gave Pat the Librarian one of the very few ARCs of Forgive My Fins. Then, when I couldn't put it off any longer, we said our goodbyes and I headed out of town.

My destination this time? Austin. Find out why tomorrow.

Hugs,
TLC

Oh, the Car Drama....

When we left our heroine (me) yesterday, she was leaving El Vaquero Mexican restaurant with her parents when things suddenly went wrong with her car. Here's what happened....

My car started like normal. Turned the ignition, backed out of my parking spot, and pulled out onto the street. Then, when I stepped on the accelerator, my car kind of went, "Roo roo roo." And did nothing.

Panicking--and very thankful that no other cars were on that road--I turned the car off and back on. Everything seemed to be fine. The check engine light came on a little while later, but the car was otherwise fine.

Still, my parents were leaving with the truck in the morning and I was making my way (via a few stops you'll read about over the next few days) to Oklahoma City, so Dad wanted to get the car checked out.

We got up early and, after a few tries, the car ran okay. Heading for Pep Boys, we stopped to get gas before pulling onto Houston's Westpark Tollway. (Which, if you don't know, is a raised highway with narrow shoulders and no possible way to escape.)

The car, of course, died completely about a quarter mile down the road.

Thankfully we made it over the hill and onto a safe stretch of shoulder. Just as I was calling AAA (not very promising this early on a Sunday morning) a Harris County Constable pulled up behind us. He called for a tow truck and, after waiting about twenty minutes, we were in the cab of the truck and on our way to Pep Boys.

What is most amazing about this is the fact that, because the tow truck driver is part of the county's Safe Clear program, we didn't have to pay a cent. (We tipped the driver, of course, because he took us more than ten miles for free!)

Pep Boys checked the car out and, after a mini-expedition to Burger King, we learned something truly appalling. Apparently, when Jiffy Lube had changed my air filter a couple weeks earlier, they had neglected to tighten down the bolts on my air filter cover. Did you know that when your air filter cover comes off YOUR CAR CAN'T RUN?!? Neither did I.

Anyway, Pep Boys fixed us up, didn't charge us for fixing the air filter cover (Jiffy Lube, on the other hand, is refunding some of what I paid for that service) and did charge us for a new battery (which my car aparently needed).

Whew! My car was good to go. My parents headed out with the truck. I stayed one last night in my apartment before my travel adventures began.

Tune in tomorrow to find out where I went first.

Hugs,
TLC

OMG, Where Have I Been?!?

I bet you thought I was lost from the blogosphere forever, huh? Nope, just ... moving. (It's a lot harder than it seems when you first think, "Ooh, it'd be fun to move.")

Here's Part One (aka Getting Out of Houston):

My parents flew down to help me (thank goodness) on Friday, October 16th. They got in at 7:50am which meant I had to leave my apartment by 7:00am. Which meant I needed to be up by 6:30am. Which was bad considering I couldn't get to sleep until after 3:00am. Blech.

Anyway, so after picking them up we stopped for breakfast at IHOP before heading back to my apartment to finish packing. (Because, well, I'd been a slacker and very little of my stuff was packed.) We picked up the truck at noon, spent a little more time packing, and then headed downtown to have drinks with Danny, my dad's former student and carpenter at the Alley Theatre. Then we had dinner at the fabulous Greek restaurant, Yia Yia Mary's. (Which you might notice sounds a lot like Phoebe's grandmother, Yia Yia Minta. Yeah, I kinda stole that.)

Saturday was mostly devoted to packing and stressing about packing and loading the truck. (Full disclosure: We hired guys to load the truck. My apartment was on the third floor and there was no way we were trekking my furniture down all those stairs.)

Dinner that night was at "Rice and Beans" (officially named El Vaquero) which is a terrific hole-in-the-wall TexMex joint with fabulous nachos. I spent many wonderful and crazy evenings there with my friends and their families, so it was only fitting for one of my last dinners in town.

The car drama started when we left El Vaquero.

Tune in tomorrow to find out about the car drama and whether I actually made it out of Houston. (Hint: Obviously, I did.)

Hugs,
TLC

Forgive My Fins Amazon Update

I've been a very absent blogger (moving will do that to a girl) but I did promise to update you as soon as the right Forgive My Fins showed up on Amazon (as opposed to the library binding which nobody but librarians should want--plus it's almost a dollar more). Well, I just checked and it's up now. You can go ahead and wish list or pre-order it now.

Also, check out the adorable countdown timer I made. (Over there. On the right.) Eeek! I can't wait for Lily and the gang to head out into the world!

Hugs,
TLC

On Moving

I've mentioned lately that I have an upcoming move. (In less than two weeks now!) Growing up we moved a lot. A lot. Until I reach high school I didn't attend the same school for more than two years.

And, no, before you ask I was not a military brat. I was a theatre brat.

Anyway, the point is that ... I kind of love moving. Not so much the packing up everything into boxes and carrying them down three flights of stairs part, but there are other parts that more than make for that.


Here are two things I love about moving:

1. The fresh start. Starting over in a new town and a new house is like getting a chance to be a whole new you. When you walk into that empty house it hasn't accumulated any of the mess or disrepair or bad memories of your old place. With the boxes still in the truck, you can see a clean, organized, happy house where everything has a home and you have nothing but good memories. (We know it won't last, but at this point we can still dream.)
2. The decluttering. When you pack up and move you have to lay hands on every object in your house. You have to wrap it up, transport it, and then unpack and find a home for it in your new house. That certainly makes you reevaluate whether you actually want or need that object. Do I really need the pair of Buffy-esque boots that I have never ever worn? Or the dress shirts I haven't worn since I taught full time? Or the piles of unused craft supplies I've dragged around for several moves? Donating those things lightens my load (physically and mentally) and helps out someone who might be looking for just those things.

So, what about you? Have you moved a lot or have you lived in the same town, the same house your whole life? Do you like moving or dread it like the plague? If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you move?

Hugs,
TLC

Buzzing About Book Trailers

I plowed through some of my to-be-read pile recently. Wanna know which books I've been reading? Head over to Books, Boys, Buzz... to find out.

Hugs,
TLC

Banned Books Week: Challenge

It's the last day of Banned Books Week 2009. All week I've been talking about Banned Books Week and why banning books is bad and what you can do and blah, blah, blah. But the truth is, that was just talk. Talking doesn't do anything (until you're coming up with brilliant idea about how to change the world, but even then nothing's going to change until you do something). In other words, I'm a big fan of action. And now it's time to act.

First, a confession. You know all those books I mentioned in my last post? Those classics and contemporary books that top the banned books lists? Well, I haven't read most of them. And the ones I have read... it was in high school. A looong time ago.

I want to proudly use the I Read Banned Books icon next year.

So, rather than just be someone who talks a lot about banned books, I'm going to do something about it. I'm issuing a challenge to myself (and anyone else who wants to participate) to actually read banned books.

I have a few on my shelves already, so the first banned books I plan to tackle are:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Looking For Alaska by John Green

I swear I had TTYL by Lauren Myracle somewhere, though I can't find it. But I do have:

• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (audiobook)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

There you go. The first six books in my Banned Books Challenge.

Which banned books will you read?

Hugs,
TLC