Still Alive

I am finally back at work. I started on April 1st and it's been a grind. We've got a lot of papers to score. It's one of the only long projects (it's expected to go until May 14th). The good part of that is that I know I'll be working at least 4 weeks in a row. The bad part is that it's at least 4 weeks of continuous work. This job is simple, in many ways, but it can quickly get you down.

I am glad to be earning a nice paycheck though.

I will be attending my first book fair, The Teen Book Fair, in New York next month with a friend from school and a couple other people who also went to the same college as me. I've never been to New York, which is one of the reasons I wanted to go. Plus it's nice to spend time with people you don't spend time with, if that makes any sense. Mia and I had math together for a semester and became friends. Since I graduated, we've bonded over our love of reading. She was a big support last year when I released Farther Side of Away. Going to NY should be fun!

As long as my car keeps it together, I have a few things I want to do this summer. I'm hoping to go to Michigan in July for my aunt's 50th (but that will be with my parents, so it'll be cheaper for me). My bff's got her birthday in August and we're planning on going to the Dublin Festival. There's a few concerts I'd like to go to, but it depends on work and money.

Really though, I'm just hoping to buy some new furniture for my room. I want to buy a new bed, dresser, and bookshelf. My poor bookshelf has no space and yet I just keep getting new dvds, cds, and books.

I am currently working for Camp NaNo on my short stories for Farther Side of Away. I've only got one and a half stories left to write, so I'm really happy with how this week has gone. I only set my goal at 10,000 words since I'm working on short stories. I had already written three or four, so I only had like 6 left to write. I'd like to finish that for a summer release, but we'll see how things go because of work.

Because of work, I read a lot. I've read World War Z, Spirit Bound, and I'm almost done with Job: A Comedy of Justice. I just got Last Sacrifice from the library, so I hope to read that next week.

I released If You're a Princess, Where's Your Crown in February and although I've only sold maybe 20 copies, I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on it. I'm so glad people like it.

And so that's what I've been up to.

Still Here

I'm still here. I've finally finished the first draft of my royalty book. I had already started editing, but now the whole thing is done. Now I can focus on editing it & making sure everything is properly sourced (which is the real drag). The book will be released on February 22nd.

I will be heading back to work in March (hopefully) or April and will be doing so with a raise. I really look forward to be being back at work. Although it's frustrating to see how sad education is in the US, I really enjoy the work I do. Plus I get to work with some really nice people. And the paycheck is lovely.

I am going to try to take my mom to D.C. in September. Hopefully I will be able to save enough money to do that. Between my new book, work, & selling things on ebay, I am not worried. Next year, I am planning to go to Austin with a friend for a convention. It'll be nice to go back to Texas & it'll be interesting to go to my first convention.

Besides that, there are several concerts I want to go to this year (hopefully more get announced) and I am hoping to get up to Michigan a couple of times. There's plenty to do, so hopefully it all will work out.

Time to get back to editing & sourcing.