Fond farewell to 2010, Hopes for 2011

Here we are on the last day of 2010 . . . sigh, how I'm going to miss it. 2010 will be remembered as the year I pitched a brand of my own to real media professionals for the first time, the year I finally returned to being a vegetarian after missing three years (oops :) ), the year Boyfriend and I accidentally locked our chihuahua out of the house for an hour and then rushing out to find him only to realize he'd been sitting obediently on our porch steps the whole time, the year I lost seven pounds (and then gained three back after the holidays), the year Boyfriend and I finally got off our lazy butts and changed the tires on our little Yaris, and the year we nearly drowned in Los Angeles' December rains. But most of all, I'll remember 2010 as the year I finally got a book deal (something that's been on my resolutions list for a very lot of years). And that makes 2010 a fond memory to mark down in my (invisible) book.

Now I've got my sights set on 2011 and all the things I want to accomplish. I'd like to lose those three holiday pounds, for a starter, and maybe even five more. I want to get a change of scenery, maybe travel with Boyfriend a little more than I usually do. I want to start sketching again at least once a week, something I've been procrastinating on as more and more other things fill my time. I want to cook more often and exercise at least three times a week (this one's going to be tricky to stick to). I want to finish Legend 3 before the end of the year. I want to read more outside of the genres I've grown comfortable with. And lastly (but probably mostly), I want to make Legend 2 a better book than Legend 1. I'll have to see how that one goes, though. :)

Any New Year's Resolutions from you guys?

Have a fun, safe, and festive New Year's Eve, and Happy 2011!

Happy holidays, themes, and rain

Yes, it's been nonstop rain in California for the past few days and it'll keep on going until Wednesday. My condolences to anyone who is visiting Los Angeles as a tourist for the first time this week. I promise it's usually sunnier than this. :)

As I continue trekking through Legend 2, I realize (and am usually surprised) that a lot of my values and opinions about the state of the world tend to creep into the text, even though I'm not consciously trying to put them in. And when I take a step back to look at the Legend series as a whole, I realize that the entire story's premise is chock full of the themes and morals that matter to me in real life. I shouldn't find this weird, I know--I mean, it's only natural for writers' work to reflect their opinions. But it's still interesting to see it happen right before my eyes when I'm not aware of it at all.

Anyway, I'm heading home to Houston for the next two weeks. I've finally managed to convince my boyfriend to get on a plane (he's terrified of flying), and this is our first "real" trip in four years. A success! Next year, we'll graduate to a longer flight. Maybe even beyond the borders of the U.S., mwahaha. Happy holidays, everyone! Hope you all get to eat delicious foods and visit your favorite people. See you in 2011!

Got my copyedits for Legend!

What a lovely, colorful mashup of thousands of letters and arrows and strikes! I am awed, impressed, and intimidated. I luff it. :D

I think the copyeditors know more about my book than I do.

Still chugging

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. :) Mine was great, full of food and other delectable things, although my word count didn't grow as fast as I wanted.

But so far I've been good in December. I'm at 41,118 words on Legend 2. I can tell this book is going to be longer than Legend 1, but that's ok--that seems to be the general trend among sequels. (I mean, look at the size difference between Hunger Games and Catching Fire) The middle part of L2 is probably the most complicated part of the whole thing in terms of plot, so it's taking me extra time to get the details accurate and the plot points right. Once I get over this hurdle, the second half of the book should come pretty fast. Yargh. I can't wait to write the two ending chapters, which I already know are going to be my favorite part of this whole book. I want to torture my characters!! But that'll have to wait until I sort this dang middle out. I guess I'll use those ending chapters as candy bait. :)

Anyway, that's all that's going on for me here. There are some other exciting things happening but I can't talk about them yet. But hopefully I will soon!