January Wrap-Up
Book News/Progress:
Date Set for my Book Release: It’s official! THE SONG OF ORPHAN’S GARDEN will be released on January 21st, 2025!
Maps: So, my daughter Danielle is illustrating two maps for the book. This is a bit unusual, but it’s actually working out really well because there are some complicated aspects to the world that I’ve had to think through in order to make sure the maps make sense. For instance, this world isn’t made up of natural landmasses, but of magic-made, walled-in gardens that are surrounded by what’s called the Winter Blight. It took us a bit to figure out how to show this, and I was honestly happy to be able to talk it through with my daughter instead of having to present all the information to an illustrator and go back and forth with them. I’ve always known I don’t think visually, and this was just one more example of that – it took me a long time to get it all worked out in my head. I’ll have to ask if I can share a sneak-peek of the maps with you guys!
Anyway, we’ve been working on this for a lot more than just the past week, but I sent a nearly-finished draft of one of them to my editor this week and she was really happy with it!!
Writing proposals for future projects: Also, my editor has said she wants to hear ideas for future projects, so I’ve been working on proposals. (Again, I’ve been doing this for more than just the past week, but I made really good progress this week.) This is both exciting and very daunting!!
Other News:
Holiday Cruise! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We had a really nice, laid-back Christmas and then went on a cruise with my husband’s extended family (his sisters’ families and his dad). This was such a great trip, and it was really fun to go with family. The cousins all commented on the fact that they were so happy they got to spend some extended time with each other instead of just seeing each other for a couple of hours (which only happens a few times a year). It was also really fun to be on the cruise for New Years – definitely the best NYE celebration we’ve ever been to! (Then we came home with COVID, so that was … less fun. But still worth it, since we didn’t get that terribly sick.)
Minor surgery: I had a minor surgery this week, so I’ve been feeling just a bit worn down. But I still managed to get this post up, so yay me! (My bar is pretty low here lately. LOL!)
What I Read:
- I read No Matter the Distance by Cindy Baldwin for the Cybils Awards. I’m not allowed to review the Cybils’ books yet, so I’ll just say I loved this one!
- I listened to The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. This one is on a table a coworker and I created for romance reads for MG and younger YA readers (at Barnes & Noble), so I wanted to listen to it so I could recommend as many as possible more personally. I often get parents who will come up to me and say something along the lines of “Is this random adult romance appropriate for a 12-year-old,” and I have to say, “Um, no.” (And I know that it’s certainly not my job to police what anyone’s reading, but if I have parents or kids who are specifically asking, I like to have options I can confidently point them to.)
- I’m now listening to The Other Side of the River by Alda P. Dobbs. I’m loving this book – even better than the first book in the series, in my opinion.
- I ordered the special wood edition of The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris just before it won the Newbery, and it’s a very good thing I did because it’s very hard to get now (B&N’s warehouse was completely out of them by the next day). I just started reading this one, but I adore the dog-MC’s voice!
- I’ve read a lot in the last month and a half, so I’m not naming the rest of them all here (you can look at the pics). Some were audiobooks. Several of them are the finalists for the Cybils Awards, which I’m reading for now. Lots of great reads!
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