The Waiting is the Hardest Part

This post is in reponse to a comment from Karen, who continually urges me to be a better, more frequent blogger. :)

In my last post, she asked what my reaction was when the first copies of Santa Maybe arrived at my house.

The world may never know.

I talked to someone from Cedar Fort on the day they shipped. Can't remember what day it was exactly-- seems like it was months ago, but most likely it was last week some time. So I've been mentally calculating when I expect THE BOX to appear on my doorstep.

I was convinced THE BOX would be waiting for me when I got home from work on Tuesday.

It wasn't.

So I knew for sure that it would arrive on Wednesday, which is my day off, and wouldn't that be great fun to be here for the big moment?

Imagine my surprise when I peeked out the door for the 386th time that day to find... no box.

For some reason, I had a really good feeling about Thursday when I woke up. Surely it would come Thursday. Turns out the good feeling was nothing more than a misdirected vibe about an unbelievable parking space I ended up with at work.

Still no box. Not even a hint of a box.

Ditto Friday.

Holding out great hopes for tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

By the way, Karen, I'm just the opposite when my book arrives. Not only do I have to read it, but I have to read it IMMEDIATELY so that I can find the inevitable typo that I missed. I want to be the first to know so that when someone says, "I hate to tell you this, but on page 34..." I'll be prepared.

My new Friday Friend :)

I was invited by the fabulous Sarah Eden to be a guest on her "I Need Friends Friday" blog. Go check it out tomorrow if you have a minute-- I think you will agree that she is HILARIOUS! And not only does she have a great sense of humor, she also taught me how to put this button on my blog. And it takes a lot of patience to teach me computer stuff. Seriously, if it's technology related, trained chimps pick things up faster. Aside from being a brilliant author, she is also a very talented artist. If nothing else, you should at least go see my personalized, signed portrait! It's definitely going on the wall of my office. (Well, it would... if I had an office.)

Thanks again, Sarah-- you're the best! And Happy Friday everybody!

Drumroll please...

The cover for Santa Maybe is up on Amazon!!! If you're curious or excited or just bored and looking for something to kill a few minutes, go check it out! After all, Christmas is only four months away! (ducking to avoid those of you who are throwing things)

I guess it's almost time to start camping out, waiting for the UPS guy to show up with that REALLY special box... :) Maybe not quite yet. After a week or so, living out of a tent in the front yard starts to lose some of the original appeal.

Go, me!

I am blogging for the SECOND time this week-- not because I really have anything to say, but just to prove that it's possible. :)

Next time, I'll post something earth shattering! Watch out for it!

Aubrey's been a bad, bad blogger :(

I've been feeling guilty about not updating my blog lately, and then I felt even worse when I logged on and read Karen's comment on my last post about how I am (generally and sadly) absent from blogging world. I really am sorry... it's not because I don't care! It doesn't seem to matter how good my intentions are at keeping my blog up to date. Other things just get in the way. I've said it before, and I'll say it again-- I'm a crap blogger.

That said, I really will TRY to do better. Really, you should thank me for not posting more often and boring you to tears. My life simply isn't riveting enough to post every day. But I should think I could come up with something maybe once a week. :)

The Barnes and Noble Authorpalooza booksigning was lots of fun. I got to sit and visit with two very cool authors from Cedar Fort-- Frank Cole and Jillayne Clements. The employees at Barnes and Noble were super friendly. AND I got to have my copy of The Hourglass Door signed; two birds, one stone!

Also, I just got my cover for Santa Maybe and it looks great. Kudos to Jen Boss, who designed my cover this time around. Santa Maybe is being printed as we speak, and it should be available from Cedar Fort mid-September-ish. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Happy Friday :)

Two bits of good news:

1) Just found out that Walmart is carrying My Fairy Grandmother, which is very cool. Someone I work with told me yesterday that they saw it there, but I half thought she was joking. (Not because she's a cruel person-- I just don't expect good things to happen to me.) Then I got an email from Cedar Fort telling me that they'd placed the book in Walmart, which for any normal person would be proof enough, but I still didn't believe it until I saw it tonight with my own eyes. Had to stifle the urge to stand in the middle of the aisle blocking traffic, telling everyone that it was MY book. I thought that impulse would lessen after Spare Change, but so far, I still want to shout it from the rooftops. I also wanted to sneak through the store, placing copies in unattended carts, but I managed to control myself.

2) I'll be doing a booksigning at the Orem Barnes and Noble on Tuesday, August 11th from 8-10 PM. If you're out late and you're in the area, I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd stop by so it looks like I have friends. :)

Sweetwater Writers Conference and Congrats Melanie!

Cedar Fort is hosting the Sweetwater Writers Conference on Saturday, June 6th from 9-5 PM. I attended their 6-7-8 Conference last year, and the speakers were great. Spare Change was barely out then, so it was so fun to meet and learn from so many other authors. I also met one of my critique partners there, Melanie Jacobson, who actually just found out today that her novel has been accepted for publication! Yay, Melanie! She is an amazing writer and I am so excited for her. I can't wait to see her book on the shelf. I'm certain she'll be blogging about it soon-- if you're interested, go to www.readandwritestuff.blogspot.com. In fact, go there even if you're not interested because her blog is hilarious.

So, to sum up, this is an excellent opportunity for anyone who is interested in improving their writing or networking or maybe even finding an awesome critique partner! :) It's just a really cool way to spend a Saturday. I'm bummed that I don't get to go this year because I have a conflict that weekend.

For more information on the Sweetwater Writers Conference, go to www.cedarfort.com.