Updates

I've been quiet for a few days, so here are a few updates for you:

Update #1: I'm still here. In other words, despite my boring diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, and the occasional splash of flavor, I haven't wasted away.

Update #2: This is finals week. No, I'm not a student. I'm a teacher, which makes finals week worse. Students have at most five papers/assignments to write. I have about 20 exams and 40 essays to grade from two classes. I can't imagine how full-time instructors feel this week in grading exams and essays from hundreds of students!

Update #3: THE DINER ON THIRD, my YA paranormal mystery about 17-year-old ghost hunter Leia Angeletti is out on submission with several agents. I've had some positive reponses and two outright rejections. I'm hopeful, but I'm also beginning to think the manuscript could be improved in a few ways.

Update #4: The April Marathon is over, obviously. I spent some quality time with great writers, racing to a finish line of either 500 or 1,000 words, and little by little I developed the plot for Leia Angeletti's second adventure. However, revisions for THE DINER ON THIRD and query letters slowed down the momentum for book two. Although I didn't meet my goal, I'm proud to say I finished the month with 25,000 words towards my next book!

Update #5: I've been looking forward to May for a loooooooong time! Here's why:

• May 4, Festival of Mystery hosted by Mystery Lover's Bookshop (FYI - The staff is fantastic, and they offer free shipping on any book orders more than $10, so give them a call). I'm going to embrace a dork moment and say I'm giggling inside at the opportunity to visit with writers I admire and meet new writers as well.
• May 9, Summer vacation begins. To focus my efforts on fiction, I won't be teaching this summer. Although I love my students, this is my first vacation from teaching since the fall semester of 2006. I'm looking forward to it :-)
• May 15-17, PennWriters Conference. I'm a newbie to the PennWriters organization, and the giddy dork inside will blossom mid-month to meet with agents and writers at the annual conference in Pittsburgh.
• May 24-30, New York City, here we come! My great friend and writerly colleague, Liz Hayes, and I are heading to the big city for some fun and some business. Monday to Wednesday, we'll be hanging out with awesome chicas (and I mean you Katie, Chelsea, and Kailen!!!), and Thursday to Saturday, we're attending the fantastic Backspace Conference.
• May 31, Bon anniversaire a moi! For those of you who know French, it's not my birthday. Let me spit out a cliche and say I can't believe a year has passed since my high school sweetheart and I tied the knot. But it has, and let's hope flights are on schedule, so I can rush home from New York to eat a year-old strawberry cheesecake before he eats it all on his own (and because I love him and all that)!

P.S. A.S. King's DUST OF 100 DOGS was discussed as a Great Read on this blog in March. She's an awesome writer and a cool gal, and she's running a contest on her blog this weekend. Write a 100-word story to win an autographed copy of her book. You know this giggling dork will be giving it a shot. You should too. Check it out.