Add a Comment

Ah, the glamorous life of a writer.  When not at my desk, it's all bonbons and massages. 

Actually, it's more like coveralls and bags of diatomaceous earth.  Nothing like a camo hat with lights and glasses with gobs of glue on the sides to complete the look...

Me just moments before heading into the crawl space beneath the ol' Schindler abode.

Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

The last time I embedded a video, it was visual (I wanted to show our unusual May snow).  This time, I had to share the sounds of the Ozarks...

I've noticed lately that the birds here have been singing like crazy!  (Even this short clip doesn't quite do their music justice.)  Maybe they're all just glad it's finally started to look like spring...


...Having problems viewing the clip?  You can watch it on YouTube.

Add a Comment

I'm in the midst of proofreading my debut MG, THE JUNCTION OF SUNSHINE AND LUCKY.  Seeing my book getting so close to its final form just makes me want to burst open!

Add a Comment

May 3rd was a beautiful spring day here in the Ozarks...the birds were singing, the grass was green, the flowers were in bloom...and the snow was falling!



PS: Blogger's been acting buggy lately with embedded vids.  If you have problems viewing, you can check out the vid of our spring snow on my YouTube page.

Add a Comment

I spent the last three weeks of April hitting global rewrites for my next YA...and when I clicked "send" yesterday, I hooted and hollered for joy.  (That's what we do here in the Ozarks, hoot 'n holler...)

Nothing quite like the euphoria of meeting a deadline...

While I was whipping this revision into shape, I got a new doormat for my mom (because humor trumps all in the Schindler household):



Front porch and toenails to be painted this week... 

Yeah.  We think it's hilarious.  In the past few weeks, though, NO ONE HAS RUNG OUR DOORBELL.  Nobody.  Neighbors won't.  The mailman won't.  A little boy stopping by with his school fundraiser actually shouted "DING DONG!" when he stepped up to our door.  I'm not kidding.

It just shows, I think, the power of the written word.  Shows how seriously we all take the written word—whether it's in a book, a Tweet, a status update...or on a doormat.

Display Comments Add a Comment

Holy Toledo, I can't believe it's been two weeks since my last post!  All I can say right now is that I've been working hard, my manicures chipping off in giant chunks as I plunk away at my keyboard.  I'm on another deadline now...wish me luck!

I spent a good portion of the afternoon yesterday writing under this tree in the ol' backyard...

Add a Comment

In honor of April being our "cruelest month," I'll admit, I've been pretty cruel to my characters in the past.  I gave Aura, the MC of my debut YA, a schizophrenic mother (who is, as the book opens, in the midst of a downward spiral into the darkness of her illness), and I gave Chelsea, the MC of my second YA, a horrific injury that put a screeching halt to her basketball career. 

...But in putting together a post for a blogger (Me, My Shelf, and I) who's running a 25-Things-You-Don't-Know-About-Me series, I was suddenly struck by the idea that maybe, we build our characters through unique quirks and traits as much as we build them through the events of a book. 

Here's my own list of 25-Things-Few-Know-About-Me:

I think this list starts to paint a pretty vivid picture...

What do you think?  What's most important: revealing our characters through the events of the book or through their idiosyncrasies?  Or do they share equal importance?

Display Comments Add a Comment

Every spring, I cut our backyard hyacinths and put them somewhere close to my current work space, mostly because I love the smell of hyacinths.  It's my all-time favorite scent:

This year, I also saved our hyacinths from this:

...the snow currently falling at a blizzard-like rate.

Spring???

Display Comments Add a Comment

Catherine Ryan Hyde's got a new one!  ALWAYS CHLOE is her first sequel (it promises a continuation of her novel BECOMING CHLOE), and it'll be free from the 22nd through the 24th.  More info on the collection is available on her website.


A new Catherine Ryan Hyde book?  For free?  Oooooh, yeah... Read the rest of this post

Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

My editor at Dial shared this book with me at Christmas: SEE A HEART SHARE A HEART by Eric Telchin. 

It's truly a lovely collection of photographs.  I've found myself pulling it off the shelf repeatedly during the past few days, as the Ozarks has dealt with a horrible blast of wintry weather: sleet, snow, freezing rain. 

In the midst of ugly, harsh surroundings, it's provided a much-needed ray of warmth. 

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

Valentine's Day is just around the corner...and I'm feeling a vlog post coming on!  As an author with one published romance under my belt, I'm seeking questions on the romance genre...your questions can center on my YA love story, PLAYING HURT, or can focus on the genre as a whole (either from a reading or writing perspective). 

Shoot me your questions in the comments below, on Twitter (@holly_schindler) or through my author page on Facebook. 

I'll choose about three or so questions to answer in my vlog.  If your question is chosen, you'll win your choice of a signed bookplate or a signed bookmark.

Thanks in advance for your fabulous questions!

Display Comments Add a Comment

I just had to share: Kristin O'Donnell Tubb sent this super-cool T-shirt in thanks for featuring her book, THE 13TH SIGN, on Smack Dab in the Middle!  Seriously, how fun is that?

Display Comments Add a Comment

Birthday Flowers - Aren't they cool?  I think they look like paintbrushes.

Add a Comment

One of my end-of'-'12 resolutions was to shut down the computers in the evening and spend my nights reading.  I think all authors struggle with balance; I know firsthand how easy it is to get lost in my own work, or to get so involved with new marketing ideas that I suddenly look up and discover that what had felt like twenty minutes was actually four hours.

I've been really enjoying my end-of'-'12 resolution...Carving out time to read's a little like making a resolution to eat more chocolate.  Here's a glance at my holiday bookshelf:

Display Comments Add a Comment

My absolute favorite part of the Thanksgiving weekend is putting up the Christmas tree.  Every year, I get hit with the tingly anticipation of what's soon to come as I decorate the interior of the ol' Schindler abode. 

...Of course, there are no presents quite yet under our tree, but I feel it's safe to say that will be remedied soon enough...

Add a Comment

I can't help it...I'm already in the holiday spirit.  It's infecting me earlier and earlier each year.  Which means I've already decorated the outside of the house, and I spent most of the day on Sunday driving across town to grab a present for my brother.

Another thing that's making my holiday spirit explode is discovering lovely posts online about my already-released books.  They're honestly like little pre-Christmas gifts.

 

 

"Sanity is a sonnet with a strict meter and rhyme scheme—and my mind is free verse."
I also found a lovely new review of PLAYING HURT, courtesy of Forever 17 Books. 

...I'm firmly convinced that having incredible readers is the best Christmas present a gal could ever ask for.  Thanks for making my pre-Christmas the best, guys!

Add a Comment

Loading...

Add a Comment

This girl is brilliant.  Seriously.

I'm in complete awe of people who can cram an entire book into a three-minute pop song.  And Kacey Musgraves does that beautifully here.

As a single girl in the Ozarks, I also have to say I relate to this one on a personal level.  I adore my area of the country, but I'd be lying if I said that certain area events (remember Sarah Ockler?) and attitudes didn't just embarrass me down to my toes. 


 

...How about you?  What songs have you sworn told your own story?

Display Comments Add a Comment

I’m not a fan of guns; if I’m to be honest, I hate guns.  I have always respected the right of my more outdoorsy friends to hunt.  But I have never fired a gun myself.  I hate the look of guns.  I literally feel my stomach turn over and goose bumps break out when I have to pass by the guns in Walmart to get to the exercise equipment.  I do not understand why, in Missouri, I may soon be unable to buy pseudoephedrine over the counter at that same neighborhood Walmart (in an effort to curb criminal activity), but I can buy a gun.  I still respect my outdoorsy friends’ right to hunt.  But I also respect the right of all the bright lights in this world to grow big enough to see the world through adult eyes.  And I’m sorry, but I think one of those rights trumps the other.

The past few days, I’ve caught myself staring at the sparkling Christmas decorations that hang in my neighborhood, getting absolutely lost in thoughts about all the bright lights in the world that need to be protected, honored, allowed to become their very best selves. 

Display Comments Add a Comment

Display Comments Add a Comment

Hope you all had a fantastic end of '12 and are staring straight into a very promising '13!

We're kicking the new year off with a bang at my YA blog, YA Outside the Lines.  You can't afford to miss our giveaway extravaganza, as this short vid explains:




To enter, click here.

Add a Comment