Now, a little over 7 years later, here are 7 fun facts Sarah shared with us about herself:
7 Things You Don't Know About Me
My favorite Yoga pose is dragon.
I can knit socks and crochet shawls.
I've visited Laura Ingalls Wilder's grave and slept in Lizzie Borden's bedroom.
True Grit (the one with Hailee Steinfeld) is my new favorite movie. Would you like me to recite the first ten minutes for you?
I shook hands with Rosa Parks.
I'm still afraid of the dark. (But I don't sleep with a nightlight anymore.)
The Kennedy assassination is quite possibly my next historical fascination.
Look what arrived at my house today:
Paperbacks!
(They are considerably spiffier than my expression might lead you to believe.)
I really really like that little apple on the spine. Don't forget to peek at the very backest back, where you'll find a teaser chapter from The Lost Crown:*
(*Yes, the title's changed again. Daughters of the Tsar -- formerly known as OTMA -- is now THE LOST CROWN. Once and for all.)
As of today, Miss Spitfire is an ebook!
Tell me how high this rates on the vanity scale...
A couple nights in a row this last week, I woke up in the wee hours for what felt like at least half an hour -- that annoying kind of awake where it's too much trouble to reach for the lamp and a book, so you end up just lying there, bored and semi-groggy.
By night #3, I decided an audiobook playing low on my iPod dock might lull me (or at least occupy me) better than my view of the ceiling. This is a tricker proposition than meets the eye -- you need something in a soothing, level tone. Something familiar enough to doze off into, yet not so familiar as to send you drifting back toward boredom. Also, something that doesn't have harmonica riffs in between each chapter, like the Grapes of Wrath, which made my eyes flap open every 10 minutes or so.
Now, I have always been the sort of author who doesn't dare open her own book. Not because I can't stand it, though. Quite the contrary -- if I open it, there's a 96% chance I'll sit right down and read it like I've never read it before. So on night #4 I kind of smirked and glanced over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching as I dialed through the Authors listing on my old pal the iPod and caught myself pausing over the M section. Not M for "Miller," mind you -- M for...wait for it... "Me."
Because much as I like what Recorded Books has done with Miss Spitfire, actually listening to the audio edition myself has always made me a tad self-conscious in a way that reading the print version never does. Could I really use my own former ruminations to hush my brain back to sleep, I wondered?
As it turns out, HECK YES. I dunno if it's good news or bad that I've spent the last two nights snoozing through the bulk of my very own book, but I sure am taken with the drifting off and waking up parts. You'd think I'd know this story well enough by now that I could lie there and recite it along with Terry Donnelly; instead I find myself just plain enjoying a good story on a topic I like a whole lot. This may become a permanent habit.
(I didn't even know James Patterson did this sort of thing.
Nifty site. He's even got some of my favorite Keller bios listed as read-alikes. I'll be danged.)
In lieu of the Revise-O-Meter, which is proving to be at least three-quarters useless, I've come up with some statistics that might actually quantify a bit of progress.
Miss Spitfire:
49,083 words
OTMA (rough draft):
75,747 words
OTMA (currently):
86,285 words
No wonder this is taking so long. I feel a little better now.
Pssst! You wanna HEAR a snippet of Terry Donnelly reading the official audio edition of Miss Spitfire?
Click here.Thanks to Little Willow for yet another of the many things she does best: web-magic!
************************
Currently reading:
Crossing to Paradiseby Kevin Crossley-Holland
Some writers refer to the process of writing as drawing water from a well, hinting at a reservoir of words stored beneath the surface.
That well, like an underground aquifer, feeds our imaginations and drenches our words in the same way that underground streams secretly nourish the landscape.
And it's limitless--yes, limitless--but only if we acknowledge the well as a source and carefully
Here's another online forum for artists called The Brooklyn Art Project. ......OK..now I am REALLY going to get offline....I am NOT supposed to be here blogging....I've got way too much art to be doing....but couldn't resist all of these great links today.
.jpg?picon=590)
7 Things You Don't Know About Me
Congrats!!!!! How very exciting! :)
Woo-hoo!
And The Lost Crown is a much more intriguing title. Don't let them change it again!
How exciting!
Is there a release date for The Lost Crown yet?
Summer 2011
Yay! How exciting!
Nice!
Yay! They look great. And I love The Lost Crown as a title.
Oooh, I really like the new title. And the books are PRETTY.
Good on you, Sarah.
Summer 2011 cant come soon enough. The new title is great.