Blogger on Petronella

I hope you aren't tired of me--I googled my book and found that a blogger (Chasing Ray), who is a book reviewer for Booklist and others, checked out the Houghton Mifflin catalog and chose my book as one of the books she is looking forward to. She says,

The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low, illus by Jen Corace. Okay, the tagline "a mysterious and lively romp through Edwardian England in 1903" caught my eye as well as the charmingly retro cover but this description - this description is one of the best I've seen ever: "You would think Petronella’s sixteenth birthday would be cause for celebration. After all, fashionable friends are arriving at her country estate near London, teas are being served, and her coming out party promises to be a resplendent affair. Everything is falling nicely into place, until, suddenly—it isn’t. For Petronella discovers that her guardian, Uncle Augustus T. Percival, has developed a most unVictorian compulsion: He must eat bugs. Worse still, because he is her guardian, Uncle Augustus is to attend her soiree and his current state will most definitely be an embarrassment.
During the festivities, when Petronella would much rather be sharing pleasantries with handsome Lord James Sinclair (swoon), important guests are disappearing, kidnapping notes are appearing, many of the clues are insects, and Uncle Augustus is surreptitiously devouring evidence. It’s more than one sixteen-year-old girl should have to deal with. But, truth be told, there is far more yet to come . . ."

That is not a description that can be resisted, no way, no how.


So you can see why I'm excited.

My book is now in the Houghton Mifflin catalog

It gave me the shivers to open the mail and find the newest Houghton Mifflin catalog for spring and see my book with a full page ad right smack in the middle. I can hardly wait for the June release. Remember, it is coming out under the nom de plume of Dene Low. The title, as we all went over, is Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone and the series name is The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival.

As for my other writing, I haven't worked on the sequel in the last few months because I'm trying to finish an academic book. I just spent a week on the indexing and have another week to go on it. Ugh. Can't wait to get back to the creative writing.

And the Editor Says . . .

She asked for a re-write! That's what I'd hoped for. And she gave me suggestions! That's incredibly helpful. Number one, now I know what she's looking for, and number two, I completely agreed with everything she said! That's a good sign.

So, back to work!

2009 Workshop

Is anyone going to the workshop again next year?

Here's the flyer: http://ce.byu.edu/cw/writing/

I won't be attending this year but I hope to be back in 2010 or 2011.

God bless us, everyone!

Merry Christmas dear friends! What a wonderful time of year it is. I love Christmas with all of it's great traditions. Drinking hot cocoa, decorating a tree, singing carols, and throwing gummy bears at all my brothers and sisters Christmas eve night when none of us can sleep. I look forward to it and it never disappoints.
I just wanted to tell you all that I have had a spiritual revival this year. My faith in Christmas has been restored from the cynical view point I had in the summer. Maybe it was doing Christmas Carol over and over again, maybe it was reading the Christmas story in the bible, I'm not sure. But I think I can safely say I know what Christmas is all about again. Sharing, giving, and love are all nice and good, but they are not what Christmas is about. Christmas is about hope and joy. Hope for our salvation. Christ was born to save us from our sins. Isn't that cause for, not only hope, but incredible joy? Here we have another chance! No matter what we've done, no matter bad decisions we've made, here we have a second chance! It came in the form of a baby. Sweet, pure, and innocent, just like how we can be. We can go back to the purity we had as children, clean of sin and ready to start anew. Christmas is a celebration of this and a chance to start over for the coming year. Doesn't that make you brim with hope and joy? Doesn't it make you want to run through the streets compulsively hugging people and shouting 'Merry Christmas' at the top of your lungs? No matter how old you are, no matter how many mistakes you have made, here is your hope and joy! Seize it! Make the most of this opportunity. In the coming year, try harder to prepare and prevent rather than having to repair and repent.
I may be preaching to the choir, but I was just aching to get this out. I make no apologies to any who don't believe in Christmas, or maybe those who feel I'm being self-righteous, This is for me as much as it is for the world. Joy to the world! God Bless you! I love you all and hope you have a very merry Christmas.

Query Holiday

http://cynleitichsmith.livejournal.com/132941.html

With details on a query holiday... ie, a group that wants to see gleaming first chapters without a query letter for a limited time. Go look!

NaNo 2

Who all that participated in NaNo finished?

I finally did today! WOO! A finished novel, 50,225 words long. :)