So to combat that feeling, I’ve come up with a plan. I’m a “one-bite-of-the-elephant-at-a-time” kind of a writer, and I’ve set myself a goal of writing 700 words a day–every day. If I can do that, then I’ll have a draft done by the end of November. And that feels do-able. Not too many words (I still have a full-time job, you know) and not too few either. We’ll see if I can stick to it (my husband says, Yes, I can).

One thing I thought I could do to help myself stay on track is to post my progress every Sunday afternoon. I’ll report in about what I’m thinking and feeling about the book and the writing process, as well as my favorite line so far and my total word count. (Bonus: that means I’ll actually, finally, be blogging on a regular basis–something I’ve been trying to do for months with varying degrees of success.)

What do you say? Wanna help me write a book?

(Voting closes July 1st.)

Thanks for your help!

A Fairy-Tale Wedding

Tessa and Noah

Will be wed in Washington Park on June 4th

Send your wishes up to Grandmother Moon for us

All good faeries invited!

Wedding invitations are rare for faeries living in secret in the city, but Lily isn’t interested. As the owner of the only floral shop catering to both faeries and mortals, she has too much work to do. She may be a faerie, but she’s never really felt comfortable letting her wings down—so to speak—and joining in the revels and festivals.

Reluctantly, Lily attends the party and is surprised to see Ash with his brothers Thorn and Oak there. She hasn’t seen Ash since Lammas Tide when their long, on-again-off-again relationship finally broke apart. But when Thorn and Oak steal away the bride, the party turns to chaos. Hoping to avert disaster, Lily steps into Tessa’s place. But how long will she have to pretend to be someone she’s not?

As it turns out, not long. True love is a powerful magic all its own, and Noah quickly sees past Lily’s glamour to the truth. Determined to rescue Tessa, Noah asks Lily for help, and they begin a journey through the moral realm together, looking for a way into the heart of Faerie. But the pathways between worlds have fractured, and it will take all of Lily’s magic to find a way home—before she and Tessa become trapped in the wrong worlds—forever.

Just June

When June finds the body of May, her identical twin sister, dead in the bathtub, she is horrified by the suicide. As her own life spins out of control, she is faced with question after question—each one more difficult to answer than the last: How could two girls—so alike as to be almost the same person—have such vastly different lives? What was happening in her sister’s life that led her down a path June would never have considered in a million years? And the hardest question of all to answer: How come June didn’t know May was in trouble?

As June follows the broken path of May’s secret life, she meets Knox: an avid, amateur magician, fascinated with the idea of making something disappear, the possibility of escape, and the challenge of transforming one thing into something else. Knox has a part-time summer job performing magic shows for the neighborhood kids. He had asked May to be his assistant, but extends the offer to June, who steps into her sister’s role, hoping to understand her sister and find answers she needs to relieve her guilt.

As the relationship between Knox and June transforms from friendship into something more, June comes face-to-face with the answers to her questions. But will those answers led her to the same end as her sister? Or will she find a way to set her sister’s soul to rest?

Hello, Good-bye

Sara is a seeker. She’s always on the lookout for the perfect moment to capture with her ever-present, point-and-shoot camera. She may just be an amateur photographer, but she wants to be ready when inspiration strikes. And inspiration is all around her during her first trip to New York. The noise. The people. The nonstop energy. It’s a little overwhelming to face on her own, but with her dad in meetings all day, Sara is ready for a little exploration. A little adventure. Ready to leave her most recent heartache behind.

That’s when she sees him coming out of a bookstore, a wrapped package under his arm, a gray hoodie emblazoned with the name of her favorite, no-one’s-ever-heard-of band: the Zebra Stripes. Sara can’t help herself. She snaps a picture just before he disappears into the crowd.

Sam is a finder. He has a knack for finding what other people can’t. Like an out-of-print, first-edition book, or the last two tickets to a sold-out show. In New York, there’s always something interesting to find. He’s good at what he does because he’s good at seeing what people need and what it takes to fulfill that need. He knows what want feels like, the shape it takes inside people. Secretly, though, he’s hoping that if he looks hard enough, maybe someday he’ll find what he’s looking for—the one thing that can fill the emptiness inside of him.

When Sam and Sara’s paths cross, neither of them is prepared for what they will find out about each other—and about themselves—in the single day they spend together learning how to say hello. And good-bye.

You might not suspect it but The 2011 Book Blogger’s Cookbook is such a book. It’s a beautiful blend of a cookbook about books. It’s worth reading straight through if only to find new books to add to your “to-read” shelf. It’s worth savoring page by page if only to try all the new, easy-to-make recipes. The lineup is stellar (and I say that not just because I’m included in the list; I’m honored to be in such company) and the recipes are equally stellar. Main dishes, desserts, drinks—there’s a little bit of everything in this cookbook. Each recipe is inspired by a specific book—mostly from the YA field—and the food ties into the story in some fashion. For example, the recipe for The Hourglass Door is “Time-stopping Chocolate Truffles.” (Yum! I can’t wait to try it out for myself.)

But maybe the best part of this book is that it comes with a contest where the grand prize is a brand-new Kindle. (And who doesn’t love a chance to add more books to their library?)

From the official Book Blogger’s Cookbook website:

Grand Prize Giveaway: Kindle, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6″ (the kind without the ads), plus five copies of The 2011 Book Blogger’s Cookbook

Rules: All you have to do is leave a comment on this post or any of the great blogs that are participating. (Click here for a full list of blogs.) If you want more entries into the contest, simply Tweet, Facebook, or blog about the cookbook and comment on Christy Dorrity’s blog (the author of the book) telling her what you did. Winners will be drawn on July 21st.

Good reading. Good eating. And good luck!

And the short answer is “yes.” But what that something is remains to be seen. It’s not that I don’t know what to do–I’m never at a loss for ideas–it’s that I don’t know which idea to pursue first. I thought I knew exactly what was up next after finishing the story of Abby and Dante, but then I had this dream…

And there was this moment in the dream that felt so real that I knew as soon as I woke up that I had a new idea vying for my attention.

For me, that’s one of the best moments in the whole process. That first moment when a new idea stretches up and reaches out and whispers, “What about this…?” I find a lot of joy in that first moment of discovery. And even more joy when that moment turns into a whole story. So, what’s next? Maybe it’ll be this new idea after all . . .

Good Thing #1: Monday morning, I returned from vacation to see my very own set of typeset galleys for Forgotten Locket. I love this stage of the process because, for the first time, the book actually looks like a book. The fonts are in, the dingbats are placed, the running heads and page numbers are where they are supposed to be. And best of all, there is my story–all edited and perfect and ready for me to read it one more time. I can’t wait to start reading them!

Good Thing #2: Monday afternoon, I found out that Golden Spiral was named a finalist for the YA Book of the Year by ForeWord Reviews. I’m totally excited about the news because Hourglass Door won the award last year, and deep down I think it would be beyond awesome to win in back-to-back years. But even if I don’t win, I love knowing that I am still a finalist. And this May, I’ll actually be at BEA in New York when they announce the winner–so *fingers crossed*

Good Thing #3: And then today I got the first paperback copy of Golden Spiral–fresh out of the box. Anne opened the preliminary box that we got from the warehouse and walked right over to my office and handed me the first copy. It looks so good! It’s strange–I haven’t really spent much time with book 2 since I’ve been so busy with book 3 so when I saw the cover and read the back again, it was like seeing them for the first time.

*happy sigh* And now, you’ll have to excuse me, I have to a book to read…

Hourglass Door trilogy book trailer

Yes, after days and weeks and months of work, writing and rewriting, I am happy to say that I have turned in my final draft of Forgotten Locket to my editor today. Whew!

Now we wait while the wheels of publishing and production churn and turn, and in the end, the finished book should be out in the stores sometime around the end of May/first of June. See you then!