Monday, November 1, 2010

HELLO PARTY PEOPLE!!!

(Cross-posted from Quest: Published. I know, I know, I'm such a cheater).

So, while I was gone, several things occurred. One of them was rather large and amazing, one of them was rather large and sucky, the rest ranged from spectacular to average, but all in all, I'd have to say that it was a pretty good 2-3 months. Rather than trying to remember all these events, I've decided instead to answer some lingering questions you're all sure to have:

Q: Did you get married?

A: Why, yes I did! Here we are, looking hot and loving and adorable and all that:


(Photo by the amazing Kate Williams of Chasing Daylight Photography)

My wedding was a dream come true. I couldn't be happier with my new husband, and boy is it nice to have time for other things! (Like blogging, and writing, and breathing. Always nice, that).

Speaking of having more free time:

Q: Are you still working?

A: Um . . . no, actually. Yeah. That's the pretty major thing that's happened that sucks. It's fairly recent, and through no fault of my own, and hopefully we'll be okay. But still. Suckage.

Still, I am optimistic. And trying not to view this "Oh hey! I'll finally have real writing time!" Because making money so we can eat, and our furry babies can eat, is more important than all-the-time-I-could-ever-want-to-write. Right?

Moving on.

Q: Did you find an agent?

A: No, no I did not. For a very simple reason: you have to query agents in order to risk that they might sign you, and I haven't been querying. Rest assured, despite my assertions above, SOME of my new-found free time will be spent querying. Just not, you know, most of it.

Q: Did you get to meet any fabulous authors?

A: I did! While I didn't get any pictures, I did meet Kiersten White and Cindy Pon (both at Kiersten's signing, interestingly enough). Then, last week, I got to play native guide to Gary Corby, who is just as cool and full of fascinating historical info in person as he is online. WH and I had a fabulous time at his signing, where we also met P.L. Gaus, who writes Amish murder mysteries. We then spent Saturday showing Gary around our famous San Diego zoo (during which Gary, Scott and I had a long discussion about the possibility of owning a wallaby, and the ways someone could die by various animals) and topped off the evening by getting the only food I can think of that screams "San Diego"-- fish tacos, from a bar on the beach, by the pier. I hope Gary had as much fun with us as we did with him. Here we are at his signing:



We all look much happier in the picture on his blog. We were having a good time, I swear.

And while I neglected to take any pictures of Gary at the zoo (especially near the World's Largest Rodent [a capybara]), I did take a picture of the souvenir Gary brought me from Australia:



Thanks, Gary. I'm still working up the nerve to try it.

Aaaaaand I got to buy and then therefore read his book! Here I am, reading it:


Look for an author interview with Gary here at the Archives soon!

Q: Did you get any writing done?

A: Well, yes, actually. Not nearly as much as I'd have liked, but I did. I have a 43K "first draft" of my mystery done and, thanks to Gary, am moving ahead full force to start really querying my second novel, V. And this time I mean it. Sorry, where did that come from?

Q: So, uh, did anything else happen while you were gone?

A: Aside from all that I mentioned above, not really. All in all, I'm glad I decided to take the break because I honestly would have been too busy and too stressed out to be a good blogger. But on the same hand, I am SO glad to be back amongst my writer friends and catch up on everyone's lives.

So now here's a question for you:

How have you been?

12 comments:

fairyhedgehog said...

Congratulations on the wedding! That's a gorgeous photo.

L. T. Host said...

Thanks FH-- you should see the rest! I love our pics! It was everything I wanted it to be and more.

Rick Daley said...

Congrats! I rode the job roller caoster earlier this year, thankfully it was a short ride. Hang tight.

L. T. Host said...

Thanks, Rick. I'm hoping this one will be a short ride, too, but we'll see!

Nicole said...

Beautiful wedding pic :) congrats! And wow have you been busy - i can vouch for vegemite, it's yummy! (Only a thin scraping on toast with silvers of cheese on top is perfect *grin*)

www.damselinadirtydress.com

Nate Wilson said...

Congratulations! You both look really happy (in the wedding photo, not the Corby one), and I wish you both the best!

In your absence, I also got married, but I didn't meet any authors or receive any free Vegemite. Still, 1 out of 3 ain't bad.

L. T. Host said...

Nicole-- I've had it once before and don't remember it being a pleasant experience. However, Gary said the same thing about a super-thin layer of it so I'll give it another shot. Soon. I swear.

Nate-- Congratulations yourself! Hope married life is treating you well. And 1 out of 3 ain't bad indeed.

dolorah said...

Awesome, glad to see you're back.

Love the dress. And how exciting to meet Gary Corby. Hmm, I used to visit his blog all the time; I wonder how I missed him all these months.

Good luck with the job hunt, and the querying. Ya know, I have that same problem with finding an agent :)

......dhole

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Wow, that's a lot of awesome! (except for the job lossage - that stinks! So sorry)

Glad you're back (and you guys ARE adorable!).

L. T. Host said...

Donna-- thank you :) Yeah, Gary's awesome, definitely go check his blog out if you haven't already.

L. T. Host said...

Susan-- thank you! Can't wait to catch up with you and everyone else!

Valerie Geary said...

Look at all the fun you had!! :D Congrats on the wedding!