March 2008 Archives

So, um, thank you Leaky readers, for pointing out that my book is on Amazon.com. I cannot describe what it's like seeing "author" next to my name.

My sister ordered three already. I wonder how many she'll buy before November.

ETA: And now my mother and my father are doing the same. If they have it their way this book will be a bestseller before I'm done editing it.

LOL - look how right I was - between my family and Leaky staff, and everyone they're tellng, the book only took a few hours to shave 1,517,000 posts off its ranking. HAH! I'm sure it will be back to normal tomorrow but still, I'm finding it hilarious. Of course, dropping the last 3,000 numbers, that's the hard part. LOL. You're all too funny. For a minute there we were hotter than Roget's Thesaurus. Whoooa, dude. Cool.

The Onion: Black Guy Asks Nation for Change

Jon Stewart has also been particularly hilarious lately: watch at the web site.

Also, best SNL clip ever?

I am, as usual, late to this story. But wow. Watch this:

...and then his excellent response:

That first clip got a million views because everyone was so surprised he was educated on the issues. Sadness in that statement apart, this is an excellent, impassioned but reasoned, defense of why the Obama inspiration has caught - and why many educated young people take strong offense to the idea that we're caught up in a celebrity moment.

ETA: Holy wow.

This was a huge, important speech if only because it showed just how intricate and sophisticated Obama's understanding of these issues is. The Clinton campaign tries to dismiss Obama's superior speechgiving skills as an unworthy bar of his merits as a leader, but I am sorry, anyone who can communicate so thoughtfully, so powerfully, so inspirationally on such a hot button and emotional subject deserves a vote of confidence. Communication like this isn't only words and cadences, it's the product of long thought, mental readiness, and, yes, wisdom. This is the guy I want leading my country. I don't care if he's black, white, or fuschia. This is the guy. I've gone from tentative and on the fence (a few months ago) to full-hearted, full-throated, every-chance I get support. It is not the act of a blind, young, latte-sipping person who doesn't know better. It is the act of a young, educated, critical mind who thinks this world has such huge problems that we have to look to someone who never tries to call himself bigger than anyone of them. He only calls himself part of a solution. We need this kind of inspiration, and if it was coming from Sen. Clinton's camp I'd be all over her YouTube links too.

Several hours after this groundbreaking speech, btw, Sen. Clinton said she hadn't read it or seen it. I find that incredibly hard to believe when it has been dominating the news cycle all day. I do know, though, that dismissing this as just a good speech will be her tactic later. This wasn't a good speech; this was a seminal shift in the way politicians address race, and one that did it while maintaining grace, composure, and the ideals of the people he wishes to lead. I want this man to lead our country.

OK, couple quick hits from the question thread today:

Josh Y wanted to know what a typical day is like for me? Really? Erm... I wake up, I make coffee, if I've woken early enough I go to the gym, I do Leaky work for a few hours, I work on my book, I fend off my cat, I clean just enough to make it livable in here, I work on the book more, I stop at night to either see friends or watch some TV or play some video games or read. I've been starting to read Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope, which I didn't know he had actually written, and color everyone here surprised (not), I'm very impressed. If I went into more detail you'd be bored stiff, if you aren't already, so yeah, it's pretty boring around here. Quiet. That's why I blog.

(And I say that with full awareness of what it USED to be like - i.e. craziness on a stick - so don't think I'm not grateful.)

Kendra wanted to know about ideas for car games - like what we played on tour? We had a GREAT one that John had us play but...hm...maybe we'll just play it on PotterCast. OK, I'll wait to explain it.

Kendra also wanted to know:
-How many hours we spent in the car this summer - ummmm...someone on PC figured it out, but I can't remember. Had to be over a hundred.

-Non-HP books that I enjoy - I usually tend to nonfiction, and always have. HP was a big aberration for me as an adult; as a teen and young person I read a lot of fiction, but not as an adult. I tended to biographies and commentary on theater. That's not to say I don't enjoy some good fiction, but I usually read the pretty well-known fare - I'm not that person who knows every fiction book ever written by anyone ever, or even what was on the NYT bestseller list this week, without checking.

-What I want to do when the book is done - start work on the next one, the subject of which I am completely unsure of right now. I have some ideas, none of them to do with Potter (though I may go back to Potter later). Some have to do with my family - I have a great title for a book about them, and in an exact opposite fashion from what happened with Harry, A History, I'm trying to figure out exactly the type of content to fit it (by which I mean, I don't know if it's a bunch of funny stories, a more serious narrative, a coffee-table book, what - I do know it's not a memoir, we can wait some decades for that please - I just know the general overtone of what I want it to ultimately be about, which is a TOTAL 180-degree turn from the process on this book). I also want to go to Italy and do some hard-core research into my family tree, and see what comes of that - whether fiction or nonfiction, I have no idea. And I have an idea for a television series, how crazy is that? I have no idea how that world even works or if I'm totally insane for thinking it's possible to get into it with just an idea and a pilot script; but the idea has been mushrooming in my head for years, and it's based on something I realized during my real life. I don't know if that will ever come to fruition - it's a definite back-burner type thing, a sort-of, "well, I'll play around with it and just see."

-Do I ever need a break from the HP world? Yes, but luckily, I have a lot of other interests and ways of indulging those interests to keep things, well, interesting. :) Project Runway alone, child. FIERCE! lol. I love Christian. Love him. Also have you read Project Rungay? Hilariously named blog on Project Runway, and it's like sitting down with two marvelously bitchy friends over Cosmos.

Lastly, Beccy asked how Moochka was, and to this I say, she's a chubby, protective, smug, privately sweet and publicly mean, little ball of love. When it's just us she's the happiest little cat ever. Sleeps on my arm, cuddles with me on the sofa. When anyone else is around she goes into attack mode. Imagine what would happen if I brought another cat in here! When she's sleeping I tickle her under her chin and she just lets out a contented, warm meow and stretches into my hand, so that her whole chin is sitting in my palm. Then I start scratching her ears, and her ears flatten, and I imagine that if I could see behind her eyes at that moment I'd see a Moochka dreaming of a world full of playtoys and catnip. She just looks so blissful. I love my little fierce mama.

PS, watch this. No matter WHOM you support, this is a huge "yeow" moment.

So, it will look different the next time you see it but...

...that's me book.

The only people who've read anything are Sam and David, who have read the first chapter (and obviously my editor and agent have read the whole thing). That'll probably change in a few weeks. Excuse me while I go puke.

(And, LOL, PS: I didn't reverse the image on purpose. It's what happens with writing in iSight. :P)

This is a repost because I realized when I updated my Movable Type, my comments system went BANANAS, and then I figured, what the heck, it's time for a change anyway. I picked one of the standard out-of-the-can designs for now in hopes that it will cause John the Designer's Cringe and he'll spawn more ideas for the real redesign. :P In other words, this is temporary. Sorry if some of the pages are gone, they were all due for fixing anyway. It'll just be a standard blog for awhile. My entry is again below.

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I'm obsessed with two three four dammit FIVE things right now:

1. Editing my book. That was for Jennifer and Rebecca, who are thinking, "Damn right, you are, now get back to work!" as they (if they) read this.

2. Mangoes. Completely obsessed with the tangy fruit for some bizarre reason. It might be because the store near me has excellent ones and I feel obliged to pick some up every time I drop in for milk.

3. Oblivion. DON'T EVER PLAY THIS GAME IF YOU WANT TO EVER BE PRODUCTIVE AGAIN. This has been my turn-the-world-off game and sadly I'm about to throw it out window, because it used to just be mindless but now that I'm into it it's engaging, and huge, and amazingly well-thought-out, and if I let it become one, will become the world's biggest time-suck EVER. After my deadline (which is in April, but I have a mini-one coming soon), I can indulge. Until then I'll just play Rock Band. At least after drumming a little while your arms tire out and you can't go on. Also? Great stress relief.

4. The election. I've been wondering how Obama was going to get out of the attack-without-attacking corner, and it seems he's turned to the funny, always a good move. I liked his response to the "It's 3 a.m. and the phone is ringing because when disaster is about to strike somewhere in the world the evil ones always call to inform the president first" ad with, "What do they think I'm going to do? I'm going to answer the phone!" nonplussed-ness. Nice. I used to be really on the fence between Obama and Clinton, and I'll vote for whichever of them gets the nod but...I can't help but feel if she does, we'll have lost something huge that we can't get back. Obama is, after all, my new bicycle.

5. My sister's upcoming shower. And that's all I'm saying about it because - hear this, Stephanie - her CEASELESS digging for info to everyone we know, her SMUG attitude when she feels she has a hint, is driving everyone ludicrously INSANE. Go be a lawyer, Steph! Get away! It'll come when it comes! THERE! :P We love you lots but jeez, woman, let us have our fun.

Also she just really did become a full-fledged, sworn-in, honest-to-God lawyer that can sign her names on things and have it count. I don't ever want to get into an argument with her ever again (which is so sad, because we're so good at it) but I'm so proud.

That's it. Working now.