Friday Obsessions: ZOMBIE TAG, Sleeping at Last, Vegetable Barley Soup

Hey Everyone!  Seeing as how tomorrow is the last day of 2011 and all, I *was* going to do a big ol' year-long obsessions post summing up everything I was obsessed with all year. But then Nesyah got banished from preschool for alleged pinkeye (no, she does NOT have pinkeye. Ugh.) and so we're having a ladies' day at home today, and SO....this one's gonna be quick.  Here we go!


Everything I was obsessed with this week.
Because I know you want to know.

1. ZOMBIE TAG by Hannah Moskowitz. It's no secret that I love Hannah's YA stuff - BREAK was an obsession of mine a couple of months ago. Last Tuesday, her first MG novel came out, and my goodness is it ever awesome. You know how sometimes people write books for little-ish kids, but really they're equally amazing for adults? Like A WRINKLE IN TIME and THE GIVER? Yeah. ZOMBIE TAG is like that. It's sweet and a little sad and absolutely beautiful, just like we've come to expect from Ms. Moskowitz. So go buy it. Now.

Of course, my boys were only interested in the rules for the game Zombie Tag, which, for their 3- and 4-year old brains, consist of hitting each other with spatulas. Which is also awesome.



2. Page 28 by Sleeping at Last
Sleeping at Last rules. They can make the cheesiest of cheesy lyrics sound amazing and powerful. There aren't that many in this song, but it's about writing and love and...guuuuuh. Just listen to it.



3. Vegetable Barley Soup
Writers! Do you have pages to draft or revisions to make or crit to get done but somehow other people in your household expect you to do things like cook dinner and speak to them? I know. It's ridiculous.

Well, I'm gonna help you out with the cooking part, at least. It's cold, right? Everyone loves a hearty soup, right? Okay. So do this:

 Get a can of crushed tomatoes, a bag of frozen veggies, a can of beans, and whatever other odds and ends are in your fridge about to start stinking. Throw all of that in a crockpot or a big pot on the stove with some water and a couple little handfuls of barley, some salt and pepper and garlic, and then leave it alone for a few hours.

 (If you want, you can take your laptop in the kitchen with you, pretend you're schvitzing over dinner, and get like an hour's worth of work done instead.)

It's dinner! It's homemade! It took you two seconds! Now get back to writing.

Okay my loves, it's your turn! 

What were you obsessed with this week?

Friday Obsessions: Mylo Xyloto, Riding Boots, and Salty Caramel

Wheee! It's the end of another week and I could not be more psyched. Seriously.
(Big goals for this weekend, friends. Big. Freaking. Goals.) So here it is....


Everything I was obsessed with this week.
Because I know you want to know.

1. MYLO XYLOTO (OMG!!!)  Okay. So I know this album released, like, two weeks ago. I guess I had contented myself with one of the single tracks, "Paradise," enough that I didn't bother listening to the rest but oh my holy heck you guys, this album is EPIC!  And I think I think just maybe I may have found the title track for ONE right on it!!!!!  And I just heard it  for the first time this morning!!!! And I am FREAKING OUT!!!

2. Riding boots. Okay. So I work on a college campus (GO BUCKS!) and all the cute college girls are wearing these riding boots with their leggings and skinny jeans and looking absolutely freaking adorable. And I thought it was a body-type thing, with the skinny jeans, because I am not, well, SKINNY, so there is nary a skinny jean to be found in my wardrobe. But then some of my girls told me that skinny jeans and riding boots are flattering on "everyone, Rabbi Kopans, and you should totally get some IT WOULD BE SO CUTE!!!!" And then I saw some of the moms at the children's museum wearing the getup last weekend and looking very classy and "oh-I-just-threw-this-together" chic. Also, Katniss wears them, so you know they are badassed.

Seeing as I haven't felt "so cute" or "classy" or "chic" or  "badassed" in a very long time (a verrrry long time,) and I had a very bad week (a verrry bad week) I thought I'd do a little retail therapy and pick up these beauties. And I've been screaming at the website to "just SHIP THEM ALREADY" all week long. Obsessed.

3.  Salty Caramel Ice Cream

There are a lot of special things about living in Columbus, OH, but on the top five list is Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. Gorgeous artisan ice cream with all organic, all natural, all local ingredients, with a robust roster of seasonal flavors combined with the regular flavors Jeni won't discontinue because she'd be afraid for her life. Seriously.

One of the flavors in the latter category is Salty Caramel, and I may or may not have eaten an entire pint this week. *Ahem* (as an aside, I'm pretty much a fan of any flavor that involves alcohol - which is many of them - or the word "butter.")

(Not my image. But oh my, doesn't that make you think of Spring?)

Now it's your turn! What were you obsessed with this week???

Friday Obsessions: WriteOnCon, Sara Bareilles, and Fish Tacos

Everything I was obsessed with this week. 
Because I know you want to know.


First up - Writeoncon. It is a full-on, no holds barred, completely epic annual online conference. It's absolutely free, and it has forums for writers to give each other feedback on their queries, synopses, etc. Perhaps even more awesome, this year they've started a Secret Ninja Agent program, where several of the best agents in the industry sneak around the forums, giving advice and - wait for it - MAKING REQUESTS.


Uh, yeah. This Conference has been incredible.  Here is a dissection of how I see the YA forum front page, which should explain my complete and total obsession with WriteOnCon this week.




Next on the dockett: "Gravity" by Sarah Bareilles. This is a gut-wrenching, beautiful song, that just happens to describe pretty much the entire emotional conflict of my WiP. (Except, in my WiP, the "gravity" and the "keeping me down" is a good thing. I swear. You'll get it, if it ever gets published.)

*Sigh* Sarah Bareilles is too awesome.

Third - FREAKING FISH TACOS. I don't think this one needs any embellishment.


Fourth - My WiP! (This may be getting annoying, I know, which is why I always put it last.) What kind of a writer (ahem) would I be if I  wasn't head over heels for my WiP at barely 20K in? Hmmm?

Some lines, because your weekly alpha reading feedback makes my weekend brighter.

Mom told me I either need to stop hating myself or stop hating everyone else. “Preferably both,” she’d said in that condescending tone that makes me feel like I’m Michael and Max’s age, not a sophomore in high school. 


That was two years ago, and it didn’t work, because I hate everyone just as much and myself even more, probably. And her a little more too.

(Huge thanks to Gina and Heidi, who have each been good sports and alpha read, like THE central scene, all seven pages, from the rising action part of the WiP. You ladies rule.)

So, what were you obsessed with this week?

Friday Obsessions: Hourglass, Polyphonic Spree, and Caitlin Thomas

Friday Obsessions: Everything I was obsessed with this week. Because I know you want to know.


1. Oh my holy heck you guys, I am completely and insanely jealous of OBSESSED WITH Hourglass by Myra McEntire.


 I need to do an author crush post all about it, but for now let's just say: kickass heroine + sexy boy + time travel + risking everything to save something/someone/the world as we know it = I am in raptures. No kidding.





What? You need some lines from the book to convince you? Well, I've got 'em.


"Now Michael sat across from me, as normal as next Tuesday, claiming he was like me."


(Omigosh this mc is so cute.)


"I felt great. The sass was back. It's amazing what flipping a grown man over her shoulder does for a girl."


(Oh! And kickass.)


"I left my bunny slippers on. Just to be cheeky."


(And cheeky. What's not to love?)


2. The Polyphonic Spree's "Light and Day." #2 on the Soundtrack for my new WiP!





Just an incredible, exhilarating song. Perfect for when my MC finally hits her stride.


3. This girl. And her beautiful drums. Caitlin Thomas is a seriously amazing drummer, who is also a girl and also teeny tiny and also SMOKING HOT. (Just like the main character in my WiP *ahem.*) Both me and my kids are obsessed with watching Caitlin drum this week. (Especially my daughter. Go, girl. I will buy you drums as soon as you can hold the sticks.)







4. My new WiP, naturally. I hit 13K this week. Here's another bit, from the scene where two of my MCs meet:


Then he draws two stick figures sitting closer to each other than any of the other ones, one tall and one much smaller. He labels one “Elias” and the other “Girl Who Won’t Talk to Me or Tell Me Her Name.” Then underneath it, he writes, (pretty blue eyes.)


(Raise your hand if you love Elias!)


What are you obsessed with this week?