beautiful days

today is a gorgeous day...70 degrees and beautifully sunny...and i am, of course, trapped inside--a writer on deadline (we've all been there). 

poor baxter, my brown dog, is looking pathetic and sad--he's lying in front of an open window, listening to the sounds on the busy street, smelling the smells of one of the first days of spring. unfortunately, i've got obligations to alex, vivi and ella, so baxter is forced to suffer for my art along with me. :)

what he doesn't know is that i've got a surprise coming--one of his favorite people is about to knock on the door...lisa ann sandell, who is on her way over for a writing date. if you don't have writing dates yourself, i highly recommend them. 

lisa's a great friend, a fantastic writer, and it doesn't hurt that she's also inspiring, thoughtful, and a genius. her second ya novel, The Song of the Sparrow, is in bookstores now. it's a retelling of the story of The Lady of Shallot, from Arthurian legend, and it's lyric and beautiful and romantic. i'm not afraid to say i cried when i read the manuscript. 

i'm not just saying all this because she's my best friend. i'm saying it because it's true. for reals. anyway...we'll probably spend much of this afternoon chatting and being girly, but i'm working on a scene where three best friends are having an afternoon of doing the same, so it should all work out for the best.

and baxter will have another person to distract him from the fact that he's inside.

Doing a project on Sarah?

I'm so excited that you've chosen to do a project on me!  That's so fun!  But here's the thing...the most important part of a research project or a book report is *your* work.  So, it wouldn't be fair if I helped you actually do the work.  After all--if someone else chose to write about Shakespeare or Austen, they couldn't just email them, could they? 

So...in the interest of fairness...I'm just going to point you in the right direction to do your research.  Everything you need is at your fingertips--since you clearly have an internet connection! 

Start with my bio,  then check out the YA section and the Reviews section of the site.  Once you've done that, try the hot off the press, the writer's life and ask the author pages. If you're writing about The Season specifically, try looking at posts tagged The Season and the Regency. Finally, there are  lots of little nuggets of information buried in the blog--and you should be able to find everything you need to know.

Good luck!

austenesque sentences

so...as i've mentioned, the book is set in regency england and focuses on three best friends struggling to spread their wings at a time when girls were expected to sit quietly and sew well. 

it's probably no surprise that i'm an Austen fan. so, when i'm not writing, recently, i've been reading Lady Austen...and here's the thing that blows my mind--her ability to write sentences as a narrator that also sound like they're from the mind of the character. She knows her characters so well, she can speak as author and subject all at the same time. It's completely incredible.

Example, from Emma:

"Altogether Emma was quite convinced of Harriet Smith's being exactly the young friend she wanted -- exactly the something which her home required. Such a friend as Mrs Weston was out of the question. Two such could never be granted. Two such she did not want. It was quite a different sort of thing -- a sentiment distinct and independent."

Each clause in that phrase is laced with Emma's personality (a perfect blend of the sweet and the obnoxious), despite it being in the voice of the narrator. And Austen does this over and over in all of her books. 

Wow.

I'm in complete awe of her. Seriously.