Angie Frazier

I don't know if I can do this, but I'm going to try! I've been inspired by Deva Fagan's month-long internet detox to take a week off from checking anything other than my email. So, starting tomorrow, February 1, there will be no blogging, or GoodReads, or Facebook, or Google Reader...nothing!! I'm taking baby steps though, and committing myself to one week instead of one month ;-)

I need to do this, since lately I've been a bit addicted to procrastination :-) So instead of sitting down at the computer to bounce around the internet, I'll be unplugging and working on Suzanna Snow #2 and a few other freelance projects. Wish me luck, and if you think you want to give the One Week Internet Detox a try, what's stopping you? Give it a shot and join me! 

See you in a week!

Lately my local library (which is quite small) has been improving its YA selection, much to my approval and glee. This week I went in and on the "New Titles" shelves I spotted THE SECRET YEAR by Jennifer Hubbard!



My eyes got all wide, my jaw dropped, and I hissed, "Yes!!" I snatched it off the shelf as if some teenager might slide in and grab it before I could. I then looked around, entirely aware I'd just said that out loud instead of in my head as I'd intended. Oops.

So, on top of THE SECRET YEAR, I also received in the mail three MORE fabulous ARCs by Tenners to read. SCONES & SENSIBILITY, THE LINE, and SEA! I am all set for a bit, I'd say. But as soon as I'm in need of another YA fix, I'm heading back to the library to score this one:

Actually, today I've experienced two "firsts":

1.) Both children are in school at the same time for the first time. And I've spent the last full hour and a half writing. Yay!
2.) I came across the first review for Everlasting at Kiss The Book, a book review website for librarians, and it was a positive one. Double Yay! Here's a snippet:

"Frazier manages to weave many dangers together without ever seeming contrived or calculated. The non-stop rush from beginning to end is an unrelenting sprint that includes a healthy dose of romance as leavening. If you can talk your girls into reading a sea-based adventure, you will definitely find some fans."

I just made smoked wild kipper paté and it is delicious. I never follow recipe directions very well--I'm always adding something in or taking an ingredient out. But this one came out nicely.

One 7-oz. can of smoked wild kippers (I used Bar Harbor brand)
6 oz. of low fat cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp. butter, softened
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

Break up the kippers first, then add the softened cream cheese and butter. Mix it up, then squeeze in the lemon juice and mix. Add in the salt and peppers to taste. Chill and serve on table or water crackers. Yum!

A few of my favorite things, indeed.

Reading: Finished Jackie Dolamore's debut, Magic Under Glass. I devoured it in two nights and loved, LOVED it. Wow. And with the signed bookplate that includes a hand-drawn sketch of Nimira on the title page, it makes it one of my prized bookish possessions.

Writing: Making great headway with the second Suzanna Snow book. Pounded out 2600 words today--even with the kids making a Play-Doh mess in the background. I kept telling myself that I can clean up later, but the words are coming out NOW. :-)

What are you reading? What are you writing?

katieb206 and zorphiya!!!

Congratulations!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who entered this first ARC contest, and especially to those of you who created LJ accounts just to be able to enter! To hear how much you're all looking forward to the book is just plain awesome. I'm so grateful!

I will definitely be holding another ARC contest soon, and next time I will have some added swag :-)

Thanks again everyone!

Yep, that's right! We're so close to 100 entries that I'm officially throwing the second Everlasting ARC into the pot! I only wish I had some bookmarks and buttons ready to include in the swag. Alas, that will have to wait until a future giveaway contest :-) 

Leave a comment here at the original post to enter until midnight tonight. Tomorrow I will announce the winners!

Thanks everyone!

Went to the library today. The YA section is usually a bit paltry, but when I looked today, staring at me from the shelves was this:



I grabbed it and looked inside and the very first short story was none other than Falling to Ash by Karen Mahoney kaz_mahoney. I read the first page and nearly couldn't stop, even though my 4 and 6 year old girls were in the process of raiding the mini candy cane stash left over from Christmas :-)

I can't wait to read all of these vamp tales, but I must admit, I'm most excited for Karen's. It's just so cool to pick up a book by someone I know, either personally or as an online friend. Yay Karen!

Happy Monday! Can I just express how excited I am for school to be starting back up again today? Yes, it's only half-day kindergarden, but I'll take it :-)

For anyone who missed my previous post on New Year's Day about the Very First Everlasting ARC Contest, you can comment here to enter to win a signed ARC! The contest closes this Friday night at midnight (Jan. 8). A lot of people have already entered (thank you!) and if we make it to 100 entries by the end of the week, I will throw another ARC and choose two winners!

Thanks to everyone who has blogged or Tweeted about the contest. I'm so excited to finally be getting Everlasting out into the world--I'm ready to let it go, as scary as that idea might be :-)

Late in November my editor at Scholastic surprised me with a big box of lovely ARCs. I sat on them through the holidays as I tried to think of some fun contests and giveaways. Now that the New Year has arrived (Happy New Year everyone!!) and the countdown to Everlasting’s June 1st birthday has started, I think it’s definitely time to get these ARCs out into the reading wild!

This will be the first of a few Everlasting ARC giveaways, so please spread the word! Would you like to win a signed ARC of Everlasting? If so, simply:

-leave a comment on this post for 1 entry.
-leave a comment on this post and include a link to where you’ve blogged/Tweeted/Facebooked about my ARC contest--with a link to my blog post, please--for 2 entries.

This contest closes at midnight (EST) on Friday, January 8, and is open internationally.

Also: If anyone is on GoodReads, there is an ARC up for grabs there too starting today and closing March 1.

1.) Want to scream with glee that my publication year is finally here! After waiting for nearly two years, I am now officially SIX MONTHS out from my release date. Six months! And that makes me want to...

2.) Lock myself away in my house and become one of those weirdly eccentric recluse writers. I can really see myself doing just that too. You should have seen me yesterday, mumbling and grumbling as I got ready to go to a sledding party with my girls. Of course I had a blast once I got there (who could not enjoy sledding, hot cocoa, blueberry cake, and laughing children?) but I'd treated the whole idea of it like it was a trip to the dentist for a root canal or something.

3.) Send out good vibes for all the books from the Tenners. I cannot wait to read all of these books! I've already read LEAVING GEES BEND, PRINCESS FOR HIRE, and A MOST IMPROPER MAGICK, and they were all fantastic! 

4.) Realize that I need to turn off my Google Alerts and Goodreads updates now that ARCs are about to be released into the wild. Though without Google Alerts I would not have seen the HUGE compliment awesome fellow Tenner and Upstart Crow client Shaun Hutchinson (author of The Deathday Letter) Tweeted about Everlasting, saying the book was "a little Jane Austen and a little Indiana Jones." Thank you Shaun! You have no idea how much I love Jane and Indy. :-)))

I'm really hopeful for 2010. It's going to be a year of change and discovery and surprise. Here's wishing everyone a successful and joyful New Year!

We enjoyed a lazy Christmas weekend with sledding and hot chocolate and lots of painting, thanks to the massive bag of arts and crafts materials we gave our girls. It seriously smelled like a preschool classroom in here all weekend :-)

I made two discoveries though, thanks in part to Netflix and a post bracken did a long time ago.

First:



A few months ago the hubby and I caught one episode on TV and were torn between the coolness and the lameness of this high fantasy series. We kind of wanted to see more, but it was so different from anything we usually enjoyed. So after a while we broke down and got the first few episodes of Legend of the Seeker, and had the same reaction. Really? Kinda cool. Kinda lame. It took a few more weeks before we realized we needed to see more. And now of course we're officially hooked.

Second:



OK, I'll confess that this is not one my hubby would watch with me. I'm nutty about the BBC. I love everything period drama and especially English novel dramatizations. This miniseries, North & South, based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novel is AMAZING. Not only is it visually astounding, it has great music, an awesome heroine, a delicious plot and, of course, Mr. Thornton (played by Richard Armitage).

Alex Bracken raved about North & South on her blog some time ago and I knew I needed to see it. I still have 2 more episodes to go till the end--and I really don't want it to end :-)

Any other BBC musts?

Growing up, my family's Christmas tree was always dressed in multicolored lights. Sometimes big, old-fashioned bulbs and other times more delicate bulbs. But never white. Now that I have my own home and a few children in their prime "Christmas wonder" years I've noticed that I continually string up white lights on the Christmas tree. Each year I say to my husband, "Maybe next year we'll do multicolored lights..." but it's always noncommittal. I think I know the reason why. 

Oddly, I look forward to leaving the house at night during the month of December for errand-running or Christmas shopping. When I come back and drive up the long driveway past the rows of pine trees that block our house from the road, the most gorgeous sight welcomes me home. There, in the living room windows, is our big Christmas tree with twinkling white lights. It looks so warm and calm inside that house, as if somehow the snow outside on the lawn has not only lifted and transferred onto the limbs of the balsam fir inside, but has also taken on a faerie glow; a magical form of snow that never melts. 

Of course, once inside I'll find none of that enchanted peace. Two little girls will be running around, ready for bed. I'll have presents to wrap, or groceries to put away, or the goal of a few hundred words to write before my own bedtime. And I'll just be contented to wait for the next chance to leave the house past dark.

1.) Sinus infection, go away! Don't you dare make yourself known this week of all weeks. I haven't finished Christmas shopping yet, and there's a Christmas Eve dinner to organize and prepare and I really, REALLY don't need you right now. 

2.) Any one living in the UK and interested in pre-ordering EVERLASTING, it's now available on Amazon's UK site! Whoo-hoo! And if there happens to be anyone living in India, it's also available for pre-order there! 

3.) What is it with the holidays and mixed nuts? Why do they have to be around every corner in the grogery store? I can't resist the salt goodness of cashews and peanuts, and then of course, I just *have* to buy some chocolate chips to mix in, too...ugh.

4.) Just finished Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton and am in awe of her witty, heart-breaking genius. Ethan Frome, one of my favorite books, and Age of Innocence share the same theme: a married man in love with another woman, and with no way out of his marriage. You wouldn't think these men would be characters you'd sympathize with or root for...but Edith Wharton manages it. 

 5.) I really should be doing some freelance work right now instead of writing this Friday Five blog post. So, ummm...I guess I'll go do that :-( 

One more link for the day, then I'm done posting :-) Sharon at the famous and fun Sharon Loves Books and Cats blog interviewed me, and my two fluff ball divas Lucy and Stefan. Check it out!

Fallen angels, automatons, boarding schools, southern Gothic settings...these things and more are on my book wish list this Christmas. And oddly many of them have purply covers... Head on over to The 5 Randoms for the titles and to tell us what books you'd like in your stocking this year!

Well then let me take a moment of your time to tell you how much I love (seriously LOVE!) my agent, the incredibly talented, warm, funny, and unflappable Ted Malawer of Upstart Crow Literary (http://www.upstartcrowliterary.com).

I've met Ted a few times in person, but haven't had the chance to get a pic with him, so here's his pic from Upstart Crow's website:




He's my agent for two years now, but I still get all amazed whenever I think about the fact that I'm one of Ted's clients. He's *that* fabulous. Once you meet him or talk to him, you'll know exactly what I mean :-)

Happy Agent Day to all those hard-working agents out there. You're all fantastic! And a special thanks to Ted :-)

I checked Goodreads today to rate Carrie Jones's awesome book, Captivate...and saw that Everlasting has nearly 200 people who have it on their to-read list! I know, I know, 200 isn't that big of a number, but it's still made me happy :-) http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6699443-everlasting

My blog's been a bit silent lately. Mostly this has to do with the fact that my brain seems to be running on fumes. I don't think I've ever been so pre-Christmas frazzled. I've probably added a whopping 2K to my WIP in the last three weeks or so...it's just pathetic :-(

But onto the Flair part of this post! I've been thinking about bookmarks and some other cool swag. I'm leaning toward some flair like the pins Stephanie Burgis had made for her Kat Stephenson book...I love her "Everything's Better with Highwaymen!" pin so much that I think I'm going to jump on the bandwagon with something Everlasting-ish. Flair would be fun--unless you're Jennifer Aniston's character from Office Space.

Look at what I found! The perfect gift for:

1.) A girl
2.) Who loves books
3.) And has pierced ears

http://www.etsy.com/shop/smallbookcompany

(I tried embedding an image, but it didn't work. Seriously, it's worth the click to take you to these cute earrings!)

OMG, this is fantastic!!!





Want to win a hardcover of MAGIC UNDER GLASS by Jaclyn Dolamore plus more prizes? See http://fabulousfrock.livejournal.com for details!