Yep, you heard me right. I'm back (temporarily, anyway) and IN LOVE!!

With this little guy:

This photo was taken about an hour after he was born, and though he doesn't quite look like that anymore, this is still one of my favorite photos of my baby boy. It reminds me of our very first meeting: those pinch-worthy plump cheeks, swollen eyes smeared with antibiotic ointment, and his messy black hair standing up in clumps and spikes. Gorgeousness! Despite being a little over 9 pounds (9 freaking pounds!!!), the delivery went well and was actually the easiest one yet. Imagine that.

The labor part, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. One that involved a dangerously high fever (mine), and a horrendous bacterial infection (still mine) that threatened my sweet little boy's health. Thanks to the excellent care of the doctors and nurses and the NICU team, we were able to weather the infection and go home after a couple of days at the hospital.

Sooooo...that's where I've been lately. Navigating the unpredictable waters of motherhood once again. I swear the longest uninterrupted sleep I've ever had was a whole hour. But I'm still in love, and I'm guessing will be in love forever. My kids--all three of them--bring so much wonder and love and joy to me. Every time I look at them I feel overwhelmingly grateful. I know I'm gushy and probably extra so because of the hormones, but it's true. *grabs Kleenex tissues*

Anyway, I'll probably continue to be sporadic with the blog. Thank you so much to all of you for your support and friendship and camaraderie. <3

Before I forget, a blogger friend interviewed me a few weeks ago and the post actually went live yesterday but I was walking around like a zombie I didn't get to it. So here's the link, if you care to read about my writerly odyssey:

I'm finally home from a one-week vacation! And I'm proud to say this pregnant mama survived a 6-hour drive (maybe even more than that with all the potty breaks we had to stop for) both going to our destination and coming back. Plus the baby did NOT come out during the vacation so hooray! hooray! I did make a deal with him, you know. You stay put in there, little mister, but after vacation is over you can come out anytime you want to and we will be ready for you. His first order from mommy and he obeyed! I think this kid is a keeper. :D

Anyway, I missed all of you. But at the same time, I was glad to be mostly unplugged during the entirety of our much needed R&R. I say mostly because apparently, I didn't have the willpower to stay totally unconnected (must check email...just a peek, I swear). We had a very pleasant time and the best part was I didn't feel overwhelmed. It was all about relaxation and family bonding. And I got to take naps, read two books and a friend's manuscript, and eat yummy, yummy food without cooking! WIN!

The kids' favorite activity was swimming. No surprise there, right? Actually, for both my 8-year-old and 4-year-old, this was a vast improvement from last year. They had taken swimming lessons prior to our vacation, and while my 8-year-old girl can now swim on her own, my 4-year-old boy only THINKS he can swim on his own. Last summer, they were both afraid to put their faces in the water or to stray too far from the shallow end. This summer, they were diving off to retrieve dive toys from the bottom of the pool.

That's all fine and dandy, especially when daddy's nearby to rescue them if they needed help. But my little boy is overly confident. He thinks he can swim without any help. No wait, he BELIEVES he can swim on his own. So all of a sudden, we had a slippery fish on our hands (well, I didn't go swimming, so poor daddy had to handle the boy by himself). Which meant, we had to watch him EVERY. DARN. SECOND. You couldn't take your eyes off him because he would just jump off without warning--arms scooping water wildly, legs kicking, his chin tilting briefly to breathe and then he'd go under again...only he couldn't keep it up for very long so he'd end up sinking in a matter of seconds. My boy knows the basics of swimming--unfortunately, what he's lacking is proper execution. But you know, he's only 4, and he's only had two summers of swimming lessons. He'll get it by next year. Or the year after that.

Still, I was both amazed and scared by his abundance of CONFIDENCE. Or was it FOOLISHNESS? Maybe it's a mixture of both. It kinda reminded me of my days as a newbie writer. We probably have similar stories to tell. You know, that first instance when you decided you wanted to write a book. There was probably a little apprehension, but that was quickly swallowed by enthusiasm. Oh yeah, this story idea is the most epic ever! Then you wrote with abandon--places and characters coming to life on your computer screen. Never mind that you started with a prologue that had nothing to do with the beginning of the story. Never mind that every dialogue tag was a synonym of "said" and duly accompanied by an adverb to reinforce what the character was feeling at the moment. Never mind that you were info-dumping left and right.

This was your story, and 150,000 words later, you knew you were a writer. No, you believed it. So much so that you immediately decided to send it off to a literary agent or a publishing house.

Okay, so this is a bit exaggerated. I didn't write 150K, nor did I send the first draft to any agent or publisher. It was the SECOND draft, and I mailed them a query letter, not the manuscript. Even I wasn't as stupid as that back then. Thankfully for me, I learned quickly. I only sent 3 queries before realizing my first manuscript was total crap. My query was crap, too. Heh.

Like my 4-year-old boy who fearlessly threw himself in the water, we writers need to have confidence, but not too much so we don't drown. We may know the basics, but it takes time and effort to master execution. And lots of drafts and revisions.

My boy will learn how to swim, and how to do it well. So what if it doesn't happen right away? As long as he continues to love the water, and keeps up with his lessons, I have no doubt he'll make it. After all, the very first day of vacation he came up to me and declared: Mommy, I'm going to be a great swimmer. I believe him.

And you can be a great writer, too. Just keep on writing.

Photo by ~ezs'

If you're a writer and you tweet, chances are, you've already seen the hilarious and informative hashtag #BadQueryingTips trending on Twitter. Basically, it's a what-not-to-do sort of guide for querying writers.

A few gems...

#BadQueryTips Always include attachments. The agents are sure to open them.
— Lynn(e) Schmidt (@LynneSchmidt) June 25, 2012

Once you've queried, call the agent every day to check up on your submission. Shows dedication. We LOVE that. #BadQueryingTips
— Julia A. Weber(@jawlitagent) June 25, 2012

Mention how much your mom loves your book and how she thinks you're better than that woman who wrote about vampires. #BadQueryingTips
— Rebekah Crane (@RebekahCrane) June 25, 2012

Fun, right? There's also #BadWritingTips :

Try to use a different synonym for "said" every time someone talks. It will show people that you know lots of words. #badwritingtips
— Leigh Ann Kopans (@LeighAnnKopans) June 23, 2012

Show AND tell. Your reader is simple minded. #BadWritingTips
— Julie Murphy (@andimjulie) June 23, 2012

Use the word "just" as much as possible. And "suddenly." #BadWritingTips
— Megan Whitmer (@MeganWhitmer) June 23, 2012

Anyway, what bad query or writing tips have you encountered before? Please share so we can all have a laugh (and secretly fix our mistakes when no one's looking. :D )

So here we are again. More lovely awards to pass around. Let's make the blogosphere shine and sparkle with bloggy love, right? I told myself not to ramble this time, so here we go:

The math wiz and blogger extraordinaire Tara Tyler of Tara Tyler Talks handed me 3 awards! Tara's been a longtime blogger friend. If ever you need a haiku fix, she's your go-to girl. :)

Again! Lucky me. :)

Name five of your most fabulous moments, either in real life or in the blogosphere.

Case in point: Matching pink dresses with my little sis! And what's up with the floppy, doily-looking collars?!? o_O

Last but not least, Alisha Klapheke of I Heart Words tagged me in the Lucky 7 meme. I met Alisha over at Agent Query Connect. She's a dear. Plus, she's got a cool ms she's querying at the moment. Good luck with that, Alisha! :)



I actually did this one before with my book, HIDDEN, so I won't do that again. Instead, I'll pick a different WIP--one that is long enough to have a page 77. These are the seven lines from my MG Fantasy WIP:




*****
Well, there you go. And now, on to the tagging part because, ya know, misery loves company. Er, I mean, 'cause these bloggers are AWESOME and they won't hate me for tagging them. Right? Right?!?? (I have chocolate.)

Fabulous Blog Ribbon:

1. T. Drecker
2. The Golden Eagle
3. M. J. Fifield
4. J.A. Bennett
5. Sherry Ellis

Kreative Blogger Award:

1. Mia K. Rose
2. Laura Barnes
3. Cat Lavoie
4. A.M. Supinger
5. Suzanne Payne

Stylish Blogger Award:

1. Bethany Crandell aka Rookie Riter (I know she loves awards that don't come with rules. :D )
2. Patricia Lynne
3. Stephanie Scott
4. Mooderino
5. Misha Gericke

Lucky 7 Meme Tag:

I'm tagging new blogger friends (hope they don't mind).
1. Lexa Cain
2. Kelsey Sutton
3.Tami Marie
4. Nick Wilford
5. L.S. Murphy (my agency sister! She just recently signed with my agent. Congrats, L.S.!)

As always, no pressure. Feel free to accept or ignore the awards. I know how busy you guys are. :)

I used to think I have a great memory. Back in grade school, there was a 6-stanza poem we were supposed to learn and memorize for a week. Our teacher wanted us to recite 1-2 stanzas per day so we could build up to memorizing all of the stanzas by the end of the week. Well, little me decided 1 stanza was too easy. So right after breakfast, while I was putting on my school uniform (yes, we had to wear uniforms!) I went through the poem over and over again.

Yep, I recited the whole poem that very Monday.

Nope, I didn't make one mistake.

Sigh. I wish I still have that good of a memory. I swear every time I get pregnant, some of my brain cells disappear. I rely on lists now to keep myself sane (and so I don't miss any important events). Yeah, I know people say forgetfulness is a symptom of pregnancy, but really, this forgetfulness goes way beyond gestation. Anyway, I AM rambling. The point, really, of all this...rambling...is I have blog awards I need to acknowledge and give away. Some of them I've forgotten about (picture me scrambling to read my old posts so I could see who left me awards from months ago). But I can't ignore them any longer because if I do, I'll NEVER get to them...evah. And my conscience would not allow me to be rude about it.

So! Here we go (starting with the most recent):

This one came from the lovely and talented Medeia Sharif, author of BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. (Flux, 2011). She's cool and awesome! Thanks, Medeia!!

Oh, right. The rules (almost forgot).

The rules for this award:

Hmmm. Five favorite books, eh? Tough to narrow down, but I'll try: (not in any particular order)

        

(Okay, so I couldn't just pick five. I am sorely tempted to add more because there are so many great books out there, but I had to stop myself.)

Next up comes from my gorgeous blogger friend from the UK, Nikki of Inspire Nordic. She writes about Scandinavian/Nordic language and culture. Cool, eh?

Oh, she gave me two. Thanks, Nikki! You're such a sweetie. :)

There are some questions I have to answer. I'll keep it short and sweet.

What is your favorite song?

Gah! I'm stumped. My "favorite" song changes all the time.

What is your favorite dessert?

Man, you're asking me at this point in my life where every dessert sounds good. Cake, cupcakes, lemon bars, ice cream, bread pudding, key lime pie...you name it, I'll probably gobble it up in seconds.

When you're upset, what do you do?

I have kids so when I'm upset, I have to hide in the bathroom. Not because I don't want them to see that I'm crying, or to shield them from the fact that I'm upset/angry/mad, but because the questions will NOT stop. What's wrong, Mommy? Why are you crying? Did you get a boo-boo?

What was your favorite pet?

Can't say it was my favorite, but I totally thought our pet turtle was cool. We let him loose around our yard (it was fenced-in), and then we couldn't find him anymore because he was really good at hiding behind my mom's flowers and bushes. After a year (maybe?), we found him swimming in our little fish pond. So we took him out and somebody had the brilliant idea to paint red and white dots on his shell so we'd have an easier time finding him. Uh, didn't work. He may be slow, but he was a master at evading us.

What do you prefer to wear, black or white?

Ugh, can't wear white. Do you know how hard it is to keep yourself clean when you have little kids around you? Yeaaahhhh...

What is your biggest fear?

That something bad will happen to my kids or my husband, or anyone in my family, really.

What is your attitude mostly?

I'm a pretty laid back person. I like to believe I'm a cautiously optimistic person (still positive, but not to the point of being blind, ya know.)

What is perfection to you?

Perfection is acknowledging we're imperfect. :D

What is your guilty pleasure?

Playing games. :)


Whew! This post is getting too long so I'll have to do the rest later. For now, I'm handing over these lovely blog awards to the following people:

The {Booker} Award:

1. Jemi Fraser: A fabulous writer and school teacher. Her students are very lucky.
2. Lynda R. Young: She always has fantastic, helpful posts about writing and social media.
3. Cherie Reich: She's a writer, a freelance editor, and a library assistant. She's all about books!
4. Stephen Tremp: 'Cause his book BREAKTHROUGH: THE ADVENTURES OF CHASE MANHATTAN is out and free on Amazon--today is the last day so grab a copy!
5. Emily R. King: This new mama knows her stuff. :)

One Lovely Blog Award:

1. Michelle Hauck: She's a lovely person, and she was gracious enough to let me babble on her blog.
2. Leslie Pugh: A sweetheart! She's so cute and warm and friendly.
3. Cristina dos Santos: Her blog's always full of heart. <3
4. Joyce Alton: All hail the mother"ship" of AQC's Speculative Forum. :)
5. Shallee McArthur: A lovely mama--she's going to have a baby, too. At around the same time I am. How cool is that? *belly bump!*

Stylish Blogger Award:

1. E. B. Black: She calls herself the "death author". Creepy cool, eh?
2. Kela McClelland: A lovely friend from Agent Query Connect. :)
3. Wendy Lu: Because, like me, she just recently embraced her inner diva...I mean, her real name. And I must say, it's a lovely name, Wendy!
4. Andrea Teagan: A new blogger friend. Hi, Andrea!
5. Alex Villasante: She's my newest follower! Hi Alex! *waves*

Enjoy!

P.S. Awardees, no pressure at all. You are free to accept or ignore the awards--I promise I won't get mad at all. I know how busy you all are. :)