Mountains

Hello everyone,

I want to post something to say hi and let you know what I've been up to.  Usually I post things when I'm in high spirits, but I'm feeling sad at the moment.  A friend and her family are going through a heart-breaking time right now, and I'm in a state of shock and sorrow over it.  Tragedy reminds me how important it is to tell people you love that you love them, and why, and how special they are, while they're still with you.

I've been spending time on the road in the mountains quite a bit this summer... to Aspen for the Colorado Book Awards, then Grand Junction for author visits, then in Steamboat Springs with Lil Dude and Ian this past weekend.

Being in the mountains makes me feel grateful to live in Colorado-- so much hugeness and expansiveness helps put life in perspective.  The sea and the mountains remind me of how tiny and giant our lives are, that we need to love in the moment, that every moment matters, that what we have is here and now.


Grand Junction, I discovered, is a beautiful town with lots of fountains and sculptures and really wonderful librarians, writers, and readers of all ages, who I was happy to spend time with (doing writing workshops and presentations at libraries).  One of these amazing librarians was Diana Tixier Herald, who runs the Genrefluent blog and is the author of many books about young adult literature. I spent an afternoon at her earthship outside of Grand Junction...  as Lil Dude would say, "Wowsers!"  So cool to get a tour of the house.


 And the view out her front window is stunning...

 

 The canyon is dizzyingly deep-- talk about putting life into perspective!  Having this view, I imagine, would help keep your mind expansive and uncluttered...

Here we are, in her yard... can you imagine walking outside to this every morning!?

Here are some pics from Aspen about a month ago... I love aspen trees, how they quiver and dance with light.  Aspen groves are my favorite places to camp...

 Sage is another thing I love about Colorado mountains... the smell of it always pierces me right to the core (in a good, waking-up way).

Lil Dude, who is now four, has discovered the thrill of photography... he took this pic of me and Ian after the Colorado Book Awards...

Here's Checkers, the balloon man who we encountered last summer in Aspen and were very excited to see again.  (Last year Lil Dude requested the Little Mermaid.  This year it was Spiderman.)

Some highlights of Aspen through the lens of Lil Dude... he was curious about why the fire hydrants here were black instead of yellow...

The hotel pool was a hit... he can swim now-- so cute.

Thanks for reading... I'll post some of our Steamboat pics soon... we stayed in a caboose in Strawberry Park-- it was a GIANT hit with Lil Dude (and me and Ian, too-- you know how I love little abodes-- trailers, caravans, and the like...)


And to those of you who were affected by the tragedy I mentioned, I wish you moments of light and lightness luminous memories... 

Love,
Laura

My Agent's Retreat ( 6 weeks after the fact...)

    Chris Barton and Erin Murphy (love the expressions!)
 
Hey all,

Finally getting around to posting pics of my agent's (Erin Murphy) annual retreat!  I went to the first one in Santa Fe a few years ago-- there were about twelve of us there. I think I missed the one after that (in Vermont) because that's the year Lil Dude came from Guatemala.  The next year was Portland, and the next Chicago, and this year, in Austin (which was our biggest yet-- over 40 amazing authors!)  I really  love these people-- it's a rare and wonderful bonding experience.  We spend time talking about writing and publishing, gleaning and sharing wisdom.  We also eat and laugh a lot (and even cry a little...)  I'm too pressed for time at the moment to link to everyone's individual websites, but if you go to Erin's  website, you'll find links to everyone else's.

 A glimpse of the goofiness that occurred (we went a bit wild that night... I think we scared the wait staff-- at times the shrieks of laughter were louder than those on Lil Dude's preschool playground)...

Ruth Barshaw, Audrey Vernick, and Penny Blubaugh at a signing event we did at Book People (fantastic indie bookstore in Austin!)

Me and Kathy Duval...

Lynda Mullaly Hunt and Penny...

 Liz Garton Scanlon and Deborah Underwood...

Ruth taking a photo of a white peacock in a tree outside a lovely restaurant where we dined.  (Usually she's sketching everything in her little sketchbook...)

Or playing harmonica... (something she and Lil Dude have in common)

 

Carrie Gordon Watson, Deborah, Conrad Wesselhoeft and Elizabeth Bluemle...

Anna Staniszewski and Lisa Schulman...

Ammi-Joan Paquette (author and agent), C.J. Omololu, Natalie Lorenzi

Lots of gushiness and giddiness...

And this is just a sampling!!  I'm so fortunate to be part of this group of supportive writers-- it's a giant and unexpected perk of being an author... getting to spend time with these brilliant, sensitive, kind souls.

Time for an evening walk around the neighborhood... have a great week!

xo,
Laura

Austin TLA Recap (just a month late...)

Hey yall,
I've been so crazy-busy I haven't had a chance to tell you about my trip to Austin last month (for the Texas Library Association Conference), so now that I've gotten a chance to catch my breath from all the traveling, here goes!

Author buddies David Levithan, James Dashner, Lauren Myracle, Carrie Ryan, and me after a fun BBQ dinner (there were lots of those in the heart of BBQ land!)...

My new editor-- Francoise Bui! The editor I  had for my first six books- Stephanie Lane Elliott-- had a beautiful baby last fall and made a career change, so Delacorte connected me with my new editor, Francoise, who I like very much and who's editing The Jade Notebook with me. (She's in the middle of this pic-- I wish I'd gotten a good one of the two of us together!)

Cool paper mache guitar centerpieces... I think that Texas teens made them for us! Lots of music, art, and tattoos in Austin, I noticed (and BBQ).

And lots of amazing librarians!! Like my fun dinner companions...

Always exciting to hang out with authors I admire... James Dashner is the author of The Maze Runner series-- incredible speculative fiction-- and he's an exceedingly nice guy, I discovered. And we're both interested in parallel universes and the like...

Here are some more great librarian at the signing I did for Star in Forest-- loved their enthusiasm!  I have to say that Texas librarians just *exude* enthusiasm-- it was a real joy talking with them all.

At the Random House dinner... more friends, new and old, in the publishing industry... and super-yummy food!

So much laughing and great conversation that night... topics covered included Friday Night Lights (which I have yet to see but apparently everyone at Delacorte is obsessed with), Paul Simon (who I've loved for decades), blueberries vs blackberries (I prefer the latter), and so much more!

It's such a treat to stay in high-up rooms in fancy shmancy hotels that I'd never stay in normally... and to get picked up in a sleek black car-- the very car that Justin Bieber rode in not long before me, as a matter of fact. I'm no pop culture aficionada, but I do know that name.... my driver, apparently did not! He told me he found himself amidst squealing girls at the airport to meet Justin, and that's when he asked another driver standing next to him, "So who is this Justin Bieber guy I'm picking up, anyway?"  He said Justin was quite the nice young gentleman, and gave him a $100 tip.  (At which point in the story, I started feeling a little bad that regular old authors like me can't swing close to that kinda tip...) 


I have more pics from the trip-- pics of my wanderings by the river/lake path and of my agent retreat, but now I have to try to get Lil Dude to understand what "quiet time" means... he's abandoned naps, to my chagrin, but I'm determined to have some kind of siesta-type hour in the day.  Wish me luck (today was not successful!)

xo,
Laura

Half Moon Bay

Hi everyone!

Just got back from a beautiful weekend in Half Moon Bay, California! I did a library presentation for the community and met fantastic librarians, teachers, students, parents, and writers.  So much fun!  I'd been corresponding with one of the teachers and her students via email and snail mail, and it was wonderful to meet them all in person.


I'd always wanted to go to Half Moon Bay-- mostly because I love the name (it's right up there with Angelfire, NM)! ;)  I also LOVE the coast of California, which is one reason I've read the picture book All the World hundreds of time with Lil Dude-- the breath-taking landscape-- green hills and wildflowers and clay cliffs and gardens and old beach houses and perfect trees-for-climbing and veggie stands and beaches and the big, wide ocean.


I went on long walks along the ocean-- on Saturday in the rain (delicious) and on Sunday in sunshine with my old friend Andrea (from middle school).

flotsam!

My camera wasn't working on Friday, so I didn't get pics of the great students and families (some from Oaxaca!) who came to the presentation.  They were so enthusiastic-- the library had distributed hundreds of copies of What the Moon Saw for students! 

 I did manage to get one photo of the teacher and librarians with me at the amazing family-owned Oaxacan restaurant called Brianna's just down the block from the library.  I ate the best mole oaxaqueno I've had in the U.S.  Mmmmmm.  Muy rico.


Lucia Gonzalez took that picture-- she's a wonderful bilingual picture book writer (and warm, kind person).  She gave my Lil Dude a copy of her book The Bossy Gallito, which we're loving.  (Since he turned four last week, he's been in a major Bossy Rooster stage...)

 I *love* author visits to small towns where the awesome librarians and teachers get the whole community excited.  Thank you, Half Moon Bay!






On a different note, more lovely reviews of The Queen of Water have been coming in.  Maria Virginia and I are really glad that readers have been moved by her story.  It's dream come true...

 A review in The Examiner gave the book five out of five stars and calls it "Remarkable. Layered.  Engrossing." You can read the full review here. 

Marjolein, a wonderful YA book reviewer, also gave it five stars, and calls the book "gripping."  Read the full review here.

Thanks, also, to those of you who have posted reviews on amazon here and goodreads here and other review sites.  And thanks to everyone who's been spreading the word about our book through word of mouth!  We're really grateful!

Happy spring!

xo,

Laura

Sayulita, Mexico!

Hello dear friends and readers!

First, a little warning-- if you're expecting to read about the kind of off-the-tourist-track adventures that you saw in Red Glass, What the Moon Saw, and The Indigo Notebook... read no further!  On the other hand, if you'd like to see a realistic glimpse of what my traveling life has become with 3-year-old and hubbie in tow-- chugging right along the well-worn tourist track, then read on, beloved reader (unless you're scared of a little vomit... er, a lot of vomit. (Am I grossing you out already? Sorry. I'll start with the happy parts...)



We went to Sayulita, Mexico (a small beach town near Puerto Vallarta) for a week with Carrie and Sarah of my writing group and their families... couldn't have asked for better company!

There was much-needed girl time...

 There was surfing. (Doesn't Ian look cute here?  Funny-- I knew him in high school-- and back then he had that exact same pair of swim trunks!  They must be 20 years old!)

It took us a couple days to find the part of the beach where the waves don't beat and batter you. (Poor Carrie and Ian discovered this the hard way...)



There were feasts...

There were walks by a colorful graveyard on the way to the scenic yoga palapa (!)

There was dancing (to little kids' music, of course... I still can't get the Buzz Buzz Buzz song out of my head....)

There was a disconcerting circus in town...

I say disconcerting because their main promotional tool was this rickety tiny cage of tigers, right on one of the main dirt roads.  As much as I try to be a non-judgmental traveler, I have to say this really, really bothered me.  It was painful to pass by them about ten times a day.  In fact, the only reason I've even included this picture is because oddly enough, in the manuscript I just finished, The Jade Notebook (set in another Mexican beach town), there is a large feline (I won't give away what kind of feline-- don't want to spoil anything...).  During my research, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos of large felines prowling and growling and whatnot, and I wished I could be in proximity to a real one.  And then, my wish was realized... in this disconcerting way... It did motivate me to learn more about a wild animal sanctuary just a 45 min drive from my house that has rescued many large felines in similar situations to these tigers.

Okay, on to prettier things... like *butterflies*...

 ... and luna moths...

There were dips in the pool... (the kiddie pool was so perfect for the three-year-olds-- Lil Dude played in there until he was blue-lipped and shivering like crazy and we had to drag him out...)  (And oh how I wish I could include photos of him here-- sooo cute with his goggles and boogie board).

The house we rented was ideal for three families traveling together, especially families of *writer ladies*... little patios and nooks galore...

 

Now you're probably wondering about that vomit I mentioned earlier... well, there was LOTS of it.  Lil Dude caught a stomach virus from his preschool buddies, and started feeling sick on the plane on the way there.  Ugh.  Middle and window seats for us-- the poor lady in the aisle seat was getting up and down every few minutes to let us race to the bathroom.  And then, for the next few days (although Lil Dude *did* have a blast playing in the pool and sea and sand), there were countless bathroom trips, including in the middle of the night.  The vomiting stopped after a few days, but his gastrointestinal tract was -- shall we say-- tender-- for the whole week.  And then, then... I caught it.  Ugh.  And then, Ian caught it. Ugh, ugh.

Enough complaining.  Other than that, it was a very lovely trip!  Okay, to get the vomit out of your mind and leave you on a nicer note, here's a goofy pic of me.  Ian really loves these pictures of me that capture how I probably look most of the time-- kind of spacing out and daydreaming... he actually has a collection of these dorky pics of me in a photo cube in his office, hehehe.

I'll leave you on that note!  I have more news to tell you (good stuff!), but it's time for my NIA (dance) class now! Thanks for reading!

xoxo,
Laura